Design
North Face launches winter jacket using synthetic spider's silk
Silk is a remarkable product of nature. For many millennia, silkworms and spiders have known how to make a fantastic fibre that's thinner than human hair, stronger than steel and tougher than Kevlar. We, humans, are only catching up. Several teams of researchers around the world are exploring how Read More...
MIT researcher turns soot into printer ink
Always watch out when buying a printer: the machine itself is cheap, but the ink is very expensive... Printer companies notoriously make a lot of profit selling cartridges. MIT scientist Anirudh Sharma has now found a clever way to turn soot into printer ink. He made a device that can use harmful Read More...
Bacteria-slaying paint wants to disinfect a wall near you
The very walls of hospitals could become germ-fighting structures. It sounds sci-fi, but paint maker Sherwin-Williams is introducing Paint Shield, a microbicidal paint that kills infection-causing bacteria. The company says it's the first microbicidal paint to be registered with the US Read More...
This building doesn’t need an AC: The building itself is an AC
Dutch architect Ben Bronsema has developed what sounds like any office worker’s worst nightmare: a large building with no electric air conditioning system. But nobody needs to worry. It’s only because this building itself acts an air conditioner. Without the need for electric fans, this Read More...
Nature wins! Ford looks to biomimicry to sustain auto industry
Biomimicry might not be the first word that comes to mind in association with the US automotive industry, but if the Ford Motor Company has any say in the matter, that’s going to change sooner rather than later. Earlier this week Ford teased out some news about its exploration of two-way Read More...
Scientists can now “squeeze” light, a breakthrough that could make computers millions of times faster
Have you ever wondered why we don’t use light to transmit messages? Nothing can travel faster than the speed of light, but while we use light to carry signals along fiber optic cables, we use electrons to process sound and information in our phones and computers. The reason has always been Read More...
Green buildings have higher occupancy rates and more satisfied tenants
A study out of the Canadian University of Guelph displays encouraging signs that ‘green’ buildings are good for business and the environment. The study shows that sustainable and energy efficient buildings have higher rents and occupancy rates as well as more satisfied tenants than conventional Read More...
What a city would look like if it was designed for only bikes (no cars allowed!)
Coasting down from your apartment on your personal bike ramp will be so fun. The more that bike lanes multiply in cities, from New York to São Paulo, the more people ride. Over the last decade, bike commuting in the U.S. has grown 62%. But it's still a tiny fraction of overall Read More...
Italy and France show promise for organic packaged food
According to Mintel data, France was the most active country in Europe for organic new product development between 2012 and 2014, with over a quarter of product launches bearing an organic claim. Meanwhile, Euromonitor data shows that organic packaged food value sales in Italy rose 12.3% between Read More...
How Africa can build inclusive, safe and sustainable cities
Recently, world leaders gathered in New York to commit to the new sustainable development goals. For the first time, a specifically urban goal is among the 17 goals to be achieved by 2030. This goal is to “make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable”. It Read More...