X Files

Ever since we started the Google self-driving car project, we’ve been working toward the goal of vehicles that can shoulder the entire burden of driving. Just imagine: You can take a trip downtown at lunchtime without a 20-minute buffer to find parking. Seniors can keep their freedom even if they can’t keep their car keys. And drunk and distracted driving? History. 

De Mobiele Fabriek geeft puin een tweede leven met het Q-Brick Systeem. Het Q-Brick Systeem maakt gebruik van het aanwezige bouwpuin dat blijft liggen na een ramp of na de sloop van gebouwen. De stapelbare Q-bricks hebben de welbekende vorm van legostenen. Deze vorm zorgt voor een oersterke constructie en maakt metselspecie overbodig. Mede daardoor zijn de bouwblokken goedkoper en het bouwen gaat sneller. Hergebruik van puin is bovendien beter voor het milieu dan het gebruik van nieuwe dure grondstoffen.

Following the tsunami in Japan in 2011, a company called Fomm has created the Concept One electric car that is capable floating in areas hit by tsumanis.

Predicting future jobs is an exercise that involves looking at future industries and speculating on ways in which they will be different than the workforce today. Business management, engineering, accounting, marketing, and sales are all necessary skills for the future, but the work involved will also be different.

The 3D Print Canal House is an exhibition, research- and building site for 3D Printing Architecture. A unique project where an international team of partners collaborates in ‘research & doing’ linking science, design, construction and community, by 3D printing a canal house at an expo-site in the very heart of Amsterdam.

Een merkwaardige toren van paddenstoelen verrijst in New York. Wordt dit een architectonische revolutie die steden gezonder en natuurlijker maakt?

The light weight and flexibility is due to the polymeric materials that are used and as there is no steel substrate in the module.

A Dutch start-up called Plant-e has developed a way to use living plants as a continuous source of clean energy – all that’s needed is a light source, carbon dioxide, water, and, of course, a field or patch of plants. The system works best in wetlands or watery fields like rice paddies, but it doesn’t matter if the water is brackish or polluted, so areas unsuitable for growing crops could be repurposed as a power source. There’s no complicated infrastructure to install, which makes it super easy to bring electricity to isolated regions that are currently without power.

Door zijn koelkasten dieper te koelen en vacuüm te zuigen hoopt Siemens dat voedsel drie tot vijf keer langer meegaat en daardoor de voedselverspilling tegen te gaan. Elke Nederland gooit 50 kilogram aan eetbaar voedsel weg per jaar. In totaal gooien Europese huishoudens 90 miljoen ton voedsel per jaar weg, wat 25 procent is van het ingekochte voedsel. 60 procent hiervan kan worden vermeden. Ieder huishouden kan € 500 besparen als consumenten bewuster omgaan met de houdbaarheid van voedsel.

http://www.slideshare.net/ConvertiblesNL/7-thriving-workzones-by-convertibles-31214608

There are sneaker releases, and then there was the Nike MAG launch in 2011. Without as much as a hint, Nike produced Marty McFly's fictional high-top from Back to the Future II and auctioned off 1,500 pairs on eBay, with all proceeds going to the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research. In the end, sneaker fans, film aficionados and celebrities spent nearly $6 million to claim a piece of history. However, as transcendent as the launch was, something was missing. When McFly wore his pair in the movie, they were equipped with power laces. While Nike went above and beyond to put the release together, they weren't quite ready for the futuristic lacing system. But why should they have been? MAGs technically weren't a reality until 2015, which is now less than a year away.