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Articles archive for Year 2011

Gadgets| Tech»

GelSight – retrographic sensing capable for super-high-resolution 3D imaging

By Damir Beciri
9 August 2011
gelsightMIT researchers have combined a simple physical interface with computer-vision algorithms to create GelSight – a portable imaging system that can achieve resolutions previously possible only with large and expensive lab equipment. The device could provide manufacturers with a way to inspect products too large to fit under a microscope and it shows potential for… »

Architecture»

Green architecture – Okanagan College Centre of Excellence

By Damir Beciri
7 August 2011
okanagan-college-centre-of-excellence-1The Okanagan College Centre of Excellence is being designed as an innovative, sustainable post-secondary facility that is highly adapted to its site, climate and context. Aside being example of green architecture, the Centre of Excellence features a syllabus with a focus on sustainable building technologies and processes, as well as research and development of alternative… »

Bionics| Tech»

Researchers find organisms growing within fungi capable to degrade plastics

By Damir Beciri
One Comment6 August 2011
yale-fungus-plasticA group of Yale University undergraduates made an interesting discovery when they went on a field trip to Amazon Rainforest. They discovered organisms growing within fungi in the rainforest which are capable to degrade polyurethane – a finding that may lead to innovative ways used to reduce plastic waste in the growing landfills around the… »

Tech»

Laser etched graphite oxide sheets can be used as supercapacitors

By Damir Beciri
5 August 2011
rice-university-go-supercapacitor-teamA team of researchers from Rice University discovered they could transform a sheet of graphite oxide (GO) into a functional supercapacitor by writing patterns into it with a laser. By writing patterns of RGO into thin sheets of GO, the Rice researchers effectively turned them into free-standing supercapacitors with the ability to store and release… »

Bionics| Tech»

A wearable device that vibrates fingertip could improve wearer’s touch

By Damir Beciri
4 August 2011
georgia-tech-wearable-stochastic-resonance-glove-1Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have developed a glove with a special fingertip which employs stochastic resonance in order to improve the wearer’s sense of touch and motor performance. The technology could be used to assist individuals whose jobs require high-precision manual dexterity or those with medical conditions that reduce their sense of… »

Robotics»

RIBA II – improved robotic nursing care aid from Japan

By Damir Beciri
3 Comments2 August 2011
riba-iiJapan has a growing number of elderly in need of nursing care and an urgent need for new approaches used to assist care-giving personnel. Researchers at RIKEN and Tokai Rubber Industries (TRI) are developing a robot which performs one of the most exhausting tasks for such personnel – lifting a patient from a futon at… »

Robotics| Tech»

SOINN enables robots to learn and adapt to new situations

By Damir Beciri
1 August 2011
robot-soinn-hasagawa-labResearchers from the Hasegawa Group at the Tokyo Institute of Technology are developing a robot capable to think, learn and take on tasks it hasn’t tried before. By using Self-Organizing Incremental Neural Network (SOINN), the robot can think in a way similar to humans, because it can make educated guesses and decisions based on its… »

Architecture»

Green architecture – Hotchkiss Residence, Vancouver

By Damir Beciri
4 Comments31 July 2011
hotchkiss-residence-vancouver-1Hotchkiss Residence is a beautiful example of architecture created in the northwest modernist tradition of Belluschi and Storrs. Located near the Columbia River in Vancouver, Washington, the house is carefully sited and designed to take full advantage of the impressive surrounding views. Hotchkiss Residence has a contemporary, yet warm design, and it features various examples… »