Strati 3D printed car
Local Motors 3D printed a plastic car called the Strati in front of thousands of attendees at the International Manufacturing Technology Show in Chicago.
Continue reading… “A drivable car that was 3D printed in 44 hours”
Seven Reasons Why the Value of Human Life is Increasing Exponentially
Futurist Thomas Frey: What’s the value of a human life?
For some of you this is a very disconcerting question because it attempts to put a dollar value on a person, something we value in far different ways.
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Reprogrammed cells could fight ‘untreatable’ diseases in the future
Loring (front row, center) with the Loring Lab Group at the Center for Regenerative Medicine.
Jeanne Loring, director of the Center for Regenerative Medicine at Scripps Research Institute, and her colleagues transplanted a set of cells into the spinal cords of mice that had lost use of their hind limbs to multiple sclerosis. Within a week, as the experimentalists had expected, the mice rejected the cells. But after another week, the mice began to walk.
Continue reading… “Reprogrammed cells could fight ‘untreatable’ diseases in the future”
How digital technologies are changing the physical world
Our physical world is now technology-enabled by the digitization of everything.
Ted Hall, CEO of ShopBot Tools, which designs and manufactures digital fabrication tools priced for individuals and smaller manufacturing shops, says “complexity is cheap now, and quality is almost free.”
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Biodesign will have an impact on the future of cities
The Genetic Barcelona Project plans to inject jellyfish genes into trees to make them glow, creating a sustainable alternative to streetlights.
In the morning, you get out of bed and open the curtains. The grey light of dawn is mingling with the glow of the trees, which have been injected with luminescent jellyfish genes. (Video)
Continue reading… “Biodesign will have an impact on the future of cities”
Angel Investing: Rise of women investors fuels businesses run by women
Amy Norman and Stella Ma started pitching investors on their San Francisco-based startup, Little Passports, in 2009. Both women had young children and Norman was pregnant. The overwhelming majority of the investors they met with were men who wanted to know “if we were running this as a ‘lifestyle company,’” Ma recalls. Investors passed and word got around Silicon Valley that “there’s no way women like this could grow a company fast enough” to satisfy venture capitalists, Norman says.
Continue reading… “Angel Investing: Rise of women investors fuels businesses run by women”
Could ‘solid’ light compute previously unsolvable problems?
Princeton University researchers have begun crystallizing light as part of an effort to answer fundamental questions about the physics of matter. The researchers are not shining light through crystal – they are transforming light intocrystal.
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FlightCar scores $13.5M to put your unused car to work while you travel
FlightCar
Startups love untapped resources and a parked car at an airport is just that. FlightCar is a startup that puts your unused car to work while you travel, and it has just scored $13.5 million to continue doing so.
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Tesla cars will run on autopilot within 5 years: Elon Musk
Self-driving cars could save thousands of lives per year.
Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk says self-driving cars might be on the roads faster than most people think. Musk told reporters in Tokyo that Tesla is developing the technology for “full autopilot” consumer cars in just five years.
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An open source future for synthetic biology
Synthetic biology is an emerging area that threatens to become as controversial as GMOs.
It’s indisputable that genetically modified organism (GMO) food products from corporations like Monsanto are suspected to endanger health. But on the other hand, an individual’s right to genetically modify and even synthesize entire organisms as part of his dietary or medical regimen could someday be a human right.
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Sweden now recycles 99 percent of its garbage
Sweden burns half its rubbish to generate energy.
People in Sweden generally waste as much as people in other countries, around 461 kilograms per person each year. But only one percent of that waste is ending up in landfills, thanks to the country’s innovative “recycling” program. (Video)
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The zero marginal cost economy
The consumer “sharing economy” gives us a taste of what it’s like to live in a world where we own less.
There’s a tremendous change going on right now in our society. Those of us who enjoy services like Uber and Kickstarter are experiencing it firsthand. The sharing and collaboration practices of the internet are extending to transportation (Uber), hotels (Airbnb), financing (Kickstarter, LendingClub), music services (Spotify) and even software development (Linux, Drupal).
Continue reading… “The zero marginal cost economy”
