Bioplastic made from wood powder entirely degrades in three months

[Materials]( [Bioplastic made from wood powder entirely degrades in three months]( [Scientists have used waste products from a lumber mill to produce an environmentally friendly bioplastic]( Researchers at Yale University have developed a bioplastic made using wood byproducts. The material boasts high strength and durability, but also has the ability to degrade completely in the space of just three months. [Read more]( Special Promotion for New Atlas Readers [Get a killer massage without leaving your house with this massager]( We can all agree that there's nothing worse than pulled muscles when there's work to be done both personal and professional. The Kitta Percussion Massager gives the deepest massages on the market and it’s on sale for $120 with code KITTA30. [Read more]( [Tiny Houses]( [Canadian couple build tiny house that feels like a luxury home]( [The home’s cabinetry was built from the hip down, making the dwelling feel bigger than it actually is]( Canadian couple Heather and Kevin Fritz are turning heads with their very first tiny home build. The home was specifically built for the harsh Canadian climate, which can hit -40 ºC during the winter months. [Read more]( [Mobile Technology]( [Xiaomi to launch the world's first liquid lens smartphone camera]( [Xiaomi's Mi Mix, to be launched in a few days, will be the world's first production smartphone to rock a "liquid lens" camera]( Chinese smartphone manufacturer Xiaomi has officially confirmed that its upcoming Mi Mix phone will be the world's first smartphone to use "liquid lens" technology in its camera, allowing super-fast autofocus and optical zoom changes. [Read more]( [Automotive]( [Review: 2021 Mercedes-Benz E-Class shines, in luxury and sport forms]( [The 2021 Mercedes-Benz E-Class is a comely, well-done luxury sedan in any format – the E450 model is seen here]( The Mercedes-Benz E-Class of midsized cars is an unusual case of what happens when a carmaker does both road-going (touring-class) and sports models really well. We had the chance to drive examples of both, for a week each. [Read more]( [New Atlas Weekly Newscast]( [Watt translates the gorgeous curves and volumes of the classic 1956 Porsche 356 A into its own lightweight composite body]( Listen to the week's best stories from New Atlas. [Read more]( [Photography]( [Sigma crams 61-MP full-frame sensor into compact mirrorless camera]( [The fp L is billed as the world's smallest and lightest mirrorless camera with a 61-megapixel full-frame sensor]( Back in 2019, Sigma unveiled a 24.6-MP full-frame mirrorless camera claimed to be the world's smallest and lightest. Now the imaging company has added the fp L, which packs a 61-MP full-frame sensor into the same body dimensions as its older sibling. [Read more]( [Good Thinking]( [MIT's wooden water filter gets put to real-world use]( [Xylem in sapwood can be used for water filtration (top) – it is made up of conduits that are interconnected by membranes which filter out contaminants such as bacteria (bottom)]( It's a sad fact that many of the people who most need water filters are those who are least able to afford them. A newly demonstrated MIT technology could help, in that it uses locally sourced wood to inexpensively purify contaminated water. [Read more]( [Telecommunications]( [Drop the Zoom video? Audio-only communication boosts group IQ]( [Could switching off the video on that Zoom call help a group work more effectively?]( A new study is challenging the common assumption that video conferencing is better than audio-only communication for collaborative group activities. The findings suggest video cues may in fact lower a group’s collective intelligence by disrupting interpersonal synchrony. [Read more]( [Robotics]( [Robotic dragonfly skims across water to detect oil spills and acidity]( [A new robotic Dragonfly developed at Duke University could become a multipurpose environmental monitor]( A new creation out of Duke University is yet another interesting example of an environmental sensing robot, taking after a dragonfly to skim across water and check for oil spills and other abnormalities, and doing so without any electronics onboard. [Read more]( [Marine]( [Navier soars forward with semi-autonomous electric hydrofoil]( [Navier makes its debut at the Palm Beach International Boat Show]( Technology appears to be a big topic at this year's Palm Beach boat show, so it's not too surprising to see the launch of a Silicon Valley startup there. Navier is looking to make nautical design more high-tech with a self-piloting electric hydrofoil. [Read more]( [Energy]( [Rio Tinto to deploy Heliogen's AI-powered industrial "solar refinery"]( [Heliogen's ultra-high-temperature concentrating solar system will be trialled at a Rio Tinto operation in California]( Mining giant Rio Tinto has announced plans to install a pilot version of Heliogen's high-temperature "solar refinery" at a Californian boron mine, supplying clean energy as well as heat for industrial processes, with operations set to start in 2022. [Read more]( [Medical]( [3D "super-resolution" images show tiny structures in living mouse brains]( [A 3D-2PE-STED microscopy image of tiny "twigs" on a neuron in a living mouse brain]( An advanced microscopy technique has snapped “super-resolution” 3D images inside the brains of living mice. The method is so precise it imaged the tiny twigs on the branches of neurons, and could watch how they changed over the course of a few days. [Read more]( [Space]( [Dark matter drive-by may have disrupted closest star cluster to Earth]( [Gaia data reveals the true extent of the Hyades star cluster (pink)]( Astronomers have discovered the aftermath of a cosmic hit-and-run in our own neighborhood. While studying the closest star cluster to the Sun, ESA scientists realized it may have been disrupted by a huge lump of invisible mass, possibly dark matter. [Read more]( [Space]( [Spherical spelunker robot designed to roll around in lunar caves]( [Artist's concept of DAEDALUS, a spherical robot designed to explore caves on the Moon]( ESA has unveiled a spherical robot that may one day be used to explore caves on the Moon. Called the Descent And Exploration in Deep Autonomy of Lunar Underground Structures (DAEDALUS) robot, the spelunking rover is propelled by its extendable arms. [Read more]( [Robotics]( [Tiny swimming robots heal back together when sliced in half]( [One of the microbots continues on its way around a petri dish, after its severed rear end reattached itself to the rest of the robot]( We've been hearing a lot lately about micro-robots, that could one day perform tasks such as capturing pollutants from the environment. Scientists have now created a sturdy batch of such bots, that heal back together when cut in two. [Read more]( [Energy]( [First tidal-powered EV charging point installed in Shetland Islands]( [The EV charge point installed at Cullivoe harbor on the island of Yell gets its power from the Shetland Tidal Array]( Nova Innovation has announced the installation of the first electric vehicle charge point powered by tidal energy, which is located on the island of Yell in the Shetlands. [Read more]( You are receiving this email because you signed up for our daily newsletter at [newatlas.com]( (or [gizmag.com]( before August 2016). 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