Technology

New wave of medical ‘deep tech’ can help coronavirus response – but there’s resistance

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The development of new medical technologies based on cutting-edge discoveries has accelerated during the coronavirus pandemic and is helping us respond to the health crisis. But for these technologies to flourish, attitudes and scepticism among investors still need to change, say researchers and start-ups. ‘Deep tech’ describes companies working with technologies such as advanced material … Read more

How crop and animal sensors are making farming smarter

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Ear tags with a wireless radio frequency identification antenna along with a smart robotic feeder can tell farmers every time a cow goes to feed and what dose of mineral supplements it receives. Image credit - Ivan Andonovic

Installing wireless sensors among crops and attaching ‘smart’ ear tags to livestock could help farmers produce more food with less impact on the environment. The bounty of food we can find on supermarket shelves across Europe is the result of knowledge accumulated over thousands of years by generations of farmers. But with the global human … Read more

Why robots are being trained in self-awareness

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A robot 'recognises' itself in the bathroom mirror. Image credit - Pablo Lanillos

Robots passing cognitive tests such as recognising themselves in a mirror and being programmed with a human sense of time are showing how machines are being shaped to become a bigger part of our everyday lives.  In 2016, for the first time ever, the number of robots in homes, the military, shops and hospitals surpassed that … Read more

The prostheses that could alleviate amputees’ phantom limb pain

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When it comes to improving amputees’ quality of life, one of the biggest challenges is making prostheses that feel like a natural part of the user. Image credit - Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Wikimedia Commons

by Ian Le Guillou New prosthetic technologies that stimulate the nerves could pave the way for prostheses that feel like a natural part of the body and reduce the phantom limb pain commonly endured by amputees. Silvestro Micera, a professor of translational neuroengineering at Ecole polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne in Switzerland, has spent the past 20 … Read more