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!
Sustainability, Energy, DIY, Innovation
54 points by georges_gomes 32 days ago | 61 comments
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.
Electric Boats, Innovation, Technology, Norway
13 points by doener 35 days ago | 11 comments
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.
Science, Research, Innovation
11 points by Brajeshwar 36 days ago | 2 comments
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.
Airlines, Travel, Budget Travel, Innovation, Controversial
14 points by GeoAtreides 37 days ago | 12 comments
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.
Technology, MIT, Innovation, Copenhagen
6 points by rmason 39 days ago | 0 comments
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.
Materials Science, Innovation, Sustainability
4 points by mmooss 40 days ago | 1 comments
The MAGA revolution threatens America's most innovative place (economist.com)
The MAGA revolution threatens America’s most innovative place
Politics, Innovation, America
12 points by DyslexicAtheist 40 days ago | 0 comments
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.
Materials Science, Innovation, Sustainability, Manufacturing
487 points by LorenDB 40 days ago | 430 comments
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.
Materials Science, Innovation, Manufacturing
3 points by signa11 44 days ago | 1 comments
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.
Public Transportation, China, User Experience, Innovation
493 points by anigbrowl 45 days ago | 363 comments
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.
Science, Innovation, US Economy, Public-Private Partnerships
87 points by enescakir 45 days ago | 38 comments
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.
Startups, Failure, Innovation, Business
17 points by rishsriv 46 days ago | 3 comments
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.
Government, Cybersecurity, Cloud Computing, Innovation
92 points by transpute 46 days ago | 65 comments
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.”
Politics, Innovation, Education, Immigration, China
25 points by robtherobber 46 days ago | 4 comments
The surgeon who used F1 pitstop techniques to save lives of babies (thetimes.com)
Medicine, Innovation, Technology
62 points by sunray2 47 days ago | 12 comments
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.
Innovation, Research, Technology, History
336 points by areoform 47 days ago | 234 comments
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.
Innovation, Ideas, Thinking, Creativity
5 points by delaugust 47 days ago | 0 comments
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
Academia, Work Culture, Thinking, Innovation
55 points by andrewrn 48 days ago | 44 comments
'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
Medical Research, ALS, Canada, Innovation
9 points by amichail 49 days ago | 0 comments
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
31 points by bookofjoe 51 days ago | 6 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 54 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
35 points by ohjeez 56 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 57 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 58 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 60 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 61 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 63 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 63 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 63 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 66 days ago | 100 comments