Some high-tech prosthetic limbs can be controlled by their owners, using nerves, muscles, or even the brain. However, there’s no way for the wearer to tell if an object is scalding hot, or about to slip out of the appendage’s grasp.
Materials that detect heat, pressure, and moisture could help change this by adding sensory capabilities to prosthetics. A group of Korean and U.S. researchers have now developed a polymer designed to mimic the elastic and high-resolution sensory capabilities of real skin.
Aprovechando que estos días La Caixa ha premiado a la firma guipuzcoana Irisbond en el concurso Emprendedor XXI, es un buen momento para hablar de los cambios que está viviendo y va a vivir el sector cerrajero. Se trata de una de las industrias con mayor tradición en el País Vasco, especialmente en el entorno de Mondragón, localidad que prosperó precisamente de la mano de varias empresas que fabricaban llaves.
El espíritu emprendedor sigue creciendo. La creación de sociedades mercantiles ha aumentado en octubre un 2,9%, hasta 7.983, según ha anunciado hoy el Instituto Nacional de Estadística. Por su parte, la disolución de compañías se ha mantenido en las 1.830, en línea con el mismo mes de 2013.
Camptecnológico-k zientziaren, teknologiaren, ingeniaritzaren eta matematiken arloan gazteen interesa piztu nahi du. Horretarako, hainbat ekintza antolatzen ditu, ikastaroak eta udalekuak adibidez, gure ikasleek modu dibertigarri batean ikastea posible dela ikusi dezaten.
Jarduera guzti hauek, abenduaren 29,30 eta 31n eta urtarrilaren 2an egingo dira 9:00etatik 14:00etara eta Lehen Hezkuntzako 1. eta 2. mailako eta DBHko ikasleei zuzenduta daude. Zabalik dago aurretik robotikako campus batean parte hartu dutenentzat eta lehenengo aldiz parte hartuko dutenentzat.
Even after suffering a 15 percent stock rout (MBLY:US) last month, Mobileye NV’s valuation is six times richer (MBLY:US) than industry peers. That’s cheap enough for Deutsche Bank AG, which upgraded the shares to a buy last week.
Canadian researchers have developed “smart textiles” able to monitor and transmit wearers’ biomedical information via wireless or cellular network by superimposing multiple layers of copper, polymers, glass, and silver.
“The fiber acts as both sensor and antenna. It is durable but malleable, and can be woven with wool or cotton, and signal quality is comparable to commercial antennas,” explained Professor Younes Messaddeq at Université Laval’s Faculty of Science and Engineering and Centre for Optics, Photonics and Lasers.
“The surface of the fiber can also be adjusted to monitor a range of information, such as glucose levels, heart rhythm, brain activity, movements, and spatial coordinates.”
Young biotech startups accepted into Y Combinator’s latest batch are going to get a leg up on research thanks to a partnership between YC and one of the batch’s older startups.
Founded three years ago, Transcriptic provides automated lab work to 60 organizations (both private and in academia). It’s raised about $6 million so far, allowing the team to grow to 18 members, including specialists in hardware and software, as well as the actual task of running tests in a lab environment.
Instacart, the home grocery delivery service that launched back in 2012, is close to raising a massive Series C round of funding north of $100 million, according to sources. The raise will value the startup at $2 billion, or more than quadruple the $400 million valuation of its Series B financing from June.
Including this round, Instacart has raised a total of $154.8 million with other investors that include Andreessen Horowitz, Sequoia, Khosla Ventures, Canaan Partners, Y Combinator boss Sam Altman and Box founder Aaron Levie.
Performance Lab’s CEO Waynne Dartnall repeated the point so many times it began to sound like a mantra: All the step counts, feet climbed, distance run, and calories burned data we’re collecting with our fitness wearables is just a bunch of numbers that don’t mean much. What we need is a system that translates the numbers into real, actionable insights in real time.
He’s right. There’s no shortage of apps and devices that generate numeric data but stop there. We need technology that interprets it all, but, so far, the attempts we’ve seen to do that have been clunky.
Tech accelerators are popping up everywhere. According to a recent report, the estimated number of accelerators around the world is anywhere from 300 to over 2,000, spanning six continents. Most of the programs follow the same format: you pitch your concept, get accepted, get mentored, code for three months, and hopefully get funded. These programs have proven successful for a number of startups, but until recently they’ve all failed to address the amount of innovation that already exists and is just waiting to be commercialized.
