Category: New Discoveries

Impact Lab > New Discoveries
Breakthrough Thinking, Great New Product, New Discoveries, New Inventions, Recycling

Re-Wine is a clever recycling idea

rewine_01

The Re-Wine redesign reuse system in action.

Re-Wine is a clever design that transforms from a reusable, biodegradable carrying case for your wine into a lamp shade that uses the empty bottle as the base. If you’re not looking for a new lamp, the case also has interlocking joints that allow it to be connected to other units to form a custom seat, table or shelf. The more wine you drink, the more modules you have for building lamps or other furniture! Now there’s an idea that’s sure to motivate people!

Continue reading… “Re-Wine is a clever recycling idea”

Analysis, Breakthrough Thinking, Current Events, Health & Fitness, New Discoveries

How molecules move energy after light absorption

Molecule 111222152010-large

MSU chemist Jim McCusker and postdoctoral researcher Dong Guo proved an 84-year-old theory.

The same principle that causes figure skaters to spin faster as they draw their arms into their bodies has now been used by Michigan State University researchers to understand how molecules move energy around following the absorption of light.

Conservation of angular momentum is a fundamental property of nature, one that astronomers use to detect the presence of satellites circling distant planets. In 1927, it was proposed that this principle should apply to chemical reactions, but a clear demonstration has never been achieved…

Continue reading… “How molecules move energy after light absorption”

Analysis, Education, Historical Perspectives, Human Behavior, Medical Breakthrough, New Discoveries

Why genetic determinism is bad for humans

DNA AAAAAAAAAAAAAaa

Genes determine a lot of things about your life.

Do you prefer to run in packs or operate as a loner? Your answer is determined by your genes, a new study claims. It’s a big shift in social behavior theory, since scientists previously thought the environment determined social behavior.

For example, scientists thought that where food was sparsely spread around, primates would live in large groups to more efficiently forage. But according to the new findings, which were published in the journal Nature, primates will behave the way their genes tell them to, regardless of food availability.

It’s evidence for genetic determinism—the idea that our genes dictate our behavior. But it seems wrong, right? I know I tend to go with the behavior that helps me to avoid hunger most effectively. But Nicholas Wade in The New York Times sums it up thusly…

Continue reading… “Why genetic determinism is bad for humans”

Analysis, Breakthrough Thinking, Great New Product, New Discoveries, New Inventions

Ordinary paper transformed into new touch screen display

butterfly-display-2.jpg.492x0_q85_crop-smart

Touch Screen displays are usually associated with layer upon layer of electronic and chemical components. However, researchers have managed to turn regular old paper into a touch screen display using a sensor and color-changing inks. It could mean the beginning of interactive books, paintings, museum displays or even wallpaper.

Kohei Tsuji and Akira Wakita of Keio University in Japan are behind the new touch screen display, which has color-changing inks printed on one side, and conducting pastes painted on the other side to create an electric circuit. The effect is an interactive display that maintains the flexibility of regular paper (video after jump)…

Continue reading… “Ordinary paper transformed into new touch screen display”

Analysis, Breakthrough Thinking, Entertainment, Food, Health & Fitness, New Discoveries

Vending machine of the future

There’s the potential for the next generation of touchscreen LCD vending machines to be an all out assault on our senses. So here’s hoping more companies will take this subtly animated approach instead of horrifying advertisements.

This concept machine, created by Sanden, Okaya Electronics, and Intel, uses a monstrous 65 inch transparent HD display that still lets shoppers see the actual products being sold. And instead of just playing full screen commercials with music blaring, a series of simple silhouetted animations and menus are used to entice shoppers to give up their pocket change…

Continue reading… “Vending machine of the future”

Analysis, Breakthrough Thinking, Current Events, Education, Latest News, New Discoveries, New Inventions

Artificial Electronic Skin Device Capable of Detecting and Responding to Touch

stretch skin 111213190031-large

Optical image of flexible and stretchable thin film transistor array covering a baseball shows
the mechanical robustness of this backplane material for future plastic electronic devices.

Imprinting electronic circuitry on backplanes that are both flexible and stretchable promises to revolutionize a number of industries and make “smart devices” nearly ubiquitous. Among the applications that have been envisioned are electronic pads that could be folded away like paper, coatings that could monitor surfaces for cracks and other structural failures, medical bandages that could treat infections and food packaging that could detect spoilage. From solar cells to pacemakers to clothing, the list of smart applications for so-called “plastic electronics” is both flexible and stretchable. First, however, suitable backplanes must be mass-produced in a cost-effective way…

Continue reading… “Artificial Electronic Skin Device Capable of Detecting and Responding to Touch”

Analysis, Breakthrough Thinking, Crazy Photos, Crazy Stuff, Education, Latest News, New Discoveries, New Viewpoints

The trillion-frame-per-second video

slow light photo 23423

Captured light ‘scattering’ below the surfaces of solid objects.

MIT researchers have created a new imaging system that can acquire visual data at a rate of one trillion exposures per second. That’s fast enough to produce a slow-motion video of a burst of light traveling the length of a one-liter bottle, bouncing off the cap and reflecting back to the bottle’s bottom…

Continue reading… “The trillion-frame-per-second video”

Analysis, Culture, Historical Perspectives, Latest News, New Discoveries

Young people are giving up on the American Dream of a house in the suburbs

housing-demand

What American Dream?

There are many in America who don’t like or trust cities, primarily because they harbor a disproportionate number of Democratic voters. They don’t like investments in transit, either, preferring the privacy and freedom of the car. But whether they like it or not, America is changing…

Continue reading… “Young people are giving up on the American Dream of a house in the suburbs”

Breakthrough Thinking, Entertainment, Great New Product, New Discoveries, New Inventions, New Viewpoints

These video glasses will let you walk and watch TV at the same time

glasses dork 0ede493a385a788db8e7d669748fda0

Oh the things you will see with these glasses.

Video glasses are a pretty dorky vision of the future. I mean, put on a pair of blockers so you can watch video by yourself? A little bit anti-social, are we? Lumus wants to help a little bit by making glasses which let you watch video and see through the lens too…

Continue reading… “These video glasses will let you walk and watch TV at the same time”

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.