Category Technology/Electronics

Fraunhofer researchers have developed an energy-saving display that reduces the power consumption to a fraction. Credit: © Photo Fraunhofer FEP

Data glasses mirror information to the eye without interfering with the wearer’s vision. However, the battery runs down quickly as the electronics consume a great amount of electricity while playing back images. Fraunhofer researchers have developed an energy-saving display that reduces the power consumption to a fraction. Via a small display, data glasses present the eye with information or images which are received using a radio link from the frame of the glasses.

The big advantage: With data glasses, the wearer’s hands are free – in contrast, a smartphone has to be held in the hand. This may be interesting for mechanics...

A newly developed wing architecture could greatly simplify the manufacturing process and reduce fuel consumption by improving the wing’s aerodynamics. It is based on a system of tiny, lightweight subunits that could be assembled by a team of small specialized robots, and could ultimately be used to build the entire airframe. Credit: Kenneth Cheung/NASA

High-tech wizardry by MIT and NASA engineers will allow some aircraft to return to their roots, with a new kind of bendable, “morphing” wing. Wright brothers accomplished their first powered flight more than a century ago, and controlled the motion of their Flyer 1 aircraft using wires and pulleys that bent and twisted the wood-and-canvas wings...

Ruichen Wang with the prototype. Credit: Image courtesy of University of Huddersfield

Boosting the fuel efficiency of motor vehicles by “harvesting” the energy generated by their shock absorbers and feeding it back into batteries or electrical systems such as air conditioning has become a major goal in automotive engineering. Now, a University of Huddersfield researcher has made a breakthrough by designing a new system and constructing a prototype that is ready for real-world testing.

Considerable work has already been done harvesting energy from brake systems, so Dr Wang decided to focus on the suspension...