Researchers are delivering a new trial to investigate whether a workforce of ‘parcel porters’ could help to reduce the current demand for kerbside space by delivery vans. To be carried out in central London over a four-month period, the trial is expected to fundamentally change parcel

Astronauts make sacrifices to go into space. For long missions that are envisaged for the future — such as the months-long trip to Mars — the problem of bringing enough food or growing it en route is a concern to mission planners. The Penn State team believes they might have found a s

Researchers are looking at advanced materials for roads and pavements that could generate electricity from passing traffic. Engineers from Lancaster University are working on smart materials such as ‘piezolectric’ ceramics that when embedded in road surfaces would be able to harvest a

An electric bus has set a new world record for EVs, racking up 1,101.2 miles on a single charge. The 40-foot Proterra Catalyst E2 Max has 660 kWh of energy storage, which delivers a standard range of between 194 and 350 miles. However, at the Navistar Proving Grounds in Indiana, the h

Plastic bottles recycled from households in Japan are being used in a kitchen range sold by the household goods and furniture giant Ikea. The company’s Kungsbacka kitchen range, which is available in Ikea stores from this month uses a plastic ‘foil’ produced from PET – polyethylene th

Pioneering new insights into why high concentrations of some of the most rare and desirable natural elements – vital for the production of vital environmental, digital and security technologies – have been revealed. Pivotal new collaborative research, led by the world-famous Cam

A new type of super-material that could capture carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and turn them into fuel using only sunlight has moved a step closer to reality. Scientists at the University of Reading have used supercomputers to design hypothetical materials with the precise molecular s

Researchers from Georgia Tech have been working on a fabric that harvests energy from both sunshine and motion, which could be used to generate power in the field. The textile combines solar cells constructed from lightweight polymer fibres with fibre-based triboelectric nanogenerator

UK supermarket chain Sainsbury’s has become the first company in the world to introduce a refrigerated delivery lorry cooled by a liquid nitrogen-powered engine. The technology, which is being deployed during a three-month trial, is expected to eliminate emissions associated with refr

Sainsbury’s is powering a number of its UK stores with energy generated from anaerobic digestion (AD) through a partnership with food waste processor ReFood. According to the supermarket chain, the equivalent to 10% of its national gas consumption is now generated via the partnership