A new “smart bin” could mean the end of environment-conscious families spending hours sorting tins, cartons, bottles, and cardboard for recycling.

The invention, which can help sort rubbish into recycling categories without needing people to operate. It is being experimented in Poland and is set to go on sale in UK within a few years.

The bin, designed by start-up company Bin. E, recognizes different types of waste via a system put inside the bin which uses sensors, image recognition and artificial intelligence. Once waste is placed inside, the camera and sensor recognize its type and place it in one of the smaller bins. Then it compresses (压缩) the waste so it occupies less space.

It is thought that the bin could be stocked by department stores such as John Lewis, which said it is introducing more new hi-tech recycling bins. Matt Thomas, a buyer at John Lewis, gave us the reason, “We’ve recently seen a jump in specialist bins sales, with a 25 percent increase in the last few months alone. We have noticed our customers are becoming more and more focused on sustainability. In response to this demand, we are really excited to introduce a smart bin this autumn or winter season designed to make recycling more efficient and functional for the everyday home.”

Bin. E’s official release on the market will take place next year. However, at first only a larger version designed for offices will be available. The office bin will sell at ￡430 while customers will need to pay a ￡107 subscription fee for an accompanying smartphone app, which hooks them up with collection services. A spokesman at Bin. E said that home version of the bin will be cheaper and will not include a monthly payment.

They added, “After the office version, we plan to create an outdoor version and later the home version. We decided to go for the outdoor version for public areas first because it is more difficult to organize an efficient waste segregating system than in our homes.”

It’s always heartbreaking to learn about a medical problem that’s largely been addressed in the United States but continues to trouble low-and middle-income countries.

【小题1】 It was a device developed by two former fellows with the Stanford Byers Center for Biodesign. This foot-operated resuscitator (呼吸机) was designed for clinicians who often must work alone when a newborn struggles to take a first breath. 【小题2】 When a newborn fails to breathe, one clinician holds a respirator (人工呼吸器) mask to the baby’s face while another person squeezes a ventilation (给肺提供空气) bag, pushing air into the baby’s lungs. But in low-and middle-income countries such as India, where staff is more limited, resuscitation is not so straightforward. An individual clinician commonly revives the baby alone, using one hand to perform three movements of jaw sticking, chin lift and neck leaning, sealing the respirator mask around the baby’s mouth, and using the other hand to squeeze the bag. 【小题3】 Avijit Bansal, MD, a pulmonologist from India, was well aware of this earlier.

In 2011, he met a like-minded researcher and they began work on a solution. As the article notes: They developed NeoBreathe, a foot-operated resuscitator. 【小题4】 With the freed hand, the operator can multitask more efficiently. The device is now being used in the majority of India’s states, as well as in Kenya, South Africa, Nigeria, and Mali. 【小题5】

Ever since the beginning of human civilization, we are trying to reduce manual efforts by making simple to extremely complex machines. The next step in the same process is robotics and automation. Robotics and automation is a field with abundant potential. It expands its scope from household applications to solving mysteries of the Universe to curing untreatable medical conditions.

Up until the beginning of 2020, robots of any kind are made up of nor-living materials. Recently scientists from the University of Vermont & Tufts University introduced Xenobots, which have opened a whole new Universe for this field. Xenobots are the world’s first living and self-healing microbots. These robots are designed with the help of computer-generated- evolutionary algorithm(算法). The living cells used for its creation are skin, heart and stem cell from the African frog embryos(胚胎).

These microbots are very basic in nature, made up entirely from the organic substance. They can move forward, turn around, spin in circles and flip over. They are smaller than a millimetre and can travel inside the human body. Just imagine the possibilities we will have, once scientist is able to teach Xenobots to do the desired task. One day they even might be able to fight cancer cells. They will be able to clear microplastics in the oceans and lots more.

But if these bots are a life form, why are we calling them robots? This is because scientists are designing them to move or work according to their wills. A certain arrangement for skin and heart cells in an Xenobot will make it move in a straight line, while a different arrangement of the same cells will be required to move them in circular motions.

Xenobots are positively a great step. Scientists are also calling them a brand new life form on the planet. The future is unseen but is undoubtedly full of countless possibilities.