The Technology Flow

Article 1 : Glowing, 'Living' Gloves Could Aid Crime-Scene Investigations One day, glowing gloves made of a "living material" could replace the "CSI"-style black lights currently used to detect certain substances in crime-scene investigations and other scientific applications, according to a new study. A team of researchers has bioengineered a "living material" that will light up when in contact with certain chemicals. In the new study, the researchers described the living material — a hydrogel filled with  E. coli  bacteria cells — and its potential applications. The cells are genetically reprogrammed to light up, using fluorescence, when they come into contact with different chemicals. So far, the researchers have injected the hydrogel into gloves and bandages, but they say the living substance could be applied to crime scene investigations, medical diagnostics, pollution monitoring and more.  "With this design, people can ...

Article 1 : Heads Up! Drones will fly people around Dubai this summer. By  Kacey Deamer, Staff Writer Commercial drones just got a big upgrade: A fleet of passenger-carrying quadcopters could be flying around the city of Dubai by this summer, according to news reports. The city's new transportation option is an egg-shaped, single-passenger  drone  in the traditional quadcopter style seen in many commercial drones,  the Associated Press reported . The Chinese-made Ehang 184 can carry one passenger weighing up to 220 lbs. (100 kilograms) and a small suitcase, according to the AP. Mattar Al Tayer, head of Dubai's Roads and Transport Authority, said during the World Government Summit this week that the city plans to have the drone regularly traversing the city's skies in July. "This is not only a model," Al Tayer told the AP. "We have actually experimented with this vehicle flying in Dubai's skies." The drone was unveiled in a fligh...

Article n°1: SpaceX Plans to Send 2 Tourists Around Moon in 2018 By  KENNETH CHANG SpaceX, the ambitious rocket company headed by  Elon Musk ,  wants to send a couple of tourists around the moon  and back to  Earth  before the end of next year. If they manage that feat, the passengers would be the first humans to venture that far into space in more than 40 years. Mr. Musk made the announcement on Monday in a telephone news conference. He said two private individuals approached the company to see if SpaceX would be willing to send them on a weeklong cruise, which would fly past the surface of the  moon  — but not land — and continue outward before gravity turned the spacecraft around and brought it back to Earth for a landing. “This would do a long loop around the moon,” Mr. Musk said. The company is aiming to launch this moon mission in late 2018. The two people would spend about a week inside one of SpaceX’s Dragon 2 capsules,...

Two Days Aloft: 'Vanilla' Drone Breaks Endurance Record By Kacey Deamer, Staff Writer | January 13, 2017 The Vanilla Aircraft flew for 56 hours, setting a new world record for flight duration in its weight class. A 56-hour, nonstop, unrefueled flight has set a new world record for endurance. The VA001, a small unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) or drone made by Vanilla Aircraft, stayed in the air for more than two days and two nights, setting the record for the craft's weight and power class. After taking off Nov. 30 from New Mexico State University’s Unmanned Air Systems Flight Test Center, the drone flew at an altitude of between 6,500 and 7,500 feet (1,980 to 2,286 meters) and averaged 65.6 mph (105 km/h) before landing on Dec. 2. The drone project is backed by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the Pentagon's research arm. Drones already play an important role in military efforts, with functions ranging from surveillance missions t...

Robot skin senses warm bodies like a snake locating nearby prey Westworld -style ‘skin dips’ could apply the film By Edd Gent A heat-sensing film could let robots detect when humans are around, like pit vipers hunting out warm-blooded prey. The flexible, transparent coating is made of pectin, a low-cost plant material used to set jam. Unlike conventional electronics, it relies on currents of ions rather than electrons to detect temperature variations – just like natural membranes used by the snakes. The film can sense temperature changes as small as 10 millikelvin, which is twice as sensitive as human skin. It can detect a warm body the size of a rabbit from a metre away, something the researchers tested by microwaving a teddy bear and setting it at different distances from the film. Changes in temperature cause the film’s resistance to vary, which is picked up by electrodes along the edges and transmitted to a computer. . Applying it over a robot’s entire ...