Science | Sighenz

Toshiba’s supermarket object scanner might replace barcodes

Toshiba Object Scanner — Toshiba Tec, Object Recognition Scanner

A new supermarket scanner developed by Toshiba Tec may make conventional barcodes in supermarkets obsolete. Using object recognition the scanner instantly recognizes the merchandise no matter if it’s fresh produce or packaged goods, by identifying it directly via a camera. The technology behind it, is being developed by Toshiba and it utilizes pattern recognition that let’s the Object Recognition Scanner differentiate the difference between merchandise and other objects and discarding the latter as noise. This allows the scanner to operate at high speeds, and also identify the object if even if it’s not being held completely still during the process.

At most supermarkets a laser scanner is commonly used to recognize barcodes, but with fresh produce like vegetables and fruit this can sometimes lead to holdups as the cashier tries to identify item. This issue is becoming more common as it’s currently a popular trend to stock the supermarket with more exotic fruits and vegetables. Even in the cases where if the cashier knows what the item is, they still needs to type in the price manually, or scan a barcode from a predefined list since fresh produce commonly are not marked with a barcode. Adding to the hassle this only works if the fresh produce is added to the system correctly.

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Malta considering the world’s largest floating wind farm

Malta Hexicon Wind farm — Malta purposed wind farm. (Image by hexicon.eu)

The European island nation of Malta is aiming to increase the amount of energy created by renewable sources. Like the others members of the European Union they are evaluating different options to meet the goal set by a mandate recently to get 10 percent of its energy from renewable sources by 2020. To achieve this goal, Malta is considering a proposal by the Swedish company Hexicon, to build a large floating wind farm.

The plant is intended to produce 54MW, which amounts to 9% of the energy currently generated by the two existing power stations. The solution Hexicon proposes in tales a massive offshore hexagon-shaped, 460-metre-wide, floating platform, hosting 36 wind turbines that is anchored to the seafloor by cables.

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Nanotechnology fabric converts heat to power

The Center for Nanotechnology and Molecular Materials at Wake Forest University has developed a new material they call Power Felt. The fabric can convert body heat into an electrical current. It’s made of carbon nanotubes held within plastic fibers and the material has the same look and feel of felt, a material well known for keeping in the heat.

When held close to a warm body or other heat source the Power Felt take advantage of temperature differences and create a charge. That means power can be generated just by insulating something. It can be used to charge a mp3 player or a smartphone, but also for something far more interesting. If used to insulate pipes or buildings you could theoretically generate a charge while you turn on your taps, or just being at home.

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Engineers design solar panels that float and track the sun

Colignola floating solar panels (Image: scintec.it)

In the small lake of Colignola, Italy, engineers have built a cost-effective prototype for floating and rotating solar panels. Standard solar panels on buildings, or in fields are often criticized for taking up valuable agricultural land, and also for being a bit of an eye-sore. Most standard solar panels are also stationary, only taking advantage of the sunlight for a limited amount of time during the day. They also have a tendency to lose energy through overheating.

The floating solar panels are intended to resolve a lot of these issues. Designed to take advantage of unused areas of artificial reservoirs or disused quarries they would, if placed correctly, hardly be visible from a far. The water would also keep the panels at low temperatures minimizing overheating issues. The reflectors are positioned to maximize solar capture at different times of day, and rotating to track the sun for optimized performance. This should make them more efficient than a traditional installations.

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Spitzer space telescope finds solid Buckyballs in Space

Buckministerfullerene — Solid shape Buckyballs (Image from nasa.gov)

Astronomers using data from NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope have for the first time discovered buckyballs in a solid form in space. Buckyballs are microscopic carbon spheres formally named buckministerfullerene. They are named after their resemblance to the late architect Buckminster Fuller’s geodesic domes. Prior to this discovery, they have only been found in gas form in space.

The so called Buckyballs are made up of 60 carbon molecules arranged into a hollow sphere, like a soccer ball. Their unusual structure makes them ideal candidates for electrical and chemical applications, including superconducting materials, medicines, water purification and armor.

