Tag: springspotters

Recycled plastic denim line could help clean up the oceans

Add / Remove The vast amount of plastic in our oceans is a man-made environmental catastrophe, damaging ecosystems and coastal economies. We have seen a number of companies tackling the issue with recycling schemes and products . Now, clothing brand G-Star is doing the same on a huge scale, through its G-Star Raw for the Oceans clothing line. The project, launched in collaboration with pop star Pharrell Williams’ Bionic Yarn, includes a documentary, a game and a collection of denim clothes made from recycled ocean plastic. The Raw for the Oceans collection includes jeans, jackets, sweatshirts and other clothing for men and women. All the denim products are made from plastic retrieved from the shorelines. The discarded products are first broken down into chips and shredded into fibre, before being spun into a yarn that is combined with cotton. The yarn is then knitted or weaved into fabrics. Some of the garments include provocative slogans such as “WTF are you doing to my oceans?”, while others have the octopus emblem used in the marketing campaign. Could other clothing companies be doing more to help with environmental issues? Website: www.rawfortheoceans.g-star.com Contact: www.g-star.com/contact The post Recycled plastic denim line could help clean up the oceans appeared first on Springwise .

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Recycled plastic denim line could help clean up the oceans

Candle-powered heater runs on 10 cents a day

Add / Remove With both gas and electric power getting evermore expensive, efficient heat sources are in great demand. We have already seen an indoor bed-tent from Room in Room , and now Italian designer Marco Zagaria has created the Egloo — a candle-powered heater that is both cheap and ecologically friendly. The Egloo consists of a base, a grill and two terracotta domes. Candles can be placed on the base, and will warm up the domes when they are lit. The grill supports the domes and makes a space in which the candles can combust. The inner dome is thinner and stores a high rate of heat, while the outer dome takes in cooler air from its surroundings — this results in thermal exchange, pushing the warm air out into the room. After 30 minutes the Egloo will begin to heat the room, increasing the temperature by 2-3 degrees for up to five hours with only four tea candles. The Egloo was successfully crowdfunded on Indiegogo in December, raising over USD 260,000 — almost five times its initial goal. The device is now on sale in various colors from USD 50. Could a larger model be used as a safe, eco-friendly alternative on a mass scale? Website: www.eglooinfo.it Contact: zagariamarco@gmail.com The post Candle-powered heater runs on 10 cents a day appeared first on Springwise .

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Candle-powered heater runs on 10 cents a day

Soft thermometer sticker monitors temperatures remotely

Add / Remove The digital thermometer market is worth USD 800 million, so it is no wonder we have seen devices such as the Kinsa Smart Ear Thermometer trying to break into it. However, while most offerings simply rework the classic thermometer design for the smart era, Fever Scout from VivaLnk is an innovative new product that offers continuous temperature monitoring for parents of sick babies. Fever Scout is a wearable thermometer in the form of a soft patch. It is reusable, rechargeable and connects to a companion smartphone app via Bluetooth. To begin, parents attach the patch to their poorly child and launch the app. Then they can monitor their child’s temperature on their smartphone and receive customized notifications if they develop a high fever. The device is particularly useful during the night, when checking the child’s temperature is likely to disturb them and do more harm than good. Fever Scout is currently available to preorder for USD 59, it is expected to ship in early 2016. How else could health monitors be adapted to be more child-friendly? Website: www.vivalnk.com/feverscout Contact: inquiries@vivalnk.com The post Soft thermometer sticker monitors temperatures remotely appeared first on Springwise .

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Soft thermometer sticker monitors temperatures remotely

Formula E announce first driverless car championship

Add / Remove There has been much talk about driverless cars, and we’re seeing an abundance of assistive driving technology, such as this software for car-to-car communication . To demonstrate just what driverless cars are capable of, electric vehicle racing series Formula E have partnered with Kinetik to announce the world’s first driverless car race. The Roborace, scheduled for the 2016/17 season, will involve ten teams using the same basic driverless vehicles — the challenge will be in developing the competitive software. Teams will develop artificial intelligence that must be capable of dealing with real-time obstacles, overtaking maneuvers, and weighing up risk and reward scenarios. The races will take place on Formula E circuits (which host e-vehicle races) in major cities around the world, with the aim of showcasing the performance and ability of driverless technology in the extremes of speed and risk. Besides the professional teams, at least one team is to be crowdsourced. Further details are set to be announced in early 2016. First person drone racing has already been around for over a year. How else can autonomous robotics be applied to sports? Website: www.roborace.com Contact: hello@roborace.com The post Formula E announce first driverless car championship appeared first on Springwise .

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Formula E announce first driverless car championship

Plant lamp powered by soil bacteria

Add / Remove After recently seeing the development of literal ‘power plants’ , with circuits that use plants as organic generators, researchers at the University of Technology and Engineering in Peru present another example of organic energy production, which uses soil bacteria to power lamps. The researchers developed an energy capture system that can power a lightbulb for two hours. The ‘plant lamp’ boxes contain electrodes buried within the soil, out of which a plant takes root. As the plant grows, it releases nutrients that bacteria in the soil metabolize, producing free electrons that are captured by the electrodes to power the lamps. In partnership with FCB , an advertising agency, ten prototype models have been produced for families living in the rainforest village of Nuevo Saposoa. The plant lamp is another demonstration of the increasing use of organic engineering to provide alternative energy solutions. Who could the plant lamps be marketed to? Website: www.utec.edu.pe Contact: abonnard@utec.edu.pe The post Plant lamp powered by soil bacteria appeared first on Springwise .

