![Improving data transmission speed in fast-moving vehicles
Researchers from North Carolina State Universityhave devised a method to improve the quality and efficiency of data transmission in Mobile ad hoc networks (MANETs).
MANETs allow people in multiple, rapidly-moving vehicles to communicate with each other, such as in military or emergency-response situations. […]
[read more @kurzweilai] [paper]](http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m4fskeCsPY1r08k60o1_500.png)
Improving data transmission speed in fast-moving vehicles
Researchers from North Carolina State Universityhave devised a method to improve the quality and efficiency of data transmission in Mobile ad hoc networks (MANETs).
MANETs allow people in multiple, rapidly-moving vehicles to communicate with each other, such as in military or emergency-response situations. […]
[read more @kurzweilai] [paper]
LiquiGlide - a super slippery coating
Scientists at MIT have developed this freaky non-stick coating that keeps ketchup flowing. Amazing solution to an old problem. Also one of the weirdest videos you will see this week.
![Chemical reaction eats up CO2 to produce energy
While there are plenty of ways to make carbon-based products from CO2, these methods usually require a lot of energy because the CO2 molecules are so stable. If the energy comes from the burning of fossil fuels, then the net result will be more CO2 entering the atmosphere. Now a material scientist at Michigan Technological University has discovered a chemical reaction that not only soaks up CO2, but also produces useful chemicals along with significant amounts of energy.
Professor Yun Hang Hu and his research team developed a heat-releasing reaction between CO2 and lithium nitride (Li3N) - a compound that is the only stable alkali metal nitride and is made by reacting lithium with nitrogen at room temperature. Reacting lithium nitride with carbon dioxide resulted in amorphous carbon nitride (C3N4), a semiconductor, and lithium cyanamide (Li2CN2), a precursor to fertilizers. […]
[via gizmag] [paper]](http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m4f2a8FiFr1r08k60o1_500.jpg)
Chemical reaction eats up CO2 to produce energy
While there are plenty of ways to make carbon-based products from CO2, these methods usually require a lot of energy because the CO2 molecules are so stable. If the energy comes from the burning of fossil fuels, then the net result will be more CO2 entering the atmosphere. Now a material scientist at Michigan Technological University has discovered a chemical reaction that not only soaks up CO2, but also produces useful chemicals along with significant amounts of energy.
Professor Yun Hang Hu and his research team developed a heat-releasing reaction between CO2 and lithium nitride (Li3N) - a compound that is the only stable alkali metal nitride and is made by reacting lithium with nitrogen at room temperature. Reacting lithium nitride with carbon dioxide resulted in amorphous carbon nitride (C3N4), a semiconductor, and lithium cyanamide (Li2CN2), a precursor to fertilizers. […]
‘Beams’ from space that could power cities: First tests on solar satellites offer hope of green energy
Researchers at Stratchclyde University have already tested equipment in space, a first step for solar panels to collect energy and transfer it back to earth through microwaves or lasers.
The researchers aim to produce a ‘swarm’ of satellites that could one day power whole cities.
Full Story: Mailonline
Robots at ICRA 2012
Robots exhibited at the 2012 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA) in St. Paul, Minn.
This Robot Makes Its Own Custom Tools Out of Glue
Humans are generalists. We’re adaptable. If there’s a task we can’t do on our own, we find ourselves a tool to help us. Robots aren’t usually like this, because it’s very hard to design a robot that implements all the different tools that might conceivably be useful to it. Roboticists at ETH Zurich are trying to get around this problem by designing a robot with just one tool, but the tool they’ve chosen is a hot glue gun that their robot can use to manufacture any other tools that it needs to. […]
Surgeons restore some hand function to quadriplegic patient
Susan E. Mackinnon, MD, and her surgical team connected a non-working nerve in the upper arm (responsible for controlling the ability to pinch), to a working nerve that drives one of the two muscles that flex the elbow. This restored the patient’s ability to pinch with their thumb and index finger. […]
MIT researchers present a robust, high-force, low-cost, and highly articulated manipulator based on reversible jamming of granular media. Part of the paper “Design and Analysis of a Robust, Low-cost, Highly Articulated Manipulator Enabled by Jamming of Granular Media,” by N. G. Cheng et al, presented at the 2012 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation.
