TREND REPORTS
(Video) Harvard - A Toolkit for Transformable Materials
[Tech]
2017/01/24 10:33
Harvard researchers have developed a general framework to design reconfigurable metamaterials that is scale independent, meaning it can be applied to everything from meter-scale architectures to reconfigurable nano-scale systems. Metamaterials — materials whose function is determined by structure, not composition — have been designed to bend light and sound, transform from soft to stiff, and...
Winning Diverse Shoppers in a Digital Retail World
[Consumer]
2017/01/24 10:33
For consumer packaged goods (CPG) manufacturers and retailers, knowing how consumers go from wanting to buying along the elusive and increasingly digital path to purchase is critical for two reasons. First, it allows them to measure the market more accurately, so they can make better decisions about where and how to invest for growth. Second, it enables them to engage their customers more effec...
Insight Venture Partners invests $165M in Automated Testing Startup Tricentis
[Investing]
2017/01/24 10:33
Tricentis, a startup that helps enterprise development teams automate software testing, got a bushel of money today from Insight Venture Partners — $165 million to be exact. As part of the deal, Insight Managing Director Mike Triplett will join the Tricentis board.In a traditional software development cycle, developers took months to create and deliver a product. Testing involved writing scrip...
2/3 of Americans Give Priority to Developing Alternative Energy Over Fossil Fuels
[Consumer]
2017/01/24 10:32
A new Pew Research Center survey finds that 65% of Americans give priority to developing alternative energy sources, compared with 27% who would emphasize expanded production of fossil fuel sources.Support for concentrating on alternative energy is up slightly since December 2014. At that time, 60% said developing alternative energy sources was the more important priority.There continue to be w...
(Video) The Skin Making Bioprinter
[Tech]
2017/01/24 10:32
The skin-making bioprinter, with the bio-inks at left at the print bed at right.If a new bioprinter developed in Spain lives up to the hype, skin grafts taken from a person's own body may become a thing of the past. Created by a team at Carlos III University of Madrid, the machine is reportedly capable of 3D-printing sheets of functional human skin for use in research … or for transplants.Whil...
A Little Sunshine Goes a Long Way
[Design]
2017/01/24 10:32
Sweet, sweet sunshine was the inspiration behind this innovative, hybrid hospital bed/wheelchair design by Lirong Yang. Just a bit of sun can go a long way to make paralyzed individuals feel unconfined to their beds. The problem is that it currently takes 3 nurses to transition the patient from bed to wheelchair. The LOHAS bed, however, only requires one.Utilizing a unique folding design, the a...
How Marketers on Facebook Can Convert in a Mobile Minute
[Business]
2017/01/23 10:52
2016 was the first year that Facebook saw more mobile conversions than desktop conversions for the entire Holiday Season. The upswing in m-commerce started on Black Friday, with the mobile portion of online transactions growing by 55% year over year. And it continued throughout the Holidays, with mobile making up 51% of total online transactions—more than a 10 percentage point increase compare...
(Video) AxonVR Brings Realistic Touch Sensations to Virtual Reality
[Tech]
2017/01/23 10:52
Inside AxonVR it's possible to feel the texture, shape, motion, vibration, and temperature of virtual objects in your hand.AxonVR’s HaptX system is an enormous metal box with some buttons and blinking lights. It’s very much a prototype. You put on a HTC Vive headset, stick your left hand into the box, and then experience the magic of a tiny virtual deer taking a warm and fluffy nap on your ou...
The Oxfam Report is Important, But There’s More to the Story
[Investing]
2017/01/23 10:51
Prior to the opening day of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Oxfam International made waves with its latest report on global inequality. In particular, one “shock value” finding made headlines: eight men now combine to have the same wealth as half of the world’s population, or 3.6 billion people.Today’s chart breaks down who these men are and how much they own in terms of assets. But, it...
