Tracking

A new prototype Companion Collar smart collar is being developed by the CSIRO's digital specialist arm, Data61, and agtech company Ceres Tag that will allow pet owners to track their animal across both long and short distances.

In order to observe specific behaviors, scientists will often rig wild animals up with tiny cameras or other "bio-logging" devices. A new technology could help these tools gather more data, by only fully powering up when needed.

Scientists at Penn State University have developed a flexible sensor they say can be safely printed directly onto the skin, where it can track things like body temperature and blood oxygen levels, before being washed off once the job is done.

Britain has sent two satellites smaller than a microwave into space that are the smartest produced by the UK. Four Glasgow-built Spire nanosatellites lifted off atop a Soyuz launcher, two of which are equipped with supercomputers for tracking shipping.

It's important to track the whereabouts of endangered black rhinos, but doing so in the wilds of Namibia can be difficult – particularly if you don't want to tag the animals. That's where a new footprint identification system is made to come in.

Unlike many other seafood species, lobsters are typically shipped while still alive. New technology could help them survive the journey, thus reducing the number of extra lobsters that have to be caught in order to provide a "buffer."

Given how many satellites and bits of orbital debris are now orbiting the Earth, it's becoming increasingly important to keep track of where they all are. A new telescope system allows space agencies and other clients to do so – even in broad daylight.

Amazon already makes ereaders, smart speakers and tablets, and now it makes fitness trackers too. The Halo is a new wearable that straps to your wrist and feeds data on your activities and sleep patterns back to an accompanying mobile app.

Capturing the complexities of the human hand is very tricky. Now engineers have developed a new wearable system that uses thermal sensors to accurately predict hand positions, with potential applications in VR, robotics and translating sign language.

When an unauthorized drone is being flown in a restricted airspace, the authorities understandably want to locate its operator. A new AI-based system may allow them to do so, succeeding where other technologies fail.

Currently the only way of getting stable video of flying insects involves tethering them in place – which some people would say isn't "flying" at all. Now, French scientists have developed a camera platform that moves through the air with the insect.

Flexible robotic surgical devices show a lot of promise, as they're able to move through delicate parts of the body without causing damage. Thanks to a new system, it could soon be cheaper, safer and easier to track where they are within the patient.