University of the Sunshine Coast

Robots that teach themselves (on site) to perform tasks through interaction with the real world Programming robots to do household chores or perform care tasks is difficult and time-consuming. A more efficient approach would be to enable the robots to learn for themselves in practice. Erik Schuitema researched this with robot Leo, who can teach

At the dawn of the millennium, Prof. Dr. Ferdinand Piëch, who is today Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Volkswagen AG, set his sights on creating a practical everyday use production car with a fuel consumption of 1.0 liter per 100 km (235 mpg). In 2002 a prototype VW 1-Litre was unveiled, which was followed

Does ethanol in Iowa cause deforestation in Brazil?

A molecular system that holds great promise for the capture and storage of carbon dioxide has been modified so that it now also holds great promise as a catalyst for converting captured carbon dioxide into valuable chemical products. The sponge-like quality of a COF’s vast internal surface area enables the system to absorb and store

Low Orbit Server Stations The Pirate Bay has announced that it may soon take to the skies in its ongoing efforts to avoid the authorities. Various governments and legal teams across the globe have had the file-sharing website in their cross-hairs for several years now, which has prompted the site in the past to relocate

Hybrid rocket fuel research being done by a University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) mechanical engineering doctoral student could hasten the day when a simpler, safer, more economical rocket engine propels space missions. At UAH’s Johnson Propulsion Center, Matthew Hitt has experimented with varying solid fuel grain sizes to see how they burn at different

Young Brothers could save fuel and energy while greatly reducing emissions, if it switched primarily to fuel cells Clean hydrogen power that’s expected to lower emissions and reduce energy consumption will be coming to the Port of Honolulu in 2015 after the completion of a new fuel cell technology demonstration, one that could lead to

Looking at a smooth sheet of plastic in one University of Illinois laboratory, no one would guess that an impact had recently blasted a hole through it. Illinois researchers have developed materials that not only heal, but regenerate. Until now, self-repairing materials could only bond tiny microscopic cracks. The new regenerating materials fill in large

New techniques inspired by nature for accelerated aging and chemical extraction of mineral ores may lead to cheaper, safer and greener manufacturing processes Nature writ large is filled with examples of transformative chemical reactions that take place in the solid state — minerals found deep underground or on the surface of the earth that undergo