Volkswagen’s new electric minibus will hit the road in 2022 On August 19, Volkswagen announced at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance in California that its electric microbus, the I.D. BUZZ concept car, will go into production. The new microbus will debut in dealerships throughout China, Europe, and North America in 2022, after the compact four-door…
The cost of Solar will drop another 25% by 2022 A new report has found that the cost of solar energy is dropping at a staggering rate of 4.4 percent worldwide each year. However, it cites some worrying causes as to why the power source has become so cheap. The solar price slump Solar energy…
Digital startup aims to lead a revolution in retail transparency Jessi Baker, founder of blockchain technology platform Provenance, envisions a future where all physical products have digital histories, allowing people to trace and verify products’ origins, attributes and ownership. Is it time for a new dawn of transparency in retail? The software platform is a…
The most detailed ever scan of the wiring of the human brain has been produced The world’s most intricate imaging of the brain’s internal wiring has been made by scientists at Cardiff University. It could provide unprecedented insight into the causes of conditions such as dementia, schizophrenia and multiple sclerosis. New images produced by scientists…
World’s first battery-free phone could spell the end of charging cables and dead batterie Say goodbye to frayed charging cables, and say hello to endless battery life. That’s because researchers at the University of Washington have just constructed the world’s first battery-free phone. The phone is powered by a few microwatts of ambient radio signals…
These scientists have managed to stop the progress of Alzheimer’s in animals This treatment is making headlines in South America for its groundbreaking ability to halt the development of Alzheimer’s in animals. Brazilian researchers discovered the importance of a protein that reestablishes the electrical circuits in the brain, thus stopping the effects of the disease.…
Organ donations are keeping more people alive than ever The number of people who are alive in the UK thanks to organ transplants has exceeded 50,000 for the first time. There are a record 50,300 people alive in the UK today thanks to organ transplants, after a surge in donor numbers and progress on survival…
German nonprofit creates new open-source license for seeds We know about open-source software and hardware, but can the concept – decentralized development and open collaboration for the common good – be expanded to address other global challenges? The nonprofit OpenSourceSeeds based in the German town of Marburg has just launched a licensing process for open-source seeds, to…
This tee-shirt monitors the asthma patient’s breathing without any wires This “smart” t-shirt could be a huge breakthrough for people suffering from respiratory illnesses. The light, comfortable shirt developed by researchers at the Université Laval monitors the wearer’s breathing through a tiny antenna in the center of the design. Simply by detecting the user’s motions, the…
Student creates first synthetic retina for the visually impaired A synthetic, soft tissue retina developed by a 24-year-old student could offer fresh hope to visually impaired people. Until now, all artificial retinal research has used only rigid, hard materials. The new research, conducted by Vanessa Restrepo-Schild, a researcher at Oxford University, is the first to…