How to design your future family
Ruben BaartImagine a place called Reprodutopia. How would such a place look like?
Search results for Privilege by Design
Bye Bye Barbed Wire: Cow-Mounted GPS Will Enable "Virtual Fencing"
Allison GuyA device that remotely controls cattle's movements promises to transform the American landscape.
The things we design end up designing us
Dr Natural"While battling the forces of nature, man has become more and more independent of physical conditions. At the same time, however, he has become more and more dependent of …
Runaway Robots Hunted by the Mammals They Were Designed to Replace
Zack GottliebLast week, the U.S. Navy announced that four of their “ REMUS 100 ” unmanned underwater vehicles sailed off-radar and stopped responding to commands. The ‘bots were part of a …
Bye Bye BlackBerry
Ruben BaartBlackBerry has just confirmed that it will no longer create its own phones, marking the end of an era for the once dominant leader of the smartphone market.
Innovative Nostalgia
Koert van MensvoortWe humans simply feel more comfortable with technological change when it comes in a familiar form that refers to an existing and accepted object, habit, value, tradition or intuition.
Discussing non-human centered design with Kelvin Godee and Simon Wijrdeman
Ruben BaartWhat if design began to put everything but the human first? The needs of the human not paramount to the design process, but instead the other entities that we cohabit planet earth …
Geodesign
Nellie FriedrichWe have identified eight key defining moments that tell the story of geodesign, from ancient insight to artificial intelligence.
How to design your (home)office
Govert FlintDesigner Govert Flint proposes a new office concept, entirely based on movement and play.
Empowered by Robots Design Challenge
NextNature.netWanted: New jobs for humans and robots! Which designers, technicians, robot enthusiasts will help us with innovative, feasible ideas for the new jobs of the future?
A Designers take on Intelligent Design
Koert van Mensvoort://nextnature.net A typographical film on the term ' Intelligent Design ' and its relation with design. Created by Christian Bramsiepe from the Köln International School of Design …
This podcast aims to help design better food systems
Ruben BaartThe podcast Food by Design was created by Sarah Codraro and Sandeep Pahuja, and is hosted by Sandeep. According to the makers "Our food system is not 'broken'. It’s working …
Check your technoprivilege!
Hendrik-Jan GrievinkTechnology is not neutral; the same tech might empower some and disempower others. It is time to check our Technoprivilege, argues author Hendrik-Jan Grievink.
How to design a digital democracy
Rinie van Est10 design requirements to fully immerse ourselves into the 21st Century—in which technology makes our world richer, not poorer.
Banana by Design
Koert van MensvoortIf you compare the supermarket banana with the original wild banana the differences in size, look and taste are striking.
Design your Self!
Next Nature DevWho are you, who do you want to be, and what do you need to do to get there? We are constantly pushed to lead the perfect life. The media present us with a picture of an existence …
Next Generation: Designing chairs with mealworms and Will Eliot
Kelly van GemertWilliam Eliot designs chairs while collaborating with mealworms.
Time Between Emergence and Design
carolinenevejanPreviously, experiences of time emerged from nature as given – offering seasons, the rhythm of humans, plants and animals. Nowadays, people integrate nature-time, body-time, inner-time, clock-time, and global 24/7 systems-time. Human beings, in past, current and next natures, have to deal with emergence and design of time in order to survive.
The Playboy Interview
In 1961, the name of Marshall McLuhan was unknown to everyone but his English students at the University of Toronto – and a coterie of academic admirers who followed his abstruse …
Bio, Art & Design (BAD) Award Winners
Next Nature DevThe three winners of the Bio, Art & Design (BAD) awards have been announced.
Join the Next Nature Talkshow on biodesign!
Next Nature DevA living lamp that you need to feed, a tapestry made of animal waste streams and tableware made from algae. Welcome to the wonderful world of biodesign.
Your Next Nature guide to Dutch Design Week 2018
Meike SchipperOver time, our bodies, our food and our environment have become more and more subject to design. As designers, we hold the responsibility and have the unique chance to envision …
Bio textiles: meet three designers reimagining materials using biotechnology
Alexandra KisielewskiThe world needs interdisciplinary creators who are designing not just for humans, but for the rest of the living planet. To foster this thinking, Biodesign Challenge (BDC) pairs …
Next Generation: Launching the Eva Biodesign Lab with Carlos Silveira
Ruben BaartThis story is part of Next Generation , a series in which we give young makers a platform to showcase their work. Your work here? Get in touch and plot your …
Experience biodesign at DDW19
Ruben BaartBio design crosses the border between the ‘made’ and the ‘born’. Enabling living organisms as essential design elements, it brings us products that adapt, grow, sense and repair …
Living Among Pests – Designing the Biosynthetic City
Joyce HwangJoyce Hwang discusses the challenges for designers, and gains for citizens, of living in a truly biosynthetic city.
NATURE is an exhibition where biology and design meet
Ruben BaartCube Design Museum in Kerkrade and Cooper Hewitt in New York present the comprehensive exhibition NATURE - in which internationally renowned designers, artists and inventors …
Interview: Alexandra Daisy Ginsberg, Designer and Synthetic Biology Expert
Alessia AndreottiAn interview with Daisy Ginsberg, artist and synthetic biologist.
Next Nature baby care
Charlotte KuijpersBabies' needs aren't complex. And yet, they are. Over the years, parents have found some tricks to ease their babies as well as themselves. Taking a baby for a drive to make them …
Virtual Baby Acts and Looks Impossibly Real
Charlotte KuijpersA rosy-cheeked kid learns her first words, cries when her babysitter leaves, smiles when she’s happy, but she’s not real. BabyX is an AI research-in-progress by a company named Soul Machines.
When will the first baby be born in space?
Chris ImpeyWhen the first baby is born off-Earth, it will be a milestone as momentous as humanity’s first steps out of Africa . Such a birth would mark the beginning of a multi–planet …
Next Generation: (Un)learning Time By Light with Valentine Maurice
Kelly van GemertThis story is part of Next Generation , a series in which we give young makers a platform to showcase their work. Your work here? Get in touch and plot your …
Towards collective standpoints on the future of babymaking
Freya HutchingsFor the closing event of Reprodutopia , a true meeting of minds took place as we discussed the social implications surrounding the future of reproductive technologies. Multiple …
Why there is a new urgency for speculative design
Freya HutchingsPink chickens, synthesized tiger penises and salads grown from bodily fluids - how could they shape our future? In a Next Nature collaboration with the Gogbot Festival, the …
1978 - World’s First ‘Test Tube Baby’ Born
Elle Zhan WeiIn 1978, the world's first test-tube baby was born, her name is Louise Brown.
Design Your Own Vegetables
Ruben BaartWith her project Future Food Formula, food designer Chloé Rutzerveld is looking for innovative methods to design vegetables.
Next Generation: Delving into biophilic design with Daniel Elkayam
Freya HutchingsThis story is part of Next Generation, a series in which we give young makers a platform to showcase their work. Your work here? Get in touch and plot your coordinates as we …
Goodbye, Nature vs Nurture
Talking about nature and nurture as separate, clear-cut forces is far adrift from the complexities of developmental science, says Evelyn Fox Keller in NewScientist . ONE of the …
Dutch Design Award Nomination
NextNature.netThe In Vitro Meat Cookbook is nominated for the 2014 Dutch Design Award!
Designing for NextNature @ TU Eindhoven
Koert van MensvoortStarting February 2009 the Industrial Design department of the Eindhoven University of Technology takes Next Nature as one of its educational themes. The Industrial Design …
Designer Creates Water Bottles from Algae
Daniel FragaIcelandic Product Design student Ari Jónsson has used red algae powder and water to create a biodegradable water bottle.
Designing for Next Nature (workshop report)
Koert van MensvoortThe extent to which new technologies are intervening with everyday life can hardly be underestimated. Virtual realities, nano- and biotechnology are increasingly providing new …
Next Nature Night on Design & Evolution
NextNature.netNext Nature Night on Design & Evolution, Tuesday 30th June.
Next Friday: Paradise by the Laptop Light
Paradise by the Laptop Light is a visual power event with short films, speedlectures, special guests and one laptop. It will be held on Friday 23 November 2007 16:30 - 18:00, as …
BP logo redesign
Koert van MensvoortOver the past few months there has been a lot of commotion about the BP oil spill that happened in the Gulf of Mexico. It is considered as the largest offshore spill in U.S. …
Goodbye Password, Hello Selfie!
Margherita OlivoCompanies try a new, more secure payment system using selfies.
Submit your project to the Bio Art & Design Awards 2022
NextNature.netHello upcoming bio artists and designers! We invite designers and artists interested in bio art & design to propose projects for collaborative work across disciplines. The Bio …
Saving the oceans by sinking a 1980's superyacht
Kelly van GemertSunshine, cocktails, and the lap of luxury; a yacht usually doesn’t seem to symbolize sustainability or charity. But this one might save the ocean.
Call for Proposals: Designing for Next Nature
Nowadays, children know more corporate logo's and brands than bird or tree species. The average Western person has more worries about the instability of financial markets and …
Designing for Next Nature: selected proposals
Some months ago we sent out a call for proposals asking for visions, statements & ideas on we how we can design, build and live in next nature. We received an overwhelming …
Who designed the banana?
Koert van MensvoortLooking at a banana from a design perspective, one immediately notices the fruit is highly ergonomic and sophisticated: Bananas fit perfectly in the human hand, they come with a …
Designing Cars with Synthetic Biology
Louise HuyghebaertDesigner and artist Alexandra Daisy Ginsberg explains how synthetic biology inspires her for designing the cars of the future.
The First Baby with Three Genetic Parents
Mathilde NakkenThis year, on April 6th, a baby was born with three genetic parents: two mothers and one father.
Chernobyl goes green: The ambitious plan to reclaim a nuclear disaster site
Jack CaulfieldChernobyl is famous as the site of the worst nuclear power accidents in history. The 1986 disaster has come to represent the perils of nuclear energy, much as Hiroshima represents …
Paradise by the Laptop Light
Paradise by the Laptop Light is a visual power event with short films, speedlectures, special guests and one laptop. It will be held on 23 November 2007 16:30, as part of STRP Art …
Review Paradise by the Laptop light
Rolf CoppensA review by Djbroadcast on the Paradise by the Laptop Light event last week. Sorry it is all so Dutch. Wat betekent het begrip natuur voor ons vandaag de dag? We zien 'de groene …
Design Indaba Interview
NextNature.netOur South African friends of Design Indaba made a nifty little video of the presentation we did at What Design Can Do this spring.
Death Threat by a Twitter Bot
Louise HuyghebaertDutch developer Jeffrey van der Goot got questioned by the police after one of his Twitter Bot released a tweet containing a death threat.
Welcome to the CRISPR baby world—here’s what you should know
Vanessa Bates RamirezLast week, the gene editing world was hit by news the equivalent of a nuclear bomb. In a video on YouTube , Dr. Jiankui He at Southern University of Science and Technology in …
Paco Rabanne's AI-designed perfume can connect with your phone while making you smell sexier
Selin KirPaco Rabanne already positioned himself as a cutting-edge designer by establishing his reputation as one of the trailblazers during the space age movement of the 1960s. With his …
Designing for Next Nature Workshop
Koert van MensvoortDesigning for Next Nature Workshop. This weekend at the Media Design Program @ Art Center College of Design . See also: Call for Proposals .
Paradise by the Laptop Light
Paradise by the Laptop Light is a next nature event with short films, speedlectures, special guests and one laptop. It will be held on 12 September 2008 16:30-17:30, as the …
The Hotel Run by Robots
Alessia AndreottiA futuristic Japanese hotel will be run by robots, designed to be extremely human-like.
Design on the Border of Technology and Biology Demands Us to 'Mother' Nature
Koert van MensvoortDesigner and architect Neri Oxman explores how digital fabrication technologies can interact with the biological world. Watch the TED talk.
Biotech Hobbyist Magazine
Koert van MensvoortThe place on the Web for biotech thinkers, builders, experimenters, students, and others who love the intellectual challenge and stimulation of hobby biotech. Biotech Hobbyist …
RedesignMe
Koert van MensvoortWe are all born in a world that has been designed already. Cars, dishwashers, dildo's, remote controls, ATM machines. Although these products are supposed to make life better, …
Napkin Sketch – On the impact of Design
Koert van MensvoortCreated by Bruce Mau , who is not so much interested in the world of design, as in the design of the world. See also Napkin Sketch – Nature changes along with us .
Food Design in the 21th Century
Koert van MensvoortOld nature provided us with a wide variety of food: fresh milk, crispy vegetables, nutritious meat. Yet this is not enough, we want more: We want a printed steak , square …
Our Cookbook Wins Dutch Design Award
NextNature.netThe In Vitro Meat Cookbook won the Design Research Award.
Transfigurations: Let's Design People
Daniel FragaPlastic artist Agi Haines explores hypothetical scenarios for surgically implanted body enhancements in babies.
Designed to Survive Our Roads
Ruben BaartA road safety campaign in the Australian state of Victoria exposed an educational, yet confronting picture to raise awareness to the vulnerable human body on the road.
Bacteria might have eaten the Titanic's wreckage by 2030
Selin KirIn 1912, the RMS Titanic met a fateful demise as it crashed into the depths of the North Atlantic Ocean, leaving a mark on the world's collective memory, and igniting a lasting …
NAT Designing Nature - Exhibition & Debate
NAT, designing nature is about the interface where nature and culture, biology and design intertwine. An exhibition that is a cross between an exotic Garden of Eden and an illegal …
NextNature.net = Webby Honoree
Ok, we like this. Nextnature.net is a Webby Awards honoree ( again ). ‘As a result of the superior quantity and quality of sites entered, the 15th Annual Webby Awards recognized …
Join the Bio Art & Design Awards
Koert van MensvoortSo, you are well aware that biotech will drive our evolution , you took the crash course on synthetic genomics , you’ve got your map of the DNA world in your backpack and are now …
Reducing Plastic Bags by 80%
Julia WeberThe EU Commission will hopefully reduce the consumption of disposable plastic bags within 5 years by 80%.
Bio Art & Design Awards 2015
Koert van MensvoortIf we are going to mutate the made & the born, let us at least do this creatively.
2014 - Womb Transplant Baby Born
Elle Zhan WeiA Swedish woman who had her uterus removed due to cancer in her twenties gave birth to her own child as the world's first person to undergo a uterus transplant. And the donor? Her own mother.
Designer babies: the kids of the future?
Megan Ray NicholsWhat if you had the choice of sparing your child from diseases and disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease, heart disease or autism?
HUBOT: Meet the Organ Designer
NextNature.netAs an organ designer, you develop genetic algorithms from which organs are grown to perfectly fit the recipient’s body, but also to meet the personal wishes of the patient.
Fake for Real: Design for the Masses
Koert van MensvoortThe delicate armchair depicted at left is a Finnish design created in 1931-1932 by architect and designer Alvar Aalto (1898-1976), who in Scandinavia is sometimes called the …
Real Baby Dolls
Arnoud van den HeuvelWe already know that guys love dolls ... Now learn why some mothers can never stop playing with dolls and that cuteness is defined in the mind's eye. Image credit: Kentish Babies …
Webby Awards
How sweet. Nextnature.net is a Webby Awards honoree . ‘As a result of the superior quantity and quality of sites entered, the 13th Annual Webby Awards recognized sites and teams …
Join the Designers & Artists 4 Genomics Award
Koert van MensvoortSo, you are well aware that biotech will drive our evolution , you took the crash course on synthetic genomics , you've got your map of the DNA world in your backpack and are now …
Grossed Out by Lab-Grown Meat? Here's 7 Reasons Why You Shouldn't Be
Allison GuyIn vitro meat is creepy, unnatural and downright disgusting – and so is every other kind of food we eat.
How to Turn Skin Cells into a Baby
Jonathon MarkowskiA stem cell experiment with mice may one day mean that same-sex couples could have bio children.
Doctors Used VR to Save a Baby's Life
Margherita OlivoGoogle Cardboard was used by a cardiologist to train for a very risky heart surgery on a four months baby.
Towards a design brief for the artificial womb
NextNature.netHumanity is facing the disconnection between biological reproduction and the body, facilitated by the emerging technology of the Artificial Womb. Envisioned in bleak science …
Elephants are geodesigners
Jeppe Aagaard KristensenImagine you’re in a hot air balloon flying over an African savanna in the late growing season. Below, herds of elephants, zebras, wildebeests and rhinos roam a mosaic landscape …
Babybunny - stuffed pets as toys
Koert van MensvoortNowadays, young children are so used to the omnipresence of disposable toys. When their parents buy them a living pet animal they are unable to take care of it. Hamster tend to …
Design for dummies
Arnoud van den HeuvelCreativity for all! Design used to be predestined to a select group of qualified brand–owning designers. That model is made redundant. At least, if it is up to Studio Ludens in …
Design = No sign
Arnoud van den HeuvelThe Wilson Quarterly profiles the in January 2008 departed traffic engineer, Hans Monderman , of the "less is more" school of traffic control: " (...) Previously, Monderman, like …
11 Golden Rules of Anthropomorphism and Design: Introduction
NextNature.netWelcome to the 11 part series The Golden Rules of Anthropomorphism and Product Design. In this series, we will be examining how designers can better integrate human-like forms or …
Baby Loading
Koert van MensvoortRemember those long gone times when babies were delivered by white storks ? Today they are simply downloaded into mom's belly. How superhandy! Apparently every era creates its own …
Next Nature Lecture @ DesignMarch Island
Koert van MensvoortIf you happen to be in the neighborhood you may want to attend the Next Nature lecture at the Island Design March on March 22 in the "most northerly capital in the world". If you …
NANO Supermarket nominated for Dutch Design Award
NextNature.netOur traveling NANO Supermarket is nominated for a Dutch Design Award. Winners will be announced late October.
Wi-Fi Visualization: Surrounded by Waves
Alessia AndreottiAn artist visualizes WiFi waves across landmarks in Washington, DC.
Designer pets
Rolf CoppensIf your house just isn't big enough to have a leopard, you can allways buy these 20.000 dollar cats. Nailcaps are included to prevent scratches on the matching cat furniture. I …
Lunch talk @ Art Center College of Design
Lunch talk at the Art Center College of Design on March 5th. See also: Call for Proposals .
Debugged: 'Graphic Design Bugs'
Michael KluverThe Eindhoven-based design team ' Edhv ' made an installation to turn creepy crawlers into genuine graphic designers. By letting crickets, woodlice, ants and many other insects …
Nature by Numbers
Koert van MensvoortNature as math, math as nature. A short movie by Cristóbal Villa . Thanks Martijn .
Painted by Robot
JackThe Senseless Drawing Robot is a painting robot that interprets nearby street and sidewalk traffic and turns it into sprays of pigment. The robot is turning chaos into order, and …
In-Vitro Hamburger Sponsored by Google
Koert van MensvoortMore remarkable than the look and taste of the burger, which only stood out because it was presented in a petri dish and described by one of the panelist as 'hot', was the revelation that Serge Brin, co-founder of Google.com, financed the project.
Payment by Thumb
Alessia AndreottiAustralian biohacker Meow-Ludo Meow Meow implanted a chip in his thumb to make contactless payments.
Innovation inspired by Old Nature
Koert van MensvoortJanine Benyus talks about biomimcry at TED (video) . Of course, we “like” her book and appreciate the concept of biomimcry (from bios, meaning life, and mimesis, meaning to …
Today: Paradise by the Laptop Light
Eat the fruit. Kiss the Snake. Today 16:30-18:00: Paradise by the Laptop Light at STRP Festival .
Catch and eat fishing by phone
Dr NaturalFor mobile gamers in western Japan, a hearty seafood dinner awaits just a few key clicks away, thanks to a unique new cellphone fishing game that rewards successful players with …
Design Your Sims
Hendrik-Jan GrievinkIKEA is going to sell furniture with Electronic Arts via The Sims 2 game. Soon, it will be possible for you game addicts, to refurbish your Sims living room into your own …
Designing Bugs That Eat Plastic
Koert van MensvoortIt is a well known secret that plastic hardly breaks down and almost all of the plastic ever made still floats around somewhere . With the great pacific garbage patch now twice …
Virtual Realities by NL Architects
Rolf CoppensSome beautiful "visual thoughts" by NL Architects . On the left: Minimum Speed 200 kh/h. On the right: United Airlines. On the left: desert irrigation made beautiful with this …
Anthropo-scene #3: Morphing Earth, Piece by Piece
ChristianHumans act as bio-excavators that literally move mountains.
Paint by Numbers, then Eat It
Stephen PerryAn innovative workshop points out future directions for in-vitro meat products.
Digital Aquarium Powered by Real Fish
Alessia AndreottiThe fish swimming in this aquarium are unaware part of the Flowers and Fish art installation by Japanese digital studio teamLab.
All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace
Koert van Mensvoortby Richard Brautigan (1968) I like to think (and the sooner the better!) of a cybernetic meadow where mammels and computers live together in mutually programming harmony like pure …
A Garden Raised by Television
Arnoud van den HeuvelThis installation is called Feed and raises ferns that can survive under conditions of extreme lighting. The television screens provide light to the plants, which grow …
Today: Paradise by the Laptop Light
Koert van MensvoortEat the fruit. Kiss the Snake. Today 16:30-17:30: Paradise by the Laptop Light is the opening event of the Wereld van Witte de With Festival .
Design Fiction – Medical Bill of the Future
Koert van MensvoortAccording to this fictitious future medical bill almost every part of the human body will be repairable in 2028. Gut bacteria replacement, Bone tissue growth for skull repair, …
EcoBot III: a Robot that Produces Energy Fueled by Organic Matter
Alessia AndreottiThere are robots that look like people, and then there are robots, like the Ecobot III, that look nothing like humans but have our same biological needs: they have to eat, digest …
Homemade Robot Designed from Recycled Scraps
Alessia AndreottiA Chinese inventor created a $24,500 robot from junkyard scraps.
Le Bistro In Vitro @ Dutch Design Week
Koert van MensvoortThis whole week you can come and taste meat ice at Le Bistro In Vitro in the main hall of Eindhoven University of Technology.
Lego Minifigs Will Take Over The Planet By 2019
Silvia CelibertiImagine the devastation when there are more Lego minifigs on Earth than humans...
Drone Operated by Honeybee Brain
Yunus Emre DuyarThe Green Brain Project aims to create drones that will think, act and sense like a bee.
The Designer who Grows Furniture
Hessel HoogerhuisGavin Munro is creating a farm where planted trees can be grown around braces and harvested as fully formed chairs, sculptures, lamps, and tables.
This Chinese baby is born four years after their parent's death
Alec SchellinxIn March 2013, five days before Liu Xi and her husband Shen Jie were scheduled for the transplantation of one fertilized embryo into her womb, the young couple died in a car …
Lecture @ Design Academy
Koert van MensvoortIf you happen to be in the neighborhood this Wednesday...
Charging Phones by (and with) Camp Fire
Allison GuyWith areas of New York still without electricity, BioLite recently came to the rescue of Brooklynites by setting up a charging station with camping stoves that convert excess …
Rotund Rats, Fat Cats and Chubby Chimps
Allison GuyIt's nothing new that humanity is getting chubbier by the day. What's surprising is that we're bringing our animals along for the ride. A meta-analysis of animal weight has …
Rio 2016: the Olympic (Green) Abyss
Ruben BaartLast week the Olympic women’s diving pool at the Maria Lenk Aquatics Centre mysteriously turned swampy green overnight.
1857 - The First Baby Incubators
Elle Zhan WeiIn 1857 in France the first baby incubators start to appear.
Amsterdam's Canals by Bacterial Light
Allison GuyItalian architect Carlo Morsiani would like to take Amsterdam's canals from dark, dank and filled with old bikes, to brilliant, blue, and presumably still filled with old bikes. …
Design Looking Backwards
Stephen PerryShould digital technology imitate that which exists, or could it also surpass it?
New York Preps for Climate Change by Building New Wetlands
Allison GuyNew York City plans to combat hurricanes with "soft edges" composed of marshes and beaches.
You Can Be the Avatar by 2040
Yunus Emre DuyarAlthough it still is a theory, nanotechnology might enable us to control the elements, except fire.
A new mythology of technology
Ruben BaartIn conversation with architect Julia Watson, a leading expert on Indigenous technologies and author of 'Lo-TEK, Design by Radical Indigenism'.
Next Generation: Designing ecological webs with Miriam Lellek
Ruben BaartThis story is part of Next Generation , a series in which we give young makers a platform to showcase their work. Your work here? Get in touch and plot your …
How biotechnology could shape the future of product design
Ruben BaartHumans have been manipulating living things for thousands of years. Examples of early biotechnologies include domesticating plants and animals and then selectively breeding them …
Next Generation: Writing a design manifesto with Pleun Wilting
Ruben BaartThis story is part of Next Generation , a series in which we give young makers a platform to showcase their work. Your work here? Get in touch and plot your …
Lessons in bio design from Emma van der Leest
Meike SchipperAs a young bio designer at the start of your career, you'll have to overtake all kinds of obstacles. From the collection of living materials to working in a laboratory and …
Entryparadise
Written by Werner Lippert & Peter Wippermann, Curators of the Entryparadise exhibition (26/8 until 3/12, 2006, at Kohlenwäsche, Zollverein) Design is about to undergo a …
Interview: Designer Shahar Livne is geomimicing the future of plastics
Kelly van GemertWe sat down with Shahar Livne, an Israeli-born designer who graduated from the Design Academy in Eindhoven to talk about her vision on the future of plastics.
Interview: Mike Thompson and Susana Cámara Leret, Designers Exploring Alternative Ways of Thinking & Doing
Ingmar NieuweboerInterview with Mike Thompson and Susana Cámara Leret.
Gène Bertrand on design for human needs
Meike SchipperNature has always been a source of inspiration for many artists and designers, yet the urgency to connect to nature is more pressing than ever. Environmental issues such as …
Seven Future Visions on In-Vitro Meat
Koert van MensvoortBefore we can decide if we will ever be willing to eat in-vitro, we need to explore the food culture it will bring us.
In conversation with Teresa van Dongen, biodesigner exploring natural forms of artificial light
Kelly van GemertThere was a time when flipping the switch, and seeing a glass bulb light up, was magical to anyone in the world. Today, the presence of a light switch in a room, is something …
What food design can do
Kelly van GemertFood design gives us a taste of innovation. It visualizes, speculates, challenges and problem-solves.
Interview: Pauline Van Dongen, Designer Merging Fashion and Technology
Margherita OlivoDutch fashion designer specialized in wearable technology, Pauline van Dongen researches the human body in relation to its surroundings.
The Embassy of Health is designing a chronically healthy society
Eloise MaraisHow will we stay healthy in the future? Can we utilize the power of design to move towards a more healthy society?
Designer Dave Hakkens is putting plastic waste to better use
Ruben BaartWe recently handed this year’s ECO Coin Award to Dutch designer Dave Hakkens, founder of the Precious Plastic movement. With his open sourced recycling machines, he provides people around the world the knowledge to start recycling plastic locally.
6 designers changing the future of fashion
Meike SchipperWe live in a world of fast or disposable fashion. This industry is increasingly impacting the environment due to the use of toxic chemicals, water and energy consumption, heavy …
Designer Govert Flint applies motion to everyday life
Ingmar NieuweboerInterview with Govert Flint, designer, architect and self-taught artist.
Next Nature Introduction
Bruce SterlingThis project - the Next Nature Network - is about Nature's brand image. One might surmise that "Nature," being 100 percent all-natural, can't have any brand image. The facts …
Interview: Chloé Rutzerveld, Designer Who Wants to Grow Healthy 3D Printed Food
Alessia AndreottiFood and Concept designer, Chloé Rutzerveld, explains her 3D food printing project Edible Growth.
Why half of the world's beaches could disappear by 2100
Simon BoxallUp to half of the world’s sandy beaches are at risk of disappearing by the end of this century if no action is taken to limit greenhouse gas emissions. That’s according to a new …
Interview: Agi Haines, Speculative Artist Who Wants to Redesign the Human Body
Ruben BaartSpeculative designer Agi Haines' work focuses on (re)designing the human body, and speculates upon future scenarios.
Next Generation: Designing modular fashion with Mathilde Rougier
Ruben BaartThis story is part of Next Generation , a series in which we give young makers a platform to showcase their work. Your work here? Get in touch and plot your …
Chloé Rutzerveld designs the food of tomorrow
Eleni MaragkouYou are in for a surprise when you look at food and concept designer Chloé Rutzerveld 's portfolio. It is hard to believe that somebody so young - she is just 25 - has already …
Designer Anouk Wipprecht combines fashion with robotics
Alessia AndreottiWe met Anouk Wipprecht and talked about smart fabrics and accessories that can listen to our body, therapeutic fashion and the future of dressmaking.
Interview: Leanne Wijnsma, Designer for the Instinct Who Uses Smell as Medium
Ruben BaartDutch experience designer Leanne Wijnsma designs for the human instinct and puts the sense of smell back to where it belongs, as modern hazards have shifted to the digital realm.
THRIVE: an expo in designing nature and growing technology
Ruben BaartTHRIVE expo showcases the latest works at the convergence of art, design, and biology, which examine current and future uses of biotechnology.
Next Generation: Redesigning Burberry with Jiyong Lee
Ruben BaartThis story is part of Next Generation , a series in which we give young makers a platform to showcase their work. Your work here? Get in touch and plot your …
The Furby threat to national security
Veronica FanzioWe are now so used to communicating with some robotic device in our homes. But this skill cost Furbies a national ban in the US.
Empowered by Robots Event Report
Mathilde NakkenA report on the Empowered by Robots conference during DDW16, demonstrating fruitful collaboration between humans and robots.
Interview: Lining Yao, Interaction Designer and Maker of Novel Materials
Alessia AndreottiWe recently interviewed Lining Yao, Chinese interaction designer who uses organic materials as a technology that brings us back to nature.
How modern technology is inspired by the natural world
John NychkaWhat do a kingfisher, cocklebur pods and a Namibian beetle have in common? Besides being living organisms, they have all served as inspiration for creative human technologies to …
How a starfish inspires robotic design
MaithriIn a feat of biomimicry that seamlessly marries biology with physics, tests carried out at the University of Southern California’s Viterbi School of Engineering made fascinating …
What an artificial womb may look like in the future
Hendrik-Jan GrievinkIn the future, artificial wombs could replace incubators as they mimic the natural environment of the female uterus. But what will these devices look like?
Discussing bio-based material experiences with Elvin Karana
Meike SchipperThe world of design is in need of new materials that align with the urgency for sustainability. Issues such as climate change, plastic waste and harmful materials require us to …
Next Generation: Designing ecosystems of technology with Maike Gebker
Ruben BaartThis story is part of Next Generation , a series in which we give young makers a platform to showcase their work. Your work here? Get in touch and plot your …
This bin transforms household waste into chicken food
Selin KirImagine a trash can that matches the size of your ordinary bin, yet it scoffs at weeks' worth of discarded food before even considering fullness. You're off the hook, as there's …
Simulacra and Simulations
The simulacrum is never that which conceals the truth--it is the truth which conceals that there is none. The simulacrum is true. -Ecclesiastes If we were able to take as the …
Next Generation: Designing a living menstrual cup with Lucrezia Alessandroni
Kelly van GemertWhat if living objects could re-connect humans with their menstrual cycle and change the way we perceive it?
An afternoon with Josh Tetrick: The man who wants to bring in vitro meat to the market by 2018
Ruben BaartMeet Josh Tetrick, entrepreneur who wants to reinvent the food industry and plans to launch lab-grown meat on the market by the end of 2018.
Facial Recognition Replaces Passports
Ruben BaartBiometric technology replaces passports in Australian airports.
Build an organisation that lasts by creating a superorganism
Tamsin Woolley-BarkerFor the past 25 years, I’ve studied everything from baboon cooperation in Ethiopia and orca whale innovation in the Bering Sea, to the Argentine ant invasion in my kitchen, and my …
Sitting on Tofu
Alessia AndreottiItalian Designer discovers new material. A ideal throne for a vegan king.
The First Beauty Contest Judged by AI
Ruben BaartThe first beauty contest judged by complex algorithms has sparked controversy after biased results.
From Megabytes to CO2
Marit BeerseThijs Biersteker has designed an art installation that shows the carbon dioxide emission of the internet.
Afrofuturism explained by Professor Julian C. Chambliss
Ruben BaartThe new sci-fi musical “ Neptune Frost ,” set in a Rwandan village constructed with computer parts, tells the story of an intersex hacker and a coltan miner who lead an anarchist …
4D Printing Inspired by Nature
Margherita OlivoScientists were inspired by nature to developed a method to shape-shift 4D-printed structures that could one day help heal wounds and be used in robotic surgical tools.
Painted by Drones
Ruben BaartGerman aerial-photography group Cooper Copter is exploring “vandalism 2.0” with drones that throw paint bombs.
Architects, You Better Design Cars!
Alejandro AlvarezHyundai envisions a future where your smart home is your driverless car, and vice versa.
Don't miss this multi-sensory exhibition by Studio Drift
Leanne VoshellShimmering lights drifting as elm seeds in the wind, luminous strings of light shifting between man-made and natural structures, dandelion seeds melding with brass and light. …
1896 - Baby Incubators in Coney Island
Elle Zhan WeiIn 1896 Dr Couney incubated premature babies. He saved at least 6.500 premature infants from death by putting them on display in Coney Island.
Payment by Wedding Ring
Ruben BaartThe Tappy 'smart ring' is a wedding ring connected to your bank account.
Human Nature, designing the equilibrium with Koert van Mensvoort
NextNature.netUnder the title Human Nature, designing the equilibrium, eleven designers will answer questions about a future in which Humankind and Nature enter into a new relationship. An …
Struck by lightning: Shipping emissions double frequency of lightning storms
Jack CaulfieldThey say lightning never strikes twice, but it appears to be striking a lot more often in some areas of ocean than others. New research published in Geophysical Research Letters …
First Puppies Born by In Vitro Fertilization
Margherita OlivoThanks to the work of researchers at Cornell University (USA), for the first time a litter of puppies was born entirely from in vitro fertilization.
Medical Practice Aided by Robots
Ioana TomiciRobots in health care could lead to a doctorless hospital.
Earth is so strongly impacted by its human inhabitants that it's now a “hybrid planet”
Jack CaulfieldHumanity has for a long time considered itself the most important species on the planet. We are quite happy to share the world with other species, but we think we know who's in …
'Woodcat' by Tunng
KarlI know, this is a nice piece of fantasy rather than Next Natureâ„¢, but still, you gotta love it. Directed by Jan Urbanowski and Jethro Haynes, animation by www.wer3d.com. Check …
20 years after Chernobyl
Rolf CoppensPripyat was built as a town for workers at the Chernobyl power station, where the world's worst nuclear accident occurred 20 years ago. The town was abandoned 36 hours after the …
Rayfish CEO Responds to Break-In by Animal Rights Activists
Koert van MensvoortRayfish CEO Raymond Ong recorded a video response in which he analyzes the controversy around his genetically engineered stingray leather sneaker. Highly recommended for nextnature connoisseurs.
