eeDesignIt

Combination of materials harvest broader range of solar energy

Editorial Team Aug 31, 2016

Clean energy source still accounts for just slightly more than 1% of the world’s electricity mix, and yet the cost of solar power is beginning to reach price parity with cheaper fossil fuel-based electricity in many parts of the world.…

3D Printing

The largest solid 3D-printed item will help build Boeing aircraft

Editorial Team Aug 30, 2016

The Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) has just received recognition for largest solid 3D-printed item ever created. The 3D printed trim-and-drill tool was developed in just 30 hours using carbon fiber and ABS…

A&D

DNA was successfully sequenced in space for the first time ever

Editorial Team Aug 30, 2016

For the first time ever, a NASA astronaut has successfully sequenced DNA in microgravity. The feat was conducted as part of the Biomolecule Sequencer experiment aboard the International Space Station and opens the doors to a plethora of…

Wearables

Fit tech and gym gadgets

Daisy Stapley-Bunten Aug 30, 2016

by Daisy Stapley-Bunten. With the development of apps such as ‘Pokémon Go’, technology has started to encourage tech geeks to venture outdoors and be active. But not just for the gamer, there has also been a surge in technology for…

Materials

A push and a shovel

Editorial Team Aug 30, 2016

MIT engineers now say you can trust a very simple equation to calculate the force required to push a shovel — and any other “intruder”— through sand; great news for those who take sandcastle building very seriously. The team also found that…

Energy

Train windows that combine mobile reception and thermal insulation

Editorial Team Aug 30, 2016

A type of glass that offers excellent energy efficiency and lets mobile telephone signals through has been developed by researchers from EPFL. And by teaming up with Swiss manufacturers, they have produced innovative windows. Railway…

Computer/Machine Learning

Using accelerometer data to help voice disorders

Editorial Team Aug 30, 2016

Speech is the most basic instinct, and yet, for many people, talking can be taxing. One in 14 working-age Americans suffer from voice disorders that are often associated with abnormal vocal behaviors — some of which can cause damage to…

A&D

NASA five-year long competition draws to a conclusion

Editorial Team Aug 30, 2016

NASA’s Sample Return Robot Challenge has reached its final stage, after five years of competition by more than 40 different teams from around the globe. The top seven teams will compete for the $1.36m prize purse on the campus of Worcester…

A&D

NASA astronaut breaks time-in-space record

Editorial Team Aug 30, 2016

NASA astronaut and Expedition 48 Commander Jeff Williams surpassed 520 days living in space on Wednesday, 24th August, breaking Scott Kelly’s previous record for most cumulative time spent in space by a US astronaut, set during Kelly’s…

Computers

50% of Internet users still click on unknown links

Editorial Team Aug 29, 2016

After everything we've learned about Internet security and how to protect ourselves from malicious attacks, you'd think less people would click on links unknown to them or sent by unknown users – but that's not the case. Dr. Zinaida…