Clean Energy Researchers at NASA Ames are conducting cutting-edge research in the development of clean energy technologies for NASA mission needs in the Exploration Systems Mission Directorate and the Science Mission Directorate. Our renewable energy focus is on advancing biofuels, solar, and wind technologies that also help reduce our nation’s dependence on petroleum-based fuels. By advancing clean energy technologies, NASA Ames hopes to help our nation reduce its generation of greenhouse ga...

Emperra GmbH has launched a new Bluetooth insulin pen model. The new ESYSTA BT pen is equipped with a Bluetooth interface and transfers the injected insulin doses directly to the patient’s digital blood glucose diary. The smart insulin pens are automatically connected via the 868 MHz interface (similar to the ISM band), which are already being successfully used in medicine in combination with a wireless transmission blood glucose meter as an integrated diabetes management system, ESYSTA. Both...

Mobile Payments A bracelet, the result of a partnership between Brazilian bank Bradesco and Visa, will allow spectators and athletes to make cashless payments. Exclusively available in Brazil, users will allow completing transactions in a million NFC-ready card readers simply by hovering their wrists over the POS terminal. No PIN will be required for transactions under R$50. For transactions over R$50, the PIN will be mandatory. wallet-app Infographics: The boom of Wallets Also, Visa h...

Like sending sensors up into a hurricane, NASA has flown four spacecraft through an invisible maelstrom in space, called magnetic reconnection. Magnetic reconnection is one of the prime drivers of space radiation and so it is a key factor in the quest to learn more about our space environment and protect our spacecraft and astronauts as we explore farther and farther from our home planet. Space is a better vacuum than any we can create on Earth, but it does contain some particles — and it's b...

Researchers from the George Washington University have managed to switch consciousness on and off in an epileptic woman by stimulating a single region of the brain with electrical impulses. While this is a single case study, it provides an exciting insight into the neural mechanisms behind consciousness, a subject of great interest that is poorly understood despite decades of research. The study has been published in Epilepsy & Behavior. Consciousness is a fascinating topic that has both ...

GABA (gamma amino butyric acid) is considered the main inhibitory neurotransmitter in the central nervous system. It regulates neuronal excitability and muscle tone.1 GABA is synthesized from glutamate (using vitamin B6 as a cofactor). GABA is Interestingly, while glutamate is the brain’s main excitatory neurotransmitter,2 GABA “puts the brakes” on in the brain, helping to control overstimulation. gamma-Aminobutyric acid (γ-Aminobutyric acid) /ˈɡæmə əˈmiːnoʊbjuːˈtɪrᵻk ˈæsᵻd/ (also called G...

Pentaho, a Hitachi Group company, is a leading data integration and business analytics company with an enterprise-class, open source-based platform for diverse big data deployments. Pentaho’s unified data integration and analytics platform is comprehensive, completely embeddable and delivers governed data to power any analytics in any environment. Pentaho’s mission is to help organizations across multiple industries harness the value from all their data, including big data and IoT, enabling them...

The financial crisis of 2008, which saw the failure of major investment banks Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers, and the subsequent government bailout of insurance giant American International Group (AIG), had a ripple effect around the globe. How did America’s housing collapse lead to the downfall of these institutions? And why did that, in turn, translate into a severe economic downturn? Not having a clear picture of systemic risk in the financial system, an issue encapsulated in the “too bi...

Accredited education institutions, nonprofit organizations and NASA centers can join the adventure and challenges of space while helping the agency achieve its exploration goals through the next round of the agency’s CubeSat Launch Initiative (CSLI). Applicants must submit proposals by 4:30 p.m. EST, Nov. 22. The CSLI provides CubeSat developers with a low-cost pathway to space to conduct research that advances NASA's strategic goals in the areas of science, exploration, technology developmen...

A team of scientists led by a Stanford University School of Medicine investigator in collaboration with researchers from Univesity of California-San Diego, Harvard University, and Utah State University have had success in restoring aspects of vision in mammals. The study was published in Nature Neuroscience earlier this month. Ganglion cells from the back of the retina “project” wire-like axons that are bundled along the optic nerve and then disperse to connect with the corresponding visual nerv...