Get Infrared Sight with a Vitamine Diet
Julia WeberBio-hackers developed a protocol to augment human sight to see into the near infrared range.
The Movie Written by Artificial Intelligence
Margherita OlivoSunspring is a Sci-Fi short movie entrirely written by an artificial intelligence.
Watch the First Movie Trailer Made by AI
Ruben BaartIBM's Watson succeeded in creating its first-ever movie trailer for the upcoming sci-fi thriller Morgan.
Building a City on Mars by 2117
Elle Zhan WeiThe United Arab Emirates released plans to build a city on Mars.
Not a babysitter, but a social media sitter
Ruben BaartIbis, A popular European hotel chain, just introduced the world to the “social media sitter.” It’s the answer to a problem few knew existed, and even fewer though we needed …
AI Teenage Girl Hit by Depression
Ruben BaartAn AI was intended to improve human-like experiences in regards to the company’s customer service chatbots, but has fallen into a suicidal depression instead.
What Is Next Nature? #11
Ingmar NieuweboerBeing reminded by Facebook that it's your best friends' birthday.
Tulip Island - Design a Polder
Arnoud van den HeuvelA proposal to gain 600.000 m 2 of land near the Dutch coast recently came from the CDA (Dutch Christian-Democratic political party). The idea is to create a tulip-shaped island …
A Stroll Through the Bubbles of Chemicals and Men
Etienne TurpinA stunning pre-history of the anthropocene
France Says Adieu to Plastic Tableware
Monika KozubFirst they banned plastic bags all over the country in July, now they released a new regulation: starting from 2020, no plastic cups, plates and cutlery can be distributed in France.
How Pokémon are affected by climate change
Ruben BaartYou know climate change is real when dead coral Pokémon start to wash up on (virtual) beaches. Behold, Cursola, world’s first dead coral Pokémon. On the origins of Cursola While …
Nurturing architecture
Ruben BaartThe way we currently build is not sustainable. We will have to develop a sustainable living environment that matches our human needs, intuitions and potential.
There’s Plenty of Room at the Bottom
Hendrik-Jan GrievinkSo you’re triggered by our call for products and now you’re considering to send in one, two or maybe three of your brilliant products for the Nano Supermarket? Good. Or – and this …
An Ecstatic Dialogue with Richard Doyle
Jason SilvaWhen techno–optimist and fellow at the Hybrid Reality Institute , Jason Silva, meets with Richard Doyle, author of Darwin's Pharmacy: Sex, Plants and the Evolution of the …
The Material Futures of Central Saint Martins
Zeynep KunduracilarMeet United Matters, a London collective exploring how we might live in the future by blurring the boundaries between craft, science and technology.
Floating Underwater Self-Sufficient City
Francesca BarchiesiAsian architects of AT Design Office want to build an incredible floating underwater metropolis that is also self-sufficient.
Suzanne Lee wants to live in a world that uses only sustainable materials
Ruben BaartBiotechnology is nearly as old as humanity itself. The food you eat and the pets you love? You can thank our ancestors for kickstarting the agricultural revolution, using …
Next Generation: Building aquatecture with Shaakira Jassat
Ruben BaartThis story is part of Next Generation , a series in which we give young makers a platform to showcase their work. Your work here? Get in touch and plot your …
Beyond biomimicry: a new urgency
William MyersDesigners face an unprecedented urgency to alter their methods and reprioritize their goals to address the accelerating degradation of the environment. This new …
An introduction to biomimicry
Janine BenyusThe first time I explained biomimicry to a stranger was not in a talk or a workshop but in a big-box bookstore just after Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired by Nature had come out. I …
Interview: Liam Young on Speculative Architecture and Engineering the Future
NextNature.netInterview with Liam Young on his work in speculative architecture, the future, and our role in nature as humans.
On the origin of the e-bike
Huub EhlhardtThe oldest known serious candidate forerunner for the bicycle is the ‘running machine’ built by the German Baron Karl von Drais. His two-wheeled machine became known as the …
The World Without Technology
Kevin KellyI remember the smoke the most. That pungent smell permeating the camps of tribal people. Everything they touch is infused with the lingering perfume of smoke – their food, …
Faustian Bargains and Pineapple Shampoo
Since the early days of the net, the electronic pastoral has lent itself to all sorts of dubious agendas pushed by science, the military and even libertarian tendencies. In the …
Ecology – A New Opium for the Masses
Marxist philosopher Slavoj Žižek discusses the 'naturalization' of capitalism and how ecology became a new field of capitalist investment. He also argues that the ultimate …
The Coronation
Charles EisensteinFor years, normality has been stretched nearly to its breaking point, a rope pulled tighter and tighter, waiting for a nip of the black swan’s beak to snap it in two. Now that the …
Anthropomorphobia
Koert van MensvoortAre you familiar with the affliction? Anthropomorphobia is the fear of recognizing human characteristics in non-human objects. The term is a hybrid of two Greek-derived words: …
I Want Wings!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Nicholas CarrRead Nicholas Carr's essay on the transhumanist dream of having wings.
In conversation with Jalila Essaïdi
Freya HutchingsWhat do in-vitro human skin, spider silk and cow manure have in common? They are all unlikely materials that can cloth, protect and inspire humans, as realized by award-winning …
Matilde Boelhouwer wants to make urban environments flower again
Ruben BaartMatilde Boelhouwer is a designer whose work speculates between art, design, science, biology and food. Matilde shapes this obligation into a studio which mainly focuses on the …
9 creatives in biotech you need to know right now
Ruben BaartThe field of biofabrication is still new to most people. As founder and CEO of Biofabricate, Suzanne Lee shared with us this exciting online event series Creatives in Biotech . If …
Furniture futures
Nellie FriedrichWondering how next natural furniture may change your way of life? Will we feed our lamps? Grow chairs? Talk with our tables?
Vertical Farms Growing In Giant Trees
Francesca BarchiesiUrban Skyfarm is a giant tree-shaped farm system for environmental improvement in food production and distribution.
The Enlightenment Is Dead, Long Live the Entanglement
Danny HillisWe humans are changing. We have become so intertwined with what we have created that we are no longer separate from it. We have outgrown the distinction between the natural and the artificial. We are what we make.
Iconic Buildings in Untouched Lands
Margherita OlivoAnton Repponen's project places iconic NY buildings in organic, untouched environments to put them in the spotlight.
Enter the symbiocene
Glenn AlbrechtWhat if we would use the idea of symbiosis as the basis for the next period of Earth’s history?
On the prehistoric origins of modern sexuality
Ruben BaartLet’s talk about the most controversial of "m words"—monogamy. And let’s have this conversation with in mind its prehistoric origins. Our modern picture of prehistoric societies …
Exploring Next Nature (2004)
Koert van MensvoortThe first essay ever written on Next Nature, published in Next Nature Pocket and in Entry Paradise, New Design Worlds . ( download pdf ) (German version: Erkundungen im Nächste …
Interview: Rachel Armstrong, Innovative Scientist Who Wants to Grow Architecture
Alessia AndreottiRachel Armstrong discusses living buildings, Venice's foundations, millennial nature and how to improve our future.
Adding a new dimension to marine restoration: 3D printing coral reefs
David KlingesThe local fishermen looked on skeptically. From the deck of a small motorboat, scuba divers grabbed odd chunks of ceramic – which could be described as rocky brains stuck on …
Can AI become addicted?
Thomas MoynihanIn 1953, a Harvard psychologist thought he discovered pleasure – accidentally – within the cranium of a rat. With an electrode inserted into a specific area of its brain, the rat …
Next Nature Interview
For the Venezuelan Magazine Platanoverde , Gabriela Valdivieso y Lope Gutiarrez-Ruiz interviewed artist/scientist Koert van Mensvoort and discussed some of the idea's behind Next …
NANO Supermarket Jury Report 2012
NextNature.netAfter the successful introduction of the NANO Supermarket in 2010 it became even more clear that the contest and the presented results produced discussions and many challenges to …
Ectogenesis, Artificial Womb, Human Egg?
Hendrik-Jan GrievinkThe artificial womb is on the verge of becoming a reality, but how it will affect our culture is for us to decide.
Next Generation: Unleashing nature’s untapped potential with Amelie Unger
Freya HutchingsThis story is part of Next Generation , a series in which we give young makers a platform to showcase their work. Your work here? Get in touch and plot your coordinates as we …
Next Generation: Shaping intimacy through objects with Pleun van Dijk
Ruben BaartPleun van Dijk is a speculative artist/designer who investigates the intimate relationship between human and technology.
The origin of the LED lamp
Huub EhlhardtFor thousands of years people used oil lamps and candles to illuminate their homes during the hours of darkness. Neither produced much light and both were inconvenient in use as …
Next Generation: Simulating textile ecosystems with Scarlett Yang
Ruben BaartThis story is part of Next Generation , a series in which we give young makers a platform to showcase their work. Your work here? Get in touch and plot your coordinates as we …
Maurizio Montalti talks about the cycle of life
Meike SchipperAs modern humans, we are out of balance with our natural environment. With use of technology, we try to prolong our human lifespan and create materials that live longer than we …
Next Generation: Moving towards the plastic human with Max Ahluwalia
Ruben BaartThis story is part of Next Generation , a series in which we give young makers a platform to showcase their work. Your work here? Get in touch and plot your …
The Prefuture of Synthetic Biology
Alexandra Daisy GinsbergAlexandra Daisy Ginsberg discusses the promises and realities of synthetic biology.
Pyramid of Technology: How technology becomes nature in seven steps
Koert van MensvoortHow technology becomes nature in seven steps
ISEA 2010: Artists addressing NextNature
Ties van de WerffAt ISEA 2010 , the International Symposium on Electronic Arts, media artists and media researchers from all over the world present their work in Dortmund (Germany). This year, …
Nano Supermarket – Jury Report
Nanotechnology is an important emerging technology of our time – it radically intervenes with our sense of what is natural – yet most people are still relatively unaware of its …
Why human enhancement requires technological citizenship
Ira van Keulen and Rinie van EstNew technologies – from artificial intelligence to synthetic biology – are set to alter the world, the human condition, and our very being in ways that are hard to imagine. The …
The GeneSprout Initiative: cultivating new plant breeding techniques
Ruben BaartSome 10,000 years ago humans began to domesticate plants and animals. The birth of agriculture, one of the earliest technologies available.
The Museum of Edible Earth
Kelly van GemertWe spoke with the Museum of Edible Earth, a travelling museum dedicated to the prosperous amount of soil samples.
What’s the Point If We Can’t Have Fun?
David GraeberSince Darwin we tend to look at the biological world exclusively in economical terms. The idea that monkey's, frogs, or even ants do more than simply propagate, doesn't find much acceptance among scientists. And yet, even crayfishes at times seem to displace objects just for fun.
Microbiocene: the microbiological archeology of the future
Linda ValentaIn configuring our next nature, artists and scientists explore new languages that move beyond the Anthropocene - the era of human beings. These semantics would bridge the gap …
Evolving In Vitro with Yuval Yancovitch
Kelly van GemertWith 7.9 billion people and counting, the Food and Agricultural Organisation of the United Nations predicts that by 2050, food supply needs to grow by 70% in order to accommodate …
Screen mutations and reframing perspectives with Louisa Zahareas
Ruben BaartIn the digital era of a globalized world, our screens have become a second set of eyes. Communication has advanced leaps and bounds, to a point where we cannot imagine a world …
Billionaire space race: the ultimate symbol of capitalism's obsession with growth
Tim JacksonMars ain’t the kind of place to raise your kids, laments the Rocket Man in Elton John’s timeless classic. In fact, it’s cold as hell. But that doesn’t seem to worry a new …
Next Nature's must reads
Ruben BaartTen books that continue to inspire the next nature philosophy—gathered for you to read this summer.
FluDOC – Glowing Bacteria Show if You Have Influenza
Koert van MensvoortBacteria are traditionally perceived as infectious and unhealthy, but that is about to change. This week designer Jan van der Asdonk graduated from the Next Nature Lab at the TU/e …
The Sound of the Blue Canary
Berry EggenBlue is a beautiful color, but its sound is simply irresistible. It is the song of the unhappy and the depressed. It is a sound that touches people. It was also the sound of a …
Structuring biomimicry, improving building's resiliency
Wilfredo Mendez VazquezThe same way Einstein assumes the speed of light to be a constant of reference for his Theory of Relativity, the philosophy of biomimicry assumes Nature as a constant of reference …
The Golden Quarter
Michael HanlonSome of our greatest cultural and technological achievements took place between 1945 and 1971. Why has progress stalled?
The path towards solar democracy with Marjan van Aubel
Meike SchipperSolar cells are often considered an eyesore, used for their sustainability yet not for their beauty. Installed on roofs or in solar parks, they take up precious space. Well that’s …
The Story of our Food
Maartje SomersEvery time we eat a piece of food, we take a bite out of the world. All these small bites tell a dozen stories. A carton of eggs presents the story of contented hens, a bottle of …
The Technological Sublime
Jos de MulThe sublime is an aesthetic concept of 'the exalted,' of beauty that is grand and dangerous. Through 17th and 18th century European intellectual tradition, the sublime became …
Nature through the Windshield
Brendan CormierVolume magazine interviews Next Nature founder Koert van Mensvoort.
Next Nature and the Curse of Oil
Tere VadénThe next step is to embrace and celebrate how cultural artifacts are escaping control, becoming autonomous, and forming the “next nature”.
Pirjo Kääriäinen on new ecological biomateriality
Freya HutchingsMeet Pirjo Kääriäinen, professor of design driven fibre innovation at Aalto University, Finland. Kääriäinen founded CHEMARTS —a collaborative program at the university that brings …
Next Generation: Visualising the diversity of microbial species with Valerie Daude
Ruben BaartThis story is part of Next Generation , a series in which we give young makers a platform to showcase their work. Your work here? Get in touch and plot your coordinates as we …
How future fashion could help us cope with isolation
Ruben BaartToday we cannot meet, touch or hug our loved ones. And while we all like the feeling of the touch of another human being, physical contact does not just feel nice, it is crucial …
Next Generation: Pursuing digital tactility with Studio PMS
Ruben BaartThis story is part of Next Generation , a series in which we give young makers a platform to showcase their work. Your work here? Get in touch and plot your …
Next Generation: Changing the oceans chemistry with Santa Ramaherison
Ruben BaartThis story is part of Next Generation , a series in which we give young makers a platform to showcase their work. Your work here? Get in touch and plot your …
Breaking Point?
John Zerzan, published in Green Anarchy issue #24 - Spring/Summer 2007 The rapidly mounting toll of modern life is worse than we could have imagined. A metamorphosis rushes …
The 21th Century Paradigm
The history of art through the ages reveals a constancy that, by conscious or unconscious applications, provides us with an omnipresent correlation dealing with the …
Razorius Gilletus – On the Origin of a Next Species
Koert van MensvoortIs the evolution of the single bladed razor into an exorbitant five–bladed vibrating gizmo the outcome of human needs, or is there another force in play? Say hello to Razorius …
Moral Shortcomings in the Technology Debate
Rinie van EstDigital and genetic techniques increasingly influence life. Our belief in progress through technology stands in the way of a moral debate on this development. By Rinie van Est We …
Yes, Naturally
Ine GeversThe introductory essay from the Yes, Naturally book - available in our store!
Here’s how the Dutch are embracing blockchain in the polder
Coen van de VenSmiling broadly and rattling with enthusiasm, the 33-year-old Rylana Doesburg shows off a QR-code on her phone: an angular pattern of black and white squares. “Thanks to this …
Why superhuman technologies will affect us all
Ruben BaartWhen you look through a super-telescope, you can still see the planet Earth. Once called the blue planet, she now looks red and parched. We had no choice but to abandon her… On a …
Next Generation: Unlearning botanical narratives with Nina Škerjanc
Ruben BaartThis story is part of Next Generation , a series in which we give young makers a platform to showcase their work. Your work here? Get in touch and plot your …
Enter the memesphere
Laura van den BrinkWhy memes might be the next tool to make sense of on our increasingly hybrid virtual and physical environment.
A Society of Simulations
Koert van MensvoortAn interviewer once asked Pablo Picasso why he paints such strange pictures instead of painting things the way they are. Picasso asks the man what he means. The man then takes out …
Plastic Planet
Koert van MensvoortWe tend to think of plastic as a cheap, inferior and ugly material used to make children’s toys, garden furniture and throwaway bottles. But as an experiment, imagine for a moment …
Exploring public spaces, landmarks and landscapes in Beneath the Surface expo
Marit BeerseThe ‘Beneath the Surface’ exhibition organized by Taiwan Designers’ Web at the Chiayi Art Museum teaches us about unconventional connections, past and future.
Growth is not the problem, but the solution
Ruben BaartIf we want to bring down global CO2 emissions to zero, we will need technological innovation and massive infrastructure projects.
BVPS Next Nature in LA - Pictures!
May 17th 2008. Biggest Visual Power Show: Next Nature in LA . More pictures below. We are all born in a world that has been designed already. BVPS intro video by Floris Kaayk. Big …
Artifice Earth: Adam Rutherford on the Promises of Synthetic Biology
NextNature.netAn interview about the history and promises of synthetic biology, and the problem with the word "nature".
Getting rid of that bit of unspoiled green
Sanne vander BeekThere it is. A hefty hen, with its head up high and its beak out. And a gigantic VR headset over its beady little eyes. What does this battery hen see? ‘An experience of a free …
How cities are cutting out cars
Vanessa Bates RamirezIt’s common consensus in the tech industry that the days of cars as we know them—powered by gas, driven by humans, and individually owned by all who want and can afford one—are …
Jurassic World scientists still haven’t learned
Ruben BaartJust because you can doesn’t mean you should – real-world genetic engineers can learn from the cautionary tale. “ Jurassic World: Dominion ” is hyperbolic Hollywood entertainment …
The Moon Gallery: the first museum in space
Ruben BaartThe Moon Gallery aims to set up the first permanent museum on the Moon. Soon launching to the International Space Station, full of ideas worth sending to the Moon. The gallery is …
The prehistoric importance of trading technology
Nicholas R. LongrichThen, as now, one person could literally change the course of history, with nothing more than an idea.
5 must see exhibitions in 2023
Selin Kir1. THE FUTURE IS PRESENT Design Museum Danmark How will contemporary design define the future? THE FUTURE IS PRESENT grasps the very essence of Danish artistry of material …
Growing the Future of Meat
Christina AgapakisOutside of the limits imposed by the edges of an animal’s body, the cells can reproduce and multiply until they exhaust the nutrients and space provided, filling petri dishes and vats to grow the future of meat.
But will lab-grown meat be kosher?
Benjamin Aldes WurgaftRead Benjamin Aldes Wurgaft's essay on judaism in relation to the production of laboratory-grown meat.
Next Generation: illustrating the remains of the anthropocene with Louise Silfversparre
Ruben BaartThis story is part of Next Generation , a series in which we give young makers a platform to showcase their work. Your work here? Get in touch and plot your …
Meet the BAD Awards winners of 2023
Kelly van GemertThe annual Bio Art & Design (BAD) Award encourages new artists and designers to explore the world of bio art and design. Let's have a look at the three winning projects of this year.
Interview: Arne Hendriks, Researcher and "Father" of The Incredible Shrinking Man
Alessia AndreottiHendriks’s activity explores the positive transformative power of creative impulses and the importance of fundamental free scientific research.
Body hair helps animals stay clean – and could inspire self-cleaning technologies
David HuWatch a fly land on the kitchen table, and the first thing it does is clean itself, very, very carefully. Although we can’t see it, the animal’s surface is covered with dust, …
Discover the art of the living at Centre Pompidou
Ruben BaartGo forward to nature at the La Fabrique du Vivant (the Factory of Life), the newly opened exhibition at the Centre Pompidou in Paris. Exhibiting the recent works of fifty …
Next Generation: Thinking about the future of food with Annie Larkins
Freya HutchingsThis story is part of Next Generation , a series in which we give young makers a platform to showcase their work. Your work here? Get in touch and plot your coordinates as we …
Next Generation: Shimmering nature with Elissa Brunato
Freya HutchingsThis story is part of Next Generation , a series in which we give young makers a platform to showcase their work. Would you like to see your work here? Get in touch …
Track freshness and reduce food waste with Rui Xu
Ruben BaartImagine this: you wake up on a lazy Sunday morning, trudging your way to the fridge only to be welcomed with the smell of something rotting. Did the meat expire sooner than …
To save forests, researchers are hooking trees up to Twitter (again)
Ruben BaartIn July 2018, a century-old red oak went live on Twitter. The account @awitnesstree , tweeting from the Harvard Forest in Petersham, Massachusetts, introduces itself in its bio: …
Future Festive Feast
Kelly van GemertAs the year is coming to a close, many of us are preparing our homes and dinner tables for a festive meal.
Ars Electronica 2010: Artists Adressing NextNature
Ties van de WerffSind wir noch zu retten? That was the slogan of this year’s Ars Electronica festival in Linz (Austria). Titled ‘REPAIR’, the media art festival urged to leave our scepticism and …
NANO Supermarket Best Product 2014
Alessia AndreottiA jury of design and science experts awarded the best NANO Supermarket product a € 2.500 prize.
Transportations Of The Future
Francesca BarchiesiA selection of nine enthralling and striking concepts of future way of transportation.
Interview: Curator Ilari Laamanen on Momentum9, the Nordic Biennial
Ruben BaartWe recently spoke to Ilari Laamanen, to peel the outcrops of Momemtum9, and unveil the overlapping themes to the next nature philosophy.
How fungi can help create a green construction industry
Ian FletcherThe world of fungi has attracted a lot of interest and seems to be becoming very fashionable of late. A new exhibition at Somerset House in London, for example, is dedicated to …
POND is a symphony of lights and water
Nellie FriedrichHave you ever gone a day without water? Most likely you have experienced low energy levels or fatigue after a few couple of hours. Water gives us energy. More than that, water is …
Next Generation: Exploring the vegetal cyborg with Marie Declerfayt
Ruben BaartThis story is part of Next Generation , a series in which we give young makers a platform to showcase their work. Want to see your work here? Get in touch and …
Fish-inspired soft robot takes a deep dive
Dimitris TsakirisThe deepest regions of the oceans still remain one of the least explored areas on Earth, despite their considerable scientific interest and the richness of lifeforms inhabiting …
What will your future supermarket look like?
Ruben BaartWhat will the supermarket of the future look like? And what kind of food will you be able to buy there? That is what the Embassy of Food is researching. The production and …
How to plant seeds with your shoes
Selin KirImagine helping nature restore itself simply by going for a run. In a fusion of fashion and conservation, London-based designer Kiki Grammatopoulos has introduced her concept …
MyPowerbank hacks bicycles so the homeless can juice up their phones
Kelly van GemertLuke Talbot has developed a solution to assist people experiencing homelessness in charging their phones for free by hacking rental bicycles.
Are we living in a superorganism?
Ruben BaartThe coverstory of Next Nature Magazine investigates how the rise of virtual influencers on social media reveals a superorganism.
Wild wild space
Veronica FanzioWhen Earth goes south, cowboys go all the way up. The Space Rush of 2020s has something to do with settler colonialism.
Nature Loves Technology
Next Nature DevWe interviewed William Myers and Emma van der Leest, curators of Nature Loves Technology, our exhibition at Floriade 2022
Real Nature is not Green
Koert van MensvoortAt the edge of the woods along the motorway near the Dutch town of Bloemendaal, there stands a mobile telephone mast disguised as a pine tree. This mast is not nature: at best, it …
Pelvis Rocking Chair
Arnoud van den HeuvelIt is nature, but not like we know it when chairs biomimic the pelvis. This anatomic Ruby rockingchair was designed by Pouyan Mokhtarani , Tehran (Iran). Via b oingboing.net | …
![Visual of MANKO & Plagiarism [#1]](https://nextnature.net/media/pages/magazine/story/2010/manko-plagiarism-1/b50dcc7ae7-1602632753/manco-530-868x486.jpg)
MANKO & Plagiarism [#1]
Aston RevolaIn this first review of the works of Manko, we'll discuss the complex sorts of plagiarism in Augmented Reality art that are typical for our contemporary art scene. This introduces …
The Biosphere Code Manifesto
NextNature.netDuring the event The Biosphere Code, Stockholm University researcher Victor Galaz and colleagues outlined a manifesto for algorithms in the environment.
ECO Coin Award Interviews: Ritsert Mans
Jack CaulfieldWe asked Ritsert Mans, our second ECO coin award nominee about his bike, the technology that fuels it and his hopes for the future.
The Economy of Ecology
Lewis JustWhat if we could redesign the system to work for humanity and the planet we call home? What would the economy of ecology look like?
The City as Technology in Tokyo
NextNature.netAre cities in their current form really the future of the human habitat? What is a next nature version of the city and how would it look like? In line with this perspective, NNN designer Hendrik-Jan Grievink led two workshops in Tokyo.
If you could have another sense, which sense would you choose?
Meike SchipperColor-blind artist Neil Harbisson designed a brain-implanted antenna that converts colors into sound. This enables him to hear colors he cannot see, and extends his vision to …
The Artificial Womb project receives funding to develop a prototype
Freya HutchingsHooray! The team of researchers at the Eindhoven University of Technology (whom we previously collaborated with to design a prototype for an artificial womb ) has been awarded a …
The GOGBOT Conference 2019 is your guide to biotech futures
Ruben BaartLook around you and try to find the most natural thing in the room you are in now. It is you. But for how long? Welcome to the wonderful world of bio design ; a world full of …
It's been fifty years since we took the first full photo of Earth from space
Robert PooleThe image of the whole Earth as seen from space has become a symbol of the environmental movement. Time for an update?
Future cities: why we need to reimagine the look of urban landscapes
Ruben BaartIn imagining future urban landsapes, we need to answer questions about what can be sustained and what cannot, where cities can be located and where they cannot.
The Institute of Digital Fashion explores what's next in the industry
Ruben BaartTrading animal skins for pixels, our digital selves call for a digital wardrobe. The Institute of Digital Fashion , led by CommuneEast founder Leanne Elliott Young and Digi-Gxl …
Join us at the Embassy of Food Conference
Next Nature DevPromising food design projects do not always find their way to producers, the market and ultimately to consumers. Why is that and what can we do to advance these ideas? Why is it …
Cooking with mycelium
Ruben BaartResearchers from the University of Colorado created a recipe book to cook with mycelium.
Italians Do It Better
Hendrik-Jan GrievinkTERRACINA, Italy: Before Michele Assunto hauls in his fishing net from the banks of a reed-lined canal here, he uses a pole to push the garbage out of the way. "They really need …
Little Green Cows
Rachel ArmstrongThe world is alight with algae fever. In this age of deep ecological design aspirations, the range of speculative design projects based on algae technology is growing. Algae are …
The Ecological Human
Rachel ArmstrongThe nature of humanity in the twenty-first century is, according to sociologist Steve Fuller, a ‘bipolar disorder’ beset with dualisms of identification such as divine/animal, …
In Vitro Meat: Animal Liberation?
NextNature.netMany people welcome in vitro meat because of what it may mean for animals. Even though they often find the idea strange, the promise for animals is widely felt as a source of hope.
What Bits Want
Kevin KellyDigital bits have lives. They work for us, but we totally ignore them. What do bits really want? Here are the life stories of four different bits.
Air Pollution Mask for Kids
Ruben BaartDanish design studio Kilo created an air pollution mask suitable for kids aged six and up.
How climate fiction novels allow us to imagine possible futures
Adeline Johns-PutraEvery day brings fresh and ever more alarming news about the state of the global environment. To speak of mere “climate change” is inadequate now, for we are in a “ climate …
How rich people used to show off their wealth with pineapples and celery
Lauren Alex O HaganA stack of pancakes ladened with syrup, a frothy latte posed next to a white MacBook, a deep pan pizza oozing with cheese. Instagram has made “food porn” – images that portray …
Towards a global society as a superorganism
Ruben BaartToday we hold the ability to gather a lot of knowledge, thanks to science. We are able to watch, analyze, manipulate and change matter to the nano-level. This makes it tempting to …
Why I'm turning my son into a cyborg
Vivienne MingImagine if everyone spoke a language that you don’t understand. It’s not a foreign language–it’s been spoken around you since the day you were born–but where as everyone else …
In conversation with cyborg musician Kai Landre
Ruben BaartWhat does the merge of bodies and technology mean for the human? For cyborg Kai Landre, cybernetic extensions become body parts and not technology. Kai began his transition to a …
Cooling buildings with ultra-white paint
Andrew ParnellFrom icy tundras to billowing clouds, the colour white crops up repeatedly in our planet’s palette. This colour provides a natural way for light from the sun to reflect back from …
Next Generation: Exploring cybernetic ecologies with Marie Walker-Smith
Liam BekaertThis story is part of Next Generation , a series in which we give young makers a platform to showcase their work. Your work here? Get in touch and plot your …
Meet Kaia the CO2 filtering lamp
Kelly van GemertDid you know that we owe every second breath we take to the algae in the sea? And that minerals have been absorbing CO2 for billions of years while converting it into important …
What's solar geoeneering and why is it controversial?
James W. HurrellA report from 2021 from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine tackles a controversial question : Is solar geoengineering – an approach designed to cool the …
Out of Control
The Made and the Born: Neo-Biological civillization, written by Kevin Kelly, excerpt from Out of Control : The New Biology of Machines, Social Systems and the Economic World, …
Virtual Money Is a Pleonasm
Koert van MensvoortHave you heard the buzz on virtual money in online games? Some years ago the first virtual millionaire was announced, yet there have also been reports on people being practically …
Nano Supermarket – Opening Pictures
Koert van MensvoortLast Saturday, our Nano Supermarket opened its doors in a pleasurably crowded atmosphere. Below are some snapshots of the opening event. If you happen to be in the neighborhood, …
Self–Repairing Architecture
Rachel ArmstrongAll buildings today have something in common: They are made using Victorian technologies. This involves blueprints, industrial manufacturing and construction using teams of …
Complexity and Evolving Synthetic Soil
Rachel ArmstrongTwenty-first century society draws from a world that is less determined by objects and increasingly shaped by connectivity. The clear either/or distinctions that formerly informed …
Interview: Suzanne Lee, Fashion Innovator Who Grows Clothing in the Laboratory
Alessia AndreottiWe recently talked with Suzanne Lee about the textile industry and technology, growing leather in the lab, and the use of new alternative materials in the future of fashion.
Speculative Sensing at WDCD 2015
NextNature.netOn may 21st, Next Nature Network art director Hendrik-Jan Grievink will host a workshop around the idea of Speculative Sensing: exploring the potential of senses found in nature …
Let’s Sweat the Heat Out: Sweating Wall Concept
Wei Lun WangHydroceramic: a composite material able to lower the temperature of an interior space by five degrees Celsius.
The Idea for Lab-Grown Meat Was Born in a Prisoner-of-War Camp
Chase PurdyThe phone call was as unexpected as the American accent at the other end of the line. And when she hung up a few moments later, Ira van Eelen had to stop to catch her breath. More …
Ermi van Oers wants to bring living light to your living room
Jack CaulfieldThe Living Light harnesses plant energy to provide light. We spoke to its designer, Ermi van Oers, to find out more about the unique product.
I like my steak lab-grown, not-grass fed
Angus HerveyRight now, somewhere in a laboratory in California, the Netherlands or Japan, a technician is taking a few thousand skeletal muscle cells from a living animal, and placing them in …
Why in the future, we will all wear one piece of garment
Ruben BaartIt's not an easy task to define the practice of designer Jasna Rok . Fashtech pioneer? Radical innovator? Visionary designer? ‘All of the above’ seems only appropriate. In fact, …
Scientists accidentally create mutant enzyme that eats plastic bottles
Damian CarringtonScientists have created a mutant enzyme that breaks down plastic drinks bottles – by accident. The breakthrough could help solve the global plastic pollution crisis by enabling …
On inhumane technology
Jack CaulfieldStick-on shoes, wakeup lights, bionic limbs: these are examples of humane technology. But what exactly does this mean? It can best be explained in contrast with its opposite. …
On the origin of the word processor
Huub EhlhardtWriting is recognised as one of mankind’s foremost inventions and the mechanization of writing is one of these developments that typify what is commonly regarded as the work of …
The artificial womb: are we ready?
Ruben Baart“Within a few years it will be possible for a premature baby to continue to mature in an artificial womb,” says gynecologist Guid Oei. It is therefore that the Artificial Womb: …
Enter the Future Food Formula
Ruben BaartImagine, it’s 2050 and you are feeling hungry. What will be on your plate? Where will your food come from, and how will it be produced? It may be juicy ants from the nearest …
How to biofabricate leather
Laura MuthLeather is one of the oldest and most versatile materials in the world. It’s a supple, tough, relatively strong and durable material and it’s relatively impermeable, yet …
Hello, superorganism
Koert van MensvoortWhen I was a kid, my parents took me to the beach every summer. We’d swim in the ocean and play on our inflatable raft in the surf. When the tide was low, I’d build a sand castle …
Humans could recolonize Earth after mass extinctions with ectogenesis
Matthew EdwardsLately it seems that every movie, book and video game we see is about future apocalypses. Science articles are also painting a grim future for Earth and its inhabitants. If it’s …
Next Generation: Exploring blood, salt and iron as biomaterials with Hedwich Rooks
Kelly van GemertThis story is part of Next Generation , a series in which we give young makers a platform to showcase their work. Your work here? Get in touch: magazine@nextnature.net. …
Next Generation: Experiencing neo-robophilia with Hye Hyun Song
Ruben BaartThis story is part of Next Generation , a series in which we give young makers a platform to showcase their work. Your work here? Get in touch and plot your …
Sónar Lisboa: a festival for body and brain
Ruben BaartSometimes a festival can be so much more. Tapping into arts, design, and electronic and experimental music festival, Sónar Lisboa (8-10 April) is one for the body and for the …
The information age is starting to transform fishing worldwide
Ioana TomiciPeople in the world’s developed nations live in a post-industrial era, working mainly in service or knowledge industries. Manufacturers increasingly rely on sensors, robots, …
Next Generation: Going viral with lab-grown meat and Leyu Li
Kelly van GemertTo explore the public opinion towards cultured meat, speculative food designer Leyu Li created fictional influencer “Meaty Auntie” and turned to TikTok.
