Novel chair switches between sitting, standing and flamingo
From Superinnovators 05/02/24 US startup Movably launched a chair that enables multiple workplace postures via Indiegogo crowdfunding in November 2023, raising £95,624 ($117,762), at £810 ($999) each for the standard model. The Movably Pro is designed to complement standing desks by encouraging movement through its segmented seat panels and integrated software, allowing users to select […]
World’s smallest humanoid built by students
From Superinnovators 05/02/24 Four students in the DBS Robotics team at Hong Kong’s Diocesan Boys’ School, unveiled the world’s smallest humanoid robot on 6 January 2024, standing at 141mm tall. This achievement, 11.3mm shorter than the previous record set in 2022 by Zain Ahmad Qureshi from Pakistan, required the robot to articulate its shoulders, elbows, […]
Buck scientists discover a potential way to repair synapses damaged in Alzheimer’s disease
From Buck Institute for Research on Aging 04/02/24 While newly approved drugs for Alzheimer’s show some promise for slowing the memory-robbing disease, the current treatments fall far short of being effective at regaining memory. What is needed are more treatment options targeted to restore memory, said Buck Assistant Professor Tara Tracy, PhD, the senior author […]
Audiogene, the first clinical trial in France for a gene therapy to treat hearing loss in children
From Institut Pasteur 04/02/24 The aim of this clinical trial, which has just received approval in France, is to assess the safety and efficacy of a new gene therapy drug in children aged between 6 and 31 months with profound hearing loss. Audiogene was developed by a French consortium composed of teams from the Hearing […]
Biodegradable sensor monitors levels of pesticides via direct contact with surface of fruit and vegetables
From Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo 04/02/24 Researchers at the University of São Paulo (USP) and the Federal University of Viçosa (UFV) in Brazil have developed a sustainable sensor that can be placed directly on the surface of a vegetable or fruit to detect the presence of pesticides. Known for […]
Rare 3D fossils show that some early trees had forms unlike any you’ve ever seen
From Cell Press 03/02/24 In the fossil record, trees typically are preserved with only their trunks. They don’t usually include any leaves to show what their canopies and overall forms may have looked like. But now, researchers reporting in the journal Current Biology on February 2 describe fossilized trees from New Brunswick, Canada with a […]
Ants help reveal why sourcing different plants for eco fuels is crucial for biodiversity
From Frontiers 02/02/24 Despite being a renewable energy source, the use of biofuel is controversial, as growing few, highly productive crops for fuel can lead to biodiversity loss in the cropping systems where biomass is produced. A cropping system refers to the crops, their sequence, and the management practices on a given field. Now, researchers […]
Organic electronics lead to new ways to sense light
From Osaka University 02/02/24 The past few decades have seen astonishing advances in imaging technology, from high-speed optical sensors that process over two million frames per second to tiny lensless cameras that record images using a single pixel. In a study recently published in Advanced Materials, researchers from SANKEN (The Institute of Scientific and Industrial […]
New research into hedgehogs injured by robotic lawn mowers discovers a significant but solvable animal welfare and conservation problem
From Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (IZW) 02/02/24 Scientists from the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (Leibniz-IZW) analysed 370 documented cases of hedgehogs being injured (cut) by electric gardening tools in Germany. Almost half of the hedgehogs found between June 2022 and September 2023 did not survive the injuries. The data […]
KAIST research team breaks down musical instincts with AI
From The Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) 02/02/24 Music, often referred to as the universal language, is known to be a common component in all cultures. Then, could ‘musical instinct’ be something that is shared to some degree despite the extensive environmental differences amongst cultures? On January 16, a KAIST research team […]