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New UV Light Bottles from Camelbak Cleans Water In 60 Seconds

CamelBak have just introduced their new CamelBak All Clear Bottles that turns nearly any tap or natural water source into potable drinking water in just 60 seconds. Using UV light technology it enable you to cleanse and microbiologically purify water fast and easy. The bottle is equipped with a ultraviolet light source, fitted inside its screw-off top which purifies your water with UV light and kills off almost all of the unwanted germs and bacteria. You can also get an optional filter that when attached will help to clear out potential debris and dirt from the water. Very useful if your water source is for example a stream or a pond.

The UV light utilises proven UV technology to effectively neutralise microbiological contaminants to EPA standards. It is powered by an internal battery which can be recharged via the built-in USB port. A fully charged battery will hold enough power to purify a 80 full bottles of water, equivalent to 60 liters or about 16 gallons.

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ESA’s new launcher Vega scores success in maiden flight

ESA's Vega Launch — ESA's new launch Vega take off

ESA’s new launch vehicle Vega is now ready to operate alongside the Ariane 5 and Soyuz launchers, after a successful qualification flight this morning from Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana.

The launch was initially planed for the end of January as previously reported on this site, but has been plagued with delays through out its journey. The new launcher passed its final hurdle on Saturday at Europe’s Spaceport, the Launch Readiness Review, and was finally cleared for take off. The first Vega lifted off at 10:00 GMT (11:00 CET, 07:00 local time) from the new launch pad, and conducted a flawless qualification flight.

The first mission, designated VV01 has a payload that consists of two Italian satellites – ASI’s LARES laser relativity satellite and the University of Bologna’s ALMASat-1, as well as seven picosatellites provided by European universities: e-St@r (Italy), Goliat (Romania), MaSat-1 (Hungary), PW-Sat (Poland), Robusta (France), UniCubeSat GG (Italy) and Xatcobeo (Spain).

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NASA looking to go green, seeking new propellant technology

NASA going green — NASA seeking green propellant technology

NASA is now looking for alternatives to be more environmentally friendly, and seeking technology proposals for green propellant alternatives to the highly toxic fuel hydrazine used today. Hydrazine is an efficient and ubiquitous propellant that can be stored for long periods of time, but at the same time it is also highly corrosive and toxic. The fuel is used extensively both on commercial and defense department satellites, as well as for NASA science and exploration missions.

In a way to minimize environmental hazards and pollutants, and also lower costs for rocket launches, NASA is now looking for innovative and transformative fuels that are less harmful to our environment. “High performance green propulsion has the potential to significantly change how we travel in space”, said Michael Gazarik, director of NASA‘s Space Technology Program at the agency’s headquarters in Washington. “NASA’s Space Technology Program seeks out these sort of cross-cutting, innovative technologies to enable our future missions while also providing benefit to the American space industry. By reducing the hazards of handling fuel, we can reduce ground processing time and lower costs for rocket launches, allowing a greater community of researchers and technologists access to the high frontier.”

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LanzaTech turning waste gasses into fuel, secure $55.8M investment

LanzaTech turns waste into fuel — LanzaTech create fuel from carbon monoxide

LanzaTech, a producer of low-carbon fuels and chemicals from waste gases, has closed it’s Series C round with new investment totaling US $55.8 million led by the Malaysian
Life Sciences Capital Fund. New investors include PETRONAS Technology Ventures Sdn Bhd, the venture arm of PETRONAS, the national oil company of Malaysia, and Dialog Group, a leading Malaysian integrated specialist technical services provider to the oil, gas and petrochemical industry.

LanzaTech’s specialty is creating biofuels and biochemicals from factory waste emissions. They use carbon monoxide emissions from steel mills, factories, oil refineries, and other waste sources to create ethanol, and then apply a process called gas-liquid bacterial fermentation. LanzaTech captures the carbon monoxide, pumps the gases into a bioreactor, and mixes with liquid, and uses bacteria that feeds on the mixture. Nutrients are added, and when the process is finished ethanol is produced.

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