There are innovations happening right now that are ripped straight from the pages of science-fiction. Whether that is robots that can read minds, bionic eyes, smartwatches that are powered by your sweat or plenty of other mind-blowing technology, there is a lot to expect from the world of future technology. Below we\u2019ve picked out some of the biggest and most interesting ideas.<\/p>\n
Brain reading robots<\/h2>\n ![\""\u00a9\"]( "\\"\"robot\\"")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div> Robot arm being used with brain signals \u00a9 Alain Herzog 2021 EPFL<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\nNo longer a science fiction trope, the use of brain reading technology has improved hugely in recent years. One of the most interesting and practical uses we\u2019ve seen tested so far comes from researchers at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL).<\/p>\n
Thanks to a machine-learning algorithm, a robot arm and a brain-computer interface, these researchers have managed to create a means for tetraplegic patients (those who can\u2019t move their upper or lower body) to interact with the world<\/a>.<\/p>\nIn tests, the robot arm would perform simple tasks like moving around an obstacle. The algorithm would then interprets signals from the brain using an EEG cap and automatically determine when the arm had made a move that the brain considered incorrect, for example moving too close to the obstacle or going too fast.<\/p>\n
Over time the algorithm can then adjust to the individuals preferences and brain signals. In the future this could lead to wheelchairs controlled by the brain or assistance machines for tetraplegic patients.<\/p>\n
3D printed bones<\/h2>\n ![\""\u00a9\"]( "\\"\"img_7868_336\"\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div> 3D printed bone implant \u00a9 Ossiform<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n3D printing is an industry promising everything from cheap house building through to affordable rugged armour, but one of the most interesting uses of the technology is the building of 3D printed bones.<\/p>\n
The company Ossiform<\/a> specialises in medical 3D printing, creating patient-specific replacements of different bones from tricalcium phosphate \u2013 a material with similar properties to human bones.<\/p>\nUsing these 3D printed bones is surprisingly easy. A hospital can perform an MRI which is then sent to Ossiform who create a 3D model of the patient-specific implant that is needed. The surgeon accepts the design and then once it is printed, it can be used in surgery.<\/p>\n
What is special about these 3D printed bones is that because of the use of tricalcium phosphate, the body will remodel the implants into vascularised bone. That means they will enable the full restoration of function that the bone it is replacing had. To achieve the best integration possible, the implants are of a porous structure and feature large pores and canals for cells to attach to and reform bone.<\/p>\n
Lab-made dairy products<\/h2>\n
You\u2019ve heard of cultured \u201cmeat\u201d and Wagyu steaks grown cell by cell in a laboratory, but what about other animal-based foodstuffs? A growing number of biotech companies around the world are investigating lab-made dairy, including milk, ice-cream, cheese and eggs. And more than one think they\u2019ve cracked it.<\/p>\n
The dairy industry is not environmentally friendly, not even close. It\u2019s responsible for 4 per cent of the world\u2019s carbon emissions, more than air travel and shipping combined, and demand is growing for a greener splash to pour into our tea cups and cereal bowls.<\/p>\n
Compared with meat, milk isn\u2019t actually that difficult to create in a lab. Rather than grow it from stem cells, most researchers attempt to produce it in a process of fermentation, looking to produce the milk proteins whey and casein. Some products are already at market in the US, from companies such as Perfect Day, with ongoing work focused on reproducing the mouthfeel and nutritional benefits of regular cow\u2019s milk.<\/p>\n
Beyond that, researchers are working on lab-produced mozzarella that melts perfectly on top of a pizza, as well other cheeses and ice-cream.<\/p>\n
Hydrogen planes<\/h2>\n
Carbon emissions are a huge concern when it comes to commercial flights, but there is a potential solution and it has received a lot of funding.<\/p>\n
A \u00a315 million UK project has unveiled plans for a hydrogen-powered<\/a> plane. This project is known as Fly Zero<\/a> and is being led by the Aerospace Technology Institute in conjunction with the UK government.<\/p>\nThe project has come up with a concept for a mid-size plane powered completely by liquid hydrogen. It would have the capacity to fly roughly 279 passengers halfway around the world without stopping.<\/p>\n
If this technology could be actualised, it could mean a zero-carbon flight with no stops between London and Western America or London to New Zealand with a single stop.<\/p>\n
