2013 – Page 13 – Impact Lab

Analysis, Food, Great Videos, New Inventions, Science & Technology News

Scientists create electrode that lets you taste virtual food on your tongue

November 25, 2013

The same research team is also working on a digital lollipop.

In Sword Art Online, an anime series, gamers take part in a virtual world that is teeming with danger, but also with food. What if such an experience was a reality? What if you could not only interact with food in a virtual environment, but also actually taste it? Scientists at the National University of Singapore have developed a new electrode that could be the first step in making that happen. (Video)

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Business, Science & Technology News

Project Ara: Motorola And 3D Systems will 3D-print modular cell phones

November 25, 2013

3D printed modular cell phone.

Motorola announced last month a plan for a modular smartphone. Project Ara will be a simple way for users to individualize their phones, swapping out parts like the battery and camera until users have a phone that’s just for them. They plan on doing that with 3-D printing.

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Breakthrough Thinking, Energy, Green Friendly, Science & Technology News

Heat from subways to warm homes in London

December 16, 2013

London’s subway will be supplying green energy to warm up more homes around the borough.

A new project announced by the Islington council will redirect the heat from a Northern Line of London’s subway to vent to homes across the city, giving homeowners a new way to get through the cold season. The project will deliver cheap heating to 500 homes around the area. It will not only be saving consumers money, but also the environment from 500 tons of CO2 emissions.

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Analysis, Big Problems, Health & Fitness, Latest Trend, Science & Technology News

Only half of prescription drugs are removed by wastewater treatment plants

November 25, 2013

The impact of most of these “chemicals of emerging concern” on the health of people and aquatic life remains unclear.

A new report by the International Joint Commission, a consortium of officials from the United States and Canada who study the Great Lakes has found that only about half of the prescription drugs and other newly emerging contaminants in sewage are removed by treatment plants.

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Analysis, Business, Latest Trend, Science & Technology News

Developing apps for wearable computing poses new challenges for developers

November 26, 2013

There will be a job market for wearable computer developers and engineers.

Developers are still learning how to use Google Glass. The Glass Development Kit is expected to be unveiled shortly and will build on the Android toolkits that a small but growing developer community is learning their way around the platform. But there are unique challenges for wearable computer software creation. How do you create apps for a wearable computer that lacks a mouse, a keyboard, and a touchscreen? How do you create programs for a hybrid of glasses and a computer that depends on a voice interface and a single button? It creates challenges.

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Business, Crazy Stuff, New Inventions, Science & Technology News

SmartWig – Sony’s bizarre concept of using wigs to connect wirelessly to smartphones

November 24, 2013

Sony’s SmartWig

Sony’s patent for a “SmartWig” is a strange concept that leaves you scratching your head. While tech companies are chasing the smartwatch and eyeglass form factors for the future of wearable computing devices, Sony’s exploring the possibility of using wigs that connect wirelessly to smartphones.

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Great Videos, Historical Perspectives, Music

Instrument designed by Da Vinci five centuries ago built and played for first time ever

November 24, 2013

Viola Organista

Five centuries ago a man by the name of Leonardo Da Vinci sat down and sketched a design for something he clearly thought would improve what we now know as classical music. He never built the thing, though. Whatever the reason for not building it, more than 500 years after Da Vinci first sketched up the instrument, it has finally been constructed. (Video)

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Analysis, Human Behavior, Science & Technology News

Women have evolved to be ‘indirectly aggressive’: Study

November 23, 2013

Women are more likely to form social alliances and then manage threats from outsiders through social exclusion.

In a lab at McMaster University in Ontario, researchers took 86 straight women and paired them off into groups of two—either with a friend or a stranger. There, a researcher told them they were about to take part in a study about female friendships. But they were soon interrupted by one of two women.

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New Discoveries, Science & Technology News

Scientists develop new ‘liquid metal’ that will let you print circuits on paper, T-shirts, or even leaves

November 23, 2013

Soon we could be able to print circuits as well as 3-D products in the comfort of our homes.

Three scientists in China have found a way to create a metal that’s liquid at room temperatures, can be printed as if it was ink in ordinary, everyday desktop printers, and will adhere to surfaces as diverse and supple as rubber, paper, cotton T-shirts, or a leaf off an oak tree.

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Alternative Transportation, Science & Technology News

Recharging electric vehicles on the move

November 22, 2013

Researchers have designed this proof-of-concept wireless charger for moving electric vehicles.

A problem with electric vehicles is providing power while the vehicles are moving. One way to extend the range of electric vehicles may be to provide power wirelessly through coils placed under the surface of a road. But charging moving vehicles with high-power wireless chargers below them is complex.

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Analysis, Business, facebook, Latest Trend, Science & Technology News, Twitter

2014 marketing trend: Small messages make a big impact

November 22, 2013

Taco Bell has been killing it on Twitter, creating a hip, fun presence to turn customers into evangelists.

More and more brands are marketing themselves via short-form social media like Vine, Twitter, Instagram, Instagram video and the newer platform Snapchat. They are not marketing by broadcasting their silly old messages but by treating their prospects and customers with respect, engaging with them directly through brief snippets of conversation, personality and humor. But it’s not just for fun: Consumers who engage with brands via social media demonstrate a deeper emotional commitment to those brands and spend 20 to 40 percent more than other customers, according to a report from Bain & Company.

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Analysis, Business, government, Science & Technology News

Cell phone carriers reject kill switch for stolen smartphones

November 22, 2013

Carriers don’t want anti-theft software for fear it would eat into the profits.

Lawmakers in San Francisco and New York have been pushing hardware makers like Samsung to provide anti-theft software for cell phones that would allow owners to remotely deactivate a phone should it get stolen, rendering it useless. But according to the San Francisco district attorney, George Gascón, carriers like Verizon, AT&T, and Sprint aren’t crazy about the idea of implementing such a “kill switch.” Why? Because they’d lose money.

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