The Research Catalyst

 Professional service robots called humanoids are made to move and interact like people. They add value by automating processes in a way that boosts productivity and reduces costs, just like all service robots do. A relatively recent development in professional service robots are humanoid robots . Although long envisioned, they are now beginning to show promise in a variety of applications. The market for humanoid robots is anticipated to develop significantly. With a staggering 52.1 percent compound annual growth rate (CAGR) between 2017 and 20231, it is predicted that the market for humanoid robots will be worth $3.9 billion in 2023. Bipedal robots are anticipated to experience the quickest CAGR of any type of humanoid robot during the estimated timeframe. The rapidly evolving capabilities of these robots and their feasibility in an ever-widening range of applications are mostly to blame for the market for humanoid robots' rapid expansion. At order to relieve human workers of ...

 Due to competition concerns brought on by its impending merger with Equans , Bouygues will withdraw one of its bids for the £300M HS2 Phase One overhead catenary works. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has expressed worry that the merged business will have two bids in the running for the contract if Bouygues successfully completes its £6 billion acquisition of the French contractor. One of the four shortlisted bidders is Bouygues, and another is partially controlled by Equans. C olas Rail, owned by Bouygues , Rapide JV, a partnership between Equans-controlled SPL Powerlines UK/INEO and Keltbray-Balfour Beatty , and China Railway Electrification Engineering Group Co . are the four bidders that are presently in the running. The plans might thus be detrimental to Keltbray Rail , which is vying for business with Equans-owned SPL Powerlines UK/INEO . Bouygues has asked the CMA to hire French company Ingerop , an impartial engineering firm, to assess its two offers. Accord...

 Around 70 years after the invention of holographic imaging , this original wave-front reconstruction method has been enhanced due to improvements in image sensors and CPU power. Phase contrast imaging for samples in biological and biomedical studies, forensic identification, and MEMS vibration analysis , among other applications, has proven to be a practical method using the original optical reconstruction process, which is now carried out digitally and is known as Digital Holography Microscopy (DHM) . DHM typically calls for substantial post-processing computations and offline wave propagation , which can take a lot of time and be expensive. However, DHM may now be carried out at large input and output throughputs using ordinary components thanks to a novel system1 created at I nstitut Langevin , an academic research institute in Paris. The Institut Langevin system makes use of the image capabilities of an Adimec Quartz 2MP CoaXPress camera and a Bitflow Cyton-CXP CoaXPress f...

 To enable the use of energy harvesting technologies that can recycle energy wasted or consumed in daily life, a research team led by Lim Sang-kyoo , senior researcher of the Division of Energy Technology at DGIST (President Kuk Yang ), developed a piezoelectric polymer/ceramic composite fibre with a cross-sectional form that is uniformly controlled. Through the piezoelectric effect of the material and the wearer's movement, piezoelectric fibre can generate electrical energy and power wearable electronic devices. The majority of piezoelectric fibres created to date, however, are made of nanofibers , which makes it challenging to control the shape of the fibres and makes the fibres weak, impeding their commercialization. There are also not many investigations on the connection between the piezoelectric performance and the geometry of the fibre material. Using melt spinning technology, a research team under the direction of Lim Sang-kyoo , senior researcher of Division of Energy Te...

 The " Materials+Technologies" (GMT) Group at UPV/EHU has employed 3D printing to create tablets based on several types of starch for the aim of individualised therapy, and they have confirmed that medication release can be adjusted by selecting the proper starch type and tablet shape. Traditional procedures often fail to address the unique demands of patients while still producing medications with particular criteria. In reality, because traditional medications frequently follow adult dosage guidelines, paediatric and elderly patients need doses that are appropriate for their age. Additionally, many patient populations require particular dosage form substitutes to make it easier to administer medications orally. Rapidly dissolving pills are becoming a popular choice in this regard because they start to dissolve as soon as they are placed on the tongue. Controlled drug release over time is another issue that pharmaceutical companies must deal with, particularly when the drug...

