Tag: #115

A mobile unit provides energy fast during power cuts. Fancy a cosy film night with friends but don’t have access to a home cinema system? Look no further than this California-based startup, which is converting trailers into mini-cinemas. Equipped with an 100 inch screen, sound system and bar, the makeshift theatre allows consumers to watch their favourite series or...

Thanks to 3D-printed alternatives, things are getting better for living test objects. Animals, too, could soon be spared chemical testing thanks to the work of an Edinburgh-based research team. Using a 3D printer, the team created a model comprising five interconnected compartments and filled each of those with human cells from the brain, heart, lungs, liver and kidney respectively....

Coffee grounds are a key ingredient in sustainable concrete, while tiles made from eggshells are perfect for naturally-made interior fittings. Corn cobs, too, can help reduce CO2 emissions in the building trade. A Dutch startup shreds dried corn waste and presses the scraps mixed with binding agent into panels at temperatures of up to 150 degrees. These panels are...

Third degree burns can be treated with lasers. Now a Texas-based research team has discovered that near-infrared light has an important role to play in the fight against cancer. In conjunction with synthetic and biocompatible dyes. The dye molecules attach themselves to cancer cells, and influenced by the light, their atoms start to vibrate with such force that the tumour...

Some car tyres can adapt their size according to the terrain. Flexible walls mean flats can be easily converted. But eyewear that automatically adjusts focus between near and distant objects? Sounds unlikely, but it’s exactly the product a startup from Japan has recently developed together with a design firm. Before first use, consumers adjust the diopter for both integrated...

Seaweed can be used as a fire retardant. In Berlin, meanwhile, a female designer has developed a thin algae-based film and coated it with a natural dye. The aim? To stop still edible food being wasted. Her film changes colour according to the pH value of what it’s covering, reacting upon contact with gases like ammonia, produced when fish...