The mobile technology giant, Samsung, has announced that they have developed a new kind of cell phone battery powered by water and a hydrogen cartridge. Crave said: “Here’s how it works: When the handset is switched on, reaction between metal and water in the phone produce hydrogen gas. This is then channeled to the fuel cell, where it reacts with oxygen in the air to generate power.” Samsung says the new battery could last for up to 10 hours. Based on four hours of use daily on average, the hyd...
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Kinect Cart
The quest for a high-tech “shopping cart of the future” is nothing new, but Whole Foods is planning to test a new spin on the concept, using Microsoft’s Kinect sensor for Windows. The motorized cart identifies a shopper with a loyalty card, follows the shopper around the store, scans items as they’re placed inside, marks them off the shopping list, and even checks the shopper out in the end. Microsoft showed the very early prototype, being developed for Whole Foods by a third-party developer, Au...
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Stanford Study Examines the Flexibility of the Human Brain
The brains of children with autism are relatively inflexible at switching from rest to task performance, according to a new brain-imaging study from the Stanford University School of Medicine.
Instead of changing to accommodate a job, connectivity in key brain networks of autistic children looks similar to connectivity in the resting brain. And the greater this inflexibility, the more severe the child’s manifestations of repetitive and restrictive behaviors that characterize autism, the study...
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Dr. Nano: A Microchip-Based Test Can Now Diagnose Diabetes
Researchers have invented a cheap, portable, microchip-based test for diagnosing type-1 diabetes that could speed up diagnosis and enable studies of how the disease develops.
Described in a paper published online July 13 in Nature Medicine, the test employs nanotechnology to detect type-1 diabetes outside hospital settings. The handheld microchips distinguish between the two main forms of diabetes mellitus, which are both characterized by high blood-sugar levels but have different causes and ...
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Garbage May Pave the Streets of the Future
Garbage, and more specifically, plastic, may pave the streets of the future. In fact, in India, it already has now.
It is difficult to exaggerate India’s garbage problem. Jairam Ramesh, the nation’s former environment minister, has said that if there were a “Nobel prize for dirt and filth,” India would win it.
Much of India’s garbage is made up of plastic—a scourge of the nation’s new consumer economy. Although the nation’s per capita consumption of plastic is low compared with that of the...
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Tiny Chip Mimics the Human Brain
Cognitive computing is the future of computer processing, or at least, that's what it seems.
Researchers earlier this month unveiled a powerful new postage-stamp size chip delivering supercomputer performance using a process that mimics the human brain.
The so-called "neurosynaptic" chip is a breakthrough that opens a wide new range of computing possibilities from self-driving cars to artificial intelligence systems that can installed on a smartphone, the scientists say.
The researchers...
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Forget Waiters: Robots are now serving food at a restaurant in China
Would you go to a restaurant where you are greeted and served by robots?
Science fiction meets reality at a Chinese restaurant that uses robots to cook and deliver food.
Mechanical staff greet customers, deliver dishes to tables and even stir-fry meat and vegetables at the eatery in Kunshan,which opened last week.
"My daughter asked me to invent a robot because she doesn't like doing housework," the restaurant's founder Song Yugang said.
Two robots are stationed by the door to cheerful...
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Forbes Unveils a List of the World’s Most Innovative Companies
What are the world's most innovative companies? Forbes has the coveted answer.
The annual Worlds Most Innovative Companies list has been topped by California-based global cloud computing company Salesforce for the fourth year in a row.
Five Indian companies, including Hindustan Unilever and Tata Consultancy Services, are among Forbes list of the worlds’ 100 most innovative companies that investors think are most likely to "generate big, new growth ideas".
These five on the list are cons...
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How Our Eyes can Hear
Be cautious, the plants have ears. Or, far more accurately, they are ears. In a boon to eavesdroppers, researchers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology have figured out a way to reproduce speech by analyzing the surface vibrations of every day objects using our eyes.
In one experiment, for example, the researchers shot higher-speed video by means of soundproof glass of a potato chip bag sitting on the floor even though a individual spoke. Even though to the naked eye the bag was just a pi...
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Inventor Creates a Novel Prosthetic Arm
It took eight years of research, but the inventor of the Segway finally succeeded in developing the closest thing to a replacement for amputated arms—and it’s a game changer.
Dean Kamen’s bionic version works by picking up on the electric signals near the point of amputation and translating those to the prosthetic, a transparent replica of a human arm and hand, complete with fingers and a thumb. Named Luke after the Star Wars hero who lost his hand in a light-saber duel, the arm gives users t...
