Hacker News with Generative AI: Innovation

He has powered his house for 8 years using laptop batteries (3dvf.com)
Can we really turn waste into a sustainable source of energy? Glubux, a daring internet user, took on the challenge with 1,000 used batteries. Discover how he has been powering his home for 8 years thanks to his ingenuity!
Airhull lets electric boats glide on a layer of air (heise.de)
The Norwegian boat start-up Pascal Technologies wants to equip two of its electric boats with Airhull technology.
Are groundbreaking science discoveries becoming harder to find? (nature.com)
Researchers are arguing over whether ‘disruptive’ or ‘novel’ science is waning – and how to remedy the problem.
Low cost airlines will officially launch 'standing only seats' in 2026 (msn.com)
It’s a money-saving move that’s sure to divide holidaymakers – but several budget airlines are reportedly set to introduce standing-only seating options.
MIT's Big Wheel in Copenhagen (news.mit.edu)
It looks like an ordinary bicycle wheel with an oversized center. But packed inside that unassuming hub is a veritable Swiss army knife’s worth of electronic gadgets and novel functions.
InventWood is about to mass-produce wood that's stronger than steel (techcrunch.com)
It sounds like the stuff of science fiction, but it actually comes from a lab in Maryland.
The MAGA revolution threatens America's most innovative place (economist.com)
The MAGA revolution threatens America’s most innovative place
InventWood is about to mass-produce wood that's stronger than steel (techcrunch.com)
It sounds like the stuff of science fiction, but it actually comes from a lab in Maryland.
InventWood is about to mass-produce wood that's stronger than steel (techcrunch.com)
It sounds like the stuff of science fiction, but it actually comes from a lab in Maryland.
Bus stops here: Shanghai lets riders design their own routes (sixthtone.com)
From early-morning school drop-offs to seniors booking rides to the hospital, from suburban commuters seeking a faster link to the metro to families visiting ancestral graves, Shanghai is rolling out a new kind of public bus — one that’s designed by commuters, and launched only when enough riders request it.
How the United States Gave Up Being a Science Superpower (steveblank.com)
US global dominance in science was no accident, but a product of a far-seeing partnership between public and private sectors to boost innovation and economic growth.
The Heart of Innovation: Why Most Startups Fail (commoncog.com)
Let me tell you a startup horror story. If you’ve been around startups for long enough, you’re likely to recognise this narrative. You may have — like me — lived something like it before.
FedRAMP 20x – One Month in and Moving Fast (fedramp.gov)
Exactly one month ago today GSA announced FedRAMP 20x, an initiative to rapidly modernize FedRAMP in continuous collaboration with industry stakeholders and federal agency experts. The concept emphasizes security over compliance and encourages private innovation to provide the solution.
America's Coming Brain Drain: Trump's War on Universities Could Kill Innovation (foreignaffairs.com)
In June 2024, at a national science and technology conference, Chinese President Xi Jinping said that the high-tech sector had become “the frontline and main battlefield of international competition, profoundly reshaping the global order and the pattern of development.”
The surgeon who used F1 pitstop techniques to save lives of babies (thetimes.com)
Why Bell Labs Worked (1517.substack.com)
Hallowed is the name of Bell Labs. It falls from many an ambitious lip, seeking to conjure forth lost magic for their pet jar. Some zealots go further. They attempt the most venerated of summons — to materialize an Apollo.
The Compound Interest of Small Ideas (chrbutler.com)
When it comes to thinking, we’ve been sold a high-risk investment strategy. Our cultural narratives around innovation celebrate the breakthrough, the paradigm shift, the disruptive, revolutionary * concept that changes everything overnight.
On thinkers and doers (2022) (strangeloopcanon.com)
Why we might need something like tenure for many more people, to cultivate more thinkers in a doer's world
'A very exciting day': Canadian design may revolutionize the way ALS is treated (ctvnews.ca)
‘A very exciting day’: Canadian design may revolutionize the way ALS is treated
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?
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Why India fell behind China in tech innovation (restofworld.org)
China’s DeepSeek moment has triggered unease for the Indian government and tech industry.
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.
Why India fell behind China in tech innovation (restofworld.org)
China’s DeepSeek moment has triggered unease for the Indian government and tech industry.
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.