Digital \u201ctwins\u201d that track your health<\/h2>\n ![\""Q\"]( "\\"\"Q-Bio-Gemini-Dashboard-1500x1013\"\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div> The Q Bio dashboard where users can track their health \u00a9 Q Bio<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\nIn Star Trek<\/em>, where many of our ideas of future technology germinated, human beings can walk into the medbay and have their entire body digitally scanned for signs of illness and injury. Doing that in real life would, say the makers of Q Bio, improve health outcomes and alleviate the load on doctors at the same time.<\/p>\nThe US company has built a scanner that will measure hundreds of biomarkers in around an hour, from hormone levels to the fat building up in your liver to the markers of inflammation or any number of cancers. It intends to use this data to produce a 3D digital avatar of a patient\u2019s body \u2013 known as a digital twin \u2013 that can be tracked over time and updated with each new scan.<\/p>\n
Q Bio CEO Jeff Kaditz hopes it will lead to a new era of preventative, personalised medicine in which the vast amounts of data collected not only help doctors prioritise which patients need to be seen most urgently, but also to develop more sophisticated ways of diagnosing illness. Read an interview with him here.<\/a><\/p>\nVirtual reality universes<\/h2>\n
After making its dramatic name change, the company once known as Facebook has become Meta. This marks Zuckerberg and his huge team\u2019s move into the metaverse<\/a> \u2013 an embodied internet mostly accessed through virtual and augmented reality.<\/p>\nAs part of this move, we will start to see Meta putting more time into equipment for accessing this new world \u2013 mostly in VR. Announced back in 2021, Meta has been developing a new headset under the title \u2018Project Cambria\u2019.<\/p>\n
Unlike the brand\u2019s previous VR ventures like the Oculus Quest 2, this won\u2019t be a device for the average consumer, instead looking to offer the best VR experience they can make.<\/p>\n
The Cambria has been reported to be focused on advanced eye and face tracking (to improve accuracy of avatars and your in-game movements), a higher resolution, increased field-of-view and even trying to make the headset significantly smaller.<\/p>\n
Between Meta, Google, Sony and plenty of other big tech companies, VR is getting lots of funding right now and will be seeing drastic improvements in the next couple of years.<\/p>\n
Direct air capture<\/strong><\/h2>\nThrough the process of photosynthesis, trees have remained one of the best ways to reduce the levels of CO2 in the atmosphere. However, new technology could perform the same role as trees, absorbing carbon dioxide at greater levels while also taking up less land.<\/p>\n
This technology is known as Direct Air Capture<\/a> (DAC). It involves taking carbon dioxide from the air and either storing the CO2<\/sub> in deep geological caves under ground, or using it in combination with hydrogen to produce synthetic fuels.<\/p>\nWhile this technology has great potential, it has a lot of complications right now. There are now direct air capture facilities up and running, but the current models require a huge amount of energy to run. If the energy levels can be reduced in the future, DAC could prove to be one of the best technological advances for the future of the environment.<\/p>\n
Green funerals<\/h2>\n
Sustainable living is becoming a priority for individuals squaring up to the realities of the climate crisis, but what about eco-friendly dying? Death tends to be a carbon-heavy process, one last stamp of our ecological footprint. The average cremation reportedly releases 400kg of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, for example. So what\u2019s a greener way to go?<\/p>\n
In Washington State in the US, you could be composted instead. Bodies are laid in chambers with bark, soil, straw and other compounds that promote natural decomposition. Within 30 days, your body is reduced to soil that can be returned to a garden or woodland. Recompose, the company behind the process, claims it uses an eighth of the carbon dioxide of a cremation.<\/p>\n
An alternative technology uses fungi. In 2019, the late actor Luke Perry was buried in a bespoke \u201cmushroom suit\u201d designed by a start-up called Coeio. The company claims its suit, made with mushrooms and other microorganisms that aid decomposition and neutralise toxins that are realised when a body usually decays.<\/p>\n
Most alternative ways of disposing of our bodies after death are not based on new technology; they\u2019re just waiting for societal acceptance to catch up. Another example is alkaline hydrolysis, which involves breaking the body down into its chemical components over a six-hour process in a pressurised chamber. It\u2019s legal in a number of US states and uses fewer emissions compared with more traditional methods.<\/p>\n
Artificial eyes<\/h2>\n
Bionic eyes have been a mainstay of science fiction for decades, but now real-world research is beginning to catch up with far-sighted storytellers. A raft of technologies is coming to market that restore sight to people with different kinds of vision impairment.<\/p>\n
In January 2021, Israeli surgeons implanted the world\u2019s first artificial cornea into a bilaterally blind, 78-year-old man. When his bandages were removed, the patient could read and recognise family members immediately. The implant also fuses naturally to human tissue without the recipient\u2019s body rejecting it.<\/p>\n
Likewise in 2020, Belgian scientists developed an artificial iris fitted to smart contact lenses that correct a number of vision disorders. And scientists are even working on wireless brain implants that bypass the eyes altogether.<\/p>\n
Researchers at Montash University in Australia are working on trials for a system whereby users wear a pair of glasses fitted with a camera. This sends data directly to the implant, which sits on the surface of the brain and gives the user a rudimentary sense of sight.<\/p>\n
