Hacker News with Generative AI: Innovation

Before the Undo Command, There Was the Electric Eraser (ieee.org)
I’m fascinated with the early 20th-century zeal for electrifying everyday things. Hand tools, toasters, hot combs—they all obviously benefited from the jolt of electrification. But the eraser? What was so problematic about the humble eraser that it needed electrifying?
Technology, History, Innovation
7 points by bookofjoe 2 days ago | 0 comments
Surprisingly simple method makes a low-cost, tuneable liquid lens (cosmosmagazine.com)
Scientists from the Philippines have come up with a clever way to make adjustable water-based liquid lenses, which they say could be used as accessible and low-cost improvised lens systems in classrooms and laboratories.
Science, Optics, Innovation, Liquid Lenses
9 points by geox 5 days ago | 0 comments
A 1903 Proposal to Preserve the Dead in Glass Cubes (hyperallergic.com)
In 1903, a Russian-born inventor in Herkimer, New York, named Joseph Karwowski proposed a radical way of preserving corpses: suspending them in glass cubes.
History, Innovation, Death, Art
34 points by ohjeez 6 days ago | 26 comments
Fusion Reactor Called 'Norm' Could Outperform Everything We've Built So Far (gizmodo.com)
A California-based fusion company thinks it’s cracked one of energy’s toughest problems: how to make fusion efficient, powerful, and not absurdly expensive.
Fusion Energy, Science, Energy, Technology, Innovation
6 points by LAsteNERD 8 days ago | 1 comments
Legendary Bose Magic Carpet Suspension Is Finally Going Global (thedrive.com)
Over twenty years ago, a video of a Lexus LS400 seemingly defying the laws of physics shocked the world.
Automotive, Technology, Innovation, Engineering
270 points by PaulHoule 9 days ago | 180 comments
White House Tech Bros Are Killing What Made Them (and America) Wealthy (nytimes.com)
Basic research conducted by America’s universities is crucial to our world-class entrepreneurial culture.
Politics, Technology, Economy, Innovation, Research
10 points by nativeit 11 days ago | 3 comments
High-Powered Solar Cells Are Poised to Replace Batteries (bloomberg.com)
Lenovo is using startup Ambient Photonics’s technology to get rid of batteries in a keyboard.
Solar Energy, Batteries, Technology, Innovation
11 points by imichael 11 days ago | 6 comments
Why India fell behind China in tech innovation (restofworld.org)
China’s DeepSeek moment has triggered unease for the Indian government and tech industry.
India, China, Technology, Innovation, Government
13 points by jethronethro 13 days ago | 1 comments
CATL: 1500km EV Battery, 520km in 5 Min Charge, Sodium-Ion Mass Prod 2025 (carnewschina.com)
Chinese battery manufacturer Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Limited (CATL) unveiled three battery technologies at its “Tech Day” event on April 21, potentially reshaping the competitive landscape between pure electric and hybrid vehicles.
Electric Vehicles, Battery Technology, China, Innovation
5 points by xbmcuser 14 days ago | 0 comments
Why India fell behind China in tech innovation (restofworld.org)
China’s DeepSeek moment has triggered unease for the Indian government and tech industry.
India, China, Technology, Innovation, Politics
6 points by impish9208 14 days ago | 1 comments
Everyday life improvements since the 90s (2022) (gwern.net)
It can be hard to see the gradual improvement of most goods over time, but I think one way to get a handle on them is to look at their downstream effects: all the small ordinary everyday things which nevertheless depend on obscure innovations and improving cost-performance ratios and gradually dropping costs and new material and… etc.
Technology, Innovation, Everyday Life, 1990s
86 points by james_impliu 17 days ago | 100 comments
'Nobody has done this before': Britain's beloved steam trains trial technology (theguardian.com)
In-cab digital signalling was tested last week as part of a project to secure the future of main-line locomotives
Technology, Trains, United Kingdom, Innovation
61 points by beardyw 19 days ago | 49 comments
How the U.S. became a science superpower (steveblank.com)
Prior to WWII the U.S was a distant second in science and engineering. By the time the war was over, U.S. science and engineering had blown past the British, and led the world for 85 years.
Science, History, Innovation, United States
480 points by groseje 24 days ago | 501 comments
Spray-on concrete innovation could transform bridge repairs (techxplore.com)
More than 40,000 bridges in the United States are deemed structurally deficient, and as many as 221,000 are deemed in need of repair, according to the American Road & Transportation Builders Association. Florida International University (FIU) researchers have developed a system that could play a key role in restoring them.
Infrastructure, Construction, Engineering, Innovation, Transportation
7 points by PaulHoule 25 days ago | 1 comments
Robotic Gripper Based on Measuring Tape Is Sizing Up Fruit and Veggie Picking (today.ucsd.edu)
It’s a game a lot of us played as children—and maybe even later in life: unspooling measuring tape to see how far it would extend before bending. But to engineers at the University of California San Diego, this game was an inspiration, suggesting that measuring tape could become a great material for a robotic gripper.
