Synthetic cilia allow tiny soft-bodied robot to pump and scuttle

Paramecium and certain other microbes move through liquid by whipping back and forth hairlike appendages known as cilia. Scientists have now developed a new type of synthetic cilia, which could find use in micro-robots and more.Continue ReadingCategory… Continue reading Synthetic cilia allow tiny soft-bodied robot to pump and scuttle

Kobo bigs up E Ink reading with 10.3-inch Elipsa

Though there are apps that allow bookworms to read the latest titles on their smartphones or tablets, many prefer a dedicated ereader. Rakuten Kobo’s new Elipsa model is not only the largest that the company has produced so far, but the first to come w… Continue reading Kobo bigs up E Ink reading with 10.3-inch Elipsa

Hibernating zebrafish offer lessons for healthy human spaceflight

Getting humans safely to a place like Mars is going to pose all kinds of scientific challenges, and a particularly pressing one centers on the rather important issue of human health. Astronauts enduring long-periods in space may be in danger of changes… Continue reading Hibernating zebrafish offer lessons for healthy human spaceflight

“Micro-tree” hybrid harvester purifies water and wrings it out of air

Water scarcity is one of humanity’s most pressing problems. Now engineers at Caltech have developed a new system that can tap into two different sources to produce fresh drinking water, by purifying dirty water during the day and collecting droplets fr… Continue reading “Micro-tree” hybrid harvester purifies water and wrings it out of air

Tardigrades fired from a gun to test theory asteroids seed life

Tardigrades are some of the toughest lifeforms ever discovered, and it’s been proposed that they (or similar organisms) could seed life through the cosmos by hitching rides on asteroids. Now, researchers at the University of Kent have tested the hypoth… Continue reading Tardigrades fired from a gun to test theory asteroids seed life

Entirely new form of carbon follows the lead of graphene

Researchers in Europe have developed an entirely new form of carbon, one that bears similarities to the wonder material graphene but with some useful differences. The incredibly thin sheets of material offer some electrical properties that other forms … Continue reading Entirely new form of carbon follows the lead of graphene

Candle compound brings high density to grid-scale battery technology

As the world continues its shift towards renewable forms of energy like wind and solar, scientists see devices known as redox flow batteries as part of the solution to our storage needs. There is still come work to do in bringing current designs up to … Continue reading Candle compound brings high density to grid-scale battery technology

How an extra thumb changes the way your brain perceives the hand

A few years ago a London-based designer named Dani Clode introduced the world to the Third Thumb, a novel robotic finger controlled using pressure sensors under one’s feet. The project was more a novelty than a prototype, exploring futurist ideas surro… Continue reading How an extra thumb changes the way your brain perceives the hand

Cancer vaccine and immunotherapy team up against tumors

Cancer treatments have long been limited to things like chemotherapy and radiation therapy, but in recent years more effective methods are emerging. Now, scientists at the University of Konstanz have found that combining two experimental methods – a va… Continue reading Cancer vaccine and immunotherapy team up against tumors

Accelerated biological aging seen in prematurely born males

A unique study using epigenetic markers to track biological aging has found prematurely born males, of extremely low birth weight, seem to age more rapidly than prematurely born females with similar birth weight. Why this is the case is unclear but the… Continue reading Accelerated biological aging seen in prematurely born males