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Rubbery coating prevents machines from freezing over

Add / Remove Winter weather can wreak havoc with flight schedules. We recently wrote about a de-icing concrete that could be used at airports to prevent cancellations, and now researchers at the University of Michigan have developed an ice-repellent spray , which could be applied to airplanes — and other machinery — to prevent them from freezing over. The “icephobic” coating is made of common synthetic rubbers and could provide a green alternative to chemical melting agents or costly defrosting systems. When sprayed onto a solid surface, the substance, because of its rubbery texture, uses interfacial cavitation to repel the ice. As a result, it is significantly easier to remove ice that forms on the surface because the two materials do not bond to each other. The researchers envision the spray being used on freezers, wind turbines or oil rigs. What other applications are there for the “icephobic” coating? Website: www.ns.umich.edu Contact: gcherry@umich.edu The post Rubbery coating prevents machines from freezing over appeared first on Springwise .

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Neuro-headsets for under USD 500 could help market research

Add / Remove EEG headsets are invaluable devices, used in hospitals and labs to aid researchers’ understanding of brain activity. Previously, their cost has made them unaffordable to smaller teams, but now Emotiv have developed a range of headset that cost under USD 500. This means that schools, small research programs and individuals can experiment with brain monitoring functionalities. Emotiv’s devices — including the EPOC and the Insight — are both worn on the head. Each wireless headset has multiple channels — the EPOC has 14 EEG channels, while the Insight has five. They can be used for anything from emotion tracking and creating brain maps, to controlling games and smart objects with the wearer’s brain. Additionally, the devices could be used by people with physical disabilities to communicate and interact with their surroundings. Market researchers could also find the headsets useful. EEG works by translating brain activity and facial expressions into readable emotions, so by getting subjects to wear the headsets, the process of screening a new advert or campaign could be streamlined and made more accurate. The Emotiv Insight was crowdfunded on Kickstarter and is now available from USD 358.95. How else could the headsets be used to advance research and experimentation? Website: www.emotiv.com Contact: hello@emotiv.com The post Neuro-headsets for under USD 500 could help market research appeared first on Springwise .

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Neuro-headsets for under USD 500 could help market research

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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Fluorescent dressing glows to detect infections

Add / Remove There’s a huge demand for engineering materials that detect dangerous substances invisible to the naked eye, such as these gloves that change color in the presence of hazardous substances. Similarly, researchers at the University of Bath have been developing a material to detect potentially deadly bacteria on open wounds. Using a hydrogel containing fluorescent dye, the prototype wound-dressing glows in the presence of bacterial ‘biofilms’ — a state bacteria exist in that’s difficult for drugs to penetrate. Treating open wounds can be complicated by the presence of certain bacteria, which can lead to infections, prolonging treatment and making the situation potentially fatal. These infections can currently only be detected after they’ve taken hold, so standard medical practice requires removing and replacing the dressing, leading to patient distress. This new solution is capable of detecting a number of infectious bacterial species, and organisms normally present on human skin don’t trigger the color change. Whilst a long way from the clinical trial stage, the wound dressing shows that early detection of invisible infections is possible. Could the glowing appearance of this solution be a hit with children? Website: www.pubs.acs.org Contact: a.t.a.jenkins@bath.ac.uk The post Fluorescent dressing glows to detect infections appeared first on Springwise .

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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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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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An unmanned restaurant where guests cook for themselves

Physical button can be programmed to request anything

Add / Remove Last year, we wrote about the Bttn button, which was a physical, internet-connected button that can be configured for uses such as turning devices off for nighttime or sending a quick message to loved ones. We then saw the Amazon Dash Button enable consumers to make repeated purchases of households goods without even visiting the digital store. Inspired by this, on-demand service app ALICE has partnered with Bttn to enable hotel guests to call for room service at a push of a physical button. The ALICE app contains any hotel service a guest would want — many users already log into the app when visiting partnering hotels, as it will notify specific staff of their requests. Hotel management can also monitor guest requests and employee responses from the app to improve their services. With new partner Bttn, ALICE’s service is further simplified, allowing frequently requested services to be made available at the push of a physical button. Bttn can also create branded buttons, programmable to execute specific tasks without the use of smartphones. For example, guests can request for housekeeping, or call a cab, and front desk will be notified. ALICE’s hospitality management app is already streamlining the industry’s services, and now guests won’t even need to use their phones to make simple requests. Where else would physical, connected buttons be useful? Website: www.aliceapp.com Contact: lola.feiger@aliceapp.com The post Physical button can be programmed to request anything appeared first on Springwise .

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Startup resolves customer service issues for free

Add / Remove Most people hate contacting customer services to make complaints, so it is no surprise that we have seen a number of businesses — such as Green Claim — offering to do people’s grumbling for them. While the aforementioned focuses on sorting out discrepancies between customers and airlines, a new company called Service will help users resolve complaints with any business for free. To begin, clients contact Service with their complaint via their website. They send a detailed description of the problem and any supporting documentation. Then Service will liaise with the company in question on behalf of the client and attempt to resolve the issue, gaining refunds or compensation for wronged customers. The service is currently available for free while the startup build a positive reputation, but it will eventually be monetized. What other customer interactions could be outsourced in this way? Website: www.getservice.com Contact: www.getservice.com/contact The post Startup resolves customer service issues for free appeared first on Springwise .

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Startup resolves customer service issues for free

Service bot is an on-demand PA for offices

Add / Remove In the past, when an office needed to order ice cream for their upcoming team meeting, the task fell upon a real-life employee — most likely a PA or lowly intern. But now, treat-seekers can order ice cream, as well as request for help on office admin tasks via a service bot called Large , which is accessible through Slack , the team messaging app for businesses. Large is a team assistant that will take care of tasks such as scheduling an office cleaner, arranging a handyman, organizing team outings or sourcing food. To begin, users invite Large to a designated channel in their Slack network. Then, any team member can make a request by sending a message to @large detailing what they need. The service is powered by a combination of software and people, who research the request and reply to the user with a potential solution. Large is free to use and all costs are detailed to the user before the task is confirmed, with a tip included in the price. Ice cream, for example, costs USD 3.50 per person. All payments are processed via credit card, and receipts and invoices can be integrated into various expensing systems. Large is only available for business use, but luckily Magic — the much hyped on-demand PA service — has people covered during their downtime. What other tasks could be completed by Large? Website: www.hirelarge.com Contact: help@hirelarge.com

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Service bot is an on-demand PA for offices