30 Dec 2019
First Long Duration, Liquid Air Energy Storage System in the US
Highview Power Storage and Encore Renewable Energy jointly announced plans to develop the United States' first long duration, liquid air energy storage system. This facility will be a minimum of 50MW, provide in excess of eight hours of storage and will be located in northern Vermont.
30 Dec 2019
First Images of an 'Upgraded' CRISPR Tool
Scientists have captured the first images of a new gene editing tool that could improve upon existing CRISPR-based tools. The team developed the tool, called INTEGRATE, after discovering a unique "jumping gene" in Vibrio cholerae bacteria that could insert large genetic payloads in the genome without introducing DNA breaks.
Background
29 Dec 2019
Plenty
Plenty is an American start-up company aiming to tackle the world's growing food issues by growing crops indoors in vertical facilities. Since its founding in 2014, the company has found high profile backers, including Jeff Bezos. But can the company's dream of feeding the world through its high-tech facilities ever become a reality? IDTechEx Analyst Dr Michael Dent explores.
27 Dec 2019
Improved 3D Nanoprinting Technique to Build Nanoskyscrapers
Nanowalls, nanobridges, nano "jungle gyms": it could seem the description of a Lilliputian village, but these are actual 3D-printed components with tremendous potential applications in nanoelectronics, smart materials and biomedical devices.
27 Dec 2019
Rolls-Royce Unveils All-electric Plane Targeting the Record Books
Rolls-Royce's ambitions to build the world's fastest all-electric aircraft have taken an important step forward with the unveiling of the plane at Gloucestershire Airport. Work will now begin on integrating the ground-breaking electrical propulsion system to enable the zero-emissions plane to make a run for the record books with a target speed of 300+ MPH.
27 Dec 2019
Plastic Biosensor Finds Sweet Success
An electronic biosensor powered using the glucose in bodily fluids has been developed by researchers. The device pairs an electron-transporting polymer with an enzyme that extracts electrons from its reaction with glucose to drive its circuitry. The plastic biosensor could act as a continuous monitor of key health indicators, such as blood sugar levels in diabetes patients.
26 Dec 2019
3D Printing is Helping Doctors Further Personalize Care
3Today, 3D printing is being used for everything from jewelry creation to producing food.
26 Dec 2019
Membrane Produces Electricity From Saltwater
Inspired by membranes in the body tissues of living organisms, scientists have combined aramid nanofibers used in Kevlar with boron nitride to construct a membrane for harvesting ocean energy that is both strong like bone and suited for ion transport like cartilage.
26 Dec 2019
Growing Carbon Nanotubes with the Right Twist
Researchers have achieved the creation of a specific type of carbon nanotubes with a selectivity of 90%, and expanded the current theory that explains the synthesis of these promising nano-cylinders.
26 Dec 2019
Mars 2020 Rover Completes Its First Drive
NASA's next Mars rover has passed its first driving test. A preliminary assessment of its activities found that the rover checked all the necessary boxes as it rolled forward and backward and pirouetted in a clean room at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. The next time the Mars 2020 rover drives, it will be rolling over Martian soil.
26 Dec 2019
First of a Kind In-Vitro 3D Neural Tissue Model
Researchers have successfully used stem cells to engineer living biohybrid nerve tissue to develop 3D models of neural networks with the hopes of gaining a better understanding of how the brain and these networks work.
25 Dec 2019
First Wind Turbine to Generate 262 MWh of Clean Energy in 24 Hours
Eneco, Future Wind and GE Renewable Energy today announced that Eneco will purchase all of the electricity generated by GE's Haliade-X 12 MW prototype. The prototype set a new world record by being the first wind turbine ever to generate 262 MWh of clean energy in 24 hours, enough energy to power 30,000 households in the region.
25 Dec 2019
Program Targets 50 Percent Receycled Material in New Cells
Northvolt is making swift progress with its blueprint for sustainable battery manufacturing and is positioned to deliver lithium-ion cells to European markets with a minimal environmental footprint.
25 Dec 2019
A Self-Healing Sweat Sensor
Wearable sensors that track heart rate or steps are popular fitness products. But in the future, working up a good sweat could provide useful information about a person's health. Now, researchers reporting have developed a headband that measures electrolyte levels in sweat. And unlike many previous sweat sensors, the device can heal itself when cut or scratched during exercise.
25 Dec 2019
Storing Medical Information Below the Skin's Surface
Every year, a lack of vaccination leads to about 1.5 million preventable deaths, primarily in developing nations. One factor that makes vaccination campaigns in those nations more difficult is that there is little infrastructure for storing medical records, so there's often no easy way to determine who needs a particular vaccine.
24 Dec 2019
British Airways Trials Airport Robots
In the latest stage of British Airways' investment in airport automation, the airline has announced that from 2020 it will trial AI-powered autonomous robots at its home at Heathrow Terminal 5 to help some of the 90,000 customers who travel through the terminal each day navigate through the airport, freeing up the airlines' hosts to help customers with more complex queries.
24 Dec 2019
UK's First 24/7 Zero Emission Street
The City of London Corporation has backed plans to launch the UK's first 24/7 zero emission street in a bid to improve air quality in the Square Mile.
24 Dec 2019
Researchers Create Functional Mini-Liver by 3D Bioprinting
Using human blood cells, Brazilian researchers have succeeded in obtaining hepatic organoids ("mini-livers") that perform all of the liver's typical functions, such as producing vital proteins, storing vitamins, and secreting bile, among many others. The innovation permits the production of hepatic tissue in the laboratory in only 90 days and may in the future become an alternative to organ transplantation.
24 Dec 2019
Improved Inorganic Thin Film Batteries
In a research result that potentially could expand the market for tiny energy-storage units in medical implantable, injectable and wearable solutions, CEA-Leti has fabricated all-solid, inorganic thin-film batteries that demonstrate better performance than existing devices.
23 Dec 2019
Hot Dog Making Robot
In a step forward, a team of researchers has developed a new approach to teaching a robot, or a team of robots, a high-risk, complex task—a framework that could be applied to a host of tasks. In a paper published in Science Robotics, the team demonstrated this framework with a proof-of-concept task by teaching two robots to cook, assemble and serve hot dogs together.