Airports for drones and flying taxis<\/h2>\n
Our congested cities are in desperate need of a breather and relief may come from the air as opposed to the roads. Plans for a different kind of transport hub \u2013 one for delivery drones and electric air-taxis \u2013 are becoming a reality, with the first Urban Air Port<\/a> receiving funding from the UK government.<\/p>\nIt\u2019s being built in Coventry. The hub will be a pilot scheme and hopefully a proof of concept for the company behind it. Powered completely off-grid by a hydrogen generator, the idea is to remove the need for as many delivery vans and personal cars on our roads, replacing them with a clean alternative in the form of a new type of small aircraft, with designs being developed by Huyundai and Airbus, amongst others.<\/p>\n
Infrastructure is going to be important. Organisations like the Civil Aviation Authority are looking into the establishment of air corridors that might link a city centre with a local airport or distribution centre.<\/p>\n
Energy storing bricks<\/h2>\n
Scientists have found a way to store energy in the red bricks that are used to build houses.<\/p>\n
Researchers led by Washington University in St Louis, in Missouri, US, have developed a method that can turn the cheap and widely available building material into \u201csmart bricks\u201d that can store energy like a battery.<\/p>\n
Although the research is still in the proof-of-concept stage, the scientists claim that walls made of these bricks \u201ccould store a substantial amount of energy\u201d and can \u201cbe recharged hundreds of thousands of times within an hour\u201d.<\/p>\n
![\""Red\"]( "\\"\"Red\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div> Red brick device developed by chemists at Washington University in St. Louis lights up a green light-emitting diode \u00a9 D\u2019Arcy laboratory\/ Washington University in St. Louis<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\nThe researchers developed a method to convert red bricks into a type of energy storage device called a supercapacitor.<\/p>\n
This involved putting a conducting coating, known as Pedot, onto brick samples, which then seeped through the fired bricks\u2019 porous structure, converting them into \u201cenergy storing electrodes\u201d.<\/p>\n
Iron oxide, which is the red pigment in the bricks, helped with the process, the researchers said.<\/p>\n
Sweat powered smartwatches<\/h2>\n
Engineers at the University of Glasgow have developed a new type of flexible supercapacitor<\/a>, which stores energy, replacing the electrolytes found in conventional batteries with sweat.<\/p>\nIt can be fully charged with as little as 20 microlitres of fluid and is robust enough to survive 4,000 cycles of the types of flexes and bends it might encounter in use.<\/p>\n
The device works by coating polyester cellulose cloth in a thin layer of a polymer, which acts as the supercapacitor\u2019s electrode.<\/p>\n
As the cloth absorbs its wearer\u2019s sweat, the positive and negative ions in the sweat interact with the polymer\u2019s surface, creating an electrochemical reaction which generates energy.<\/p>\n
![\""Sweat\"]( "\\"\"Sweat\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>\n\u201cConventional batteries are cheaper and more plentiful than ever before but they are often built using unsustainable materials which are harmful to the environment,\u201d says Professor Ravinder Dahiya<\/a>, head of the Bendable Electronics and Sensing Technologies (Best) group, based at the University of Glasgow\u2019s James Watt School of Engineering.<\/p>\n\u201cThat makes them challenging to dispose of safely and potentially harmful in wearable devices, where a broken battery could spill toxic fluids on to skin.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat we\u2019ve been able to do for the first time is show that human sweat provides a real opportunity to do away with those toxic materials entirely, with excellent charging and discharging performance.<\/p>\n
Self-healing \u2018living concrete\u2019<\/h2>\n ![\""Bacteria\"]( "\\"\"Bacteria\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div> Bacteria growing and mineralising in the sand-hydrogel structure \u00a9 Colorado University Boulder\/PA<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\nScientists have developed what they call living concrete by using sand, gel and bacteria.<\/p>\n
Researchers said this building material has structural load-bearing function,\u00a0is capable of self-healing<\/a>\u00a0and is more environmentally friendly than concrete \u2013 which is the second most-consumed material on Earth after water.<\/p>\nThe team from the University of Colorado Boulder believe their work paves the way for future building structures that could \u201cheal their own cracks, suck up dangerous toxins from the air or even glow on command\u201d.<\/p>\n
Living robots<\/h2>\n ![\""Scientists\"]( "\\"\"Scientists\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div> \u00a9 Douglas Blackiston\/Tufts University\/PA<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\nTiny hybrid robots made using stem cells<\/a> from frog embryos could one day be used to swim around human bodies to specific areas requiring medicine, or to gather microplastic in the oceans.<\/p>\n\u201cThese are novel living machines,\u201d said Joshua Bongard<\/a>, a computer scientist and robotics expert at the University of Vermont, who co-developed the millimetre-wide bots, known as xenobots.<\/p>\n\u201cThey\u2019re neither a traditional robot nor a known species of animal. It\u2019s a new class of artefact: a living, programmable organism.\u201d<\/p>\n
