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The prototype space greenhouse developed by the TIME SCALE project showed that it is possible to recycle nutrients and water to grow food. Image credit - Karoliussen
space | industry
19 May 2020

The food and water systems astronauts will need to travel to places like Mars

If humans are to travel to distant destinations in space like the moon or Mars, they’ll need ways to live for long periods of time. And one of the key challenges of that includes how to have safe food and water to eat and drink when far from Earth.

Scientists are reducing the size and costs of microscopes, which could make this equipment more widely accessible and facilitate faster diagnosis of diseases such as cancer. Image credit - Ed Uthman/Flickr, licenced under CC0 1.0
health | ict | industry
07 May 2020

‘Microscope on a chip’ could bring medical expertise to distant patients

Scientists are reducing the size and costs of medical microscopes to make it possible to use them more widely, and hook them up to experts able to diagnose an illness even from far away.

People working on small farms often find they have back problems after a few years, say researchers who are developing a robotic farming aide. Image credit - Sony computer science laboratories
agriculture | industry
21 April 2020

The robots weeding organic farms and patrolling for greenhouse pests

Robots that use artificial intelligence to recognise the health of fruit and vegetable crops and when they’re ready to harvest are being trialled to help small, organic and greenhouse farmers with weeding and patrolling for pests.

A robot 'recognises' itself in the bathroom mirror. Image credit - Pablo Lanillos
industry | ict
15 April 2020

Why robots are being trained in self-awareness

Robots passing cognitive tests such as recognising themselves in a mirror and being programmed with a human sense of time are showing how machines are being shaped to become a bigger part of our everyday lives.

Skypull's prototype designs are being tested in Switzerland to prove that the concept works before they build a full-size version. Image credit - Skypull
energy | environment | industry
06 April 2020

Flying high: how drones on cables are expanding the scope of wind energy

By harnessing the power of strong winds at higher altitude than turbines reach, airborne wind energy could be another key source of renewable energy, but it will need a combination of successful designs, more robust software and good storytelling to really take off.

The current standard propellant for satellites based on hydrazine, which is highly toxic, so researchers are developing safer alternatives. Image credit - NASA-JPL/Caltech
space | industry
30 March 2020

Making satellites safer: the search for new propellants

Developing new propellants for satellites to replace toxic hydrazine would make launching and handling satellites safer but it also requires disrupting current systems, according to researchers.

When it comes to improving amputees’ quality of life, one of the biggest challenges is making prostheses that feel like a natural part of the user. Image credit - Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Wikimedia Commons
health | frontier research | ict | industry
19 March 2020

The prostheses that could alleviate amputees’ phantom limb pain

New prosthetic technologies that stimulate the nerves could pave the way for prostheses that feel like a natural part of the body and reduce the phantom limb pain commonly endured by amputees.

Dimitra Stefoudi says that researchers should look into how to monitor traffic in space and use data to assess potential threats. Image credit - Dimitra Stefoudi
interview | space | industry
02 March 2020

Q&A: ‘We need to improve how we keep track of objects in space’

We need to improve how we keep track of objects in space and predict where they will go in order to avoid collisions in Earth’s increasingly crowded orbit, according to Dimitra Stefoudi, a space law researcher from Leiden University in the Netherlands.

Light-activated catalysts that can neutralise airborne pollutants are being embedded in paint with a view to cleaning up city air. Image credit - AM Technology
environment | industry | frontier research
16 January 2020

The paints that eat pollutants and heat homes

Applying a coat of paint on the walls of a house may soon help to heat it, saving energy and reducing CO2 emissions. It could also clean the air that we breathe, breaking down chemicals and pollutants, and eliminating harmful pathogens.

Transparent wood is created by stripping out lignin from wood and replacing it with a polymer. Image credit - WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim, licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
industry | frontier research | environment
26 November 2019

Transparent wood: the building material of the future?

When Timothée Boitouzet studied architecture in Japan, where buildings need to survive earthquakes, he realised the next smart material might be one that humans have used for thousands of years – wood.

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