Rice growing in sea water, fully automated vertical warehouses, a foldable screen. This week's innovations.
LG
LG Display has unveiled the first high-definition display that can be stretched, twisted, and folded during use. The company’s prototype is a 12-inch display made of silicon used in contact lenses, to form a flexible film-like substrate with micro LEDs as a light source. It packs a resolution of 100 pixels per inch, about that of many monitors and TVs. LG Display’s new stretchable screen could be attached to curved surfaces like vehicles, aircraft, furniture, or many other things.
China national rice and research institute
Scientists found a way to grow rice using seawater. Rice needs a lot of water to grow, it consumes about 5,000 liters of water per kg of grain produced. Being able to grow rice with salty water would be a game changer as many poor countries have direct access to salty ocean water. Seawater rice was developed by tweaking two genes present in conventional rice so it can tolerate high salinity and heat. The findings showcase the potential of genetically modified organisms in addressing food insecurity across the world.
Redwood Materials & Audi
Redwood Materials is a company founded by a Tesla co-founder. They focus on the recycling of batteries. They recently partnered with Audi to launch a kiosk where consumers can leave old household electronics up for recycling. Devices range from electric toothbrushes to electric shavers, and robot vacuums. The company can recover over 95% of materials such as nickel, cobalt, copper, lithium aluminum, and graphite from a lithium-ion battery. They can then return the minerals directly to the supply chain to make new batteries for EVs and energy storage devices.
https://www.redwoodmaterials.com/recycle-with-us/
Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne
Researchers have developed an edible drone that could save the lives of adventurers who are lost, injured, or unable to move. The team created a drone that is no longer only a food-transporting aircraft but is partially edible itself, increasing its food-carrying mass ratio to 50% thanks to its edible wings. The non-edible parts of the drone will be made using biodegradable materials as they will be left in the environment after performing their task in an emergency. The flight-capable prototype introduced by the scientists can provide 300 kcal and carry a payload of 80 g of water.
Impulse
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This new kind of induction stovetop will boil your water in 40seconds. Induction takes a lot of power. It can even be the same as an at-home EV charger. A lot of older houses aren’t wired to plug in a Tesla in their kitchen, which means it could get expensive to upgrade to an induction range. That's why many households are still depending on gas appliances. Impulse fixes that, the company’s stoves include a battery solution, which means that it doesn’t pull the full power when it’s operating, and you could find yourself cooking with induction without having to upgrade your panel. The company is positioning itself in the challenge around residential and light industrial decarbonization.
Subway
Subway announced that it would install smart “Grab & Go” fridges that house premade Subway sandwiches at locations like airports, campuses, hospitals, and gas stations. In September, Subway debuted the first smart fridge at the University of California. The refrigerator is fully interactive, unattended, and restocked daily by a nearby restaurant. The initial feedback from college students was positive, the company said. Through natural language processing, guests can talk directly to the fridge and ask about the products. To help with sanitation and food quality, UV-C lights will clean the machine after each purchase. There are currently 400 locations across North America with a “Grab & Go” fridge with the company planning to release more.
Attabotics
This robotic company created an all-in-one automated fulfillment system, which is condensed into a single vertical structure. It uses robotic shuttles to pick goods that are then presented to workers. The company says it’s able to accomplish this in 15% of the standard warehouse space by building up. The system can reduce warehouse space by 85% and requires just 20% of the workforce that traditional fulfillment centers need. The need for quick delivery requires fulfillment centers closer to major metropolitan areas.
