Miscellaneous
Crowdfunding the world's largest, greenest aircraft
The Hindenburg is back from its ashes, with much better technology. The British company Hybrid Air Vehicles has built an airship that can reach 100 mph, remain airborne for weeks, land anywhere flat. The Airlander’s hull fills with 38,000m3 of helium and is 30% longer than a Boeing 747. Civil Read More...
A wheel to lift African farmers out of perpetual poverty
An adjustable, flexible wheel is how Malawi-native and Royal Collage of Art graduate Ackeem Ngwenya intends to remedy the lack of road infrastructure in rural Africa. The ability to transport farm goods farther, or in bigger quantity, than what women and children on foot are able to carry on their Read More...
Electricity-generating plastic opens door to endless possibilities in green energy and medical applications
Polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) is a plastic used in tubing that can produce electricity when stretched, or change shape when touched by electricity. Possible innovative applications are seemingly endless, including in the green energy or medical fields (think artificial muscles.) Scientists at Read More...
Stella McCartney promises to help fashion industry become sustainable
Today’s special paper edition of the highly influential British fashion website Business of Fashion boldly delves into the fashion industry’s top seven issues, including the human cost of garment manufacturing and environmental sustainability. A special event held in London last week ahead of Read More...
Welfare in America breeds entrepreneurship, research shows
Social programs provide a safety net that promotes entrepreneurial risk taking, according to several research projects that studied the correlation between welfare and business creation in America. These results may seem startling in a country that has long taken pride in the dream of Read More...
Mining for gold in sewage
Wastewater is a potential mine of valuable metals, according to researchers at the United States Geological Survey, who presented their findings Monday at the National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society. Consumers encounter metals everywhere in their daily life, including in Read More...
Happiness? Go Scandinavia!
The International Day of Happiness, last Friday, was the perfect time to be reminded that Denmark is the happiest country on Earth, according to the most recent United Nations happiness study available. It is closely followed by Norway, the Netherlands, Sweden, Finland and even Iceland. Canada and Read More...
Virgin is working on electric cars, may take on Tesla
Sometimes it seems that Elon Musk and Tesla are already dominating the emerging electric car future. But that may not be for long. Yesterday Richard Branson told Bloomberg that his Virgin Group that covers airlines, mobile phones, spaceships and more, is working on electric cars. Branson spoke with Read More...
Landmark ruling in Connecticut could erase marijuana possession convictions
In the U.S., a conviction for possession of marijuana can follow you for a lifetime. This may change. Earlier this week, Connecticut’s supreme court ruled in favor of 31-year-old Nicholas Menditto who argued that his two marijuana possession convictions should be erased now that less than a Read More...
3-D printing in science fiction way works up to 100X faster
Current 3-D printing is, in fact, 2-D printing repeated until a three-dimensional object emerges. As clever as it is, it’s a long and cumbersome process that takes hours. Yesterday at TED 2015 Joseph DeSimone, professor at the University of North Caroline Chapel Hill, and cofounder of Carbon3D, Read More...