Monday 30 April 2018

Throttling nuclear power production could lead to cheaper, greener energy

Throttling down the capacity of nuclear power plants and adapting their output dynamically to compensate for ...

The 99 nuclear power plants on US soil provide nearly 20 percent of the country's energy needs and have been operating at an increasingly high capacity, from 50 percent in the early 70s, to 70 percent in the early 90s, and keeping above 90 percent since 2002. However, according to new research from MIT and the Argonne National Laboratory, throttling down the capacity of nuclear power plants and adapting their output dynamically to compensate for the unpredictability of renewable sources could lead to savings for both consumers and nuclear plant owners.

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Category: Energy

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New Shepard completes eighth flight

New Shepard lifting off

Blue Origin's New Shepard rocket made its fourth suborbital flight and powered landing in West Texas while carrying the currently-unmanned Crew Capsule 2.0 for the second time. The 10-minute test flight reached a record altitude of 351,000 ft (66 mi, 107 km) with the capsule separating and returning by parachute.

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Category: Space

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Music may help restore cognitive functions in dementia patients

Music-based treatments could provide significant help in revitalizing patients plagued by mental illness

Plato said music "gives soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, a charm to sadness, and life to everything." Two and a half millennia later, a study by researchers at the University of Utah is suggesting that music-based treatments may indeed provide significant help in revitalizing patients plagued by mental illness, by lifting their mood and improving many important cognitive functions.

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Category: Health & Wellbeing

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Butterfly wings inspire a better eye implant

The glasswing butterfly

The transparent sections of the glasswing butterfly's wings barely reflect any light, which is why we've previously heard about them inspiring glare-free device screens. Now, their antireflective quality has led to an improvement in a glaucoma-monitoring eye implant.

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Category: Science

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New electric scooter adapts to its owner’s riding habits

22Motors' Flow electric scooter brings artificial application to its rider's service

Indian startup 22Motors recently launched a new electric commuter and ran a first batch of pre-orders that sold out immediately. What makes the Flow stand out is not its typical gear, but rather its accompanying software that employs artificial intelligence to offer services tailored for its rider.

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Category: Motorcycles

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Module helps touch-sensitive prostheses communicate their feelings

A test subject puts the technology to the test

We've already heard about prosthetic arms/hands that provide people with a sense of touch, although there can be problems with the devices, sometimes resulting in users either getting a painful shock or feeling nothing at all. That may not be the case for much longer, though, thanks to a new electronic module.

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Category: Health & Wellbeing

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Retro-cool electric self-balancing unicycle rides out

John Dingley hasn't yet rode his Mega Hub Motor Electric Unicycle at full power

John Dingley, the guy behind last year's electric luge, has been in the workshop again. This time he's been working on a new version of his self-balancing electric unicycle. Similar to the Ryno, but home built and using a brushless motor.

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Category: Urban Transport

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Dye-eyed contact lenses help correct color blindness

A new contact lens could help correct color blindness

Contact lenses may be useful for restoring vision to people who are short- or long-sighted, but they're less useful at correcting color blindness. Now researchers from the University of Birmingham have developed a contact lens that can help correct certain kinds of color blindness, thanks to a safe, low cost dye.

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Category: Medical

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Europe-wide pesticide ban to give bees a chance

EU member states have voted in favor of a complete ban on the outdoor use of ...

Neonicotinoids are bad news for bees and we've known it for a while. But the situation regarding bee populations and the world's most widely used pesticide has now become so dire that the EU has placed a complete ban on their outdoor use, and it's expected to take effect by the end of the year.

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Category: Environment

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Friday 27 April 2018

Drug-dispensing dentures fight fungus

The prototype dentures, full of Amphotericin B

Almost two-thirds of denture-wearers in the US frequently experience what's known as denture-related stomatitis – fungal infections of the mouth. In order to try and bring that number down, scientists have recently created 3D-printed dentures that release fungus-killing medicine.

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Category: Health & Wellbeing

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Escape pod travels farther and wilder than your average teardrop trailer

Chasing adventure with the Escapod Topo

The new Topo from Utah's Escapod is a light, stylish teardrop trailer ready to explore all points high, low, far and wide. Its hard-edged, ruggedized off-road underpinnings are softened up by a host of modern amenities and options ranging from a widescreen stargazing window to a Bluetooth sound system.

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Category: Outdoors

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BMW hints at future plans, with 3D-printed motorcycle frame

An S1000RR superbike with a 3D-printed frame and swingarm spiced up the BMW Group Digital Day ...

On its Digital Day 2018 event, the BMW Group displayed technology applications destined to transform the automotive world in the near future. Starring among these, 3D printing is already producing car parts, but the appearance of a mysterious motorcycle frame certainly raised some eyebrows.

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Category: Motorcycles

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The ambitious plan to build a city of floating pyramids

Wayaland would include houses, hotels, retail areas, and cinemas

Pierpaolo Lazzarini, the Italian designer behind the UFO 2.0 floating home, has conceived a floating community made up of solar-powered pyramid-shaped buildings. The Wayaland project is still very much in the concept stage at present, but Lazzarini is hoping to raise the funds necessary to begin construction on it with a crowdfunding campaign.

