Researchers at the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory have used 3D printing to create a structure made from liquids. This application of 3D liquids can be used for powering devices and chemical synthesis tools. Faculty scientist at the Berkeley Lab, Tom Russell said this material has the potential to reconfigure and can customize […]
Turbines Work Together With Edge Computing
Driverless cars, robotics and renewables all have a common thread that ties them all together: they are all machines connected to the internet of things and the cloud. They have to make decisions in a matter of seconds without the help of humans. The edge, a technique that turns sensors into mini data centers, helps […]
Why Robots Aren’t a Real Threat to Jobs: Q&A with Rethink Robotics Founder Rodney Brooks
Rodney Brooks, founder of Rethink Robotics, introduced the concept of cost-effective and collaborative robotics in manufacturing. He explains why he believes robots like Rethink’s Baxter and Sawyer won’t endanger jobs. Q: Are there common misperceptions about robots and their impact on workers? A: When I was a kid, we had hand drills. An electric drill is […]
These Machines Will Map the Bottom of the Sea
A dozen people have walked on the moon and nearly 4,000 have stood on top of Mt. Everest. But only three humans have ventured the other way to Challenger Deep, the seabed’s deepest point. There, seven cold and dark miles below the surface, the water pressure feels like an entire elephant standing on your big […]
All-Electric Destroyer May Carry Electromagnetic Railgun
The U.S. Navy’s new Zumwalt class of stealth destroyers is seeking to redefine sea power. Quite literally. In the past, ships used most of their installed power for propulsion, with the engines and propellers directly connected through large and complex gearboxes. But the all-electric Zumwalt vessels will come equipped with so-called “integrated power systems (IPS),“ […]
If Ships Could Fly: Big Data Dawn on the High Seas
A seaborne locomotive sounds like crazy idea, but engineer Andy McKeran, who designs heavy-duty offshore equipment at GE, might give it another look. “One of the big benefits of working here is that someone in some other part of the company may have already solved your problem,” he says. “We call it the GE store, […]
STEM Scholarship Will Boost Innovation
America’s high school graduation rate is at its highest point in four decades – three out of four students now get a diploma. But in the Cleveland Metropolitan School District (CMSD) in Ohio, Thomas Edison’s home state, the numbers remain grim: just 60 percent of students graduate. However, kids attending Cleveland’s MC2 STEM High School, […]
Take a Subsea Virtual Reality Tour
Subsea oil and gas deposits off the coast of Brazil exist in a world of extremes. They are locked more than four miles beneath the ocean’s surface, the same distance as 16 Empire State Buildings stacked on top of each other. Layers of near freezing water, salt and rock squeeze them with pressure equal to […]
What’s Next for GE in 2015
Each December, GE Chairman and CEO Jeff Immelt gives investors insight into what the New Year will look like. In some ways, it will resemble 2014. His goal is to keep steering the company to a place where 75 percent of earnings come from GE’s core industrial businesses and 25 percent from its financial arm, […]
Attacking Ebola With Robots, Software, Remote Controls
Treating an infectious disease like the Ebola virus is fraught with dangers for both victims and their caretakers. Ebola’s fatality rate can reach 70 percent and an errant drop of blood, vomit or other bodily fluid can turn a nurse or a doctor into a patient. That’s why engineers and technologists started looking for ways […]