Important Innovations

Brilliant NASA Discovery Source:  MIT Saturn's Extremely Harsh Atmosphere Is Raining Diamonds This is very big news from NASA scientists.  They've discovered that the planet Saturn's atmosphere is so harsh, it is raining diamonds onto the planet.  For completed details and an explanation from an expert on how this is possible, go to Important Innovations Collection: Planet "Raining Diamonds": NASA Discovery : Saturn with an Unforgiving Environment Source:  MIT Discovery Just Unveiled NASA scientists have discovered that Saturn's myster...

MIT's Underwater Sensor Network to Take the Ocean's Pulse Source:  MIT Powered Solely by Sound Waves To investigate the vast unexplored areas of the oceans, MIT engineers are building a submerged network of interconnected sensors that send data to the surface.  It's an underwater internet of things to monitor temperature changes from climate change, ocean pollution and marine life over long time periods.  The MIT team has invented a battery-free sensor, powered by sound waves. The device can monitor the ocean environment at great depths over long periods of time with no battery.  The submerged system uses the vibration of piezoelectric materials to generate power and send and receive data. Underwater Communications System This MIT invention appears to be a major breakthrough.  Up until now, the difficulty of deploying deep water sensors to study ocean conditions has been greatly limited by their battery life.  It's very difficult to change batteries at great

China's Lunar Rover Makes Surprise Discovery Source:  China Lunar Exploration Project Mystery Substance on Far Side of the Moon China's historic exploration of the far side of the Moon has resulted in a remarkable discovery.  China's Yutu-2 lunar rover spotted an unusually colored, gel-like substance in a small crater on the lunar surface.  Chinese experts have not yet come up with an explanation of what it is.  For more details go to Important Innovations Collection: Exciting Discovery on Moon's Far Side : China's Chang'e 4 Lunar Rover Find Source:  China Lunar Exploration Project Unusual, Gel-Like Substance China's Chang&#3...

Dark Image New Vehicle Tease on Lamborghini Instagram Channel  Source:  Lamborghini May Be Their First Hybrid Vehicle for the Roads Lamborghini has released a big dark teaser image of a vehicle it's going to unveil at the world largest auto show, the 2019 Frankfurt Auto Show, that opens on September 12.  Lamborghini posted the image on their official Instagram Channel with the tag "Just open your eyes to the future". Is It Lamborghini's First Hybrid? Automotive experts say it looks like a low-slung supercar with Y-shaped LED running lights.  There is speculation that it may be or may have taken styling and engineering details from the much acclaimed Terzo Millennio concept unveiled by Lamborghini as a design study in 2017. Source:  Terzo Millennio  MIT Joint Development Developed jointly with MIT, the concept is designed to be eco-friendly with in-wheel electric motors fed by supercapacitor energy storage technology.  This vehicl

"Artificial Chameleon Skin" Source:  University of Cambridge Big Advance in Nanotechnology to Mimic Nature From scientists at the University of Cambridge in the UK a new innovative material that changes color when exposed to heat or light. The team calls it "artificial chameleon skin" and says it has wide application from active camouflage to large-scale dynamic displays.  The skin is powered by nanomachines.  The scientists say their work represents a big advance in using nanoscale technology to do biomimicry or mimic nature. Dramatic Color Changes The scientific inspiration came from color changing animals like chameleons and in particular their color changing skin cells, chromatophores.  The team essentially created artificial chromatophores by using tiny particles of gold, coating it with a polymer shell and then squeezing it into tiny drops of water in oil.  When exposed to heat or light, the nanoparticles stick together and dramatically change color,

DARPA Tweet for Urban Underground Space For Research and Experimentation Source:  DARPA DARPA's Underground Challenge - US Defense Dept. Initiative This tweet sound like a search for a location for a science fiction movie.  But it's from DARPA, the US Defense Department's Advanced Research Projects Agency, that is pursing its Subterranean Challenge.  That's a competition to develop new technologies to rapidly map, navigate, search and exploit complex underground environments during natural disasters, terrorism and big, underground accidents.  DARPA's targeted research locations include massive manmade tunnels for mass transit and underground structures like extensive parking lots with stores and offices under cities. Unusual and Intriguing Request To say the least, this is an unusual request from DARPA and the deadline is tomorrow August 30, 2019.  They are looking for company or university managed large tunnels and underground structures to host researc

Starhopper Spaceship Aces Test Launch Source:  SpaceX Big Victory for SpaceX Elon Musk's SpaceX is on a roll with victory after victory in the commercialization of space.  It's latest success happened yesterday with the successful launch of its spaceship Starhopper.  For more details, go to Important Innovations Collection: SpaceX on Target for Mars : Starhopper Rocket Prototype Passes Highest & Final Test Source:  Space X Next: On to Orbital Prototypes for 2021 Launch Another ...