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Category: Architecture

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3D-printing problem used to create self-folding objects

A flat sheet of plastic (top) becomes a three-dimensional rose when heated

Inexpensive 3D printers often have a problem called "warpage," in which objects printed by them tend to curl up as they harden. Now, however, scientists have harnessed the power of warpage to create flat items that self-fold into predetermined 3D shapes when heated.

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Category: 3D Printing

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Review: 2018 Mercedes-Benz S450 is "affordable" cake that you can eat

“Let them eat cake.” If Marie-Antoinette really had said that phrase, she would have said it ...

The Mercedes-Benz S-Class is a luxury favorite in the large sedan market, competing with finesse and ease against some competent and strong rivals. For 2018, the S-Class gets a bit of a refresh and introduces the new 2018 S450 model as the entry mark for the large sedan's line.

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Category: Automotive

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Real-life Transformer changes from robot to car and back again

Is it a robot? Is it a car? Yes, and yes again …

There are a few different things people look for in a car. Some look for high performance. Others favor fuel economy. And some just want it to transform into a 4-meter (13-foot) robot. In a surprising turn of events for the last camp, the dream of owning an automotive automaton is now a step closer thanks the the J-deite RIDE — a car that turns into a robot and back again, just like those Autobots from that Transformers cartoon. Except much slower.

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Category: Robotics

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Rollei's boxy TLR camera rises again as an "Instant Kamera"

Rollei is raising production funds for the Rolleiflex Instant Kamera on Kickstarter

German camera and optics maker Rollei first released its high-end Rolleiflex medium format twin lens reflex (TLR) cameras in 1927. Numerous models followed until the last one gave way to single lens reflex cameras in 1960. The brand has now relaunched the boxy camera on Kickstarter, sacrificing roll film for Fuji Instax to become the Rolleiflex Instant Kamera.

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Category: Digital Cameras

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Life-sized 3D holograms could be coming to your next videoconference

TeleHuman 2 supports multiple viewers looking from any angle

Plain old video calls could soon be made to look very outdated, thanks to new research coming out of Queen's University in Ontario. A team there has produced a 3D teleconferencing system called TeleHuman 2, which enables real-time holograms of people to appear in any location.

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Category: Telecommunications

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Philips 43-inch 4K monitor first to achieve top level HDR certification

The Philips Momentum 436M6VBPAB 4K HDR Quantum Dot monitor is the first in the world to ...

If you use your PC or laptop as an entertainment center or gaming station, then the biggest, brightest and best resolution monitor you can get your hands on is likely a must. Philips has just announced a huge display that should tick all those boxes, and can be had for just shy of a thousand bucks. The Momentum 436M6VBPAB 4K HDR Quantum Dot monitor is the first to be granted VESA DisplayHDR 1000 certification, which means you can look forward to crisp, bright and true-to-life colorful viewing on the 43-inch display.

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Category: Computers

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New polymer could make for infinitely-recyclable plastics

A sample of the infinitely-recyclable polymer developed at Colorado State University

As useful as it is, plastic isn't the most environmentally-friendly material. Our constant use of the stuff has seen huge amounts of it lodged in Arctic sea ice, penetrating to the deepest parts of the ocean and even travelling up the food chain. To try to wean us off it, chemists at Colorado State University have now developed a polymer that apparently has all the benefits, but can be easily broken down and recycled over and over.

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Category: Materials

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Thursday 26 April 2018

Ida Pfeiffer ice-class yacht is built for chilly adventures

Ida Pfeiffer is an ice-class vessel

If you want to take a holiday cruising the Arctic, but prefer to do so in private five-star style, then the Ida Pfeiffer might be the yacht for you. Developed by Globe Regal Yachting in conjunction with Gill Schmid Designs of New York and Dörries Yachts of Bremerhaven, the 1,500-tonne (1,653-ton), diesel-electric luxury cruiser is designed to carry 14 guests and 15 crew into the coldest waters on Earth ... along with a small armada of tenders, rescue boats, sailboats, and even a helicopter and a Triton submarine.

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Category: Marine

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Electronics 3D-printed onto human skin

The printing system can compensate for subtle movements of the hand

Various research institutes have already developed skin-applied electronics, that are pre-made and simply adhered to the user's body. Researchers at the University of Minnesota, however, have taken a different approach. They've developed a method of 3D-printing custom electronics directly onto the skin.

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Category: 3D Printing

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Zaha Hadid-designed tower does the twist

The Generali Tower reaches a height of 170 m (557 ft)

There has been a glut of Zaha Hadid Architects (ZHA)-related news as of late and following the completion of its luxury house and the unveiling of its robot-built school, the firm has now revealed some information on its almost-completed Generali Tower. Located in Milan, Italy, the building has a novel twisting form and features significant sustainable design.

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Category: Architecture

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Transparent robotic eel may be a marine biologist's best friend

The robotic eel, seen here with added fluorescent dye

Although we have seen robotic fish designed to unobtrusively study marine life, scientists more often use rigid remote-operated vehicles with noisy propellers that scare animals. That could eventually change, however, thanks to the development of a totally silent, transparent, soft-bodied robotic eel.

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Category: Robotics

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Tendon-tapping device could help in the healing

The device is adhered to the patient's skin, over one of their tendons

Whether someone is recovering from a tendon injury, or they have an abnormality that makes walking difficult, it can be useful for their doctor to know how much tension their tendons experience when placed under load. A new non-invasive device is designed to provide that information.

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Category: Health & Wellbeing

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