Better than the real thing
Written by Debbie Mollenhagen PART 1: FROM LINEAR TO CIRCULAR Designer living has become designing life. I often ask myself: did it taste like the real thing? But when I open my …
Spatial planning - Learning from Second Life
Written by Joop de Boer from Studio Golfstromen - strategy, planning and design on the city. In the virtual world 'Second Life' everything is possible. That's most obvious in the …
Bacteria That Eat Waste & Shit Petrol
Koert van MensvoortEnergy problem? Why not genetically alter bacteria to have them provide 'renewable petroleum'. Crude oil is only a few molecular stages removed from the acids normally excreted by …
Go forth, Buy a Smartphone and Reproduce Thyself
Hendrik-Jan GrievinkIt took some years of evolution to turn sex (between different sexes) from a stricly functional activity attuned to reproduction, into the recreational activity it is primarily …
The Anthropocene Debate: Marking Humanity’s Impact
Elizabeth KolbertIs human activity altering the planet on a scale comparable to major geological events of the past? Scientists are now considering whether to officially designate a new …
Next Nature Services
Bas HaringIntentionality separates culture from nature. A dog is intentional, a fox is not; a park is intentional, a forest is not. Since trash, ruined buildings, and automated computer …
Should we clone Neanderthals?
Zach ZorichIf Neanderthals ever walk the earth again, the primordial ooze from which they will rise is an emulsion of oil, water, and DNA capture beads engineered in the laboratory of 454 …
End of Life Care Machine
Marco van BeersDesigner, artist and engineer Dan Chen has developed the ' End of Life Care Machine ', a machine designed to guide and comfort dying patients with a carefully scripted message. …
Is the Human Body Redundant?
Rachel ArmstrongThe increasing ‘liveliness’ of machines and accessibility to the virtual world has raised questions about whether it is possible to uncouple the mind from the body in through a …
From Eco-Apartheid to Earth Democracy
Vandana ShivaDo humans exist merely to make money and use resources? Vandana Shiva believes humans have a higher purpose.
What Ant Colony Networks Can Tell Us About What’s Next for Digital Networks
Deborah GordonEver notice how ant colonies so successfully explore and exploit resources in the world … to find food at 4th of July picnics, for example? You may find it annoying. But as an …
The Anthropocene Explosion
Koert van MensvoortWe have entered the Anthropocene epoch, in which humanity and its instrumentalities are the most potent and influential geological force.
Robot Babies to Prevent Pregnancy
Ruben BaartAn Australian study has shown the use of lifelike robot babies increased teen pregnancy, rather than discouraging it.
2015: Artificial Placenta Approaches
Elle Zhan WeiIn 2015, a group of scientists from the University of Michigan claimed to have made the world's first artificial placenta.
3D-printing food waste into tasty products
Meike SchipperGlobally, humans produce enough food to feed 10 billion people (we are only 7 billion now) yet somehow we waste a third of this. Food waste is one of the biggest climate …
Artificial bones for the natural meat experience
Ruben BaartThe world is developing, climate change is happening and it's time for us to do something. Now. One strategy would be to simply stop eating meat — or at least reduce the amount of …
Exploring speculative developments of reproductive technology
Next Nature DevWhat if women of childbearing age no longer had to interrupt their careers for a pregnancy? In Kuang-Yi Ku ’s project Grandmom Mom, we take a look into the future. In 2050, the …
Max Liboiron: pollution is colonialism
Ruben BaartWe now live in a world where plastics are becoming a part of our marine ecosystems. As a result, we strive hard to clean the plastics from our oceans. Dr. Max Liboiron ( Michif …
The Next Nature Magazine is here!
Next Nature DevIt’s our pleasure to announce the first issue of the Next Nature Magazine. Indeed, a good old fashioned magazine. Next Nature Magazine presents 176 pages of thought-provoking …
The long history of the metaverse
Tom BoellstorffMany aspects of the current metaverse were already familiar 143 years ago.
Inverting the energy paradigm with Charles Eisenstein
Ruben BaartEnergy policy blah blah blah, life cycle analysis blah blah blah, energy return on energy invested, peak oil, carbon footprint, renewables, hydro, nuclear, blah blah blah blah …
Artist refuses photography prize after admitting his image was AI-generated
Vanessa Bates RamirezA German artist refused a photography prize after admitting his image was AI-generated.
Carnerie is the grow your own meat device of the future
Kelly van GemertThis speculative kitchen device shows us a future where growing meat at home is not just a possibility but a reality.
10 Biomimic Gadgets
Arnoud van den HeuvelComing across an image like this, makes one wonder at first: is it a giant punch-bag? Some sort of soft water-drop-sculpture? No, it is the Emergency Outdoor Survival Cocoon , …
Skyscreen - largest urban LED screen in Asia
Koert van MensvoortAlright, we can agree most of old nature has been altered by human activity. We're not just talking rain forest, icecaps and genetically modified fruit and kittens . Now you might …
Corpus 2.0
Koert van MensvoortCorpus 2.0 by Marcia Nolte is a set of seven portraits illustrating how the human body could adjust itself to the design of products, including an enlarged SMS thumb (above), an …
Humans Are the Sex Organs of Technology
Written by Kevin Kelly , published in The Technium . I claim that technology has its own agenda. What is the evidence that technology as a whole, or the technium as I call it, is …
Keep it cool with the Bio-Robot Fridge
Koert van MensvoortThe Bio Robot fridge is a speculative product that uses a non sticky, odourless gel to envelope stored food as individual pods. The idea is that the gel cools by absorbing heat …
![Visual of Manko & Time [#13, The End]](https://nextnature.net/media/pages/magazine/story/2011/manko-time-13-the-end/ad243e97e0-1602632753/manko13-868x486.jpg)
Manko & Time [#13, The End]
Aston RevolaMany things have been rumored about the artist called Manko since he vanished about a year ago. Some even went so far as to claim he had died. So it was all over the news when …
Nature is Dead, Long live Nature
Koert van MensvoortLike we did to old nature before, we must now cultivate our technological environment.
Next What?
John ZerzanIn this essay, anti-civilization, anarchist philosopher John Zerzan critiques the concept of 'next nature.' He argues that rather than freeing us, our self-domestication through …
Totem Animals for the Anthropocene
Ted HeistmanInvasive species become the animal symbols for a man-made world.
The Evolution Of The Desk 1980 - 2014
Francesca BarchiesiObjects that normally used to surround us became more and more virtual, radically changing the aspect of our workplace.
From Vegetable to Stroopwafel
Ruben BaartChloé Rutzerveld presents a modern version of the iconic stroopwafel, fully made of vegetables.
Flying Car Modular Transport System
Elle Zhan WeiAirbus and Italdesign unveil modular urban land and air transport system.
Anthropomorphism Puts a Friendly Face on Autonomous Vehicles
Jack CaulfieldDo you ever look at the bonnet of a car and see a face? Now, designers are looking at how to give self-driving cars the friendliest "faces" they can through anthropomorphism.
How will the artificial womb affect society?
Natalja HeybroekWhere contraceptives such as the pill disconnect sex from reproduction, in vitro fertilisation disconnects contraception from sex, and the artificial womb would disconnect the …
A happy birth day to Louise Brown
Hendrik-Jan GrievinkDear Louise Brown, On behalf of the future I would like to congratulate you on your birthday. It has been 40 years that you where born into this world on July 25th 1978, …
Your next doctor might just be a robot
Jack CaulfieldConventional wisdom says that you can’t replace the human touch in terms of medical care, but in our rapidly changing technological environment, it appears that this perception …
5 must-see exhibitions before the end of the year
Ruben BaartA large-scale asian food market serving in vitro meat, a transatlantic expo on the future of nature and a travelling exhibition that explores our relationship with AI. These five …
5 things to do at DDW19
Freya HutchingsLining up plans for Dutch Design Week ? Once more, 2600 designers gather in over 120 locations during 450 events. So whether you're a local, new in town, or just passing through, …
Exploring body architecture with Lucy McRae
Meike SchipperAs evolution goes on, the human body is evolving too. What does it mean to be human in times of advanced biotechnology and genetic engineering? Are our bodies ready for our …
In conversation with Studio Drift
Meike SchipperA flock of drones that fly like birds, drifting blocks of concrete, a choreography of opening and closing flowers. The work of Studio Drift is challenging the distinction between …
Social animals are the inspiration for robot swarms
Edmund HuntFrom flocks of birds to fish schools in the sea, or towering termite mounds , many social groups in nature exist together to survive and thrive. This cooperative behaviour can be …
A vegan meat revolution is coming to global fast food chains
Malte RodlA few years ago, convincing meat-free “meat” was nothing more than a distant dream for most consumers. Meat substitutes in supermarkets lacked variety and quality. Plant-based …
‘Optimism is our duty’: in conversation with Koert van Mensvoort
Ruben BaartWe live in a world in which we control the biology of a tomato at such precision, you could think of it as a product of technology, instead of a product of nature. Think about it, …
Next Generation: Cooking with viruses with Pei-Ying Lin
Britta de VriesThis story is part of Next Generation , a series in which we give young makers a platform to showcase their work. Want to see your work here? Get in touch and …
The Invention of Morel is a techno-lovestory from the future
Ruben BaartOctavio Paz says calls The Invention of Morel , “ without exaggeration… a perfect novel. ” According to Borges, “ to classify [it] as perfect is neither an …
What we can learn from The Social Dilemma
Vanessa Bates RamirezIs social media ruining the world? Dramatic political polarization. Rising anxiety and depression. An uptick in teen suicide rates. Misinformation that spreads like wildfire. The …
Next Generation: Sensing the critical zone with Menno Brouwer
Kelly van GemertThis story is part of Next Generation , a series in which we give young makers a platform to showcase their work. Your work here? Get in touch and plot your coordinates as we …
Next Generation: Producing glass from ashes with Benedikt Peirotén
Marit BeerseBenedikt Peirotén has started a project called ‘From the Ashes’ proposing using waste streams to replace the energy-intensive ingredients in glass.
Next Generation: Wandering through the post wilderness with Melissa Schwarz
Ruben BaartThis story is part of Next Generation , a series in which we give young makers a platform to showcase their work. Your work here? Get in touch and plot your …
The No(nhuman) Consent Form
Kelly van GemertThere seems to be a green shift happening in Dutch Design, where the traditional vision is slowly sprouting into a newer, more refreshing one. The biodesigners are emerging from …
We’re all radioactive – life isn't possible without it
Marit BeerseMost radiation is natural and life on Earth wouldn’t be possible without it.
Enter Spa Sybarite: the luxury wellness center of our dreams and nightmares
Kelly van GemertIn conversation with film director Joshua Ashish Dawson about the future of wellness, climate anxiety and healthy cynicism India-born, Los Angeles-based film director Joshua …
Call for Proposals: One Day left!
One week left to send in your Designing for Next Nature proposals in round #1 . A selection of the proposals of round#1 is invited for a 5 minute presentation on 23 November 2007 …
CrackBerry addicts are suing their Employers
Dr NaturalNo self-respecting manager would be without a BlackBerry. But now these handheld gadgets, which provide workaholics with constant email updates, are being blamed for chronic …
Toys'R'Us
Hendrik-Jan GrievinkMarch 2007 gave birth to Knut, the übercute baby icebear in the Berlin Zoo. A unique event, since it was 30 years ago a baby icebear was born in the zoo. Within weeks, Knut has …
Let the Dutch bury the Carbon
Koert van MensvoortToo much carbon emissions warming up the planet? No problem: just bring the stuff back to where you got it from in the first place. Experts have been advising to bury carbon …
Epidermits – The Tissue Engineered Toy
Koert van MensvoortThe world of tissue engineering is usually associated with medical applications . But how about some tissue engineered toys? The Epidermits toy is the Karten Design firm 's …
Fresh from the Pharm
Gordon TiemstraWill we in the future still buy several needs according food in shops, or will we grow M&M’s ourselves? There is a lot happening on in the field of food technology , think for …
Having Invented the Gods, Perhaps we can Turn into Them
Jason SilvaMy name is Jason Silva. I've spent the last 5 years hosting and producing a tv show on Al Gore's Emmy-winning Current TV network and I'm a fellow at the Hybrid Realities …
Urban Dolls
Hendrik-Jan GrievinkThe idea of altering your body for aesthetic purposes is still somewhat frowned upon today. But more than because the very idea of improving yourself, this is about its …
(Nano)technology imitating Nature
Koen BeumerOver the coming years, nanotechnology will invade our everyday lives. Nanotechnology, usually defined as the control and manipulation of matter at the nanoscale, will be …
Demo Day at Next Nature Lab
Alessia AndreottiUnpolished creativity at the Next Nature lab from the Industrial Design Department at the Eindhoven University of Technology.
Fuel Your Body With Algae Headgear
Alessia AndreottiAlgae as the future alternative fuel for the human body.
Next Nature saves Old Nature
Koert van MensvoortConservation workers ask synthetic biologists to help them save the world's endangered creatures and habitats.
Professions Of The Future
Francesca BarchiesiAs technology evolves, what today seems like science fiction may be the job market of tomorrow: 11 professions of the future.
What Will Life Be Like Inside A Computer?
John MesserlyMany scientists believe that we will soon be able to preserve our consciousness indefinitely. This could be done by copying and transferring these contents into a computer, or by piecemeal replacement with parts of the brain gradually replaced by hardware.
Could Biomimicry Help us Solve the Refugee Crisis?
Daniel FragaFrom nutrients within an organism, to organisms within collectives, to populations within a territory and so on - nature offers models on how to deal with highly complex systems.
C-Sections Caused an Evolutionary Change
Mathilde NakkenC-sections have an unexpected side effect on human evolution. Newborn heads are getting bigger, while the mothers birth cannals are becoming smaller.
Fellow Day: Next Senses
Ingmar NieuweboerOn June 17th a NNN Fellow Day was organized to explore the future project: Next Senses.
Rating the Reputation Economy
Lewis JustOur online reputation is becoming a valuable currency that is hard to earn and easy to lose.
Letter to Humanity
Koert van MensvoortNNN director Koert van Mensvoort writes a letter to humanity.
Your Virtual Midwife Is Here
Charlotte KuijpersAn external device that helps you conceive, carry and raise a child. Too scary? Or extremely useful? It's up to you to decide, your virtual midwife is here!
Interview: Huub Ehlhardt on the evolution of products
Kelly van Gemert"To understand why a product is the way it is today, you need to learn about its evolutionary background." Meet Huub Ehlhardt, an engineer with a PhD in product design . Huub …
The world’s plastic problem is bigger than the ocean
Christopher J. PrestonAs you read this, a strange object that looks like a 2,000-foot floating pool noodle is drifting slowly through the central north Pacific Ocean. This object is designed to solve …
How AI is reshaping electronic music
Linda ValentaThe idea that AI can compose electronic music may sound a little off to people. It raises essential questions about creativity as a product exclusive to humans: can an AI be …
This exhibition investigates how humans will live tomorrow
Ruben BaartOccupying the 52nd floor of Tokyo’s Mori Tower, Mori Art Museum is internationally renowned for its visionary approach and highly original curation of contemporary art. The …
3 ways Virtual Reality is revolutionizing teaching
John PickavanceYou’ve probably heard how Virtual Reality (VR) is going to change everything: the way we work, the way we live, the way we play. Still, for every truly transformative technology, …
Next Generation: Growing technology with Prosthetic X
Ruben BaartThis story is part of Next Generation , a series in which we give young makers a platform to showcase their work. Your work here? Get in touch and plot your …
Our Next Nature Future Lab plan received funding
Next Nature DevHooray! This just in: Next Nature Network is granted a significant contribution from the Dutch government intended to develop a Future Lab for design & technology in Eindhoven …
Talking non-human nonsense with Nonhuman Nonsense
Ruben BaartNonhuman Nonsense is a research-driven design and art studio existing somewhere between utopia and dystopia. They wonder upon our relationship with the non-human, embracing …
How cyborg soil reveals the secret microbial metropolis beneath our feet
Edith HammerDig a teaspoon into your nearest clump of soil, and what you’ll emerge with will contain more microorganisms than there are people on Earth. We know this from lab studies that …
Mojo Visions augmented reality contact lenses kick off a race to AR on your eye
Ruben BaartThe digital world has been creeping closer to your face. Was a time when a laptop was about as personal as you got with a computer. Then came smartphones, and a few years later, …
We could power households from the scraps in our food waste bins
Ananya MukherjeeImagine if you could power your kettle using the energy generated from the vegetable cuttings quietly breaking down in your kitchen’s compost bin. That reality might not be so far …
Why we need to get better at predicting space weather
Koert van MensvoortThe Sun is the most important source of energy for sustaining life on Earth, but it gives us a lot more than just light and heat. It also gives us solar storms.
What Julia Watson is reading this summer
Ruben BaartIn an era of high-tech and climate extremes, we are drowning in information while starving for wisdom. Architect Julia Watson imagines a design movement building on indigenous …
Personalise your gut health with Microbiota To Go
Ruben BaartIn the supermarket of the future, part of the Embassy of Food at Dutch Design Week, designer Merle Bergers will present her project Microbiota To Go.
Organs from genetically engineered pigs may help shorten the transplant wait list
David KaczorowskiDemand for life-saving organ transplantation is at an all-time high. In 2021, a record 41,000-plus organ transplants were performed in the U.S., with top numbers for kidney, liver …
Dubai will soon house the world's largest artificial coral reef
Kelly van GemertA floating sustainable city where humans can live, work and study while supporting aquatic ecosystems. Soon this will become a reality in Dubai, as sustainable real estate company …
Next Senses
Ruben BaartNext Senses explores the unchartered territory of how we could experience the world with technology
The Petunia Carnage
Kelly van GemertTo pay tribute to the destroyed orange petunias during the Petunia crisis, Klaus Pichler has composed an illustrative book.
The Sleeping Garden
Hendrik-Jan GrievinkHow to design an expierience of retrieving in nature in the middle of Holland's second-biggest city? Design a park, built entirely from used railway sleepers. That was the basic …
Humans to Blame for Global Warming
Koert van MensvoortGlobal warming is "very likely" a human-caused problem that will last for centuries and require concerted international action to reduce its potentially devastating impacts, a …
IVY - hard disk cover evolves with your data
Koert van MensvoortIVY is an external hard disk which shows the content of the hard disk on its skin. When no data is stored on IVY, its skin will remain blank. When you purchase IVY, it appears to …
Playing with Dry Water
Arnoud van den HeuvelThe Waterboard is an interactive installation by Mike Burton giving the user a chance to play with water without getting wet. By drawing lines on the whiteboard, the water will …
Organic Coca-Cola
Koert van MensvoortWhoever you are, whatever you do, wherever you may be. You can’t beat the real thing. It really refreshes and brings real satisfaction in every glass. It was not until America’s …
Scientists Extract Images Directly from Brain
Arnoud van den Heuvel(Extracted directly from Pink Tentacle , thanks!): Researchers from Japan’s ATR Computational Neuroscience Laboratories have developed new brain analysis technology that can …
A Future Love Story
By MARCEL VAN DER DRIFT. Ten years from now, a cell phone gently sinks to the bottom of the river. It's one of the latest models. The clever design, trendy colours and nifty …
DrinkPeeDrinkPeeDrinkPee
Arnoud van den HeuvelDrinkpeedrinkpeedrinkpee is a project by Britta Riley and Rebecca Bray about the role our bodies play in larger ecosystems. It's an installation about the Urine to Fertilzer DIY …
Allergy-Free New York
Hendrik-Jan GrievinkWe recreate the landscape according to our image of nature and to match our needs and expectations. This also applies for the urban landscape. In the NY Times of last week, Thomas …
Brand Environmentalism: The Augmented Reality Sneaker
Hendrik-Jan GrievinkOnce, we wore footwear to protect our feet from the hostile influences of our natural environment. But with the replacement of our natural environment by a world of design, the …
ECO Currency – A Proposal to Balance Economical and Environmental Value
Koert van MensvoortImagine we would have an alternative monetary currency for environmental value. Would the rain forest still be destroyed if there existed an ECO–currency to express its value and …
The AI Revolution Is On
Ruben DaasSteven Levy writes in Wired on the unexpected turn of the Artificial Intelligence revolution: rather than whole artificial minds, it consists of a rich bestiary of digital fauna, …
Meat, the Expectations
Koert van MensvoortAs the planet’s population speeds towards 9 billion, it’s becomes impossible to continue consuming meat like we do today. Will we all be eating rice and beans? Grasshoppers …
The Carnery - A Cultured Future with In Vitro Meat
NextNature.netIn vitro meat has the capacity to transform meat production as we know it, introducing an entirely new way of thinking about and interacting with food.
"The End": a Virtual Opera Singer, Millions of Fans and the Meaning of Death
Alexandra BremersSixteen-year-old Japanese singer Hatsune Miku grew in short time to a worldwide popstar. With her colourful appearance she counts millions of followers on social media, she …
Exploring Detroit’s Next Nature
NextNature.netFrom August 1 till 16 2015, Next Nature Network’s art director Hendrik-Jan Grievink will be co-tutor of the GDA Summer Sessions.
Instageneration: Kids Named after App Filters
Margherita OlivoTechnology breaks as an inspiration for names. Among the most popular names of 2015 we can find Instagram filters.
How to Integrate ECO Coins into Society? Four Eco Dreams in Four Scenarios
NextNature.netEconomy and ecology are two spheres that usually do not cooperate. Thanks to the ECO coin the environmental value can be conceived economically. A currency that can be earned by …
Interview: Nadine Bongaerts, Synthetic Biologist Bridging Science with Society
NextNature.netWe recently talk to Nadine Bongaerts about the role and impact of synthetic biology, the gap between biosciences and society and the importance of communication to overcome the fear of new technologies.
Intimate Technology: the Battle for Our Body and Behaviour
Rinie van EstTechnology is nestling itself within us and between us, has knowledge about us and can act just like us.
NNN Movement & the First ECO Coin
Alessia AndreottiWe officially launched the Next Nature Movement in The Netherlands. To seal the beginning of the Next Nature Movement, director Koert van Mensvoort donated the first symbolic ECO coin.
The Coywolf: 65% Wolf, 25% Coyote, 10% Dog
Margherita OlivoThe coywolf: an animal that has the DNA of the wolves, coyotes and dogs.
Insects are helping us develop the future of hearing aids
Rob MalkinThe human ear is a miracle of mechanical evolution. It allows us to hear an astonishing range of sounds and to communicate and navigate in the world. It’s also easy to damage and …
This Robot Takes Care of Your Children
Ruben BaartThis robot nanny is designed to take on adult responsibilities, raising concerns regarding the consequences of using robots to raise our children.
We Are more Bacteria than Human
Ingmar NieuweboerOur bodies are microbiomes, suffering from our habit of cleanliness.
From Shopping Center to Urban Farm
Alessia AndreottiRooftop farm takes over Israel’s oldest mall to grow thousands of organic vegetables.
Smart Fabric Might Be the Key to the Future
Charlotte KuijpersResearchers designed a smart fabric able to encode data readable by a magnetometer, like the one in your phone, without electronics or batteries.
How AI and genomics will impact the future of making babies
Vanessa Bates RamirezAs if stand-alone technologies weren’t advancing fast enough, we’re in age where we must study the intersection points of these technologies. How is what’s happening in robotics …
This bio-brick is made out of urine mixed with sand and bacteria
Helen SwinglerThe world’s first bio-brick grown from human urine has been unveiled by University of Cape Town (UCT) master’s student in civil engineering Suzanne Lambert, signalling an …
The real-life gruesome experiments that inspired Frankenstein
Iwan MorusOn January 17 1803, a young man named George Forster was hanged for murder at Newgate prison in London. After his execution, as often happened, his body was carried ceremoniously …
The future of the ECO Coin
Koen WeselHow can we design a cryptocurrency for the better of humanity and ecology? In this last chapter of the crypto deep dive series , we will dissect two kinds of blockchain …
How a museum encourages its visitors to examine their relationship with their environment
Linda ValentaLast month I had the opportunity to immerse myself in Tokyo’s newly opened digital art landscape, the Mori Digital Art Museum. The museum stands out for it enables virtual …
Face the future of intimacy with Kiiroo
Ruben BaartMeet the teledildonics, an ingenious species of bi-directionally controlled sextoys from the future, available today. These touch emulating vibrators find each other on social sex …
Managing the data deluge: Twitter as a tool for ecological research
Marianne MessinaAs early as 2009-10 , researchers were looking at Twitter data mining as a way to predict the incidence of flu. At the time, the H1N1 virus, or “swine flu,” had made the jump from …
Next Nature Night: Future food is on the menu
Next Nature DevAlways thinking about food? What about food that doesn’t exist yet? On the 18th of September at De Studio, Next Nature Network will host a night of talks on the future of food and …
Next Generation: Combining AI with human creativity with Sofia Crespo
Freya HutchingsThis story is part of Next Generation , a series in which we give young makers a platform to showcase their work. Would you like to see your work here? Get in touch …
Next Generation: Hearing the first breath of Earth with Dora Lionstone
Ruben BaartThis story is part of Next Generation , a series in which we give young makers a platform to showcase their work. Your work here? Get in touch and plot your …
Swiping is the new touching
Nadine RoestenburgFrom all the memes that have reached me through my screen since the outbreak of the corona pandemic, there is one that perfectly reflects my thoughts in the beginning of March …
Virtual makeup: maybe they're born with it, maybe it’s XR
Ruben BaartAs our reality exists increasingly within digital realms, our virtual world demands a virtual identity. Our work is hybrid, our social identity is online and our connection is …
5 Dutch exhibitions you cannot miss this summer
Ruben BaartInterior based on bacteria, spaces morphing perception and the merging of man, animal and machine. These five must see exhibitions in the Netherlands explore the intersection of …
Animals are shapeshifting to cope with climate change
Sara RydingGlobal warming is a big challenge for warm-blooded animals, which must maintain a constant internal body temperature. As anyone who’s experienced heatstroke can tell you, our …
The next generation xenobots are here
Simon CoghlanIn 2020, scientists made global headlines by creating “ xenobots ” – tiny “ programmable ” living things made of several thousand frog stem cells. These pioneer xenobots could …
Five things not to miss at Floriade
Veronica FanzioHere are 5 things you cannot miss at Floriade Expo 2022
Next Generation: Mending mycelium with Emma Huffman
Ruben BaartThis story is part of Next Generation , a series in which we give young makers a platform to showcase their work. Your work here? Get in touch and plot your …
The sense of privacy
Marit BeerseHumans’ natural sense of privacy helps them regulate the boundaries of public and private, but fail when trying to identify privacy risks in the online world.
The Solar Biennale brings new perspectives on the energy of the sun
Ruben BaartThe sun lies at the heart of our solar system, providing life-giving light, heat and energy to Earth. The sun always gives, without asking for anything in return. In the …
The Biofabricate Summit '24 is coming to Paris!
Kelly van GemertBiosequin, seaweed textiles, and microbe sunscreen: these ideas and more are marking the next wave of bio-innovators during the Biofabricate Summit 2024.
Next Nature is ancient
Ruben BaartUli Westphal's Seed Series is an ongoing attempt to document the seeds of all edible plants, one seed at a time.
Bonsai tree table
Koert van MensvoortSomehow next nature seems to reveal itself through furniture. Earlier we've featured the treetrunk bench , the bone chair , the folding chair , sketch furniture and how to grow a …
Sneak Preview Food
Koert van MensvoortLets face it: we spoiled western people are pretty much imprisoned by our self created safe environments and remotely disconnected from the wonders and chaotic surprises of old …
Amsterdam Weekly on the Natural Revolution
The free cultural paper Amsterdam Weekly discusses the Natural Revolution of and includes tree tips for successful living in the next version of nature. Download PDF (148kb) . …
Call for Proposals: Three Days Left
Koert van MensvoortYes Baby, it's a call for your proposals . You have three days left to send in your designs, movies and other visions you might have on how we can design, build and live in Next …
Popple
Koert van MensvoortWith her babybunnies series provocateur/artist/designer Tinkebell aims to provide an analysis of the consumptive attitude people have in relation to their pets. This latest work – …
Brain Scan Replaces Job Interview in 5 Years?
Dr NaturalForget about palmistry! MRI scans for candidates in top jobs such as bank directors could soon become part of the job-application package, says Erasmus University researcher Prof …
Crowdsourced drink
Koert van MensvoortRemember the days when the flavor of a fruity drink was simply connected to an apple, orange, strawberry, kiwi, or perhaps – if you felt really exotic – an acai berry? Nowadays we …
Five strategies of Biomimicmarketing
Koert van MensvoortGreen electricity, Organic Shampoo, Jaguar convertibles, Red Bull, Bio Beef, Alligator gardening tools, Camel cigarettes and Puma sneakers. Once you develop an eye for it, it is …
Supermarket – Our Next Savanna
Koert van MensvoortWe are living in the future and we find it boring. The best place to gather evidence for this claim is the supermarket. To begin with, try and have a fresh look at the word: …
Come See the Berg!
Koert van MensvoortSo you’ve seen the peak of the Mount Everest on tour ? Descended the bobsled ride of the Matterhorn in a Disneyland ? Think you’ve seen it all? Now come and see The Berg in …
Friendly Vending Machine
Koert van MensvoortDesigner Guus Baggermans was quite annoyed by the clumsy impoliteness of current vending machines, that typically require you to enter some abstract number to select your drink or …
From Main Street to the Mansion: Disney, Playboy and the Next Nature of Sex and Death
Peter LunenfeldNature demanded that we make a choice between immortality and sex, but the Next Nature of the 21st century may not. For help, we can look back to the 20th Century, which had many …
Infotizement Call For Entries
In anticipation of the forthcoming Next Nature book, we call upon you, dearest creatives, to submit a fictitious editorial advertisement: The Infotizement. The infotizement is a …
Join the Synthetic Aesthetics project
Koert van MensvoortSo, you are aware biotech will drive our evolution , you took the crash course on synthetic genomics , you've got your map of the DNA world in your backpack and are now eager to …
![Visual of MANKO & Vacuum [#2]](https://nextnature.net/media/pages/magazine/story/2010/manko-vacuum-2/3276be3198-1602632753/manco-3-530-868x486.jpg)
MANKO & Vacuum [#2]
Aston RevolaI should tell you the story of how Manko lost a leg. You need to know about this incident to understand his recent works. So please forgive me, I first have to go back to that …
Bulletproof Skin
Lisa van der VoortRecent work of artist Jalila Essaïdi exemplifies of how science and art can meet and create meaningful inventions for society. Jalila Essaïdi used the spider silk produced by …
We are all born in a World...
Koert van Mensvoort...that has been designed already. Peculiar baby of the week. Source: Adbusters , via: Masters of Rietveld .
We Domesticated Ourselves
Allison GuyOur bodies are maps of our ancestor's social lives. We evolved, physically and behaviorally, in incredibly complex social groups. Such intense sociability may have favored the …
Better Than Nature?
Rachel ArmstrongAt the turn of the millennium, miniaturized canines acquired the cherished status of living, designer handbag ornaments. These teeny tiny photogenic doggies, which had been …
Rule #4: Complex Products Tend to Be Anthropomorphized
NextNature.netFor past entries and an introduction to the 11 Golden Rules of Anthropomorphism and Design, click here. Think about a spoon. Now think about a spoon with a face. What do you …
The Right to Privacy
Orestis TsinalisPrivacy is a right. A right given to people by telecommunications companies and social networking websites. It can be described by multiple-choice lists of settings. And it seems …
Bacterioptica
Marco van BeersLiving lamps like Latro Algea Lamp by Mike Thompson are nothing new. But design studio MADLAB has created Bacterioptica , a lamp that contains organisms and bacteria from the …
Interview: Jason Silva, Media Artist and Curator of Awe-Inspiring Ideas
Alessia AndreottiMedia artist, filmmaker and wonderjunkie Jason Silva talks about technological evolution and why humans are gods with anuses.
The (Almost) Invisible Dancing Wheelchair
Jonathon MarkowskiDesigned by a dancer, a new wheelchair moves intuitively with the user's movements.
You Can Never Go Back To Nature
Annalee NewitzOne of the arguments that environmentalists use against factory farming and burning fossil fuels is that these activities are "unnatural" or that they "go against nature." But …
Domestication as a Last Refuge
NextNature.netIn glass capsules endangered rainforest flora will be able to survive regardless of what happens to their natural habitat.
Ever-Changing Sceneries with Microbots
Yunus Emre DuyarKirsten Zirngibl's illustrations depict imaginary landscapes that are formed by microbots.
From Discarded Mega Oil-Tanker to Village
Alessia AndreottiDutch architect Chris Collaris and designers Ruben Esser, Sander Bakker and Patrick van der Gronde, saw a new sustainable potential in discarded mega oil tankers in the Southern …
The Phone That's Just a Phone
Alessia AndreottiMeet the anti-smartphone. It literally does nothing but make and answer calls.
Bringing Augmented Reality to Fitness
Ruben BaartFitbit just released a new motivational feature that aims to trigger their users to go out and exercise more.
Harvesting Water from Thin Air
Margherita OlivoScientists in Harvard University have designed a new material inspired by organisms, such as cacti, that can effectively harvest water from thin air.
Meat the Future Exhibition
NextNature.netFrom October 11 to June 11 we will discuss the future of meat at Cube Deign Museum in Kerkrade (The Netherlands) with the exhibition Meat the Future.
Tangible Money in Digital Currency Era
Alejandro AlvarezThe Scrip, a new universal cash device is bringing back the old metallic sparkle of the money and mixing it with today’s technology in order to fill the deficiencies of our credit and debit cards.
Disney Causes Tourism Overload in Norway
Ruben BaartDisney's Frozen is causing tourism overload in Norway, and it's not sure if that is a good thing.
Meeting the Future at TodaysArt
Monika KozubLast week The Hague hosted a festival dedicated to contemporary experiments in music, art and digital culture.
ECO Coin Award Interviews: Shubhendu Sharma
Jack CaulfieldWe asked Shubhendu Sharm, our first ECO coin award nominee about his method, business and hopes for the future.
1955 - Artificial Womb Drawing Patented
Elle Zhan WeiIn 1955 Emanuel M. Greenberg patented his Illustration of an artificial womb, his invention contains all the apparatus he thought would be required to grow a baby.
Fellow Day 2017: Next Habitat
Ruben BaartLast week, our NNN fellows gathered to discuss the Next Habitat; how will we work in the future? And how does this affect our personal lives?
Jobs for Creators - Robots at Work #2
Mathilde NakkenHave a look at our series Robots at Work! In this episode we present you five jobs for creators, the ones that build with their hands.
Sponge Cities: Soak It, Store It, Reuse It
Alec SchellinxThe philosophy behind sponge cities is simple: cities should contribute to solving water related problems instead of causing them.
Artificial Womb Workshop at Border Sessions
Elle Zhan WeiAt Border Sessions Festival in the Hague a workshop was hosted by Next Nature Network on the artificial womb.
