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Reaction Engines (RE), a UK-based company, receives $37.4 million strategic investment “boost” from aerospace giants Boeing and Rolls-Royce to develop a novel class of engines combining jet and rocket technologies.  Supersonic flight: An introduction Short definition: Supersonic flight is being able to fly faster than the speed of sound. For vehicles travelling in conditions of 68° Fahrenheit (20° Celsius) at sea level, this is about 768 mph, or 1,236 km/h. Supersonic speeds are also classified in terms of Mach numbers. The Mach number is the ratio of the speed of the vehicle to the speed of sound. So, a vehicle travelling at exactly the speed of sound is travelling at Mach 1. Mach numbers are also used to define various high speeds:  Supersonic: Speed that is faster than Mach 1. Subsonic: Speed that is slower than Mach 1. Transonic: Speed that is between Mach 0.8-1.2 All modern passenger aircraft are subsonic and most modern fighter jets are supersonic....

Internet of Things or IoT has been a buzzword for many years, with IoT adoption growing rapidly in recent years. According to Futurum, 13.8% of surveyed organizations adopted IoT in their organizations, 54% had somewhat started this endeavor and 32% had not yet taken any steps with this technology. IHS survey estimates that there will be 20 billion connected devices globally this year. And Business Insider predicts business spending on IoT solutions will hit $6 trillion by 2021. Vodafone found that 66% of responding executives believed no digital transformation is possible without the Internet of Things. Forrester Research has predicted that IoT will become “the backbone” of customer value in the retail industry as IoT helps to connect with customers, grow brands, and improve the customer journey in deeply personal ways. But industries like healthcare and logistics are not far behind. They use IoT to connect with patients via wearable devices, and track their health on a constant...

In the wake of growing concerns about the theft and misuse of big data and personal information, the European Union (EU) has passed the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) enforcing the right to personal data protection of the individuals throughout the Union with effect from May 25, 2018. What is GDPR? The EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is new legislation aimed at protecting the data privacy of all EU citizens and residents. It aims to simplify the regulatory environment for international business by harmonizing the data protection acts among its member states. A very important component of the act is the control of the transborder flow of private data outside the EU and prevention of personal information abuse by entities outside the Union. Enforcement of GDPR has several implications for businesses , academia and non-profit organizations working on data collected or derived from EU nationals and residents. GDPR Timeline of Events: GDPR started as European D...

Have you ever wondered why two people can eat the same amount of food, but weigh differently? This may be due to the gut microbiome, the taxa of microorganisms residing in the gut and their genes. Many people have tried to find correlations (and remedies) to obesity, a health problem that affects 13 percent of the global population. Studies from chili peppers to the amount of sleep, to vitamin C, have all tried to find probable cause and prevention of obesity. But there is another factor. Research of microbiomes might reveal a new mechanism for weight gain, beyond diet, lifestyle and genetics.  How the Gut Microbiome Shapes Obesity The gut microbiome is the taxa of microorganisms residing in the gut (the microbiota) and their genes. The gut microbiota consists of trillions of microbes, including bacteria, archaea, viruses and single-celled eukaryotes. Current estimates reveal around 1,000 distinct bacterial species in the gut, with the most common phyla being Bacteroidetes an...

Technology scouting is an art and a science. Based on my experiences working with numerous corporate clients on their technology scouting needs, here are some tips to help you become a technology scout. 1- Clear up ambiguity with the customer, at the very start. Whether you are a technology scout as just part of your job, or all of your job, you have a customer. Based on your circumstances, the customer could be: The end customer, who uses your company’s products A marketing team, that comes to you with end customer needs they want solutions for A strategy team, that has determined it would be in the best interests for your company to acquire certain technologies or competencies A product development or R&D team, that would prefer for a solution to be found externally – perhaps because the solution is not core to your company’s competency Whoever your customer is, clearing up any and all ambiguity at the start will ensure the technologies your find are best targeted to thei...

