There are five gigantic patches of swirling plastic throughout the Earth’s oceans, known as gyres. Because of ocean currents, a great majority of the plastic that ends up in the oceans finds its way into these garbage patches, poisoning marine … Continued
A vision for a skyscraper containing swamps, mountains, glaciers and a jungle has been named the winner in a competition to come up with futuristic ideas for high-rise living. Named Essence Skyscraper, the proposal by Polish architectural designers Ewa Odyjas, Agnieszka Morga, … Continued
Green-car sceptics take note: Japan now has more electric vehicle charging spots than gas stations. The country’s number-two automaker Nissan says there are now 40,000 charging units—including those inside private homes—across the nation, compared with 34,000 petrol stations. While gas stations have … Continued
A 2,600-year-old human skull from the Iron Age was unearthed in a muddy pit back in late 2008. Upon closer examination, the soil-caked cranium contained an unusual yellow substance that turned out to be Britain’s oldest surviving human brain. Now, researchers … Continued
Light behaves both as a particle and as a wave. Since the days of Einstein, scientists have been trying to directly observe both of these aspects of light at the same time. Now, scientists at EPFL have succeeded in capturing … Continued
A few paralyzed patients could soon be using a wireless brain-computer interface able to stream their thought commands as quickly as a home Internet connection. After more than a decade of engineering work, researchers at Brown University and a … Continued
Do you always have to constantly stop to refill your water bottle on long bike rides. Kristof Retezár, a student at the University of Applied Arts in Vienna, Austria, has come up with a new way to quench your thirst … Continued
Russian cosmonauts have discovered something remarkable clinging to the outside of the International Space Station: living organisms. The microscopic creatures appeared during a space walk intended to clean the vessel’s surface, and were allegedly identified — incredibly — as a … Continued
Understanding how information is encoded and transmitted is a crucial part of understanding our modern world. Scientists have discovered a second code hiding within DNA. This second code contains information that changes how scientists read the instructions contained in DNA … Continued
This week’s edition of FutureTense on ABC Radio National focused in renewable energy with particular emphasis on the very exciting developments in human created artificial photosynthesis which seems to genuinely offer the opportunity to reduce human impact on the planet … Continued
At the edge of the Atacama Desert, one of the driest places on earth, Lima, Peru, receives almost no rainfall. About 700,000 people have no access to clean water for drinking or bathing. Another 600,000 of the city’s 7.5 million … Continued
The first quarter of 2014 was another big one for the U.S. solar industry, with 74 percent of all new electricity generation across the country coming from solar power. The 1,330 megawatts of solar photovoltaics (PV) installed last quarter bring … Continued
A pair of skyscrapers by Milan office Boeri Studio are nearing completion in the Italian city, featuring as many trees as could be planted in a hectare of forest. The first project born from this concept is now nearing completion in the Isola area … Continued
This summer in the Bahamas, researchers will test new technology that helps humans get one step closer to communicating with dolphins using a series of whistles that dolphins can easily reproduce. An underwater computer called the CHAT interface will broadcast artificial whistles … Continued
Technology is changing at a rapid pace, so much so that it’s challenging to grasp. While there is little uniformity in technology, there are some trends worth noting that have spurred tangent innovation, including speed (a shift from dial-up top … Continued
The use of wood in multi-storey buildings is an art form almost completely buried a hundred years ago. Reinforced concrete structures became the norm worldwide. In recent years, however, the sustainability debate has brought a renaissance to wood and an … Continued
Some of the most famous cities in history were never built. These 10 Utopian cities may have been failures, but they expressed our ideas about what the future of human civilization could look like. And many ideas contained in them … Continued
The University of Southern California is testing a giant 3D printer that could be used to build a whole house in under 24 hours. Professor Behrokh Khoshnevis has designed the giant robot that replaces construction workers with a nozzle on … Continued
Scientists have created a molecular communications system for the transmission of messages and data in challenging environments where electromagnetic waves cannot be used — such as tunnels, pipelines, underwater, within the body, and in biomedical nanorobots. “We believe we have sent … Continued
BM just unveiled its annual 5 in 5 — five predictions about technology innovations that IBM expects will change the way we work, live and play within the next five years. This year’s IBM 5 in 5 explores the idea that everything will learn … Continued