Call for projects: bring your groundbreaking creativity to tackle pressing energy issues
NextNature.netWe need to change the way we power our daily lives. Burning fossil fuels is the primary cause of climate change, yet this is still our main source of energy. Much of this energy …
Three scenarios for the future of farming
Kelly van GemertAgriculture may be one of the oldest of our technologies. Over time it has developed, changed, revolutionized, industrialized - or simply put, it has evolved . Today’s farms are …
How in vitro meat became a subject of debate in the Dutch parliament
Ruben BaartTo all in vitro meat optimists, hear hear! In May 2018 we launched the petition ' In vitro meat is here. Let us taste it. ' We proudly announce that this petition led to …
How this self-sustainable microhome may change the future of housing
Belen MunozLooking for a self-sustainable mobile microhome? Ecocapsule got you covered. This cute-as-pie capsule pod allows you to live completely off the grid in a low-energy, mobile …
4 visions about the future of public transportation
Marcus EnochThe way people get around is starting to change, and as a professor of transport strategy I do rather wonder if the modes of transport we use today will still be around by the …
Watch this robot fish swim through the ocean
Vanessa Bates RamirezEarth’s oceans are having a rough go of it these days. On top of being the repository for millions of tons of plastic waste , global warming is affecting the oceans and upsetting …
3 exhibitions that explore the relationship between humans and the environment
Freya HutchingsAs we go about our daily activities, we may lose sight of our connections with nonhuman life. Here are three exhibitions to encourage you to step outside of your everyday and …
How Amazon trees write their own autobiographies
Chris HuntTropical forests are one of the world’s largest carbon stores and they help regulate the global climate. But they’re being erased at a terrifying rate. Deforestation claimed an …
The six principles of humane technology
Allison GuyWe must be mindful about how we engage with technology: what we use it for, why, and whether it helps or hinders us. Sometimes our tech seems to be flowing in inhumane directions, …
To decarbonize flying, we need biofuels
David Simon LeeWhile aviation accounts for 2.4% of all emissions from fossil fuel use globally, two-thirds of the sector’s warming effect depends on something other than its CO₂ emissions. And …
Blind woman sees with new implant and plays video game sent straight to her brain
Ruben BaartIt’s been over a decade since artificial retinas first began helping the blind see. But for many people, whose blindness originates beyond the retina, the technology falls short. …
Printing houses with cow poop
Kelly van GemertNow here's a perspective: a pooping cow is like a living 3D printer
Dune explores the geopolitics behind resource extraction
Oli MouldDune offers a useful allegorical narrative of the “scramble for Africa”, which saw European empires carve up the continent into colonized powers.
Next nature disasters: the Facebook outage of 2021
Veronica FanzioWhere were you on the 4th October 2021? During the day that will be remembered for the Facebook outage, not everyone was equally impacted.
The Next Nature gift guide 2021
Next Nature DevAs winter arrives, so does the season of giving. Good gift giving is an art and can be quite the endeavor at times. But don’t worry, Next Nature is here to help! We present to you …
Next Generation: Adorning bio embellishments with Aradhita Parasrampuria
Ruben BaartThis story is part of Next Generation , a series in which we give young makers a platform to showcase their work. Your work here? Get in touch and plot your …
Understanding the ocean's metabolism
Marit BeerseScientists have discovered the effect of sunscreen on corals. We need to understand our impact on the world to understand its problems.
Next Generation: Tasting Landless Food with Malu Luecking
Kelly van GemertRegeneration of extinct flavor families via microalgae
Making an AI supermarket with Nonhuman Nonsense
Ruben BaartWhat does the supermarket of the future look like? The Embassy of Food at Dutch Design week.
Next Generation: Demonstrating non-human narratives with Lindsey Bundel
Ruben BaartThis story is part of Next Generation , a series in which we give young makers a platform to showcase their work. Your work here? Get in touch and plot your …
How to teleport sushi
Selin KirSushi designed in Japan, printed in Texas. This might sound like a wild dream, but actually became a reality during interactive media festival South by Southwest (SXSW) that took …
Biggest Visual Powershow: Photo report
The pictures of the Next Nature Biggest Visual Powershow , in Zollverein are now online! Powershowmaster Koert van Mensvoort and Claudia (most advanced robot in the world). …
The World is not a Desktop
Mark Weiser (originally written for ACM Interactions ). What is the metaphor for the computer of the future? The intelligent agent? The television (multimedia)? The 3-D graphics …
Slogan
The things we design will end up designing us. Slogan of the week. Retrieved from the essay Exploring Next Nature .
Switch Critters - Can you make them switch?
Koert van MensvoortEarlier we discussed the Magical Interaction project, in which Joris van Gelder rethought the boring activity of switching on/off a light by transforming it into a magical …
Dying ships
Koert van MensvoortThese ships were abandoned over twenty years ago. Their owners left them to die after the Chernobyl disaster due to their high levels of radiation. One of the great ironies of the …
Fake-Space Race
Koert van MensvoortSome weeks ago we pondered over the oddity of a space race in cyberspace . Rockets and jet-packs –so cool in the previous century– don't make sense in a virtual environment. The …
Voodoo Communication Device for Lovers
Koert van MensvoortVoodoo is an ancient religion, originating from Africa, who’s mystical practice is believed to bring reward to those who are willing to place their destiny in the hands of loving …
Corporate animal wallpaper (in real life)
Koert van MensvoortStudents of the Next Nature Theme at TU/e Industrial design in Eindhoven decided to jungle-up their working environment a bit with the corporate animal wallpaper. Hand painted (!) …
Are Mushrooms the New Plastic?
Koert van MensvoortMushroom based plastics? Designer Eben Bayer must have eaten too much of the wondrous chanterelles perhaps? No seriously, the man is turning his vision into a reality with an …
Social Networking with Plants
Ties van de WerffUsing energy is not a social activity. Every electrical device we use has its own carbon “foorpint” which, in excess, can harm other living beings. How and to what extent you’ve …
Sign Out Forever
Hendrik-Jan GrievinkAn earlier post on Next Nature learned that The Good People behind Webwill provide us with a service to extend our lives on social networks after our physical death. But what if …
US Judge Rules Gene Patents Invalid ?because they are Natural
Koert van MensvoortDid you know that about 20 percent of your body isn't really yours? It has been patented by some corporation you probably never heard of. You can't patent gold, you can't patent …
Afterlife for Atheists
Lisa van der VoortWhere religions promise their believers a life after death and cryonics also needs a kind of belief in future technological development, designers James Auger and Jimmy Loizeau …
Beyond Recognition @ Sameheads Gallery, Berlin
Hendrik-Jan GrievinkComing saturday, your faithful Next Nature editor/designer Hendrik-Jan Grievink will perform Beyond Recognition – a corporate poem about the image of words , at Sameheads Gallery …
Growing a Crystal Chair
Allison GuyJapanese artist Tokujin Yoshioka does not sculpt his work, but grows it. His Venus chair was created by immersing a plastic mesh substrate into a tank filled with a chemical …
Kinetic architecture
Erik SwaagstraArchitecture has now come to a stage where the technical possibilities seem limitless. Buildings become more fluent, dynamic and organic. Examples can be found in most buildings …
A Clockwork Forest
Hendrik-Jan GrievinkHas nature become a fairytale or do we want it to be one? In their installation The Clockwork Forest , artist collective Greyworld seems to opt for the latter. The work of art …
Creating the World's Cutest Fruit
Allison GuyJust like corn, bananas , and essentially any other plant we cultivate, the Cutie mandarin is the result of a concerted effort to produce an ideal food. Mandarin oranges come from …
The Rise and Fall or Rayfish Footwear
Koert van MensvoortFor almost three years, we worked on a sneaker company that we knew would go bankrupt on the day it was founded. This is our coming out...
Bizarre Retro-Futuristic Visions of Meat
Jonathon MarkowskiIllustrators from the 1800s to the 1950s offer strange prediction for the future of meat.
Out of Network
Santiago ZabalaArtist Filippo Minelli aims to point out the gap between the reality we still live in and the ephemeral world of technologies.
Protocell Shoe Mends Itself
Rachel ArmstrongThe self-repairing sole is a dynamic solution to an everyday problem.
Sniffer - Meet the Google Nose
Koert van MensvoortThe Sniffer – aka Google Nose – visualizes odors using a smell sensor, which is as good as a dog’s nose, and a glass in front of your eyes.
Breathing Lights
Alessia AndreottiInspired by the movement of spider webs in the wind, Dutch designer Jeroen Van Der Meij created Breathing Lights.
No Future for Traditional Meat
Alessia AndreottiAt Home in the Lab with Mark Post, Father of the In Vitro Hamburger. Interview from The In Vitro Meat Cookbook
Save the Humans - Call for Quotes
NextNature.netFor our new book "Save the Human" we invite you to submit quotes that question the autonomy of mankind in the digital computer era and study the future of the independent creative spirit.
Touching your Unborn Child
Marco van BeersThanks to 3D Babies and a mere $600,- you can now experience that excitement of holding your baby in your hands before he or she is born.
3D Printed Eyes with WiFi Connection
Alessia AndreottiItalian research studio is working on EYE: a 3D bioprinted sight augmentation.
Interview: Bruce Sterling on the Convergence of Humans and Machines
NextNature.netWe had the honor of hosting Bruce Sterling in our Next Nature Network headquarters to talk to him about the concept of the convergence of humans and machines.
Minimalist Effect in the Maximalist Market
Abby QinThe multidisciplinary design consultancy Antrepo Team created a project named Minimalist Effect in the Maximalist Market in 2010.
Robot’s Best Friend
Alessia AndreottiFrom chef, to nurse, and also lover. Get ready, a new generation of robots is going to invade our lives!
Shape your Second Skin Using your Mind
Timo LejeuneA 3D printed helmet able to translate brain activity into the movements of its shape-changing structure.
Stratospheric Sky Garden with Proto Life
Alessia AndreottiA sky garden of cacti and artificial life forms floating a hundred thousand feet above the Earth's surface.
Your Cat Can Post on Instagram Now
Yunus Emre DuyarYour cat might be able to take photos and share them on Instagram by itself soon.
Making Power Stations Part of the Landscape
Margherita OlivoCan we have pretty power stations? The design of power stations is becoming more appealing.
How Knitwear Can Save Penguins
Mathilde NakkenThe penguin jumper is designed by the Penguin Foundation, an organization that rescues penguins on the Australian coast who are hit by oils spills.
Luminous Bike Lane Opened in Poland
Monika KozubThe first self-sufficient luminous bike lane opened last week in Poland.
Solar Energy: the Hottest New Currency
Lewis JustEnergy-backed money could help transition humanity to a more sustainable world, both environmentally and economically.
Bodily Currencies: Blood, Sweat and Tears
Lewis JustWelcome to the access and experience economy. Currency: sweat, blood and action.
Time Is a Universal Currency
Lewis JustThe principle behind a time based currency is usually very simple: one hour of work equals a unit of time.
Turn Your Cursor into a Songbird
Alejandro AlvarezThe Bird Sounds experiment, powered by Google Creative lab, is a visualization of thousands of bird songs organized by their similarities.
1537 - Homunculus: the Semi-Human
Elle Zhan WeiIn 16th and 17th centuries, some medical theory believed that a miniature human body can be produced in a flask by an alchemist.
Artificial Womb: the Timeline
NextNature.netNNN is currently doing a preliminary research into the idea of the artificial womb. This timeline will help you navigate through the investigation.
Teaching Crows to Clean Up Cigarette Butts
Jack CaulfieldCigarette butts are littered everywhere. But now, two Dutch designers have come up with a unique solution to the problem: the Crowbar.
In Conversation with Yoyo Yogasmana, Winner of the First ECO Coin Award
Ruben BaartRead our conversation with the ECO Coin Award Winner of 2015: Yoyo Yogasmana.
The making of the Modular Body
Jack CaulfieldRemember the Modular Body? Curious about how OSCAR was really created or keen to know more about the project as a whole? Check out the making of videos!
iPhones Are Happy to See Us
Jack CaulfieldWhat if you could unlock your phone by simply looking at the camera? According to Apple, this is precisely how the iPhone X will work. But how secure is it?
A Robot Will Spark the Next Avant-Garde
Nadine Roestenburg “An illegal theme park exposing the ideology of the aesthetics of hacking”. “A hybrid drone targeting technological domination”. “A psychedelic fridge to raise doubt about fake …
Robotization Makes Work More Human
Koert van MensvoortImagine being 16 and studying for a job that soon won't exist. What kind of future is that? New occupations will come thanks to robotization.
Jobs for Entrepreneurs - Robots at Work #4
Mathilde NakkenThis is post number four of our serie 'Robots at Work'. In this episode we present you five jobs for entrepreneurs, the ones who love doing big business.
Transformative Appetite: Shape-Shifting Pasta
NextNature.netMIT Media Lab developed pasta programmed on a computer.
Digital islands: How this tiny country is embracing e-governance
Gudrun JakupsRecent years have proved that if you want to look for which countries are adopting innovative digital governing solutions, you don’t look at the usual tech suspects like the US or …
Turning surplus bread into craft beer
Meike SchipperGlobally, humans produce enough food to feed 10 billion people (we are only 7 billion now) yet somehow we waste a third of this. Food waste is one of the biggest climate …
Should lab-grown meat be labelled as meat when it's available for sale?
Hope JohnsonAustralian regulators will soon be faced with a challenge: can animal flesh produced in a lab be called meat? Amid reports that lab-grown meat could be on sale this year, the US …
Your Next Nature guide to Unseen 2018: When Records Melt
Meike SchipperImages largely shape our experience of reality. Just consider how imagery of nature continues to rise in popularity: only a society no longer grounded in their natural landscape …
These Next Senses allow you to augment your senses with technology
Ruben BaartImagine you could communicate telepathically with a whale, listen to the WiFi networks in your environment, or experience smells through seeing color. Developments in technology …
Next Nature went to China!
Next Nature DevWe are proud to invite you to our largest showcase (so far), currently on display at OCT Art & Design in Shenzhen, China. Spanning across three floors, with a total surface of …
Smart homes could help dementia patients live independently
Dorothy MonekossoYou might already have what’s often called a “smart home”, with your lights or music connected to voice-controlled technology such as Alexa or Siri. But when researchers talk …
3 future farms that can feed the planet and heal it too
Karen Rial-LoveraIntensive agriculture may be nourishing most of the Earth’s inhabitants, but it’s doing the opposite to earth itself. Its dependence on singular crops, heavy ploughing machinery, …
A path to humane technology
Koert van MensvoortIn 1486, six years before Columbus dropped anchor in the New World, the 23-year-old Italian nobleman Giovanni Pico della Mirandola penned a passionate discourse on the unique …
How a 6.000-year-old fruit fly gave us cheese
John MorrisseyHistorians often trace the dawn of human civilisation back 10,000 years, when Neolithic tribes first settled and began farming in the Fertile Crescent, which stretches through …
How emojis represent the past, present and future within Next Nature
Britta de VriesIt's that time of year again; the Unicode Emoji 13.0 has announced that 117 new emojis are to be implemented in the second half of 2020. It got us curious of what these new emojis …
A countryside dweller's guide to the future
Ruben BaartThe current lockdown in much of Europe has city-dwellers flocking to the countryside to wait out the outbreak sweeping the continent. Seeking relief from coronavirus, urbanites …
We are all parent Earth
Ruben BaartLast week I was strolling through the aisles of the supermarket when I heard a buzzing sound coming from my pocket. I looked up from my cart and saw it was a message from …
A message from volcanic rocks
Laura van den BrinkAlthough it’s seductive to think of human beings as the dominant species on earth, many others play important roles too. Bacteria, insects, algae colonies, rocks and the …
How can Big History help us think about the future?
Noriko Wynn'Big History' is a multidisciplinary study that seeks to put the human story into the context of a 13.8 billion-year story from the Big Bang to now.
Blocking the sun with dust
Vanessa Bates RamirezIn the past few years, scientists have hatched some pretty crazy-sounding schemes in the name of protecting Earth and its inhabitants. From building an underwater wall 120 …
Cyborg mythologies #2: Jesus was a cyborg
MaithriThis is #2 in our cyborg mythologies series, where we explore the cyborg as a historical being intertwined within mythologism, ancient religion and sacred iconology. A way to …
A digital twin of the Earth could make the planet climate-neutral
MaithriWhile Elon Musk may be trying to initiate efforts to colonize Mars, scientists on Earth are attempting to build an accurate digital twin of the planet to simulate in the future. …
Next Nature plans for Evoluon honored with Region Deal
Next Nature DevGood day astronauts of spaceship Earth! Today it was announced that Next Nature's plans for the Evoluon have been awarded a financial contribution of €7.6 million from the Region …
Join us at the DDW Talks: Next Biodiversity
Next Nature DevThe influence of humans on the earth can hardly be underestimated. Think of climate change, deforestation, and the decline of biodiversity. We are heading for a sixth mass …
Notes on the plastisphere
Shahar LivneEvery piece of plastic that’s ever made, still exists. It results in a floating garbage dump in the ocean, full of life. While this (geo)design was never intentional, humans …
The Internet of Mycelium
Kelly van GemertA lot of the ground we live on is polluted. More than a third of our soils are moderately or heavily degraded; heavy metals such as lead are increasingly found in urban soils, …
How memes are evolving beyond the image
Chloë ArkenboutThe times where memes were geeky and funny, somewhat disturbing images have been over for years. Even a simple frog such as Pepe is not innocent anymore. Memes were hijacked by …
Meet the lungs of the sea: phytoplankton
Abigail McQuatters-GollopPhytoplankton are microscopic algae living throughout the ocean’s surface waters. They can’t swim and are at the mercy of the currents and tides. Despite their small size, …
Next Generation: Emptying Out with Natasja Bökkerink
Kelly van GemertThis story is part of Next Generation , a series in which we give young makers a platform to showcase their work. Your work here? Get in touch and plot your …
Next Generation: Fantasising about fashion with ShirpShiro
Kelly van GemertFinding realistic solutions to the humanitarian and environmental issues in the textile and fashion industries.
ChatGPT is getting stupider and we don't know why - so I asked ChatGPT
Kelly van GemertAI language model ChatGPT has hit the mainstream last year when it became widely accessible to everyone. Next to doing our (home)work, it became also a D&D Dungeon Master , …
Food after flood: what's on the menu when sea levels rise?
Kelly van GemertAs sea levels climb, coastal communities brace for floods and erosion. Artist Allie Wist asked herself: what will we eat in a flood-filled future?
Next Gen: Watching our collective heartbeats with Nino Basilashvili
Kelly van GemertHeartsync is an interactive art installation crafted by artist Nino Basilashvili that syncs up your heartbeat with others.
Building the farm of tomorrow
Kelly van GemertSeven examples of how design will help us built the farm of tomorrow.
The fantastical living landscapes of AUSGANG Studio
Kelly van GemertAUSGANG Studio combines art, technology, and living materials to tell stories of our world's trajectories.
Erkundungen im Nächste Natur (D)
Die Natur verändert sich mit uns (English version: Exploring Next Nature ) by Koert van Mensvoort , published in Entry Paradise, Neue Welten des Designs, Gerhard Seltman, Werner …
Sketch furniture
Rolf CoppensIs it possible to let a first sketch become an object, to design directly onto space? This is a question that Front Design have just asked in their project Sketch Furniture. "The …
The Animal Sweater
KarlThe pattern on the Animal Sweater suggests a new way to experience commercial imagery. The Animal sweater, designed by Karl Grandin, was first shown at The Biggest Visual Power …
The Watercube
Arnoud van den HeuvelConceptually the square box and the interior spaces are carved out of an undefined cluster of foam bubbles, symbolizing a condition of nature that is transformed into a condition …
Bananawall
Koert van MensvoortWho would not need a bananawall in their officegarden? This modular freestanding, indoor/outdoor bananawall system was designed by Stefan Sagmeister . It is made of 7200 banana's. …
Build a better being
Koert van MensvoortWill Wright's hugely successful games SimCity and The Sims let players shape the structure of urban areas and the lives of virtual humans; his upcoming game, Spore , lets them …
Light weeds
SaraLightweeds is a project by Simon Heijdens and currently exhibited at the MoMA - part of the Design and the Elastic Mind exhibition . The organisms - plants, weeds, trees - exist …
Plastic Flamingos Saved From Extinction
Koert van MensvoortDid you know there are more plastic flamingos in the USA than real ones? Plastic flamingos are widely considered to be the stereotypical example of lawn kitsch – the American's …
Want privacy? Use pigeon messaging
Koert van MensvoortOur society seems to be driven by an obsession of gathering personal data. Yes, they say it is for your own good, so we willingly collaborate by filling in our most intimate …
Waves of Asphalt
Koert van MensvoortSet amid farmland in rural Japan, this small project is a bizarre hybrid of landscape art and infrastructure. It consists of a square, 20-space car park that looks as if it has …
Do It Yourself Pet
sijmeImage: A. Sidorov Have you ever fantasized about creatures which carry the biggest smile? Or creatures which are so deeply covered with fur that you wish they were real? Good …
How to Grow a Sneaker
Koert van MensvoortNo silly. Of course sneakers can't be grown from transforming Koi Karpers. This is merely an fictional piece by Yoske Nishiumi. But then again, do you have any idea where your …
Natural chairs?
Koert van MensvoortThe image above shows the chair design from the Nature v2.01 project by draw me a sheep . As we struggle to find a new relation with nature, the difference between nature and …
Repairing the Scars of War
Arnoud van den HeuvelLenka Clayton : A series of five digitally repaired images taken in Lebanon of buildings damaged by the 2006 conflict with Israel. The images were taken specifically for this …
The Next Hacking Frontier: Your Brain
Dr NaturalWiredScience writes: Hackers who commandeer your computer are bad enough. Now scientists worry that someday, they’ll try to take over your brain. In the past year, researchers …
BioPong
Ties van de WerffTechno-artists love insects. Especially their unpredictable behaviour. Eindhoven (NL) based design studio Ehdv used tracking software and connected some camera’to a bunch of wood …
Digital Gastronomy
Koert van MensvoortThe food printer seems to be one of those lustrous concepts that continues to pop-up in the fantasy of techno-connoisseurs. Some years ago James King already proposed a printed …
Douglas Coupland: A radical pessimist's guide to the next 10 years
Hendrik-Jan GrievinkDouglas Coupland is a writer and artist based in Vancouver. For the canadian newspaper Globe and Mail, he wrote The ‘radical pessimist's guide to the next 10 years’ a dystopian …
Engineered Bacteria heal Cracks in Walls
Koert van MensvoortResearchers have designed bacteria that can produce a special glue to knit together cracks in concrete structures. Technews Daily reports the genetically modified microbes have …
Engineering Mosquitoes into Flying Vaccinators
Koert van MensvoortScientists have developed a mosquito that spreads vaccine instead of disease. The researchers, led by molecular geneticist Shigeto Yoshida of Jichi Medical University in Tochigi …
iBookshelf: Simulation before Extinction
Koert van MensvoortAs technology progresses we constantly have to adapt ourselves to an ever changing media landscape. Designers try to smooth the changes with a ' progressive nostalgic ' strategy: …
Injured Cat gets Bambi-style prosthetics
Koert van MensvoortA cat that had its back feet severed by a combine harvester has been given two prosthetic limbs in a pioneering operation by a UK vet. The custom-made implants that "peg" the …
Next Nature Movie #6: The Matrix
Koert van MensvoortIn the last few decades there have been numerous films that take the struggle between mankind and its increasingly intelligent and autonomous technology as a leitmotif. Ranging …
Nomadic Plants
Koert van MensvoortNomadic Plants are a species assembled from a group of robotic-electronic-biological organisms living in symbiosis in order to survive in habitats affected by human activity. The …
A New Take on the Tree
IzzyWoodsMany people will have heard of the infamous swastika made up of larches that revealed itself every autumn in a forest outside Berlin . The trees, which turned yellow at the end …
Allergen Beagle – A Home Foodscanner
Koert van MensvoortNo shellfish, no peanuts, no soy, no milk, no eggs. An increasing number of people suffer from various food allergies, which force them to constantly scan food packages for …
Disaster Edens: The Anti-Tourist Attraction
Allison GuyImagine your cruise to the Galapagos came with a ghoulish warning: "Your hair will fall out, your skin will blister, you'll probably get cancer and your children's children might …
Drugs are Nuts
Stefan FinckenThinking about Next Nature can sometimes result in a feeling of vertigo. Normal standards are eroded and slowly replaced by next natural ones. A bewildering example can be found …
Facing your Car
MattijsDo cars have a face? You would be inclined to say yes immediately. And you would be right as well, because they do. Study has confirmed through a complex statistical analysis that …
![Visual of Manko & Life [#8]](https://nextnature.net/media/pages/magazine/story/2011/manko-life-8/f762250e48-1602632753/manco-8-868x486.jpg)
Manko & Life [#8]
Aston RevolaManko sighed. Nada: 'Did you like it?' Manko: 'I have to admit that if this is the starter, I'm not sure I'll survive the main course.' Everyone at the table laughed. Manko: 'Let …
Morphing Cutlery
Koert van MensvoortImagine a world where the shapes of all objects around you would be able to change on the fly. Envision a future where nanotechnology and morphing become ubiquitous and blend in …
Next Nature lecture: Gardening Complexity
Koert van MensvoortNo, the peculiar image above was not created by an in vitro fertilized child from the combined DNA of Escher, Mondrian and Pollock, but rather by 21th century designer Remco van …
The Monsters We Deserve
Allison GuyRecently, a video clip has been circulating the web that purportedly shows a rabbit born earless due to the radiation at Fukushima. BoingBoing has a convincing take-down of the …
The Soul is a Plastic Bag
Allison GuyIn the film Plastic Bag , the title character spends a lifetime (or more) on a quest for a creator not even aware of his existence. A stunning short by Ramin Bahrani, director of …
Trading Humans for Trading Algorithms
Stefan FinckenThe economic system and profit motive has been a driving force that steers and even dictates social change. Investors and stockbrokers have been a major influence to these social …
#11: Don’t Use Anthropomorphism if it Does Not Serve Any Purpose
NextNature.netPart 11 of the series 11 Golden Rules of Anthropomorphism and Design Anthropomorphism can be a powerful tool in product design. But there are also risks involved that urge …
Bacteria "R" Us
Rachel ArmstrongThere is a domain of creatures that diffusively encircles an entire planet. There are so many of them that they occupy every conceivable ecological niche. Yet, despite their …
Darwinian Selection of the Cowboy Hat
Allison GuyThe standard story of the cowboy hat goes something like this: In 1865, J.B. Stetson went out west during the California gold rush. He observed that bowlers, raccoon hats, and …
Jewels from the Ocean
Koert van MensvoortDesigner and former fashion model Barbara de Vries was cleaning plastic litter off her favorite beach in the Bahamas, when she noticed the plastic fragments were all uniquely …
Latro Algae Lamp
Koert van MensvoortAs advances in nanotechnology bring us increasingly energy efficient products, plant life such as algae could become attractive sources for tapping energy. The Latro lamp by …
Sight – As Second Life becomes First Life
Koert van MensvoortSo you thought your live was already pretty much media-saturated? Indulge in the design fiction film Sight and you'll realize you ain't seen nothing yet.
We want you to be Radically Open
Koert van MensvoortCan you do it? Do finish your lunch before clicking the link – or you might vaporise. The video was made by Jason Silva for the ongoing TEDGlobal 2012 which has Radical Openness …
Animals Mistaken For Spies
NextNature.netEgyptian authorities detained a stork last week on suspicion of espionage.
Fake-for-Real Fur from Imaginary Animals
Alice FumeyWWF teams up with designers to produce fur from imaginary animals
From Fast Food Packaging to Flowerpot
Alessia AndreottiDesigner Michal Marko created a biodegradable food bowl. Can you imagine this bowl being used in fast-food restaurants?
Gated Communities: In Or Out?
Silvia CelibertiUltimately existence (or not) for gated communities comes down to the existential choice: should we be afraid of the future?
Let's Build a Garden on Mars
Koert van MensvoortOne would need a gardening robot, fitted plant species and some kind of dome structure for the plants to grow in.
3D Print Your Thoughts
Alessia AndreottiHow incredible would it be to imagine a thing and have it magically appear in concrete form? After food , organs and virtuality , here comes the thought printer! Thinkerthing , …
Meat & Greet Workshop Report
Insoo HwangLast week, Next Nature Lab had the first Meat & Greet to explore the future of in vitro meet.
Swap Your Bones for an Improved, 3D-Printed Version
Alice Fumey3D printed organs are on the way. Could they be designed to be aesthetically appealing?
The First Recorded Attack on a Cyborg
Stefan FinckenLooking back on the first recorded attack on a human cyborg.
The Sci-Fi Prehistory of "Victimless" Meat
Allison GuyA (very) short history of a century's worth of "disembodied" meat in fiction.
What You Feel Is What You Get - Smartphone for the Blind
Shikha SacharA revolutionary new smartphone for the blind uses a completely tactile interface.
A Registered Landscape
Lotte BiesheuvelTuscany is known for its natural beauty. But only a few know that this wonderful landscape is actually a really good design work.
Browsing the Map of Space Ship Earth
Koert van MensvoortBesides finding their way, people look at to transport them to another place, or in this case, another perspective on planet Earth.
Rainbow Station
Alessia AndreottiStudio Roosegaarde created a giant rainbow of light for the Amsterdam Central Station east side.
Solaris: Mind-Controlled Magnets
NextNature.netSolaris gives participants the power to control a pool of magnetic fluids with their brainwaves.
The First Man Made Leaf Looks like a Leaf
Koert van MensvoortJulian Melchiorri created a synthetic biological leaf that absorbs water and carbon dioxide to produce oxygen just like a plant.
Three Points in Support of In Vitro Meat
Alessia AndreottiThe top three aspects why people should support cultured meat.
Wearing Technology Under the Skin
Alessia AndreottiUnderSkin is a device that would be implanted beneath the skin on your hand and charge off your body’s energy.
Weaving a Home
Alessia AndreottiA lightweight and mobile structural fabric based on ancient traditions of weaving fibers.
A Pop-Up Forest in Times Square
Yunus Emre DuyarA new Kickstarter project aims to bring the forest into Times Square.
Communicating with City Infrastructures
Yunus Emre DuyarA recent project, named GENESI, might make it possible for city infrastructures to communicate with us.
Computer Generated… Errrmm?
Hendrik-Jan GrievinkThis image, generated by a computer, portrays a representation of what seems to be some kind of squirrel-meets-sea-lion-meets-slug-type of creature.
Diseases Of The Future
Alessia AndreottiNowadays humans suffer from diseases that didn't exist in the past, a trend that will probably continue into the future. A wide range of new disorders, especially related to the …
Experimental Office: No Chairs, No Desks
Koert van MensvoortTo counter the sitting dogma, design firm RAAAF and artist Barbara Visser created a dynamic office concept, entirely based on movement and leaning.
Ikea's Lab-Grown 3D Printed Meatballs
Margherita OlivoIkea’s research laboratory was inspired by our Magic Meatballs to re-design their famous meatballs.
Hacking Human Cells to Use Solar Power
Yunus Emre DuyarA new biotech startup seeks to hack our cells to use solar energy instead of carbon and oxygen.
Hunger Games for Robots
Yunus Emre DuyarHow would you feel if robots inherited ethical complications of existence?
Marketing the Oceans
Adriene LillyEco-friendly fashion is in vogue, evidenced by terms like “recycled-material” and “sustainable manufacturing” battered around as selling points for everything from sheets to …
Modern Times Emergency Kit
Alexandra BremersIn these modern times a traditional first aid kit won't do anymore. As the world around us innovates, our needs in case of an emergency change as well.
OUT NOW: Save the Humans! Book
NextNature.netThe SAVE THE HUMANS! book is now available on our web shop.
Tiny Robots Assemble a Room in Minutes
Wei Lun WangDom Indoors , is the latest research project developed by a construction robotics company called Asmbld . It includes a robotic system that can reconfigure an indoor space within …
Stewart Helps People to Trust Self-Driving Car
Erik van der VeenStewart is a tactile interface that mediates the communication between human and self-driving car.
Which Technologies will 2016 Bring?
Wei Lun WangThe new year is right around the corner, let’s forget about long-term future for a while to check out what new tech trends will hit it big in 2016. At the end of every year, …
Bringing the Camera Back to Our Eyes
Monika KozubThe new Spectacles by Snap Inc. allow you to actually "make memories" (as their slogan claims) while capturing them.
A Cryptocurrency Helping to Cure Cancer
Lewis JustPart two of a ten part series exploring the design of an invisible technology: money.
Egypt's First Solar-Powered Village
Ruben BaartThis village is powered by building-integrated solar panels and provides shelter for 350 people, putting sunlight to better use.
VR Days Europe: Next Nature Habitat
Monika KozubNext Nature Habitat premiered at VR Days Europe in Amsterdam last weekend.
Pokemon Go and Virtual Property
Alejandro AlvarezWhat happens when someone places a virtual property on top of a physical one?
Preventing Data Leaks with Smell
Ruben BaartThe Smell of Data alerts Internet users in any case of data leakage and communicates digital hazards by means of smell.
Bionic Prosthetic Arm with Personal Drone
Ingmar NieuweboerWhy would you stick to an elbow, a wrist and five fingers if you could make anything? This guy got a game-inspired bionic arm.
Reversing Evolution with a Legless Mouse
Mathilde NakkenAt a lab in Berkeley, California, there’s a mouse with no legs. Its head, torso, and tail are normal. It just lacks limbs. It didn’t lose those limbs; it just never grew them originally.
This Robotic Stingray is Alive
Ruben BaartBy way of reverse engineering and taking heart cells from a rat, researchers at Harvard University have designed a miniature robotic stingray that is alive.
A Robotic Suit to Update Your Granny
Mathilde NakkenThe elderly may toss their walkers for this robotic suit.
1999 - Ectogenesis Enters The Matrix
Elle Zhan WeiThe movie The Matrix brought ectogenesis to the public eye.
Artificial Light Threatens Pollination
Daniel FragaA recent study demonstrated how artificial light is a serious threat to plant pollination. It puts plant reproduction in danger, as well as the whole ecosystem.
When Buildings Become Trees
Alec SchellinxWhat if buildings could become trees? That vision is what Italian architect Stefano Boeri is aiming at with his Vertical Foresting.
The Digital Mythology of... Super Mario
Daniel FragaMythology still surrounds us, we just relate to it differently. Games and movies have replaced pantheons and folk tales. Fairies and gnomes left the forests and the rivers and moved to virtual realities.
Govert Flint on Enrichers
Ruben BaartNNN fellow Govert Flint discusses Enrichers in Frame magazine.
Grow Your Own Bio Bot
Julie ReindlResearches at the University of Illinois released a step by step guide to build 3D printed bio robots with living muscles.
How a Hummingbird Creates Green Energy
Michelle GuenneA start-up company build a wind turbine inspired by the hummingbird.
