Important Innovations

Squishy, Droppable Robot for Search and Rescue Missions Source:  University of California - Berkeley Invented by Engineers at UC Berkeley It's a round, mobile sensor robot that's capable of surviving a drop of 600 feet.  The robot is designed for search and rescue missions in disaster areas.  It's the invention of engineers at UC Berkeley.  For more details, go to Important Innovations Collection: Squishy Robots from UC Berkeley : Disaster Bots Source:  Squishy Robotics For Search and Rescue Missions Round, squishy robots capable of being dropped 600 feet and su...

Ionocraft - Size of a Penny Source:  UCal Berkeley No Moving Parts, Just Electricity And Ions Ionocraft is being called the world's smallest flying drone.  It's powered by ion thrusters and is breakthrough drone innovation from University of California Berkeley. Small and Silent The flying drone measures 2 cm x 2 cm, weighs just 30 mg and is the size of a penny.  When it flies it is completely silent.  The concept behind this is electrohydrodynamic thrust or EHD.  The concept has been around for many years but never applied to larger EHD craft because of the size of the components involved. The Berkeley team says working as they did on a smaller scale is providing an excellent example of the technology.  It's resulted in improved thrust to weight ratio and lower voltage requirements. Ion Thruster Power The team uses a high strength electric field which generates a plasma of ions. In essence, when the ions hit air molecules that generates the th...

Brain Uses Two Clocks to Anticipate Source:  University of California Innovative Research - University of California - Berkeley It's called anticipatory timing by the brain. And it's a 2 barreled system.  One type of timing relies on memories from past experience.  A second type is based on rhythm.  They work together.  An example is putting your foot on the car's gas pedal as the light starts turning from red to green.  Berkeley neuroscientists have discovered that in music, sports, speech and other activities we calculate movements in two parts of the brain. Brain Timekeepers The neural networks supporting these timekeepers are split between 2 different parts of the brain.  The scientists discovered that timing isn't a unified process.  Their research has documented that there are 2 different ways we make temporal decisions and they are dependent on different parts of the brain. Your  Brain Actively Anticipating the Future Be...

University of Californa - Berkeley Creates Solar Fuel from Gold + Bacteria Source:  University of California - Berkeley The Midas Touch University of California Berkeley researchers have just demonstrated a novel and efficient means of creating biofuels.  They've placed gold nanoclusters that absorb light into a bacterium.  A biohybrid results that produces a high yield of chemical products like biofuels.  It's a new source of sustainable energy. High Value Biohybrid The biohybrid captures sunlight and carbon dioxide to make chemicals useful both on earth and in space.  It's a breakthrough discovery and has just been published in the journal Nature Nanotechnology. Artificial Photosynthesis Producing Solar Fuels The bacterium is photosensitive and is named Moorella thermoacetica.  It has an appetite for gold.  The researchers feed it a nanocluster of 22 gold atoms.  The gold slips through the cell wall.  With great efficiency, ...