Back in 2018, Alphabet’s self-driving arm launched Waymo One, an app-based ride-hailing service where passengers got to ride in an autonomous taxi. But a safety driver was assigned to every vehicle, ready to take over if needed. Now Waymo is ditching the safety driver and opening up the service to the public in Phoenix. After notching up more than 2 […]
Driverless Taxi Service
Sea Change Uses Plasma Arc Tech
We’ve all heard of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch and the continuing flow of oceanbound plastic. But what if something could intercept that plastic before it made it into the oceans? That’s the plan of SeaChange, a new organization that claims to have devised the technology to save our oceans from the plastic pollution crisis. SeaChange founders Carl Borgquist and […]
New Magnetic Tape Tech
Storing data on magnetic tape might sound delightfully retro, but it’s actually still widely in use for archival purposes thanks to its high data density. Now researchers at the University of Tokyo have made magnetic tape using a new material, which allows higher storage density and more protection against interference, as well as a new way to write to the […]
New Study Recommends Drinking Coffee After Breakfast
You’ve had a terrible night of fragmented sleep. You’re feeling groggy and out of sorts. So naturally, the first thing to do is drink the biggest, strongest coffee you can get your hands on. A new study from the University of Bath is suggesting that may not be the best idea. The study found a strong coffee first thing in […]
University of Toronto Learning Hub To Welcome Nature Indoors
Canadian firm ZAS Architects and Denmark-based CEBRA Architecture have unveiled the design for the Instructional Centre Phase 2 (IC-2), a new companion building at the University of Toronto Scarborough. Deigned as a “dynamic learning landscape,” the building eschews the traditional boxy arrangement of rooms for a more fluid layout that prioritizes flexibility and stacks learning spaces on top of each […]
Meet The Phade
Environmentalists say straws are harmful, and the argument makes a lot of sense. But as an iconic beverage accessory, many people don’t know how to live without straws. Thanks to Phade, they don’t have to. This biodegradable plastic straw looks and fees like a standard disposable straw. There’s just one twist: Phade is way better for the environment. If you’ve […]
New 3D Printing Resin Optimised For Visible Light
One method of 3D printing involves selectively exposing liquid resin to ultraviolet (UV) light, causing that resin to harden into a solid. Now, scientists have developed a new resin that works with safer, more energy-efficient visible light. Although it is already possible to use visible light on photosensitive resins, the hardening process is quite slow, making it impractical for real-world […]
Electric U-Shift Takes Modular Approach
The German Aerospace Center has revealed a working prototype of a multi-use urban mobility and logistics vehicle called U-Shift, which is made up of an electric U-shaped base platform that’s used to ferry around various pod modules. Germany’s national aeronautics and space research center, or Deutsches Zentrum für Luft und Raumfahrt (DLR) to use its proper moniker, currently sees […]
Roomba-Inspired Docking Station
Underwater robots that operate autonomously could find use in all kinds of areas, from studying the ocean to the exploration of other planets. Scientists at Purdue University have developed a type of mobile docking station that not only enables these machines to stop by for a recharge, but offload their data at the same time, offering a way for them […]
Small Swedish Town Becomes Home To Urban Development Experiment
Stockholm-based architecture firm Anders Berensson Architects has unveiled designs for the Tibro Train Tracks, an ongoing urban development project to transform an abandoned track area in the Swedish town of Tibro into an innovative hub for urban planning experiments. Commissioned by the municipality of Tibro with support from the ArkDes Swedish Center for Architecture and Design, the practice-based research project […]