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Motion capture is guiding the next generation of extraterrestrial robots

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“How do we build robots that can optimally explore space?” is the core question behind Dr Frances Zhu’s research at the University of Hawai’i. One part of the answer is, “with motion capture”.

“It is my hope that my research contributes to the way extraterrestrial robots move and make decisions on other planets,” explains Zhu (main picture), an assistant researcher and deputy director at the University’s Hawai‘i Institute of Geophysics and Planetology.

That research is in its early stages, but NASA has seen the value in it and awarded Zhu an EPSCoR grant by the name “Autonomous Rover Operations for Planetary Surface Exploration using Machine Learning Algorithms”. [Read more…] about Motion capture is guiding the next generation of extraterrestrial robots

Desolination: Unique energy and water project combines solar power and desalination

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A unique, €10 million European “Desolination” project, involving 19 partners and 12 countries, aims to develop a first-of-its-kind efficient coupling of concentrated solar power and desalination techniques.

The Horizon 2020 Desolination project started in June, this year and will last 48 months until May 2025.

During this time, innovative technologies related to both concentrated solar power and desalination will be designed to improve the efficiency of existing concepts. [Read more…] about Desolination: Unique energy and water project combines solar power and desalination

Scientists create rechargeable swimming microrobots using oil and water

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By combining oil drops with water containing a detergent-like substance, the scientists found they could produce artificial swimmers that are able to swim independently and even harvest energy to recharge.

The oil droplets use fluctuating temperature changes in their surrounding environment to store energy and to swim. When cooled, the droplets release thin ‘tail-like’ threads into the environment. The friction generated between the tails and surrounding fluid, pushes the droplet causing them to move.

On heating, the droplets then retract their tails returning to their original state, and harness the heat from their environment to recharge. [Read more…] about Scientists create rechargeable swimming microrobots using oil and water

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  • Better batteries start with basics – and a big computer
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    Better batteries start with basics – and a big computerTo understand the fundamental properties of an industrial solvent, chemists with the University of Cincinnati turned to a supercomputer. UC chemistry professor and department head Thomas Beck and UC graduate student Andrew Eisenhart ran quantum simulations to understand glycerol carbonate, a compound used in biodiesel and as a common solvent.…
    Tags: water, energy, study, simple, basic, people, chemical, physical, news

USC study shows dire impacts downstream of Nile River dam

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Rapid filling of a giant dam at the headwaters of the Nile River – the world’s biggest waterway that supports millions of people – could reduce water supplies to downstream Egypt by more than one-third, new USC research shows.

A water deficit of that magnitude, if unmitigated, could potentially destabilize a politically volatile part of the world by reducing arable land in Egypt by up to 72%. The study projects that economic losses to agriculture would reach $51 billion. The gross domestic product loss would push unemployment to 24%, displacing lots of people and disrupting economies.

“Our study forecasts dire water supply impacts downstream, causing what would be the largest water stress dispute in modern human history,” said Essam Heggy, a research scientist at the USC Viterbi School of Engineering and lead author of the study. [Read more…] about USC study shows dire impacts downstream of Nile River dam

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  • Solar and wind power could mitigate conflict in northeast Africa
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    Solar and wind power could mitigate conflict in northeast AfricaA new study shows that several disagreements between Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt around Africa's largest hydropower plant, the new Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), could be alleviated by massively expanding solar and wind power across the region. Adapting GERD operation to support grid integration of solar and wind power would…
    Tags: water, dam, egypt, study, nile, river, features

Making seawater drinkable in minutes

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According to the World Health Organization, about 785 million people around the world lack a clean source of drinking water. Despite the vast amount of water on Earth, most of it is seawater and freshwater accounts for only about 2.5% of the total.

One of the ways to provide clean drinking water is to desalinate seawater. The Korea Institute of Civil Engineering and Building Technology (KICT) has announced the development of a stable performance electrospun nanofiber membrane to turn seawater into drinking water by membrane distillation process.

Membrane wetting is the most challenging issue in membrane distillation. If a membrane exhibits wetting during membrane distillation operation, the membrane must be replaced. [Read more…] about Making seawater drinkable in minutes

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  • Insect-sized robot navigates mazes with the agility of a cheetah
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    Insect-sized robot navigates mazes with the agility of a cheetahMany insects and spiders get their uncanny ability to scurry up walls and walk upside down on ceilings with the help of specialized sticky footpads that allow them to adhere to surfaces in places where no human would dare to go. Engineers at the University of California, Berkeley, have used…
    Tags: news, technology
  • Self-watering soil could transform farming
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    Self-watering soil could transform farmingA new type of soil created by engineers at The University of Texas at Austin can pull water from the air and distribute it to plants, potentially expanding the map of farmable land around the globe to previously inhospitable places and reducing water use in agriculture at a time of…
    Tags: water, news
  • Tau invents wire that doubles the power of electric motors and raises €10.25 million
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    Tau invents wire that doubles the power of electric motors and raises €10.25 millionA startup company called Tau, which specializes in materials science and automotive electrification, says it has delivered a prototype wire that enables electric motors to double their power output without changing their size.  The technology could mean that electric vehicles and machines of all kinds can keep going for longer…
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  • About
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    Science & Technology News aims to be one of the top and most trusted information providers in the sector. We publish stories ranging from technological advancements here on Earth and up to what is beyond in the realms of the unknown galaxies – and everything in between. This news website is…
    Tags: news, technology
  • Population and climate change point to future water shortages
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    Population and climate change point to future water shortagesA new study suggests that reductions in agricultural water use will probably play the biggest role in limiting future water shortages. Climate change plus population growth are setting the stage for water shortages in parts of the U.S. long before the end of the century, according to a new study…
    Tags: water, news

Did the ancient Maya have parks?

