10 Aug 2022

A Simple, Cheap Material for Carbon Capture, Perhaps from Tailpipes
Carbon dioxide is the main greenhouse gas warming Earth and is emitted in large quantities in the flue gas from industrial and power plants. A new method for removing CO2 from these flue gases involves piping the emissions through a porous material based on the chemical melamine. DETA, a chemical bound inside the porous melamine, grabs CO2 and removes it from the gas, with nitrogen vented to the atmosphere.
24 Jun 2022

New Ultrathin Capacitor Could enable Energy Efficient Microchips
The silicon-based computer chips that power our modern devices require vast amounts of energy to operate. Despite ever-improving computing efficiency, information technology is projected to consume around 25% of all primary energy produced by 2030. Researchers in the microelectronics and materials sciences communities are seeking ways to sustainably manage the global need for computing power.
Full profile interview
6 Jun 2022

Zendar: High Performance, Cheap Automotive Radar
Zendar is a start-up working on improving automotive radar. Zendar believes that current automotive radar is limited by the weak computational processing power embedded in the sensor. They suggest a move to a central processing unit with more computational power which can handle multiple radar front-ends at one time. This would be a similar architecture to Tesla in the way it handles its camera information.
External press release
13 May 2022

First Roboskin for Human-Like Sensing of Objects by Robots
BeBop Sensors Inc announced the BeBop Sensors RoboSkin line of skin-like coverings for tactile awareness for humanoid robots and prosthetics. A true nervous system for robots at less than 1mm thick, RoboSkin is the only technology that fits all robotic body parts: limbs, fingers, feet, head, and torso, to make robots "feel" better.
28 Apr 2022

Solar Beats Nuclear at Many Potential Settlement Sites on Mars
The high efficiency, light weight and flexibility of the latest solar cell technology means photovoltaics could provide all the power needed for an extended mission to Mars, or even a permanent settlement there, according to a new analysis by scientists.
25 Apr 2022

Innovative 3D Printing Technology for Glass Microstructures
Researchers have developed a new way to 3D-print glass microstructures that is faster and produces objects with higher optical quality, design flexibility and strength, according to a new study.
Update interview
11 Apr 2022

Twelve Corporation
Twelve — formerly Opus 12 — is a start-up based in Berkeley, California, developing methods for electrocatalytic conversion of carbon dioxide into chemical inputs.
Full profile interview
23 Mar 2022

Xolo
Xolo is a German 3D printing company developing 'xolography', a volumetric additive manufacturing technique. IDTechEx spoke with CEO and cofounder Dirk Radzinski.
Full profile interview
14 Mar 2022

Friendly Robots
Friendly Robots is an American start-up founded by Xiao Xiao, a previous Apple engineer who graduated from the University of California, Berkeley.
External press release
9 Mar 2022

Stratasys Expands GrabCAD Software Partner Program
Stratasys Ltd announced the continued expansion of the GrabCAD Software Partner Program with new partners Oqton and Riven. Oqton is a cloud-based manufacturing operating system company based in Ghent, Belgium; and Riven provides 3D reality intelligence for digital manufacturing, based in Berkeley, California.
18 Feb 2022

A New Technique for Making Wearable Sensors
Engineers have developed a new technique for making wearable sensors that enables medical researchers to prototype test new designs much faster and at a far lower cost than existing methods.
17 Feb 2022

AI Generated Faces are More Trustworthy Than Real Faces
People cannot distinguish between a face generated by Artificial Intelligence and a real face say researchers, who are calling for safeguards to prevent "deep fakes".
24 Jan 2022

Funding for Megawatt Truck Charging Along California Freight Corridors
The Electric Power Research Institute and CALSTART have been awarded $13 million from the California Energy Commission to jump start California's high-power charging infrastructure for medium and heavy-duty vehicles. The two organizations will lead a first-of-its-kind collaboration to launch the country's first zero-emission, freight-charging corridor network.
19 Jan 2022

Why is the 3D Printing Market not Consolidating?
"We expect to see the additive manufacturing market consolidating in the near future" has been the refrain of many for nearly a decade now. The thought really strengthened after major acquisition moves by industry titans Stratasys and 3D Systems between 2010-2012. Stratasys would acquire wax 3D printer company Solidscape and merge with material jetting pioneer Objet in 2011-2012, while 3D Systems completed a jaw-dropping 13 acquisitions between 2011-2012. With so many major moves by market leaders in the early 2010s, it seemed like market consolidation was just around the corner.
Background
14 Jan 2022

Kura Technologies
Kura is developing optical engines (waveguide + displays) for AR/VR headsets. These utilize, a new type of geometric waveguides, about which the company makes impressive claims.
16 Dec 2021

NASA Enters the Solar Atmosphere for the First Time, New Discoveries
For the first time in history, a spacecraft has touched the Sun. NASA's Parker Solar Probe has now flown through the Sun's upper atmosphere - the corona - and sampled particles and magnetic fields there.
29 Nov 2021

Big Batteries on Wheels Can Deliver Zero-Emissions Rail, Secure Grid
Trains have been on the sidelines of electrification efforts for a long time in theUS because they account for only 2% of transportation sector emissions, but diesel freight trains emit 35 million metric tons of carbon dioxide annually and produce air pollution that leads to $6.5 billion in health costs, resulting in an estimated 1,000 premature deaths each year.