First US indoor vertical farm opens, to produce 4M lb of food year-round

Major steps towards better, sustainable and affordable food production free of environmental challenges have been taken, with the “world’s first farm to grow indoor, vertically farmed berries at scale” opening in Richmond, VA. It’s backed by an interna… Continue reading First US indoor vertical farm opens, to produce 4M lb of food year-round

DARPA enlists Harvard tech to fight deadly blood infections in the field

Treating life-threatening bloodstream infections in combat situations is challenging, especially when the pathogen responsible is unknown. So, DARPA has called on Harvard’s Wyss Institute to use its groundbreaking biotech to fight this deadly threat.Co… Continue reading DARPA enlists Harvard tech to fight deadly blood infections in the field

The world’s first octopus-inspired superior sunscreen is on its way

A unique material inspired by a pigment in the skin of octopus, squid and cuttlefish has been harnessed to boost the skin-protecting active ingredients in sunscreen, as well as providing a shield against skin damage. And while it comes with all the ben… Continue reading The world’s first octopus-inspired superior sunscreen is on its way

Tough new pineapple leather is 60X stronger than other materials

In a breakthrough for bio-based materials, scientists have made leather from the fibers of discarded pineapple leaves that’s comparable to the real thing and also outperforms other existing plant products. The strong and sustainable material, which com… Continue reading Tough new pineapple leather is 60X stronger than other materials

Video: Head transplants performed by robots planned within the decade

In what sounds more like the opening scene from a B-grade sci-fi/horror flick, head transplant operations performed entirely by robotic surgeons could be coming to a hospital near you within a decade, if startup BrainBridge is to be believed.Continue R… Continue reading Video: Head transplants performed by robots planned within the decade

Superfood protein pulled out of thin air massively scales up production

The world’s first commercial-scale factory for making nutrient-rich and versatile protein from air and sustainable energy has opened its doors in Finland, and the startup behind it aims to have its microbe-made food out in the US later this year. Solar… Continue reading Superfood protein pulled out of thin air massively scales up production

Astonishing scar-free surgery prints living skin right into wounds

In a world first, researchers have printed multi-layered, living skin directly onto significant injuries in rats for scar-free skin repair. It’s not sci-fi – they’re genuinely 3D-printing skin (and possibly hair) right into damaged areas.Continue Readi… Continue reading Astonishing scar-free surgery prints living skin right into wounds

Inhaling graphene is safe, according to human trial

Inhaling an ultra-pure form of the ‘wonder material’ graphene did not produce any short-term adverse effects on lung and cardiovascular function in a small group of healthy volunteers. The first-in-human study opens the door to developing a novel targe… Continue reading Inhaling graphene is safe, according to human trial

Artificial spider gland spins scalable spider silk just like nature

The complex molecular structure of spider silk has been successfully copied as scientists spin silk from an artificial gland that mimics nature’s process of producing one of the world’s toughest fibers. Scientists believe this breakthrough is a huge st… Continue reading Artificial spider gland spins scalable spider silk just like nature

Deadly spider’s life-saving heart and stroke drug set for clinical trial

An effective drug to stop potentially fatal cell damage in heart attack and ischemic stroke is one step closer to reality, after the K’gari funnel-web spider venom molecule Hi1a met critical benchmarks on its road to human trials.Continue ReadingCatego… Continue reading Deadly spider’s life-saving heart and stroke drug set for clinical trial