Have you ever wondered about the strength of steel? Well, you will be surprised to know that nanocellulose (NC) is 8 times the strength of stee l . It is also known that NC is stiffer than Kevlar®. In addition to strength, nanocellulose has many properties that make it a sustainable and versatile material for the packaging industry. Brief overview of the packaging industry: The packaging industry has been using materials, based on glass, aluminium, tin and fossil-derived synthetic plastics to protect consumer goods. Owing to the growing economical and environmental concerns of these materials, alternatives are being considered. Recently, the benefits of cellulose-based packaging materials, particularly, nanocellulose, have been considered. Apparently, the prolonged use of such by-products, could help solve the unsustainability, costs and disposal challenges that the industry faces. These nano-sized particles form part of the renewable resources that can potentially solve the susta...

  By Thuy Ngo |  January 8th, 2018 | Natural Resources |     Hydrogen, an energy carrier, exists abundantly in nature. However, it is always married to other elements in the form of water, hydrocarbons and other organic compounds. For use as an industrial gas or energy carrier, people need hydrogen unattached to other elements. In 1783, Jacques Charles first used hydrogen as “energy” to lift his balloon flight. Since then, hydrogen has been used in various daily applications. Hydrogen is mainly produced from fossil fuels such as methane by the steam reforming method. Although this process has a low cost, it emits a large amount of greenhouse gas pollution.  Hydrogen produced from water by renewable energy: Fortunately, alternative methods exist to produce hydrogen, such as electrical water electrolysis, photoelectrochemical water electrolysis and biological processes. So far, electrical water electrolysis has the most developed technologi...

A little something about the Gs: We are living in a decade where wireless technologies have become an irreplaceable part of our daily life. It all started in the 80s with the analog technology referred to as the first generation wireless technology – 1G. The “large brick phones” had a poor battery life and a maximum speed of 2.4 Kbps. Then, 2G came in as a big leap in mobile technologies and allowed upgrading to digital technology. Call and text encryption, SMS, MMS and picture messages were introduced by the 2G network. In 1998, 3G was established in the next generation series which made video calling and faster data transmission possible. 3G had a speed around 2 Mbps which was succeeded by 4G in 2008. 4G paved the way into some salient features such as mobile gaming, HD TV and video conferencing at much higher speeds. The next evolution in mobile networking is going to be 5G, which holds huge promises . In the following sections, we will be going through 5G and its anticipated imp...

Lentein is a protein-rich green powder produced by Parabel. It is a “whole food concept” that has been described as the world’s most complete and sustainable food source. With up to 50% of highly digestible crude protein, as well as a high profile of micronutrients such as Omega 3 and antioxidants, it has gained significant interest as a nutritional supplement. Parabel recently won the FIE Innovations Award in the Growth Category for the development of this exciting new product. Here are three reasons why Lentein is such an innovative product for the food and beverage industry.  Reason #1: High Nutritional Value  On the micronutrient scale : As minimally-processed plant protein sources go, Lentein is rich. It contains up to 50% crude protein. To give some context, other plant sources such as peanuts contain up to 28% protein and soybeans contain 13%. Lentein has a protein digestibility-corrected amino acid score (PDCAAS) score of 93. PDCAAS is an FDA/WHO/FAO-recognized ...

  Since the days of snake-oil peddlers, and even long before, the art of marketing has been to reach for that secret ‘buy button’ in the mind, to tickle the subconscious into purchasing whatever it is that needs to be sold. Along came the 21st century, and with it came neuromarketing. What is this new technology, and what can we expect from it? According to the Neuromarketing Science & Business Association (NMSBA), “Neuromarketing is the use of modern brain science to measure the impact of marketing and advertising on consumers.” It includes techniques for measuring neural activation, such as functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and electroencephalography (EEG). Neuromarketing also uses more indirect methods like galvanic skin response (essentially the degree of skin sweatiness), eye tracking or automated face reading. Its aim is typically to gauge the response of consumers to marketing materials such as (online) ads, television commercials, or even shelf-displays...