Internet for everyone<\/h2>\n ![\""Hiber\"]( "\\"\"Hiber\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div> Hiber microsatellite<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\nWe can\u2019t seem to live without the internet (how else would you read sciencefocus.com?), but still only around half the world\u2019s population is connected. There are many reasons for this, including economic and social reasons, but for some the internet just isn\u2019t accessible because they have no connection.<\/p>\n
Google is slowly trying to solve the problem using helium balloons<\/a> to beam the internet to inaccessible areas, while Facebook has abandoned plans<\/a> to do the same using drones, which means companies like Hiber<\/a> are stealing a march. They have taken a different approach by launching their own network of shoebox-sized microsatellites into low Earth orbit, which wake up a modem plugged into your computer or device when it flies over and delivers your data.<\/p>\nTheir satellites orbit the Earth 16 times a day and are already being used by organisations like The British Antarctic Survey to provide internet access to very extreme of our planet.<\/p>\n
Read more about future technology:<\/strong><\/p>\n- Dude, where\u2019s my flying car? 11 future technologies we\u2019re still waiting for<\/a><\/li>\n
- Exciting new green technology of the future<\/a><\/li>\n
- Future tech: The most exciting innovations from CES 2022<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>
Coffee power<\/h2>\n
London\u2019s coffee industry creates over 200,000 tonnes of waste every year, so what do we do with it? Entrepreneur Arthur Kay\u2019s big idea is to use his company,\u00a0bio-bean<\/a>, to turn 85 per cent of coffee waste into biofuels for heating buildings and powering transport. Already the world\u2019s largest recycler of coffee waste, the company collects coffee grounds from large chains and restaurants as well as smaller coffee shops, and transports them to its processing plant in Cambridgeshire.<\/p>\nThere, the grounds are dried and processed before being used to create products such as pellets or logs for biofuel, bio plastics or flavourings.<\/p>\n
Drown forest fires in sound<\/h2>\n
Forest fires could one day be dealt with by drones that would direct loud noises at the trees below<\/a>. Since sound is made up of pressure waves, it can be used to disrupt the air surrounding a fire, essentially cutting off the supply of oxygen to the fuel. At the right frequency, the fire simply dies out, as researchers at George Mason University in Virginia recently demonstrated with their sonic extinguisher. Apparently, bass frequencies work best.<\/p>\nThe AI scientist<\/h2>\n
Cut off a flatworm\u2019s head, and it\u2019ll grow a new one. Cut it in half, and you\u2019ll have two new worms. Fire some radiation at it, and it\u2019ll repair itself. Scientists have wanted to work out the mechanisms involved for some time, but the secret has eluded them. Enter an AI coded at Tufts University, Massachusetts<\/a>. By analysing and simulating countless scenarios, the computer was able to solve the mystery of the flatworm\u2019s regeneration in just 42 hours. In the end it produced a comprehensive model of how the flatworm\u2019s genes allow it to regenerate.<\/p>\nAlthough humans still need to feed the AI with information, the machine in this experiment was able to create a new, abstract theory independently \u2013 a huge step towards the development of a conscious computer, and potentially a landmark step in the way we carry out research.<\/p>\n
Car batteries that charge in 10 minutes<\/h2>\n ![\""This\"]( "\\"\"This\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div> This picture shows a fast-charging battery invented by Chao-Yang Wang Group \u00a9 Chao-Yang Wang Group<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n\nFast-charging of electric vehicles is seen as key to their take-up, so motorists can stop at a service station and fully charge their car in the time it takes to get a coffee and use the toilet \u2013 taking no longer than a conventional break.<\/p>\n
But rapid charging of lithium-ion batteries can degrade the batteries, researchers at Penn State University in the US say.\u00a0This is because the flow of lithium particles known as ions from one\u00a0electrode to another to charge the unit and hold the energy ready for use does not happen smoothly with rapid charging at lower temperatures.<\/p>\n
However, they have now found that if the batteries could heat to 60\u00b0C for just 10 minutes and then rapidly cool again to ambient temperatures, lithium spikes would not form<\/a> and heat damage would be avoided.<\/p>\nThe battery design they have come up with is self-heating, using a thin nickel foil which creates an electrical circuit that heats in less than 30 seconds to warm the inside of the battery.\u00a0The rapid cooling that would be needed after the battery is charged would be done using the cooling system designed into the car.<\/p>\n
Their study, published in the journal Joule<\/em>, showed they could fully charge an electrical vehicle in 10 minutes.<\/p>\n<\/div>\nArtificial neurons on silicon chips<\/h2>\n