  Malate dehydrogenase and fumarase were used as biocatalysts in the effective synthesis of fumarate (fumaric acid), a component of unsaturated polyester resin , by mixing carbon dioxide (CO2) with pyruvate (obtained from biomass). Currently, petroleum is used to create fumarate, which is utilised to create biodegradable plastic like polybutylene succinate. But thanks to this research, fumarate may now be produced using only CO2 and pyruvate from biomass instead of petroleum. Natural photosynthesis occurs in plants and involves the binding of carbon dioxide (CO2) to organic substances that can later be transformed into glucose or starch. Sequestering these beneficial molecules allows for the storage of carbon in solid form. Artificial photosynthesis imitates this process by lowering the greenhouse gas CO2, which is transformed into other beneficial compounds and is the primary driver of climate change. Fumarate was produced by Osaka Metropolitan University researchers utilising ...

  Autism impacts how people see, hear, and experience the world, which has an impact on how they interact with others. Because of this, communication-focused activities can be very difficult for kids with autism spectrum disorders (ASCs) . As a result, it can be challenging for therapists to involve kids in these activities during educational treatment. Recently, therapists started incorporating humanoid robots into therapy sessions as a solution to this problem. However, current robots are unable to interact with kids on their own, which is essential for enhancing therapy. The deployment of such robots is further complicated by the fact that people with ASCs have unusual and varied ways of communicating their thoughts and feelings. A customised machine learning framework has been developed by researchers working on the EngageME project , which is financed by the EU, for robots used in autism therapy. As they explain in their article that was published in "Science Robotics, ...

The Co-operative Group's award -winning, £110 million low-energy, highly ecological new headquarters in Manchester City Center, England, was created with flexibility in mind. The structure serves as the focal point of the brand-new, £800 million NOMA development in the Angel Meadows neighbourhood. Its design was revealed by the architects 3DReid in May 2009, and work on it started in July 2010 with a March 2013 completion target. The project exceeded its pan-European sustainability goals in December 2012 and received a world-record BREEAM score of 95.32%. In addition, it is an energy-plus structure that emits no carbon dioxide and produces excess energy. The structure has won multiple accolades for both its eye-catching design and sustainability objectives. The structure of the building and its mechanical and electrical systems enable occupants to quickly reorganise accommodations and divide space, ensuring that the facility remains relevant as demands change without incurring ex...

 At the ISRO Propulsion Complex in Mahendragiri , Tamil Nadu, the Indian Space Research Organization successfully completed the qualification test of the cryogenic engine for the Gaganyaan programme .  The Bengaluru-based space agency reported that throughout the entire test on Wednesday, the engine's performance complied with the test objectives and its parameters nearly matched the forecasts. " The Human Space Programme Gaganyaan has achieved a significant milestone with this successful long-duration test. It guarantees the cryogenic engine's dependability and durability for incorporation into the Gaganyaan human-rated launch vehicle "a statement from ISRO read. This engine will also go through four additional tests, totaling 1810 seconds, it stated.  Then, according to ISRO, one more engine will go through two short-duration tests and one long-duration test to finish the qualifying process for cryogenic engines for the Gaganyaan Program. The flagship Gaganyaan ...

 The zeolite is undoubtedly the offspring of science and nature. With its porous structure, which holds water inside, this unique rock also holds atoms and molecules that can trigger chemical reactions. Zeolites are crucial as catalysts —that is, as compounds that quicken chemical reactions without causing damage—because of this. Zeolites are used in a variety of industries, including the pharmaceutical and energy sectors. Petrochemicals are used to break big hydrocarbon molecules down into various petroleum byproducts, including gasoline . Zeolites are crucial to processes like fluid catalytic cracking and hydrocracking. Zeolites are used so frequently that decades ago researchers started creating them (synthetic ones) in the lab. To far, more than 250 different crystal forms have been identified.  The Abraham E. Dukler Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at the University of Houston, Jeffrey Rimer , is now regarded as a pillar in the field of zeolite resea...

 Imagine a smartwatch that displays not just your heart rate but also a live video of your beating heart. By developing a wearable ultrasound patch that offers a flexible way to look deep inside the body, similar to a Band-Aid with sonar , researchers may have made the first step in that direction. Ultrasound, which uses sound waves to map tissues and fluids, can assist medical professionals in diagnosing cancer, checking for organ damage, and even tracking infections (SN: 1/3/18). However, the majority of ultrasound equipment aren't wearable, and the ones that are either have poor detail detection or have a limited operating time. The new patch can function continuously for up to 48 hours, even when the user is engaged in physical activity like exercise. Researchers describe their findings in the Science journal on July 29. Additionally, the little equipment sees just as well as a larger hospital machine. Mechanical engineering student at MIT Xuanhe Zhao adds, "This is just...

