NASA astronaut Buzz Aldrin celebrated his 90th birthday on Monday, sharing the occasion with a Twitter message to his 1.5-million followers. He made history as 600-million people watched Apollo 11 crew mate Neil Armstrong become the first two humans to set foot on the moon on July 20, 1969. Read more for a video looking back at the historic mission and additional information.
The European Space Agency (ESA) has developed a prototype oxygen plant that has been set up in the Materials and Electrical Components Laboratory in Noordwijk, the Netherlands. Samples retrieved from the lunar surface confirm that lunar regolith is made up of 40–45% percent oxygen by weight, its single most abundant element. European Space Research and Technology Centre’s (ESTEC) oxygen extraction is taking place using a method called molten salt electrolysis, which involves placing regolith in a metal basket with molten calcium chloride salt to serve as an electrolyte, heated to 950°C. Read more for a video and additional information.
Stanford University engineers have unveiled PigeonBot, a bird robot with a wrist and finger with 40 feathers – 20 per wing—gathered from domestic pigeons called squab. By programming the robot to bend at one joint, the researchers could see how that movement contributes to a bird’s aeronautical maneuvers, and may eventually lead to bird-inspired drones. Read more for a video and additional information.
Ever wonder what people of the past thought the future was going to be like? If so, then you might want to watch “1999 A.D.”, a short film released in 1967 by the Philco-Ford Corporation to mark the company’s 75th anniversary. The house of tomorrow that you’re about to see is filled with consumer technologies that aim to make daily life more comfortable and convenient, complete with lots of displays. Read more for the video.
Sitting for too long can be degrading to a person’s health by increasing their risk for obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, deep-vein thrombosis, and metabolic syndrome. Jaguar Land Rover may have a solution for long road trips with their new shape-shifting seat that mimics walking using actuators built into the foam. Read more for a video and additional information.
Mojo Vision has just announced that it’s building the world’s first true smart contact lens, called the Mojo Lens. Put simply, this contact lens boasts a built-in display that gives users timely information they want without forcing them to look down at a screen or losing focus on the people and the world around them. The Invisible Computing platform enables information to be instantaneous, unobtrusive and available hands-free. Read more for a video and additional information.
Israel-based Nanox created an X-ray machine that appears to be straight from the Star Trek universe, and it’s called the ARC. The company aims to make low-cost medical scanning available to people around the world with a much smaller footprint than current machines. This means ditching the expensive CT machines in favor of a portable bed. Read more for a video and additional information.
Photo credit: Douglas Blackiston | Tufts University
Researchers at Tufts University have the world’s first living robots created using stem cells scraped from frog embryos. These cells were then use to assemble “xenobots,” or small 1-millimeter-wide blobs act like living, self-healing robots. They’re capable of walking, swimming and working cooperatively, but future uses include reprogramming tumors in the human body, deliver drugs or scraping arterial plaque. Read more for a video and additional information.
British inventor Richard Browning founded Gravity Industries Ltd back in March 2017, and debuted the Daedalus Mark 1, a jet pack that uses several miniature jet engines to achieve vertical flight. Each of the kerosene-powered engines are rated at 22 kg of thrust, and you use your arms to control the direction and speed of the flight. Read more to see what it’s like to fly using this amazing suit.
One vehicle that may have been overlooked at CES 2020 is the Lightyear One, an electric vehicle covered in solar panels that claims to achieve 450-miles of range from its built-in battery. The five square meters of solar panels cover its roof / hood and is capable of charging the car’s battery with up to 7.5-miles of range an hour. These solar cells are reportedly 20% more efficient than traditional models. Read more for a test drive video from CES 2020 and additional information.