Gallium “heartbeat” discovery gives re-configurable electronics a boost
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Today’s electronics are static, but tomorrow’s electronics will be able to re-configure themselves automatically as needed. Interested in the Exponential Future? Connect, download a free E-Book, watch a keynote, or browse my blog. A drop of liquid gallium will oscillate like a beating heart when placed inside a ring-shaped...
MIT’s new ink lets any object instantly change colour
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF The ability to change products colours and patterns dynamically opens up a whole new range of opportunities for personalisation. Interested in the Exponential Future? Connect, download a free E-Book, watch a keynote, or browse my blog. The color-changing capabilities of chameleons have long bewildered willing observers. The philosopher Aristotle...
Scientists accidentally 3D printed the world’s first liquid magnets
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Magnetic liquids could open up a whole host of interesting applications, most of which we can’t imagine yet, but shape shifting robots could be one of those. Interested in the Exponential Future? Connect, download a free E-Book, watch a keynote, or browse my blog. Let’s face it – polymorphic...
Chicken nuggets grown in a lab from feathers for the first time
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Feeding the world’s growing population is one of the great challenges of our time, but new food production technologies could make famine a thing of the past. Interested in the future and want to experience even more?! Watch a keynote, grab a free book, read thousands of...
Adidas unveil world’s first fully recyclable sneakers that last you a lifetime
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Advances in new materials, production techniques and company processes mean we increasingly have a way to eliminate many forms of needless waste. Interested in the future and want to experience even more?! Watch a keynote, grab a free book, read thousands of articles, and...
University nabs multi-million pound to create next gen reconfigurable electronics
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF When electronic systems are manufactured today they’re fixed forever, but in the future they’ll be able to re-configure themselves opening up millions of new use cases. Interested in the future and want to experience even more?! eXplore More and connect with Matthew. The University of Southampton in the...
Ingenious new fabric cools you down and warms you up
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF We adapt to the weather by changing our clothes, but in the future our clothes will be able to adapt to the weather. Interested in the future and want to experience even more?! eXplore More. Recently I wrote about a new type of 3D printed fabric...
NASA steps into the unknown with project to 3D print spacecraft in orbit
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Launching equipment and satellites into orbit is expensive, space limited, and slow, so NASA wants to eliminate these bottlenecks and 3D print and assemble objects in space. Interested in the future and want to experience even more?! eXplore More. A little while ago I discussed...
Scientists use light to create a new state of physical matter
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF The ability to combine light and physical matter to create a new type of hybrid matter opens the door to creating new materials and products with extraordinary capabilities. Interested in the future and want to experience even more?! eXplore More. Recently scientists have turned light...
Scientists unveil self-healing asphalt to end potholes
WHY TIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Many a motorist has been upended by potholes, as their cars clang into one, this might be a way to end them for good. Interested in the future and want to experience even more?! eXplore More. Self-healing materials are in vogue at the moment with...
Revolutionary material auto-cannibalises itself to make new structures
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF As your understanding of material science improves we’re edging towards a future where materials take on sci-fi like qualities. Interested in the future and want to experience even more?! eXplore More. For the first time ever scientists at the US Department of Energy and Oak...
Artificial Photosynthesis breakthrough turns Carbon Dioxide into plastic
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Today plastics are made from harmful fossil fuels, but this new process eliminates them from the manufacturing process. Interested in the future and want to experience even more?! eXplore More. From fuels, to foam mattresses, to high performance carbon fibers and carbon capturing self-healing materials, scientists are...
Scientists have created a living material that has the three signs of life
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF We often think of materials as static things, but what if they were alive? Interested in the future and want to experience even more?! eXplore More. The line between man made materials and living organisms is getting more blurred as time goes by, and it...
New self-healing material rebuilds itself using carbon from the air
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF In the future it will be taken for granted that materials can self-heal, and they’ll be able to do it in a multitude of ways. Interested in the future and want to experience even more?! eXplore More. In a world first researchers at MIT in...
New 3D printed material heals itself after being cut in half
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF This is one of the first combinations of 3D Printing and Self-Healing materials, and it’s how many materials could be made in the future. Interested in the future and want to experience even more?! eXplore More. Recently teams of researchers showed off their self-healing computer...
Colorful bio-engineered bacteria could end fashions obsession with toxic dyes
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF The dye in your jeans, and most of your clothes, comes from countries whose dead rivers run red and blue, but now there’s a way to put an end to it, for good. Throughout the fall of 2012, Marie-Sarah Adenis and Thomas Landrain toiled...
“Green” concrete could help cut global greenhouse gas emissions by 10 percent
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Concrete is a huge contributor to global green house gas emissions, so finding new ways to curb those emissions helps in the bigger battle against climate change. In an age where we can 3D print houses and entire communities using a range of different...
An entire South American community will be 3D printed in just 24 hours
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Houses used to be expensive and time consuming to build, those days are fast disappearing. Following on swiftly from the developments in France, where a family became the first in the world to move into their own 3D printed home, and in Dubai who...
Food breakthrough lets researchers grow fish meat on demand
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF As the Earth’s population and its appetite for protein grows this latest breakthrough will help alleviate famine and hunger. We are on the cusp of a food production revolution, one that could eradicate global famine and let us make food, of all types, from...
Perfect fit one size fits all clothing is here, thanks to robots and smart materials
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Inventory is one of retailers biggest cash sinks, but now a new technology combo means retailers can buy one size from the manufacturer and custom fit it to every body shape in house. You’re shopping for a sweater, and you spot one you love,...