Swiss International Air Lines reported today that the first half of 2022 saw a return to profitability. The airline is sure that its 2022 full-year statistics will show a profit after operating profit of CHF 67 million ($70 million) in the first half. SWISS International Air Lines (SWISS) is a member of Star Alliance , the largest airline alliance in the world, and a subsidiary of the Lufthansa Group . It runs to around 123 destinations throughout 51 nations, offering services along more than 140 routes. Zurich Kloten Airport (ZRH) is the primary hub for SWISS, which, according to ch-aviation.com, has a fleet of 105 aircraft, including 15 wet-leased Embraer ERJ 190s. The fleet consists entirely of Airbus aircraft, including five A340-300s that are 19 years old, in addition to 12 Boeing B777-300ERs . Thirty Airbus A220s, thirteen A320s, six A320neos, eight A321s, two A321neos, and fourteen A330-300s make up the remaining fleet. The main causes of the turnaround were an increase in pa...

Robots are becoming more adept at reading human emotions and thoughts simply by "looking" into their faces. This advancement could one day lead to more emotionally responsive machines that are able to recognise changes in a person's physical or mental health. Researchers at Case Western Reserve University claim to be advancing the artificial intelligence (AI) that powers interactive video games and will soon improve the following generation of customised robots that are probably going to coexist with humans.  Additionally, it is being done in real time by the Case Western Reserve robots.   Kiju Lee , the Nord Distinguished Assistant Professor in mechanical and aerospace engineering at the Case School of Engineering, and graduate student Xiao Liu have created new machines that can recognise human emotions nearly quickly and with 98 percent accuracy. Similar results had previously been obtained by other researchers, but the robots frequently answered too slowly. Even a ...

Urban transportation attempts to meet the transportation needs brought on by a variety of urban activities taking place in a variety of urban contexts. Analysis of the patterns and processes in the transport-land use system is thus crucial for understanding urban entities. This system is quite complicated and involves a number of connections between the land use, spatial interactions , and transportation systems . Transport mechanism,  the group of transportation modes and infrastructures that facilitate urban freight and passenger transit. It often represents the accessibility level and is made up of supply-enhancing infrastructure. For instance, traffic assignment models infer flows within a transportation network using an existing spatial interaction structure. Consequently, conceptual flows turn into actual physical phenomena. spatial relationships , the kind, scope, sources, and destinations of urban freight and passenger flows. The characteristics of the transport system as ...

Wireless technology has been developed by a research team lead by Rice University neuroengineers to quickly and remotely stimulate particular brain circuits in fruit flies.  Researchers from Rice , Duke , Brown , and Baylor College of Medicine utilised magnetic signals to activate specific neurons that regulated the body position of freely flying fruit flies in an enclosure in a demonstration that was published in Nature Materials .                       " The scientific community is looking for instruments that are extremely precise but also minimally intrusive to research the brain or cure neurological problems. The holy grail of neurotechnologies is to use magnetic fields to remotely regulate specific brain circuits. Our research makes a significant advancement toward that end by speeding up remote magnetic control so that it is more comparable to the brain's natural pace.  Author of the paper, Rice Associate Profe...

Researchers at King Abdullah University of Science & Technology (KAUST) have created a nanotechnology platform that may help them discover new treatments for bone ailments. Iron nanowires that bend in reaction to magnetic fields are used in the procedure. The moving substrate provides a sort of physical workout for the bone-forming stem cells that are cultured on a mesh of these small wires. After that, they develop into adult bone far more quickly than in settings for standard culture, with a differentiation technique that takes only a few days as opposed to a few weeks. The associate professor of biology Jasmeen Merzaban calls this discovery "extraordinary." It may be possible for bone regeneration to be more effective because "we can accomplish efficient bone cell creation in a shorter length of time." Merzaban co-led the investigation with Jürgen Kosel , a sensor expert, and others from both labs. The capacity of the scientists' nanowire scaffold ...

