Important Innovations

  New Robot with AI Does the Housework for You                                             Source:  Samsung So Dexterous It Can Set a Dinner Table & Pour a Glass of Wine Samsung has unveiled a new robot Bot Handy designed to be very handy around the house and do chores.  The robot can set a dinner table, clean messy rooms or pour a glass of wine.  Samsung specifically designed this robot to be a very helpful Jeeves around the house. AI Enabled The robot is enabled by very advanced technology.  It uses AI to recognize and pickup objects.  It's able to calculate the right amount of force needed to grab and move objects.  It is capable of differentiating the material composition of a variety of household objects. Top Technology Bot Handy can make itself taller and smaller.  There's a display on the front that shows the robot's blinking eyes, which makes the robot more human.  It has a single robotic arm with hinges for dexterous movement in the fingers, wrist, hands, armpi

  UBtech's Adibot Source:  UBtech Robot Can Be Rented For $15/day UBtech, the Chinese robotic company, has invented a robot that can rid a space - like a room, office or school - of COVID-19.  It's a large, cylindrical robot called Adibot that disinfects rooms with UVC light.  The company says it provides hospital grade sanitizing in less than a minute and a half.  Adibot comes in a stationary form that can be wheeled into a room.  And there is an autonomous model that pilots itself using lidar.  It neutralizes pathogens and in particular COVID-19 with UVC light.  The light dosage can be adjusted for different diseases.  What is very remarkable is that the robot can be rented for $15/day. Robot on COVID Duty UBtech claims Adibot can give a 1000 sq. foot space a complete cleansing of COVID and other pathogens in a minute to a minute and a half.  The robot issues vocal warnings to people to stay out of the room while it is cleaning.  UVC light can be harmful to humans.  The robot

  European Union's Latest Findings on Climate Change Source:  Climate Change Stock Images Temperatures & Severe Weather Rising   The European Union's Copernicus Earth observation service says that global temperatures in 2019 were the highest on record and tied  2016 for that dubious distinction.  Also, 2010 - 2019 was the hottest decade ever. And, the pattern continues to escalate.  Europe, the Arctic and southern Siberia experienced their hottest year ever in 2020.  All experienced extreme heatwaves and fires.  In the US, the rising temperatures in 2020 caused 22 distinct disasters, including wildfires and hurricanes, resulting in $95 billion in damage. Greenhouse Gas Emissions The scientists at Copernicu s  are calling for immediate action on greenhouse gas emissions to reduce the amount going into the atmosphere.  The UN sponsored global summit on Climate Change won't happen until November in Glasgow. So the Paris Accords stand in play, which the US has withdrawn fro

  Airthings Wave Sensor                                                       Source:  Airthings Virus Alerts At the CES 2021 virtual show in Las Vegas this week, a number of innovative products are rolling out to fight COVID-19, which spreads through the air.  For example, Airthings Wave sensors were just unveiled.  The sensor tracks atmospheric conditions necessary for the virus to transmit.  The Wave Plus for workplaces tracks CO2 levels, humidity and temperatures.  It alerts the office manager to make adjustments to the room to prevent transmission of viral pathogens like COVID. Wave Mini The Wave Mini is for use in the home.  It focuses on risk factors for mold and is expected to be adapted for tracking viral transmission.  These gadgets are very creative ways to monitor the air that we are breathing.  In the future, they are likely to be incorporated into air purifiers to both monitor and clean the air of pathogens like COVID.

   Audi Phasing Out Combustion Engines Source:  Audi Electric/Autonomous Car Prototype                                             Source:  Audi e-tron EV Greening of Global Automotive Industry VW's luxury brand Audi CEO Markus Duesmann believes that protesting the environment and economic success go hand in hand.  He just disclosed his intent to phase out combustion engine cars in the Audi new vehicle lineup.  The lineup will go all electric vehicles.  That is a seismic change for any global automaker.  Audi's timeframe to accomplish this is within the next 10 to 15 years. Green Is An Environmental & Economic Good By 2031 or 2035, Audi will offer only new electric vehicles.  It is now working on a concrete time frame with target dates.  The plan, that will be finished within a few months, will detail vehicle numbers and dates for each factory.  The plan will serve as a guidepost as the plants transition production from combustion engine to electric vehicles.  This importan

  COVID Fighting Air Purifiers                                                  Source:  Luft Duo Highly Advanced Air Purifiers with UV Light and Microbiotics The world's biggest Consumer Electronics Show (CES 2021) for the first time will be an all digital forum when it opens in Las Vegas on Monday January 11, 2021.  COVID-19 has forced the show to be held online.  Fueled by the public's need for protection against COVID which spreads in the air, several innovative air purifiers are among the hot new products being introduced.  These products are sustainable, meaning the air filter can be washed.  They are more energy efficient and some are made of sustainable material.  And most importantly, the gadgets are using new, more efficient technology like UV light to eliminate COVID pathogens. Luftqi's Luft Duo An example is the Luft Duo air purifier that is battery powered and highly portable.  You can use it anyplace such as in your car, office and even on a table at a coffee

New Material & Phenomena Discovered by German Scientists                                        Source:  University of Konstanz 20 Year Prediction Comes True Physicists in Germany have discovered an entirely new state of matter - liquid glass.  The team at Germany's University of Konstanz says the new material is unlike anything they've seen and has very unusual properties.  The new state of matter is a mysterious process that takes place between liquid and solid states of glass.  The atoms of liquid glass can move but they can't rotate.  The molecules appear to be locked in a endless struggle between the liquid and solid states of glass.  For more than 20 years, scientists have predicted the possibility of liquid glass and have worked to discover it.  The German team is the first to do it. Significance of the Discovery - Explaining the Unexplainable The discovery goes way beyond glass and may shed light on unexplained processes from in tiny biological cells to large pl