IDTechEx

A Tandem to Fast-track Photovoltaics' Advance

The future certainly looks sunny for solar cells equipped with two electricity-generating semiconductors. With good reason - their potential efficiency is far higher than that of conventional single solar cells. They can also be lighter and more flexible, depending on their component materials.

Researchers Take Step Toward Developing 'Electric Eye'

Researchers have successfully designed a new type of artificial vision device that incorporates a novel vertical stacking architecture and allows for greater depth of color recognition and scalability on a micro-level.

Inkron

Inkron is a Nagase Group company which develops and manufactures siloxane resins and formulations, primarily for optical devices and packaging. It also produces materials for printed electronics and provides a growing range of OEM services. Inkron has considerable expertise in materials for wafer-level optics, such as the nanoimprint lithography resin required for many optical waveguides. Inkron provides wafer-level optics process development, process optimization, and piloting services. The company is headquartered in Espoo, Finland.

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.

Toyota Invests $383 Million in US Production

Advancing the company's commitment to vehicle electrification, Toyota will invest $383 million in four of its U.S. manufacturing plants that build the heart of new Toyota and Lexus vehicles. The new investment supports the production of four-cylinder engines, including options for hybrid electric vehicles, at its Alabama, Kentucky, Missouri and Tennessee plants.

Heat Engine Design Could Enable Fully Decarbonized Grid in the Future

Engineers have designed a heat engine with no moving parts. Their new demonstrations show that it converts heat to electricity with over 40 percent efficiency — a performance better than that of traditional steam turbines.

Tumors Partially Destroyed with Sound Don't Come Back

Noninvasive sound technology breaks down liver tumors in rats, kills cancer cells and spurs the immune system to prevent further spread—an advance that could lead to improved cancer outcomes in humans

Robotic Rat Could Assist at Disaster Sites

Legged robots are very promising for use in real-world applications, but their operation in narrow spaces is still challenging. One solution for enhancing their environmental adaptability is to design a small-sized biomimetic robot capable of performing multiple motions and carrying payloads. In this case, rats that live in caves have attracted a great amount of attention owing to their unrivalled agility and adaptability. Lots of efforts have been made trying to mimic the morphology or motion characteristics of rats.

E Ink Launches Spectra 3100 Plus Five-Color ePaper

E Ink announced the launch of E Ink Spectra 3100 Plus five-color ePaper. Spectra 3100 Plus adds bright orange to the existing four colors (black, white, red, and yellow) of the previous generation. The combination of five vivid and saturated colors creates a more eye-catching display, which will help retailers improve their marketing and advertising performance.

How Has the Biosensor Market Doubled in Just Two Years?

Never before has point-of-care testing been so crucial to healthcare systems. In the last 2 years, COVID-19 has caused the point-of-care biosensors industry to expand by almost 300%. A recent IDTechEx report explains the drivers causing the shift from conventional laboratory-based diagnostics toward point-of-care diagnostics performed directly at hospitals, clinics, offices, and at home.

Bacterial Soundtracks Revealed by Graphene Membrane

Have you ever wondered if bacteria make distinctive sounds? If we could listen to bacteria, we would be able to know whether they are alive or not. When bacteria are killed using an antibiotic, those sounds would stop - unless of course the bacteria are resistant to the antibiotic. This is exactly what a team of researchers have managed to do: they captured low-level noise of a single bacterium using graphene.

Charging Underwater, Body-Implanted Electronics With Ultrasonic Waves

As the population ages and with the advancements in medical technology, the number of patients using implanted electronic devices, such as artificial pacemakers and defibrillators, is increasing worldwide. Currently, the batteries of body-implanted devices are replaced by an incision surgery, which may lead to health complications. Accordingly, a new charging technique by wireless energy transfer is emerging that can also be used to charge the batteries of underwater devices, such as sensors, that are used for monitoring the conditions of submarine cables.

Want to 3D Print a Kidney? Start by Thinking Small

Human organ transplants offer a crucial lifeline to people with serious illnesses, but there are too few organs to go around: in the U.S. alone, there are more than 112,000 people currently waiting for transplants. The promise of 3D printing organs is one possible solution to address this shortage but has been fraught with complexity and technical barriers, limiting the type of organs that can be printed.

SCAME and Monta Join Forces to Revolutionise EV Charging Across The UK

Charge point manufacturer, SCAME, and EV charging software platform, Monta, have partnered up to increase the amount of public charge points in the UK as well as simplify the installation, management, and use of chargers.

Siemens Accelerates Industrialization of Additive Manufacturing

Siemens is announcing the opening of its new Charlotte Advanced Technology Collaboration Hub (CATCH) which will be located in Charlotte, NC. This new strategic research and development hub, spearheaded by Siemens Digital Industries, Siemens Technology and Siemens Energy, now a separately operated company, to focus on helping our customers accelerate their plans for the industrialization of additive manufacturing.

Statevolt to develop 54GWh Gigafactory in California

Statevolt will construct a 54GWh Gigafactory in Imperial Valley, southern California with an expected CapEx of $4 billion. To launch the new facility, Statevolt has also signed a Letter of Intent with Controlled Thermal Resources.

E Ink Joins Forces with Six Module Partners to Promote Color ePaper

E Ink announced they are working with six ePaper module partners, including BOE Technology Group, DKE Co., Ltd., Jiangxi Xing Tai Technology Co., Ltd., Innolux Corporation, Qingyue Technology, and Yes Optoelectronics Co., Ltd. to promote E Ink Gallery Palette and E Ink Gallery Plus color ePaper products.

A Wearable for Monitoring Prenatal Health at Home

An estimated 15 million babies are born prematurely every year, posing a significant risk to both maternal and neonatal health. The EU funded WISH project promotes a novel tool for monitoring the risk of preterm labour at home.

Kyrgyzstan Targeting Carbon Neutrality by 2050

Kyrgyzstan is targeting reducing greenhouse gas emissions by as much as 44 percent by 2030, and achieving carbon neutrality by 2050. While the country already generates around 90 percent of its electricity from clean energy resources, this is almost exclusively from aging hydropower plants. By tapping the country's high irradiation levels, Kyrgyzstan could enhance energy security while also managing its water resource levels, which are being diminished by climate change.

Mercedes-Benz VISION EQXX Covers Over 1000 km on One Battery Charge

The VISION EQXX from Mercedes-Benz has now taken to the roads of Europe and has demonstrated its range and efficiency. Travelling from Sindelfingen across the Swiss Alps and Northern Italy, to its destination of Cassis on the Côte d'Azur, it covered more than 1,000 km in everyday traffic, on a single battery charge.