Natural Resources |   Compared to fossil fuel-based energy systems, nuclear, solar and wind provide much cleaner sources of energy. However, they all come with their own weakness. Both solar and wind energy need stable weather conditions for power generation. Conversely, nuclear power cannot be ramped up or down quickly to meet energy demands. It also generates radioactive waste. However, by coupling nuclear power with renewable energy, we can utilize the best from all three sources.  Components of a hybrid nuclear-renewable energy system: These proposed systems typically have a number of components in common:  Nuclear reactors: Preferably small, modular reactors (<300MWe). Larger, high-temperature reactor systems may be more suitable for hybrid systems. Studies at Idaho National Labs are testing the feasibility of light water reactor systems. Steam generator : To produce electricity from the nuclear reactor. Rene...

  Artіfісіаl intеllіgеnсе (AI) is currently taking the retail world by storm and will increasingly continue to do so. Thе mаrkеt ѕіzе оf AI ѕоftwаrе аnd ѕуѕtеmѕ is expected to reach $38 million by 2025, and the potential opportunities for interacting with customers in new and increasingly customized ways are causing retailers to invest in such technologies.  AI to Enhance the Overall Customer Experience: AI is in fact an umbrella term for 3 distinct capabilities: machine learning, natural language processing and optimization. These technologies are being applied across the entire рrоduсt аnd service cycle – from product assembly tо роѕt-ѕаlе customer service іntеrасtіоnѕ. The main goal is to develop leaner, more optimized operations and to enhance the overall customer experience. By 2020, 85% of customer interaction in retail will be managed by AI, according to Gartner . Consumer-goods companies have been at the forefront of the current rise in digital innovation in ...

A person becomes a doctor by graduating from medical school, but becomes a good doctor only after years of experience. What if we could give doctors the intuition that comes from years of experience on their first day? Several companies believe they can help every doctor achieve the same outcomes as top experts with tools powered by artificial intelligence (AI). AI is a term used for computer programs that can do things that we think of as “human”. Scientists use AI to automate complex tasks like driving a car or stock trading. AI has also been used in the development of new drugs . More recently, scientists have begun to train computers to provide better healthcare. In this article, we highlight two leaders in this space, Babylon Health and IBM Watson. AI for the patient and provider: Babylon Health wants everyone with a smartphone to have access to affordable healthcare. They believe an app that offers instant diagnosis is the key. As their CEO, Ali Parsa, ex...

The following is a case study report of the work that was carried out by PreScouter for a client  in the infection control technology sector. About the client: The Client was working within the technology sector of infection control and wanted to develop a new product within two to three years. Unlike some larger clients, the Client was a medium-sized company that had to maintain a strong competitive advantage over similar product lines within their space. Inquiry: The Client approached PreScouter to understand the technology landscape of next generation infection control techniques. Tight constraints were placed in the statement of work, which required late-stage technologies that the Client could develop internally. PreScouter determined that the ideal solution would be technology that could be captured by intellectual property. Methodology: PreScouter segmented the workflow to identify two specific technology reports. The fi...

In addition to the traditional pillars of cancer treatment—surgery, chemotherapy, radiation therapy—a new approach has emerged. This approach is called immunotherapy. One type of immunotherapy that has recently garnered much attention following successful FDA approval is chimeric antigen receptor T-cell (CAR-T) therapy , the first gene therapy in the United States. What is immunotherapy? Immunotherapy is a treatment for cancer that uses an individual’s own immune system to fight cancer. It is a type of biological therapy that uses substances from living organisms to treat cancer. Different kinds of immunotherapy include the use of monoclonal antibodies, cytokines, treatment vaccines, as well as adoptive cell transfer. This final category of cell-based immunotherapies , which includes CAR-T therapy, is emerging as a promising new treatment for cancers.  How does it work? CAR-T therapy uses apheresis, a method of removing whole blood from a patient. The collected blood is cent...