Bugbot. Half-Insect, Half-Machine.

A piezoelectric beam attached to a Green June Beetle reveals the optimum location to scavenge energy and shows that up to 115 µW total power can be generated from the insect’s body movements. Image credit: Aktakka, et al.

 

“For many years, researchers have been working on designing and fabricating micro-air-vehicles (MAVs), flying robots the size of small insects.

But after realizing how difficult it is to create a tiny, lightweight flying vehicle capable of carrying a payload and being powered by a long-life onboard power source, some researchers have recently stopped trying to copy real-life insects and started using the insects themselves, with a few small tweaks.

For instance, using tiny stimulators near their antennae, electrodes implanted in their central nervous systems, or neuromuscular interfaces, researchers have found that it’s easier to control insect’s brains – and therefore, flight – than to build robotic insects from scratch.”

Need For Speed. For Electricity.

“What if we used the kinetic energy from fast moving vehicles to change a magnetic field to generate electricity? Apply the same methodology to high-speed rails and you’ve got yourself a new power source sort of speak.

Benefits? Higher efficiency of generating electricity, relatively simple installation and infrastructure, no pollution and it’s not affected by most weather conditions.”

 

 

“London, New York, Paris – what do they all have in common? Apart from being among the world’s most energy-hungry cities, they all have underground subway systems. These public transport systems help millions of people each day to get to and from work, but what if they could also be used to help power these metropolises?

Vycon Energy, who makes industrial flywheels, believes that they can tap the immense amount of kinetic energy carried by moving subway trains to subsidize city power systems. Not only would this reduce emissions, but it would also help to avoid peak power emergencies.”

New Nanotech Fabric May Replace Gas Masks

“Say goodbye to the bulky, duckbilled respirators of yore. Gas masks of the future will be as thin as cloth, according to textile scientists at Cornell University.

Senior apparel-design student Jennifer Keane worked with the school’s Textiles Nanotechnology Laboratory to create a fabric hood and mask that selectively traps noxious fumes and odors.

Funded in part by the U.S. Department of Defense, the high-tech ensemble uses clustered crystalline compounds known as metal organic framework (MOF) molecules to form nano-size “cages” for gases such as carbon monoxide.”