Here are the latest reports from The Washington Posts ‘Innovation’.
This CEO banned his first employees from living more than 15 minutes from work
A new book on the Chinese ecommerce giant Alibaba has revealed that founder Jack Ma insisted that his first employees reside only minutes from work. Alibaba — now a thriving $200 billion company — began in 1999 as a humble start-up based in Ma’s apartment in Hangzhou, China. In “Alibaba: The House that Jack Ma […]
A Swedish man’s brilliant solution for biking in the worst weather
A Swedish man has built a recumbent bicycle with an outer shell that resembles a car, creating a pleasant riding experience during his country’s bitter winters. While the popularity of bicycle commuting has grown globally due to factors such as climate change and urban gridlock, cycling in bad weather has remained unpleasant. Many bike commuters […]
How open science can help solve Zika and prepare us for the next pandemic
With the advent of synthetic biology and gene editing tools, there are amazing breakthroughs being made in medicine, energy and food. Within a few years, we will see cures for debilitating diseases, new biofuels, and grains that can be grown in extreme climates. We will also have many new nightmares: bioterrorism and well-meaning experiments that […]
Why laundry detergent caps are stuck in the past
The laundry detergent aisle of every U.S. grocery store is home to a shining example of the huge impact the smallest innovations can have, and what happens when there seems to be no incentive to be innovative. The measuring caps on liquid laundry detergent containers are universally difficult to read, because of faint markings that blend in […]
How airports and the drone industry are teaming up to protect planes
More than 50 U.S. airports will test a new system to make themselves more aware of drones flying near their runways. Airport executives and the drone industry expect the Digital Notice and Awareness System (D-NAS) to improve safety amid concerns raised by 764 drone sightings near airplanes in 2015. Drone hobbyists are required to notify airports […]
A college kid spends $60 to straighten his own teeth. What could possibly go wrong?
A college student has received a wealth of interest in his dental work after publishing an account of straightening his own teeth for $60. Amos Dudley, who studies digital design at the New Jersey Institute of Technology, had no dentistry experience when he decided to create plastic aligners to improve his smile. After publishing before-and-after pictures […]
Here’s the advantage that keeps Silicon Valley ahead of the world
A trait shared by the fastest growing and most disruptive companies in history — Google, Amazon, Uber, AirBnb, and eBay—is that they aren’t focused on selling products, they are building platforms. The ability to leverage the network effects of a platform is something that the technology industry learned long ago — and perfected. It is […]
Tesla fans are waiting in line to buy a car that they haven’t even seen yet
Would you put down a $1,000 deposit to buy something you haven’t even seen? For fans of Tesla Motors, the answer isn’t only yes, but also that they will happily camp out for hours to ensure a favorable position on the company’s waiting list. On Wednesday, lines began to grow outside Tesla showrooms around the United States […]
Time to change a diaper or car tire? Futuristic fabrics will let you know.
A new nonprofit will seek to speed the arrival of next-generation fabrics that can store energy, control their own temperature, change color and behave like computer sensors. MIT professor Yoel Fink, who is leading the effort, envisions the creation of an entire new industry: textiles for the 21st century. “It’s really giving — for the first time […]
The car industry has never witnessed what Tesla is about to go through
Most of the best selling cars in America, such as the Honda Accord or Nissan Altima, generally hit around 300,000 in sales every year. Tesla saw 276,000 people sign-up to buy its newest all-electric Model 3 sedan — in two days. That massive number, which far exceeded optimistic forecasts, upends traditional thinking about how to sell […]
MIT researchers are now 3D printing robots that can walk on their own
For years, 3D printing has been hailed as an emerging technology likely to transform our lives. Researchers at MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory have taken the nascent field to a new level with the creation of 3D printed robots made of both solids and liquids. Previously, 3D printing had only been done with […]
Painting like mankind’s greatest artists is almost too easy now
This week in Amsterdam, a team of computer scientists and Rembrandt experts unveiled a new portrait that looks alarmingly similar to the work of the famed Dutch artist. The portrait of a man wearing a broad hat is the latest example of how advanced computer methods are making it increasingly easy to mimic the style […]
What could Google possibly want with an armless robot?
Seven weeks ago, Google made waves in the robotics world with a human-like robot that could walk on uneven terrain, lift boxes and get back up after falling. Such abilities hadn’t been seen in one robot. Now Google (formally known as Alphabet) is at it again. Another robot has emerged from X, the company’s experimental labs, roaming outdoors on […]
What could Google possibly want with an armless robot?
