IDTechEx

Graphene sieve turns seawater into drinking water

Graphene-oxide membranes have attracted considerable attention as promising candidates for new filtration technologies. Now the much sought-after development of making membranes capable of sieving common salts has been achieved.

Sharing the workplace with robots?

A research team is helping robot developers design machines less likely to injure the humans they work with. How? With their novel 'safety map'.

Topical wound oxygen effectiveness

AOTI Inc announced that two study abstracts were presented demonstrating Topical Wound Oxygen healing effectiveness in 115 recalcitrant chronic ulcerations of varied etiologies at both the recent Society of Advanced Wound Care conference in Orlando, Florida and European Wound Management Association conference in Krakow, Poland.

BMW increases electric vehicle production

The BMW Group is to invest more than €300 million in its Leipzig plant. Comprehensive construction work to extend and update the body and paint shops, assembly and logistics is already under way, laying the foundation for continued growth and the production of future models in Leipzig.

Electrochromic glass: the largest smart glass market

Electrochromic glass is the largest smart glass market today, and it is unlikely to be dethroned any time soon. For those unfamiliar with the technology, in its most common form it transitions from a clear or pale yellow to a vivid and dark blue (a result of the tungsten oxide electrochromic layer, as shown in diagram below), starting at the edges and moving inwards. It blocks light and heat to replace your blinds, and maybe your air conditioning too, but it is expensive.

Webinar Tuesday 5 June - Transparent conductive films and materials

IDTechEx will be hosting a free webinar on Tuesday 5 June titled Transparent conductive films and materials: Major trends shaping the industry's past, present and future.

Redox Flow Batteries 2018-2028: Markets, Trends, Applications

Redox flow batteries are an energy storage technology initially developed by NASA in the 70's for space applications. After several years of intensive R&D, in 2006, several key patents on the technology expired, opening up the arena to companies all around the world.

Autonomous mobile robots: more diversity than first meets the eye

Autonomous mobility, in the general public's eye, is now synonymous with cars. Whilst this might be the largest ultimate prize, it is by no means the only commercial manifestation of this technology. Indeed, as the IDTechEx Research report New Robotics and Drones 2018-2038: Technologies, Forecasts, Players demonstrates, numerous autonomous mobile robots are being commercialized in applications where there is (a) a clear commercial purpose and (b) a more structured and predictable environment.

4D smart scaffolds for tissue engineering

While 3D bioprinting is widely used to construct complex biocompatible structures, researchers are now attempting to extend the technique into the fourth dimension. Here, 3D printed objects can be made to "self-transform" over time, which means that they can take on different forms or functions when exposed to physical stimuli such as osmotic pressure, heat, current UV light or other energy sources.

Rehau participates in EU-funded lighting project

Polymer specialist REHAU and 13 partners are investigating OLED lighting technology, an innovative new lighting technology, which allows for lighting to be uniform, bendable, ultra-thin and transparent.

Samoa on track for 100% renewable energy by 2021

The Samoan Government's goal of using 100% renewable energy for electricity generation by the year 2021 is on track.

Zunum Aero's electric airplane just got its first customer

JetSuite will be the launch customer for Zunum Aero's 6 to 12 passenger hybrid-to-electric aircraft. JetSuite plans to add up to 100 of the electrics to their fleet in the early 2020s, enabling them to bring quiet, efficient and environmentally friendly travel services to their private and semi-private customers nationwide.

Active, user-controlled color-changing fabric

The first-ever, active user-controlled color-changing fabric. The fabric, developed allows the user/wearer to change the color or pattern of the fabric through their smartphone.

Funding for wind-powered ocean sailing drones

Saildrone, Inc., a provider of high-resolution ocean data collected via a fleet of unmanned surface vehicles, announced that it has closed a $60 million round of Series B funding to scale up its global fleet of ocean drones to help monitor the state of the planet in real time.

Functional films made of environmentally friendly clay minerals, dyes

Researchers have created a transparent hybrid film that combines natural clay minerals and dyes into a material that changes color in response to environmental humidity.

New AI technique helps robots work alongside humans

Researchers developed a first of its kind deep learning-based system that can teach a robot to complete a task by just observing the actions of a human. The method is designed to enhance communication between humans and robots and at the same time further research that will enable people to work alongside robots seamlessly.

European cities soon to be ready for autonomous vehicles

Autonomous vehicles promise to be the next revolution in public transport. But for these new services to develop, we must first identify the needs and motivations of their future users and be able to respond to them, meet many of the technological and regulatory challenges, and design new business models. This is the aim of the 4 year AVENUE project consortium, with a total budget of 22 million euros and funded by the European Commission up to the level of 16 million euros.

Funding for renewable energy in Australia

The Australian Renewable Energy Agency will make up to $7 million of funding available for studying how how solar parks, wind farms or enabling technologies such as batteries can provide grid stability and security services.

Nanotechnology: generation of nanoparticles in gas

Born out of the research labs of TU Delft with over 20 years of experience in the synthesis of aerosols, the VSP-G1 nanoparticle generator provides researchers with the possibility to perform ground-breaking research within the field of nanomaterials without the limitations of common generation methods and materials.

Researchers operate lab-grown heart cells by remote control

Researchers have developed a technique that allows them to speed up or slow down human heart cells growing in a dish on command — simply by shining a light on them and varying its intensity. The cells are grown on graphene, which converts light into electricity, providing a more realistic environment than standard plastic or glass laboratory dishes.