Uber hires 'flying car engineer' from Nasa
A former Nasa engineer has been hired by taxi-hailing firm Uber to help its research into flying cars. Mark Moore is joining Uber's Elevate division as its director of engineering for aviation. Uber's interest in flying cars was outlined in a White Paper in October, which discussed vertical Read More...
Colombia begins peace talks with ELN rebels to end 52-year war
Colombia's Marxist ELN rebels began official peace talks with the government on Tuesday in a bid to end their part in a five-decade conflict that has killed hundreds of thousands of people, damaged the economy and left millions displaced. The National Liberation Army (ELN), the nation's Read More...
Tarantulas inspire new structural color with the greatest viewing angle
Inspired by the hair of blue tarantulas, researchers from The University of Akron lead a team that made a structural-colored material that shows consistent color from all viewing directions. This finding overturns the conventional wisdom that long-range order photonic structures are always Read More...
Energy companies are fitting wind turbines to lampposts to make electricity
Millions of lampposts could be fitted with wind turbines connected directly into the National Grid. IT and technology firm NVT Group and Own Energy, which designed the small turbine that will be used, have formed a joint partnership that will create 25 jobs over the next year. However the firms Read More...
Why dirt will be as valuable as water in a warming world
After five years of historic drought, Californians have come to view water as a valuable natural resource. But there is another resource they probably haven’t thought about that may be just as valuable: Mud. Or more specifically, sediment. Water makes sediment by the process of Read More...
UK electric vehicle boom drives new car sales to 12-year high
The number of new cars registered in the UK hit a 12-year high in January, with electric vehicles taking a record share of the market, according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT). The industry body had warned of a slowdown in the motor trade in 2017 because of the impact of Read More...
This new technology could make globalization work for everyone
There are many good things about globalization. The blending of cultures and races creates a global human family that could live in more harmony and peace with each other and the planet. The challenge is that globalization—as we know it—doesn’t work well enough. There are too many people who Read More...
Survey: The 13 countries with best work-life balance for expats
Achieving a healthy work-life balance is a top priority for most people. And there are some countries that promote a better culture of that than others. A survey by InterNations, the world’s largest network for people who live and work abroad, rated 43 different aspects of life abroad on a scale Read More...
In Paris you can pee to grow flowers
Nocturnal peeing is a problem. It leaves an unpleasant stench that is surprisingly costly and labor intensive to clean up. For example: Paris scrubs 1,800 square miles of pavement every day. So, cities are working hard to find a fix: Amsterdam has retractable toilets that rise from the ground. Read More...
China doubles solar capacity and is now the world’s largest solar power producer
China has the most people—and now the most solar panels. China’s National Energy Administration has claimed the title of the world’s biggest producer of solar energy after the country announced that it had doubled its installed photovoltaic (PV) capacity last year. By the end of 2016, Read More...