Important Innovations

Nature Leading in Innovation Research Bees are Intelligent, Clever Counters This new research from scientists in the UK is astounding.  Bees have brains that can count. In fact, the scientific research, published in the journal Science, concludes bees have significant cognitive abilities with little brain power.  An insect with the power to count.  The potential science and innovation is significant for other animals, artificial intelligence and robotics.  For more on this news, go to Important Innovations Collection: Bees Can Count : Busy Intelligent Bees Source: Queen Mary University of London: Bees Counting New UK Research This is an amazing discovery.  Research...

Revolutionary VTOL Aircraft that Google's Larry Page is Backing Is It a UFO?  No, It's a New Personal Flying Machine The idea for the Blackfly was developed by Canadian entrepreneur Marcus Leng.  He innovated,  built it and flew it in his own backyard in Ontario nearly 10 years ago.  Today, his company Opener is located in Palo Alto, CA and has a major investor in Alphabet/Google's Larry Page.  Some commentators think it looks like a UFO but it's a lot more for your personal commute than that. Unique Electric VTOL The Blackfly is a revolutionary personal flying vehicle.  It's electric, a one-seater, with vertical liftoffs and landings and a lot of safety redundancies. It can take off from and land in both water and land. 8 small rotors across 2, fixed wings power its flight.  My journalist colleague Ed Kane has a great news blog with more detail on this incredible piece of aviation innovation at  https://importantinnovationscollection.blogspot.com/2018/12

Happy New Year Greetings from Outer Space NASA's New Horizons  Ultima Thule - Cosmic Rock The cosmic rock is called Ultima Thule, which means "beyond what is human to see."  It is 4 billion miles above the earth.  On New Years Day 2019, NASA's spacecraft New Horizons will do a fly by around it and start transmitting data to earth.  It is the farthest any spacecraft has travelled into outer space. For a news blog on this remarkable achievement, go to my journalist colleague Ed Kane's blog at Important Innovations Collection: Cosmic Rockin New Years - NASA Spacecraft : NASA Mission on New Years Reaches Cosmic Rock Beyond Pluto Source:  NASA's New Horizons Historic Mission, Science and Innovation...

French Adventurer Crossing Atlantic in a Barrel Jean-Jacques Savin Atop His Barrel Oceanic Entrepreneur Barreling by Currents He's being called The French Barrel Man.  71 year old Jean-Jacques Savin is a retired military parachutist and French innovator-adventurer.  He is making his way across the Atlantic Ocean in a big orange barrel that's actually a sophisticated barrel-shaped capsule.   Savin is taking a very innovative approach.  The craft is being transported and guided solely by ocean currents.  He is literally barreling across the Atlantic Destination - Caribbean Savin left the Canary Islands off the west coast of Africa on December 26.  He hopes to reach the Caribbean by the end of March.  The craft is travelling at 1 to 2 miles per hour.  There's a porthole that allows him to observe fish swimming underneath the barrel.  And, he's dropping markers along the way to allow the international marine observatory organization JCOMMOPS to study ocean curren

Environmental Innovation - Ink & Paint Made from Exhaust System Pollution Source: Grafiky's  KAALINK System Retrofitted to a Diesel Generator MIT Spinoff Company's Tech has Cleaned Nearly 2 Trillion Liters of Air This is remarkable innovation, ingenuity and engineering.  MIT spinoff company Graviky Labs is rolling out a patent-pending device called Air-Ink.  The technology attaches to the exhaust system of cars, diesel generators, vehicles and machines and converts the captured pollution into ink and paints.  The bedrock technology underlying the system is called KAALINK.  It's extraordinary innovation, beneficial to the environment, in the advanced prototype stage.  For a detailed news blog by my journalist colleague Ed Kane on this, go to  https://importantinnovationscollection.blogspot.com/2018/12/air-ink-pollution-to-ink.html

Important Innovations Collection: Air Ink: Pollution to Ink : Ink Made From Captured Pollution Source:  Graviky Labs Capturing Innovation 1.6 Trillion litres of air cleaned so far.  That's w...

