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Category: innovation – Page 219

Interesting perspective.

James Dyson is an evangelist for the creative process of change, quoting ‘People think of creativity as a mystical process. Creativity is something that has to be worked at, and it has specific characteristics. Unless we understand how it happens, we will not improve our creativity, as a society or as a world’. Creativity in corporates often defaults to ‘brainstorming’.

If brainstorming sessions are nothing more than an excuse for people to sit in a room, say they are not really sure what to do and then discuss last night’s television, then yes they are a waste of time. In fact, they are worse than that, they are a force for stagnation and serve only to reinforce the idea that there are no original thinkers in the team and that those present are incapable of coming up with any ideas that are interesting, innovative, exploratory or adventurous.

Where brainstorming sessions are allowed to become an environment of devolved responsibility, the phenomenon of social loafing can quickly take hold and encourage people to sit back and idle. If this happens sessions can rapidly turn into a fruitless waste of time that throw up the same old ideas, from the same old people, with the same lacklustre results.

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Travelling into the darkest depths of the universe could soon be as easy as flicking on a switch, or at least a switch for a giant laser system that will fire a spacecraft at 150m kmph to Alpha Centauri.

Back in April 2016, the philanthropic research group Breakthrough Initiatives announced it was putting millions of dollars into developing a spacecraft capable of reaching Alpha Centauri in the next 20 years.

This would be some claim given that, despite it being our nearest neighbouring star, it’s located more than four light years away.

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China means business; and what will the long-term impacts to SV be? Could the US see a brain drain soon?

China has been encouraging its industrial firms to rise up the value chain through technical innovation and tougher efficiency standards, with the aim of creating globally competitive conglomerates.

It has vowed to be more selective in the way it disburses funds, and aims to cut off credit for non-competitive firms that are unable to upgrade.

The fund is financed by China Reform Holdings Corp Ltd, China Postal Savings Bank, China Construction Bank Corp and Shenzhen Investment Holdings, the notice posted on State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission’s (SASAC) official Weibo platform said.

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Researchers have developed a liquid material that repairs torn clothes, and it it able to withstand subsequent washes in a washing machine.

Every invention starts with an idea. And a group of researchers at Pennsylvania State University have a rather great idea—making a piece of torn fabric heal itself.

After years of working on the concept, the team is more than pleased to have created a biodegradable liquid material that allows torn fabric to bind to itself back together, sans needles.

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Keith Comito from LEAF/Lifespan.io talking about the need for a unified call to action and how we have reached a turning point in the life extension movement.

In this talk LEAF President Keith Comito explains how initatives like Lifespan.io (https://www.lifespan.io/campaigns/sens-control-alt-delete-cancer/) fit into the broader goal of building a grassroots movement in support of life extension, with the eventual aim of effecting massive societial change on the issue. If you are looking for a deep dive into the full scope of life extension advocacy, from the dawn of history to current breakthroughs and opportunities, this is it.

This presentation is part of the Designing New Advances conference held by the Institute of Exponential Sciences in the Netherlands, orchestrated by Demian Hoed and Lotte van Noort.

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“An ultimate goal of stem cell research is to turn on the regenerative potential of one’s own stem cells for tissue and organ repair and disease therapy,” said Dr. Kang Zhang of the UC San Diego School of Medicine.

You’ll soon be able to see the future with eyes grown in petri dishes. Scientists in Japan’s Osaka University have found a new way to turn stem cells into a human eyeball in what is (needless to say) a remarkable breakthrough for the medical community. According to lead biologist Kohji Nishida, a small sample of adult skin is all that would be required in order to grow retinas, corneas, lenses, and other key components of the eye.

To help visualize the process, the video above demonstrates the growth of human iPS cells over several weeks, as they spontaneously form four concentric zones. Each of these zones exhibits the characteristics of a different part of the eye, including the cornea, the lens, and the retina.

During the trial phase of their experiment, the Japanese team managed to culture and grow sheaths of rabbit corneas that actually enabled blind animals to see again. In tests, lab-grown corneas were given to rabbits born without this crucial part of the eye, resulting in restored vision. And while humans have yet to experience the potential benefits of this breakthrough, our species is next.

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Researchers at INM have combined a new self-assembling nano ink with an imprint process to create flexible conductive grids with a resolution below one micrometer. Your Contact Press and Public Relations: Dr. Carola Jung [email protected] Phone: +49681–9300-506 Your expert: Dr. Tobias Kraus Head Structure Formation Deputy Head InnovationCenter INM [email protected] Phone: +49681–9300-389.

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