Seafood shells for better plastic, packaging and textiles

June 24, 2019  |  Out There

Scientists are tackling the world’s need to keep plastics out of landfills and waterways. One method may be found in making the most of seafood waste. A Science News article reports that the shells of crustaceans contain chitin, a material that has many of plastic’s desirable propertie…
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Poncho design “explodes”

May 9, 2019  |  Out There

A transformative poncho is the latest collaboration between Nike and Tom Sachs. The poncho has taken four years to arrive at this patent-pending stage of design, according to a report on designboom.com. Jarrett Reynolds, Nike’s senior design director for apparel special projects, developed&nb…
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Knit canoe buoyed by 3D

May 6, 2019  |  Out There

VISIONknit, a technical knitting company based in Toronto, Canada, and Canadian collaborators Composite Creations, have launched a 3D knitted canoe. The VISIONknit material can be used on modern flat (v-bed) knitting machines and knit into patterns, accompanying logos and other design features.&nbsp…
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Decay as part of design

April 29, 2019  |  Out There

Could microbes combined with water be guided to selectively disintegrate and then be harnessed as agents of assembly? What would the ecology of a system that included microbes, biocompatible substrates and the contextual environment look like?  Those are some of the questions a team of MIT rese…
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Shape-shifting aircraft wings offer new concept

April 22, 2019  |  Out There

MIT and NASA researchers have developed a new shape-shifting approach to aircraft wing construction. An article in MIT News says the system is designed to automatically deform, in part or in total, in response to the roll and pitch of a plane. The flexibility of the new wing assembly system relies o…
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New sneakers made from coffee

April 18, 2019  |  Out There

German shoe brand nat-2 has created a means to recycle coffee into sneakers. The 100 percent vegan, unisex sneaker uppers are made from sustainable recycled coffee, coffee beans and coffee plants. The coffee is applied to a layer and retains its natural coffee scent. The material covers up to 5…
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Robotic gripper uses an origami structure

March 28, 2019  |  Out There

A team at MIT has developed a robotic gripper that uses a 3D-printed origami structure reported to be able to lift 100 times its own weight. The origami-inspired gripper consists of a 3D-printed 16-piece silicone rubber skeleton encased in an airtight skin. A vacuum collapses the gripper, which co…
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LG introduces a rollable TV

February 7, 2019  |  Out There

LG Electronics has introduced the SIGNATURE TV R, a rollable TV that uses organic light-emitting diode (OLED) technology. A recent article in Printed Electronics World states that manufacturers are trying to make large TVs less conspicuous—without sacrificing depth of color and resolution. LG may …
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Nike presents digitally powered adjustable footwear

February 4, 2019  |  Out There

NIKE has launched a lace-less smart shoe with the new platform, NIKE adapt, the company has announced. NIKE adapt for basketball is designed to be a continually updated performance product that the company ways will create a near-symbiotic relationship between the shoe’s digital app and the opt-i…
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Plastic waste used to 3D print street furniture

January 21, 2019  |  Out There

Print Your City, the initiative conceived by the Dutch-based research and design studio The New Raw, has moved from concept to city scale. Following the XXX bench prototype presented last year in Amsterdam, Print Your City has launched its first Zero Waste Lab in Thessaloniki, Greece. Implemented by…
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