From Industry 1.0 to Industry 4.0
Megan Ray NicholsWarehouse management practices and processes evolved with the time, but they’ll need to maintain their adaptability to accommodate Industry 4.0.
Opening HUBOT at DDW
NextNature.netThe robots have arrived! Yesterday we celebrated the launch of HUBOT , job agency for people and robots at MediaMarkt , as part of the Dutch Design Week in Eindhoven. Our virtual …
Otra Nation: Make Walls Great Again
Elle Zhan WeiThis group of 14 designers, engineers, builders and architects make a proposal of a wall for Trump's ambitious project.
Jobs for Caretakers - Robots at Work #1
Mathilde NakkenThis is post number one of our serie 'Robots at Work'. In this episode we present you five jobs for caretakers, the ones that work with their hearts.
Solar Powered Electric Cars
Daniel FragaThe sun sustains our planetary system. Its energy fuels life. And in the future, the sun will also fuel our cars. That’s the premise of Dutch startup Lightyear, a startup specialized in solar powered electric cars.
Robotic Tarzan Controls Crops
Julie ReindlA robot inspired by a sloth was developed in order to control crops growing in our fields.
A full course cabbage meal to discuss the problem of agricultural over-abundance
Belen MunozLast night we were invited to celebrate the plenty at the third edition of the Neo-Futurist Dinner series at Mediamatic in Amsterdam. This time, the night was hosted by Dutch …
Chinese farmers are using AI to help rear the world’s biggest pig population
James VincentIt’s been called China’s “pork miracle.” For centuries, pig-rearing in the country was predominantly a backyard occupation. (The etymology of the Chinese character for “home” …
Is eSports really sport?
Jack CaulfieldeSports is the huge industry that’s growing up around competitive online gaming. Let’s take a look at how this cyberpunk sporting world came to be.
Future AI may hallucinate and get depressed — just like the rest of us
Tristan GreeneScientists believe the introduction of a hormone-like system, such as the one found in the human brain, could give AI the ability to reason and make decisions like people do. …
Reimagining popular apps with the Pyramid of Technology
Alejandro AlvarezToday, there's an app for everything. They help us satisfy our cravings, allow us to communicate at all times and make it easier to share special moments. But the dark, cold …
The return of trade: Blockchain technology is enabling trade to make a fierce comeback
Koen WeselBefore money came into existence, trading was all we knew. Farmers in China traded their spades for food and other goods, and this continued up until a point where most spades …
Welcome spring with this selection of NANO Supermarket products
NextNature.netWell, we finally made it. After a long, cold, dark winter, spring has officially started today. And guess what it's bringing with it? Nope, not spring flowers: Love flowers! …
The New Technology in Agriculture: Trees
Jack CaulfieldNew technologies are changing the landscape, but the latest trend reshaping rural environments and agriculture is agroforestry: the art of planting trees.
The future infrastructure of the blockchain might be green and humane
Koen WeselThe connection we share through the Internet has laid the foundation for a whole new digital infrastructure, in which blockchain technology is heralded by many believers for being …
Turning cities into parks: In conversation with Raymond Brouwers on Urban Street Forests
Jack CaulfieldUrban neighborhoods with high-rise concrete buildings are often dreary and gray. Therefore, the Urban Street Forest project aims to color our cities with the planting of vertical …
Researchers are using VR to help teachers understand autism
Rachel KaserResearchers are using VR as an empathy tool to help neurotypical teachers understand their students with autism. There have already been attempts to use VR to help autistic …
Explore your relationship with AI
Ruben BaartWhat makes us human? And why do we sometimes fear artificial intelligence? And what about technological singularity - the moment in time when artificial intelligence outperforms …
This artificial reef was just deployed in Sydney Harbor
Vanessa Bates RamirezEarth’s oceans have seen better days. They’re inundated with plastic waste, both whole single-use plastics and tons of plastic microparticles that find their way back into our …
The first human CRISPR trial in the US aims to cure inherited blindness
Vanessa Bates RamirezGene editing is advancing at a faster pace than most of us can keep up with. One significant recent announcement was gene editing tool CRISPR’s application to non-genetic diseases …
The Coming World: ecology as the new politics
Ruben BaartIn science fiction and popular science, 2030 is often suggested as the year in which our planet will run out of oil. Similarly, 2100 will be the year that, according to …
Watch the BBC report on world's first artificial womb
Ruben BaartNow that the team of researchers at the Eindhoven University of Technology (whom we previously collaborated with to design a prototype for an artificial womb ) has been awarded a …
Next Generation: Searching for Null Island with Deborah Mora
Ruben BaartThis story is part of Next Generation , a series in which we give young makers a platform to showcase their work. Your work here? Get in touch and plot your …
Next Generation: Speculating about the future with Deborah Rhyner
Ruben BaartThis story is part of Next Generation , a series in which we give young makers a platform to showcase their work. Your work here? Get in touch and plot your coordinates as we …
How bacteria can recover precious metals from EV batteries
Sebastien FarnaudThere are more than 1.4 billion cars in the world today, and that number could double by 2036 . If all those cars burn petrol or diesel, the climate consequences will be dire. …
Beijing's dust storm: part human, part nature
Ruben BaartThe skies in Beijing turned orange recently, thanks to what was widely reported as a massive sandstorm . The problem, at least in terms of public health, is that it was not …
5 unusual technologies for harvesting water in dry areas
Manzoor QadirWater scarcity is among the top five global risks affecting people’s wellbeing. In water-scarce areas, the situation is grim. Conventional sources like snowfall, rainfall, river …
Can microbes communicate with alien species?
Ruben BaartAre we alone in the universe? The famous Seti (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) programme has been trying to answer this question since 1959. American astronomer Carl …
This year's electronic waste weighs more than the Great Wall of China
Vanessa Bates RamirezIt’s widely known that the world has a plastics problem. What’s less widely known is that we have a similar problem with another kind of waste: electronics
Tiny houses: why more people are living in miniature
Alice Elizabeth WilsonTiny houses have been heralded as a radical and creative way to address a lack of affordable housing, as well as reducing living costs and shrinking our carbon footprint. My PhD …
Turn your garden into living artworks for bees
Kelly van GemertArt not for people, but for insects. That is the goal of the Pollinator Pathway project by Alexandra Daisy Ginsberg. With her concept she wants to change the way we perceive our …
Discovering AI generated species
Marit BeerseSofia Crespo and Feileacan McCormick have made an AI-generated endangered species installation on Times Square.
Exploring assisted evolution with Prof. Dr. John van der Oost
Marit BeerseAssisted evolution raises complex questions. The practice involves human intervention to increase the rate of natural evolutionary processes. A technique that inevitably …
Next Nature Gift Guide 2022
Kelly van GemertThe most wonderful time of the year can turn stressful quite easily when you run out of exciting gift-ideas. Don't worry, we got you covered.
The carbon footprint of space tourism
Eloise MaraisThe commercial race to get tourists to space is heating up between Virgin Group founder Sir Richard Branson and former Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos. On Sunday 11 July, Branson ascended …
Whoops! Our sustainability efforts are warming the oceans
Koert van MensvoortCleaning up ships' pollution is making the ocean warmer than expected. Less pollution means less cooling clouds, heating up the Atlantic.
With this sound recognition technology scientists can eavesdrop on nature
Lucas ZarzosoWhat if humans would be able to listen to what nature has to say? Conservationists are trying to grasp non-human sounds , which might help us to better understand environmental …
How to calculate your biological age
Kelly van GemertComputational Biologist Jing-Dong (Jackie) Han and her team uncovered a technology to interpret signs of biological aging directly from facial characteristics.
How to control electronic devices with your mind
Ghizlane OughzifControlling devices with your mind. Unreal? Think again. Brain-computer interfaces have been changing the game in healthcare, gaming, and accessibility lately.
Tooth fairy alert: Japanese company tests drug that can regrow human teeth
Kelly van GemertToregem Biopharma designed an antibody drug that can possibly regenerate teeth using the body's own tissues.
Browse the Catalog For The Post-Human
Veronica FanzioAugment your physiology. Enhance your prospects. From neuro-electronics, to robotic-prosthetics and mind-altering pharmaceuticals.
Seeking Symbiosis
Ruben BaartVisual artist Heleen Blanken explores the complex relationship between people, nature and technology.
Next Gen: De-exctincting the mammoth with Wendi Yan
Kelly van GemertWhat if an ancient mammoth found herself resurrected by humans into our modern age?
Evolving Logo
Koert van MensvoortGenerative graphics and organic information design are making their way into the world of the applied arts. For the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics, …
Release - messages from the deceased
Koert van Mensvoort'Release' is a product that terminal patients can use to leave audio messages for their relatives, for after their death. People living with the notion that they will soon die …
Augmented Fish Reality
Koert van MensvoortAugmented Fish Reality is an interactive installation of five rolling robotic fish-bowl sculptures. These sculptures allow Siamese Fighting fish (Betta Splendons) to use …
Evolution in the Bathroom
Koert van MensvoortI have been conducting some attempts to backtrack the evolution of Gillette shaving razors appearing in my bathroom. Whereas older shavers were simple sticks with a blade on top, …
Friending, Ancient or Otherwise
By ALEX WRIGHT, Published in NY Times December 2, 2007 The growing popularity of social networking sites like Facebook , MySpace and Second Life has thrust many of us into a new …
Magical Interaction
Koert van MensvoortMan's ability to control illumination is magical in itself but is seldom experienced as such because light switches are purely functional and generally don't stir up imagination. …
Vin Memoriam
DesignmusketeersThe Vin Memoriam concept introduces a new ritual in the mourning process after losing a loved one. When a person has passed away, a small amount of blood can be processed into a …
RFID implant opens doors
Dr NaturalAmal has two RFID implants, one in each hand. His left hand contains a 3mm by 13mm EM4102 glass RFID tag that was implanted by a cosmetic surgeon. His right hand contains a 2mm by …
Who wants a stylus?
Rolf Coppens"Who wants a stylus?" Words by Apple's Steve Jobs when introducing the iPhone that uses a revolutionary input device: the finger. Using this device you find that it's pretty hard …
Better than the real thing
Koert van MensvoortTake a bite from this pear and I'll spare you all the default connotations with the apple of eden. Source photo by Pablo Montanez . See also Modernistic Watermelon , Ferrari …
Biggest Visual Power Show 2008
The Biggest Visual Power Show is an intellectual show that blends between a conference and a pop concert. Twenty filmers, scientists, designers, artist and thinkers present …
Fake for Real: Fantasy Castle
Koert van MensvoortDisney's Sleeping Beauty Castle could be the single best-loved structure in the world. Ever wondered where Walt Disney got his enchanting fairytale aesthetic? The castle, which …
Liquified Furniture
Arnoud van den HeuvelNever, 1999. By Nina Saunders Just a random collection of her works: Any day now, 2003 – Woodland trust, 2007 Ever onwards, 2001 Age of Reason, 1995 – Confession, 2005 Sincerely …
Remote pets
Arnoud van den HeuvelHumans have domesticated animals for thousands of years. The earliest known evidence of a domesticated dog is a jawbone found in a cave in Iraq and dated to about 12,000 years ago …
Software that Ranks Female Beauty
Koert van MensvoortEarlier we reported software that predicts how a wine will rate in reviews even before it is made . Now, for puber-geek delight, lets try that for women. Tel Aviv University …
Bioinstinct
Koert van MensvoortDesigner Laura Boffi envisions a future in which human instincts will leap behind on technological progress. For example, once the 'disease called mortality' is cured with …
China limits use of 'virtual' currencies
Dr NaturalBy DAVID BARBOZA SHANGHAI — China made public on Tuesday regulations aimed at cracking down on the use of virtual currencies amid worries that a huge underground economy was …
Controlling the Uncontrollable
Arnoud van den HeuvelIt is a home to crawlers, virusses, search engines, gamers, spammers, chatters, twitters, bloggers, worms and spiders. If calling it alive goes too far, it's still safe to say …
Credit on Color – Rainbow of Credit Cards
Koert van MensvoortRegular readers of this website know we are keen to speculate that our global financial system is best perceived as an ecology, which although originally constructed by man, has …
Deliver us from Skeuomorph Prosthetics
Koert van MensvoortNo, this is not another example in our fake for real series , comparing an artificial with a human hand. Rather, you are looking at twice the same hand: with and without its …
How to print a building
Koert van MensvoortIn the nineties laser printers revolutionized graphic design. Currently 3d desktop printers are revolutionizing industrial design. Next we will be printing buildings and …
LHC – How physics becomes metaphysics
Koert van MensvoortLittle over a week after the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) became operational it broke down. As the world's largest particle accelerator isn't working, c omputer simulations are the …
New Media 80.000 BC
Hendrik-Jan GrievinkEvery medium was new oneday . This point is beautifully illustrated in the movie Quest for fire ( La Guerre de feu by Jean-Jacques Annaud, 1981), a must-see for Next Nature …
Next Nature @ Volume Magazine
The latest issue of Volume magazine aims to re-investigate sustainability after zero. Originally a wacko, hippy-esque ideology, ‘sustainability’ - aka ‘eco-friendly’ or ‘green’ - …
Office Grass
Dr NaturalThese grass squares are designed to give a natural touch to the office or home by placing them freely or according to feng-shui. Inspired by Frank loyed Wright’s Fallingwater and …
Phone Booths turned into Smoking Booths
Koert van MensvoortWith the emergence of mobile phones, classical phone booths are used less and less. Seems like the Dutch telecoms operator KPN is re-tooling its phone booths to function as …
Plastic Birds
Koert van MensvoortBird spotting is not a typical activity for us next nature explorers, yet occasionally we bump into some birds worth mentioning (remember the amazing copy-paste bird , rubber duck …
ECO Currency – Explanation Video
Koert van MensvoortEarlier we have discussed the ECO currency , now here is an explanation video. The ECO currency is an alternative currency to express environmental value. People who conduct labor …
Here Comes the iPhone Virus
Koert van MensvoortBy analyzing billions of phone calls, researchers at Scandinavian telecom company Telenor , mapped how social connections between people – measured partly by how often they called …
Logorama
Hendrik-Jan GrievinkSometimes you come across something that is not directly related to Next Nature, but só well made that it deserves a place on this website. Logorama, a 16 minute animation by the …
Rare mutation: Razorius Gilletus Vectrus
Koert van MensvoortIf you haven't read the recently posted essay " Razorius Gilletus – On the Origin of a Next Species ?", you probably won't understand much of the following. Anyhow, I'd want to …
Reading the Body: Finger Length Ratio Predicts Athletic Ability
Martijn van MensvoortThe human body is increasingly recognized as a biometric source of information for a wide spectrum of issues, including security, psychopathology, personality and health. Earlier …
Recycled Island
Koert van MensvoortRecycled island is a research project on the potential of realizing a habitable floating island in the Pacific Ocean made from all the plastic waste that is momentarily floating …
Transparency Suit
Koert van MensvoortImage consumption has never been as cool as in this brand new clip by Studio Smack , which was created for the upcoming Graphic Design Festival . The ‘Transparency Suit' …
Who wants to Bike on Bamboo?
Andrea ReidlCarbon fiber and aluminum are so 2009. This year's best bicycling model is made out of bamboo and hemp. A new generation of manufacturers are coming up with some of the most …
Birdfeeders spit Blackcaps in two species
Koert van MensvoortUntil now, most people have likely regarded bird-feeders as merely a pleasant addition to their gardens. But scientists have now discovered that bird-feeders in the UK are …
Disgusting Switches
Koert van MensvoortIf a light switch would be hairy or snotty nobody would want to turn on the light anymore, which is exactly why designer Katrin Baumgarten created some of the most one nauseating …
Evolutionary Janitors
Allison GuyWe normally think of polluted water as the source of disease, not the cure for it. The Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn, affectionately known as the Super Fun Superfund , is one of the …
Human Nature Forecast
Koert van MensvoortInterview witth TEDx on how people are technological by nature, yet how we also need humane technology to remain human, or become even more human than we are today.
My Fetal Pony: Neoteny in Girls' Toys
Allison GuyIt's no secret that Mickey Mouse has evolved in response to consumer pressures. Once a violent river-rat, he became the boy scout of rodents with good looks to match. Steven Jay …
Nature will Remember
Gabi RasIn this commercial, the sheep knows that the Peugeot has been made dirty by the splashing mud. Then it proceeds by cleaning it. Slogan: Nature will remember. We know that this …
Next Nature Kills
Hendrik-Jan GrievinkToday, 122 years ago, on 13 september 1899, Henry Bliss became the first pedestrian known to be killed by an automobile in North America. Although not the first, he was certainly …
Rule #1: Any Association that Can be Made, Will be Made
NextNature.netFor other entries and an introduction to the 11 Golden Rules of Anthropomorphism and Design, click here. People have evolutionarily built-in mechanisms that help us to …
Skyscrapers for Pandora
Erik SwaagstraWe've previously featured architecture that imitates nature by opening its walls like a flower , or drifting like a cloud . However, maybe this is not imitation enough. The next …
Snapshots from the Next Nature Lab
Koert van MensvoortLast week, the young and talented designers of the Next Nature lab at the Eindhoven University of Technology presented their end of term works in an internal exhibition. There are …
System Animals
Koert van MensvoortWhat animal is so naive to come into this world as a naked and crying infant, completely vulnerable, helpless, and an easy prey for any predator? Newborn lamb or giraffe’s babies …
The Banana Gets a Second Skin
Allison GuyWe already know that bananas are evidence of intelligent design – by farmers, not by god. All commercial crops have been tweaked by the hand of agriculture, but modern bananas …
Book as Human-Computer Interface
Stefan FinckenIn combining the classic feeling of handling a book with the interactivity of the computer, Waldek W?grzyn of the Academy of Fine Arts in Katowice, Poland, has created a new human-computer interface.
Leaf Thermometer
Marco van BeersDesigner Hideyuki Kumagai must have been inspired by the seasonal colors of nature when he designed this thermometer. Stick the leaves to your window, or make a bush at your …
Pineberry™
Koert van MensvoortMore hypernatural designer-fruit. What do you get when you cross a strawberry and a pineapple? A pineberry, of course. Some seven years ago the pineberry was taken from its native …
Power, Water and Shelter from Giant Mushrooms?
Tim HuibertsIn his (fictional!) documentary, designer and artist Tobias Revell sketches the city of New Mumbai powered by giant mushrooms. These genetically-engineered fungal organisms …
Rule #7: Respect Social Standards
NextNature.netAnthropomorphic products enter the human social space. Humans have the most complex social behavior of any organism on Earth. Anyone or anything trying to join in should be careful to do it right.
The Benefits of Artificial Wetlands
JenniferIn 1994 researchers at Ohio State University created two artificial wetlands* in riverine basins in order to investigate their possible benefits, and whether they could replace …
The NBIC Convergence: When Machines and Matter ‘Have Sex’
Rachel ArmstrongThe Singularity , as popularized by Ray Kurtzweil, refers to a near term, theoretical time when machine intelligence greatly surpasses our own. At this point we will experience a …
Tuur van Balen – Hacking Yoghurt
Koert van MensvoortDesigner Tuur van Balen argues biotechnoloyg is actually very accessible and creates an 'anti-depressant yoghurt' on stage.
What is Synthetic Biology?
Koert van MensvoortDig the three minute introduction. Script by Claudia Vickers, Animation by Orlando Mee, Produced by Stephan Kern.
Can This Virtual World Save the Real One?
Alessia AndreottiA Dutch artist designs a Utopian eco-socialist online society.
Now Dads Can Experience Pregnancy Too
Alessia AndreottiA new device replicates the kicking and moving of a baby inside a mother's womb.
Did Booze Make Us Modern?
Allison GuyA psychiatrist argues that beer gave us civilization - but do intoxicants play a deeper evolutionary role than that?
Eating In Vitro: Meat Paint
Koert van MensvoortPaint with meat! is a product for children of 5-10 years old. It allows them to prepare a meat dish on their own and in a very creative, fun and safe way: by painting with meat!
Grow Your Own - Call for Projects
Koert van MensvoortScience Gallery is calling synthetic biologists, bio-artists, bio-designers, amateur biotechnologists and bio-hackers to submit proposals for projects for their upcoming flagship exhibition GROW YOUR OWN.
Interview: Floris Kaayk, the Visionary Creative Mind Behind Human Birdwings
Alessia AndreottiFloris Kayak discusses online hoaxes and the future of technology.
Why Meat Grown in Labs is the Next Logical Step for Food Production
Avy RoyLab grown meat is part of the trajectory that agricultural technology is already following.
Oranges Are Going Extinct – Unless a Gene from Spinach Can Help
Allison GuyOnly genetic engineering can stop citrus from going commercially extinct. But is the public ready to accept GM orange juice?
New Technologies to Make Us Sleep Less, and Better
Daniel BlokbergenHaving 50% more “conscious lifetime” might sound like an appealing proposition to anyone with a hectic schedule. This could be achieved not necessarily by living longer, but by …
Treating Mental Illness with Video Games
Ken ChenNeurofeedback shows promises in treating a range of mental ailments.
Why Shopping Malls Are Confusing
Hendrik-Jan GrievinkDo you get lost in shopping malls? Do you end up spending more than you intended? It's not your fault.
Animals Love Technology
Alessia AndreottiA macaque stole a tourist's iPhone and fiddled around with it like a human would.
Bugs Developed Immunity to GMO Corn
Alessia AndreottiThe Western Corn Rootworm has evolved to eat genetically engineered corn, designed to kill it.
Electricity From Plants
Lotte BiesheuvelA new technology enables us to produce electricity from living plants at practically every site where plants can grow.
Graffiti Drones
Robin BergmanLast month graffiti artist Katsu presented his graffiti drone called the ‘’spray copter’’.
NANO Supermarket New Line of Products
NextNature.netDuring the 2014 Dutch Design Week, the NANO Supermarket debuts a new line of speculative nano products.
NANO Supermarket TV Commercial 2014
Koert van MensvoortSneak peek into your nano future with the brand new NANO Supermarket TV Commercial.
The First 3D Printed Canal House
Francesca BarchiesiThe first 3D printed house is a recognisable and attractive Dutch Canal House, an exhibition and building site in the heart of Amsterdam.
A Self-Aware Mario Able to Learn and Feel
Yunus Emre DuyarSuper Mario is now able to learn and feel in the confines of his 8-bit universe.
A Wind Turbine That Looks Like a Tree
Yunus Emre DuyarThe wind turbines of the future will look like post-modern tree sculptures.
Anthropo-scene #10: From Thoughts to Geology
ChristianIt's more than two years since I have started this exploration of the Anthropocene for Next Nature for you. We have visited many places together, places I have traveled to as a …
Bioprinting in the Kitchen of the Future
Alessia AndreottiCultivator is speculative design project on how bioprinting could find its way into the kitchen of the future.
Bistro In Vitro to Be Launched
NextNature.netInspired by the award winning In Vitro Meat Cookbook , Next Nature Network and Submarine Channel present Bistro In Vitro : an online design fiction documentary about the future …
Botox Makes it Harder to Feel Emotions
Alessia AndreottiStudies suggest that Botox impairs the ability to process the emotional content of language, limiting the quality of emotional experiences.
Did a Robot Grow your Vegetable?
Alessia AndreottiThe world’s largest indoor farm is not the only firm developing vertical agriculture. Japanese company Spread plans to grow more than ten million heads of lettuce a year by …
Experiencing Animal Vision Through Virtual Reality
Margherita OlivoEyes of the Animal is an interactive project that invites the public to an uncommon virtual reality setting conceived especially for experiences in actual forests, giving the opportunity to see the world as an insect would.
This Headset Will Widen Your View of Reality
Margherita OlivoThis augmented reality helmet allows the wearers to see all around them without having to turn their head.
High-Speed Driverless Taxi for the Sky
Abby QinAn innovative solution to a better way for transportation: a high-speed elevated Personal Rapid Transportation system.
Holiday in a Bird's Nest
Alessia AndreottiThe exterior of the this hotel room is constructed with branches, sticks and twigs intertwined to create the look and feel of a real bird nest.
Hyperform: the Future of 3D Printing
Louise Huyghebaert"However, while 3D printers are becoming increasingly accessible and capable of rivalling the quality of professional equipment, they are still inherently limited by a small print …
Meet the Band Aid of the Future
Margherita OlivoThis potentially revolutionary device includes LED lights and temperature sensors to provide medication directly to the wounded section of the skin.
Mini's Augmented Reality Driving Goggles
Yunus Emre DuyarThe popular car brand is working on augmented reality goggles that enhance the driving experience.
New 3D Printer Can Save Hours of Time
Yunus Emre DuyarA team of researchers recently developed a new method for 3D printing that can reduce the printing process down to minutes.
Art Installation Submerges Amsterdam
Hessel HoogerhuisWaterlicht shows how the Netherlands would look without waterworks — a virtual flood.
Prodigious Yogurt Can Reveal Cancer
Margherita OlivoAn extraordinary yogurt that could soon implement accurate, young disease diagnosis.
Puppy Delivery Drones
Yunus Emre Duyar3 Million Dogs released a funny video, which shows puppies delivered by drones.
Soil-Free Farming in the Desert
Yunus Emre DuyarA special absorbant film that require no soil may be able to grow plants more efficiently than soil farming.
Teasing the Internet of Things
Yunus Emre DuyarWhen there is such abundance of areas where IoT could be applied, several ridiculous, unnecessary products are inevitable.
The Bamboo Skyscraper
Alessia AndreottiA group of architects looked at natural forests to design the bamboo skyscraper.
Bio-Printer Creates Living Body Parts
Margherita OlivoBioprinter creates bespoke lab-grown body parts for transplant.
"Biomimicry", the Documentary
Daniel FragaBiomimicry is a documentary on the topic of how life and biology can be the mentors for our own innovation in the world.
Bobbing Trees in Rotterdam
Mathilde NakkenWhen you think about a tree, you image it growing on land. Though the team of Mothership wanted to challenge this image by creating the Bobbing Forest in Rotterdam.
“Everything Is Already Invented”
Ingmar NieuweboerRobert Gordon says all the major inventions have been made, but that's only true for our limited knowledge of future possibilities.
The Largest Solar Power Plant in the World
Margherita OlivoA floating photovoltaic system will lie on the waters of a Japanese dam, representing the largest solar establishment in the world.
Legally Stealing $60Million of Cryptocurrency
Lewis JustAll it takes to steal $60million worth of cryptocurreny is to create a child DAO. Sounds too good to be true...
A Map of Mars for Regular Humans
Margherita OlivoIf we'll ever get to go to Mars as tourists , we wouldn't get lost. Ordnance Survey , the official British mapping agency, recently released a new detailed map of the Red Planet. …
Morality of an Autonomous Car
Monika KozubWhen an autonomous car has to make a decision, will self-interest or the public good predominate?
What if Mosquitoes Were Only a Zoo Species?
Mathilde NakkenGenetic engineers are developing techniques to kill several types of mosquitoes.
The Next Nature Sneaker Series
Mathilde NakkenWe present for the real sneaker heads amongst us, six new futuristic pieces of footwear. Going from pineapple leather to self lacing 'Back to the Future' Nikes.
New Diets for Cows Can Stop Gas Emissions
Mathilde NakkenYearly 90 million metric tonnes of methane are burped and farted into the atmosphere by cattle with effects on climate change. Researchers are looking for ways to change the cow's diet, feeding it oregano, seaweed and super grass.
Computer-Simulated Realistic Sounds
Daniel FragaResearchers at MIT have created a system that is able to simulate sounds that are so perfect that they can even fool human listeners.
ReGen, the Autarchic Off-Grid Village
Margherita OlivoUtopian off-grid ReGen Village produces all of its own food and energy is being implemented in Almere.
Self-Driving Trucks Hit the Highways
Margherita OlivoA driverless convoy of trucks drove through Europe and safely arrived in Rotterdam yesterday.
Talking Contact Lenses
Ruben BaartResearchers at University of Washington have introduced a new wireless communication method that allows small wearable devices to ‘talk’ to everyday devices.
Scientists Connected a Brain to a Tablet
Ingmar NieuweboerSeverely paralyzed woman controls a tablet with her brain.
The World's First Invisible Train
Margherita OlivoJapanese architect Kazuyo Sejima is designing the world's first invisible train.
AI Draws New Worlds from Its Artificial Memory
Siebren de VosAn AI draws streets and spaces stitching together its artificial memories of real places.
Add-on Body Parts: Bionic Thumb
Charlotte KuijpersRoyal College of Art graduate Dani Clode reframed prosthetics as extensions of the body, rather than replacements for missing parts.
Cognitive Cooking with Chef Watson
Elle Zhan WeiThe AI chef nows more than 10,000 recipes from all over the world and is capable of combining any ingredient while following your personal food preferences.
Dinner with Chef Watson
Ruben BaartChef Watson knows over 10.000 recipes. The highbrow robotic cook invited us over for dinner during the first Neo-Futurist Dinner at Mediamatic.
Circular Runway for Airport Efficiency
Elle Zhan WeiThe endless runway is a new airport concept by Dutch scientist Henk Hesselink.
Disruptive Roombas Reflect on the IoT
Nadine RoestenburgInternet of Things installation reflects on the adjustments we make to the environment in our attempt to save time and be more productive.
Drone Hits Crash Test Dummy for Your Safety
Ruben BaartResearchers at Virginia Tech are studying the risk of injury from a drone collision by hitting a crash test dummy in the head.
ECO Coin Lab at Welcome to the Village
NextNature.netLast weekend the ECO coin ran its second living lab at Welcome to the Village festival. We wanted to experiment with making our new sustainable currency more social and test our new ECO coin payment system.
Experience Death with VR
Julie ReindlVirtual reality experiment tries to help people frightened of death with outer-body experience.
Fungal Futures: the Mushrooms Utopia
Federico AndreottiExhibition Fungal Futures: design with mushrooms.
The Internet of Bees
Jack CaulfieldWhat can we learn from listening to the buzz of bees' conversation? With the help of a new monitoring system, a Canadian researcher is hoping to find out.
Conversation with Dutch Philosopher Bas Haring: Robot, Colleague or Foe?
Ruben BaartWe talked with Bas Haring to discuss the conception, image and will of the robot. Read our conversation with him and update your ideas about robots.
Intimate Technology S01E05: The Modular Body
NextNature.netThe body, like any technology, is made up of countless individual components. Yet, apart from dire medical emergency, have you ever thought about mixing and matching these …
Next Nature Gift Guide 2017
NextNature.netThe gift giving season is once again upon us and to help out those who are struggling to find that perfect gift for that special someone we have brought together a collection of Next Nature inspired gifts.
3D Printed Capsule Replaces Needle Injection
Julie ReindlA needle free oral delivery system might in the future dissolve the old way of vacancies injected by syringes.
Orange Petunias Banned in Europe
Julie ReindlGM varieties of petunia are not authorized for cultivation in the EU.
Personhood Status for Robots
Julie ReindlAn "electronic personhood" for robots has been discussed in the European Parliament recently, raising big questions about equality, citizenship, legal and ironically, human rights for artificial intelligent machines.
AI Foodcial Recognition
Julie ReindlPic2Recipe is an artificial intelligence system able to recognize ingredients, identify a dish and suggest recipes from a single image.
Replacing Fireflies with Lasers
Alec SchellinxAfter mounting criticism from environmentalists, a firefly-themed park in China announced that the glowing bugs will be replaced by lasers.
The Solution to Nuisance Birds? The Robird
Jack CaulfieldBirds are fascinating creatures, but for farmers, airport staff, and waste management specialists, they can prove to be a profound nuisance. How to deal with a flock of birds …
Robo-Bee Pollinated a Japanese Lily
Nadine RoestenburgA video of a robotic bee pollinating a flower (looking more like Loopin' Louie spinning off the board game and hitting a flower) recently caught our attention. What at first sight …
Robotic Pillow Breathes to Help You Sleep
Charlotte KuijpersA smart, huggable bed partner, who also improves your sleep quality. Sounds great, right? Soon, you might be able to order one yourself: Somnox is a soft robotic pillow that gently breathes as you hold it.
Jobs for Facilitators - Robots at Work #3
Mathilde NakkenThis is post number three of our serie 'Robots at Work'. In this episode we present you five jobs for facilitators, the ones who love to work with technology.
GM Self-Destroying Moths
Julie ReindlOpen-air tests of self-destructing moths mark a new frontier for GMOs.
Sophia: World's First Robot with a Citizenship
Jack CaulfieldSophia the Humanoid, a human-like robot in appearance and mannerisms, was granted citizenship by Saudi Arabia and became the first robot with citizenship.
Using Spinach to Detect Explosives
Ruben BaartIntroducing nanobionic spinach plants that can detect explosives.
LA Turns White to Fight Urban Warming
Siebren de VosLos Angeles is painting its streets white to fight urban warming and expects to lower the temperature by three degrees in the next 20 years.
Envisioning the future of artificial biological reproduction in Mexico
Hendrik-Jan GrievinkThe debate on the future of artificial biological reproduction is moving to Mexico. C Minds, an impact innovation agency that believes in ‘a 4th Industrial Revolution that brings …
Custom-grown bones, and other wild advances in regenerative medicine
Vanessa Bates RamirezThe human body has always been an incredible machine, from the grand feats of strength and athleticism it can accomplish down to the fine details of each vein, nerve, and cell. …
Give AI curiosity and it plays video games all day
Tristan GreeneIf you teach a robot to fish, it’ll probably catch fish. However, if you teach it to be curious, it’ll just watch TV and play video games all day. Researchers from Open AI …
How the Dutch government is obstructing the advent of in vitro meat
Ruben BaartIn 2017, two years after her father died , Ira van Eelen decided to call the Dutch Arable Farming Union. She couldn't help but wonder how come the Netherlands was still not …
Lucas Foglia's photography explores the uneasy relationship between humans and nature
Laura MalloneeThere’s no place on earth untouched by human activity: This was clear as Lucas Foglia whizzed across the vast, white expanse of Alaska's Juneau Ice Field last summer. He was …
Next Nature Academy presents: A workshop-in-a-box for your team
NextNature.netAre you working on projects where technology and human interaction are involved, and are you looking for a new approach? As of today, we offer a brand new workshop concept for you …
Next Nature Gift Guide 2018
The season of giving has come and to make sure you can find the perfect gift for your loved ones we have brought together a collection of Next Nature inspired goodies. Whether you …
Period emoji could smash the stigma surrounding menstruation
Cara CurtisAstonishingly, we’re still living in a world where most women feel uncomfortable talking about their periods and some don’t even have access to sanitary products. This is why …
The return of Rayfish Footwear?
