What if an electric bicycle’s frame was also its battery? Or an aircraft wing could store some of the electricity needed to power the aircraft? A new UK research programme is exploring a future in which batteries are no longer separate objects hidden inside products, but become part of the structures themselves. Researchers at Imperial College London, Durham University and … [Read more...] about Reimagining the Battery: When the Structure Becomes the Energy Store
Technology
UK airspace trial to test whether changing flight paths can reduce contrails
Most attempts to reduce aviation’s climate impact focus on what powers an aircraft. A new UK-led trial is looking instead at where an aircraft flies, testing whether relatively small changes in altitude could prevent some of the condensation trails that contribute to global warming. Operation Blue Skies will conduct what its partners describe as the world’s first … [Read more...] about UK airspace trial to test whether changing flight paths can reduce contrails
NASA’s Roman Space Telescope launches to map the dark universe
Space telescopes have traditionally faced a trade-off. They can look deeply into a small patch of the universe, revealing distant galaxies in remarkable detail, but surveying enormous areas of sky at that resolution takes time. NASA’s newly launched Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope has been designed to change that equation. Roman lifted off from Kennedy Space Center in … [Read more...] about NASA’s Roman Space Telescope launches to map the dark universe
Imperial College London launches centre to advance surgical robotics
Robotic surgery can give surgeons greater precision and consistency, but many of the most advanced systems remain concentrated in specialist centres. A new collaboration between engineers at Imperial College London and Smith+Nephew aims to widen access by accelerating the development of technologies for robotic musculoskeletal surgery. The five-year partnership has … [Read more...] about Imperial College London launches centre to advance surgical robotics
Unexpected plasma process could reshape graphene oxide production
Some engineering breakthroughs arrive after years of carefully pursuing a single objective. Others appear almost by accident. Researchers at Texas A&M University were investigating new ways to produce hydrogen when they realised the carbon left behind wasn't simply a by-product. It was graphene oxide, one of the most widely used carbon nanomaterials in energy storage, … [Read more...] about Unexpected plasma process could reshape graphene oxide production