No stopping solar after another record breakthrough smashes 32% efficiency
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF If solar is already the world’s cheapest form of energy what happens when the tech gets multiple times better?! Energy generation costs go to zero … Love the Exponential Future? Join our XPotential Community, future proof yourself with courses from XPotential University, read about exponential...
Arm’s flexible plastic computer chip gets ready to revolutionise the Internet of Things
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF In the future computer chips won’t be made of silicon … Love the Exponential Future? Join our XPotential Community, future proof yourself with courses from XPotential University, connect, watch a keynote, or browse my blog. If you read my blog regularly then you’ll have read about the future of computing...
New printing process turns common-a-garden paper into electronic gadgets
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Increasingly everything can be turned into an electronic smart device – even paper – and innovations like this will make a raft of new products possible. Love the Exponential Future? Join our XPotential Community, enjoy exclusive content, future proof yourself with XPotential University, connect, watch a keynote, or browse my blog. I’ve...
Printed flexible electronics bring smarter smart clothes closer to reality
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Smaller and more flexible electronics and computer components will help us create even more intelligent smart clothes that can monitor our wellbeing in immense depth and detail. Love the Exponential Future? Join our XPotential Community, enjoy exclusive content, future proof yourself with XPotential University, connect, watch a keynote, or browse my blog....
Researchers’ brainwave reading temporary tattoo reads your mind and your moods
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Controlling technology with our minds will bring about a revolution in computing and computer interfaces, and this new BMI Smart Tattoo brings it into everyone’s reach. Interested in the Exponential Future? Connect, download a free E-Book, watch a keynote, or browse my blog. One of the facts about exponential...
Invisible soldiers get closer after new thermal camouflage breakthrough
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF We already have invisibility cloaks thanks to metamaterials, and now phase change materials will hide you from infra red sensors to turn you completely invisible. Interested in the Exponential Future? Connect, download a free E-Book, watch a keynote, or browse my blog. If you don’t want to be found...
Harvard invents self-healing rubber to nail your tyre’s puncture problems
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF While this is one example of how self-healing materials will be useful there are millions more use cases. Interested in the Exponential Future? Connect, download a free E-Book, watch a keynote, or browse my blog. If the world is free of flat tires a couple decades from now, you...
New 3D printed liquid “lab on a chip” paves the way for liquid electronics
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF 3D printing is still relatively nascent but as researchers invent new tools and techniques one breakthrough can revolutionise thousands of fields. Interested in the Exponential Future? Connect, download a free E-Book, watch a keynote, or browse my blog. Researchers at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) in the US have...
A new VR synthetic skin brings feelings to gaming and prosthetics
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF As the digital and physical worlds collide and merge companies are trying to find new ways to extend the physical experience. Interested in the Exponential Future? Connect, download a free E-Book, watch a keynote, or browse my blog. Imagine holding hands with a loved one on the other side...
Harvard’s new multi-material 3D printer makes printing soft robots faster and easier
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Many 3D printers still only print one material, or at best switch between different materials very slowly, this new printer therefore opens up a host of new use cases. Interested in the Exponential Future? Connect, download a free E-Book, watch a keynote, or browse my blog. 3D printers are...
Magnetic human skin breakthrough could lead to new types of wearables
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Technology is getting closer to the human body but we’re still culturally not ready to “merge” with it yet, so artificial skins could be an interesting middle ground until that happens. Interested in the Exponential Future? Connect, download a free E-Book, watch a keynote, or browse my blog. Recently...
A new artificial human skin gives people spiderman like superpowers
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF As sensors and flexible electronics start to combine it opens up new amazing possibilities. Interested in the Exponential Future? Connect, download a free E-Book, watch a keynote, or browse my blog. Researchers at the University of Connecticut and University of Toronto have developed artificial skin that gives its wearer, whether they’re robots...
Shooting laser beams from your eyes a reality after scientific breakthrough
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Ocular lasers have many applications, but frankly I’m not sure what most of those could be (yet). Death rays anyone? Interested in the future and want to experience even more?! eXplore More. Recently I talked about a new set of Mission Impossible style smart contact...
Samsung gets closer to launching its first foldable smartphone
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF As we continue to see breakthroughs in materials electronics are starting to move to the next stage of their evolution. As smartphone fans await a trio of new phones from Samsung next week, eyes will soon be turning to what could be the Korean company’s...
Drexel’s new spray on antennas can connect everything to the internet
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Tomorrow’s world will be increasingly connected, and connecting old legacy devices and things has been difficult, but it’s about to get much easier. Engineers are good at making minuscule antennas. Nowadays, we can cram antennas into our smartphones or smartwatches without much trouble. But...
Japanese team show off their new flexible skin display technology
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Displays will one day be more than just slabs of glass stuck to our devices, and this is another step in that journey. Palm reading could take on a whole new meaning, thanks to a new invention from Japan in the form of a...
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...
