Tag: #129

People with weakened leg muscles can still walk. And now a Swedish startup is turning its attention to people who have reduced capacity to grip. The team’s robot glove is worn over the thumb and middle- and ring fingers. It uses integrated pressure sensors to calculate any additional support required when gripping an object. Mini electric motors then activate artificial...

Call of nature? Say it with flowers. For people with limited mobility, however, toilet trips can be challenging, even in built-up areas. And it’s trickier still at festivals, concerts or during times of crisis or natural disaster. Which is why a California-based startup is converting vans into mobile toilets which organisations can hire - with caregivers included. Accessed by...

Mushrooms can play a vital role in computer technology. And are equally good at dealing with noise pollution. They also form part of an underground network which supplies trees with nutrients, helping them to grow. If trees are felled and uprooted, however, these networks also disappear. Now, an Edinburgh-based startup is restoring this ecosystem by preparing individually-tailored pellets containing...

Dragonflies offer a blueprint for treating sprains. Healthy cartilage, meanwhile, is important for knee and hip joints - but once damaged it can’t heal of its own accord. Enter a US research team and its new biopaste made from a special bioactive peptide and modified hyaluronic acid. When injected into damaged cartilage, the paste morphs into a structured growth...

Music is easy to produce and post online. Once there, however, companies use it to train their AI chatbots for free. Now, a California-based startup wants to level the playing field and give media partners a share in the profits. Its generative AIs will be trained with content provided by participating publishers, authors, music labels and artists. Access, meanwhile,...

Cocoa waste is a sweet deal for farmers. And pineapple plant leaves could prove just as useful. A startup in London has combined with farmers in the Philippines to use the plant’s leaf fibres to create an alternative to leather. First the fibres are extracted from the leaves - with remaining waste used as fertiliser or as basis for...