For polar bears, the insulation provided by their fat, skin, and fur is a matter of survival in the frigid Arctic. For engineers, polar bear hair is a dream template for synthetic materials that might lock in heat just as well as the natural version. Now, materials scientists in China have developed such an insulator,…
3D Printer Threads Electronic Fibers Onto Fabrics
The potential for wearable electronics goes far beyond smart watches, but our current options for battery packs and circuit boards don’t make for the most comfortable E-socks. One solution, being developed by scientists in China, is to simply print flexible fibers on to transitional textiles or clothes. For example, they printed patterns that can harvest…
‘Upcycling’ Plastic Bottles Could Give Them a More Useful Second Life
Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) have developed a recycling process that transforms single-use beverage bottles, clothing, and carpet made from the common polyester material polyethylene terephthalate (PET) into more valuable products with a longer lifespan. Their research, published February 27 in the journal Joule, could help protect oceans from…
Smart Windows that Go From Clear to Dark in Under a Minute
Stanford University engineers have developed dynamic windows that can switch from transparent to opaque or back again in under a minute and do not degrade over time. The prototypes are plates of conductive glass outlined with metal ions that spread out over the surface, blocking light, in response to electrical current. The group recently filed…
How Insights into Human Learning Can Foster Smarter AI
Recent breakthroughs in creating artificial systems that outplay humans in a diverse array of challenging games have their roots in neural networks inspired by information processing in the brain. In a Review published June 14 inTrends in Cognitive Sciences, researchers from Google DeepMind and Stanford University update a theory originally developed to explain how humans…
Using Drones Without Disturbing Wildlife
Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), more popularly known as drones, are increasingly employed to monitor and protect wildlife. But researchers writing in the Cell Press journalCurrent Biology on May 23 say that steps should be taken to ensure that UAV operations are not causing undue stress to animals. “Even though an animal might not appear to be…