Stories about innovation, or the lack of it
A fortnight's worth of links to get you thinking. Mainly 'where did the last fortnight go' if you're anything like me.
A new batch of stories about, or requiring, innovation. Little in the way of comment from me this time, as time is short and I’ll never get this out if I start banging on about things. Please visit the links for the full articles and all the appropriate credits.
The City with 16,000 Electric Buses & 22,000 Electric Taxis
A city where the drive to go electric has resulted in 16,000 electric buses and 22,000 electric taxis.
AR sign language book for children leads UK's immersive tech wave
The first Augmented Reality (AR) British Sign Language (BSL) book for children and a virtual stage-building platform have joined the government’s tech innovation scheme Digital Catapult.
Will Ikea’s recycling scheme really make it greener?
Ikea piles its products high and sells them cheaply – but it is hoping to bolster its environmental credentials.
Design Council welcomes Government’s commitment to prioritise good design in placemaking
On 30 January 2021 the Government announced a range of measures to prioritise good design in placemaking. This includes the establishment of an Office for Place within the next year, which will support local communities to turn their designs into the standard for all new buildings in their area.
A Glitch in the Matrix review – deep-dive into simulation theory
Using animation, archive and clips from the movie franchise, Rodney Ascher’s genre-bending documentary gives participants space to explain why they think we are living in a synthetic world.
One day, your home could be made with mushrooms
Mushrooms are helping architects and engineers solve one of the world’s biggest crises: climate change. These fungi are durable, biodegradable, and are proving to be a good alternative to more polluting materials.
Nike’s hands-free Go FlyEase shoes look very comfy and just the right amount of ridiculous
kiNike is pushing the envelope of shoe technology further with today’s announcement of the Go FlyEase, a contact-less $120 shoe for both athletic and everyday use. The core innovation here is a so-called bistable hinge that lets the shoe move between two positions: an upright one in which the inner sole of the shoe sits at a roughly 30-degree angle so you can easily slip your foot in, and the collapsed position in which the outer layer sits snugly around the inner one while you walk or run.
The people wanted Lego bike lanes, and Lego is finally listening
In 2019, a regional councilor in the Netherlands named Marcel Steeman undertook a seemingly impossible challenge: convince the makers of one of the most popular toys in the world to do something a little different.
The Greeks had a word for it … until now, as language is deluged by English terms
Greek is changing - while there are many words in the English language that come from Greek (such as democracy, criterion, galaxy, dinosaur, and cynicism) the pandemic has produced ‘fertile ground’ for English terminology in the classical language. And not everybody is happy.
Deaf people face unique challenges as pandemic drags on
After spending five days at a mental health hospital in October, Quinn West left feeling as though they hadn’t gained much from their stay. They spent most of their time in their room, finding group therapy pointless because, as a Deaf person, they couldn’t fully participate in conversations.
UK electricity from renewables outpaces gas and coal power
Well, this is positive: The UK’s renewable electricity outpaced its fossil fuel generation for the first time in 2020 and could remain the largest source of electricity in the future, according to a climate thinktank.
From waste to play space: the project turning India's scrap into playgrounds
Realising safe play places were in short supply while waste materials were abundant, a group of friends has set about transforming life for India’s children.
UK supermarkets not doing enough to cut plastic use, says report
This is less positive: The ten biggest retailers produced 900,000 tonnes of packaging and 2bn plastic bags in 2017. Iceland was ranked bottom for plastic reduction as increases in plastic from branded goods offset progress in its own-brand products.
Amsterdam Is Embracing a New Economic Theory to Help Save the Environment. Could It Replace Capitalism?
One evening in December, after a long day working from home, Jennifer Drouin, 30, headed out to buy groceries in central Amsterdam. Once inside, she noticed new price tags. The label by the zucchini said they cost a little more than normal: 6¢ extra per kilo for their carbon footprint, 5¢ for the toll the farming takes on the land, and 4¢ to fairly pay workers.
This is the ‘true-price initiative’.
After Covid, will digital learning be the new normal?
Media reports suggest that students hate online learning and want their money back. Meanwhile, teachers say they’re busier, and more stressed, than ever - so if anything maybe it should be more expensive? Whatever, it’s likely that (finally) we have embraced the potential of eLearning, even if we’re not all doing it particularly well. However, in the rush to ‘the new normal’, significant sections of the population are being left behind. We don’t all have broadband and video cameras. Or even our own space in which to study.
'Touching fish' craze sees China's youth find ways to laze amid '996' work culture
On the Chinese microblogging platform Weibo, enthusiastic slackers share their tips: fill up a thermos with whisky, do planks or stretches in the work pantry at regular intervals, drink litres of water to prompt lots of trips to the toilet on work time and, once there, spend time on social media or playing games on your phone.
“Not working hard is everyone’s basic right,” said one netizen. “With or without legal protection, everyone has the right to not work hard.”
Parkinson’s meds are hard to grab, so TikTok users crowdsourced a solution
Jimmy Choi’s TikTok page is filled with the typical videos of a high-level athlete: clips of himself doing one-armed pushups, climbing ropes, holding planks with weights on his back. If you look closely, though, you’ll notice that even before he begins his feats of strength and endurance, his hands are shaking.
Cut food waste at home by sniffing and tasting, urges new campaign
Yoghurts are one of the foods being targeted as having flexible consumption dates.
Right - that’s it for this edition
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