World first as scientists use two new DNA letters to create new “alien” life form
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Life’s DNA has always been coded using just four letters, but now researchers have added two new letters and it opens the door to a whole new world of alien lifeforms never seen before. Ever since life gained a foothold on this fragile rock...
Scientists create the first carbon free supercapacitor
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Breakthroughs in supercapacitor technology will have multiple benefits, from helping to create new renewable energy grid-scale electric storage systems and faster electric vehicle charging systems. Elon Musk last year went on record to say that if anything was going to accelerate the roll out...
World’s tightest atomic knot will help scientists create new super materials
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Knots haved helped society advance, whether it’s helping us make clothes or kevlar, now the world’s tightest atomic knot might help create a new generation of super materials. In a feat that breaks one of the most obscure world records in science, a team...
New 3D graphene is as light as air and ten times stronger than steel
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Five percent the density of steel and ten times stronger, 3D graphene is the world’s strongest lightweight material. It’s incredibly strong and has unique electrical, thermal, optical, and chemical properties, and naturally it only exists in 2D but now a team at MIT have developed...
Under Armour’s new trainers are inspired by nature, designed by an AI and 3D printed
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF The rise of a new breed of creative machines is helping companies design and iterate new products at an accelerating rate, couple these together with new manufacturing techniques and we’ll soon be on the cusp of another manufacturing revolution. The next pair of trainers...
NASA unveils its new Mars habitat concept
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF When the first astronauts arrive on Mars they’re going to need somewhere to eat, live and sleep, and NASA’s new icy concept could be just the home away from home they always wanted There are a lot of hoops to jump through before anyone...
1.2 million jobs to vanish as Foxconn unveils plans for fully autonomous factories
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Foxconn is one of the world’s largest employers, and its pursuit of 100% automation at all of its factories will put millions out of work and give China a headache We’re hearing a lot recently about how most of our jobs are going to...
QuirkLogic’s new E-Ink whiteboard is a giant kindle for your office
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF E-Ink is one of those technologies that won’t set the world alight, but it’s going through a renaissance and it still has a place in the market Backlit touch screens have, arguably, helped propel smart phone and tablet sales into the stratosphere ever since they...
Harder than diamond, the meteorite diamond that’s made in a lab
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Scientists have managed to manufacture Lonsdaleite, an ultra-hard diamond found in meteorites, which could have implications for the mining and construction industries Ever since Lonsdaleite was discovered inside fragments of the Canyon Diablo meteorite in 1967, the mysterious hexagonal diamond has divided the scientific...
Huge Pacific Rim robot to help clean up Fukushima nuclear disaster site
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Robots have a multitude of applications but up until now most of them have been quite small, a new mech from a Korean company just broke the mould. This week a team in Seoul demonstrated a 13 ft (4m) tall robot, or “mech,” that, unlike it’s diminutive...
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...
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,...
Get ready to experience millions of new, immersive worlds
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF The way we interact with technology is changing. We are slowly moving away from using keyboards and mice to using a mix of new technologies that will immerse us in new worlds and imbue us with new, vibrant experiences. There is no doubt that...
Researchers 3D print body parts that work like the real thing
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF The ability to 3D print body parts, or parts of bodies, on demand changes the long term health and survivability prospects for every person on the planet. It will let us all live healthier, longer lives and is nothing less than revolutionary. Using 3D...
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...
The internet pioneer behind Apache pushes blockchain to fuel the next big internet revolution
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Everyone agrees that blockchain is a disruptive technology, and a technology that could help revolutionise not just one industry but all of them but in order for it to really change the world it first needs to be embedded into the “plumbing” of the internet,...
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...
