World’s Smallest 3D Printer

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Markus Hatzenbichler and Klaus Stadlmann with their micro-printer.

A group of engineers at the Vienna Institute of Technology, claims they’ve created not only the world’s smallest 3-D printer, but also one that’s so light and inexpensive that it could conceivably pave the way for truly domestic 3-D printing. Lost an earring or a cuff-link? Print one out. That’s the future, and it might not be far off at all.

 

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One Day Will People Be Living In Shroom Houses?

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New construction material will be made out of mushrooms.

Construction material manufacturing often produces hazardous byproducts that are either toxic or difficult to recycle, as are many of the materials themselves. Brooklyn based Planetary ONE is experimenting with the idea of grow-your-own construction materials by making bricks from mushrooms.

Their latest project, Mycoform, places mushroom roots known as mycelium spores into a mold and feeds them with agricultural byproducts like buckwheat husks. In just over a week at 80 degrees, the spores grow to fill the form, resulting in a light yet solid structure. The brick is heated to 100 degrees when complete to kill the spores, preventing further growth.

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CDC Confirms Lemon Eucalyptus Oil as Effective as DEET

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Mosquitoes can be a huge problem.

It’s easy to say you’ll never use DEET, that is until you come down to South Carolina. My home state boasts mosquitoes that rival your house pet in size and stature. But even still, many fear the toxicity of DEET and try to avoid it even with those mini-monsters landing on you noon and night. According to the CDC, lemon eucalyptus oil could be a much safer and more natural weapon.

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Future High-Speed Trains Could Ride on Cushions of Air

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A Japanese research group looking into ways to build the next generation of high-speed trains has set their sights on ground-effect vehicles, or vehicles that move just fast enough to fly at very low altitudes and use the fast-moving air under them as a cushion to keep them airborne. In this case, when we say “ground-effect,” we don’t mean neon lighting on the underside of the chassis.

We already know a lot about high-speed rail, and in European and Asian countries, high-speed trains are the best and even preferred way to travel long distances. Still, the speed of today’s breed of high-speed trains is limited by the fact that they ride on rails that they’re physically connected to. Trains that use a rail or track only as a guide, and hover or fly over it could potentially travel much faster and farther on less fuel…

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Environmentally Friendly Ammunition

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Green for your gun.

If you are going to kill people and blow things up, at least you can do it so the rest of the living can have a pollution free Earth. It seems the US military has been developing “green” ammunition for some time now.

In 2007, responding to reports from the field that current rounds weren’t deadly enough, the Army jump-started efforts to make a more lethal round that was also environmentally friendly…

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App for Detecting Land Mines

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What a great app!

Engineering students at Harvard University have developed a cell phone app that, when paired with an ordinary metal detector, can be used effectively to detect land mines. Instead of just beeping when it passes over a metal object, these enhanced metal detectors present the shape of the object found below ground…

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Smartphone App Finds Empty Parking Spaces for Drivers

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A smartphone app gives information about open parking spots.

The most agonizing everyday experience the urban driver must face?  The search for an empty parking place.

It is part sleuthing and part blood sport. Circling, narrowly missing a spot, outmaneuvering other motorists to finally ease into a space only to discover that it is off limits during working hours.

 

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Fantastic Ways To Recycle Tires

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A pair of woman’s shorts, made predominantly from tyres by – unsurprisingly given the logo – Michelin.

Each year – and this is in Britain alone – they apparently throw away approximately 500’000 tonnes of tyres; as such, and due in part to their incredible durability, the disposal of disused tyres is seen as one of the largest waste problems in the world. Below are several examples of tire recycling that really capture the imagination, and serve to remind us that the trusty tyre is actually an incredibly versatile object that can, with a little imagination, be transformed into a wide range of different products…

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Flexible Paper Phone will be the Phone of the Future

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Flexible Paper Phone

Though we saw another paper phone not to long ago, but the latest paper phone we’re seeing is much more high tech. Like the Kindle, it uses an E-Ink display and works by bending the phone into different positions to make calls, use apps, and listen to music.

Created by research teams at Queen’s University in Canada and Arizona State University, the 9.5-centimeter (diagonal) screen is actually a lightweight flexible display. It’s said to feel similar to a bendable piece of plastic.

Its thin body resembles that of a paper document, but, according to the video below, underneath the screen is a “flexible printed circuit with resistive bend circuits,” which are used to identify the bending of the display screen. The user actually chooses the shape for each function…

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Discover the Hidden Patterns of Tomorrow with Futurist Thomas Frey
Unlock Your Potential, Ignite Your Success.

By delving into the futuring techniques of Futurist Thomas Frey, you’ll embark on an enlightening journey.

Learn More about this exciting program.