Ocean Cleanup unveils System 03: Three times bigger
By Charles Carter, 30/09/22 Non-profit foundation The Ocean Cleanup has unveiled a concept of the third iteration of its ocean rubbish collection system which is three times bigger than its previous contraption. They have so far harvested over 100k kilograms of plastic from the Great Pacific Garbage Patch (GPGP) with System 002, but their models […]
Bipedal bot achieves 100m world record
By Charles Carter, 29/09/22 Engineers at Oregon State University (OSU) have achieved the 100m Guinness World Record for a bidpedal bot using the Cassie platform built by OSU spin out Agility Robotics. The bizarre looking two-legged machine with no torso, head or arms, powered across OSU’s Whyte Track and Field Center in a cool 24.73 […]
Portable e-bike conversion kit
By Charles Carter, 28/09/22 Innovators at Lithuania’s Rubbee have created a simple e-bike conversion kit that uses a small rubber drive wheel to transmit power to the rear bike wheel through friction. The team secured over $170k in crowdfunding through campaigns in 2013 and 2018 on Kickstarter and Indiegogo, culminating in the latest Rubbee X […]
NASA smash spacecraft into asteroid in planetary defense test
By Charles Carter, 27/09/22 Innovators at NASA have smashed their DART spacecraft into asteroid moonlet Dimorphos in the world’s first planetary defense test of asteroid deflection. They aim to prove that humanity can change the course of future asteroids that are headed for earth to avoid disaster, by intentionally hitting them with spacecraft. The team […]
Zero gravity spinning waterslide
By Charles Carter, 26/09/22 Engineering innovators at Aquapark Reda, Poland and German designers Wiegand.Waterides built a spinning waterslide that creates moments of weightlessness. The AquaSpinner slide opened in 2020 and was awarded 1st place for Europe’s Best New Water Slide as part of the European Star Awards 2020. How does it work? The slide is […]
Scanning the brain in unprecedented detail
By Charles Carter, 19/09/22 Innovators from UCL and European Synchrotron Research Facility (ESRF) have developed a new 3D X-ray technique for scanning intact organs in unprecedented detail. The team hope the new approach will improve the understanding of health and disease by enabling analysis of organ damage at the macro and sub-cellular level, side by […]
Autonomous drifting DeLorean
By Charles Carter, 16/9/22 In 2019, innovators at Stanford University engineered a 1981 DeLorean with autonomous drifting capability to improve driver safety and collision avoidance. The idea is that when an autonomous car needs to make an emergency maneuver, such as swerving to avoid a pedestrian or another vehicle, use of expert drifting techniques could […]
Eco-friendly shampoo bottle made of soap
By Charles Carter, 14/9/22 Dutch innovators SOAPBOTTLE have developed a shampoo and shower gel bottle made from soap to help reduce plastic waste. The idea is that when you’ve finished with the liquid inside, you use up the soap packaging, until there’s none of it left. The startup team, consisting of three women and one […]