Scientists have created a patch made from rubbery electronics that can be placed directly onto the heart to collect data that can help treat heart disease. The flexible patch is capable of measuring electrophysiological activity, temperature, heartbeat and other indicators, all at the same time. The University of Houston team behind the project said their … Read more
A spider web-inspired solution made possible using 3D printing could provide unprecedented protection for smartphone screens in the future. A research team at Polytechnique Montréal, Canada, has demonstrated a fabric designed using additive manufacturing which they claim can absorb up to 96 per cent of impact energy without breaking. This could lead to the creation … Read more
Researchers are looking to recruit young people to use their MyMoodCoach app in order to assess the effectiveness of digital self-help apps. The app is designed to prevent anxiety and depression and improve wellbeing and brings together the latest research on self-monitoring, self-help techniques and cognitive behavioural therapy. The team from the University of Exeter … Read more
A 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 growing droughts. The team’s atmospheric … Read more
Researchers have found that altering 2D materials could improve the capabilities of optical and electronic devices. The research, led by Shengxi Huang, assistant professor of electrical engineering and biomedical engineering at Penn State University, found that altering the material in two different ways – atomically and physically – could enhance light emission and increase signal strength in many devices that … Read more
Scientists at Oxford University have developed a rapid Covid-19 test, which is capable of identifying the virus in less than five minutes. The researchers behind the test suggested it could be used in mass testing at airports. The university aims to start product development in early 2021 and have an approved device available six months afterwards. … Read more
The first half of 2020 has seen the largest-ever drop in carbon emissions in a single year, with bigger falls than the financial crisis of 2008, the 1979 oil crisis and even World War II. An international team of researchers estimated that the world saw 8.8 per cent less carbon dioxide emitted in 2020 than … Read more
A system that collects tyre dust – particles of tyre that are emitted when a vehicle is in operation – as they are emitted, has won its creators the James Dyson Award. Tyre wear is the second-largest microplastic pollutant in our ocean after single-use plastic and accounts for up to 50 per cent of PM2.5 … Read more
Researchers say they have successfully addressed what they call a ‘major, long-standing obstacle to increasing AI capabilities’ by drawing inspiration from a human brain memory mechanism known as ‘replay’. Artificial intelligence (AI) experts at the University of Massachusetts (UMass) Amherst and the Baylor College of Medicine said they have developed a new method to protect – … Read more
Heavily inspired by graffiti spray art, a team of researchers at the University of Bristol have developed a special spray coat that allows the creation of interactive displays on 3D objects. Eclipsing the appeal of traditional square and rectangular casings, the new technology, called ProtoSpray, makes it possible to ‘spray’ touch-sensitive screens onto objects as … Read more