This scuba mask concept lets divers swim without tanks
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF New nanomaterials that can filter and separate out a wide variety of chemicals, organic materials and particulates have many uses, from filtering pollutants from seawater to filtering bacteria from blood. South Korean designer Jeabyun Yeon has unveiled his new concept of a scuba mask...
New spray on polymer makes watermelons, and the Pentagon, indestructible
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF As scientists discover, and create new fantastical molecules and polymers, the number of applications that they can be used for increases, Line-X is a wonderful example of what’s possible. What do pick up truck bed liners, ballistic vests, the Pentagon, a piece of paper...
Nanocrystal discovery turns normal glasses into night vision specs
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF New advanced manufacturing techniques, such as nanomanufacturing, are helping scientists create metamaterials that have new, previously unseen properties which pave the way for a raft of new applications Night vision goggles do a great job of countering the human eye’s poor ability to see...
Scientists use defects to create a new programmable material
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Programmable materials are a new class of revolutionary materials that can be manufactured once and then programmed to alter their properties and shape on demand to suit a limitless number of use cases. New research by a team at Purdue University has shown that honeycomb...
GE’s revolutionary industrial machines can have conversations with engineers
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF As emerging technologies combine we’re entering the era where we can talk to machines in the same way we talk to other people – and the possibilities are staggering. As more and more emerging technologies mature – or, at least improve, we are gradually...
GE’s 3D printed engine sets new 3D printing record
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF As the quality and durability of 3D printed parts increases it is inevitable that more organisations will embrace the technology and reap the benefits. While many people might think that we should have been able to 3D print entire engines, and other industrial equipment,...
New heat resistant material breakthrough gives hypersonic flight a boost
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Materials that don’t react to heat, or cold could make structures safer and solve one of the aerospace industry’s most troublesome issues. Researchers at the University of Southern California have been trying to make a material that doesn’t respond to heat, and it seems...
Physicists just turned a non superconductive material into a superconductor
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Superconductors that could operate at room temperature would transform the healthcare, energy, technology and transportation industries. For the first time, researchers have achieved superconductivity – the phenomenon of electrical conductivity with zero resistance – in a material that’s not a superconductor. The new technique...
Wiivv paves the way for perfect fitting, 3D printed apparel
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF The technology to create personalised, perfectly fitting clothing, or orthopedics, exists and it provides retailers and manufacturers with new market opportunities but the customer experience has to be as frictionless as possible. The proliferation of 3D printing has made it possible to manufacture almost...
Britain’s Royal Mint unveils the most secure coin in the world
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF The Royal Mint calls its new £1 coin a “pioneering” design and says that it will be much harder to counterfeit. Having a currency that is hard to counterfeit is not only a matter of national security but it also helps to build confidence...
Scientists can now see molecules and objects clearer than ever before
Discovery paves the way for new breakthroughs in materials, molecular science, semiconductors and much more A team of scientists from Complutense University have managed to bypass a theoretical limit on optical resolution, allowing them to see more sharply than ever before. Their results are published in a paper in the journal...
Fabric circuits open a door to smarter clothes
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF A new development in material science opens the door for the development of more advanced Smart Clothing. Many of today’s smart clothes, such as those from Adidas, Athos, Nike, Ralf Lauren and Under Armour rely on sensors, such as EMG sensors, woven into the fabric...
Inside Ginkgo, the gene factory where robots help make new weird synthetic organisms
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Creating new lifeforms sounds like fun and they taste great too. Raising glasses of genetically modified beer, the synthetic biologists at Ginkgo Bioworks celebrated the launch of their new automated lab last month and you can take a virtual tour of their facility here. By...
Scientists create breakthrough everything-phobic nanomaterial
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Sadly ANU’s new everything-phobic spray won’t keep children clean but everything else is game. If you have not been able to bag an iPhone 7 or are still looking jealously at your friend’s dunk proof Galaxy, do not worry as scientists have created a...
New programmable material breakthrough lets plastic flowers bloom
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Who needs to buy real flowers any longer when plastic ones are good enough? Tick tock. Shape-shifting objects can now have their own version of a biological clock, thanks to a new material that transforms at a given time. Morphing materials are interesting because...
Feeding the world with lab grown foods gets closer
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF This could cause a conundrum – is lab made meat considered vegan? From an environmental and humanitarian point of view it’s easy to argue the case for lab produced food. In order to feed the same global population lab grown foods would consume 55% less energy to...
World records set to tumble on Rio 2016’s nano-tech track
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF The Rio 2016 running track is the fastest ever and records will fall. Love the Exponential Future? Join our XPotential Community, future proof yourself with courses from XPotential University, connect, watch a keynote, or browse my blog. The running track of the Olympic Stadium in Rio de Janeiro passed inspection...
Nanotech helps scientists create high definition colour holograms
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Scientists for the first time have created a technology that can display true, high resolution colour holograms but Hollywood holograms are still a way off. By carefully arranging nanoblocks to display pixels on a metasurface, researchers have demonstrated that they can manipulate incoming visible light...
Scientists travel to the edge of space to 3D print a heart
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF 3D bioprinting has long held the promise of ending organ donation lists, now there’s an end in sight. A team of scientists working for the NASA and SpaceX contractor Techshot have become the first people in history to successfully 3D print a heart structure in zero gravity using human...
Gourmet 3D printed food restaurant pops up in London
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Move over Heston Blumenthal there’s a new printer in town. Later this month, a 3D Printing pop up restaurant, called “Food Ink”, will open in London and settings start at £250 per head. The restaurant promises to offer a completely different dining experience,...
