research
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Redesigned Solar Panels Could One Day Charge Your Gadgets From a Lamp
Despite being excellent tools for harvesting the free energy the sun is blasting towards our planet all day long, the solar panels you see dotting roofs and blanketing fields don’t really work with artificial light. But as researchers sought out new materials to improve the efficiency of solar photovoltaics, they also discovered these materials could…
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Take a Long, Romantic Walk With This Sweaty Robotic Hand
Real-life robots are still relatively primitive compared to those featured in science fiction, but that hasn’t stopped us from building bots that can take care of most of our physical needs. (Yes, including that.) In Japan, there’s even now a robot that can simulate going on a walk and holding hands with your significant other,…
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A Smartphone Sensor Can Measure the Heat of Chillis Before You Accidentally Nuke Your Mouth
Popping a random chilli into your mouth is the culinary equivalent of playing Russian roulette. Some are mild and packed with flavour, while others will make you feel like you’ve just bitten into the surface of the sun. Without knowing where a chilli is from it’s hard to know how hot it is, so researchers…
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Covid-19 Can Live on Smartphone Screens for Up to 28 Days, Researchers Find
Back in March, as the covid-19 pandemic took over the planet, Apple finally told users that it’s ok to use some disinfecting wipes on their iPhones. At the time, transmission risks were opaque and it was better to be safe than sorry. In the meantime, we’ve learned that saliva droplets in the air pose the…