Robotics, Engineering, Agriculture, Innovation
7 points by gnabgib 27 days ago | 0 comments
The McMurtry Spéirling is the first car in the world to DRIVE UPSIDE DOWN (topgear.com)
No, it’s not an April Fool’s gag, and yes, they really did it. For as long as Top Gear can remember, the old adage that ‘an F1 car can drive upside down’ has been nothing more than a passing joke. Turns out, McMurtry isn’t laughing.
Cars, Engineering, Innovation, Technology
16 points by kracker 27 days ago | 2 comments
Royal Mail trials postbox with parcel hatch, solar panels and barcode scanner (theguardian.com)
Royal Mail has unveiled a solar-powered “postbox of the future” with a built-in barcode reader and a hatch to accept parcels larger than letterbox size.
Technology, Innovation, Logistics, Postal Service, Sustainability
9 points by thunderbong 28 days ago | 0 comments
Ask HN: Biggest non-tech scientific innovations of the 21st century? (ycombinator.com)
The tech industry often dominates headlines here on HN, but what are the major scientific breakthroughs in other fields (biology, medicine, physics, chemistry, climate science, etc...) in the last two decades?
Science, Innovation, Biology, Medicine, Physics
12 points by coffeeaddict1 29 days ago | 1 comments
Locating Stealth Fighters with Cheap Cameras Without Using AI or Radar [video] (youtube.com)
Military Technology, Surveillance, Photography, Open Source, Innovation
60 points by jryb 29 days ago | 56 comments
The New Weird Virtuosos Making Jazz for the Post-Internet Age (pitchfork.com)
Led by artists like DOMi and JD Beck, a generation of rising players is infusing jazz with absurdist online irreverence. But are they playing jazz at all?
Jazz, Music, Generation Z, Internet Culture, Innovation
7 points by zeech 29 days ago | 4 comments
The Consequences of Limiting the Tax Deductibility of R&D (ssrn.com)
We study the tax payment and innovation consequences of limiting the tax deductibility of research and development ("R&D") expenditures.
Tax Policy, Innovation, Economics
51 points by felineflock 29 days ago | 64 comments
The New Legislators of Silicon Valley (theideasletter.org)
There is a certain disorienting thrill in witnessing, over the past few years, the profusion of bold, often baffling, occasionally horrifying ideas pouring from the ranks of America’s tech elite.
Silicon Valley, Technology, Innovation, Politics, Ethics
37 points by _delirium 30 days ago | 57 comments
Choviva: Chocolate replacement with less CO2 emissions (choviva.com)
We’ve reinvented chocolate by cutting CO₂ - emissions
Food, Sustainability, Climate Change, Innovation
23 points by bill38 32 days ago | 65 comments
How the electric car almost became the norm, more than a century ago (rnz.co.nz)
There's been a huge uptake of electric cars in recent years, and many of us would say they're having their moment in the transport industry now.
History, Electric Vehicles, Transportation, Innovation
7 points by billybuckwheat 34 days ago | 0 comments
Barrel-rotor flying car prototype begins flight testing (newatlas.com)
One of the most fascinating aircraft in the eVTOL space has moved into flight testing with a new large-scale prototype. Cyclotech's Blackbird airframe becomes the world's first aircraft to fly with six barrel-shaped "Cyclorotors" for propulsion.
Aviation, Technology, eVTOL, Prototypes, Innovation
4 points by rmason 35 days ago | 0 comments
Smallest Pacemaker Is the Size of a Rice Grain (sciencealert.com)
Scientists said Wednesday they have developed the world's tiniest pacemaker, a temporary heartbeat regulator smaller than a grain of rice that can be injected and controlled by light before dissolving.
Medical Technology, Bioengineering, Health, Innovation
95 points by lnyan 35 days ago | 14 comments
“Moonshots” Initiative to Secure the Future of RISC OS (riscosopen.org)
Cambridge, UK – 28-Mar-2025 – RISC OS Open Limited (ROOL) is calling on the global technology community to support a bold new initiative to secure the long-term future of RISC OS. The company today announced the launch of its Moonshots programme – a strategic shift away from incremental development, towards large-scale engineering efforts aimed at modernising the operating system for next-generation Arm architectures.
Operating Systems, RISC OS, Technology, Open Source, Innovation
51 points by kaycebasques 40 days ago | 16 comments
Renegade Colorado Farmer Pushes Deeper into Unconventional Agriculture (agweb.com)
Who plants at least 12 different crops a season, slashes nitrogen applications by over half, aims to seed 3”-row grain in 2025, grows rice in bone-dry conditions, and steadily uncovers unique market demand? Roy the renegade.
Agriculture, Innovation, Sustainability
5 points by rmason 43 days ago | 1 comments
Project Europe aims to drive European innovation (projecteurope.co)
Innovation, Europe, Technology, Business
27 points by doener 46 days ago | 9 comments
A New Form Factor for Drones: Vertical and Coaxial (core77.com)
Since its invention, the form factor of the airplane has been bird-based; both airplanes and birds remain aloft by having appreciable wingspans. And in broad strokes, the overall form of the airplane hasn't changed much in the past 100 years.
Drones, Aerospace Engineering, Design, Innovation
39 points by surprisetalk 49 days ago | 28 comments