Xampla – Natural alternative to single use plastic

Posted on September 20, 2020September 27, 2020 by IE Article Contributor

Xampla has created the world’s first plant protein material for commercial use. Next generation material performs like synthetic polymers, but decomposes naturally and fully, without harming the environment. Most natural alternatives to plastic require chemical additions and are based on plant polysaccharides. Xampla engineers the next generation of bio-based material, made entirely from plant protein, enabling companies to produce end-products that meet changing consumer and regula...

Modification of plant hormone levels and signaling as a tool in plant biotechnology.

Posted on September 23, 2017 by adminedit

Plant hormones are signal molecules produced within the plant, and occur in extremely low concentrations. There are five general classes of hormones: auxins, cytokinins, gibberellins, ethylene Plant hormones are signal molecules, present in trace quantities, that act as major regulators of plant growth and development. They are involved in a wide range of processes such as elongation, flowering, root formation and vascular differentiation. For many years, agriculturists have applied hormon...

AHA, one of Iceland’s largest eCommerce companies, partnered with Flytrex to expand its’ delivery bandwidth and find new, efficient ways to deliver goods to customers around the city of Reykjavik.

Posted on August 24, 2017 by adminedit

Drone delivery company Flytrex partnered with AHA, Iceland's largest online marketplace, to provide delivery by drone in Reykjavik.The partnership creates the world's "first operational on-demand urban drone delivery service. https://youtu.be/lwmgAd2TTIY " Using drones, Reykjavik's food and consumer goods delivery industry will reduce costs by increasing efficiency, reducing energy consumption and streamlining delivery logistics. The Icelandic Transport Authority approved the companies...

Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory is working to build Cool pavement to help keep cities cool

Posted on May 24, 2017 by adminedit

Cool pavements can help keep cities cool, right? Yes, but according to new research from the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab), many reflective pavements have some unexpected drawbacks relative to conventional pavements when considering the entire life cycle of the materials. Scientists in Berkeley Lab’s Heat Island Group, in collaboration with the UC Pavement Research Center (UCPRC), the University of Southern California (USC), and thinkste...

Dwarf Grass That Does Not Require Mowing

Posted on May 21, 2017May 21, 2017 by adminedit

Grass That Does Not Require Mowing Plant a no-mow lawn and free up more time for yourself. With feeding, watering and mowing, taking care of your lawn can be a time-intensive commitment. If you are tired of that, or simply want to create a more natural-looking lawn, grass varieties that do not require mowing offer a practical solution. No-mow grasses work because they either grow very slowly during the mowing season or they reach a maximum height that doesn't require mowi...

Lygos is a Berkeley Lab Technologies startup that engineers microbes to convert sugars into high-value, industrial chemicals, targeting compounds where biological production is cost-advantaged over petrochemical production.

Posted on May 4, 2017 by adminedit

Lygos is providing biotechnology solutions for today’s renewable chemical challenges. Lygos engineers microbes to convert sugars into high-value, industrial chemicals, targeting compounds where biological production is cost-advantaged over petrochemical production. Lygos' technology goes beyond engineering microbes and includes fermentation and purification development. Our goal is to manufacture and sell chemicals. This work has been supported, in part, by over $6.5MM in grants from the U.S....

Dyaqua has invented “Invisible Solar” photovoltaic panel that are incorporated in current roof tiles

Posted on May 4, 2017 by adminedit

Invisible Solar Dyaqua has invented "Invisible Solar" photovoltaic panel that are incorporated in current roof tiles. Invisible Solar is a new PV technology able to take on the appearance of any building material. Each Invisible Solar module is not only a photovoltaic panel, but an active architectural element with various functionality. A single and indivisible body, with the highest resistance, hides and protects the photovoltaic cells inside itself. Operatin...

