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These innovative tires create energy while rolling across the road
A car tire is a car tire, right? Well, not according to scientists at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. They developed an energy generating car tire that harvests energy from friction. The scientists concluded that the friction created as a car's tires run over the ground accounts for Read More...
New, smart, biocompatible insulin patch could replace needles for diabetics
Diabetes is a serious problem for more and more people. For them, insulin injection can be a painful process of keeping their blood sugar levels under control. A new, "smart" insulin patch may solve this. This patch, a thin square covered with more than 100 tiny needles packed with insulin and Read More...
Oslo is making the city better for bees
So you thought the bees were dying out? Not so fast. There are ways to save them. Oslo, capital of Norway, has built a "bee highway." This bee-friendly route through the city offers flowery, green rest stops along the way. Here, bees can take a break and fill up on nectar. This network of "pollen Read More...
Germany launches new partnership to support Africa's digital potential
Africa is one of the world’s fastest growing markets for information and communication technologies. There is huge potential for economic development here, and this is why it's good news that the German government decided to place its bets on digitalization for its development aid policy with Read More...
How to fight sleeping sickness in Africa? Lure the tsetse fly!
Sleeping sickness is a much-neglected tropical disease, caused by a bite from a tsetse fly which transmits a certain parasite. It occurs in most of sub-Sahara Africa. Recently, British scientists discovered that the tsetse fly is attracted to blue. To reduce the tsetse fly population, blue Read More...
House passes law to protect people from exposure to toxic chemicals
There are about 64,000 chemicals that are part of many daily household-, cosmetic- and food items and that have never been studied for their health effects. At the same time, society is dealing with a continuing rise of degenerative diseases from cancer to Alzheimer’s. Could there be a Read More...
Smart phones become key instrument to enforce respect for human rights
Billions of people around the world carry a device in their pocket that can play a significant role in protecting human rights. It’s the smartphone, and it’s becoming a key instrument in monitoring and capturing human rights violations worldwide. According to a new report by the U.N. Special Read More...
Court orders Netherlands to cut greenhouse gas emissions
A Dutch court has ordered the government to cut greenhouse gas emissions by at least 25% by 2020, in a case environmentalists hope will set a precedent for other countries. Campaigners brought the case on behalf of almost 900 Dutch citizens. They argued the government had a duty to protect its Read More...
Sharing economy provides participation, choice and social justice
It’s not just businesses that get disrupted; it’s society. Here’s an essay exploring the challenges for the sharing economy to grow bigger. “Today, if you wanted to re-order the economy to deliver participation and choice alongside social justice, it’s the sharing models you would start Read More...
New approach to surgery will reduce death toll from heart failure
As we’re getting older in better health than ever before, more and more of us are becoming too old and vulnerable for surgery. And so when our hearts fail us when valves get narrower, doctors are giving up on us. Not anymore. A new approach to replace narrowed heart valves has been successfully Read More...