Sit down, the creative machines are innovating chairs
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Machines might not have a consciousness, per se, but they’re becoming increasingly “innovative and creative” Innovation is an algorithm… Earlier this year I wrote a post discussing how we were beginning to see the emergence of the first signs of creative machines – and...
From line to plate, Tuna gets its own blockchain
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Tuna becomes the world’s first fish to get its own blockchain to track it’s provenance from net to plate. Most people have heard of bitcoin but fewer people are familiar with blockchain, the revolutionary technology that underpins it. And now this technology, which ostensibly began life in the...
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...
Amazons drones will recharge themselves using street lamposts
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Amazons new patent could change the look of your community forever. It looks like Amazon is finally answering a fundamental question about its long awaited delivery drones – where will they land? And a possible answer, according to a recent patent filing that they put...
The future of jobs in a Machine World
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF We are all aware that technology is capable of replacing particular categories of jobs, but often those jobs “belong to someone else” and the impact on our own jobs is minimal. Today though new classes of emerging technologies, from artificial intelligence to machine vision are...
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...
Human on a chip development signals the end of animal testing
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Noone will be sad to see the back of animal testing. Before a new drug or medical treatment can be let loose on human beings, it has to go through a rigorous set of tests to make sure it’s safe – tests that unfortunately...
First FAA approved drone flight drops donuts from heaven
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Not only will drone deliveries cut down the length of time that consumers have to wait for their goods to be delivered, further denting the value of brick and mortar retailers, but it will usher in a new era of Donuts-on-demand. 7-Eleven, the world’s...
Nano watermarks sort the fakes from the originals
New nanotechnology aims to put a dent in the $745 billion counterfeit goods market Researchers at Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) in Switzerland have developed a technique for embedding nanoscale photonic crystals into the glass face of a watch so that when it is exposed to UV light, the design...
Remodel your home using augmented reality at Lowe’s
Experience your new kitchen in the comfort of your own corner of someone elses’ store Lowe’s is building the first announced business application for new indoor mapping technology developed by Alphabet’s Google. The retailer wants customers to use the technology to map the rooms of their homes and visualise how products will...
Self assembling space stations and the end of flat pack
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF 4D Printing could change how we construct buildings and maintain city infrastructure. Many are only just getting their heads around the idea of 3D printing but scientists at MIT are already working on an upgrade – 4D printing. At the TED conference in Los Angeles,...