Boston University professor found glassfrogs show surprising diversity of parental strategies

Posted on March 31, 2017March 31, 2017 by adminedit

As far as housing goes, an egg is a pretty good place for a frog embryo. It offers physical protection and it keeps its inhabitant from drying out. But like many homes with great curb appeal, eggs aren’t always the ideal dwelling. For some frog eggs, being packed in a gelatinous mass, or “clutch,” can limit the supply of oxygen. Eggs can be swept away by floods or killed by fungal pathogens, and they make a nice lunch for predators like snakes and wasps. Faced with such peril, it might seem t...

NASA high-temp materials for spacecraft may help save firefighters

Posted on March 12, 2017 by adminedit

NASA research into flexible, high-temperature space materials may some day improve personal fire shelter systems and help wildland firefighters better survive dangerous wildfires. NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, is working with the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Forest Service to see if flexible thermal protection system technology being developed for space entry vehicles could also work to protect firefighters caught in a raging forest fire. The material the NASA re...

Indoor large scale food farming is a growing global trend

Posted on March 8, 2017 by adminedit

Mirai, Inc. has completed an indoor farm at Miyagi Fukko (Reconstruction) Park located in Tagajo, Miyagi Prefecture, as part of a program subsidized by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI). One of the world’s largest plant factories using LED lighting throughout, the facility can produce a daily harvest of approximately 10,000 heads of lettuce. The indoor farm was created through the renovation of an existing building that was previously an electronic device factory at Sony Send...

Stanford and Oxford University researchers have created novel flexible solar cells from crystalline perovskite that could outperform existing silicon cells and allow it to be printed

Posted on February 27, 2017February 27, 2017 by adminedit

A perovskite solar cell is a type of solar cell which includes a perovskite structured compound, most commonly a hybrid organic-inorganic lead or tin halide-based material, as the light-harvesting active layer. Perovskite materials such as methylammonium lead halides are cheap to produce and simple to manufacture. Perovskite solar cells have shown potential both in the rapid efficiency improvement (from 2.2% in 2006 to the latest record 20.1% in 2014) and in cheap material and manufacturing c...

Stanford engineers create a low-cost battery made with urea

Posted on February 14, 2017 by adminedit

Stanford University researchers created an aluminum-ion battery that uses an electrolyte material made of urea, the main component of urine (after water). A battery made with urea, commonly found in fertilizers and mammal urine, could provide a low-cost way of storing energy produced through solar power or other forms of renewable energy for consumption during off hours. A battery developed in Stanford Professor Hongjie Dai’s lab could provide low-cost storage for solar energy. (Image credit...

Hadi Ghasemi researcher at University of Houston has developed ‘smart material’ that repel ice

Posted on January 17, 2017January 17, 2017 by adminedit

Researchers have discovered a 'smart' material that can be applied to any surface to repel ice and outperforms all others currently in use. Icy conditions can be deadly, whether you are flying into bad weather or too close to power transmission lines during a storm, researchers said. Researchers have discovered a 'smart' material that can be applied to any surface to repel ice and outperforms all others currently in use. Icy conditions can be deadly, whether you are flying into bad ...

‘TOTO’ has developed ‘intelligent toilet’ that uses an integrated UV light and special glaze to break down dirt and grime in the bowl, and rinses it clean.

Posted on January 12, 2017 by adminedit

'TOTO' has developed 'intelligent toilet' that uses an integrated UV light and special glaze to break down dirt and grime in the bowl, and rinses it clean. This intelligent toilet uses an integrated UV light and special glaze to break down dirt and grime in the bowl, and rinses it clean with ewater+. And with other features like a heated seat, deodorizer and warm water sprays, Neorest 750H delivers an unparalleled sense of relaxation to you in the most comforting and refreshing ways possible...

Dwarf trees that yield fruits and vegetables

Posted on January 2, 2017 by adminedit

Many different fruit trees grow well in containers, from familiar apples to exotic pomegranate (pictured). Dwarf fruit trees provide earlier yields in smaller spaces, and can even be grown in large containers. They bear fruit sooner than standard fruit trees, usually within two years. Dwarf fruit trees also look good, with a compact form that bears normal-sized fruit. They generally reach 2 – 2½m in height. Instead of planting a full size apple tree, you can plant 3-4 dwarf trees in the sa...