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Wharton Students Launch Innovative Social Media Shopping Experience
Wharton MBA students Cherif Habib and Stephan Jacobs wanted to have a business up and profitable before they left school. They launched Kembrel, a daily-deal online store for clothing and gadgets aimed at budget-conscious college students.
The twist? You can shop at Kembrel without ever leaving Facebook. The unique marketing approach made them an instant hit with the Millennial set. A beta test snagged 20,000 registered members, and the site is growing at 5,000 new members a week. This site i...
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Gocycle: An Electric Bicycle
Gocycle is the idea that Richard Thorpe based off his day-to-day experiences living in London. Having commuted by using a bicycle for many years, the inventor realized how exciting biking was. However, there were many problems with traditional bikes, like arriving to work hot and sweaty, getting dirty chain grease on the rider’s pants, fixing a messy flat tire, having bicycles stolen, and even being heckled for riding "one of those funny looking fold-up bikes"!
In January 2002, Mr. Thorpe’s t...
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Drug Target Identified for Common Childhood Blood Cancer
In what is believed to be the largest genetic analysis of what triggers and propels progression of tumor growth in a common childhood blood cancer, researchers at NYU Langone Medical Center report that they have identified a possible new drug target for treating the disease. This time, the treatment doesn’t include chemotherapy.
T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia is one of the most common and aggressive chil...
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Roti-Making Robot Created By Couple in Singapore
Hungry for Indian "tortillas?
An Indian couple in Singapore has invented a first-of-its-kind robot to make chapatis that has already raked in about S$5 million in pre-orders from Americans.
Rishi Israni and his wife Pranoti took six years to develop the robot, Rotimatic, which can produce about one baked roti, or Indian tortilla/chapati, per minute.
Rotimatic is the first kitchen device to use robotic technology and awaits U.S. certifications required for sale in the U.S. market.
The...
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Harvard & MIT Researchers Create Origami Robots
For years, a team of researchers at MIT and Harvard University has been working on origami robots — reconfigurable robots that would be able to fold themselves into arbitrary shapes.
In today’s issue of Science, they report their latest milestone: a robot, made almost entirely from parts produced by a laser cannon that folds itself up and crawls away as soon as batteries are attached to it.
“The exciting thing here is that you create this device that has computation embedded in the flat, p...
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Phillips Creates a Slouch-Detecting Computer
Posture problems? Phillips has an innovative solution.
Improper posture at your work can possibly lead to a lot of workplace related injuries, including annoying back and neck pain, eyestrain, and carpal tunnel syndrome. In case you couldn't tell, this means don't slouch.
Realizing that "work should be suited to people, and not the other way around," Phillips has released an interesting new 24″ LCD monitor. Besides being an all-around nice display to have at your workstation, the new monito...
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SMaRT Bacteria Can Fight Tooth Decay
Tooth decay is an issue that most of us would prefer not to deal with. Fortunately, the creators of SMaRT Replacement Therapy have come up with an innovative solution to combat this widespread ailment: Use bacteria.
SMaRT Replacement Therapy is designed to be a painless, one-time, five-minute topical treatment applied to the teeth that has the potential to offer lifelong protection against tooth decay caused by S. mutans, the principal cause of this disease.
The creators have extensively a...
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Glucose Meters May Soon Be Non-Invasive, Pain-Free, and Accurate
For healthcare start-ups, the race is on.
These small companies are competing to launch an approved, non-invasive (and pain-free) glucose meter for the growing diabetes population. While each company etches out its own value proposition and aims for a commercial launch, we can take a look at what the devices with the potential for success have in common.
Many of the start-ups in this space use spectroscopy, ultrasound or some form of light-sensing technology in order to measure glucose ...
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2015 Global Innovation Summit To Look Out For
How do we build startup communities? How do we catalyze systemic, sustainable innovation across companies, cities, and countries?
How do we design entire ecosystems to drive entrepreneurship, technology, and economic impact?
Attend the Global Innovation Summit along with over 1,000 of your fellow ecosystem builders from over 50 countries at over 20 events and perhaps you will find out. It all happens on February 16-20, 2015 in Silicon Valley. The Global Innovation Summit is the centerpiec...
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Global Innovation Forum will be Held in London
The 4th Global innovation Forum, a conference that will be held from November 19-20 in London will discuss the latest trends in the field of innovation, creativity, design, R&D and new product development, as well as the major challenges for the future. The Forum relies on a tremendous agenda, experienced speakers, key messages, global players and intense networking.