HwPic HwPic is a tutoring service that allows students to take send pictures of their homework to tutors, who will then respond within minutes to your questions with a step-by-step solution. There’s even an option to expedite the answers if a student is in a hurry. HwPic Co-Founder Tiklat Issa said that the app was initially rejected by Apple’s App Store, which believed it would promote cheating, but he successfully argued that just because someone uses the app in a way that it’s not meant t...

An independent nonprofit founded by MIT has been selected to run a new, $317 million public-private partnership announced today by Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter. National public-private consortium led by MIT will involve manufacturers, universities, agencies, companies. The partnership, named the Advanced Functional Fabrics of America (AFFOA) Institute, has won a national competition for federal funding to create the latest Manufacturing Innovation Institute. It is designed to acceler...

Some of the wind-sculpted sand ripples on Mars are a type not seen on Earth, and their relationship to the thin Martian atmosphere today provides new clues about the atmosphere's history. The determination that these mid-size ripples are a distinct type resulted from observations by NASA's Curiosity Mars rover. Six months ago, Curiosity made the first up-close study of active sand dunes anywhere other than Earth, at the "Bagnold Dunes" on the northwestern flank of Mars' Mount Sharp. "Earth...

Wireless devices and sensors capable of sending and receiving data may soon be able to also harvest the power they need, right from the air, thanks to the radio waves that already emanate from cellphone and TV towers. To really take advantage of the coming "Internet of Things", a whole lot of sensors and microcomputers will be needed, all of which will require some method of being powered, preferably without needing any cords or wires. And while putting a battery onboard the device is one sol...

The WAAA! wearable is a sensor module that slots into a silicone band that is worn around the newborn's chest. It monitors ECG signals and heart rate as well the strain to the bottom of the housing from the expansion of the baby's chest cavity to track respiratory effort. It then combines heart rate and respiratory effort levels at intervals to determine if they are within healthy limits. Abnormal signs are transmitted to the companion gateway box via radio frequency, rather than Bluetooth or...

thingCHARGER provides a simple, elegant new way to charge your devices. Just plug thingCHARGER into any regular upright wall outlet, this device does NOT work with horizontal outlets or GFI outlets, please check that your wall outlet fits these conditions before purchasing this item. The underside of the device hides two USB outlets, just in case you need to plug in. You can easily charge any phone, tablet or reader from any brand. The outlets on the front exactly match the prongs on the back, s...

The Cogni experiment consists of two parts: The 3D Navigation protocol is geared towards understanding how the human brain represents motion, especially the issue as to whether all three dimensions are represented in the same way or whether the horizontal level is treated differently. This part of the experiment will help better understand what spatial references the brain uses to build a mental representation of the path of motion. We know that detection of symmetries is speedier ...

The Barisieur is an alarm clock and coffee brewer. It eases the user into the day with the subtle movement of stainless steel ballbearings that boil the water through induction heating, accompanied by the smell of freshly brewed coffee. It encourages a ritual before going to sleep, signalling to the body and mind that it is time to unwind and relax. Living slow even when times are fast. https://youtu.be/R9-iFa0amsk U.K.-based industrial designer Josh Renouf has come up with what just might...

Researchers are currently working on replicating the conditions inside a mother’s uterus in an artificial one. Benefits to an artificial womb could include allowing premature babies a better chance at survival, enabling women with fertility issues to have children, and making it much easier for transgendered people and gay couples to have children. However, artificial uteruses could lead to overpopulation, as well as missed bonding between mother and child during pregnancy, and they could ent...

July 16, a Falcon 9 rocket is scheduled to blast off from Cape Canaveral to the International Space Station carrying a DNA sequencer into space for the first time. While this isn’t big-deal science, no one has ever tried to decode DNA in outer space before. Being able to is something that might come in handy on a Mars mission if a crewmember gets sick or alien mold appears in a spaceship. “Right now we culture stuff and return it to Earth, but if you send people to Mars you aren’t going to...