NextNature.netRayfish Footwear was a fictional company that offered personalized sneakers crafted from genetically modified stingray leather. This online science fiction story allowed customers …
Researchers are developing a device that can edit brain activity
Tristan GreeneNeuroscientists at the University of California Berkely are building a device that’ll hack our brains so we can ‘edit’ what we feel and remember. It looks like we’ve drawn “ Total …
Technology and Sports: Nutrigenomics
Megan Ray NicholsWe’ve been told since grade school that what we eat is important, but we’ve all been told to eat the same sort of healthy things. This isn’t bad, but with the up-and-coming …
How an app is helping restaurants cut food waste
Meike SchipperGlobally, humans produce enough food to feed 10 billion people (we are only 7 billion now) yet somehow we waste a third of this. Food waste is one of the biggest climate …
People are less likely to turn a robot off if it asks them not to
Tristan GreeneA team of German researchers published a study earlier this week indicating people can be duped into leaving a robot turned on just because it “asks” them to. The …
The Forgotten Plan to Coat Utah's Delicate Arch with Plastic
Jack CaulfieldArches National Park, located in Utah, is home to some of America's most beautiful rock formations. The most famous of them, Delicate Arch, has always been, well, pretty delicate. So much so that back in the 1940s, park rangers hatched a plan to preserve the natural monument - by coating it in plastic.
AI creates images of food that doesn’t exist (yet)
Tristan GreeneA team of researchers from Tel-Aviv University developed a neural network capable of reading a recipe and generating an image of what the finished, cooked product would look like. …
Air pollution may be making us less intelligent
Barbara MaherNot only is air pollution bad for our lungs and heart , it turns out it could actually be making us less intelligent, too. A recent study found that in elderly people living in …
Why digital detoxes are a solution looking for a problem
David EllisWith New Year’s resolutions in full swing, many people may have chosen to cut down on their tech use – or even give it up altogether. The growing popularity of such “digital …
Oded Ezer discusses the future of typography and the importance of dreaming
Freya HutchingsOded Ezer is a typographer from Israel who never fails to push boundaries, or rather, discard them altogether. Ezer is a rebellious force that swings between commercial and …
10 Next Nature dinner table conversation starters
Ruben BaartSummer is here and the sun is out, and yes, this is awesome. After a long day in the sizzling summer sun, you get a group of people together to share some delicious food, …
Why some plastic packaging is necessary to prevent food waste
Manoj DoraThere has been a surge in awareness of the damage that plastic pollution does to our planet in recent years. It has spurred a number of campaigns to remove single-use plastics …
Taco futures: In vitro meat in Mexico City
Alejandro AlvarezOur In Vitro Meat Cookbook has inspired many people around the world. Just recently, we had the BBC over at our headquarters to see what makes us thick. This idea of in vitro meat …
Electric cars might not yet be green, but we should buy them anyway
Ranald BoydellTransforming the way we travel is an essential part of tackling the climate crisis. The transport sector contributes about 20% of global carbon emissions . In the UK the figure is …
It could be time to start thinking about a cybernetic Bill of Rights
Mike RyderLike it or loathe it, the robot revolution is now well underway and the futures described by writers such as Isaac Asimov , Frederik Pohl and Philip K. Dick are fast turning from …
Five ways AI could make your car as smart as a human passenger
Max EizaDriving long distances without a passenger can be lonely. If you’ve ever done it, you might have wished for a companion to talk to – someone emotionally intelligent who can …
Meatable: from stem cells to pork chops
Vanessa Bates RamirezThe food chain has always worked roughly like this: sunlight feeds plants. Plants feed insects. Insects and plants feed animals. Plants and animals feed people. Then …
Embracing the Future with Patricia Piccinini
Freya HutchingsPatricia Piccinini is an artist interested in the relationship between humans and non-humans, the natural and the artificial, science and storytelling. Working with silicone, …
The new Next Nature book is here!
Next Nature DevWe live in a world in which we control the biology of a tomato at such precision, you could think of it as a product of technology, instead of a product of nature. Think about it, …
Nadine Bongaerts: 'We’re attempting to make foie gras based on stem cells'
Ruben BaartBiosensors, cultivated meat and spider’s silk. For synthetic biologist and Next Nature ambassador Nadine Bongaerts, these are all advances towards a new world, where polluting …
The technosphere is outweighing the biosphere
Ruben BaartOur deficiencies have always driven us, even among our distant ancestors, back in the last Ice Age. Having neither the speed and strength to hunt large prey, nor sharp teeth and …
Why screen games are still real play
Marcus CarterPlay is a core part of a healthy childhood , through which children develop social, communication, cognitive and physical skills. Children’s play adapts to its circumstances. …
Cyborg mythologies #3: in god we trust, all others bring data
MaithriThis is #3 in our cyborg mythologies series, where we explore the cyborg as a historical being intertwined within mythologism, ancient religion and sacred iconology. A way to …
Cyborgnest: redefining human senses
Liam BekaertNature provided humans with an extensive set of sensory modalities, allowing our brain to constantly gather sundry inputs from the outer world. These sensory inputs help us …
Reproducing robots
Leanne VoshellWhen we think of robots, we typically do not think of small cellular organisms made with embryonic cells from frogs. However, this is exactly what the joint teams at University of …
Science Friction explores living among companion species
Ruben BaartIs it possible to imagine other earthly stories? Can we conceive of other ways of living among different species? This exhibition explores these issues with the help of a …
Working with microbes to clean up electronic waste
Sebastien FarnaudIf you were to stack up all the electronic waste produced annually around the world it would weigh as much as all the commercial aircrafts ever produced, or 5,000 Eiffel towers. …
What Rachel Armstrong is reading this summer
Ruben BaartArchitect Rachel Armstrong establishes an alternative approach to sustainability. Through a close reading of computational properties of the natural world, Armstrong develops a …
Visit the Embassy of Food conference during DDW22
Eloise MaraisWill there still be a supermarket as we know it today in 2050?
Emma van der Leest wins ECO Coin Award 2022
Next Nature DevEach year we search the globe for people and projects that have outstandingly contributed to make this planet a more sustainable place and honour them with our ECO Coin …
Growing artificial muscles
Marit BeerseA team of researchers from Freiburg University has developed an artificial muscle that may result in improvements in medicine, prosthetics, and implants.
Using bacteria to create self-fired and biologically glazed ceramics
Kelly van GemertEmbracing nature's ingenuity, designer Nicole Chrysikou harnesses the power of bacteria for her pottery practices.
Potatoes from Mars
Ruben BaartIt might sound like the title of a bad horror movie. But cultivating potatoes in space may soon be more than just fiction. Scientists and biologists are currently using simulated Mars and moon soil to experiment with space farming. One of them is space farmer Wieger Wamelink.
Sonograms of planet earth
Eleni Maragkou, Kelly van GemertTechnology can help us to connect with our surroundings. Think about the microscope: it revealed ecosystems beyond our visual reach allowing us to look at the smallest inhabitants …
Artvertising: pixel ads become physical
Koert van MensvoortIn the early days of digitalization many metaphors from the physical world were translated to the digital world; think desktop folders, trashcan and shopping cart. Now we have …
Excuse me, is Your Tooth Ringing?
Koert van MensvoortThe 'tooth phone' consists of a tiny vibrator and a radio wave receiver implanted into a tooth during routine dental surgery. Sound, which comes into the tooth as a digital radio …
Nature So-called
Michiel SchwarzNature is not what it used to be. Or at least that is what we may think, when we look at the way humans and their technologies have treated nature. When we speak of "nature", …
Next Nature: Radikale Mediokrität
Lecture spoken by Henk Oosterling at Biggest Visual Powershow , Zollverein Essen, Germany, 23 June 2006 Damen und Herrn, Next Nature, Nächste Natur ist ein Pleonasmus, ein …
NOT (Natural) AND NOT (mechanical) = human
Hendrik-Jan GrievinkEric Hoffer (1902-1983) You dehumanize a man as much by returning him to nature - by making him one with rocks, vegetation, and animals - as by turning him into a machine. Both …
They are made out of meat
Dr NaturalA short story by Terry Bisson. For those who prefer video to literature, there's also this seven-minute film adaptation . "They're made out of meat." "Meat?" "Meat. They're made …
Biotypography
Rolf CoppensIsraelian typographer Oded Ezer looks at the world from his point of view, through letters and numbers. So why not turn the world into typography. A short interview taken from …
Blinkybugs
Arnoud van den HeuvelBlinkybugs are small, simple, electromechanical bugs that respond to stimulus such as movement, vibrations, or air currents. They are constructed by hand from LEDs, wire, and …
Confetti chicken
Arnoud van den HeuvelThis weeks peculiar image was taken this summer by a friend of mine. He went to a birdmarket in Esfahan, Iran and noticed that discrimination takes many forms; only blond chicks …
Food for Thought
Arnoud van den HeuvelFood is no food. Food is scent. Food is temporary experience. Food is message. Welcome to this magical gastronomy tour. You will enjoy the tasty (video)links below: Works by Chef …
Information Decoration: Our Environment as an Information Carrier
Koert van MensvoortPicture this: it's 40,000 years ago, and you are an early Homo sapiens. You are standing on the savanna. Look around you. What do you see? No billboards, no traffic signs, no …
Intelligent Documentary Making
Hendrik-Jan GrievinkOur image of nature is permanently under construction. For Dutch biologist Gerdien De Jong , this became al too clear after watching The Life of Mammals , a series of nature …
Corporate Logo Landscape
Koert van MensvoortFor centuries artists painted trees and clouds because that is what they saw around them, nowadays they remix brands and logo's because that is what surrounds them. A city child …
The Tissue Engineered Meat of Tomorrow
Koert van MensvoortThe meat in the supermarket is abstract, square and habitually made from wickedly manufactured animals. A friend once told me he only eats meat if he "can not recognize the animal …
I'm feeling lucky
Dr NaturalA 21-leaf clover discovered on June 3 by Iwate prefecture farmer Shigeo Obara has shattered the Guinness world record for most leaves on a clover stem ( Trifolium repens L. ). The …
Blobman
Koert van MensvoortThis landscape is titled 'I can not help the way I feel' and was created by John Isaacs . The way in which the flesh grows, erupts and engulfs the body can be seen as a metaphor …
Cell Phone Minutes: the Next Currency
Koert van MensvoortIt might just be my old nature mind, but I still find it a daily miracle: being able to walk into the bakery around the corner and trade a piece of paper – called money – for a …
DNA Synthesizer
Arnoud van den HeuvelPlaying God? – "We are not playing..." After having seen this TED talk by Craig Venter , I came across a cynical yet clarifying comic (etcgroup.org) on his plans to build a new …
Evolution in the Bedroom
Arnoud van den HeuvelGood morning anywhere in the world! Waking up is a problem (at least for 50% of the population). That's why alarm clocks exist; machines and devices are invented to solve …
Fun begins in 2029
Rolf CoppensFamous technologist and futurist Ray Kurzweil states: it's going down by 2029, so be prepared to get digital on entirely new levels. According to Kurzweil, machines will have both …
Growing Rooms, Buildings & Cities
Koert van MensvoortWith their project 'Rules of Six' architects Aranda & Lasch envision an unpredictable, self-generating landscape of interlocking hexagons that could represent rooms, buildings …
Hail Control Gun
Arnoud van den HeuvelA single hail storm can destroy the year's harvest. For over 25 years, this gun has been used by vine and fruit growers in France, Spain, Austria and Belgium for one purpose: …
Kokon Chair
Koert van MensvoortOur peculiar object of the week is the 'Kokon Chair' created by Dutch designer Jurgen Bey , who wrapped existing chairs with tight, elastic synthetic fiber resulting in a highly …
Man Charged for Dumping Silicone Girlfriend
Koert van MensvoortFifteen policemen rushed to the scene, after a couple reported to have bumped into a "corpse" while out walking their dog in a mountain forest in Izu, central Japan. The officers …
Robotic R)evolution
Arnoud van den HeuvelIn 1921 the word "Robot" (meaning "labor") was introduced by Czech writer Karel ?apek . In his play "R.U.R." (Rossum's Universal Robots), robots seem happy to work for humans. …
The mobile evolution
Arnoud van den HeuvelIn our NextNature event BVPS (May 2008), Kevin Kelly spoke of technology as the 7th kingdom of life : a form of evolution whithout the nasty side–effect of dying (Every object …
The Order Electrus
Koert van Mensvoort"Nature adapts, even to human actions that seem to destroy everything. The amazing power of evolution has given birth to a new species of insect. Their ideal habitats are old …
Treetrunk Trashcan
Hendrik-Jan GrievinkThe Nanputo Temple in Xiamen (Southeast China) is an oasis of quietness, religious practice and leisure for Chinese amidst the hustle and bustle of one of the fastest growing …
Zombie Spam – botnet resurrects from death
Koert van MensvoortComputerworld reports a big spam-spewing botnet, that was shut down a few weeks ago, has been resurrected and is again under the control of criminals. The "Srizbi" botnet returned …
A hermit crab in a glass house
Koert van MensvoortNever thought I would ever empathize with a hermit crab. But somehow the 'situation' the creature is in, provides me with a feeling of recognition. According to this video marine …
A plate that regulates the speed of eating
Koert van MensvoortMany people tend to eat too fast. As a result they do not receive signals from the stomach that they are in fact full. The result can be overeating and obesity . To encounter …
After the reboot, meet the Homo Evolutis
Koert van MensvoortAt this year's TED conference , held in Long Beach California, Biotechnologist Juan Enriquez argued that even as mega-banks topple, the big reboot is yet to come. It will come …
'Atlantis' Turns out to be Interfacial Artefact
Koert van MensvoortSince the days of Plato, the lost city of Atlantis has captivated the imagination of many. The city, if you don’t already know, was said to be a naval power located roughly 600 …
Comeback of the 'Ugly' Fruits
Koert van MensvoortPerhaps in the long run, historians will consider this as the official end of modernity as we knew it: The comeback of the wonky cucumber, abnormally bent banana, and comedy …
Craig Venter – Catalyst of evolution
Koert van MensvoortIf the six hour crash course on synthetic genomics is a bit too much for you, there is always a more snappy TED lecture in which Craig Venter ponders on whether we can create new …
Dandella Shows You the Way
Koert van MensvoortHow to navigate the urban jungle? Adopting the metaphorical image of a dandelion in flight, Dandella is a GPS device that shows you the way. Inspired by how young sunflowers …
Ear on your arm? Why not?!
ewesFor over 40 years Australian artist Stelios Arcadious Stelarc has made art with medical instruments, prosthetics, robots, virtual reality systems and biotechnology to investigate …
Earrings for Spontaneous Seeding
Arnoud van den HeuvelSeed bombs away, because these earrings may awake the Guerilla Gardener in you... You never know when an opportunity for planting might present itself. Be prepared with these tiny …
Egg improvements
Koert van MensvoortSince it is Sunday, let's have a genetically photoshopped egg with a handy integrated eggholder. Not sure if these should be mass produced (if possible): Too painful for the …
Google 'Opt Out' parody
Koert van MensvoortThe Google Opt Out Feature Lets User protect their privacy by moving to a desolate village where the are guaranteed an environment free from Google products. Participants will …
How biotech will drive our evolution
Koert van MensvoortAre you ready for some techno-optimism? Buckle up and enjoy the ride with bio-tech evangelist Gregory Stock . Some quotes from his prophetic TED talk : "We are seizing control of …
Microbial Art
Arnoud van den HeuvelThis snowman (shouldn't there be a broom?) was created by Niall Hamilton, published at microbialart.com . Science becomes art in this experimental collaboration of man, fungi and …
Mobile Evolution
Koert van MensvoortMiniaturization of mobile phones visualized in the style of a Russian Matroesjka doll. If this continues your phone will soon be small enough to fit into your tooth ? Created by …
Recreation in NextNature
Arnoud van den Heuvel(Not a tourist-pic from North Korea) In January this year, at the World Future Energy Summit in Abu Dhabi, Prince Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands said: "(...) My wife and I …
Norwegian forest cat on batteries
Koert van MensvoortRobots are penetrating our homes... disguised as cats? On July 30, Sega Toys releases an el-cheapo simulation cat toy for robot cat lovers with allergies or pet-unfriendly …
OOMouse versus Magic Mouse
Arnoud van den HeuvelRecently were introduced, the OOMouse ... ...and the Magic Mouse . Both tools are developed to browse the ones and zeros more easily. It almost seems unfair to compare them, so I …
Placebo Buttons
Koert van MensvoortButtons are everywhere: throughout your day you press them on phones, alarm clocks, keyboards, elevators, dishwashers and of course on the computer screen. Although buttons did …
Why are carrots orange? It is political
Koert van MensvoortNo, the image above does not some show some collection of freshly genetically designed hypercarrots in various colors of the rainbow. This is the spectrum of colors carrots used to have.
Windows XP Revisited
Arnoud van den HeuvelThe most distributed image ever is being phased out. What remains is a hill in Sonoma Valley, California. Charles O’Rear used to pass that hill almost daily between his home in …
You Are What You Eat, part II
Arnoud van den HeuvelMark Menjivar created a series of portraits of people across the United States, by taking pictures of their refrigerators content. Quote: "For three years I traveled around the …
8-bit Icon Watch
Hendrik-Jan GrievinkRemember that aggravating 8-bit pixeled watch icon that used to replace your mouse cursor whenever your Apple computer was ‘taking time’ to finish a task? Displaying a wristwatch …
Artificial Shrub Observatories
Arnoud van den HeuvelJustin Shull investigates the born and the made by mixing them up in mobile installations like the "Terrestrial Shrub Rover" and the "Porta Hedge" . His designs consist of several …
As smart as mice.
JurrianWhen you think of solving mazes, you think of mice. Mice have been use to do science for ages. In turns out that mice are not the only beings that can solve a maze. In fact you …
Cough in Your Cell Phone, not Your Sleeve
Koert van MensvoortCoughing into your cell phone could soon save you a trip to the doctor's office. Thanks to software currently being developed by Star Analytical Services , people may soon be able …
Experiments in the Revival of Organisms
Hendrik-Jan GrievinkExperiments in the Revival of Organisms is a 1940 motion picture which documents Soviet research into the resuscitation of clinically dead organisms by Doctor Sergey Sergeyevich …
Grapple – a Grape flavored Apple
Koert van MensvoortThey say “An apple a day keeps the doctor away”, but now we wonder what this keeps away, the Grapple , a hyperfruit that "Grunches like an Apple. Tastes like a Grape." The …
Grow-a-NanoRaptor
Koert van MensvoortNow here is an example of the fusion between the made and the born , most kids would crave for. Much better than the robotic dino toy. Designed by evolution! Hopefully this …
Let the Bacteria do the Cleaning
Koert van MensvoortDusting furniture and floors should be history in forty years time, as special bacteria in a yet to develop cleaning product will be eating the dirt. The speculative cleaning …
![Visual of Manko & Zero [#4]](https://nextnature.net/media/pages/magazine/story/2010/manko-zero-4/c2cefab16a-1602632753/manco-51-868x486.jpg)
Manko & Zero [#4]
Aston RevolaThe way down was slow and somehow greasy. Total darkness surrounded them. Gill turned on the car radio and the LED's lit up their faces in a green pulsating glow. 'Jovi Rocks!', …
Nano Product: The Food Printer
Hendrik-Jan GrievinkAre we creating the penicillin or the asbestos of the 21st century? In the months preceding our Nano Supermarket Project , we share some speculative nanotech products with you. …
Nature Preservation: The Literal Version
Minke Kampman* warning: high doses of irony detected in this article * Method #01: Canning Promotional gift 'Nature in a can' complete with soil and bean plant seeds (from DKNY , 2010). Method …
Next Nature Movie #1: Quest for Fire
Koert van MensvoortThe Quest for Fire (1981) shows the Next Nature of 80.000 BC. Set in a world without highways, supermarkets, airports, Internet, television, farming, money or written language, …
Next Nature Movie #4: Blade Runner
Koert van MensvoortLook around you and try to find the most natural thing in the room you are in now. It is you. Now, you wouldn’t be so sure in the apocalyptic Los Angeles of 2019 depicted in Blade …
Next Nature Movie #5: American Beauty
Koert van MensvoortDuring the selection of the top ten of next nature movies we’ve doubted quite a bit between the Truman Show (1998) and American Beauty (1999). The Truman Show tells the story of a …
Old People as Old Nature
Orestis TsinalisTwo grannies assessing the milk productivity of two goats by means of a chart: this is the story of the commercial behind this screenshot. The first granny is a data analysis …
Our Heart as a Power Plant
Marco van BeersNanowire generators could one day lead to medical devices powered by the patient's own heart. A tiny, nearly invisible nanowire can convert the energy of pulsing, flexing muscles …
Revisiting Jurassic Park
Billy SchonenbergWhen searching for Next Nature in the world around us, one does not necessarily have to look at the present. The science fiction novel Jurassic Park, written in 1990 by the …
So thats where Phones come from
Koert van MensvoortReally? I never knew. Biomimicmarketing strategies are getting crazier by the day.
Technostalgia
Ties van de WerffIn Next Nature, not only old nature is being idealized. Because of the rapidness of new emerging technologies, we have a tendency to dwell on earlier prototypes. To recall …
The Buttons
Koert van MensvoortNowadays buttons are completely mundane and natural objects in our environment. You find them on phones, alarm clocks, keyboards, elevators, dishwashers and of course on the …
The Crossing of Species
Koert van MensvoortDesigner Bob de Graaf takes pleasure in collecting and combining objects from old nature & next nature in search for similarities. Surely a traditional biologist would not …
The Stray Shopping Cart Project
Koert van Mensvoort"Until now, the major obstacle that has prevented people from thinking critically about stray shopping carts has been that we have not had any formalized language to differentiate …
X-Ray Visions
Hendrik-Jan GrievinkAnyone who ever saw an x-ray picture of himself will probably recognise the uncanny feeling of staring at your own skull or bones and being confronted by one of nature’s grim …
Animal-Free Meat Could Put a Hold on Global Warming
Koert van MensvoortGrowing meat in the lab, rather than slaughtering animals, could become a viable alternative for people who want to cut the environmental impact of their food consumption, but …
Arbores Laetae
Hendrik-Jan GrievinkParks becomes fairground attractions? Maybe they have been all the time. This intriguing park design by architecture-firm-beyond-praise Diller Scofidio + Renfro seems (who we all …
Beetle Egg
Koert van MensvoortOur peculiar image of the week presents us the lustrous uncannyness of a Beetle car in its embryonic stage. Rest assure: this is fiction, however, metaphorically the sculpture by …
Catalytic Clothing
Koert van MensvoortCatalytic Clothing is a fashionably calm technology that aims to tackle air pollution by embedding a substance in the clothing that purifies air when you wear it. The purifying …
Cheiracanthium drives a Mazda
Allison GuyIn March, Mazda recalled 65,000 cars, not because of any structural faults in the vehicle, but because the engineers had inadvertently created the perfect habitat for a tiny …
Get Vegetarian Teeth and Eat Less Meat
Koert van MensvoortWant to live a greener life? Eat less meat. Recently the UN appealed for a radical shift in diet , to improve individual health and ease conditions affecting the global …
Nano Product: Pharmaceutical Sushi
Hendrik-Jan GrievinkAre we creating the penicillin or the asbestos of the 21st century? Prior to the arrival of the Nano Supermarket , we share some speculative nanotech products with you. Here’s the …
New steps to meld mind and machine
Gabi RasUntil now we've seen the types of brain-computer interface where the human has to put on some sort of bulky hat full of wires to control a machine. It won't be like that for long: …
Robo-teacher
Arnoud van den HeuvelSay hello to teacher Engkey ! The city of Daegu — South Korea, introduced 29 robot teachers in 19 elementary schools as part of a large scale project to robotize teaching. The …
Rule #2: Different People Anthropomorphize Differently
NextNature.netFor past entries and an introduction to the 11 Golden Rules of Anthropomorphism and Design, click here. What people experience as anthropomorphic is highly personal. Tests have …
Rule #3: Keep it ASS: Abstract, Simple and Subtle
NextNature.netFor past entries and an introduction to the 11 Golden Rules of Anthropomorphism and Design, click here. Making good use of anthropomorphism isn’t easy. As you’ve probably …
Spidergoats & Superskin
Stefan FinckenWhile some of us might have heard of the humorous but fictional ' spider pig ,' spidergoats are the real deal. Although you might expect to see them lounging in giant webs or …
The Cat Parasite that Sells Motorcycles
Allison GuyThe protozoa Toxoplasma gondii makes an unobtrusive home in nearly every warm-blooded species, but it's prolific life is limited: Toxo can only reproduce in cat stomachs. The …
The Institute for Digital Biology
Arnoud van den Heuvel" The Institute for Digital Biology researches next steps in the evolution of the internet, where websites and services develop into living creatures ." This scenario lives in the …
Urban Birds
TimoIt's been known for a while that birds increase their singing volume to make themselves heard in the big city, but recent studies show that the city birds might even be evolving …
When Siri met Siri…
Hendrik-Jan GrievinkLike with pets and babies, we seem to like it when devices mimic our behaviour and social patterns. In the process of domesticating technology, we teach products to behave like …
#10: Enhance Human Experience, Don’t Replace it
NextNature.netPart 10 in the 11 part series Anthropomorphism and Design . The hidden danger with interactive products is that they will become so good at fulfilling our needs that they start to …
#9: Be Aware of the Ecosystem You're Invading
NextNature.netPart 9 in the 11 part series Anthropomorphism and Design . With most products, one wouldn’t normally worry about the environment that it enters. However, anthropomorphic products …
Activist Release Transgenic Stingrays in the Ocean
NextNature.netThis morning we received an astounding video from a group of animal right activist that broke in at Rayfish Footwear, the Thai based fashion brand that creates $1500 personalized sneakers from genetically engineered stingray leather.
Army Protected Organic Foods
Simone KochOver the last few decades, the public has been – and still is – creating awareness on the values of organically produced foods. For many foodies an important value of organic …
Bio-engineered Football
Marco van BeersWith the knowledge that footballs were once made of pig's bladder and that in 2006 the first artificial bladder was transplanted into a patient, artist John O’Shea designed the …
Bonobos (And Maybe Baboons) Domesticated Themselves
Allison GuyWhile evidence indicates that humans domesticated themselves , we're not the only primates capable of self-domestication. Bonobos and baboons have shown they are just as capable …
Eating in Vitro: Magic Meatballs
Koert van MensvoortMagic Meatballs are designed to playfully familiarize children with lab-grown meat.
Edible Implants
Rolf CoppensWhy turn to implants when the female body can do it by itself? Dutch designer Femke Mosch came up with the idea of making edible implants that stimulate breast growth from within.
Featured Page #03: Tomorrow’s Fossils
NextNature.netDuring the coming weeks, we will present a selection of our favourite pages from the Next Nature book . This week the thirs one in this series: Tomorrow’s Fossils. Ode to the car …
Hendrik-Jan Grievink - From Blog to Book
Koert van MensvoortAt the next nature powershow designer Hendrik-Jan Grievink explained how over 1600 blog post on nextnature.net were re-designed & re-edited into a must-read coffee table book.
Frozen Coral Sperm Holds Promise in a Boiling World
Allison GuyLife is bleak and bleached for many of the world's corals. Fatal bleaching events triggered by warming seas have become common from the Caribbean to Australia. More worrying still …
How 'Green' is Green Cotton?
Ellen GoverdeIntuitively we expect the 100% organic green clothes to be more environmental friendly and sustainable, but is this really the case? The color of cotton is brown by nature, not green. Most manufacturers use chemicals to bleach and paint the cotton.
IKEA Lamp Catches Elephantiasis Virus
Hendrik-Jan GrievinkHave you heard of Elephantiasis? It is a disease caused by microscopic parasitic worms that cause a thickening of the skin and underlying tissues. The disease typically occurs in …
Medicinal Blueberries
Koert van MensvoortAs our scientific knowledge of nutritious food increases, will healthy foods be progressively designed to look like medicines? This blueberry blister packaging created by Chinese …
Merkel Rainbow
Koert van MensvoortGerman chancellor Angela Merkel is quite a phenomenon of colors. Blazer remains invariant.
Modern Flint Tools
Allison GuyStone tools are the most ancient evidence of our ancestor's ingenuity, proof that we've been augmenting our bodies for millions of years. These flint tools by Ami Drach and Dov …
Nano Supermarket 2nd Edition: Call for Products
NextNature.netWe call upon designers, technologists and artists to submit their speculative nanotech products for the next round of the NANO supermarket.
NANO Supermarket - Introducing the Jury
NextNature.netLittle over two weeks left to submit your speculative product idea for the Nano Supermarket . The jury that will select the finest submissions – to be exhibited in the Nano …
NANO Supermarket Unveils New Products
NextNature.netFrom sleek fashion to life-saving medicines. During the forthcoming Dutch Design Week , our lustrous NANO Supermarket debuts a new line of speculative nano products that might hit …
Nanotech Bracelet Detects Allergies
NextNature.netDesigned by Luc de Smet, Awear is a speculative bracelet that can detect and record the sources of allergies for children in uncontrolled environments, such as schools and …
Nature Ludens: The Natural World at Play
Rachel ArmstrongAn ingenious Russian crow that used a lid as a snowboard to slide down a snowy roof persuaded millions of YouTube viewers that animals are not merely beasts of burden – they also …
Neither Warfare nor Dumplings Are Innate to Human Nature
Allison GuyIn Ngogo, Gombe and elsewhere in Africa, bands of male chimpanzees regularly make organized raids on neighboring troops and batter their enemies to death. These grim, warring …
Playing with Your Food (Industry)
Laura TiemeijerBack in the old days, we played with a Playmobil ® farm. With a farmhouse, two pigs and a chicken, and it was a fair reflection of how the food industry worked. Nowadays small …
Post Natural Organisms of the EU
Koert van MensvoortIf you happen to be in the neighborhood you might want to drop by at the exhibition Post Natural Organisms of the European Union in Amsterdam. The small but delicate expo, curated …
That Website Smells!
Jesper van den ToornDo you ever miss being able to smell the woods in an online travel journal? The odor of a new leather jacket in an online shop? Or perhaps you just couldn’t find the words in an …
The Evolutionary History of Office Chairs
Allison GuyOn the shortlist for the year's strangest book title , Jonathan Olivares' A Taxonomy of Office Chairs charts the "evolution" of chairs from the 1840s to the present day. The …
LowLine Puts Park Beneath New York
Allison GuyDeep below bustling, noisy Delancy Street in Manhattan lies the Williamsburg Bridge Trolley Terminal, a building abandoned in 1948. This terminal is just one of many tunnels and …
Walter Benjamin on Film and the Senses
During the late 1930’s the philosopher Walter Benjamin wrote its widely influential essay ‘The work of Art in the Age of Its Technical Reproducibility’. While describing a general …
What is Next Nature?
NextNature.netAt the Next Nature Power Show 2011 our master of ceremony, Koert van Mensvoort gave a mini lecture on our changing notion of Nature.
Will a Cockroach Save Your Life?
Steef PeppingOften cockroaches aren’t people's best friends, but maybe in a few years you will be relieved when you see a cockroach. Researchers of the North Carolina State University …
A Frankenstein-esque System
Fenna Klein TuenteThe boundary between humans and machines is slowly but steadily blurring. The Immortal is a machine which exists out of several life-support machines connected with wires and electric cords.
"Algae Opera" Nourishes Algae with a Singer's Breath
Silvia CelibertiAre you blessed with a Maria Callas kind of voice? If, like us, you don't go beyond croaking the occasional " I want to break free" in the shower, watch out. If the artists of …
Anthropo-scene #1: From Rocks to Thoughts
ChristianHow geology and humanity turn ancient algae into high-tech gadgets.
Anthropo-scene #6: Military Nature
ChristianMilitary action accidentally restores a lost ecosystem.
Artist Creates Portraits of Strangers Using DNA in Discarded Hair
Jiwon KimHeather Dewey-Hagborg just needs a strand of your hair to know what you look like.
Microchips Learn to Repair Themselves
Daniel BlokbergenTaking a cue from the human brain, a new microchip can rewire itself after damage.
Carnivorous Plants Turn Vegetarian
Robin van KampenWill extended pollution cause carnivorous plants to turn to a fully vegetarian diet?
Cavemen Used 'Facebook' Already
Koert van MensvoortScientists claim to have discovered a “prehistoric version of Facebook” used by ancient tribes to communicate with each other.
Chrysler Looks to Human Lungs for a Better Gas Tank
Jonathon MarkowskiAlveoli in human lungs serve as the inspiration for designing better, stronger ways of storing compressed natural gas.
Computer Algorithms Are Already Replacing Human Journalists
Allison GuyWill writing software eventually replace journalists?
Buckle up for Black Sky Thinking
Koert van MensvoortHow can we anticipate what happens after the technological singularity?
Hate Babies? Why Not Give Birth to an Endangered Species?
Allison GuySolving the world's population crisis by replacing human infants with aquatic creatures.
How to Grow a Beer Bottle
Koert van MensvoortA so-called "natural" beer is marketed by portraying an utterly technological process.
Implantable Microchip Controls Appetite
Adriaan de RegtBy attaching to the vagus nerve, a chip can contribute to "natural" weight-loss.
Join the Buckminster Fuller Challenge
Koert van MensvoortPick up your $100,000 to materialize your revolutionary vision. This is not a spam message.
Killing Cancer Cells, Arcade-Style
Alessia AndreottiA speculative nanotech pill that lets you virtually rove your body, zapping cancer cells as you go.
Lets Grow a Glowing Plant
Koert van MensvoortSome four years ago we wrote about a plan to create bioluminescent trees that would replace streetlights. This dream is getting closer.
Maya YogHurt: Fermented Drink Made with Human Lactic Acid
Jiwon KimArtist Maja Smrekar modified yeast with her own DNA to produce human lactic acid.
Moments in Meat History Part VI - Meat the Future
Jonathon MarkowskiBy the turn of the century, some people began raising questions about our meat consumption habits.
Nature Documentary 2.0
Koert van MensvoortIronic nature documentary on the new symbiosis in the ocean between trash and wildlife. Created by Studio Smack for Greenpeace .
"News Machine" Illustrates the Effects of Media Distortion
Alessia AndreottiThe News Machine is a contraption that explains the news distortion that happens when a message is broadcast through different media. The starting point is a tweet sent from a …
Researcher Create Fully Artificial Proteins
Stefan FinckenBody builders rejoice: scientists have synthesized the world's first artificial proteins.
Synthetic Biology for Dummies
Koert van MensvoortArguably the most accessible synthetic biology explanation video so far.
Take a Walk on the Fake Side
Alessia AndreottiWhen you look into the anamorphic abyss, the anamorphic abyss also looks into you.
The Insect with Natural Mechanical Gears
Alessia AndreottiThe first – and only – mechanical gears found in nature.
The "Silk Pavilion" Combines Digital and Biological Architecture
Alessia AndreottiThe worms crawl in, the worms crawl out, the warms build pavilions made of polygonal silk panels.
