World first as scientists manage to make carbon fiber using plants, not oil
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF The knock on impact of being able to produce cheap carbon fiber at scale could help us create stronger, lighter drones, prosthetics and robots, as well as improve the fuel economy of all manner of vehicles, from aircraft to cars. Carbon fiber is the...
Washing machines get a whole lot greener thanks to new Xeros polymer bead system
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Doing the laundry uses lots of detergent, energy and water, and creates grey water by product, but Xeros’ new polymer bead washing system cuts this down by over 80 percent. Sometimes it’s easy to forget that products we take for granted, and use every...
America’s most powerful supercomputer is building superior AI’s
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF It normally takes human data scientists and the best AI’s weeks to build neural network software, but ORNL’s Titan supercomputer is building them in a day, and the AI’s it’s producing are far superior to anything humans can create. Last year, in a world...
Scientists have created the world’s first wormhole in a lab
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Wormholes that transfer electromagnetic signals, energy and other “stuff” via an unknown dimension are the stuff of science fiction, but they also have practical applications in healthcare, apparently. Sci-fi fans around the world have long been waiting for the news that we can, finally...
MIT’s new Smart Tattoo is like having a doctor on your arm
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Wearables might not have taken off as much as anyone hoped but companies are still experimenting with new technologies that help us monitor and track our health better than before. Apparently there’s a common problem with health-tracking devices like smart watches and the other things that...
MIT’s Rapid Liquid Printing technology could be the future of furniture
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF 3D printing will undoubtedly change how the world makes goods, but it’s still expensive and slow, now we’re seeing a slew of new technologies that are trying to speed up manufacturing and change the game. Coming hot on the heels of another new 3D...
3D printed living inks breakthrough could revolutionise manufacturing
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Bacteria have some amazing capabilities and soon we’ll be able to harness them to help us 3D print and create new exotic materials and products like never before. This week researchers unveiled a new kind of 3D Printing platform that, rather than using the...
New holographic printing technique is thousands times faster than regular 3D printing
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF 3D printing is revolutionising the world of manufacturing, but it’s still slow. This new technique, which prints objects using light, is thousands of times faster. 3D printing, also known as Additive manufacturing, is an amazing technology that’s helping revolutionise a range of industries, from...
IBM’s AI learns how to predict the outcomes of chemical reactions
WHY THIS MATTERS BRIEF Chemistry is the basis and foundation of everything on Earth and being able to predict the outcomes of new chemical reactions will help industries create new compounds and new materials faster than ever before. By thinking of atoms as letters and molecules as words an...
New solid state coolant could spell the end of exploding batteries
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF The world has an insatiable thirst for cooling, whether it’s cool fridges and freezers, or as a way to cool our gadgets increasingly powerful batteries and electronics, now solid state cooling could put an end to things that go boom in the night. There...
MIT’s new AI is helping scientists design new, futuristic materials
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Materials are a fundamental building block of everything in existence today, whether it’s cells, our power plants or our smartphones and devices, now researchers have built an AI to help them automate the discovery of new materials and it could revolutionise everything. Over the...
Researchers have discovered how to build self-healing fusion reactors
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Nuclear fusion is being hailed as the next revolutionary power source but the reactions are tearing the reactors apart, but now researchers have found a way to create the first generation of self-healing fusion reactors. As anyone in the energy business will be able...
Researchers use 3D printing to create a soft electronic wearable
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Electronics are normally hard and that makes them difficult to integrate into wearable devices or clothing, but now new soft electronics could pave the way for a whole host of new applications The human skin, even 3D Printed artificial skin, is amazing, but in...
NASA 4D prints new materials and mulls printing self-assembling space stations
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Transporting equipment into space is very, very expensive so NASA has turned to 4D printing to help it create new materials and types of space craft. Space is a harsh unforgiving environment and just getting into orbit is still, despite Elon Musk and SpaceX’s...
Paper made from stone is transforming the paper industry
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF For thousands of years paper has been made using pulp from trees, but a few years ago that changed and now paper made from stone is hitting the shelves in a big way. If you haven’t heard of paper that’s made from stone before...
Breakthrough in 3D printing with bacteria could revolutionise global manufacturing
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF In many ways bacteria are nature’s factories, and with a bit of genetic tweaking they can be seconded to help print revolutionary new drugs, materials and products A team of researchers at Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands have pioneered an inexpensive method for...
Oracle’s America’s Cup yacht will never sail, because it flies
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Today’s ultra expensive racing yachts don’t float, they fly, and this years America’s cup could see the first time a boats’ hull never hits the water As far as sporting trophies go, it’s hard to find any older than the America’s Cup. Sailing teams have...
New nano material gives buildings, energy and stealth a big boost
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF A new nano material that can selectively tune out specific parts of the electromagnetic spectrum paves the way for cheaper solar power, stealthier fighter aircraft and more energy efficient buildings. A new flexible nano super material that’s been developed by a team at the University...
World’s tightest atomic knot will help scientists create new super materials
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Knots haved helped society advance, whether it’s helping us make clothes or kevlar, now the world’s tightest atomic knot might help create a new generation of super materials. In a feat that breaks one of the most obscure world records in science, a team...
The US Army wants biodegradable bullets that grow plants
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Every year armies around the world use millions of rounds of ammunition during training exercises but these can cause a trail of environmental devastation which takes generations to recover from, the US Army want to create a new legacy. Not only are bullets a...