Harvard & Columbia University research suggest that child in utero can respond and even adapt to environmental stimuli in ways that can affect his mental and physical health in years to come.

Posted on December 30, 2016 by adminedit

Before birth and early in life, the developing brain is acutely sensitive to its environment. A symposium at the Fifth Annual Aspen Brain Forum, hosted by the New York Academy of Sciences in New York City, explored how certain social and psychological aspects of environment influence biology and behavior. Tracy L. Bale, of the University of Pennsylvania, noted that maternal stress during pregnancy is associated with increased risk of neurodevelopmental disorders like autism and schizophrenia ...

‘Smart Agriculture’ project in UK helping farmers with optimum yield

Posted on December 29, 2016December 29, 2016 by adminedit

University of Leeds (UK) has initiated a 'Smart Agriculture' project for organic farms in Riverford. Theobjective of the project was to collect real-time data for optimized yield. The project was to be able to capture useful data to start predicting measurements and events that could help farmers and agronomists to save time and money with its farms. In this project, the type of farm was not determining, because it has been deployed in a diverse range of crops, from vegetables to grain. Th...

Automatic Car Wash now for Airplanes

Posted on December 25, 2016 by adminedit

Aviator NORDIC DINO robot is a computerised and self-contained system purpose built for washing aircraft exteriors. The system consists of a mobile power unit, spray nozzles and rotating cleaning brushes powered by a lightweight remote control that permits safe and simple one-man operation. NORDIC DINO meets the requirements for washing aircraft exteriors and incorporates safety features designed to prevent accidental personal injury and aircraft damage. NORDIC DINO II The NORDIC DIN...

Researchers have developed a specialized type of glowing metal organic framework that is designed to detect and remove heavy-metal toxins from water.

Posted on December 7, 2016 by adminedit

Tiny, glowing crystals designed to detect and capture heavy-metal toxins such as lead and mercury could prove to be a powerful new tool in locating and cleaning up contaminated water sources. Motivated by publicized cases in which high levels of heavy metals were found in drinking water in Flint, Mich., and Newark, N.J., a science team led by researchers at Rutgers University used intense X-rays at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) to probe the structure of the crystals the...

German Max Planck Institute for Meteorology has quantified relationship between individual CO2 emissions and the Arctic’s shrinking summer sea ice

Posted on November 12, 2016November 12, 2016 by adminedit

For each tonne of carbon dioxide (CO2) that any person on our planet emits, three square metres of Arctic summer sea ice disappear. This is the finding of a study that has been published in the journal Science this week by Dirk Notz, leader of a Max Planck Research Group at the Max Planck Institute for Meteorology and Julienne Stroeve from the US National Snow and Ice Data Centre. These figures enable us for the first time to grasp the individual contribution to global climate change. The study ...

Northwestern Longitudinal Study Links Air Pollution With Cardiovascular Disease Risk

Posted on November 9, 2016 by adminedit

An increased concentration of air pollution within metropolitan areas is associated with progression in coronary calcification and with acceleration of atherosclerosis, according to a study published in The Lancet. In the prospective, 10-year cohort study, Northwestern Medicine scientists and collaborators at other institutions repeatedly measured coronary artery calcium by CT scan in 6,795 participants aged 45 to 84 years, who were enrolled in the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis and Ai...

Lab-Grown Diamonds And Science Behind It

Posted on October 23, 2016 by adminedit

Lab created diamonds are man-made diamonds that consist of actual carbon atoms arranged in the characteristic diamond crystal structure. Diamond simulants, such as cubic zirconia and moissanite, are diamond look-alikes and are not true carbon crystals. Lab created diamonds (also known as man-made diamonds, synthetic diamonds or pure grown diamonds) are grown in highly-controlled laboratory conditions that simulate the earth’s natural growing environment, producing real diamonds that are optic...

University of Virginia, has earned First Place in NASA’s 2015-2016 University Aeronautics Design Challenge for their concept of an electric-powered, commuter-sized airplane.