The Talking Window: a New Audio Medium
Alessia AndreottiAdvertisers have figured how how to induce auditory hallucinations into your morning commute.
The World Responds to Bitcoin
Rick Dutour GeerlingFrom small stores to the US government, what the world thinks of bitcoin.
Truly Honest Branding
Stephen PerryViktor Hertz put a painfully honest (and funny) spin on corporate logos.
A Jewel That Stops You From Checking Your Phone
Rolf CoppensFor every smartphone user to recognize, is that merely the lighting of your screen, a vibration or ring distracts you from almost every activity. Even when you are spending time …
Acoustic Instrument That Sounds Digital
Francesca BarchiesiYaybahar is an acoustic instrument that emits sounds like a music synthesizer.
Artificial Cells Built From Silicon
Alessia AndreottiScientists designed artificial cells built from silicon, able to copy basic functions of life.
Bionic Hand with Real Sense of Touch
Mateja VidakovicLifeHand 2: a prosthetic hand that infers the ability to feel rudimentary shapes and forms by touch.
Blaming Car Technology for Dumb Drivers
Alessia AndreottiCars increasingly rely on technology designed to make driving easier and safer. But are these improvements creating less-skilled drivers?
Digital Native
NextNature.netDigital natives have trouble understanding life before 24/7 online connectivity.
How Technology becomes Nature
NextNature.netIn this talk at TEDxGhent, our own Dr. Van Mensvoort shows how technology becomes nature in seven steps and what engineers, inventors, designers and entrepreneurs can learn from that.
In Vitro Meat Cookbook to be Launched
NextNature.netOn the 5th of August, one year after the lab grown hamburger, the In Vitro Meat Cookbook will be presented in Amsterdam.
In Vitro Recipe #1: Knitted Meat
NextNature.netThe length of a muscle fiber was once limited by the size of the animal it was growing in. Now, freed from the constraints of the body, it’s possible to culture “thread” made from long strands of muscle tissue.
New Plant Paradigms
Alessia AndreottiIn this approaching era, what might be biologically possible for plants?
Retro-Futuristic Smartwatch
Alessia AndreottiIn 1981 the idea of what we call smartwatch was nothing more than a funny joke.
Shock Therapy for a Better Self
Julia WeberThe Pavlok wristband gives its wearers an electric shock if they fail at hitting work deadlines or completing fitness goals.
Stable Propagation of Next Natural DNA
Stefan FinckenA team of scientists created a semi-synthetic organism with an expanded genetic alphabet.
The Bionic Kangaroo
Alessia AndreottiThe BionicKangaroo technologically reproducesthe unique way a kangaroo moves.
The Bottle of The Future is an Edible Blob
Francesca BarchiesiWhat if we could drink from a giant drop of water? The bottle of the future has the shape of a soft, hygienic, biodegradable and edible blob.
The Mood Ring of the 21th Century
NextNature.netThe Moodmetric ring measures the autonomous nervous system signals that can be used to understand emotional reactions and improve quality of life.
The Robotic 3D Printed Spider Dress
Alessia AndreottiThe Spider Dress is programmed to define and protect the personal space of the wearer.
After In Vitro Burger, Chicken is the Next
Yunus Emre DuyarSoon, we might be getting a taste of the first lab-grown chicken meat.
Anthropo-scene #7: Anthropocene Bird
ChristianDue to human action, 1300 bird species are seriously in decline. Other birds have learned to live with humans and profit from their presence.
Anthropo-scene #8: Anthropocene Rabbit
ChristianWith cities covering growing area of land, we humans and our spaces build the new wilderness for animals and plants.
Biomimicry in Action
Abby QinAn inspiring topic about recent developments in biomimicry, Janine Benyus gave a talk on how nature influenced our future.
Converting Gestures into Concrete Action
Yunus Emre DuyarFrancesca Barchiesi's glove concept allows the user to translate hand gestures into images and information.
Cybernetic Bugs
Alessia AndreottiBeetles, dragonflies, butterflies and bugs made from recycled deconstructed computers, smartphones and consoles.
The Droneport: a New Infrastructure of This Century
Alessia AndreottiArchitect firm Foster + Partners announced plans to build the world's first droneport in Rwanda.
Dynamic Exoskeleton Chair
Svetlana MironcikaAn exoskeleton chair that allows the body to move freely.
Google's Smart Interactive Clothing
Alessia AndreottiProject Jacquard makes it possible to weave touch and gesture interactivity into any textile.
Hair Matter(s)
Alessia AndreottiFrench student at the Design Academy Eindhoven collected hair from African American hairdressers to create jackets and hats.
Ingestible Device to Monitor Vital Signs
Margherita OlivoBiomaterials researchers at MIT came up with a very tiny device able to monitor vital signs from deep inside the body.
Should Intelligent Sex Robots be Banned?
Daniel FragaThe Campaign Against Sex Robots, recently launched, is pushing towards banning the continuation of sex robots development.
Jewelry Harvests Energy from Veins
Yunus Emre DuyarNaomi Kizhner designed jewelry that can theoretically harvest energy from the body of the person wearing it.
Knotty Objects Summit @ MIT
The Knotty Object summit promises to be a paradise of anti-disciplinary delight. The event held at the renowned MIT Media Lab gathers designers, scientists, engineers and writers …
Lab-Grown Horn to Help Prevent Poaching
Yunus Emre DuyarPembient, a West Coast startup, might have a solution to the rhino-poaching problem with its lab-grown rhino horn project.
Abandoning Modern Life to Live as a Goat
Wei Lun WangConceptual designer Thomas Thwaites is currently investigating and experiencing to live life as a goat.
Poem Passes the Turing Test
Yunus Emre DuyarZackary Scholl developed a program to produce a poem that passed the Turing Test.
Should We Fear Thinking Machines?
Maria RamosIt seems thinking machines could put the human race in danger. How realistic these fears are?
How Technology is Becoming More and More Sensitive
Margherita OlivoOver the past decade scientists have tried to get technology surfaces to be as sensitive as our skin, especially as our fingertips. Human tact is a very sophisticate interface …
Using Shrimp Shell to Produce Bioplastics
Yunus Emre DuyarResearchers Fernandez and Ingber imitated chitin in order to produce durable, biodegradable plastics.
Wasps Inspire Robotic Needle for Surgery
Daniel FragaThe Wood-Boring Wasp inspired scientists to create a new robotic needle which will be used in brain surgery.
Let the WiFi Angels app soundtrack your holidays!
NextNature.nethe WiFi Angels app lets you sense electromagnetic radiations by turning the WiFi networks around you into a celestial choir.
3D-Printed Shell to Save Tortoise's Life
Margherita OlivoA severely injured tortoise was saved by a team of doctors thanks to a 3D printed shell.
Fighting Photo Overflow with a Camera
Monika KozubWhat if a camera would say "no" when you press the shutter because there are already too many similar photos on the internet?
Copy-Paste City: from Austria to China
Monika KozubHallstatt, a small UNESCO World Heritage city in central Austria, is the only village in the world entirely copied and rebuilt in China.
The Danger of a Plastic Sea
Margherita OlivoBy 2050 plastic waste will outnumber the number of fish in the sea. These Surfers are taking action and raising awareness.
The Death of the Traffic Light
Daniel FragaMIT researchers have developed a system of traffic control that will make traffic lights obsolete.
Difficulty in Voting for Trump or Hillary?Elect an Artificial Intelligence for President
Koert van MensvoortWould you vote for an artificial intelligence to govern our society?
Disney-Themed Prosthetics for Children
Ruben BaartOpen Bionics is helping children in need for bionic hands. With Iron Man, Frozen, or Star Wars-themed prosthetics, their fantasies become reality.
Evolution Will Change the Way We Sleep
Margherita OlivoA group of researchers is working to optimize the way we sleep, increasing our relaxation, and therefore reducing the time devoted to our naps.
The First Fully Autonomous Soft Robot
Ruben BaartThe Octobot is the first of its kind made fully of soft materials and is aimed to pave the way towards a more safely interaction with humans.
Getting Wasted on Plastics
Lewis JustA new community currency that rewards recyclers with local discounts and deals.
Imported African Sun: Coming Soon
Alejandro AlvarezThe recently opened Noor solar power plant is now the biggest in the world. It will power Morocco and if everything goes as planned imported solar energy can be a reality too.
Landfills Cause Changes in Bird Migration
Margherita OlivoGarbage dumps may not be very attractive places for us but they sure are for animals. A study published in Science Advances shows how certain groups of storks modified (and …
Computers Need Domestication
Alejandro AlvarezSoon we won’t program computers anymore, we’ll train them like dogs.
Mentally Disordered Robots
Nadine RoestenburgWhile robots are becoming more and more human, with all their sensors and information processing abilities, may it be likely that they too could develop mental illnesses?
A Mosquito Factory to Defeat Zika Virus
Margherita OlivoThere's a factory in China that produces mosquitos and their plan is to defeat the Zika virus.
Nature-Inspired Nano-Robots
Ingmar NieuweboerResearchers developed tiny, autonomous robots able to repair circuits.
“Next Tokyo” City Plan Unveiled
Ruben BaartA proposal for a residential skyscraper in Tokyo Bay as part of “Next Tokyo”, takes into account the recurrent threats of rising sea levels, seismic activity and typhoons.
Are Robots the Future of Tattoos?
Ruben BaartAn industrial robot just tattooed the first person ever in San Francisco.
Towards a Post-Animal Bioeconomy
Ruben BaartAs emerging biotechnologies are blurring the lines between synthetic food and natural food, who will regulate cellular agriculture?
Vacation in the Era of Marine Pollution
Megan Ray NicholsWhile we can’t just leave the coast permanently without upsetting the delicate balance of this new environment we created, we can take better care of it to ensure that it is around for years to come.
Virtual Bedtime Stories
Ruben BaartSamsung just revealed the prototype version of Bedtime VR Stories, a technology that connects parents to their children in virtual reality, right before bedtime.
Bringing The Web into Real Life
Margherita OlivoWeb 0.0 is sa project by street-artist Biancoshock where web apps are contextualized in real life.
What Is the Selfie Elbow?
Ruben BaartThe advent of digital communications media is bringing along some health conditions.
2017 - Artificial Womb Incubates Fetal Lamb
Elle Zhan WeiA lamb born at the equivalent of 23 weeks in a human gestational period was kept alive in an artificial womb and developed just as if it was in a normal womb.
Animal Guided Mediation
Elle Zhan WeiAnimal Meditation uses meditation guiding sounds to to enable user to feel as if he is an animal.
Boat Noise Makes Fish Bad Parents
Julie ReindlA study revealed that the sound of motorboat engines disturbs coral reef fish so acutely it changes their behavior, making them bad parents.
1932 - "Brave New World" Published
Hendrik-Jan GrievinkAldous Huxley published Brave New World in 1932, bringing the idea of the artificial uterus to the big audience.
Carpooling into the Future
Elle Zhan WeiAmerican company Ideo has taken the essence of on-demand economy at heart, presenting a vehicle with detail-designed services for the future of carpooling.
Climate Change Turns Leaves into Junk Food
Julie ReindlClimate change turns rainforest leaves into junk food.
Tap Your Milk from a Cow Around the Corner
Ruben BaartTurning cows into walking vending machines for milk.
Digital Detox: Disconnect to Reconnect?
Nadine RoestenburgDo you feel information overloaded? Do you experience stress? Do you feel like you are addicted to your smartphone, laptop, or the Internet? Get yourself digital detoxed!
Ecosexuality: Make the Biosphere Your Lover
Ruben BaartEcosexuality reconceptualizes our perspective on the biosphere by having consensual experiences with it.
Living on Water for a Sustainable Planet
Charlotte KuijpersCompany Blue Frontiers wants to build 7.500 square meters of floating city made up of linked platforms, starting 2018. They hope to complete it by 2020.
A Floating Gym in Paris
Ruben BaartThis floating gym harnesses human energy to sail down the Seine River in Paris.
HUBOT: Meet the Focused Assembly Worker
NextNature.netAs a focused assembly worker, you are a real go-getter thanks to your smart tools. Wearing smart factory goggles and using a transparent LED screen, these give you direct …
How to Fool a Neural Network
Jack CaulfieldA neural network helps computers with image recognition. It is usually tough to fool. But one group of researchers has found a way to reliably trick it.
Helix, the App Store for Your Genome
Charlotte KuijpersStartup Helix launched an online hub where you can digitally explore your genetic code by downloading different apps on your computer or smartphone.
Kangaroos Confuse Self-Driving Cars
Julie ReindlVolvo's driverless car system has trouble recognizing kangaroos because it gets confused by the hopping of the marsupial.
The New Gold: Honey!
Ruben BaartA ‘gold rush’ is haunting New Zealand’s beekeepers, as beehive and honey thefts are continuing to rise.
Want Plastic with Your Salt?
Koert van MensvoortA recent study examining the purity of 17 commercial sea salt brands from eight different countries found microplastics in all 17 samples.
FarmVille Turns into Real-Life Agriculture
Julie ReindlA Japanese Start up brings Farmville back into real life by letting players grow physical food.
Jobs for the Extraordinary-Robots at Work #5
Mathilde NakkenThis is post number five of our serie 'Robots at Work'. In this last episode we present you five jobs for the extraordinary, the ones who won't let themselves be categorized.
Scientists Create Ghost Heart
Julie ReindlThe Texas Heart Institute researches in the field of organ transplantation. With the “ghost heart” — an heart organ scrubbed clean of all its former cells, the researches are on the verge of creating a sustainable and effective way of transplanting organs.
Selfie Time with Your Dead Beloved One
Julie ReindlForever by your side. Elrois a South Korean firm developed an app that allows you to engage with your dead friends lovers or idols.
Swap Your Smartphone for a Pineapple
Nadine RoestenburgDutch commercial telecom provider Ben recently launched an advertising campaign to sell smartphone plans by promoting disconnection.
Meat the Future Exhibition: Appetizer
NextNature.netHave you already visited our Meat the Future exhibition? Consider this three course meal an introduction to what you may expect.
The Water-Cleaning Bike
Elle Zhan WeiHow about a peddling ride accompanied by the sound of babbling water, with the awareness that what you are leaving behind is nothing else but clean water?
Slowing down to start up: Here's the first chapter of our crypto deep dive series
Koen WeselIt takes years to design a new banknote, having hundreds of people working on every little detail, all done under the watchful eye of governments and professionals. However today, …
The return of direct democracy: Introducing a digital agora to the crypto-world
Koen WeselIn Ancient Greece the people were part of a direct-democracy, this means that they would directly vote for policies and laws. Nowadays, it seems as though this horizontal approach …
E-Skin Makes You Control Objects Without Touching Them
Charlotte KuijpersScientists developed an e-skin that lets the wearer manipulate virtual objects without touching them, by using magnetic fields.
Gamers are the new athletes: Sports in video games from Pong to VR
Jack CaulfieldSports have always had an important place in human societies, providing entertainment, exercise, and a demonstration of the exceptional things the human body can achieve. But in a …
'I volunteer myself to try this cultured meat at my own risk'
Koert van MensvoortThe Netherlands leads in cheese, clogs, and cultured meat. This sustainable and animal-friendly form of meat has largely been developed in our country. In 1997, Willem van Eelen …
In Conversation with Marleen Hartjes: Introducing a digital door to the museum
Kelly van GemertDon’t be surprised when you catch a human face on a screen strolling through the Van Abbe museum for contemporary art in Eindhoven, as these are Europe’s very first robotic …
Open Call for ECO Coin Award 2018 Submissions
NextNature.netNominate an inspiring project, platform, person or community who is tackling food waste for the ECO Coin Award 2018
In vitro meat is here! But we are not allowed to taste it
NextNature.netPreviously we predicted that we would be eating in vitro meat by 2028. But as it turns out... In vitro meat is already here! And we are not allowed to eat it. The meat has been …
The Great Pacific garbage "patch" is now three times the size of France
Ruben BaartMon dieu! The swirling pile of trash in the Pacific Ocean is growing at an exponential rate. A recent study has estimated that the mass of the garbage island is four to sixteen …
Teens are seeking cosmetic surgery to look like your favorite Snapchat filter
bryan clarkCosmetic surgeons have always fielded seemingly odd requests to recreate body parts from celebrities: Angelina Jolie’s lips, David Beckham’s calve, or perhaps Salma …
Space Tourism: Your next vacation destination might not be on Earth
Jack CaulfieldBack in the mid-twentieth century, before the first moon landing, people had all sorts of ideas about the golden age of space travel in front of them. Colonize the moon! Fly …
'Listen' to your genetic heritage: Curate a playlist based on your DNA
Ruben BaartGenealogy services have exploded over the past few years, and Spotify is capitalizing on the boom by providing curated playlist based on users’ DNA. Here's what you should know. …
The Story of Money: Bits
NextNature.netThe story of money: an accessible roadmap from prehistory to digital age, from cows to credit, from gold mining to bitcoin mining. The final episode: bits.
Can technology be humane?
Koert van MensvoortWe must be mindful about how we engage with technology: what we use it for, why, and whether it helps us or hinders us. Sometimes our tech seems to be flowing in inhumane …
This exhibition confronts a planet in a state of emergency
Ruben BaartMeet the 'Eco-Visionaries' , these are the architects, artists and designers who respond to some of the most urgent ecological issues of our times. This exhibition reveals how …
Genetically engineered plants do it better
Ruben BaartWelcome to the conversation! Every week, we’ll open up a new conversation among members of the network about next nature topics we've encountered around the globe. We hope …
Why not all buildings have sustainable green roofs
Michael HardmanRooftops covered with grass, vegetable gardens and lush foliage are now a common sight in many cities around the world. More and more private companies and city authorities are …
The Pyramid of Technology: How will a technology enter the human habitat?
Hendrik-Jan GrievinkThis question is an excerpt from the Pyramid of Technology toolkit In the late nineties, the Tamagotchi egg was released. A small egg-shaped device that contained a digital …
The Pyramid of Technology: How will we co-evolve with technology?
Hendrik-Jan GrievinkThis question is an excerpt from the Pyramid of Technology toolkit Cooking is a process through which humans outsource part of their bodily functions to technology (think …
Human-animal hybrids could be used for growing organs
Mackenzie GrahamAround the world thousands of people are on organ donor waiting lists. While some of those people will receive the organ transplants they need in time, the sad reality is that …
Instagram will remove filters promoting cosmetic surgery
Cara CurtisIf your Instagram feed is anything like mine, it’s littered with timelapses of injected lip fillers, Kardashian-promoted beauty products, and Story filters that “enhance” your …
These are the meltwater lakes of Antartica
Jennifer ArthurDuring the Antarctic summer, thousands of mesmerising blue lakes form around the edges of the continent’s ice sheet, as warmer temperatures cause snow and ice to melt and collect …
The church of AI
Linda ValentaWould you pray to a Robot deity? A group of Japanese buddhists is already doing so. Meet Mindar , the robot divinity shaped after the buddhist Goddess of Mercy, also known as …
Smart cities could give the visually impaired a new outlook on urban life
Drishty SobnathTravelling to work, meeting friends for a catch up or just doing some shopping are often taken for granted by people with no known disabilities. For the visually impaired, these …
What is a species?
Henry TaylorA koala bear isn’t actually a bear, it’s a marsupial. Whales aren’t fish, they’re mammals . Tomatoes aren’t vegetables, they’re fruit . Almost nothing is actually a nut . Peanuts, …
Cooking and chemical engineering with the CHEMARTS Cookbook
Ruben BaartIn the coming years, our material world will change dramatically. In parallel with climate change, our lifestyles will also change. It is becoming increasingly important to ask …
Shahar Livne wins ECO Coin Award 2020
Next Nature DevEach year we search the globe for people and projects that have outstandingly contributed to make this planet a more sustainable place and honour them with our ECO Coin Award . We …
Is in vitro meat good news for animals?
Ruben BaartThe Singapore Food Agency has approved “chicken bites” containing meat made from real chicken cells that were grown outside of a chicken’s body. Alongside similar news from Israel …
Living robots made from frog stem cells may revolutionize medicine
Freya HutchingsAt just a millimeter wide, Xenobots are “neither a traditional robot nor a known species of animal", they are "a new class of artifact: a living, programmable organism”, says …
Mediamatic offers a quarantine-approved dinner date
Ruben BaartDinner for two, please! Well we didn't expect to say that in a while. Luckily our friends at Mediamatic are working on an innovative solution. Their 'Serres Séparées' dinner dates …
7 ways to connect with your loved ones
Ruben BaartDuring these challenging times, we have tried to find happy moments together where we could find them. From weekly Zoom lunches to having online wine tastings, still, it doesn't …
How a giant robot learns its true nature
Ruben BaartAt first glance, the premise of the film 'The Iron Giant' (1999) seems to be a total failure. An animation film set in the United States in 1957; while the Russian satellite …
COVID-19 is a virus, corona is a meme
Ruben BaartAs the viral pandemic continues to spread, so too does the world’s collective uncertainty. As a result, people are turning to media for some levity. And can you blame them. …
Exploring the society of trees
Tracy MetzIn conversation with Canadian researcher Suzanne Simard, inventor of the Wood Wide Web.
Cyborg mythologies #1: plastic surgery & techno-futuristic foretellings
MaithriThis is #1 in our cyborg mythologies series, where we explore the cyborg as a historical being intertwined within mythologism, ancient religion and sacred iconology. A way to …
How telecommunication cables could help detect earthquakes
MaithriAt the bottom of the Earth’s oceans lies an intricate network of over a million kilometres of fibre optic cables. These cables were laid on the seabed by telecommunication …
Explore the future of nature at IDFA Festival
Kelly van GemertHumans often claim to be at the top of the food chain, but is that really the case? We are experiencing – now more than ever – our own fragility: an increase in natural disasters, …
In conversation with cyborg choreographer Moon Ribas
Ruben BaartIf we could extend our senses in order to perceive the planet in a deeper way, would our understanding and our behavior towards it be different? We caught up with cyborg …
Knitting sweaters from human hair
Kelly van GemertThe textile industry is the second largest polluter in the world that leads to a chain reaction of nasty results: loss of biodiversity, water pollution and soil erosion are just a …
How a mantis shrimp can one day help build self-growing roads
MaithriDon’t get fooled by the colourful, unsuspecting demeanour and size of the mantis shrimp. Known as “death incarnate” to its prey on the seafloor, the crustacean hides two …
Plant virtual flowers with Pikmin Bloom
Kelly van GemertSoon it will be possible to grow flowers with your phone. Niantic and Nintendo joined forces to create a new mobile game connected to the Pikmin franchise. In this augmented …
How plastic waste is hurting women in developing countries
Kutoma WakunumaIf we are to build a greener, fairer and more equal society in the wake of COVID-19, it’s time for rich countries to end their practice of dumping plastic waste in developing …
Social media likes change the way we feel about our memories
David BeerMemories are often considered very personal and private. Yet, in the past few years, people have got used to notifications from social media or phone galleries telling them they …
That modernist dream of the house as butler is not going to happen
Helmke van GeelLooking at evolution, we see that there’s always a next nature. Nature changes along with us. How will that influence our way of life in the future?
Colonizing Mars with plants, not humans
MaithriThe idea of colonizing Mars has become the big speculative future of humanity on Earth. But, artist Alexandra Daisy Ginsberg has radically different ideas to contribute to the …
Why urban gardens are crucial for conserving bees and butterflies
Ruben BaartAs humans have industrialised farming to feed a growing global population, pollinators – animals vital for plant reproduction – have seen their food supply decline. In the UK, …
How technology will help us adapt to climate change
Ruben BaartClimate change will transform how we live, but these tech and policy experts see reason for optimism
FIBER Festival 2022: an exploration towards an alternative future
Marit BeerseFIBER Festival explores the future of a changing world through audiovisual art, daring conversations, and experimental electronic music.
Time gets bendy in Disney Pixar's new film
Marit BeerseSpoiler alert: this article explains a key plot point, but we don’t give away anything you won’t see in trailers. At the beginning of the new Disney Pixar film, Lightyear, Buzz …
Publish your graduation project
Next Nature Dev*Our open call will continue for another month due to popular demand* Calling all art students, academics and everything in between. Are you a recent graduate (or soon to be)? Do …
This expo explores technological nature and indigenous insight
NextNature.netTechnology brings us closer to nature, and indigenous insight reconnects us to our roots.
Using the intelligence of plants to battle climate change
Marit BeerseLiving Carbon enhances natural traits in plants as a solution for stabilizing the climate by increasing the efficiency of the photosynthesis process.
Tesla enhanced Lotus, now Lotus returns the favor
Koert van MensvoortLo and behold the new Lotus Eletre Hyper SUV car. It shouldn't be allowed to exist, yet you may meet it in traffic soon.
This vending machine gives out health advice in exchange for your personal data
Kelly van GemertYour biggest wealth is health, but what it the costs you your anonymity? This vending machine gives you nutritional advice based on the information you give it.
Will 3D-printed mussel reefs be the next nature?
Saskia WesselingResearchers hope that 3D-printed, biodegradable mussel reefs help the growth of mussel banks.
Obese mice are losing weight without breaking a sweat
Kelly van GemertBye-bye gym membership, hello losing pounds. Scientists have found a new drug that helped obese mice lose weight.
We now have satellite traffic jams in space
Kelly van GemertIt seems that traffic jams aren't just a problem confined to Earth's highways and byways. How did this happen? And should we be concerned?
Why looking at beaver dams might save the world
Méline MaquartEddie Corwin studies beaver dams and ponds from satellite images in order to restore watercourses and wetlands, and establish nature reserves.
Biomimicmarketing
Koert van MensvoortThe sciences of biomimicry studies nature's models and then imitates or takes inspiration from these designs to solve human problems: Culture imitates nature. The Black&Decker …
Bird radio
Arnoud van den HeuvelInstruction for the Birds: Land on perch->trigger sound file->observe human response-->behave accordingly. Instructions for People: Listen, you'll be able to understand. The sound …
Excitement Clothing
Koert van MensvoortThe body suit pictured above has LEDs that illuminate according to the wearer's state of excitement. Skin signals are measured and change light emission through biometric sensing …
Fruit Tape
KarlGummed tape with a fruit-like print on its surface. The tape reminds us of the feeling of peeling fruit when opening a box. A design for opening, rather than packaging. Designed …
3D rendered bunnies prefer calm diesels
Koert van MensvoortKenichi Nagahiro, Honda's chief engine designer, hated diesel engines. When asked to design Honda's first diesel he flatly refused - unless he was allowed to start completely from …
Rock, paper, scissors
Arnoud van den HeuvelA robotic hand controlled by the power of thought alone has been demonstrated by researchers in Japan. Subjects lay inside an MRI scanner and were asked to make "rock, paper, …
Sexual Behaviour Totems
Koert van MensvoortThese totems were developed by analyzing online pornography viewing habits. Custom software was written to sniff all incoming Web traffic at a discreet location, sorting packets …
Tree bombs
Rolf CoppensDisarm - or we will reforest you! Back in 1997, Moshe Alamaro "designed conical canisters, of a starchy biodegradable material, which each contain a seedling packed in soil and …
Biggest Visual Power Show 2006, Video
At the Biggest Visual Power Show 2006 , held in Zollverein, Germany, over twenty artists, designers, filmmakers and philosophers gave their view on Next Nature. Click to watch the …
Bone Chair
Koert van MensvoortJoris Laarman 's Bone chair takes its inspiration from the efficient way that bones grow (adding material where strength is needed and taking away material where it's …
Business is Peanuts!
Hendrik-Jan GrievinkWe designers often have to exchange business cards and usually they sit in a drawer forever, forgotten and out of date. In Japan there is quite a ritual about exchanging meishi or …
Electronic tattoos
Rolf Coppenshttp://www.youtube.co/watch?v=fW0BZsOcZZE It's like... the future! Check website .
Email Flight Sim
Rolf CoppensThis must be the best worst software concept I've seen this year.. An email mailbox represented as a 3D, virtual LAX airport. in this world's coolest email program, based on the …
Fake for Real: Reflections in the Cave
The Lascaux cave conserves some of the first images created by man, dating back to around 15,000 BC. The depiction of large animals on the cave walls is considered as a …
FishBowl - Ready made Meal
Koert van MensvoortAfter cooking lobsters alive, picking your own living fish in a restaurant and serving your rabbit for Christmas dinner, now comes a wonderful new creation: the FishBoil. This …
Folding Chair - Flexible Love
Koert van MensvoortThis amazing 'flexible love' folding chair can be stretched to seat as many as sixteen individuals; once compacted, the chair seats one. Watch the video in order to understand the …
Funky Forest
Arnoud van den HeuvelI am a tree and I need water! Dance with me! Guide the river! Together with designer Emily Gobeille , Theodore Watson created the Funky Forest , an interactive ecosystem where …
Interview with a cyborg
Arnoud van den HeuvelErich Berger has a 96 year old grandmother who is a cyborg. She features dentures, hearing aids, glasses, pace maker, a metal implant on the pinkie toe, and more. Quotes from the …
Kite ship
Rolf CoppensThe world's first commercial merchant ship using a high-tech kite system will sail across oceans - and help fight climate change. "MV Beluga Skysails" cargo ship has been fitted …
Ladybug cleans the Toilet
Dr NaturalA bug that does the cleaning? This 1-meter (39-inch) tall, 1.35-meter (53-inch) long prototype robot ' named "Lady Bird" ' is designed to clean public restrooms at highway rest …
Modernistic vs Nextnature Architecture
Koert van MensvoortWhile the Freedom tower , replacing the WTC twin towers, is being constructed at ground zero, I still enjoy looking at some of the earlier submitted proposals. They tend to be …
Study finds humans still evolving and quickly
Dr NaturalBy Karen Kaplan, Los Angeles Times , December 11, 2007 The pace of human evolution has been increasing at a stunning rate since our ancestors began spreading through Europe, Asia …
The Top 10 New Organisms of 2007
Dr NaturalGenetic engineering isn't just for scientists in ivory towers or corporate R&D labs anymore. Researchers are still creating new mice and crops every week, but the tools and …
Waterworld - Old nature meets next nature
Dr NaturalAtkin's Architecture Group recently won the first prize award for an international design competition with this hyperreal entry. Set in a spectacular water filled quarry in …
Neck space
Rolf CoppensSince we don't need to be able to move our heads anymore these days we might as well use the unused space between our head and our shoulders. That's what designer Francesca …
A view beyond
Rolf CoppensImagine the impossible… a secret transatlantic tunnel running between New York and London, that has lain undisturbed for a hundred years. And imagine an extraordinary optical …
Ambient Umbrella
Koert van MensvoortThe Ambient Umbrella shows when rain or snow is in the forecast by illuminating its handle. Light patterns intuitively indicate rain, drizzle, snow, or thunderstorms. Local …
Avatarian Graveyard
Koert van MensvoortAvatarian Graveyard supplies a service for virtual addicts – people who excessively or compulsively spend time in virtual environments – to help them reintegrate into everyday …
Burka dating
Rolf CoppensThis burka transmits a self-chosen image of the women wearing it over bluetooth to nearby sellphones. It's a concept by Markus Kison, and it seems like no laws of the Koran are …
Crash–Test Pizzas?
Arnoud van den HeuvelSchwan Consumer Brands, a leading frozen pizzas brand, has launched a challenging brand: UGLY. The design embraces the rising trend for natural, honest food and the notion that …
Elephant sends sms messages to rangers
Niko VegtIn the Kenyan wildlife conservancy Ol Pejeta elephants are tagged with a GPS-triggered text messaging device. Before the elephants start raiding the nearby villagers' harvest they …
Evolution always finds a way
Koert van MensvoortTwo middle class cars molded into one luxurious limousine. Created by Ahmet Ögüt . See also Waves of Asphalt , Interchange , On the Road , Sexy Car .
Fake for Real
Koert van MensvoortFakeness has long been associated with inferiority. Fake Rolexes that break in two weeks, plastic Christmas trees, leaky silicone breasts that cause cancer, imitation caviar. Even …
Fake for Real: A Memory Game about Reality
The Fake for Real Memory Game playfully visualizes the classical theme of Fake vs Real. Is everything that was once directly experienced, in our media society now replaced by …
Futuristic Bird Dwellings
Koert van MensvoortEvery fashionable self-conscious modern bird needs one of these futuristic dwellings, no? Designed by Kevin Sethapun.
Genetic Map of Europe
Koert van MensvoortEuropean biologists have constructed a genetic map of Europe showing the relations between its various populations. The right part of the map shows the location in Europe where …
High Performance Hip
Arnoud van den HeuvelA commercial by an orthopaedic reconstruction company introducing the next generation of joint replacements: " Highly advanced hips and knees. Engineered to meet the needs of your …
Homo Desktopus
Koert van MensvoortA future physical anthropologist who knows nothing about the human race and would dig up a contemporary desktop computer, might conclude homo desktopus must have been the user of …
Human animal hybrid
Koert van MensvoortThis peculiar, half-human creature could be your cousin. No really; it is a sculpture by Patricia Piccinini entitled The Young Family , which, in turn, is part of a larger …
Human Nature as Pathology
Koert van MensvoortModern society seems to have transformed human nature into a pathology. Our emotions are controlled by drugs. We are forced to operate within a narrow bandwith of what are …
Image Fulgurator
bartdohmenThis gun style camera projects messages on the objects of which people take pictures. It can not be seen by the naked eye, but is only visible on the pictures strangers take of …
Lilium Urbanus
oustamanLilium Urbanus is a collaborative senior thesis project by Anca Risca and Joji Tsuruga, recent graduates of SVA. Pretty cool to watch, the video is a metaphor of urban landscapes …
Louis Vuitton VS Fake for Real
Koert van MensvoortThe Fake for Real Memory Game – consisting of 60 cards that playfully visualize the classical theme of fake and real in our society – has temporarily been taken offline due to …
Luxalive - The emotionally aware lamp
Koert van MensvoortSo you thought that animated Pixar Lamp from the movies was just a fantasy? Not anymore. Luxalive is a prototype of an reading lamp that moves according to the character of its …
Multicultural Gourmet Pack
Ehsan BahaMulticultural Gourmet Pack is a new meat package that contains a variety of butchered meat products based on different religions and believes. The pack contains a total of 4 …
Nature as a material
Rolf CoppensVery nice bench, designed to use plants as a building material. Buy them here
Next Rabbit
SaraThis is not a 3-D-animation of a fictional creature, but an actual existing animal: the Angora Rabbit.
