Important Innovations

Mitsubishi MI-TECH Concept Source:  Mitsubishi Off-Road Vehicle That's Electric The Tokyo Auto Show is now underway and there's a very interesting new off-road vehicle we just came upon.  It's Mitsubishi's MI-TECH concept vehicle that's an off-roader to explore the environment that is eco-friendly. The vehicle has no doors, is primarily electric powered and looks like a great way to explore the great outdoors without significantly polluting it in comparison with other off-road vehicles.  What I love about this concept is exploring the environment without causing significant pollution while doing it.   Electric Off-Road Vehicle The vehicle concept is powered by a plug in electric powertrain with a four motor electric, all wheel drive system.  There's a gas turbine engine that can run on alcohol, kerosene or diesel to recharge the batteries.  It's a new concept vehicle worth taking a look at for a greener start to explore the enviro

Toyota's Level 2 Self-Driving Lexus for 2020 Source:  Lexus Automated Highway Teammate The roads are about to become more crowded with autonomous cars.  Hyundai is starting autonomous ride sharing in California next month to test market demand.  And Toyota will debut an autonomous Lexus in 2020.  The vehicle will be equipped with what Toyota is calling its Level 2 Automated Highway Teammate - its new autonomous driving technology. Level 2 Lexus is going to start going autonomous at Level 2.  That means no-hands cruise control, under certain conditions, with the driver behind the wheel and their eyes on the road.  The new Teammate system goes beyond standard Level 2 functions like keeping the car within the lane and working the accelerator and breaks while following the leader car.  The Toyota system can handle lane changes and merging.  It can also learn and receive updates to increase its functionality on a continuing basis.

Children's Fiction Audiobook Version Headed to Retail ACX, Audible, iTunes The audiobook version for kids of Ed's fiction "How Dare You" is being readied for retail on ACX, Audible, iTunes and Amazon within the next few days.  This is an adventure story for children with important life lessons. The leading character is Cordy, a spunky 10 year old who finds herself at a new school, in a new place and has no friends.  There's a notable exception: her dog Bash.  The narrator is me, national TV anchor and show host Maryanne Kane. Running Adventure Through a Magical Forest of Fireflies Cordy remedies her lonely situation by helping to organize her new school's girls cross country team.  And that's where the running adventure takes off into a magical forest of fireflies, talking animals and a lot more. Bio-Inspired For Ed, nothing is more inspirational than nature, like a forest that lights-up with the magic of fireflies.  And the importan

Northwestern's HARP: Full Size Structures in Two Hours Source:  Northwestern University Future of Manufacturing On-Demand A team at Northwestern University have invented a 3D printer that provides rapid, on-demand manufacturing of large objects in a few hours.  It can be used to make parts for planes, cars, medical devices and more.  The HARP (high area rapid printing) device prints 100 times faster than other 3D printers.  It can create an object the size of a human in 2 hours. Record Breaking Throughput Northwestern University says this type of rapid manufacturing on-demand is the future of manufacturing that could put an end to molds and warehouses. The new printer will be commercially available within a year and a half.  It prints both hard, durable parts and elastic objects.  The throughput is record breaking and enables it to manufacture parts on demand. Non-sticky Liquid & Ultraviolet Light The printer itself is large:  13 feet tall with a 2.5 sq. foot prin

Gulfstream G700 Source:  Gulfstream Next G of Business Jets Gulfstream Aerospace, a unit of General Dynamics, has unveiled its long anticipated G700 business jet at the world's largest corporate jet airshow in Las Vegas this week.  Gulfstream says the G700 is a long range, enhanced speed and performance aircraft that is meant to set a new standard in long range business jets. According to Gulfstream President Mark Burns, it's an all new, advanced technology aircraft that "redefines safety, comfort and range at speed". Delivered to Buyers in 2022 The G700 is priced at $75 million, powered by Rolls-Royce engines and has the tallest, longest and widest cabin in the business jet industry.  It seats 19 passengers. This plane is built for distance, speed and comfort.  It can fly 7500 nautical miles at Mach 0.85.  It has five living areas, a 6-place dining or conference room, an extra large, ultra-galley with passenger lounge or crew compartments and a master suit

Protecting Connected Vehicles from Hackers Source:  Upstream Israel's Upstream Security Secures Millions in Funding Israel's Upstream Security has secured $30 million in funding to develop software to protect connected and autonomous vehicles from cyberattacks by hackers.  The funding is coming from automakers like Renault, Nissan, Mitsubishi, Hyundai and Volvo Truck, Nationwide Mutual Insurance and venture capital firms. Upstream takes a cloud based automotive cybersecurity approach using data analytics and machine learning algorithms.  The company was established in 2017 and has received a total of $41 million in funding. New Software Market with Exponential Growth The market demand for software to protect against automotive cyberattacks is expected to reach $2.3 billion by 2025. The exponential growth is being driven by the fact that the more connectivity included in vehicles, the more vulnerable they are to hackers.  Cyber carjacking has been an issue since 2015

