Brooke Becher

2 weeks ago | builtin.com | Brooke Becher

Image: Joshua Sukoff / Shutterstock On April 9, the third wave of Trump’s protectionist trade policies were set to take effect — until they weren’t. Hours after a series of global tariffs took effect, Trump announced a 90-day pause as well as “substantially lower” taxes for at least 75 trading partners who did not retaliate and have expressed interest in negotiating terms. The harsh 104 percent levy imposed on China imports, however, jumped to 125 percent — effective immediately.

2 weeks ago | builtin.com | Brooke Becher

The majority of America’s stored energy — 93 percent of it — sits in pumped storage hydropower systems. Commonly referred to as “water batteries,” these tiered reservoirs look like two lakes stacked on top of one another, circulating water in the same way electrons move from one terminal to the other in a conventional rechargeable battery. What Is a Water Battery? A water battery is a large-scale facility that stores energy by moving water between two reservoirs.

3 weeks ago | builtin.com | Brooke Becher

Virtual reality headsets can transport you to entirely different realms — or at least trick your brain into thinking so. Through a combination of advanced display technology, motion tracking, spatial audio and haptic feedback, these devices are designed to overload a wearer’s senses with immersive stimuli, making digital experiences feel remarkably real. How Do Virtual Reality Headsets Work?

4 weeks ago | builtin.com | Brooke Becher

Autonomous robots are machines that can perceive their environment and make decisions without any human intervention. With the help of sensors, cameras and artificial intelligence, they move through the world based on a constant intake of information from their surroundings, which is then processed and formulated into real-time, decisive action. As a result, they can adapt to new situations, learn from past experiences and perform tasks with increasing precision and efficiency.

1 month ago | builtin.com | Brooke Becher

Smart materials are polymer-based substances that can change their properties in response to external stimuli — such as temperature, pressure, moisture or light — and revert back to their original state without human intervention. Smart Materials DefinitionSmart materials (also called intelligent or smart materials) are substances designed to change in response to changes in temperature, pressure, light, moisture and other external factors.