TREND REPORTS
(Paper) This New Fabric will Automatically Cool You Down When You Get Hot and Sweaty
[Tech]
2020/07/09 09:08
The material responds to the body’s heat and wetness to help keep us at a comfortable temperature at all times.Too hot one minute, too cold the next. Anyone who’s engaged in office warfare over the air conditioning can tell you that trying to keep everyone happy is impossible. But what if we all wore clothing that adjusted to us, rather than having to fiddle with the temperature dial?A new fa...
(Video) Alphabet’s Loon Balloons Provide Their First Commercial Internet Service in Kenya
[Business]
2020/07/09 09:07
A 35-balloon fleet will provide internet across 50,000 square kilometers.Alphabet’s Loon division, which uses floating balloons to provide internet, has today launched its first commercial service in Kenya. In a blog post announcing the news, Loon’s CEO Alastair Westgarth said that the 4G LTE service will be provided to Telkom Kenya subscribers via a fleet of around 35 balloons, covering an a...
The Future of Remote Work, According to Startups
[Consumer]
2020/07/09 09:06
No matter where in the world you log in from—Silicon Valley, London, and beyond—COVID-19 has triggered a mass exodus from traditional office life. Now that the lucky among us have settled into remote work, many are left wondering if this massive, inadvertent work-from-home experiment will change work for good.In the following charts, we feature data from a comprehensive survey conducted by UK...
Electric-Car Bonanza Allows Karma to Tap Lifeline
[Investing]
2020/07/09 09:05
Karma Automotive raises $100 million as it looks to resell it EV platform to other automakers.Karma Automotive, maker of the Revero plug-in hybrid luxury car, has raised $100 million from outside investors as the company and its parent seek to tap into an electric-car stock surge by seeking an additional $300 million.The fresh funding coincides with at least the fourth makeover for a company fo...
Softsonics : A Device to Take Blood-Pressure Readings Continuously
[Tech]
2020/07/09 09:04
The flexible sensors have been developed by one of the finalists for The Spinoff Prize. Softsonics’ wearable sensor is flexible enough to be worn over a joint.Softsonics is a spin-off from the University of California, San DiegoMost people have been to a physician’s office and had their blood pressure taken with an inflatable cuff around their arm. The test, which measures the maximum and min...
Harvard Professor Develops a $50 Nasal Spray to Thwart the Spread of COVID-19 - FEND
[Product]
2020/07/09 09:03
Harvard biomedical engineering professor to launch nasal spray that could reduce COVID-19 transmission risk.A new product developed by Harvard Professor of the Practice of Biomedical Engineering David A. Edwards is set to launch this fall, and claims to be able to provide a nearly 100% reduction in the particles present in exhaled air — thus reducing the potential transmission of SARS-CoV-2 bo...
(PDF) BCG - The Green Factory of the Future
[Business]
2020/07/08 09:10
Industrial companies have an enormous carbon footprint. Their production and logistics operations account for more than half of all global carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) emissions from fuel combustion. Considering current trends, emissions from production and logistics would need to decrease by approximately 45% by 2030 to be on a path to meet the Paris Agreement’s 1.5°C target for limiting...
Contactless Hotel Employs Just Two Members of Staff - Leyeju Smart Hotel
[Product]
2020/07/08 09:09
A Chinese hotel chain operates with an entirely automated experience, for a completely contactless stay.With “contactless” the new watchword in all types of business services thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, the time has arrived for the contactless hotel — and a variety of chains are taking notice. The first smart hotel opened in Japan in 2015; in 2018, Chinese eCommerce giant Alibaba Group...
(Paper) MIT - AI System Learns to Model How Fabrics Interact by Watching Videos
[Tech]
2020/07/08 09:08
In a paper published on the preprint server Arxiv.org, researchers at MIT CSAIL, Nvidia, the University of Washington, and the University of Toronto describe an AI system that learns the physical interactions affecting materials like fabric by watching videos. They claim the system can extrapolate to interactions it hasn’t seen before, like those involving multiple shirts and pants, enabling i...