Toyota & Suzuki Invest in Each Other to Develop Electric and Autonomous Technologies Source:  Toyota New Global Example of the Rules of the Road to Innovation Toyota and Suzuki are taking small equity stakes in each other.  The purpose, according to the Japanese automakers, is to develop new innovative technologies and come out on top in the rapidly changing global automotive industry. Deepening Japanese Alliance This announcement deepens the alliance between the two global automakers with Toyota taking a 4.9% stake, amounting to $908 million, in the smaller rival Suzuki, which owns Mazda and Suburu.  Suzuki is investing $453 million in Toyota for 0.2% of Toyota shares. All About Developing Expensive Electric and Autonomous Technologies Today's R&D innovation tie-up between Suzuki and Toyota is another leading example of the technology partnerships in the global automotive industry.  It's all about joining forces, with big competitors, to defray the costs

Innovative, Advanced Airbag Technology Source:  Honda Honda Will Deploy Next Generation Airbags in 2020 Vehicles Honda calls its new invention the catcher's mitt airbag.  The advanced airbag technology provides a wide protective barrier across the car dashboard and catches and cradles the front passenger's head like a catcher's mitt.  For a news blog on this new technology, go to Important Innovations Collection: Honda's Catcher's Mitt Airbag : Next Generation Airbag that Catches & Cradles the Head Source:  Honda Airbag Innovative New Passenger Front Airbag Design Honda&...

Parachute-Like Device Part of Barrier System That Captures Plastic Pollution Source:  Ocean Cleanup Pacific Garbage Patch Success The Ocean Cleanup is a foundation, headquartered in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, that develops advanced systems to rid the world's oceans of plastics.  They just reported the successful use of parachute-like devices as part of their Ocean Project System 001B in the Pacific's so-called Garbage Patch to aggressively capture ocean plastic pollution and it worked brilliantly. Parachute-Like Devices Attached to Barrier Worked Beautifully The Pacific Garbage Patch, loaded with plastic pollution that gets worse environmentally daily, is three times the size of France and twice the size of Texas.  Floating plastic is light, fast moving and difficult to contain on the ocean long enough for humans to recover it.  By attaching the parachute-like device to the organization's barrier, the system slowed down the fast moving plastic enough to make i

Starliner Manned Flight to International Space Station Source:  Boeing Starliner Boeing and NASA Commercial Astronauts At the Johnson Space Center in Houston, a veteran team of astronauts are training for the trip of a lifetime.  They'll be launched into space onboard Boeing's new spacecraft Starliner to the International Space Station.  The Starliner is a next generation space capsule designed to take people to and from low Earth orbit. For Boeing, NASA is the anchor company for Starliner, beginning with missions to the ISS with NASA and NASA sponsored crews.  The space vehicle will eventually take tourists on space voyages. Launch Time The Starliner mission will launch in late 2019 or in early 2020.  The five person crew, two women and three men, are Boeing and NASA veteran astronauts.  This mission underscores the importance of the growing commercial business opportunities in space.  You might call it an intergalactic global business frontier that is just opening

Tencent Launches WeChat System for Drivers Source:  Tencent WeChat Set to Deploy Late 2019 in China Tencent is launching a drivers' version of its very popular social app, WeChat, that has one billion active members globally.  The drivers' version of WeChat is voice operated, interactive and has a button on the steering wheel to make calls, send and receive messages.  The device is being offered first in China with a partnership with Chinese automaker China Changan Automobile.  For more news on the announcement, go to Important Innovations Collection: WeChat for Drivers : New Interactive Tech for Drivers Just Announced by Tencent Source:  Tencent Being Launched in China Tencent just announced a new ver...

Thin, Flexible Artificial Muscles Source:  KAIST New Invention from KAIST University, South Korea KAIST scientists have developed thin, flexible artificial muscles that can power the wings of a robotic butterfly, open the petals of a robotic flower brooch and have applications for active biomedical devices, soft robotics, wearable robotics and much more.  For a news blog, go to Important Innovations Collection: Thin, Flexible Artificial Muscles : New Innovation from KAIST of South Korea Source:  KAIST Many Potential Uses: Like Wearable Robotics, Active Biomedical Devices This i...