HOVER is the first platform that provides an interactive 3D model of a home and accurate exterior measurements using photos taken with your smartphone. A minimum of eight photos are taken capturing every angle of the home. Once the photos are uploaded, HOVER?s patented technology transforms them into a fully measured and customizable 3D model. https://hover.to
An international team of scientists has developed a transparent, self-healing, highly stretchable material that allows ions to flow through it. The material, which was inspired in part by the regenerative ability of the comic book antihero Wolverine, could someday be used to improve the lifespan of electronic devices or develop self-repairing robots. Imagine a new class of robots that are based on soft, elastic materials, being powered by stretchable electronic circuits and thus much more closely resemble the elegant design of biology, This is the type of robot that may help us out in the household or care for elderly people in the future.
https://www.csmonitor.com/Technology/2017/0102/Scientists-develop-Wolverine-inspired-material
As credit card surcharges and minimum purchase amounts gradually disappear, contactless payments are becoming more practical for small purchases. As wearables strive to become more fashionable, Bankwest in Australia has launched a Halo smart ring which lets you simply wave your hand to pay for things at the counter. Waterproof to 50 metres, the ring doesn't require charging and isn't dependent on a linked smartphone, meaning there's no danger of a flat battery leaving you in the lurch. www.smh.com.au/technology/innovation/tap-and-go-smart-ring-makes-contactless-payments-fashionable-20180128-p4yyz3.html
In a revolutionary breakthrough, a team of researchers have come up with a method to turn sea water into safe drinking water in a way that's more energy efficient, economically sustainable and cost effective than current technologies. Metal-Organic Frameworks (MOFs) are an amazing next generation material that have the largest internal surface area of any known substance. The sponge like crystals can be used to capture, store and release chemical compounds. In this case, the salt in sea water. A just released paper found that membranes made out of MOFs can mimic the way cells allow specific atoms or molecules through to help them grow and survive, while stopping everything else. Known as selective permeability this allows cells and now MOFs to act as a filter. MOF's selective permeability means they're designed at the molecular level to only let water pass.
A new high-tech paint from SolCold that cools when exposed to sunlight could provide a better way to cool buildings and perhaps even solve the long-standing problem of cooling things in space. In hot weather, electricity consumption soars as people turn on the air conditioning, pushing the grid to its limits and raising energy bills. The SolCold technology uses a double-layered coating to reduce temperatures by up to 10 degrees C below those attained with traditional white paint coating. The paint has tested well in the lab, with some caveats-so far it works better on metal roofs than concrete, and is more successful over rooms with low ceilings than high ones. Although this paint is more expensive than standard options, it?s said to offer quite substantial energy savings- a decrease in energy consumption by up to 60 percent, while lasting 10 to 15 years before needing a new coat. The first clients are thus expected to come from the business world.