![\""\u00a9\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/4\/2022\/01\/robot-photos-d2e909d.jpeg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413"\" "\\"\"robot\\"")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>No longer a science fiction trope, the use of brain reading technology has improved hugely in recent years. One of the most interesting and practical uses we\u2019ve seen tested so far comes from researchers at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL).<\/p>\n
Thanks to a machine-learning algorithm, a robot arm and a brain-computer interface, these researchers have managed to create a means for tetraplegic patients (those who can\u2019t move their upper or lower body) to interact with the world<\/a>.<\/p>\n In tests, the robot arm would perform simple tasks like moving around an obstacle. The algorithm would then interprets signals from the brain using an EEG cap and automatically determine when the arm had made a move that the brain considered incorrect, for example moving too close to the obstacle or going too fast.<\/p>\n Over time the algorithm can then adjust to the individuals preferences and brain signals. In the future this could lead to wheelchairs controlled by the brain or assistance machines for tetraplegic patients.<\/p>\n 3D printing is an industry promising everything from cheap house building through to affordable rugged armour, but one of the most interesting uses of the technology is the building of 3D printed bones.<\/p>\n The company Ossiform<\/a> specialises in medical 3D printing, creating patient-specific replacements of different bones from tricalcium phosphate \u2013 a material with similar properties to human bones.<\/p>\n Using these 3D printed bones is surprisingly easy. A hospital can perform an MRI which is then sent to Ossiform who create a 3D model of the patient-specific implant that is needed. The surgeon accepts the design and then once it is printed, it can be used in surgery.<\/p>\n What is special about these 3D printed bones is that because of the use of tricalcium phosphate, the body will remodel the implants into vascularised bone. That means they will enable the full restoration of function that the bone it is replacing had. To achieve the best integration possible, the implants are of a porous structure and feature large pores and canals for cells to attach to and reform bone.<\/p>\n You\u2019ve heard of cultured \u201cmeat\u201d and Wagyu steaks grown cell by cell in a laboratory, but what about other animal-based foodstuffs? A growing number of biotech companies around the world are investigating lab-made dairy, including milk, ice-cream, cheese and eggs. And more than one think they\u2019ve cracked it.<\/p>\n The dairy industry is not environmentally friendly, not even close. It\u2019s responsible for 4 per cent of the world\u2019s carbon emissions, more than air travel and shipping combined, and demand is growing for a greener splash to pour into our tea cups and cereal bowls.<\/p>\n Compared with meat, milk isn\u2019t actually that difficult to create in a lab. Rather than grow it from stem cells, most researchers attempt to produce it in a process of fermentation, looking to produce the milk proteins whey and casein. Some products are already at market in the US, from companies such as Perfect Day, with ongoing work focused on reproducing the mouthfeel and nutritional benefits of regular cow\u2019s milk.<\/p>\n Beyond that, researchers are working on lab-produced mozzarella that melts perfectly on top of a pizza, as well other cheeses and ice-cream.<\/p>\n Carbon emissions are a huge concern when it comes to commercial flights, but there is a potential solution and it has received a lot of funding.<\/p>\n A \u00a315 million UK project has unveiled plans for a hydrogen-powered<\/a> plane. This project is known as Fly Zero<\/a> and is being led by the Aerospace Technology Institute in conjunction with the UK government.<\/p>\n The project has come up with a concept for a mid-size plane powered completely by liquid hydrogen. It would have the capacity to fly roughly 279 passengers halfway around the world without stopping.<\/p>\n If this technology could be actualised, it could mean a zero-carbon flight with no stops between London and Western America or London to New Zealand with a single stop.<\/p>\n In Star Trek<\/em>, where many of our ideas of future technology germinated, human beings can walk into the medbay and have their entire body digitally scanned for signs of illness and injury. Doing that in real life would, say the makers of Q Bio, improve health outcomes and alleviate the load on doctors at the same time.<\/p>\n The US company has built a scanner that will measure hundreds of biomarkers in around an hour, from hormone levels to the fat building up in your liver to the markers of inflammation or any number of cancers. It intends to use this data to produce a 3D digital avatar of a patient\u2019s body \u2013 known as a digital twin \u2013 that can be tracked over time and updated with each new scan.<\/p>\n Q Bio CEO Jeff Kaditz hopes it will lead to a new era of preventative, personalised medicine in which the vast amounts of data collected not only help doctors prioritise which patients need to be seen most urgently, but also to develop more sophisticated ways of diagnosing illness. Read an interview with him here.