On (most) Fridays I post here a roundup of interesting things I’ve read and/or posted on social media since my last roundup, generally stories about emerging technologies, experiential activations, interactive art, advances in scientific research, and other things I find interesting.
Featured Image: Lillie Paquette/MIT
Auburn researchers think that puppy brain scans could help pick the best bomb sniffing dogs, called Vapor Wake dogs:
Image: AUBURN UNIVERSITY
Delivery drone startup Volans-i is making VTOL drones that can haul a 20-pound load for 500 miles, fly up to 200 MPH, and land on a moving target:
Image: Volans-i
London startup Dot lets investors purchase property at the click of a button without the hassle of a traditional mortgage or actually having to manage the property:
Image: Dot / TechCrunch
BrambleBee is a robotic pollinator that uses Lidar and wheels to navigate and transfers pollen with a robot arm:
Image: YU GU/WEST VIRGINIA UNIVERSITY
Researchers at MIT and the Senseable City Lab have developed self-driving 3D-printed boats that can ferry people and goods, carry out city services and self-assemble into bridges and platforms:
Image: MIT News
Engineers and artists teamed up at Nokia Bell Labs to invent a gadget called the Sleeve that communicates human emotions through touch:
Image: NICHOLAS CALCOTT
A French nanorobotics team demonstrated a new capability to manufacture optical nanotechnologies by assembling the world’s smallest house (even a mite doesn’t fit through the door):
Image: FEMTO-ST Institute
Oceanalpha is China’s largest maker of boat drones and now it wants to build the world’s first autonomous cargo ship:
Image: Qilai Shen/Bloomberg
MIT scientists have developed genetically engineered ingestible ‘bacteria on a chip’ that could diagnose gastric bleeding:
Image: Melanie Gonick/MIT
MIT and BMW have developed a 3D-printed inflatable material that could be used to make soft-bodied cars:
Image: BMW Blog
CalTech researchers created a new guiding app for HoloLens that can guide the blind through complicated buildings:
Image: SCOTT OLSON | GETTY
A form of artificial intelligence known as a deep learning convolutional neural network (CNN) was able to more accurately identify malignant and benign skin lesions than a fleet of dermatologists:
Image: Shutterstock / The Outline
Startup Replica Wine makes cheaper copies of your favorite wine at a discount by analyzing its chemistry – often, even professional critics can’t tell the difference:
Image: MORGAN RACHEL LEVY
To see stories like this as I find them, follow me on Twitter: @josiah17