New Morphing Material Source:  Rice University Taking Complex Shapes Scientists at Rice University have created shape changing, morphing material.  The face in the photo takes shape when cooled and goes flat when heat is applied to it. The unique material they've innovated is a rubbery polymer. Nanoscale Tug of War At the nanoscale level there's a battle for control between liquid crystals and the elastomer in which they're embedded.  When cooled, the shape programmed into the crystal dominates.  When heated, the crystals relax and the material goes flat.  This innovation was just published in the Royal Society of Chemistry journal Soft Matter. Significant Applications This unique material is expected to have significant application for soft robots that morph into different shapes.  Also for medical devices that take preprogrammed shape at body temperature.  For more news stories on innovation go to  amazon.com/author/ekane

Cooling Hypersonic Vehicles Source:  DARPA Hypersonic Concept Vehicle DARPA's MACH Program The big challenge with hypersonic jets is to keep them cool as they reach a speed of Mach 5 and above.  The US Defense Department's Advanced Research Projects Agency - DARPA - has declared 2019 the year of hypersonics.  DARPA is pursuing new materials and designs for cooling the hot, leading edges of hypersonic vehicles as they accelerate to hypersonic speeds. New Architecture, Materials and Design for Heat Management The new program is called MACH - Materials, Architecture and Characterization for Hypersonics (MACH) program.  DARPA wants totally new, breakthrough technology, not evolutionary improvements on existing technology. Decades of Trying Effective cool down of the hypersonic vehicles at Mach 5 and above is the key factor between success and disaster.  The DARPA MACH programs kicks off in late January 2019.  According to DARPA Program Manager Bill Carter, scientists

Israeli Innovation New Plastic with No Toxic Waste Scientists at Tel Aviv University have developed a green, biodegradable plastic derived from microorganisms that feed on seaweed.  There is no toxic waste and it can be recycled into organic waste.  This is a marine resource converted into green bioplastic.  Unlike plant based bioplastics, it doesn't require arable land and fresh water.  Israel, China and India have a shortage of both.  For a news blog on this innovation breakthrough, go to Important Innovations Collection: Green, Biodegradable Plastic : Israeli Innovation - New Plastic with Zero Toxic Waste Source:  Tel Aviv University's Non-toxic Plastic Plastic that's Good fo...

Sir Richard Branson's High Speed Rails Source:  Brightline Accelerating and Expanding in US in 2019 Sir Richard Branson is filling a big gap in high speed rail travel in the US. The US is way behind China, Japan and Europe with their Maglevs and other high speed trains.  That's about to change.  Branson is rolling out high speed travel between Orlando and Tampa, Florida in 2019 and tackling LA to Vegas next. It's called Virgin Train USA and for details here's a great news link to my colleague and fellow journalist Ed Kane at  https://importantinnovationscollection.blogspot.com/2018/12/virgins-high-speed-rails.html

Parts of DNA, the Basis of Life, Can Form in Space European Space Agency Photo of Eagle Nebula - Frigid & Rich in Radiation Breakthrough NASA Research NASA scientists have made a remarkable discovery through highly innovative research.  They've discovered that parts of DNA, which is the stuff of life, can form in space.  Specifically deoxyribose, sugar that's the backbone of DNA, can form in space.  They replicated space conditions in their lab by blasting ice with radiation and found deoxyribose in it.  This is breakthrough science and innovation.  For details and a news story on it by my journalist colleague Ed Kane, go to  https://importantinnovationscollection.blogspot.com/2018/12/nasa-discovery-on-dna.html

NeptoMoon Exoplanet & Exomoon Artist Rendering Out of this World There is evidence of the first known moon outside of the solar system. The Kepler space telescope has observed a dip in starlight which suggested the existence of a Neptune sized moon orbiting around a Jupiter sized, gas exoplanet about 8000 light years away. Hubble & Kepler The Hubble Space Telescope recently spotted the same dip and saw the planet passing in front of its star earlier than expected, suggesting gravitational pull from a new moon.  The evidence of a new moon is not yet conclusive but it is building.  For more new blogs and news stories on important innovations, go to  amazon.com/author/ekane

Volume 5:  Important Innovations Impacting Environment, Climate Change, Global Warming Important Innovations:  Collection - Environment by Edward Kane We're pleased to announce that Important Innovations:  Collection, Vol. 5 Important Innovations Impacting the Environment, Climate Change and Global Warming Across Industries was published by Amazon on Christmas Eve.  The book is published both as a paperback and a Kindle e-book. The focus is the latest and most impactful innovations addressing global warming and the latest science tracking Climate Change.  It contains need-to-know news briefs on developments ranging from Harvard's solar geoengineering, China's floating solar farms, Africa's electronic waste recycling programs, Asia's Melting Glaciers, global high precision satellites tracking ice melt, a plant that clears indoor pollution and much more. To check it out go to  amazon.com/author/ekane