Important Innovations

New Fun Tech - Powered, Standup Water Board Source:  Yanmar's on-water gadget Wheeebo From Japan, for Calm Waters It's called Wheebo and it's new, fun tech from Japan.  Wheeebo is a battery powered, standup water board that can glide you across the water up to 3&1/2 mph. Invented by the marine engine manufacturer Yanmar, it's designed for relatively calm waters, controlled by shifting your weight on the board, has a hand held remote control for acceleration and is said to be easy for anyone to enjoy.  For more details, go to Important Innovations Collection: New Water Sport - Wheeebo : Powered Board "Water Gadget" Source:  Yanmar's Wheeebo From Japan at  Speeds Up To 3&1/2 MPH This looks like a fun...

Very Smart Contact Lens Source:  DARPA DARPA's Quest to Give Soldiers Extraordinary Visual Capabilities New vision technology has just emerged from France's engineering school IMT Atlantique.  It's a wireless connected contact lens capable of providing augmented vision assistance as well as relaying visual information wirelessly.  It is so breakthrough that both the US Defense Department's Advanced Research Projects Agency DARPA and Microsoft are very interested in it.  For more information, go to Important Innovations Collection: Smart Contact Lens : DARPA May Have Found It Source:  DARPA Giving Soldiers "Superpowers" The technology comes from France's engineering sc...

UC Berkeley's Robotic Arm Source:  UC Berkeley Controlled by Using Virtual Reality Headset This is a low cost, high performance robotic arm that's been designed for a key purpose.  It's a powerful platform for artificial intelligence and robotic experimentation.  The goal is to generate the next generation of AI-enabled robots.  The Berkeley team believes such experimental platforms could usher in the next technological revolution.  For more details, go to Important Innovations Collection: Berkeley's New Robotic Arm : Controlled by Using Virtual Reality Headset Source:  UC Berkeley Artificial Intelligence and Robots It's a new, low cost robotic...

Zero Emissions Public Transport Source:  Byron Bay Railroad Company New South Wales, Australia It's the world's first solar powered passenger train.  The railroad is owned and operated in Australia by the Byron Bay Railroad Company.  It's been in service since 2017 and has operated perfectly ever since.  It's a global example of the possibilities of zero emissions public transportation. Solar Technology The train is very efficient, requiring only 8.33 watt hours per passenger kilometer.  It has a 6.5 KW rooftop solar array and a lithium ion battery onboard.  During peak solar hours, it is 100% solar powered.  In fact, it's the world's first, in-service train run from onboard solar power. Solar Express The solar express can carry 100 passengers on a three kilometer route back and forth between North Beach station and Brayton Beach station in New South Wales.  It completes the cycle once an hour.  The original 1949 cars were upgraded from diesel loco

Mechanical Trees Pull Carbon Dioxide from the Air Source:  Arizona State University New Technology for a Cleaner Environment Researchers at Arizona State University have invented Mechanical Trees, a new technology that pulls carbon dioxide out of the air and captures it for reuse.  Just 12 trees are capable of removing 1 metric ton of CO2 a day for less than $100 a ton.  That's a significant cost advantage and the team says the technology is ready for commercialization.  For more details, go to Important Innovations Collection: Mechanical Trees For Cleaner Environment : New Tech to Cut, Capture & Reuse CO2 Source:  Arizona State University A Start to Reducing Climate Change A team at Arizona Sta...

Intense Retail Wars Fire-Up Source:  Amazon Innovation and Ingenuity Prevail e-Commerce giant Amazon's promised delivery of one-day shipping is expected to seismically shake the global retail industry.  Just in April through June of 2019, Amazon is pumping $800 million into its next day, package delivery project.  Amazon's one day delivery project is designed to turnaround its slowing sales growth with the kind of easy, quick delivery that's at the top of your shopping list. It's a retail strategy of innovation and ingenuity to lure customers. Bricks vs. Online Retailing Another battlefront has formed in the bricks vs. online retail wars.  Bricks and mortar retailers like Walmart have gotten a lot more innovative and competitive.  To the point that Amazon is racing to reproduce their physical stores for top selling product lines like books and electronics.  Amazon also is finalizing plans to let its customers return Amazon products easily at Kohls department

Squishy, Droppable Robot for Search and Rescue Missions Source:  University of California - Berkeley Invented by Engineers at UC Berkeley It's a round, mobile sensor robot that's capable of surviving a drop of 600 feet.  The robot is designed for search and rescue missions in disaster areas.  It's the invention of engineers at UC Berkeley.  For more details, go to Important Innovations Collection: Squishy Robots from UC Berkeley : Disaster Bots Source:  Squishy Robotics For Search and Rescue Missions Round, squishy robots capable of being dropped 600 feet and su...

