Chapter 3 : Lifestyles

Going invisible

Childhood dreams come true: Quantum Stealth is a material that can make things and people almost invisible.

New battery can charge an electric car in 10 minutes

One of the reasons electric cars are still not very widespread is that they can take hours to charge. But that may soon change: researchers at Pennsylvania State University have developed a new lithium-ion battery that charges in as little as 10 minutes.

Ink Made of Smog

Tailpipe soot could be seen as just another resource – all you need is a good way to use it. In ink, for example, the pollutant is suddenly quite useful.

Let your windows power your coffee machine

What if our smartphones generated energy instead of just consuming it? A new transparent solar panel is making its way onto the solar technology market.

Hy-Fi, The Living, MoMA

How fungi can help create a green construction industry

Buildings and construction contribute 39% of the world’s carbon footprint. Building materials made out of mushrooms might reduce it dramatically.

How to spot bogus science stories and read the news like a scientist

With plenty of misinformation about the coronavirus pandemic, climate change and other scientific topics floating around social media, you need to read science stories, even well-known publications, with caution.

Apple leather handbags

It looks like leather, and feels like leather - but it's actually made out of apples! A Swiss company is breaking new ground in the fashion industry with a unique, vegan handbag collection. Made of fruit waste.

The fabrics dreams are made of

These new textiles are revolutionizing the fashion industry: waste-based, compostable, and some actually breathe.

Edible, compostable, ecological: Natural packaging alternatives for your drink to go

Plastic cups and PET bottles will soon be things of the past, as biodegradable and plastic-free packaging is being developed for beverages as well. We introduce some companies that package milk in a sugar crust, coffee in coffee-bean husks, water in sea algae and beer in cardboard.

eDecorating - Design your home online

Milray Park brings you together with interior designers – online, so your personal dream interior can come true from the comfort of your very own couch.

No, chess won’t help you pick up girls

It's not easy being an passionated chess player while having small talk with non players. Stand-up comedian Pavel Tomes decided to conduct a self-interview to answer all dumb questions once and for all.

FoldiMate - The perfectly organized closet with a laundry-folding robot

This folding machine turns an untidy heap into a neatly folded stack

Resurrecting Salvador Dali

Exceptional artist and eccentric Salvador Dali would have been 115 years old this year. In the virtual world at least, he can now blow out the candles on his birthday cake: The Dali Museum has brought him back to life with Deepfake in the Dali Lives experience.

How a computer game is inspiring girls to code

A revolutionary computer game is teaching kids to code in a playful way. Originally designed to encourage girls to take up programming, with its cool graphics and entertaining story, Erase all Kittens is unisex and timeless.

Bookseller for a while:
“A pleasantly boring holiday”

The Open Book project offers holidaymakers a very special experience: In the Scottish village of Wigtown, visitors can run an independent book shop for up to six weeks. What may sound like a pretty unspectacular holiday adventure is actually fully booked on Airbnb for years to come.

Bringing van Gogh back to life with the world’s first fully painted feature film

Dozens of films have explored the life of Vincent van Gogh. Now, for the first time, his story is being told entirely through van-Gogh-style oil paintings and the painter’s death is recounted as a thriller: was it suicide or something more sinister?

Milk without the packaging

Small, but oh so practical – sugar milk capsules could be the way forward, reducing rubbish and even our laundry bills.

The Garden of Four Seasons

Wouldn’t it be nice to have a weather guarantee sometimes? In Milan’s Garden of Four Seasons, you will soon be able to choose summer, autumn, winter or spring at any time of year.

Augmenting the reality of our food

While many of us wrestle with the crucial question, “to eat or not to eat”, a lot of labs and companies are experimenting with virtual reality food. But what on earth is it? And does it involve real eating at all?

The Path to Happiness, a Journey to the Self

“Become the person you are” – the secret to happiness we all carry inside. Knowing yourself better gives you more freedom to make choices and make your life so much happier. Philosophical self-reflection can help you get there.

VR time-travel improves learning

Virtual reality has just made time travel at least a virtual reality.

Clothing with a conscience

Space Between is a New Zealand social enterprise challenging waste and exploitation in the clothing industry. Its first collection transforms unwanted postal uniforms into stunning new fashion pieces.

Hacking Lego – Toys for the Maker Generation

Children and adults all over the world love creative toys like LEGO® bricks, but bricks from different brands usually don’t fit together. MakerBrane modules offer the solution: they allow you to link up anything and everything and build whatever you like.

The magical shoes that transform from high heels into flats in just seconds

Step right up, ladies, into shoe wonderland! A clever German start-up has come up with an answer to a problem that has plagued women since the invention of the high heel.

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Nanna Beyer

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Journalist

Aisha Mansour

Public health specialist & urban farmer

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