Important Innovations

Permafrost is Thawing & No Longer Permanent Source:  Siberia's Permafrost Melt Disrupting Land Global Wake-Up Call Scientists are pointing out that the effects of global Climate Change are particularly evident in Russia, where 2/3rds of the land is permafrost.  But that is dramatically changing.  Global warming is savagely reducing the permafrost in Siberia, which is one of the coldest human habitats on Earth.  The permafrost is thawing away. Twice the Warming Siberia and the Arctic are warming at least twice as fast as the rest of the world.  Melting permafrost is causing severe flooding during springtime in Siberia.  It's changing and disrupting the landscape and in some cases destroying homes.  The permafrost melt is changing the habits of migratory animals and is threatening entire villages. Raging, Massive Forest Fires In the last several weeks, 8 million acres of forest in Siberia have been engulfed in massive fires.  The fires have been touched off b

Textile Based Solar Cells Source:  Fraunhofer Institute Innovation from Germany with Many Applications German scientists have invented flexible, textile based rolls of solar cells that are integrated into a glass fiber fabric.  They say that tarps on semi-tractor-trailers  with these new solar cells embedded in them could harvest enough electricity to power cooling systems and other onboard equipment.  It's the invention of scientists at the Fraunhofer Institute for Ceramic Technologies and Systems in Dresden, Germany. Building Facades The potential uses of these new solar cell rolls are fascinating.  The scientists say building facades could be covered with the photovoltaic textile to generate power.  They envision blinds that provide shade in buildings could also be covered with the solar cells to provide yet another source of clean energy. Commercialization Within Five Years The scientists say there are a number of processes to enable solar cells to be incorporated

France's Flying Inventor Franky Zapata Source:  Zapata flying into Dover, England French Inventor Goes 106 MPH French inventor Franky Zapata successfully crossed the English Channel today on  a jet powered hoverboard that he invented.  It's a 22 mile trip that took him 22 minutes from Sangatte, France to Dover, England.  At times he reached speeds of 106 mph. Second Try Was the Charm For Zapata, the second attempt brought success.  In late July, he made his first attempt but fell into the water when trying to land on a refueling platform in the middle of the Channel.  He missed it by inches. During today's successful flight, he stopped once to refuel because he started the journey with just 10 minutes worth of fuel.  When he landed in Dover, he commented:  "We made the machine 3 years ago and now we've crossed the Channel.  It's crazy!" Zapata Industries Zapata the inventor has created Zapata Industries.  He invented the Flyboard

NORM  AR Googles  Source:  Human Capable NORM Glasses Your Glass Prescription Enabled The company is called Human Capable, Inc. Their innovation is NORM glasses.  It's a new form of smart glasses for augmented reality that are normal looking, lightweight and comfortable for wearing.  Importantly, they can incorporate your eye prescription into the lenses so that you can use them for normal glasses. This innovation comes from a US company based in South Florida.  The inventors behind NORM say this type of eyewear could be the primary interface for human machine interaction because of the proximity of the smart glasses to the eyes, ears and mouth. Your Digital World The company says that NORM offers a 24/7, hands free connection to your digital world.  It can function as everyday glasses with your prescription and then morph into something very different.  By pairing the glasses with a smartphone, it can offer many applications like making and receiving texts, calls, social

World's 1st Flying Personal Watercraft All Electric, Combo Boat and Hydrofoil From Australia, new innovation in the form of the world's first personal flying watercraft.  It's all electric, so it doesn't spew any fuel into the water.  Combining features from boats and hydrofoils, the watercraft is able to move above the water surface and provides a smooth, quiet and eco-friendly ride. The Australian inventors say it's a big development beyond electric jet skis.  For a great news blog with more details, go to Important Innovations Collection: Flying Personal Watercraft - World First : WaveFlyer - Electric, Combo Boat & Hydrofoil Eco-friendly Summer Fun WaveFlyer is an all electric watercraft that's part boat ...

Boring Company to Set-Up Operations in China For China, Tunnel Based Transportation Systems Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk just announced that he's going to launch operations of his Boring Company in China.  He'll do so during a trip to China for an artificial intelligence conference late this month.  The Boring company builds tunnel based transportation systems, including the Hyperloop. From LA & Las Vegas to China Musk has momentum going with the Boring Company, which is far from boring.  Musk recently won his first commercial contract to build a mile long shuttle to ferry tourists around the Las Vegas Convention Center.  He's also built a test tunnel at the company's headquarters in suburban Los Angeles.  In July, he raised $120 million from outside investors to help fund his tunnel projects and proposals.  He wants to build a tunnel system to connect Baltimore and Washington, DC.  That is currently under environmental review.  He's also proposed

