Better Efficiency Quantum Dot Solar Windows

The double-pane windows were equipped with manganese-doped quantum dots, absorbing blue and ultraviolet, on the surface of the front glass pane, and copper indium selenide quantum dots, absorbing the rest of the spectrum, on the back pane’s surface. Once light is absorbed, dots re-emit it at a longer wavelength. Total internal reflection guides the light to the edges, where it […]

Smarter Vision

There are four modes to the Relúm?no app and glasses, each using image processing software to enhance vision. Regular mode helps to better define shapes by making outlines more visually prominent, reducing blurriness, while Color Invert mode is designed for reading text, inverting black-on-white text and enhancing contrast. Partial vision mode is designed for those who have central or peripheral […]

Shapa’s Scale- Helping Weight Loss Using Psychology

  Weighing yourself after the holidays can be an emotionally trying process, especially if you’ve gone heavy on the turkey sandwiches. Oftentimes, the bad news sends you reaching for the comfort of the leftover chips and candy to get you through the cold winter months. However, Shapa, the new scale from behavioral scientist Dan Ariely, is designed to keep you ignorant […]

Adjust The Tint For Your Own Preference

Smart homes, once a fantastical element of sci-fi stories, are quickly becoming the new normal, as ever more “smart” appliances hit the market. With the growing popularity of digital assistants like Alexa (a 2017 study by the Consumer Technology Association predicted that 44 percent of adults in the United States plan to buy a smart speaker in 2018) consumers automate many […]

Robotic Cat Pillow

Three weeks ago, Yukai Engineering wrapped up a successful Kickstarter campaign in which it raised approximately $110,000 for the Qoobo, which is a pillow with a robotic cat tail that responds to physical interaction with the user. Now, interested buyers in the US and Japan can pre-order the Qoobo for expected delivery in fall 2018. The US price is $89 per pillow. The […]

Targetting The Millenials

It’s not surprising that sustainability is becoming a huge component of people’s shopping choices—or at least the perception of sustainability, according to a post on Fast Company. Marketing company The Shelton Group, run by Suzanne Shelton, share their findings about the way millennials in America currently shop. Basically, they wouldn’t be caught dead buying from brands that are considered bad for the planet. There […]

The Future Of Transport Costs

PAYING FOR TRANSPORTATION Whether you drive, take public transportation, or a combination of both, you’re likely familiar with paying for tolls, parking, tickets, and many of the other aspects integral to modern transportation. This could change with advancing technologies and the continued growth of Passport, a company that manages the technical side of these transportation transactions, which just raised $43 million. […]

Tokyo’s Farming Train

As urban farming becomes increasingly popular across the globe, Tokyo’s most-used rapid transit system, Tokyo Metro, is dabbling in hydroponic farming in an unused warehouse space below the system’s elevated transit lines. The project, called Tokyo Salad, takes the idea of urban farming to the next level. Celebrated as a way to save resources by bringing food closer to the people who […]

Flu Shots A Thing Of The Past?

University of Washington School of Medicine researchers are hoping to one day offer an alternative to the annual flu shot: a DNA vaccine. The vaccine could offer long-lasting protection from all flu virus strains. A DNA vaccine could instruct a person’s skin cells to generate antigens and induce antibodies and T cell responses to fight the flu, according to UW Medicine. A gene gun device could […]

Not Just A Lamp

Designed to look like an hourglass, but one filled with light, rather than sand, the JAL is rather appropriately named because its conception wasn’t intentional. It’s beautiful no doubt, but its inspiration seems so casual, it’s almost comedic that something this aesthetic developed from it. Designed to look like a martini-esque hourglass with an ambient lightbulb in it, the JAL’s […]