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The ancient Maya city of Tikal was a bustling metropolis and home to tens of thousands of people.

The city comprised roads, paved plazas, towering pyramids, temples and palaces and thousands of homes for its residents, all supported by agriculture.

Now researchers at the University of Cincinnati say Tikal’s reservoirs – critical sources of city drinking water – were lined with trees and wild vegetation that would have provided scenic natural beauty in the heart of the busy city. [Read more…] about Did the ancient Maya have parks?

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  • In Guatemala, archaeologist helps to uncover hidden neighborhood in ancient Maya city
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    In Guatemala, archaeologist helps to uncover hidden neighborhood in ancient Maya cityScientists have been excavating the ruins of Tikal, an ancient Maya city in modern-day Guatemala, since the 1950s – and thanks to those many decades spent documenting details of every structure and cataloguing each excavated item, Tikal has become one of the best understood and most thoroughly studied archaeological sites…
    Tags: tikal, maya, city, archaeology, features, ancient
  • Ancient Maya built sophisticated water filters
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    Ancient Maya built sophisticated water filtersAncient Maya in the once-bustling city of Tikal built sophisticated water filters using natural materials they imported from miles away, according to the University of Cincinnati. UC researchers discovered evidence of a filter system at the Corriental reservoir, an important source of drinking water for the ancient Maya in what…
    Tags: water, ancient, maya, uc, archaeology

Aquaponics treatment system inspired by sewage plants grows tastier crops and keeps fish healthy

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A current challenge for sustainable aquaculture is how to increase the quantities of farmed fish while also reducing waste products that can lead to the accumulation of harmful fish sludge.

New research aims to understand how this fish waste can be treated for use in aquaponics systems, by removing excessive carbon, yet preserving the mineral nutrients required by plants to grow.

In this study in Frontiers in Plant Science, researchers from the Department of Marine Sciences at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, demonstrate a novel and effective way to convert this fish sludge into plant fertilizer and therefore improving the nutrients available for plants in hydroponic plant cultivation. [Read more…] about Aquaponics treatment system inspired by sewage plants grows tastier crops and keeps fish healthy

Did heat from impacts on asteroids provide the ingredients for life on Earth?

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A research group from Kobe University has demonstrated that the heat generated by the impact of a small astronomical body could enable aqueous alteration and organic solid formation to occur on the surface of an asteroid.

They achieved this by first conducting high-velocity impact cratering experiments using an asteroid-like target material and measuring the post-impact heat distribution around the resulting crater.

From these results, they then established a rule-of-thumb for maximum temperature and the duration of the heating, and developed a heat conduction model from this. [Read more…] about Did heat from impacts on asteroids provide the ingredients for life on Earth?

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    Planetary defense: Physicists propose new way to defend Earth against cosmic impactsIs Planetary Defense PI in the Sky? In February of 2013, skywatchers around the world turned their attention toward asteroid 2012 DA14, a cosmic rock about 150 feet (50 meters) in diameter that was going to fly closer to Earth than the spacecraft that bring us satellite TV. Little did…
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Population and climate change point to future water shortages

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A new study suggests that reductions in agricultural water use will probably play the biggest role in limiting future water shortages.

Climate change plus population growth are setting the stage for water shortages in parts of the U.S. long before the end of the century, according to a new study in the AGU journal Earth’s Future.

Even efforts to use water more efficiently in municipal and industrial sectors won’t be enough to stave off shortages, say the authors of the new study. The results suggest that reductions in agricultural water use will probably play the biggest role in limiting future water shortages. [Read more…] about Population and climate change point to future water shortages

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  • Self-watering soil could transform farming
    45
    Self-watering soil could transform farmingA new type of soil created by engineers at The University of Texas at Austin can pull water from the air and distribute it to plants, potentially expanding the map of farmable land around the globe to previously inhospitable places and reducing water use in agriculture at a time of…
    Tags: water, news, environment
  • Will global warming bring a change in the winds? Dust from the deep sea provides a clue
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    Will global warming bring a change in the winds? Dust from the deep sea provides a clueThe westerlies – or westerly winds – play an important role in weather and climate both locally and on a global scale, by influencing precipitation patterns, impacting ocean circulation and steering tropical cyclones. So, finding a way to assess how they will change as the climate warms is crucial. Typically,…
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  • Snow chaos in Europe caused by melting sea-ice in the Arctic
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    Snow chaos in Europe caused by melting sea-ice in the ArcticThey are diligently stoking thousands of bonfires on the ground close to their crops, but the French winemakers are fighting a losing battle. An above-average warm spell at the end of March has been followed by days of extreme frost, destroying the vines with losses amounting to 90 percent above…
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  • How climate change and fires are shaping the forests of the future
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    How climate change and fires are shaping the forests of the futureForest fires are already a global threat. "But considering how climate change is progressing, we are probably only at the beginning of a future that will see more and bigger forest fires," explains Rupert Seidl, Professor of Ecosystem Dynamics and Forest Management in Mountain Landscapes at TUM. In many places,…
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  • Groundwater wells worldwide run risk of running dry
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    Groundwater wells worldwide run risk of running dryAs many as 20% of groundwater wells worldwide are at risk of running dry if groundwater reserves continue to decline according to a new study, which evaluated data from nearly 39 million wells from across the globe. The findings reveal critical vulnerabilities to even modest reductions in groundwater levels, suggesting…
    Tags: water, news, environment