We’ve seen flexible supercapacitor designs before, but how about one that’s stretchable? A new discovery by researchers at Duke University and Michigan State University could lead to an excellent stretchable power source for wearable electronics. Supercapacitors, of course, are known for their excellent power density, charging and discharging a lot of energy quickly and having a longer lifespan than chemical […]

We love a good concept tire here at New Atlas. Incremental improvements aside, the wheel-to-road interface has been more or less stagnant since Goodyear rolled out the first commercial tubeless tire some 66 years ago. Now, the same company has proposed a radically different design with the new age of electric mobility in mind. Electric cars, of course, will theoretically […]

Even in noisy environments, most of us are able to understand what another person is saying by “focusing” our hearing on their voice. Although regular hearing aids are currently unable to do so, that may change if a new prototype reaches production. The ability to mentally follow a select person’s voice, while filtering out distracting background noise, is known as […]

Battery researchers place a lot of focus on making the devices safer, and scientists at the University of California San Diego (UCSD) are reporting a promising advance in this area. The team’s newly developed safety feature acts as a “spillway” in lithium metal batteries to stem the flow of electrons that takes place during a failure, preventing a rapid buildup […]

Boston Dynamics and OTTO Motors have teamed up for a demonstration of the warehouse of the future. In a newly released video, a Boston Dynamics Handle robot rushes about a storage area at speed as it picks boxes and builds pallets atop an OTTO Autonomous Mobile Robot (AMR) platform. Looking like a robotic version of some huge, prehistoric, flightless, meat-eating […]

As Covid-19 originating from Wuhan China now spreads across the world, causing a pandemic worldwide. China has mitigated the spread to a significant extent and profiled people at risk by mustering resources at its disposal and deploying the latest technology. Countries are beginning to implement measures to reduce social contact with stay at home measures for office workers. Technology as […]

Microplastic pollution is everywhere, but its size — less than five millimeters in length — makes the threat almost invisible to the naked eye. That’s why Cambridge-based research and development lab Draper has teamed up with the Environmental Protection Agency and design firm Sprout Studios to create the Draper Drone, a concept for an autonomous underwater vehicle that implements Draper’s portable microplastics sensor. […]

While we’ve already seen materials that allow people or objects to hide from heat-detecting cameras, they’re typically only effective at one ambient temperature. An experimental new material, however, can be user-adjusted to work over a wide range. Heat-detecting sensors, such as those found in night-vision goggles, actually work by noting the temperature difference between the surface of an object and […]

While we’ve certainly heard of epoxy resins that harden when exposed to light, usually all of the substance has to be exposed. A new additive causes resin to solidify when even only a bit of it gets lit up, however – plus it works underwater. Developed at the Vienna University of Technology, the proprietary compound can be added to existing […]

Concrete is the world’s most widely-used building material thanks to its incredible strength – but it doesn’t stand up well against bending. Now, researchers at Swinburne University have developed a new type of concrete that can not only bend better, but doesn’t require cement to make, reducing its environmental footprint. Put a huge weight on top of a pillar of […]