DAILY INNOVATION BRIEF by Edward Kane, Journalist

DAILY INNOVATION BRIEF

By Journalists Edward Kane & Maryanne Kane

WEIGHT LOSS PILL TRICKS MUSCLES THEY EXERCISED

Source: Stock

Scientists from Univ. of Florida and Univ. of Missouri have created a weight loss injection that makes muscles think they exercised and boosts the body's metabolism. Here's what we know:

The medication is called SLU-PP-332
It lowers cholesterol and reduces fatty liver
The scientists who created it say it makes the body act like it's in training for a marathon
The medicine targets proteins in the DNA that turns on genes controlling the body's use of energy, which enables calorie burning without exercise
The medication essentially guides skeletal muscle to make the same changes that you would see from endurance training
Additionally, the drug was shown to allow mice to run 70% longer and 45% further
Next steps are to move beyond testing it on mice, to other animals and then humans
This is medicine on the cutting edge with a pill doing the exercise for you.

SOLAR PANELS ON EV'S COULD CUT CHARGING BY 50%

University of Lisbon researchers have measured the benefits of adding solar panels to car and the benefits are significant and big. Here's what we know:

The researchers studied the effectiveness of solar panels on cars in 100 different cities, providing an additional 7 to 18 miles/day on EVs
On average the research showed that adding solar panels reduced charging times in half for EVs
They found that in urban areas the amount of unfiltered sun that reaches street level is what is critical - building & tree shadows reduce the positive results
Results show that solar power significantly increases driving range which can be dramatic in cities where driving distances are much less
Study found that in less favorable environments solar power can still reduce operating costs, charge times and frequency
Important implications: cities are currently the main market for EV's and given the smaller distances travelled in cities, solar-powered cars should be emerging as big players.

HORIZON eVTOL IS A BIGGER PLAYER

Source: Horizon

Horizon Aircraft just announced it has expanded its flying taxi to a 7-seater, which places it among the biggest eVTOLs. Here's what we know:

The company did extensive flight-testing results on its 50%-sized prototype along with sophisticated aerodynamic, electrical and structural analysis and decided to go with 7-seats
Called Cavorite X7
Hybrid-electric experimental eVTOL aircraft
Range is 500 miles
Maximum speed is 250 mph
Unique tech includes recharging its batteries while flying
Unique fan-in-wing technology
Bigger seating capacity to 7 lowers passenger-seat-miles-cost
Uses ideal for 50-to-500-mile travel routes like regional passenger commutes, medical evacuations, military, cargo transport and disaster relief
Company is targeting making this eVTOL bigger.

Important Innovations Collection