<\/a><\/p>\n After making its dramatic name change, the company once known as Facebook has become Meta. This marks Zuckerberg and his huge team\u2019s move into the metaverse<\/a> \u2013 an embodied internet mostly accessed through virtual and augmented reality.<\/p>\n As part of this move, we will start to see Meta putting more time into equipment for accessing this new world \u2013 mostly in VR. Announced back in 2021, Meta has been developing a new headset under the title \u2018Project Cambria\u2019.<\/p>\n Unlike the brand\u2019s previous VR ventures like the Oculus Quest 2, this won\u2019t be a device for the average consumer, instead looking to offer the best VR experience they can make.<\/p>\n The Cambria has been reported to be focused on advanced eye and face tracking (to improve accuracy of avatars and your in-game movements), a higher resolution, increased field-of-view and even trying to make the headset significantly smaller.<\/p>\n Between Meta, Google, Sony and plenty of other big tech companies, VR is getting lots of funding right now and will be seeing drastic improvements in the next couple of years.<\/p>\n Through the process of photosynthesis, trees have remained one of the best ways to reduce the levels of CO2 in the atmosphere. However, new technology could perform the same role as trees, absorbing carbon dioxide at greater levels while also taking up less land.<\/p>\n This technology is known as Direct Air Capture<\/a> (DAC). It involves taking carbon dioxide from the air and either storing the CO2<\/sub> in deep geological caves under ground, or using it in combination with hydrogen to produce synthetic fuels.<\/p>\n While this technology has great potential, it has a lot of complications right now. There are now direct air capture facilities up and running, but the current models require a huge amount of energy to run. If the energy levels can be reduced in the future, DAC could prove to be one of the best technological advances for the future of the environment.<\/p>\n Sustainable living is becoming a priority for individuals squaring up to the realities of the climate crisis, but what about eco-friendly dying? Death tends to be a carbon-heavy process, one last stamp of our ecological footprint. The average cremation reportedly releases 400kg of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, for example. So what\u2019s a greener way to go?<\/p>\n In Washington State in the US, you could be composted instead. Bodies are laid in chambers with bark, soil, straw and other compounds that promote natural decomposition. Within 30 days, your body is reduced to soil that can be returned to a garden or woodland. Recompose, the company behind the process, claims it uses an eighth of the carbon dioxide of a cremation.<\/p>\n An alternative technology uses fungi. In 2019, the late actor Luke Perry was buried in a bespoke \u201cmushroom suit\u201d designed by a start-up called Coeio. The company claims its suit, made with mushrooms and other microorganisms that aid decomposition and neutralise toxins that are realised when a body usually decays.<\/p>\n Most alternative ways of disposing of our bodies after death are not based on new technology; they\u2019re just waiting for societal acceptance to catch up. Another example is alkaline hydrolysis, which involves breaking the body down into its chemical components over a six-hour process in a pressurised chamber. It\u2019s legal in a number of US states and uses fewer emissions compared with more traditional methods.<\/p>\n Bionic eyes have been a mainstay of science fiction for decades, but now real-world research is beginning to catch up with far-sighted storytellers. A raft of technologies is coming to market that restore sight to people with different kinds of vision impairment.<\/p>\n In January 2021, Israeli surgeons implanted the world\u2019s first artificial cornea into a bilaterally blind, 78-year-old man. When his bandages were removed, the patient could read and recognise family members immediately. The implant also fuses naturally to human tissue without the recipient\u2019s body rejecting it.<\/p>\n Likewise in 2020, Belgian scientists developed an artificial iris fitted to smart contact lenses that correct a number of vision disorders. And scientists are even working on wireless brain implants that bypass the eyes altogether.<\/p>\n Researchers at Montash University in Australia are working on trials for a system whereby users wear a pair of glasses fitted with a camera. This sends data directly to the implant, which sits on the surface of the brain and gives the user a rudimentary sense of sight.<\/p>\n Our congested cities are in desperate need of a breather and relief may come from the air as opposed to the roads. Plans for a different kind of transport hub \u2013 one for delivery drones and electric air-taxis \u2013 are becoming a reality, with the first Urban Air Port<\/a> receiving funding from the UK government.<\/p>\n It\u2019s being built in Coventry. The hub will be a pilot scheme and hopefully a proof of concept for the company behind it. Powered completely off-grid by a hydrogen generator, the idea is to remove the need for as many delivery vans and personal cars on our roads, replacing them with a clean alternative in the form of a new type of small aircraft, with designs being developed by Huyundai and Airbus, amongst others.<\/p>\n Infrastructure is going to be important. Organisations like the Civil Aviation Authority are looking into the establishment of air corridors that might link a city centre with a local airport or distribution centre.