California | Design Indaba

Can plants talk to each other?

Richard Karban explains the subtle ways that plants talk and even defend each other. >
Sunflare develops the world’s first stick-on solar paneling

The new ultra-thin solar wallpaper can be applied to just about anything. >
Hyperloop concept could be the railway transport of tomorrow

Take a look at SpaceX’s evolution of maglev trains. >
Snapchat enters the wearable tech market with ‘Spectacles’

Can the social media app succeed where giants like Google Glass have failed? >
Student-designed bottle cap could save drought-stricken California millions of litres of water

The ‘Cap the Tap’ campaign is a simple way to curtail water wastage from household taps. >
High school student builds app to help kids make friends

Introducing an app to help navigate the unnerving world of high school lunch breaks. >
Artificial Intelligence and Life in 2030: Stanford’s ongoing study

The University of Stanford assembled thinkers to measure the future ripples of AI – and their first full report has been issued. >
Sculptural desalination plant imagined for Santa Monica pier

Pipe is a sustainable water harvesting solution that could produce 4.5 billion litres of clean water for California. >
Problem? These girls build their own solutions

Construction and carpentry are not readily associated with high school girls. Project H Design’s Girls Garage hopes to change that. >
Project Alloy: Intel reveals its “merged” reality headset

The Californian tech company is developing a VR headset with unique versatility. >
TrackR Bravo: Making lost items a thing of the past

Chris Herbert and his team at Phone Halo have designed a compact tracker device that can be used for practically anything. >
Aeon Flux: An animated future from the past

The 1991 brainchild of Peter Chung seems more thought-provoking now than ever before. >
Social media cross-formatting: plagiarism or optimisation?

Facebook, Snapchat, Twitter and Instagram take more ideas from one another than they care to admit. But is it a bad thing? >
Sustainable plastic products made out of air pollution

AirCarbon is a plastic polymer made out of methane emissions that would otherwise be polluting the air. >
Turning plastic into fuel, an innovative way to deal with waste

A team made up of researchers from USA and China have come up with a new way to deal with plastic waste. >
We talk to the co-creator of the Bureo recycled fishing net skateboards

The Ahi skateboard is made of recycled fishing nets and its creators at Bureo Inc. are working hard to protect our oceans. >
High school students design snap-together homeless shelter

HUT is a micro-shelter designed as a low-cost, easy-to-assemble solution to homelessness. >
Robotic arms and a bit of lycra can change the way concrete is used in design

Designers develop a method of fabric-casting concrete into dynamic architectural forms >
A self-healing biomaterial is the closest yet to mimicking human muscle

New biomaterial possesses extreme stretchability, self-healing and endurance properties; all revolutionary in the development of artificial skin and muscle. >
Humanoid robot recovers sunken treasure

OceanOne is Stanford’s mermaid-like robot that can stand in for a human driver. >
Cyborg beetles designed for search and rescue

University team develops a remote-controlled beetle that could replace mechanical drones. >
31 Bits’ holistic business model empowers Ugandan women

Jewellery brand creates a sustainable income for Ugandan artisans while teaching them skills to become self-reliant. >
Perfect man-made waves

Kelly Slater's high-performance, man-made wave pool has been met with scepticism in the industry. >
A portrait of Barbara Kruger, popular culture, words and captivating images

Meet visual artist Barbara Kruger. Her combination of image and jarring text has permeated popular culture. >

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