This week, tech delves deep into the microscopic and then soars high into space.
1. Net Sculpture
Inspired years ago by the traditional, hand-tied nets Indian fishermen made, artist Janet Echelman has taken the idea of netting to another level. Her latest net sculpture, called Skies Painted with Unnumbered Sparks, hangs in Vancouver and is a giant, billowing beauty that, like her previous works, combines tradition with technology.
Custom 3-D software as well as NASA-grade fibre make this lightweight, floating sculpture 15 times stronger than steel by weight. At night, visitors can influence an interactive light-show, designed in collaboration with Aaron Koblin of Google’s Creative Lab, by using their mobile devices.
2. Hoverball
Most balls bounce, but this one hovers. Japanese engineer Jun Rekimoto developed a drone-powered ball that floats at a variety of speeds and can move in any direction - even dodging other players. Such an "anti-gravity" ball could drastically change sporting events as we know them.
3. Service Robots
Baxter by Rethink Robotics and REEM-C by Pal Robotics became friends at Innorobo 2014, the 4th international trade show on service robotics.
4. Orbiting Solar Power Array
As the price of solar power comes down, the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory wants to take it out of this world. Spacecraft engineer Paul Jaffe is working on solar modules that could be launched into space, where a ring of reflectors would concentrate solar power onto a giant, orbiting array. The structure could power an entire city.
5. Tattoo Music
Most musicians use sheet music to play a song. But Moscow-born Dmitry Morozov uses an instrument that plays a tattoo on his skin. As part of his project, called Reading My Body, Morozov designed an electronic instrument embedded with sensors to produce sound when it detected dark ink. See the instrument in action here.
6. Flexible Circuit
For the first time, scientists have designed a superflexible circuit from carbon nanotubes that can both withstand electrical fluctuations and consume low power.
Zhenan Bao of Stanford University and his colleagues figured out a way to sort nanotubes in a way that separated those that conduct electrons from those that didn't. The results could one day lead to circuits that outperform ones made from rigid silicon, while at the same being flexible and strong.
7. Bionic Plants
If we can embed technology into humans to improve function, why not do it to plants? When chemical engineers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology injected plant cells with single-walled carbon nanotubes, chloroplasts - which absorb light from the sun and convert it into chemical energy - were coaxed to photosynthesize more efficiently than normal.
With this and other plant-augmenting techniques, chemical engineers may one day develop plants that function as pollution detectors.
8. Germ-Free Subway Grip
With so many people crowded together in one place, subways are a haven for bacteria and viruses. But a new strap concept called Cyclean could make hanging on germ-free. The strap, which was designed by Li Jiyang, Liu Tao, Qiu Zhen, Zeng Jiayu and Zhou Shen, rotates through a small plastic chamber that contains a rough sponge, a cleaning and disinfecting agent and rollers. The team recently won a Red Dot Award for their clean idea.
9. Vertical Train Hub
This far-out concept for public transportation could save space and increase rider capacity. The Hyper-Speed Vertical Train Hub, comes from British designers Christopher Christophi and Lucas Mazarrasa and is designed to park trains vertically on a skyscraper. When it comes time to make the rounds, a train shoots down the side of a building into an underground tunnel. The seats pivot like those on a Ferris wheel to keep riders level. Hang on for the ride!
10. Project Morpheus
Once just a rumour, Sony finally unveiled the virtual reality headset for the PlayStation 4. The hardware, called "Project Morpheus," has a 1080p display, just over a 90-degree field of view and positional head tracking. Although still in a prototype stage, the headset should be available soon for gamers.
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