Kobe University

A new batteryless cardiac pacemaker based on an automatic wristwatch and powered by heart motion was presented at ESC Congress 2014 today by Adrian Zurbuchen from Switzerland. The prototype device does not require battery replacement. Mr Zurbuchen, a PhD candidate in the Cardiovascular Engineering Group at ARTORG, University of Bern, Switzerland, said: “Batteries are a

New heads-up display technology will make it easier for drivers and pilots to see information while viewing the outside world Heads-up displays are transparent devices used in airplanes and cars to provide information such as critical flight data or driving directions on the windshield. An innovative holography-based approach could soon make these heads-up displays much

Swiss researchers have claimed a new world record efficiency of 18.7% for flexible copper indium gallium (di)selenide (CIGS) solar cells on plastics. Flexible CIGS solar cells have the potential to drive down the price of solar electricity because they are cheaper to produce and this latest breakthrough brings them closer to the highest efficiency levels

Cellulose is one of the most abundant and broadly distributed organic compound and industrial by-product on Earth. Yet, despite decades of extensive research, the bottom-up use of cellulose to fabricate 3D objects is still plagued with problems that restrict its practical applications: derivatives with vast polluting effects, used in combination with plastics, lack of scalability

The Spanish start-up Aglaris Cell is close to launching onto the market the world’s first bioreactor that cultures cell in a fully automated way, without using toxic additives. Researchers created a start-up company a little over two years ago with the aim of developing a device that would automate stem cell cultures thereby making advances

Contact lenses that help enhance normal vision with megapixel 3D panoramic images   Contact lenses that help enhance normal vision with megapixel 3D panoramic images are being designed by scientists using military funding. For those who do not want to rely on contact lenses, future versions could involve lenses directly implanted within the eye, researchers

BASF and Bayer expect to roll out new processes to use waste CO2 to make plastics, additives, fuels and other materials in an energy-efficient and cost-effective way Reusing the major greenhouse gas carbon dioxide (CO2) from industrial plants — rather than releasing its warming potential into the environment — is on the verge of becoming a

3D printing human tissue could help keep astronauts healthy all the way to Mars. An ESA project has produced its first bioprinted skin and bone samples. These state-of-the-art samples were prepared by scientists from the University Hospital of Dresden Technical University (TUD), part of the project consortium together with OHB System AG as the prime contractor, and life

“The important thing is that scientists themselves take on the challenge of building the central steering mechanism for science: its evaluation system.” In an editorial accompanying an ebook titled “Beyond open access: visions for open evaluation of scientific papers by post-publication peer review,” Nikolaus Kriegeskorte argues that scientists, not publishers, are in the best position