Posted on October 3, 2016 by adminedit

A team of 13 students from the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, VA, has earned First Place in NASA’s 2015-2016 University Aeronautics Design Challenge for their concept of an electric-powered, commuter-sized airplane featuring “green aviation” technologies. Sponsored by NASA’s Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate, the engineering design contest specifically asked students to incorporate distributed electric propulsion, or DEP, in their concept for an airplane that could enter se...

Lucy: The Smart Mirror that Redirects Sunlight Into Your Home

Posted on September 28, 2016 by IE Article Contributor

Lucy is the first device of its kind: It can illuminate your home with real sunlight, by finding and redirecting natural light for you. Most individuals spend over 90% of their lives inside, with limited exposure to natural light. Winters can lead to seasonal depression, and at large, last a long time, preventing us from receiving the Vitamin D and serotonin boosts associated with natural light. Further still, from an aesthetic standpoint, interior designers suggest decorating tricks to br...

Battery that self destructs in Water in 30 Minutes

Posted on September 11, 2016 by IE Article Contributor

A breakthrough invention in developing transient batteries has been developed: a self-destructing battery that completely dissolves in water without leaving behind any trace. Researchers at Iowa State University have designed a one-millimeter-thick, five-millimeter-long and six millimeters wide battery that use typical lithium-ion technology. The transient battery is made up of eight layers, including an anode, a cathode and the electrolyte separator, all wrapped up in two layers of a polyvi...

SolarSinster 3dPrints Using Solar Energy and Sand

Posted on August 26, 2016 by amerchant

So far, Innovation Essence has featured 3d printed prosthetics, 3d printing pens, and 3d printers that print a house, and even food printing. However, another 3d printing product is also extremely innovative, as all of the former were limited in how much they could print by the amount of filament used. The SolarSinster prints glass, is entirely solarpowered, and runs off of natural resources. All it needs is the sun to be out and sand and it can function, making it ideal for a desert. Factories ...

Sensordrone – iOS and Android Weather and Exposure Sensors

Posted on July 3, 2016 by adminedit

Sensordrone is the World's First Practical Environmental Tricorder! With Just One Sensordrone, You'll Have a: Real Tricorder Temperature Sensor Wireless sensor Light sensor Gas sensor & gas detector Carbon Monoxide sensor & CO detector Humidity sensor color sensor Bluetooth sensor Networked Sensor Environmental sensor Infrared temperature sensor (IR temperature sensor) Personal weather station Alcohol sensor (for fun and professional BAC monitoring) New Sensor Apps to run on your smar...

‘Breathe Up’ – air quality monitoring and physical activity tracking device.

Posted on June 22, 2016 by adminedit

Breathe Up is a unique solution that combines advanced air quality monitoring technology and physical activity tracking. Based on your location, Breathe Up application will connect you to the most relevant sensor in your area and provide you with real time information on current air quality. The impact of air quality also depends on your individual profile and your activity. A young child, an elderly person, an athlete or a person with asthma will not be impacted in the same proportions when ...

Japanese firm developing robot farmers

Posted on May 28, 2016 by adminedit

Kubota, Japan's largest maker of agricultural machinery, has already developed its first prototype autonomous tractor for use in rice paddies. Equipped with a global positioning system, the vehicle cultivates fields and fertilises after checking soil conditions. Iseki & Co and Yanmar are also developing autonomous tractors and harvesters with Hitachi developing systems for farm machinery. Kubota is also developing and marketing a suit-like device to help farmers harvest and carry fruit an...

Biodegradable plastics

Posted on May 26, 2016May 26, 2016 by adminedit

Biodegradable bags are bags that are capable of being decomposed by bacteria or other living organisms. There are two very different types of biodegradable plastic. they are as follows: Oxo-biodegradable plastic - made from polymers such as PE (polyethylene) PP (polypropylene) and PS (polystyrene) containing extra ingredients (NOT heavy metals) and tested according to ASTM D6954 or BS8472 or AFNOR Accord T51-808 to degrade and biodegrade in the open environment and Vegetable based plastic...