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Bacteria powered breathable clothing

Add / Remove From probiotic yoghurt to a lightbulb powered by bacterial bioluminescence, the large diversity of microorgamisms in the natural world have had huge benefits for humans. Researchers at MIT’s Tangible Media Group have now found a way to use bacteria in clothing. The team used Bacillus Subtilis Natto — the same cultures used to ferment the Japanese soybean breakfast dish — to create electronics-free ‘smart’ fabrics. The clothing, called bioLogic, looks like sportswear with vents spread across the back. These vents contain layers of the bacteria spread across the body’s natural heat and sweat points. The bacteria naturally swell in the presence of humidity, so that when the wearer begins to sweat, the vents open up, allowing heat to escape naturally. With the ability to grow huge amounts of useful bacteria in labs relatively cheaply, what other industries could benefit from bacterial design? Website: www.tangible.media.mit.edu Contact: tangible-admin@media.mit.edu The post Bacteria powered breathable clothing appeared first on Springwise .

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Police support via Skype

Add / Remove Police forces are often overstretched and have to balance neighborhood patrols with emergency situations and ongoing investigations. Now, officers of Peterborough in the UK are trialling a Skype service that enables members of the public to speak to the police remotely through video chat, rather than arranging a home visit, which can be very time consuming. The service will be offered to those who dial 101 rather than the emergency number 999. It provides another communication option for victims of crimes and exists alongside other emergency response procedures. Police officers will still visit people’s homes if that is necessary, but it is hoped the Skype option will improve response times and enhance communication between law enforcement and the public. Telephone and Skype appointments will provide flexibility for victims, with appointments available seven days a week from 8am-10pm. The initiative echoes similar movements in the health service, which enable patients access to health professionals via Skype and telemedicine platforms. What other public services could be enhanced through remote video technology? Website: www.cambs.police.uk/Peterborough Contact: www.twitter.com/PboroCops The post Police support via Skype appeared first on Springwise .

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Police support via Skype

New smartphone battery lasts 10h with 5 minutes charging

Add / Remove With the growing ubiquity of smart tech, the fear of a dying battery will soon be a thing of the past. Prieto’s redesign of the traditional rechargeable lithium ion batteries used in smartphones and laptops is promising revolutionary battery power. Traditional lithium batteries are one-directional, with current flowing from the negative cathode to the positive anode, requiring them to be placed in the correct orientation. The method is inefficient and the bulk of batteries restricts the shape of the tech they’re powering, as well as causing environmental damage due to the toxic acids used to coat the anode. Prieto’s battery is three dimensional so that current can flow with multi-directionality, producing 10 hours of battery life with five minutes charging. It can be moulded into any shape, so that for the first time, batteries can be designed to fit the product, rather than the other way around. Prieto’s patent-pending design doesn’t require the use of toxic acids — the anode is instead coated with a electrolyte polymer capable of self-healing — and they claim it will be cheap and scalable. Prieto are currently seeking investors for their batteries, having already secured a partnership with Intel for computing devices. What products can be created using this new battery design? Website: www.prietobattery.com Contact: inquiries@PrietoBattery.com The post New smartphone battery lasts 10h with 5 minutes charging appeared first on Springwise .

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New smartphone battery lasts 10h with 5 minutes charging

An unmanned restaurant where guests cook for themselves

Add / Remove Pushing the idea of the ‘restaurant’ to its absolute limit, Foodsy is a new DIY Amsterdam eatery that does away with staff altogether. Instead, patrons cook, serve and even pay themselves using the food, equipment and instructions provided. Foodsy was created by chef Edwin Sander, and will open in a temporary location this week. Guests will be provided with a menu of recipe cards that they can use to cook for themselves easily in under 20 minutes — diners simply use the raw ingredients, or in some cases pre-prepared soups or stews. There are also instructions for how to tap a beer and the best setting to make their own coffee. Once they have eaten, guests simply pay for their meal using an iPad app. Because there is no staff, most of the meals are significantly cheaper than they would be elsewhere. Of course the unmanned restaurant experience is very unlikely to replace the pleasure of being waited on, but the concept could definitely thrive in busy areas where the trade of casual lunches are prevalent. We have already seen a pop-up restaurant that serves only food cooked by individuals in their homes. How else could eating out be adapted to suit different locations? Website: www.foodsy.amsterdam Contact: info@foodsy.amsterdam The post An unmanned restaurant where guests cook for themselves appeared first on Springwise .

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Tool personalizes automated outreach emails

Add / Remove Cold emails — outreach messages sent by companies to prospective clients — inevitably end up reading like they were composed by a machine rather than a person, which makes them much more alienating to the reader. Now, Woodpecker is a tool designed to help companies streamline their cold emailing, while also retaining a personal touch. To begin, users import their contact list and provide an initial opening messaging. The tool then adapts the message for each email, personalizing it to the recipient. Users can monitor their email campaign, seeing how many messages have been delivered, opened and replied to. They can also line up different follow-up emails for those who reply and those who don’t, automating that process too. Woodpecker is one of a number of marketing tools that enable automation to be more personalized. What other time-consuming tasks could be managed in such a way? Website: www.woodpecker.co Contact: hello@woodpecker.co The post Tool personalizes automated outreach emails appeared first on Springwise .

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Tool personalizes automated outreach emails