New Automotive Frontier that's Looking for New Partners Source:  BMW Blog - Car2Go Car2Go Driving FAS Two global luxury brands are leading the way on new, automotive mobility for drivers.  BMW and Daimler have just announced FAS. It's a 50-50 collaboration of Daimler's Car2Go car sharing business with BMW's DriveNow, ParkNow and e-ChargeNow.  This is a burgeoning space for the automotive industry, a menu of new car sharing, parking and electric car recharging services. These mobility services could prove to be the ultimate and most important on the ground driving services for consumers before the era of flying vehicles takes-off by the mid 2020's. FAS Forward FAS is designed to give customers a wide choice across brands for the new menu of services.  Daimler and BMW are looking for collaborators as well as financial investments in the new venture.  The personal mobility space is just starting to accelerate.  These ventures are more traditional, drive on th

Adhesive With Stickiness of Gecko Legs Source:  North Carolina State University New Liquid Manufacturing Process This is a new and very novel approach to manufacturing.  A new adhesive has been created by harvesting liquid driven chaos.  It's the invention of scientists at North Caroline State University.  It's said to pave the way for a new generation of soft  nanomaterials including for gels, food, pastes, nonwovens and coatings. Stickiness of Gecko Legs The adhesive created by the process can adhere to virtually any surface.  The team employed liquid manufacturing which involves dissolving a polymer and rapidly mixing it with another liquid.  The chaotic turbulence results in branched particles.  The thinnest particles create a corona of nanofibers that result in adhesive.  The material, according to the team, has the stickiness of Gecko legs. New, Scalable, Inexpensive Manufacturing This new invention is a unique manufacturing process that works with many poly

New Portable, Air Quality Monitor from Singapore Source:  NTU Singapore Real-Time Detection of Toxic Gases & Chemicals in the Air Researchers at Nanyang Technological University - NTU Singapore - have invented a sensor that can identify a wide range of airborne gases and chemicals instantly.  This includes gas leaks and pollution toxins both indoors and outside.  The prototype device is portable and made for rapid deployment by agencies to identify airborne hazards immediately. Seconds Fast Results Current technology can require up to a few days to identify specific toxins in the air.  This new sensor is made for emergency situations that require quick and ongoing analysis.  The device is composed of a chip made from a porous nanomaterial that traps gas particles.  A laser beamed on the chip interacts with the gas molecules to produce a lower energy light.  That light is analyzed by a camera to see if its spectroscopic signature matches known toxic gases.  It provides a

One of Nature's Most Beautiful, Unsolved Mysteries Source:  Great Smoky Mountains National Park.org Natural Wonder Light Shows They are called Synchronous fireflies.  Thousands of them blink their lights in unison for ten seconds, go dark for a minute and then light up the forest again.  These fireflies are extremely rare and are found in only a few places around the world, including the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in Tennessee where they put on a magnificent light show from mid May to mid June every year. The Synchronous fireflies are a natural mystery that still baffle scientists.  For a great news blog with more details, go to Important Innovations Collection: Synchronous Fireflies Rare & Mysterious : A Light Show That Baffles Scientists Source:  Great Smoky Mountains National Park.org Inspiration from Nature It's one of the m...

Amphibious Pelican Drone from The Netherlands Source:  TU Delft, Pelican Drone in Action This Week Water Testing in Minutes The Pelican amphibious drone is able to deliver water tests in minutes.  This new technology is gamechanging because current water quality testing is time and labor intensive, requires on site visits by humans and then the water samples have to be transported to a lab. The traditional process is expensive and many times the water samples no longer accurately reflect current water conditions, which dynamically change. The Pelican drone provides water quality testing results in real-time. Autonomous and Real Time Water Monitoring A team at Delft University of Technology in The Netherlands has invented the Pelican drone that flies over the water surface and scans it for problem areas with its onboard hyperspectral cameras.  If there's a potential problem, the drone swoops down and takes a water sample.  The sample is transferred to a porta

Gita: Designed to Carry Your Groceries, Gear, Equipment - All in Motion on Foot with You Source:  Piaggio Fast Forward Gita Your Personal Butler Jeeves on the Street with You This is very cool robotic innovation, a new "Follow Me" robot named Gita, invented by Piaggio Fast Forward, a Boston startup, backed by the company that licensed Vespa.  This personal cargo robot can carry up to 45 pounds of groceries, luggage or equipment and directly follow the owner in a type of  Jeeves-like butler fashion right on the street.  It's a wheeled based bot that is designed to move like humans move.  It follows the owner with visual sensors at speeds up to 6 mph.  The company calls this tech "sustainable, mobility ecology" that lets humans walk more and drive less. Cargo Following You Hands Free The inventors say Gita is designed to enable humans to do less driving and do more walking by hauling their groceries and other items with a robotic cargo system.  Gita can

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