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Engineer’s Vhista app helps blind people to move around the world

From Silicon Valley, Colombian Juan David Cruz tells us why he created the Vhista App, a tool that gives vision to the blind via the iPhone.
microwave a sponge baby

A.I. could play a vital role in the birth of tomorrow’s IVF children

A new A.I. tool could help embryologists select the optimal embryo for IVF treatment. In doing so, it could help increase the chance of fertility success.
Biopaste 3D printing

Printable wood biopaste could be the sustainable future of 3D printing

Researchers may have found a way to make 3D printing a bit more environmentally friendly — by printing with a new wood-based biopaste material.
coronavirus render stylized image

Your wearables can soon help contact trace coronavirus outbreaks

New additions to coronavirus exposure notification systems will use Bluetooth-based wearables.
7 products to turn your living room into a home theater amazon fire tv stick

Amazon rolls out Text Banner for Fire TV viewers with impaired vision

To help visually impaired Fire TV viewers, Amazon rolled out Text Banner, a feature that consolidates onscreen text in a fixed location, within a compact space.
mighty buildings 3d print house 5

This startup says it will be 3D-printing entire houses within a year

Is 3D printing the future of housebuilding? It certainly will be if new startup Mighty Buildings, which launched from stealth mode this week, has its way.
fbi wants social media data facebook app mem2

Facebook’s automated hate speech detection is getting even better

Facebook's latest Community Standards Enforcement Report reveals it now detects 95% of hate speech content automatically.
Hyundai announces Ioniq EV brand

Hyundai launching all-electric brand, with three models on the way

Hyundai just announced a new dedicated brand for electric cars. The brand is called Ioniq, and it will launch with three vehicles over the next four years.
iphone xr instagram

The rise of ‘swipe-up’ activism on Instagram

Instagram users are sharing links to prewritten emails, the latest viral way to spread social activism amid U.S. protests against racism and police brutality.
Alexis Ohanian

Reddit co-founder steps down from board, calls for his successor to be Black

Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian announced his resignation from the company's board, urging the remaining board members to appoint a Black replacement.
3D lidar map Mayan settlement

Thanks to lidar, archeologists discovered a giant new Mayan ruins site

Researchers at the University of Arizona in Tucson used an airborne lidar system to discover a gigantic Mayan ceremonial ground.
Tim Cook WWDC 2019

Apple CEO Tim Cook speaks out about racism, calls for change

Apple CEO Tim Cook spoke about racism and called to build a better future. Cook wrote that Apple would be donating to organizations fighting racial inequality.
haptic speaker midair braille

Amazing haptic speaker lets visually impaired people read braille in midair

Investigators are developing a special speaker system that emits ultrasound waves with the purpose of letting visually impaired people read braille in midair.
Trash

Wind and solar? Old news. California wants to vaporize trash to create energy

A forthcoming facility in California promises to transform tens of thousands of tons of landfill garbage into hydrogen each year. It hopes to be running by 2023.
LifeMech

The blueprint sprint: How a ragtag team of techies hacked the ventilator shortage

When COVID-19 threatened to result in a massive shortage of ventilators in Portland, Oregon, a team of engineers and physicians banded together to try and help.
Tesla

Tesla’s new million-mile battery could finally make electric cars affordable

The low-cost batteries would be able to last up to million miles and could make electric Tesla models the same price or even less than a car run by gasoline.
Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University

Soft robot exosuit helps people improve their walking after suffering a stroke

A robot exosuit developed by Harvard and Boston University researchers can help people who have suffered from strokes. Here's how.
amazons custom made face shields will be available to the public amazon shield

Amazon’s custom-made face shields available to the public at less than cost

Amazon will donate 3D-printed, medical-grade face shields to health care workers before making them available to the general public for a third of market price.
Razer vending machine selling masks

Razer to use vending machines to distribute millions of free face masks

The gaming hardware maker will deploy 20 of the machines in Singapore where the authorities have ordered everyone to wear a mask outside during the pandemic.
gosun flow solar power water purifier news

For thirsty campers, GoSun’s water purifier purges germs with power of the sun

The GoSun Flow can purify and heat water via solar power or USB. Its portability means you can have access to clean water no matter where you are.
stroma medical laser eye color change surgery

Gene therapy helps people with monochrome vision to see in color

Researchers in Germany have demonstrated that a new gene therapy can be used to help cure an extremely rare type of color blindness.
solar power

Lithium-ion is just the beginning. Here’s a peek at the future of batteries

Battery technology is booming right now. The pace of progress has picked up thanks to increased demand for portable power. What does the future hold?
robot firefighter

This next-gen firefighting robot has a spotter drone and a foam blaster

Estonian company Milrem Robotics has developed a new firefighting tank robot. Equipped with an accompanying drone and other tech, it's ready to battle blazes.
RangerBot

Caretaker bots and starfish assassins: Meet the tech that protects Earth’s reefs

Coral reefs are dying everywhere. Can technology help reverse this tragic trend? Here are six examples of cutting edge tech that might assist with exactly that.
online learning

How to get a free ’empowerment pack’ of mental health, productivity resources

The lives of many people have been affected by the coronavirus pandemic. Basecamp, Treehouse, and others are offering free software to help stay productive.
Summit supercomputer

An IBM supercomputer called Summit is taking on the coronavirus

IBM's Summit supercomputer, the most powerful computer on the planet, has been doing some important work for the development of a treatment for the coronavirus.
DeepScribe project 1

Deep-learning A.I. is helping archaeologists translate ancient tablets

Cutting-edge A.I. is helping translate 2,500-year-old clay tablet documents from Persia's Achaemenid Empire. Here's what researchers have developed to assist.
swinburne university bendable concrete

Environmentally friendly bendable concrete doesn’t shatter under pressure

Australian researchers' new concrete formulation is 400 times more bendable than the old-fashioned stuff. It's a whole lot more environmentally friendly, too.
vr medical training virti surgery simulation mediaca realities 2

VR is making medical training cheaper, better, and more accessible than ever

The recent wave of affordable VR headsets has made it possible to offer hands-on training to medical students who wouldn't otherwise be able to practice.
Cellular Seafood BlueNalu

Could cellular seafood take pressure off Earth’s overfished oceans?

These biotech companies want to produce seafood without the sea. Here's how they're doing it -- and why they believe that it's going to be a game-changer.
climate change is killing coffee farms so atomo brewing it without beans press orange fb

Climate change is killing coffee farms, so Atomo is brewing it without beans

Atomo Coffee doesn't use beans. Instead, it upcycles seeds and husks, while still keep the flavor and aroma of coffee, thanks to similar volatile compounds.
apple watch stroke study series 5 ecg

Thanks to the Apple Watch, time may be up for this silent killer

Apple wants to know if its Apple Watch can reduce the risk of stroke by detecting early signs of AFib through a new stroke study with Johnson & Johnson.
drone flies above masked man

Using drones to detect coronavirus? It’s not as crazy as it sounds

Could drones be used to monitor the spread of coronavirus? Absolutely, says the CEO of a top drone company. And it's already been approached about doing it.
23andMe

Could 23andMe’s new pharmaceutical friends finally find a fix for psoriasis?

23andMe has spent years collecting genetic samples from users, and with their consent they've begun developing pharmaceuticals to treat specific diseases. Their latest collaboration with Spanish pharmaceutical company Almirall could treat some distressing skin conditions.