Vienna University of Technology (TU Wein)

Called a Strawscraper, this tower is covered in piezoelectric fronds that rustle in the wind, generating power for people inside. It’s just a concept, for now, but a pretty interesting one, and another example how designers see future buildings relying on their own power, rather than a power station at the city limits. Designer Rahel Belatchew Lerdell says

Image by kun0me via Flickr In research that gives literal meaning to the term “power suit,” University of California, Berkeley, engineers have created energy-scavenging nanofibers that could one day be woven into clothing and textiles. These nano-sized generators have “piezoelectric” properties that allow them to convert into electricity the energy created through mechanical stress, stretches

Image via CrunchBase A Grand Prize Winner will receive a $500,000 grant   YouTube is hosting an online film festival, and will be sending the top 10 finalists to kick off The 69th Annual Venice Film Festival this August with their films. A Grand Prize Winner will receive a $500,000 grant to produce a new work

Next time you play a computer at chess, think about the implications if you beat it. It could be a very sore loser! A study just published in the Journal of Experimental & Theoretical Artificial Intelligence reflects upon the growing need for autonomous technology, and suggests that humans should be very careful to prevent future

This will allow a new wave of location-based services STMicroelectronics, a global semiconductor leader serving customers across the spectrum of electronics applications and the leading supplier of MEMS (Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems) for consumer and portable applications, will be demonstrating the world’s most accurate indoor positioning of a mobile phone at the World Mobile Congress, Barcelona. Comprising

Falling costs are making fuel-cell vehicles look like a plausible alternative to conventional cars. Hydrogen-powered vehicles have been out of the spotlight for years, but they’re about to make a surprising comeback.  Toyota says it will unveil a hydrogen fuel-cell-powered sedan later this year that will go on sale in 2015; several other automakers, meanwhile,

Marishane also sees it helping conserve water in the poorest parts of the world. With inspiration from a friend too lazy to take a shower and a few months of research on the Internet, South African university student Ludwick Marishane has won global recognition for an invention that takes the water out of bathing. Marishane,

Special transparent adhesives, dabbed on valuables or sprayed on thieves, are helping police solve crimes THE rise in the price of metals over recent years, fuelled by booming demand in China and other emerging economies, has caused thieves to turn their attention to things that would previously not have merited a second glance: rubbish bins,

Much as a frame provides structural support for a house and the chassis provides strength and shape for a car, a team of Penn State engineers believe they have a way to create the structural framework for growing living tissue using an off-the-shelf 3-D printer. “We are trying to make stem-cell-loaded hydrogels reinforced with fibers

Science-fiction writers have long envisioned human–machine hybrids that wield extraordinary powers. However, “super plants” with integrated nanomaterials may be much closer to reality than cyborgs. Today, scientists report the development of plants that can make nanomaterials called metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) and the application of MOFs as coatings on plants. The augmented plants could potentially perform