Good Thinking

While autoclaves are considered essential for sterilizing medical equipment in First World health care facilities, they're often not available in developing nations where access to electricity is limited. A new solar-powered autoclave may be the answer to that problem.

While double-glazed windows do help save energy, scientists have tweaked the concept to make it even more effective. Instead of leaving an air gap between the two panes of glass, the researchers have inserted a heat-absorbing, light-blocking liquid.

A total of 74 projects have been selected for the 2020 Beazley Designs of the Year shortlist. The variety is genuinely impressive, encompassing everything from Braille Lego to an uncensored library in a Minecraft server and a social housing project.

Optical fibers are already used in many fields, but they would have even more applications if they could be manufactured faster and cheaper. An experimental new process is claimed to deliver on both counts, and it uses mostly existing technologies.

Day-use backpacks certainly are handy, but they do have a way of leaving your back hot and sweaty, or even digging into it if you're carrying protruding cargo. The VentaPak was designed to address those problems.

The excavation and disposal of landmines is a time- and labor-intensive business, so it can be quite a waste of resources if the detected object is not actually a mine. A new system could help, by reducing the number of mine-hunting errors.

This California company says its oil-free, centrifugal air compressor design, inspired by the air pumps used in sixteenth-century Catalonian blacksmith forges, is quieter, cleaner, longer lasting, and cheaper to run than traditional piston designs.

Although robotic prosthetic legs do have some advantages over their conventional counterparts, they also have some drawbacks that keep them from entering wider use. A new prototype prosthesis, however, addresses some of those shortcomings.

Amazon has announced that it's adding a smart shopping cart service to its upcoming Woodland Hills store in Los Angeles, California. The Dash Cart registers what you're buying as you shop and charges your credit card as you exit the store.

British apparel maker Vollebak explores how to prevent electronic components and materials from filling landfills. It recycles various obsolete parts and pieces into a flamboyant timepiece it calls the Garbage Watch.

Even when they're allowed to roam, chickens are still susceptible to infestations of blood-sucking mites. It now turns out that a backpack-like device could let farmers know when those mites are biting, so treatment could begin as soon as possible.

Evaporation is one of the most enduring methods of purifying water to make it drinkable. Now researchers in China have developed a novel device made of wood that can do just that, by employing bacteria to help build key nanostructures.