Full profile interview
21 Apr 2022
Natufia
Natufia is a Saudi Arabia-based company providing customers with turnkey solutions to smart indoor gardening, having been founded in 2014 by Gregory Lu. IDTechEx analyst Brendan Beh spoke with Natufia's Marketing Director, Anastassia Taylor, on 14th April 2022.
3 Mar 2022
These Solar Panels Pull in Water Vapour to Grow Crops in the Desert
Using a unique hydrogel, scientists have created a solar-driven system that successfully grows spinach by using water drawn from the air while producing electricity. The proof-of-concept design offers a sustainable, low-cost strategy to improve food and water security for people living in dry-climate regions.
25 Feb 2022
Perovskites Used to Make Efficient Artificial Retina
An artificial electronic retina that can "see" in a similar way to the human vision system and can recognize handwritten digits has been built by researchers as they seek to develop better options for computer vision applications.
4 Jan 2022
Fitness Sensor Warns When You're at Your Limits
Ultrathin nanomaterials, known as MXenes, are poised to make it easier to monitor a person's well-being by analyzing their perspiration. While they share a similar two-dimensional nature to graphene, MXenes are composed of nontoxic metals, such as titanium, in combination with carbon or nitrogen atoms. With naturally high conductivity and strong surface charges, MXenes are attractive candidates for biosensors that can detect small changes to chemical concentrations.
2 Sep 2021
Electric Gains in Battery Performance
A high-performance version of the zinc-ion battery will enable stationary energy storage that promises to be cheaper, safer and more environmentally friendly than lithium-ion batteries.
20 Jul 2021
Training an AI Eye on the Moon
A Moon-scanning method that can automatically classify important lunar features from telescope images could significantly improve the efficiency of selecting sites for exploration.
15 Apr 2021
Machine Learning at Speed
Inserting lightweight optimization code in high-speed network devices has enabled researchers to increase the speed of machine learning on parallelized computing systems five-fold.
6 Apr 2021
Ultrashort Peptides to a Long Way for Tissue Engineering
A printable hydrogel made of ultrashort peptides could help shape cells into viable tissues.
13 Jan 2021
Two Sided Solar Cells to Collect Scattered Light
To increase the performance of solar panels, a team of researchers has created a bifacial, or two-sided, tandem solar cell, built by bringing together the best of the perovskite and silicon technologies.
12 Oct 2020
Energy Harvesting Plastics Pass the Acid Test
A polymer previously used to protect solar cells may find new applications in consumer electronics, reveals a team studying thin films capable of converting thermal energy into electricity.
7 Oct 2020
Multisensory Graphene-based Skin Can Sense in Extreme Environments
Harsh environments that are inhospitable to existing technologies could now be monitored using sensors based on graphene. An intriguing form of carbon, graphene comprises layers of interconnected hexagonal rings of carbon atoms, a structure that yields unique electronic and physical properties with possibilities for many applications.
2 Sep 2020
Inkjet Printed Thin Skinned Solar Panels
Solar cells can now be made so thin, light and flexible that they can rest on a soap bubble. The new cells, which efficiently capture energy from light, could offer an alternative way to power novel electronic devices, such as medical skin patches, where conventional energy sources are unsuitable.
25 May 2020
Moisture Sucking Gels Give Solar Panels the Chills
A cooling system developed at KAUST has improved the efficiency of a prototype solar panel up to 20 percent and requires no external energy source to operate.
Update interview
20 Apr 2020
KAUST
King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) is a research university located near Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. This profile focuses on the work of Prof. Shamim's group, which is based on printed circuits, antennae and their applications.
17 Mar 2020
Powering Devices Goes Skin Deep
Soft and flexible materials can be used to ultrasonically charge bioelectronic implants, which could help to reduce the need for surgical treatment.
17 Feb 2020
Hybrid Transistor Improves Next-Generation Displays
An innovative manufacturing technique has led to the development of hybrid organic transistors for use in next-generation electronic displays and large-area electronics.
Update interview
24 Jan 2020
Quantum Solutions
Quantum Solutions was spun out of the King Abdullah University (KAUST) in 2017 and started sales in 2018.