Presentations, panel debates, and workshops will be part of the Forum.
Speakers
Confirmed speakers include:
Antho...
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The Back End of Innovation: A Business Conference to Attend
The Back End of Innovation is responsible for taking an idea and transforming it into an ultimate product success. Generating the idea is only half the battle. The real challenge lies in taking that innovation, executing it effectively and commercializing it, resulting in driving the bottom line profitability. BEI is an event for those in charge of bringing innovations to life, from using metrics to identify the highest yielding ideas, to creating cultures that drive innovation, to carrying it t...
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Health Innovation Summit to Be Held this August in San Francisco
This August marks Rock Health's fourth annual Health Innovation Summit.
This conference, held from the 21st to the 22nd of August in sunny San Francisco, will provide attendees with opportunities to:
Connect with new strategic partners, investors, potential new hires, and up-and-coming entrepreneurs through interactive industry discussion and care provider feedback.
Launch your startup, or watch others as they demo new products and services that will change health as we know it today.
...
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The Institute for New Economic Thinking Supports Economic-Oriented Events
Have an idea for an event, and the energy to execute it? The Institute for New Economic Thinking supports student-organized events to promote new economic thinking at colleges and universities worldwide.
Mainly the Institute is looking for events that foster conversation between the new economic thinkers of the future (that’s you!) and the new economic thinkers of the present (such as Institute grantees or other members of the Institute's Community). Many formats are possible: conference, wor...
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The Kazanjian Foundation is Funding Economic Education Projects
Is economic education a focus for you? The Kazanjian Foundation is offering opportunities to apply for funding for projects relating to economic education.
Grant Information
The Foundation makes grants of various sizes. The average grant is approximately $22,000, however grants as small as $3,500 and as large as $150,000 have been made. Occasionally, multi-year grants are made for larger projects.
The Foundation has an abiding interest in elevating the nation’s understanding of the nee...
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Grants for Nonprofit Organizations on Long Island in 2015
The Women's Fund of Long Island is an organization that provides grant support to nonprofit organizations that provide direct services, education, and training for women and girls on Long Island.
The mission of Women’s Fund of Long Island (WFLI) is to ignite networks that transform the lives of women and girls on Long Island through grant-making, leadership development, education and philanthropy. The WFLI envisions a Long Island where all women and girls reach their full potential.
E...
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Small Business Grants Up to $5,000
The National Association for the Self-Employed (NASE) is offering an opportunity to apply for a grant for their small business. $5,000 will be awarded to the recipients of the grant(s). In past years, multiple members received funding assistance.
Small business grants are useful for financing a particular small business need. Past recipients used their small business grants for computers, farm equipment, to hire part-time help, marketing materials and more. (https://www.nase.org/Membership/G...
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ENR FutureTech Conference: December 2014
ENR will be holding their ENR FutureTech Conference at Georgia Tech this year. The Conference has been described as an event where, "technology suppliers, CIOs and consultants, top AEC executives and project managers, and students will come together to inspire and challenge each other on how technology has the power to advance modern construction practices and processes."
The Conference is geared towards business leaders such as:
AEC Technology Leaders:
Chief Information Officers
Ch...
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Graham Foundation Architecture Grants for 2014-2015
Founded in 1956, the Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts makes project-based grants to individuals and organizations and produces public programs to foster the development and exchange of diverse and challenging ideas about architecture and its role in the arts, culture, and society.
The Foundation supports innovative, thought-provoking investigations in architecture; architectural history, theory, and criticism; design; engineering; landscape architecture; urban planning;...
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Center for Architecture Foundation Offers Nationwide Grants
The Center for Architecture Foundation is offering 3 architecture-related grants to applicants nationwide.
These grants include the following:
Arnold W. Brunner Grant - Given to an advanced study in any area of architectural investigation which will effectively contribute to the knowledge, teaching or practice of the art and science of architecture.
Highlights & Eligibility:
Single award of $15,000 will be given
Applicants must be a U.S. citizen engaged in the profession of ar...
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Architecture Opportunities to Look Out for in 2015
Are you a traveling architect? Or perhaps, do you have a fresh and innovative design portfolio?
The Architectural League organizes a number of competitions each year to nurture excellence in architecture, particularly among younger designers, and to explore ideas of topical note.
Each year the League runs two prestigious programs for early and mid-career architects and designers: Emerging Voices, an invited competition for North American firms and individuals with distinct design voices an...
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