Polish Astronomers Provide Large and Precise 3D Scaled Map  Source:  University of Warsaw Surprise Finding "Warped and Twisted", Not Flat Astronomers from the University of Warsaw in Poland have created the most precise and largest  map of the Milky Way to date.  By tracking thousands of stars pulsating in the galaxy, they've created a 3D scale map of the system.  They discovered that it isn't as flat as a pancake but twists and turns in shape much more than previously thought by astronomers. Spiral Galaxy The Milky Way is a spiral galaxy measuring 120,000 light years across.  It's a mass of stars, gas and dust about 27,000 light years from the Earth.  The team found the distortions in the Milky Way are immense with some stars 60,000 light years away from the Milky Way's center. And, the galaxy's thickness is quite variable. Potential Causes The astronomers cited several potential causes for the "warped and twisted"

AI Chip that Makes the Bike Think and Understand Source:  Tsinghua University May Be Important Tech for Future AI A team of Chinese researchers have started focusing on autonomous transport in the form of bicycles as driverless cars continue to be developed. They may have come up on something big.  They've developed bikes with an AI chip that are self-balancing, steer around obstacles and respond to basic voice commands.  This is powered by a new kind of computer chip from Tsinghua University, which is a top innovation center in Beijing. Very Smart Chip This Tianjic chip is a hybrid design that works on two forms of computing:  conventional and a neurological one.  They combine for object detection, motor and balance control, voice recognition and more. China thinks this hybrid architecture could be the future of AI and  they're developing it.

Discovered by International Astronomers Using Powerful Ground Telescopes Source:  NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center May Have "Earth Like" Conditions Astronomers have discovered what they're calling a Super Earth 31 light years away from our solar system.  They say it is "potentially habitable".  The planet is named GJ 357d.  It is six times larger than the Earth and it orbits a sun that is much smaller than ours, every 55 days.  An international team of scientists discovered it using powerful ground telescopes and following up on data first relayed by NASA's planet hunting satellite TESS.  The astronomers believe that it could provide "Earth like conditions" for life.  If so it could answer the question that goes back a thousand years:  Is there life elsewhere in the Universe? Looking for Signs of Life In the next several years, highly advanced telescopes will be going on line that will be able to detect any signs of lif

Portable, in the Field Gadget, for Healthy Plants & Spot Disease Source:  North Caroline State University new tech for plant health First of its Kind Device to Detect Plant Disease in Minutes A new, smartphone powered device detects disease in plants.  For the first time, plant disease can be detected by a portable device, used by a farmer in the field and the analysis is done on the spot within minutes.  Up until now, plant analysis had to be done in a lab and that could take days or weeks.  This smartphone powered device reads gas concentrations in a plant in the farm field real-time. That analysis tells farmers that they are dealing with the presence of disease in plants and that they should take action. Portable, Down on the Farm Device This significant innovation was developed by a team at North Carolina State University.  The device is designed to attach to a farmer's smart phone above the phone's camera for quick crop analysis.  This real-time

AI Controls Trucks Source:  Pelotin Pelotin System: One Driver Driving Two Trucks Simultaneously with AI This is a L4 Automated Following System from Pelotin Technology that lets a driver control multiple trucks at the same time. The company says it is more energy efficient and safer.  This may be the future of tractor trailers on the road thanks to a lot of hi-tech. The concept is that big rigs are safer together with a lot of artificial intelligence behind them. Leading Edge Tech This truck technology is leading edge and relies on a  lot of communications, technologies and algorithms. For example, radar based active brakes, vehicle communications, and specialized vehicle controlled algorithms. A human is driving the front truck, that controls with the enabled technology the truck behind. This is new tech on the cutting edge.

Solar Sailing in Space - LightSail 2 Source:  LightSail 2 Promising New Solar Innovation for Space Travel This green energy technology has the potential to be disruptive innovation. It's a solar powered sail invented through the non-profit Planetary Society in California, led by the Science Guy Bill Nye.  The LightSail 2 CubeSat spacecraft successfully deployed its solar sail to get propulsion in space a few days ago.  It's the first spacecraft to be propelled by sunlight alone.  This is very important science because the use of solar sails to convert solar wind into thrust could save fuel for spacecrafts on long space missions. Solar Sailing The small spacecraft is the size of a toaster.  It was hurled into space aboard a Space X Falcon Heavy rocket in late June.  A few days ago, flight controllers on the ground in California fully deployed the solar sail from the CubeSat into space.  The sail is the size of a boxing ring and the system is orbiting the Earth solely

NASA's TESS Planet Hunter Source:  NASA's TESS Historic Mission and Historic Discoveries With just a year in space, NASA's TESS planet hunting spacecraft has discovered 21 brand new worlds outside of our solar system, 850 potential exoplanets and 6 supernovas.  NASA says this is beyond their wildest expectations. Having explored the southern sky, TESS is now going to check out the northern sky. For a great news blog on this historic mission, go to Important Innovations Collection: NASA 21 Whole New Worlds : NASA Spacecraft TESS Discoveries Source:  NASA Planet Hunter Extraordinary NASA's planet hunter TESS spacecraft - Transiting Exo...