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The working life of ion thrusters is limited by the amount of propellant they can carry. Now, scientists at ESA and Italian space company SITAEL have test-fired a new type of “air-breathing” electric thruster that could keep satellites aloft for longer, by making them literally run on thin air.

To look through space is to look through time. Astronomers have now peered right back to the “Cosmic Dawn” – when the first stars were beginning to fire up – by picking up an extremely faint radio signal that marks the earliest evidence of hydrogen, just 180 million years after the Big Bang.

​Architect Carly Coulson preaches a form of design she calls "invisible sustainability," blending sustainable design principles with an aesthetic that is rigorously minimal. The Disappear Retreat, one of Coulson’s flagship designs, aims for “triple-zero living” – zero energy, zero waste, zero water.

​Although you may not realize it, there are car-racing video games that blind people can play. Brian A. Smith, however, thinks they leave something to be desired. That's why he created the RAD, an audio-based interface that he claims can be integrated into almost any racing game.

​For kids young and old, there is a certain enchantment to a treehouse escape. Incorporating elements of nature as load-bearing structures makes for some inventive and attractive design, and in some cases, the kind of luxury you wouldn't expect to find suspended above the forest floor.

The new Toyota Proace-based Lerina camper van comes dressed up by Wellhouse Leisure, a British converter with much experience in compact camper vans. A versatile multi-use van, the Lerina can sleep and feed four on a camping holiday before switching over to six-seat people mover mode.

As tiny as they are, there's a relatively large amount of empty space inside an atom. Now, scientists from Austria and the US have filled in some of those gaps, creating a new state of matter in the form of "giant atoms" filled with other atoms.

Shipping container-based architecture seems like a bad idea. They'e cramped, offer no insulation, and often require heavy modification. That said, limitation occasionally proves fertile ground for innovation, as evidenced by the imaginative shipping container projects that we're highlighting here.

​​SpaceX has completed the 50th launch of its Falcon 9 rocket, with the successful insertion of the Hispasat 30W-6 communications satellite into a geostationary transfer orbit.

One company to make a few waves when it comes to powered surfboards is Germany's Lampuga. A new-look Lampugna has just launched a refreshed line of jet-driven boards, which offer faster carving through the water and a handy battery swapping system to keep riders on the move. ​

​​Airbus has combined its aerial prowess with the ground-vehicle know-how of Italdesign and Audi to produce an audacious mobility concept called Pop.Up Next, a two-seat travel solution can both drive itself on the road and lift into the air vertically.

​This Tuesday at the Geneva Auto Show, Renault unveiled its electric, autonomous EZ-GO robo-vehicle and ride-hailing concept. It could provide both taxi and Uber drivers with some serious competition in the not-too-distant future.