Scientists have struggled to make biomaterials that work as well as cartilage and tendons, but a novel material developed at Cornell University suggests a promising new strategy for emulating real tissue. The findings, which were made public on July 8 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences , offer a fresh method for putting together medical treatments for injured tissue.  The tissue must be malleable enough to bend and flex while tough enough to tolerate sustained loading, such as the weight that a knee tendon must bear. Collagen hydrogels and synthetic materials may be used to replace worn-out or injured tissue, but neither by itself provides the ideal blend of biological and mechanical characteristics of real tissue. Now, Cornell scientists have created a biohybrid composite material with many of the same properties as a real tissue. Collagen, which provides the substance its softness and biocompatibility , and a s ynthetic zwitterionic hydrogel , which has pos...

 LINA is a 3D printed structure that is meant to be a lunar settlement , and its design has been released by AI SpaceFactory and the NASA Kennedy Space Center . The structure, which is planned to be built on the south pole of the moon by autonomous robots, is characterised by Romanesque arches that require less material to endure enormous compressive loads. LINA's structural design will be 3D printed utilising lunar regolith and a polymer derived from Earth. LINA will be 3D printed at a 60-degree angle in contrast to traditional 3D printing, which adds layers parallel to the ground to enable construction of the vaulted roof. To give defence against radiation, micrometeorites, lunar seismic activity, and dramatic heat swings, the arches will be covered in 2.7 metres (8.8 feet) of lunar regolith. The team will use the nearly constant sunshine on the crater's peaks provided by the outpost's proximity to the Shackleton crater's rim at the lunar south pole to generate ele...

Researchers are creating clever soft transformers to drastically speed up research applications in the lab, much like the intelligent robots that appeared in the "Transformers" movie that could change shapes and function in many ways. Dachuan Zhang and a research team in materials science and chemical sciences in China have presented a remotely controlled soft transformer based on a shape memory hydrogel system. The paper has now been published in Advanced Intelligent Systems . By incorporating magnetite (Fe3O4) magnetic nanoparticles into a double network polymer structure of poly (N-(2-hydroxyethyl) acrylamide) containing gelatin, the research team was able to produce the hydrogel.  While the magnetite nanoparticles provided photothermal heating and magnetic manipulation functions to distort the hydrogel for navigation in a magnetic field, the reversible coil-triple-helix transformation of the gelatin component gave the hydrogel shape memory and self-healing properties....

One of the best and most accessible strategies to lessen the effects of rising temperatures in urban contexts is to use urban green spaces. Cities all across the world experience more frequent and severe heat waves, putting the lives of their residents at danger. Urban heat islands are created when natural land cover is replaced with surfaces that absorb and hold heat, such as pavements and buildings, and many cities are exploring methods to lessen their effects. In comparison to the surroundings, this causes the temperature to rise by a number of degrees. Cities have their own unique microclimate that is influenced by this phenomenon as well as a number of frequently disregarded elements. All elements must be taken into account for a climate plan to be effective. The sociological makeup of the city is highly connected with heat risk levels. Less access to green spaces puts communities with historically underprivileged and less affluent sectors at higher risk. The impact on the underpr...

Soft robots have many advantages, including diverse movement patterns, amicable human engagement, and adaptable actuation strategies. However, the absence of suitable practical techniques and soft controllers makes the production of a fully integrated flexible robot still quite challenging.  Using the locomotion and deformation behaviour of liquid metals (LMs) through the electrical stimulus , a team of researchers led by Prof. Jing Liu from the Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry (TIPC) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences proposed and demonstrated a new type of liquid metal droplet electronic device.  To do logical computing, the gadget could be further organised into gate logics. The study initially showed the importance of liquid metals in intelligent electronic control systems when it was published on March 18th, 2021 in Advanced Intelligent Systems . It also provides a fresh method for creating soft electronic gadgets. Liquid metal is a novel class of smart m...

Making a tiny robot out of DNA to explore cell processes that are undetectable to the human eye...  You could be excused for thinking it is science fiction, but it is actually the focus of significant research being conducted at the Structural Biology Center in Montpellier by researchers from Inserm , CNRS , and Université de Montpellier 1]. This extremely cutting-edge " nano-robot " could make it possible to analyse mechanical forces at microscopic scales in greater detail, which are important for many biological and pathological processes. A recent research in Nature Communications describes it. Micromechanical forces acting on our cells cause biological signals that are crucial to numerous cell processes involved in either the development of diseases or the regular operation of our bodies.  For instance, the sensation of touch depends in part on the application of mechanical forces to particular cell receptors (the discovery of which was this year rewarded by the Nobel ...