Water, water, everywhere and not a drop to drink. So writes Samuel Taylor in The Rime of the Ancient Mariner. While that poem was talking about disaster at sea, it’s certainly clear that we’re all living on a sinking ship…
This dystopian device will alert you when you’re communicating with other robots
In Terminator, killer robots from the future send one of their number back in time to our present, intending to kill a rebel leader before he can overthrow their mechanical hegemony. The “Terminator” unit they deploy, so memorably played by…
Fidget spinners are not the way to cope with ADHD
BY: NADIA ZAIDI From shopping centres to grocery stores, fidget spinners are being sold everywhere — and the Internet is no exception. But what the heck are they, and how did they become the latest craze? Fidget spinners are exactly what they…
New anti-bullying robots prevent verbal abuse among gamers
Playing video games is an intense experience. How many times have gamers felt the rush of exuberance as they take down the final boss, the nail-biting tension of stalking through a dangerous encounter zone, the flicker of rage as you…
How music alters your body chemistry
It’s a scene that’s played out at a thousand elementary school science fairs: the experiment of exposing plants to different music. Somehow, the plant that receives a steady stream of Beethoven flourishes, while the plant exposed to the melodious strains…
Robots will soon be able to perform colonoscopies
BY: NADIA ZAIDI I’m surprised that Robots haven’t yet replaced humans. From jobs to performance, they have beaten us at our own game. Ironically, humans make them, and apparently a little too well. You don’t need a surgeon’s steady hand…
This house was made completely from recycled plastic bricks for only $6,800
BY: LAMI SOETAN In just five days, a team of four people were able to build a 40 square meter house, complete with two bedrooms, a living room, a dining room, a bathroom and a kitchen for only $6,800. This…
Move towards environmental sustainability with these 10 inventions
The concept of environmental sustainability isn’t new. With the risk of sounding like a broken record, for the benefit of those who are unaware, sustainability simply using resources available to our benefit while making sure there will still be enough for the future…
Scientists have turned spinach leaves into human heart tissue
BY: PHILIPPE DE JOCAS The lucrative field of genetically-engineered organs and organ transplants gets stranger every day. In 2006, researchers started implanting fully-formed pig hearts into baboons; with the help of heavy anti-rejection medication, the baboons and their new tickers…
Zera Food Recycler turns food waste into fertilizer in 24 hours
BY: SHAWNTAE HARRIS Gardening season is here, which means that now is the time to fertilize those plants. The summer is the time to save money by growing vegetables right from your own garden. However, maintaining a beautiful garden and…
Facebook boosts its suicide prevention tools in an effort to save lives
BY: PHILIPPE DE JOCAS In an age where we can jet around the world in the space of a day and meet with anyone at any time through the power of the internet, it seems hard to believe that…
This 100-hectare vertical urban farm will feed 24 million people
BY: SHAWNTAE HARRIS Shanghai is planning an urban vertical farm that will feed millions. The centre aims to educate people on the benefits of food sustainability. Sasaki Architects will create the 100-hectare farm that will be interactive and hands-on. The…
Sway meditation app taps into our ‘sixth sense’
BY: SHAWNTAE HARRIS The hustle of a big city makes it almost impossible to relax sometimes. Hearing the loud cars go by and running to catch the train as the doors nearly close around you can be exhausting. The only…
Kniterate digital machine can make anyone a clothing designer
BY: SHAWNTAE HARRIS For the most part, clothing stores are one in the same. Most stores still only carry clothes in a range of sizes and styles that are advertised to fit the “average” size. So what happens to the…
After 11 years, Pluto could become a planet again
BY: PHILIPPE DE JOCAS Quick! Name the planets! Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune… and Pluto? Except – as any child of the 2000s will tell you – Pluto’s not a planet, at least not anymore. In 2006,…
Grassoline is the new aviation biofuel made from grass
BY: DUSTIN BATTY As the environmental impact and limited nature of fossil fuel resources becomes more evident, people are pushing to find more environmentally sustainable and renewable sources of energy. Great strides have been made toward finding renewable ways to…
Researchers build a bio-chip that mimics the reproduction cycle
BY: SHAWNTAE HARRIS Women have always had a love-hate relationship with their reproduction cycle. The thing that allows women to bring life into the world has also left some with serious health problems. Until today there haven’t really been any…
5 Alternatives to Animal Testing
BY RHIANN MOORE With modern science being what it is there’s really no excuse for why big businesses continue to animal test. When companies like Lush Cosmetics, Avalon Organics, Too Faced are able to succeed while advocating for anti-animal testing…
Hoversurf just created the world’s first rideable hoverbike
In 1989, Marty McFly and Doc Brown used a custom DeLorean – complete with flux capacitor – to travel to the far-off, futuristic year of 2015. They discovered a utopian world filled with technological wonders, the likes of which we’ve…
Container house vs. traditional tiny home
BY: PHILIPPE DE JOCAS In an age where housing prices are climbing faster than a monkey on PCP – forcing millennials and young families to either live at home with their parents or room with friends – various companies and…