Tag: research

Mangalyaan beams back Images from Mars: India’s First Successful Mission to the Red Planet

Pooja Kashyap

India’s Mars Orbiter Mission after positioning itself successfully into the orbit, took some images of the red planet. The image reflected the planet’s crater-marked surface. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) circulated the images across its network via its facebook page. Pictures containing orange surface with dark holes were taken at a height of nearly 4,536 miles. ISRO’s lead researcher V. Koteswara Rao confirmed that the spacecraft is working absolutely fine and that it has been able to click couple of pictures of the surface and its surroundings. Soon enough,…

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PIBOT will be the next Flying Captain: Humanoid Learns to Fly Real Airplanes

Pooja Kashyap

Last week, we talked about NAO, the humanoid learning to steer wheels and now we have a similar humanoid that is learning to fly real planes. PIBOT is the name of the small and affordable humanoid that is ready to take off our expectations into the skies. PIBOT has been fabricated to operate a toned down, simulated aircraft cockpit. The intelligent synthetic creature is able to make out and use the entire controls comprising of buttons and switches present in the cockpit of a light aircraft that is especially designed…

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Google’s First Quantum Computer: A Combination of D-Wave and Universal Gate-Model

Pooja Kashyap

Quantum logic gate based on qubits is what most of the quantum computing labs is working on to make the product a reality. However, these labs show no or less confidence in companies like D-Wave, the Canadian based that came out with world’s first commercially available quantum computer functioning on 128-qubit chipset, in 2011. Lately, in an interesting turn of events, Google went a step ahead by hiring a team of researchers for building their initial Google quantum computer using quantum annealing as per the D-Wave approach than the conventional…

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GoCart, the Food Delivery Bot: Service Robot for Elderly and Health Care Industry

Pooja Kashyap

Slowly and steadily, robots are replacing labor in nearly all sectors some envision it as a threat while others think that it will make the human lives more convenient. There is no doubt that these machines would directly improve productivity and efficiency especially in service sector. Thinking on the same lines, manufactures are working across nations in developing service-oriented bots, first came James the Barman, followed by SaviOne the butler bot and now South Korea-based Yujin Robot has come up with GoCart, a meal-transport machine especially designed to function in…

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NAO will Drive its Own BMW Sports Car: Humanoid Learns to Steer

Pooja Kashyap

Autonomous vehicles are the machines capable of steering by itself, a concept that we are still trying to converge on the line of safety of passengers. Now what if an external machine comes and steer away a vehicle that is designed for humans?  Robots LAB, San Francisco based distributor of educational robots, have led to the creation of this imagination, they have come forward with a tiny tot humanoid Nao along with a BMW Z4 Electric sports car. Nao is capable of steering the car independently. The vehicle is equipped…

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Interplay between Subsurface Liquid and Clathrates Reservoirs on Titan: Methane Rainfall

Pooja Kashyap

Information gathered by NASA in collaboration with European Space Agency Cassini mission has surfaced presence of numerous lakes across the northern polar area of Titan. Instead of consisting of water, these seas are composed of hydrocarbons, the organic compounds that are also present on Earth. As per the previous studies, the rainfall from the surface clouds brings about major amount of liquid on Saturn’s moon. However, the cycle of liquid moving through the moon’s crust and the atmosphere is still under consideration.

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The Electrolyzer Project: A Promising Technology to Hydrogen Energy Storage

Pooja Kashyap

In order to solve the impending world’s problem for renewable energy, Germany is becoming more and more dependent on wind & solar power. Currently, the nation has come up with 20 more projects involving storing energy by creating water splitters, the process is known as Electrolysis.

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Photonic Circuits to replace Electronic Circuits: New Quantum Technology

Pooja Kashyap

Photonic circuits would soon be replacing electronic circuits in the near future of quantum circuits. Since a decade, researchers across the globe were working towards developing quantum circuits but circuits based on light had its limitations however, researchers at the Niels Bohr Institute, Copenhagen have been successful in bringing about the probability.

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Waste Tire Rubber to replace Graphite Anodes: Battery Technology

Pooja Kashyap

Shredded scrap car tires have already find their way by means of recycling into the field of construction, floor mats, shoe soles and rubberized asphalt road material. Now, they would be morphing into another innovative role by becoming an integral part of hybrid and electric cars. Researchers at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory are trying to resurrect life from the discarded used tires in form of carbon material that would be used for lithium-ion battery anodes. Conventionally graphite, a natural carbon material, is the basic building block for lithium anodes.

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Supersonic Submarine glides from Shanghai to San Francisco in 100 minutes: Supercavitation Technology

Pooja Kashyap

Researchers at the Harbin Institute of Technology, China are attempting to create a supersonic submarine, which they envision would cruise through transatlantic underwater in not more than two hours. Li Fengchen one of the lead researchers claimed that they are developing an air bubble that would assist in gliding at very high speeds underwater. One of the main problems with conventional submarines is the friction produced by water, which is far more than flying through air, and so the force renders the machine incapable of peddling at high speed. Supercavitation…

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Microfluidic Device for self-monitoring of Intraocular Pressure: New Eye Sensor

Pooja Kashyap

In order to measure the intraocular pressure, eye surgeons use puff test, however, the non-contact tonometer does not always give accurate results, and this has always remain a major huddle in solving the real problem. Now, the time is not far when the eye doctors would be able to gauge the problem in real time and giving effective treatment for blindness-causing glaucoma. Researchers from the Faculty of Life Sciences, Bar Ilan University, Ramat-Gan, Israel and from Stanford University, US have developed an innovative lens- mounted microfluidic sensor.

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Microscopic Organism controls Human Mind: Manipulative Microbes

Neha Shukla

Lack of strong willpower in us is to be blamed for not able to follow a strict diet and an exercise regime regularly. Along with this, a bacterium that resides in our gut too is responsible for not performing the action on regular basis. According to a new research, bacteria residing in our gut also play a significant role in altering our appetite and mood, making us succumb to consume as per their requirement and slowly leading us towards obesity and other diseases. 

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SaviOne the Butler Bot: Service Robot for Hospitality Industry

Neha Shukla

Last year we talked about James, the new Barman and now we would be witnessing a robot butler developed by Savioke (pronounced “savvy oak”) entering the hospitality industry to maximize customers’ experience. As of August 20, Savioke’s first delivery robot (Botlr) nicknamed as A.L.O by the hotel, will be seen operating in hotel Aloft in Cupertino, California. In its pilot program, ROS powered autonomous robot, Botlr will be assisting hotel staff in delivering amenities such as mobile charger, towels, brush or even snacks, to the guest’s room and thus saving…

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Bacteria-powered Sensor to detect Water Contamination: On-site Analysis

Neha Shukla

Impurity free water is of utmost importance for human survival. Unfortunately, millions of people still lack access to safe drinking water. Every year, people in huge numbers die suffering from water borne diseases. Recently, a low cost device has been developed by scientists that can be used in developing nations for monitoring water quality in real time, thus, skipping the requirement of any expensive lab equipments. The traditional processes of monitoring pollutants in drinking water were time taking, costly and involved specialist technical expertise.

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Exerting Control on Floating Object: Water Tractor Beam

Pooja Kashyap

With the use of simple wave generators, experts at the Australian National University, Canberra have demonstrated the idea of manipulating floating object in water. The same approach has also helped them in moving the object against the course of the waves. In order to display the phenomenon, the team placed a ping-pong ball in a tank containing water. Then three-dimensional waves were produced which in turn created patterns on the water surface and consequently, the ball stayed in one position or move towards or receded away from the wave generator…

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