We’ve already had plenty of announcements from the Google I/O 2021 developer event happening this week, but Google has also been showing off a 3D video conferencing app that it’s working on called Project Starline. The aim of the software is to make video calling a more immersive experience, deploying a variety of technologies and tricks to make it feel […]

Even though underwater remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) are getting smaller, their communications cables have remained relatively fat and hefty. That may about to change, though, thanks to a new fishing-line-based fiber optic tether. Although wireless systems are in the works, ROVs presently have to be hard-wired to their surface-located human operators. This is accomplished via a cable/tether that transmits commands […]

There are now a number of materials designed to give robots or prostheses a sense of touch. And while most of them are thin and skin-like, a new alternative takes the form of a spongey foam – and it combines several desirable qualities. Designed by scientists at the National University of Singapore, the experimental material is known as artificially innervated […]

In a relatively short space of time, perovskite solar cells have become a highly promising candidate when it comes to how we might generate electricity in the future, but there are some design problems to overcome first. These largely relate to stability issues that see the cells quickly deteriorating during use, but scientists at Brown University have come up with […]

It can be frustrating, when the jacket that you initially put on to keep you warm starts making you too hot. Jackets made from an experimental new reversible fabric, however, could both heat and cool their wearer. Developed by scientists from China’s Zhejiang University and Westlake University, the multi-layered “Janus textile” consists of a base of ePTFE (expanded polytetrafluoroethylene) polymer […]

In the ongoing search for materials for new and improved batteries, sodium as a cheap and widely abundant option ticks some important boxes, but bringing these experimental designs up to speed is far from a straightforward undertaking. A new design out of Washington University in St Louis demonstrates a promising path forward, by having a thin layer of copper fulfill […]

While aerial drones do show promise as a means of urban parcel delivery, their small size will limit them to carrying relatively light packages. An experimental new system, however, lets multiple drones team up to hoist heftier items. Currently in development at the Georgia Institute of Technology, the setup presently incorporates a 12-lb (5.4-kg) cargo box measuring 2 feet (61 […]

Building a website with Python is not only highly rewarding but quite simple too. However, despite all that Python has to offer in terms of simplicity, most web developers don’t specialize in the language. This is because most web development companies don’t offer original web designs and instead rely upon templates from WordPress and thus use PHP to modify premade […]

After first unveiling a fully autonomous electric street sweeper last year, Finland’s Trombia Technologies has taken to the streets of Helsinki as part of the Jätkäsaari Mobility Lab. This saw the Trombia Free begin operations along the Helsinki Baana bicycle lane as well as night-time street cleaning elsewhere in the city. The Trombia Free has the look of an oversized […]

Although there are rigs that allow gamers to walk on the spot while their avatar walks in a VR environment, such setups tend to be large and complex. A new system, however, simulates walking simply by buzzing the seated user’s feet. The experimental setup is being developed by scientists from Japan’s Toyohashi University of Technology, and the University of Tokyo. […]