<\/p>\n Scientists have found a way to store energy in the red bricks that are used to build houses.<\/p>\n Researchers led by Washington University in St Louis, in Missouri, US, have developed a method that can turn the cheap and widely available building material into \u201csmart bricks\u201d that can store energy like a battery.<\/p>\n Although the research is still in the proof-of-concept stage, the scientists claim that walls made of these bricks \u201ccould store a substantial amount of energy\u201d and can \u201cbe recharged hundreds of thousands of times within an hour\u201d.<\/p>\n The researchers developed a method to convert red bricks into a type of energy storage device called a supercapacitor.<\/p>\n This involved putting a conducting coating, known as Pedot, onto brick samples, which then seeped through the fired bricks\u2019 porous structure, converting them into \u201cenergy storing electrodes\u201d.<\/p>\n Iron oxide, which is the red pigment in the bricks, helped with the process, the researchers said.<\/p>\n Engineers at the University of Glasgow have developed a new type of flexible supercapacitor<\/a>, which stores energy, replacing the electrolytes found in conventional batteries with sweat.<\/p>\n It can be fully charged with as little as 20 microlitres of fluid and is robust enough to survive 4,000 cycles of the types of flexes and bends it might encounter in use.<\/p>\n The device works by coating polyester cellulose cloth in a thin layer of a polymer, which acts as the supercapacitor\u2019s electrode.<\/p>\n As the cloth absorbs its wearer\u2019s sweat, the positive and negative ions in the sweat interact with the polymer\u2019s surface, creating an electrochemical reaction which generates energy.<\/p>\n \u201cConventional batteries are cheaper and more plentiful than ever before but they are often built using unsustainable materials which are harmful to the environment,\u201d says Professor Ravinder Dahiya<\/a>, head of the Bendable Electronics and Sensing Technologies (Best) group, based at the University of Glasgow\u2019s James Watt School of Engineering.<\/p>\n \u201cThat makes them challenging to dispose of safely and potentially harmful in wearable devices, where a broken battery could spill toxic fluids on to skin.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat we\u2019ve been able to do for the first time is show that human sweat provides a real opportunity to do away with those toxic materials entirely, with excellent charging and discharging performance.<\/p>\n Scientists have developed what they call living concrete by using sand, gel and bacteria.<\/p>\n Researchers said this building material has structural load-bearing function,\u00a0is capable of self-healing<\/a>\u00a0and is more environmentally friendly than concrete \u2013 which is the second most-consumed material on Earth after water.<\/p>\n The team from the University of Colorado Boulder believe their work paves the way for future building structures that could \u201cheal their own cracks, suck up dangerous toxins from the air or even glow on command\u201d.<\/p>\n Tiny hybrid robots made using stem cells<\/a> from frog embryos could one day be used to swim around human bodies to specific areas requiring medicine, or to gather microplastic in the oceans.<\/p>\n \u201cThese are novel living machines,\u201d said Joshua Bongard<\/a>, a computer scientist and robotics expert at the University of Vermont, who co-developed the millimetre-wide bots, known as xenobots.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019re neither a traditional robot nor a known species of animal. It\u2019s a new class of artefact: a living, programmable organism.\u201d<\/p>\n We can\u2019t seem to live without the internet (how else would you read sciencefocus.com?), but still only around half the world\u2019s population is connected. There are many reasons for this, including economic and social reasons, but for some the internet just isn\u2019t accessible because they have no connection.<\/p>\n Google is slowly trying to solve the problem using helium balloons<\/a> to beam the internet to inaccessible areas, while Facebook has abandoned plans<\/a> to do the same using drones, which means companies like Hiber<\/a> are stealing a march. They have taken a different approach by launching their own network of shoebox-sized microsatellites into low Earth orbit, which wake up a modem plugged into your computer or device when it flies over and delivers your data.<\/p>\n Their satellites orbit the Earth 16 times a day and are already being used by organisations like The British Antarctic Survey to provide internet access to very extreme of our planet.<\/p>\n Read more about future technology:<\/strong><\/p>\n London\u2019s coffee industry creates over 200,000 tonnes of waste every year, so what do we do with it? Entrepreneur Arthur Kay\u2019s big idea is to use his company,\u00a0bio-bean<\/a>, to turn 85 per cent of coffee waste into biofuels for heating buildings and powering transport. Already the world\u2019s largest recycler of coffee waste, the company collects coffee grounds from large chains and restaurants as well as smaller coffee shops, and transports them to its processing plant in Cambridgeshire.<\/p>\n There, the grounds are dried and processed before being used to create products such as pellets or logs for biofuel, bio plastics or flavourings.