May Be World's Ultimate Toothbrush  Green, Clean and Neat Tooth Cleaning Robotic Tech from UPENN A cross-disciplinary team of scientists from UPENN Dentistry, Engineering and Biology have developed this new micro-bot system to clean teeth of plaque and potential decay.  They call it CARs.  It's a crew of microscopic robotics cleaners for your teeth. A first of its kind. For more details go to Important Innovations Collection: Tiny, Robotic Teeth Cleaners : Army of Microrobots Wipe Out Dental Plaque Source: UPENN's Microrobot Teeth Cleaners New Innovation from the University of Pennsy...

Shape-Changing Wing that Adjusts to Flight Conditions Game-changing Aviation Technology and Fabrication Engineers at NASA and MIT have created a radical, new airplane wing that changes shape for optimal functionality during takeoff, landing, cruising and maneuvering.  Behind the innovation is a new fabrication process that holds promise for other engineering construction such as bridges and blades for wind turbines.  This is important new innovation.  For more details go to Important Innovations Collection: NASA-MIT Radical Airplane Wing : Shape-Shifting in Flight Source:  NASA New Way of Fabricating NASA and MIT engineers have created a radically new kind of airplane ...

Self-Braking Shopping Cart Source:  Ford Europe No More Runaway Carts at the Grocery Store Runaway shopping carts pose a danger to cars and customers at grocery stores.  Ford has invented a self-braking shopping cart that stops automatically to prevent damage. Pre-Collision Assist System The cart has a version of Ford's Pre-Collision Assist system. In cars, the system has a forward-facing camera and radar to detect vehicles, pedestrians and cyclists on the road and automatically applies the brakes if the driver doesn't respond to warnings.  The new shopping cart has a sensor to scan for people and objects and applies the brakes when a potential collision is detected. Ford says the self-brakeing cart can help prevent damage to cars, store shelves and customers.  They add it will help make grocery shopping less stressful for parents of little children. Prototype & Intervention Ford says one of the reasons they designed the cart was to demonstrate how important Pr

Trash Collector for Space Source:  Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Tiny, Semi-Autonomous CubeSats Scientists at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute are developing tiny, inexpensive CubeSats to capture and destroy debris in space.  There are more than 129 million pieces of space debris.  And they pose a danger to space vehicles because they travel at such high velocities.  For a news blog on the satellite system, go to Important Innovations Collection: CubeSats Catch Space Debris : Tiny, Semi-Autonomous, Cheap Source:  Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute New Invention:  Trash Collector for Space Researchers at Re...

Footprint Discovered from Nearly 16,000 Years Ago Scientists have just discovered in Chile the imprint of a human footprint that dates back 15,600 years.  The footprint has been authenticated.  It is the oldest footprint found in the Americas.  For more go to Important Innovations Collection: Oldest Foottprint Discovered in Americas : 15,600 Year Old Discovery You Can Step Back Nearly 16,000 Years This is a footprint from some one walking or running 15,600 years ago...

Massachusetts' Brayton Point Power Station Towers Demolished in 2 Seconds Source: Stock Image of Brayton Point, MA. New Wind Energy Coming to Replace Coal Fired Plants Brayton Point in Somerset, Massachusetts on Mount Hope Bay was the last coal-fired generating plant in MA.  It stopped production in 2017 as environmental groups pushed for cleaner sources of energy generation. Landmark to Old Energy Demolished Today its two, 500 foot cooling towers were demolished by controlled explosions in two seconds. The plant had burned coal since 1963. Anyone who has travelled the I-195 corridor through Fall River, MA over the Braga Bridge going to Cape Cod or south to New York City is very familiar with these landmarks of old energy. They are now gone and are making way for new energy systems like wind. New Base of Wind Energy The new owner of the property is Commercial Development Co.  They say they plan to convert the property into a multi-use facility, primarily to support