HERE WeGo is a free app that makes city navigation effortless. With detailed routes, turn-by-turn guidance and information about every way of getting around, it’s the only app you need to get through the city. Version 2.0.0 HERE Maps now has a new look and new ways to get around. it has bikes, taxis and car sharing — along with all kinds of rich information to help you out, like taxi and ticket prices. It’s faster to find routes, faster to compare them and faster to get you moving. &nbs...

Barclaycard and Lyle & Scott have teamed up to launch a contactless payment jacket powered by bPay. The Contactless Jacket, which features the same contactless payment chip found in debit/credit cards discretely hidden in the cuff of the right sleeve, allows the wearer to pay for anything to £30 across 300,000 shops, bars, restaurants and stations around the UK. The double-faced, hooded jacket is available from the heritage brand in Admiral Blue and True Black. The combination of the h...

AR Designs is working with OvRcharge to build a levitating, wireless smart phone charger. When you’re looking for a wireless charger for your device, the first thing you probably think of is whether or not it will levitate your smartphone. No? Well, if you ever did think of it, the folks over at AR Designs will actually make your dream come true. OvRcharge does make your gadget float (well, sort of) while at the same time actually power it up.     The system involves tw...

MIT researchers and colleagues are working to find out whether energy from trees can power a network of sensors to prevent spreading forest fires. Sensor system runs on electricity generated by trees. What they learn also could raise the possibility of using trees as silent sentinels along the nation's borders to detect potential threats such as smuggled radioactive materials. The U.S. Forest Service currently predicts and tracks fires with a variety of tools, including remote automated w...

Record high temperatures along the United State's east coast are being linked to La Niña by scientists at the National Center for Atmospheric Research and NOAA's Climate Prediction Center. During La Niña unusually cold water pools along the tropical Pacific Ocean. This sea surface temperature anomaly causes strange summer weather around the world, such as drought in the Mid-Atlantic states, cool temperatures in California, and rain in Indonesia. The above image shows the La Niña as seen by TOPE...

  Veritable Autonomous Indoor Garden Lets You Grow Herbs And Small Veg All Year Round. Designed by a development team based in France the Véritable indoor garden features a water reservoir that is capable of feeding anything your growing for up to 3 weeks without any interaction from yourself. It also includes LED lighting, for growing slots and the quiet water irrigation system. Veritable Autonomous Indoor Garden allows you to grow your own food indoor. The Véritable indoor ga...

Tesla Home Battery Powerwall is a home battery that charges using electricity generated from solar panels, or when utility rates are low, and powers your home in the evening. It also fortifies your home against power outages by providing a backup electricity supply. Automated, compact and simple to install, Powerwall offers independence from the utility grid and the security of an emergency backup. Tesla home batteries maximize the usefulness of your solar panels and offer a variety of backup ...

From the Apollo missions through the Space Shuttle Program, NASA has relied on liquid hydrogen as a fuel source for the upper stages of its rocket launches. The reason is simple: Hydrogen is the most efficient propellant there is. Measure for measure, it provides more thrust than any other fuel source. But harnessing that energy requires a great deal of technological know-how on the Agency’s part. For one, keeping hydrogen in its liquid state means maintaining it at a temperature below -423 º...

A regenerative fuel cell or reverse fuel cell (RFC) is a fuel cell run in reverse mode, which consumes electricity and chemical B to produce chemical A. By definition, the process of any fuel cell could be reversed. However, a given device is usually optimized for operating in one mode and may not be built in such a way that it can be operated backwards. Standard fuel cells operated backwards generally do not make very efficient systems unless they are purpose-built to do so as with high-pressur...

Getting your house broken into is a terrible feeling. It’s not just the things you lose, but because your home feels violated. Catching the criminal is good, but it’s better to keep it from happening in the first place. That’s why we created KUNA, to help you prevent break-ins and protect the ones who matter most. Meet the next generation in Home Security and Burglary Prevention: The KUNA Smart Security Light. This beautiful outdoor metal and glass wall lantern includes a 720P HD Video Camera...