<\/p>\n Forest fires could one day be dealt with by drones that would direct loud noises at the trees below<\/a>. Since sound is made up of pressure waves, it can be used to disrupt the air surrounding a fire, essentially cutting off the supply of oxygen to the fuel. At the right frequency, the fire simply dies out, as researchers at George Mason University in Virginia recently demonstrated with their sonic extinguisher. Apparently, bass frequencies work best.<\/p>\n Cut off a flatworm\u2019s head, and it\u2019ll grow a new one. Cut it in half, and you\u2019ll have two new worms. Fire some radiation at it, and it\u2019ll repair itself. Scientists have wanted to work out the mechanisms involved for some time, but the secret has eluded them. Enter an AI coded at Tufts University, Massachusetts<\/a>. By analysing and simulating countless scenarios, the computer was able to solve the mystery of the flatworm\u2019s regeneration in just 42 hours. In the end it produced a comprehensive model of how the flatworm\u2019s genes allow it to regenerate.<\/p>\n Although humans still need to feed the AI with information, the machine in this experiment was able to create a new, abstract theory independently \u2013 a huge step towards the development of a conscious computer, and potentially a landmark step in the way we carry out research.<\/p>\n Fast-charging of electric vehicles is seen as key to their take-up, so motorists can stop at a service station and fully charge their car in the time it takes to get a coffee and use the toilet \u2013 taking no longer than a conventional break.<\/p>\n But rapid charging of lithium-ion batteries can degrade the batteries, researchers at Penn State University in the US say.\u00a0This is because the flow of lithium particles known as ions from one\u00a0electrode to another to charge the unit and hold the energy ready for use does not happen smoothly with rapid charging at lower temperatures.<\/p>\n However, they have now found that if the batteries could heat to 60\u00b0C for just 10 minutes and then rapidly cool again to ambient temperatures, lithium spikes would not form<\/a> and heat damage would be avoided.<\/p>\n The battery design they have come up with is self-heating, using a thin nickel foil which creates an electrical circuit that heats in less than 30 seconds to warm the inside of the battery.\u00a0The rapid cooling that would be needed after the battery is charged would be done using the cooling system designed into the car.<\/p>\n Their study, published in the journal Joule<\/em>, showed they could fully charge an electrical vehicle in 10 minutes.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n3D printed bones<\/h2>\n
![\""\u00a9\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/4\/2021\/08\/img_7868_336-228c5ed.jpeg?quality=90&resize=620%2C414"\" "\\"\"img_7868_336\"\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>Lab-made dairy products<\/h2>\n
Hydrogen planes<\/h2>\n
Digital \u201ctwins\u201d that track your health<\/h2>\n
![\""Q\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/4\/2021\/08\/Q-Bio-Gemini-Dashboard-1500x1013-231ca1a.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C419"\" "\\"\"Q-Bio-Gemini-Dashboard-1500x1013\"\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>Virtual reality universes<\/h2>\n
Direct air capture<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Green funerals<\/h2>\n
Artificial eyes<\/h2>\n
Airports for drones and flying taxis<\/h2>\n
Energy storing bricks<\/h2>\n
![\""Red\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/4\/2020\/07\/Red-brick-device-developed-by-chemists-at-Washington-University-in-St.-Louis-lights-up-a-green-light-emitting-diode-DArcy-laboratory-Washington-University-in-St.-Louis-0bad91b.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C520"\" "\\"\"Red\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>Sweat powered smartwatches<\/h2>\n
![\""Sweat\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/4\/2020\/01\/sweat-powered-smartwatches-227df0b.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C283"\" "\\"\"Sweat\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>\nSelf-healing \u2018living concrete\u2019<\/h2>\n
![\""Bacteria\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/4\/2020\/01\/Bacteria-growing-and-mineralising-in-the-sand-hydrogel-structure-\u00a9-Colorado-University-BoulderPA-24541a4.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C414"\" "\\"\"Bacteria\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>Living robots<\/h2>\n
![\""Scientists\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/4\/2019\/11\/Scientists-create-\u2018living-robot\u2019-\u00a9-Douglas-BlackistonTufts-UniversityPA-1e90ac1.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C344"\" "\\"\"Scientists\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>Internet for everyone<\/h2>\n
![\""Hiber\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/4\/2016\/12\/Satelliet_1-1-5f7feb2.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C414"\" "\\"\"Hiber\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>Coffee power<\/h2>\n
Drown forest fires in sound<\/h2>\n
The AI scientist<\/h2>\n
Car batteries that charge in 10 minutes<\/h2>\n
![\""This\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/4\/2019\/11\/215058-63770ea.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C471"\" "\\"\"This\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>Artificial neurons on silicon chips<\/h2>\n