Seven weeks ago, Google made waves in the robotics world with a human-like robot that could walk on uneven terrain, lift boxes and get back up after falling. Such abilities hadn’t been seen in one robot. Now Google (formally known as Alphabet) is at it again. Another robot has emerged from X, the company’s experimental labs, roaming outdoors on […]
Painting like mankind’s greatest artists is almost too easy now
This week in Amsterdam, a team of computer scientists and Rembrandt experts unveiled a new portrait that looks alarmingly similar to the work of the famed Dutch artist. The portrait of a man wearing a broad hat is the latest example of how advanced computer methods are making it increasingly easy to mimic the style […]
MIT researchers are now 3D printing robots that can walk on their own
For years, 3D printing has been hailed as an emerging technology likely to transform our lives. Researchers at MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory have taken the nascent field to a new level with the creation of 3D printed robots made of both solids and liquids. Previously, 3D printing had only been done with […]
The car industry has never witnessed what Tesla is about to go through
Most of the best selling cars in America, such as the Honda Accord or Nissan Altima, generally hit around 300,000 in sales every year. Tesla saw 276,000 people sign-up to buy its newest all-electric Model 3 sedan — in two days. That massive number, which far exceeded optimistic forecasts, upends traditional thinking about how to sell […]
Time to change a diaper or car tire? Futuristic fabrics will let you know.
A new nonprofit will seek to speed the arrival of next-generation fabrics that can store energy, control their own temperature, change color and behave like computer sensors. MIT professor Yoel Fink, who is leading the effort, envisions the creation of an entire new industry: textiles for the 21st century. “It’s really giving — for the first time […]
Tesla fans are waiting in line to buy a car that they haven’t even seen yet
Would you put down a $1,000 deposit to buy something you haven’t even seen? For fans of Tesla Motors, the answer isn’t only yes, but also that they will happily camp out for hours to ensure a favorable position on the company’s waiting list. On Wednesday, lines began to grow outside Tesla showrooms around the United States […]
Here’s the advantage that keeps Silicon Valley ahead of the world
A trait shared by the fastest growing and most disruptive companies in history — Google, Amazon, Uber, AirBnb, and eBay—is that they aren’t focused on selling products, they are building platforms. The ability to leverage the network effects of a platform is something that the technology industry learned long ago — and perfected. It is […]
A college kid spends $60 to straighten his own teeth. What could possibly go wrong?
A college student has received a wealth of interest in his dental work after publishing an account of straightening his own teeth for $60. Amos Dudley, who studies digital design at the New Jersey Institute of Technology, had no dentistry experience when he decided to create plastic aligners to improve his smile. After publishing before-and-after pictures […]
How airports and the drone industry are teaming up to protect planes
More than 50 U.S. airports will test a new system to make themselves more aware of drones flying near their runways. Airport executives and the drone industry expect the Digital Notice and Awareness System (D-NAS) to improve safety amid concerns raised by 764 drone sightings near airplanes in 2015. Drone hobbyists are required to notify airports […]
Why laundry detergent caps are stuck in the past
The laundry detergent aisle of every U.S. grocery store is home to a shining example of the huge impact the smallest innovations can have, and what happens when there seems to be no incentive to be innovative. The measuring caps on liquid laundry detergent containers are universally difficult to read, because of faint markings that blend in […]
Get ready for robots to become part of the family
For decades robots have won the affection of humans in pop culture — whether it was R2-D2 in Star Wars or Rosie the Robot in the Jetsons. But as popular as these machines have been on screen, we haven’t seen similar robots enter our everyday lives. Now that appears on the verge of changing as the technology sector […]
Why you should be skeptical that any video is real
Be careful about believing what your eyes are telling you. Researchers have shown how a video of a person talking can be altered in real time to change what a speaker appears to be saying. In a new video, the scientists show how they edited YouTube clips to change mouth movements. The system uses a […]
Why I’m skeptical about Apple’s future
Facebook is set to release its virtual reality headset, Oculus, next week. It will be big and clunky, expensive, and cause nausea and other problems for its users. Within a few months, we will declare our disappointment with virtual reality itself while Facebook listens very carefully to its users and develops improvements in its technology. […]
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