Popple II
Koert van MensvoortMake no mistake. The children of the 80's are the bioengineers of today. ://nextnature.net
Recycled Coat
Koert van MensvoortIn the countdown to the Biggest Visual Power Show 2008 in Los Angeles we post some video's of earlier presentations. The Powershow 2003 in Paradiso, Amsterdam had the world …
A robot that controls your remote controls
Dr NaturalConfused with the pile of remote controls in your house? Now here is an idea: get a robot to control them. Researchers at Toshiba have developed a talking robot, named ApriPoko, …
Saturn (Directors Cut)
Arnoud van den HeuvelThe struggle between the born and the made is being fought out in a wardrobe on Saturn. By: 1stavemachine.com | Related: Sixties Last
Slavoj Zizek - Ecology without Nature
Koert van MensvoortThis lecture by Marxist philosopher Slavoj Zizek – never mind the crappy sound & image quality: this is philosophy folks! – should provide all next nature explorers with a …
Smart Forests - EWAN
Arnoud van den HeuvelAt Massachusetts Institute of Technology , Christopher Love and colleagues are working to find out whether energy from trees can be used to prevent forest fires. A sensor system …
Tail communicator
Sara'The LED Dog Tail Communicator' is an initiative of James Auger and Jimmy Loizeau, and it is part of the larger 'Augmented Animals' project. Its focus points to technological …
The Breathe Table - Visceral Interaction
Koert van MensvoortNow why is that girl so excitingly staring at a few blurry blobs on a flat screen? Is it because these blobs are connected to her breath... What? Yes that is right, you are …
The First Pregnant Man
Koert van MensvoortAt first I thought this first pregnant man was a hoax, but after I saw it on Oprah I realized it must be 'real'. Well, the pregnant man is actually a former woman who had a sex …
Urban Tumbleweed - Next Nature's Trash
Jan van der AsdonkYesterday's leaves are being replaced by today's garbage. This garbage is turning into a natural feature of our environment. Urban garbage, as it's called, is becoming our next …
Virtual Transgender Suit
Koert van MensvoortA study by psychologists at Nottingham Trent University has found that 54 percent of all males and 68 percent of all females "gender swap" – or create online personas of their …
Wood of logo's
Koert van MensvoortA wood of logo's. Installation created by Karl Grandin – yup, same guy made the nextnature.net wallpaper– at the powershow in Paradiso, Amsterdam 2005. See also: Animal Sweater .
20 Pound Mouse Pointer
Koert van MensvoortThe recent discussion on boomeranged metaphors reminded me of this 20 pound mouse hand created a some years ago for a Paradise by the laptop light event on Next Nature. The …
Animal Sweater
Rolf CoppensNature used to be an unpredictable place of mystery. Fascinated with nature’s untamed wildness, artists created animal and floral patterns as a celebration of this phenomenon of …
Aquasaurus
Koert van MensvoortThis skeleton truck was dug up created by Jitish Kallat . Related: Skeleton mouse , Animatus , Pacman’s skull .
A.T.R.E.E.M.
Arnoud van den HeuvelMeet A.T.R.E.E.M. (acronym for Automated Tree-Rental for Emission Encaging Machine), a device that compares daily activities, energy and products to the growth of a tree. "From an …
Bioluminescent Trees will Replace Streetlights?
Koert van MensvoortMost people know about light emitting organisms such as jellyfishes, fireflies and mushrooms . Some time ago, genetic engineers transferred genes responsible for the luciferin and …
BioStream
Arnoud van den HeuvelA renewable energy technology company in Australia designed this power generation system inspired by the shape of the tailfins of sharks, tuna and mackerel. The currents on the …
Boomeranged Metaphors
Koert van MensvoortAt the start of the digital era, metaphors from everyday life were used – in what was then the new computer environment – in order to make otherwise incomprehensible technology …
Brain Needs 'Nature'
Arnoud van den HeuvelScientists have begun to examine how the city affects the brain, and the results are chastening. Just being in an urban environment, they have found, impairs our basic mental …
Change We Can Believe In
Arnoud van den HeuvelI love this parody of the famous Shepard Fairey Obama poster by Mike Rosulek .
Computer versus bacteria
ReneeAre bacteria faster than a computer? According a group of biological engineers they are. The scientists have done a research in which they have used the well-known bacteria …
Crash course on synthetic genomics
Koert van MensvoortNext Monday when your colleagues ask you what you have been doing for the weekend, you might answer you something default like you went out with friends, danced, biked to the …
Digital Overruns Nature: Pixel Attack
Florian Conradi and Michelle ChristensenApparently, camouflaging oneself with digital patterns rather than nature-imitated patterns functions as a better camouflage within "old-nature" situations. So the digital …
Fake for Real Memory Game
The Fake for Real Memory Game consists of 60 cards that playfully visualize the classical theme of Fake vs Real. Is everything that was once directly experienced in our media …
Freshness Label
Koert van MensvoortJapanese design agency To-Genkyo proposes a dynamic freshness label for meat products. The hourglass-shaped label contains special ink that changes color based on the amount of …
Games Become Jobs: Gold Farming in China
Koert van MensvoortChinese workers slaying monsters to earn gold for western consumers. It sounds surreal, but it is a far from virtual reality for the so-called 'gold farmers', who are working in …
Google Kills Bambi
Koert van MensvoortEvery emerging next nature typically stresses some older nature. Time after time, we plant a new habituation, a new instinct, a second nature, that causes the first nature to dry …
Growth Assembly
Arnoud van den HeuvelThough the example product seems a little far-fetched; growth assembly could be quite revolutionary. Worldwide shipping of manufactured things is very inefficient. Why not ship …
How to Grow your Own Toaster
Koert van MensvoortNow here is an experiment any one can do at home: Look around in your house and try to find a consumer product of which you know where it was made and by whom. Got any? Indeed, …
Human Landscape
Koert van MensvoortOur peculiar image of the week was created by artist Levi van Veluw , who reinvents the classical fine art of landscape painting, by moving from the traditional 'oil on canvas' to …
Hyperfins
Tijn KooijmansThe next step in biomimetic body extentions for propelling yourself through water. Man moves on from copying ducks to become a dolphin-like cyborg. With these fins you can be …
Living Doll
Arnoud van den HeuvelCrying, talking, sleeping, walking... not really, but this is what Cliff Richard's concept could look like when laboratorised. "To demonstrate a new method for fabricating …
Lucky Fruits
Tijn KooijmansA Chinese farmer, Gao Xianzhang, has invented baby-shaped buddha pears and he is planning to export his idea. The produce became a success in his local province since people seem …
Melting polar bear reveals a metal skeleton
Koert van MensvoortUnsure how this melting polar bear ice sculpture created by artist Mark Coreth fits in Next Nature mythology. The art piece was presented last week in Copenhagen and is sponsored …
Modern Fossils
Arnoud van den HeuvelRemember the Gameboy Bricks by Gijs Gieskes? The same vibe must have been picked up by Christopher Locke (Chicago, US) as he opened his Modern Fossils Shop with many more peculiar …
Nature versus Culture
Arnoud van den HeuvelLet's try this song to focus once more on the culture versus nature theme: "The Big Idea" by Nataly Dawn . The concept of this song is illustrated by the fact that she recorded it …
Next Nature DVD
" A DVD with over twenty visions of artists, scientists, designers, filmmakers and thinkers who present their powerful imagery, radical ideas and visionary statements on how we …
Plant Plays First-Person Shooter
Koert van MensvoortAfter the plant that glows when thirsty , the plant that calls when thirsty , the dataplant , plantvertizing , the emphatic plant and the blogging houseplant , there is now a …
Pollution trading – savior or scam?
Koert van MensvoortWhile most people are still prudently changing light bulbs and recycling coffee cups to fight global warming – or at least their gnawing conscience – policy-makers have long moved …
Project Natal: You are the Cursor
Arnoud van den HeuvelToday browsing and gaming is dominated by the shortcomings of machines, for machines simply do not know who is on the other end. Man needs to interact; therefore man needs to …
Scientists 'grow' pork
SelbyScientists at the Eindhoven University of Technology are creating artificial pork. Prof. Dr Mark Post and his colleagues of the department of Biomedical Engineering have extracted …
Shoulder Pads: Fashion tide back to the 80's?
Norma de BoerFashion has a natural cycle of its own, which is more dependent on market and media forces than seasons or weather. Trends are predicted, recycled, set and followed. Seasons in …
Sunlight-shaped Furniture
Arnoud van den HeuvelAustrian designers Katharina Mischer and Thomas Traxler have created a solar powered machine that makes arrays of furnishings that vary based on how much sunlight it receives over …
The Hermaphrodite Effect
Florian Conradi and Michelle ChristensenAccording to research carried out by scientists from the Columbia Environmental Research Centre , sewage water containing hormones and pesticides caused by human consumption is …
The Uncanny Valley of the Pussycat Dolls
Koert van MensvoortMake no mistake, you're not looking at the latest Barbie line: These are the The Pussycat Dolls. Formerly an LA stripper show burlesque show, now upgraded to be pop music …
The World's first Refrigerated Beach
Koert van MensvoortConspicuous consumption in the overdrive: The world's first refrigerated beach is to be built at a luxury hotel in the Dubai (aka the new Las Vegas) so the tourists don't burn …
Tribal Communication Technology
Koert van MensvoortMobile phones are nextnature: Twenty years ago they didn't exist, now everyone has one and when you leave your house without it, you feel amputated. Like you are missing a limb …
Triceracopter
Koert van MensvoortThe Triceracopter is half Triceratops, half helicopter. If dinosaurs and technology evolved at the same time, this is what the helicopter might have look like? Built as a …
Water Shows When the Heat is On
Koert van MensvoortDesigner Carlijn Compen upgraded her watertap with some LED's that shift color along with the heat of the water. A simple yet effective example of information decoration that will …
Wifi Dowsing Rod
Koert van MensvoortToday's technology advances so rapidly that people are often unable to update their media schemas in time and as a result are left cluelessly in awe of it all. Mike Thompson's …
Wooden Bankcard
Koert van MensvoortSilver, gold or platinum creditcards? Expensive metals in credit card design used to have a certain luster in the past, yet today we are all (painfully) aware the mimicked …
Wrapping Greenland
kbohreThe Discovery series 'Ways to save the planet' the episode 'Wrapping Greenland ' shows how Dr. Jason Box uses reflective blankets to cover glaciers in Greenland. Due to global …
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Koert van MensvoortThis translation of the essay ' Real Nature is not Green ' is a special treat from and for our fellow Next Nature explorers in China. We thank the people of the Microwave …
A Whole New Species of Television is Born
Koert van MensvoortSo you thought the Razorius Gilletus essay was farsighted? Interestingly enough, Samsung is advertising its latest TV-set as a whole new species . Despite the obvious …
Acoustic Botany
Michael KluverWith his speculative ‘acoustic garden’ David Benqué tries to explore our cultural and aesthetic relationship to nature. He states that the current debate around Genetic …
Adaptive Bloom
Michael KluverThis interactive installation came out of the Postgraduate Certificate Course in Advanced Architectural Research of the Bartlett School of Architecture in London. Graduate Justin …
Car Skin
Koert van MensvoortOur peculiar image of the week was created by artist Olaf Mooij . Seen at Discovery Festivals Cabinet of Curiosities .
Clothes from a Can
Hendrik-Jan GrievinkFrequent readers of this website might be familiar with our claim that Next Nature emerges from a fusion between the Born and the Made. But now we can add another: the fusion of …
Craig Venter unveils 'Synthetic Life'
Luuk SchipperheynCraig Venter announces what might be a historic milestone in the nature caused by people. For 15 years, Craig Venter and his team of scientists have tried to synthesize life from …
Cultivating the Money-verse
Orestis TsinalisAlright, we were mistaken. Money isn't virtual after all. A recent TV commercial of a Greek bank shed light on the issue. Your money lives, is anthropomorphic and inhabits an …
European Parliament goes Next Nature
Koert van MensvoortAlright the title "Making Perfect Life" ' may sound a bit 20th-century-modernistic-techno-optimistic-naive, but for the rest we are confident this conference is going to be pretty …
Fake blood cells deliver medicines
Koert van MensvoortNewly created synthetic particles that mimic red blood cells may one day carry drug molecules and/or oxygen through bloodstreams, scientists write in the Proceedings of the …
Floating City – Shimizu's Dream
Koert van MensvoortThis speculative self-sufficient, carbon-negative floating city design by the Japanese Shimizu Coorporation immediately reminded me of the post-apocalyptic science fiction film …
Genetically Modified Salmon moves to Kitchen Table
Koert van MensvoortThe US Food and Drug Administration is considering whether to approve the first genetically engineered animal that people would eat — salmon that can grow at twice the normal …
Homemade Spacecraft
Minke KampmanCinematographer Luke Geissbühler made a homemade spacecraft with his 5-year-old son Max, and some of Luke's friends. The spacecraft was made from a Thai food takeout container, an …
Invisibility Cloak Hides Objects Visible To The Naked Eye
Koert van MensvoortSome years ago scientists managed to build a rudimentary invisibility cloak, which was an impressive device but it had some important limitations, not least of which was that it …
Learning to Build Superman's House
Koert van MensvoortSuperman already knew it: Steered growth is the future of architecture. The lower picture was taken at the Industrias Peñoles nano-chrystal architecture lab in Chihuahuan, Mexico …
Meet the Cellphone that drinks Coke
Koert van MensvoortChinese designer Daizi Zheng created a conceptual mobile phone for Nokia that could be powered by cola. The idea is the phone could run on a battery that uses enzymes to generate …
Mercedes-Benz Was Here
Hendrik-Jan GrievinkIn the older days, people had to cross natural barriers like mountains for survival purposes. Grains from one side of the mountain was traded with cloth from the other side, for …
Monitoring your computer's activity like a frog pond
Koert van MensvoortMulti-touch designer and developer Richard Monson-Haefel considers sound as an important part of our user interfaces. As an application of " Calm Technology " which revolves …
MyWebwill.com – Serving your last online wishes
Koert van MensvoortWe live an increasing amount of our lives online, but what happens to our digital identity after we are gone? Until now our blogs, photos and social network accounts have lived …
Nano Supermarket – Call for Products
Nanotechnology is an important emerging technology of our time – it radically intervenes with our sense of what is natural – yet most people are still relatively unaware of its …
NANO Supermarket – Introducing the Jury
Ten days left to submit your speculative product idea for the Nano Supermarket . The jury that will select the finest submissions – to be exhibited in the Nano Supermarket this …
Next Nature Movie #9 – The Terminal
Koert van MensvoortViktor Navorski is an Eastern European traveler – portrayed by Tom Hanks, who in the movie ‘Cast Away’ already played a man stranded on an uninhabited island – that finds himself …
One day at the Dentist
Koert van MensvoortDo you also have that feeling sometimes that your dentist is undertaking all kinds of activities in your mouth that aren't really necessary? Yet, you usually just trust the …
Shell Logo Evolution
Koert van MensvoortCorporate logos constantly have to adapt in order to survive. In the case of the Shell oil company this results in an image that ironically resembles the ones we know from the …
Squamata headset dances with the Music
Koert van MensvoortInspired by body language of animals (in particular squamates and porcupines), designer Jop Japenga created a headphone with an adaptive skin that responds to the music played on …
Stereotype Packaging
Rolf CoppensAccording to the World Health Organization (WHO), unhealthy diet is amongst one of the leading causes of the major non-communicable diseases. Can design encourage people to …
Symphony of Science
Koert van MensvoortAs it is Sunday today, lets indulge in a scientific spiritual music video. Created by John Boswell . Thanks Finnigans Riverrun.
Technology vs Football: 4-4
Ties van de WerffSome matches remain interesting, even though they're predictable. Take the continuous battle between technology and football. Every time the stakes get high, such as at the World …
The Great Cleaving
Koert van MensvoortWe usually just click 'Ok' on every update request, but perhaps the one proposed in this religiously uncanny video by Doctor AlexXross needs a bit more contemplation?
What does Technology want?
Koert van MensvoortTechnologist, environmentalist and nextnature thinker avant la lettre Kevin Kelly , muses on what technology means in our lives – from its impact at the personal level to its …
A day made of glass
DesignDirkThis video shows the design vision of Corning, a company that specializes in glass. Not just any glass, but glass incorporating technology, electronics and displays. And it sure …
Back to the Tribe
Koert van MensvoortTraditionally, technology is seen as a force that diminishes our instincts and puts us at a distance of nature. Increasingly however, we realize technology can also energize and …
Birthmarks Tattoo
Koert van MensvoortAs the name suggests, Birthmarks Tattoos , are fake - but permanent - birthmarks that you can add to your body. Aside from its decorative potential, Birthmarks Tattoo makes it …
Brainscan App
Arnoud van den HeuvelBy hooking up a commercially available EEG headset to a Nokia N900 smartphone, Jakob Eg Larsen and colleagues at the Technical University of Denmark in Kongens Lyngby have created …
City Planning with Bright Bacteria
Allison GuyRenegade architect and futurist Rachel Armstrong has proposed that our cities, currently constructed of dead trees, baked mud, and refined ore, need to be coated in a layer of …
Deus Ex: The EyeBorg Documentary
Marco van BeersBack in 2009 Rob Spence, a cyborg film maker, worked together with a team of ocularists, inventors, engineering specialists on a prosthetic eye which can capture and stream video. …
Flap to Freedom
It works like this. Position yourself with a friend in front of a battery hen and flap your arms as fast as you can when the music sets in. The harder you flap the faster your …
Humane Technology #1: Feels Natural
Allison GuyAll too often, technology frustrates us. It forces our behavior into constrained pathways. Even more insidious, technology can knock us out of alignment with our values, goals or …
Humane Technology #2: Revive Human Intuitions
Allison GuyOur second principle: Humane technology revives human intuitions, in particular those we might have forgotten about. 'Conventional' technology aims to overcome our hominid …
Humane Technology #5: Empower People
Allison GuyPrinciple number five: Humane technology doesn't outsource people, but instead empowers them. How healthy or humane is it to have an escalator to the gym? Humane technology should …
Humane Technology #6: Improve the Human Condition
Allison GuyAnd now for the sixth and final principle: Humane technology improves the human condition and helps people realize the dreams they have of themselves. No matter what your …
I am not a Robot. I am a Unicorn.
Arnoud van den HeuvelAt Cornell Creative Machines Lab they were curious to see how two "chatbots" would make conversation. Powered by Cleverbot , created by AI researcher Rollo Carpenter, the robots …
Information Decoration Scarf
Koert van MensvoortRemember the Information Decoration essay which argued our so-called information society barely employs our human bandwidth, as most of the data in our lives is presented in …
Is it a Plane? Is it a Bird?
Koert van MensvoortThe zoomorphic designers of Festo , whom you might know from the robot penguins and a robotic elephant trunk , now managed to decipher the flight of birds. Their prototype is …
Living Life Support
Allison GuyDesigner Revital Cohen imagines a future where life-support machines are replaced with life-support animals. In this scenario, a transgenic lamb is allowed to frolic in the fields …
![Visual of Manko & Death [#11]](https://nextnature.net/media/pages/magazine/story/2011/manko-death-11/e6665c445d-1602632753/manko11-868x486.jpg)
Manko & Death [#11]
Aston RevolaManko had been here before. Being just thoughts, surrounded by nothing. He felt glad his thoughts were there, one after the other, so there had to be a form of time and therefore …
![Visual of Manko & The Children [#9]](https://nextnature.net/media/pages/magazine/story/2011/manko-the-children-9/3d8fe20352-1602632753/manko9-868x486.jpg)
Manko & The Children [#9]
Aston RevolaAs they went down the elevator shaft, going deeper underground, neither Nada nor Manko spoke a word. To Manko it seemed to take forever. In his mind, he went over the long …
Next Nature Power Show 2011 Amsterdam
The Next Nature Power Show is an intellectual spectacle where artists, scientists, designers, filmmakers, architects and philosophers present their radical ideas, visionary …
Nintendo Portables Are Breeding Grounds For Sexy Fun
Vincent KlerkxSexuality and sensuality are phenomena which have been a nature for us as long as we humans exist. Not only humans experience these phenomena; also animals experience sexuality …
One Chicken Feeds 100 People
Koert van MensvoortOur peculiar image of the week is not what it seems. Rather than a man with a gigantic chicken on a leash, you are looking at a normal chicken with an incredibly shrunken man …
Protei, the Sail Bot that Cleans Up Oil
Allison GuyProtei is a sailing robot that's designed to clean up oil spills without human assistance. After sailing upwind, the bot drifts downwind, zigg-zagging across the surface to absorb …
Razorius Gillettus in NRC Next
Hendrik-Jan GrievinkDutch newspaper NRC Next features a shortened version (in dutch) of the Razorius Gillettus essay, written by Koert van Mensvoort. Download the scan . A longer version of the essay …
Technology: The 7th Kingdom of Life
Koert van MensvoortKevin Kelly, Senior Maverick at Wired Magazine talks about the nature of technology and propose to define technology as the 7th Kingdom of Life.
The Incredible Shrinking Man
Lisa van der VoortIt has been a trend for people to grow taller and taller during the evolution. When people get taller, they will need more energy, food and space. Since the human population is …
The Living Room
Rolf CoppensThe private atmosphere of a Dutch living room is interrupted by the disturbing presence of a large oak tree that slowly enters the room. Made by roderickhietbrink.nl
Theriomorphous Cyborg
Allison GuyThe Animal Architecture Awards have just announced the winners of their 2011 contest. Taking first place is Simone Ferracina's Theriomorphous Cyborg , a (speculative) augmented …
Tomberry – The Worlds Smallest Tomato
Koert van MensvoortSome people like berries, some like tomato's. So what do you get when you get when the two mate? Indeed, the latest hyperfruit spotted on the selves is the Tomberry . This …
Tree Temple
Koert van MensvoortSo we may think ‘ guided growth ‘ is a typically 21th century design methodology, yet apparently it was also in vogue in the 19th century. According the original description in …
Woodplastics
Koert van MensvoortLooking for a new kitchen counter-top, but can't decide between a natural or an artificial material? Soon you might be getting both . Designer Hironori Yoshida is pioneering …
3D Printing a New Face
Koert van MensvoortEarlier this year, Belgian surgeons successfully performed the country's first full-face transplant using 3D printing. The operation was conducted by a medical team of Ghent …
Rule #8: Use Human Ethics
NextNature.netPart 8 of the 11 part series Anthropomorphism and Design . Anthropomorphic products blur the boundaries between products and people. Ethical norms for people don’t usually apply …
A €1,174 Chicken Coop for the Bourgeois Farmer
Allison GuyLong for farm-fresh eggs on the table? Dream about going to bed each night worrying about racoons, rats and foxes? Like the feeling of scraping chicken shit off your hands? For …
A Winery in your Microwave
Hendrik-Jan GrievinkA delicious Montepulciano in only 6 seconds? This is now possible with the universal Nano wine. All you need is a microwave oven. In 5,64 seconds at 1000 watt you have a sublime …
Amazon Tribe lacks concept of Time
Koert van MensvoortA study, in Language and Cognition has shown that time does not exist as a separate concept for the Brazilian Amondawa – an Amazon tribe first contacted by the outside world in …
Bacteria Inspire Magnetic Hard Drive
Allison GuyCertain types of bacteria can navigate using magnetic nanoparticles as tiny compasses. Researchers at the University of Leeds have extracted the protein that controls this process …
Cellphone Masts Disguised as Trees are Outdated
Marco van BeersThere is a new version of the well-known cellphone masts disguised as trees. Instead of adding fake nature to these masts, ChamTech Operations wants to put a layer of invisible …
Lions Relocate to the Suburbs
Allison GuyAs cities push to the edges of the wilderness, wild animals are increasingly com
Eating In-Vitro: Rustic In Vitro
Koert van MensvoortMany people still find in vitro meat too alien and artificial to put it in their mouths. With the Rustic In Vitro incubator, this outdated perception is about to change. Similar …
Evolution Goes On
Koert van MensvoortSurely, some day smart phones want to find out where they come from too, no? Nextnatural comic on the origins of a next species by Dave Coverly .
Photoshop Your Way to Beauty
Lisa van der VoortFilmmaker Jesse Rosten shows his critical views on body standards by presenting the exclusive beauty breakthrough Fotoshop by Adobé. This revolutionary product features pro-pixel …
Gangnam Autonomy
Arnoud van den Heuvel"A robot is a mechanical apparatus designed to do the work of a man. Its components are usually electro-mechanical and are guided by a computer program or electronic circuitry. By …
Genetic Screening for Christmas Trees
Allison GuyIf you've turned to plastic Christmas trees because the real ones leave piles of needles behind, science is working to bring live conifers back into your holidays. A $1.3 million …
Helmet Crafted from Wood and Cork is just as Safe as Your Plastic and Foam One
Koert van MensvoortBack to the natural future? A startup company in Oregon is manufacturing bike helmets made of wood and cork that should meet or surpass the impact performance of plastic and foam …
Hermit Crabs Can Live Like Kings Again
Marco van BeersThanks to the collaboration between Makerbot and TeamTeamUsa new biodegradable shells are printed for hermit crabs.
Eating In-Vitro: Instant Meat Powder
Koert van MensvoortThe number one argument for eating meat: it provides nutritious proteins that cannot be entirely supplied by vegetarian alternatives. Like it or not, humans are omnivores. Meat is …
Internet Traffic is now 51% Non-Human
Koert van MensvoortSo you thought the Internet was made by and for people? Think again. A study by Incapsula , a provider of cloud-based security for web sites (mind you where this data comes from), …
Thijs Zonneveld – Let's build a Mountain
Koert van Mensvoort“God created the world, except for the Netherlands. That the Dutch created themselves” , Voltaire remarked in the eighteenth century already to describe the overly cultivated …
Meanwhile in the Next Nature Lab
NextNature.netLast week, the young and talented designers of the Next Nature lab at the Eindhoven University of Technology presented their end of semester works in an internal exhibition. There …
Meat the Future
Koert van MensvoortThis promotional video for in-vitro meat was brought to you by the bureau for in-vitro meat promotion students of the Beckmans College of Design .
Mice Reporting For Duty
Jeroen PillaerdsResearchers have developed genetic manipulated mice, with extra smell receptors that make them highly sensitive to the smell of explosives. Scientists hope to use these mice in the future to discover land mines
Monkeys Fall into the 'Uncanny Valley' Too
Koert van MensvoortThe uncanny valley, a phrase coined by Japanese robotic researcher Masahiro Mori nearly three decades ago, describes the uncanny feeling that occurs when people look at …
Nano Product: Menoé
NextNature.netAt the beginning of menopause, celebrate your reproductive past by giving “birth” to a unique peace of jewelry. By using Menoé’s nano-coated birth control pills over a lifetime, …
Nano Product: Nico
NextNature.netNico is cute, cuddly and serious about your child’s health. Many adults smoke around children with no thought for their developing lungs. Covered in nicotine-sensitive nano-cloth, …
NANO Product: The Necklace
Koert van MensvoortBreast cancer is a disease that comes with feelings of helplessness and loneliness. This nanotechnological necklace allows you to regain some control regarding your disease, in …
Nanotech Water Bottle Harvests Water from the Air
Allison GuyThe Namib desert gets less than a half an inch of rain per year, yet the stenocara beetle manages to survive in these punishing conditions. The beetle's secret lies in an array of …
New Volvo Recognizes Shapes of Animals like Deer & Elk to Reduce Crash Impact.
Koert van MensvoortVolvo cars is testing a new safety system that automatically hits the brakes once an animal is detected in the vehicles vicinity. The Animal Detection System expands the range and …
Playing With Pigs
Lisa van der VoortBesides children and pets , it turns out that pigs are also attracted to interactive interfaces. Pig Chase is a computer game in which pigs and people can play together. The aim …
Replacing Synapses with a Single Switch
Allison GuyNeural synapses in the human brain are extraordinarily complex structures. Responsible for relaying information between neurons, chemical synapses govern the release of over 100 …
Rule #5: Consider Zoomorphism as an Alternative
NextNature.netFor past entries and an introduction to the 11 Golden Rules of Anthropomorphism and Design, click here. When a product imitates animal behavior, the strict social rules …
Rule #6: Meet People’s Expectations
NextNature.netFor past entries and an introduction to the 11 Golden Rules of Anthropomorphism and Design, click here. People expect many things from each other: Expect them to say hi in the …
Rural Energy: From Kerosine to LED
Koert van MensvoortWhile for most of us, happy blog readers, access to electricity is taken for granted, things are quite different in developing regions of the world. In India for example, over 65% …
Screw Technology
Hendrik-Jan GrievinkIn this particular piece of video art, loyal readers of nextnature.net might recognise the building as Zeche Zollverein in Germany, where we organized the Biggest Visual Power …
Spider-Man Gloves
Joost van der PuttenImagine how much easier the job of window cleaners would be if they could simply scale walls like Spider-Man instead of using elevators, ladders and other gear. Ever since the …
"That Was Then. This is Now"
Alexandra Daisy GinsbergThe wunderkammer – the traditional repository of natural history curiosities and cultural relics – has been updated by the Center for PostNatural History in Pittsburgh, which …
The "Plantascraper" Sprouts in Sweden
Allison GuyWe're used to seeing proposals for high-tech vertical farms that never seem to translate to real life, but the city of Linköping in Sweden has finally taken these buildings out of …
To Generate Electricity, Just Tap on this Virus
Allison GuyIs your friend impatiently tapping on her phone, or is she just charging the battery? Researchers at the Berkeley Lab have produced the first virus-powered generator that runs off …
Christien Meindertsma – Visualizing the Pig Farm
Koert van MensvoortChristien Meindertsma was surprised by the unrealistic nostalgic visualizations of farms on children's coloring plates. She decided to create a more realistic coloring plate of the pig farm.
A Fake Cruise for a Real Vacation
Alessia AndreottiAll the "fun" of a cruise vacation, with none of the seasickness.
Birdhouse Sweet Birdhouse
Alessia Andreotti3D printer company MakerBot recently launched a contest inviting designers to create the birdhouse of the future. The winner is The American Craftsman Bungalow by Brent J. …
Bright Streetlights Make Us No Safer, and Why That's Good News
Allison GuyArtificial lighting at night makes us fat, depressed and sick. What are the alternatives?
Building Grows Its Own Energy from an Algae-Farming Facade
Hanna ZoonAlgae panels make a German building completely energy independent.
Death to all Bees
Dr NaturalWatch this propaganda film and you'll understand why. Share it and spread the word!
Death Watch Marks the Time of Your Life
Alessia AndreottiTikker, the watch that counts down your life, shows the amount of time you are estimated to have left.
Did Monogamy Make Us Human?
Allison GuyPair-bonding sets humans apart from our relatives. But where did it come from?
Engineering Beneficial Parasites
Lloyd AlbertsBreeding parasites to improve immune function, skin tone and even resistance to poison.
Face 'doek'
Koert van MensvoortA student hopes a blanket will replace her classmate's Facebook addictions.
Feeling Sad? Ladies in Korea Go Under the Knife for a Perma-Smile
Allison GuySurgery for a cute, cheerful duckface – permanently.
Google's Shoes Talk to Runners
Alice FumeyNeed a personal trainer? Google's new sneakers fulfill the role of a human coach.
Grow Your Clothing with Microorganisms
Jeroen PaijmansWine and bacteria combine to make seamless clothing.
Hug & Pay
Koert van MensvoortThe rise of digital currencies reduces the need for physical interaction and communication between people. At the same time every payment method still leans on trust. But how can …
Interact with Friends (in Real Life) with Facebook Monopoly
Alessia AndreottiA Facebook version of Monopoly forces players to interact with each other in meatspace.
iTypewriter
Hendrik-Jan GrievinkMiss the soothing clacking of typewriter keys? Long for satisfying clang of a carriage return? Get iTypewriter for iPad.
Jellyfish Ice Cream Glows When Licked
Alessia Andreotti$220 ice cream glows thanks to synthetic bioluminescent proteins derived from jellyfish.
Loyal Lamps that Follow You Like Pets
Alessia AndreottiTwo lights that behave like pets, acting and reacting like autonomous creatures.
Moments in Meat History Part I - Origins of Meat-eating and Hunting
Jonathon MarkowskiAbout 4 or 5 million years ago, major changes in the Earth's climate brought about grassland regions where giant mammals could graze.
Mutation Furniture: Your Living Room Comes Alive
Silvia CelibertiBeautiful Mutation series from Belgian designer Maarten De Ceulaer show how herpes would dramatically enhance the look of your Yves Klein blue sofa. Indeed the velvety series …
NANO Supermarket 2014 Call for Products
NextNature.netSubmit your speculative product to the NANO Supermarket and win 2500 euro.
Nanoscale Bouquet of Flowers
Stefan FinckenRoses are red, violets are blue. Nanoscale flowers are what some scientists grew.
Organic Coke Arrives
Koert van MensvoortFive years ago we envisioned Organic Coke as the fictional summit of Greenwashing. Now it is 2013. Guess what?
"Responsive Typography" Tracks Your Location to Automatically Resize Text
Hendrik-Jan GrievinkA new website changes the text's font size depending on your distance from the computer.
Robots Cooperate to Save Coral Reefs
Alessia AndreottiRobots use swarm intelligence to rebuild coral reefs.
Serious Gamers Assist Society
Martijn PeetersNew citizen science games are bringing gamification to serious issues.
Smart Sock Makes Your Feet Speak
Alessia AndreottiA new wearable device provides runners with info on posture, rhythm and stride length.
Swallow a Pill to Turn Your Body into a Living Password
Jonathon MarkowskiNeed a password that you'll never forget and can never be stolen? Try storing it in a pill in your gut.
The Bottom-Up Bitcoin Revolution
Silvia CelibertiIn a recent feel-good article, WIRED wrote about a special group of homeless friends in Florida who, equipped with laptops, phones and free WiFi, manage to make ends meet making …
The Future of Solar Power? Snail Teeth!
Marco van BeersThe gumboot chiton snail produces the hardest biomineral known on earth - and it may hold the secret to better nanotechnology.
The Holy Grail of Immortality
Casper JacobsInjecting mice with telomerase enables them to live 24% longer than the average mouse.
The Six Epochs of Evolution
Koert van MensvoortBuckle up for a cinematic espresso show from Jason Silva on the various epochs of evolution.
The Smart Desk: Exercise While Working
Alessia AndreottiA "breathing" desk that reminds you to change positions throughout the day.
Transfer a Loving Tap Via Bluetooth
Alessia AndreottiA bracelet able to transfer a touch between two people.
Using Bacteria as a Future 3D-Printer
Marcus DithmerWhat if 3D objects could not only be printed by normal techniques, but naturally grown, using photo sensitive bacteria?
When Is Biomimicry Not Really Biomimicry?
Jonathon MarkowskiA entomologist gives another explanation for that famous fruit fly with ant-patterned wings: it's not evolution, it's human error.
With "Stealth Wear", Hide from Unmanned Drones in Style
Daniel van PaesschenTired your ugly duds? Sick of surveillance drones? Does Adam Harvey have the clothing for you!
World's Worst Job? Being a Human Robot at Amazon's Fulfillment Center
Hendrik-Jan GrievinkWorkers are completely controlled by algorithms in Amazon's fulfillment center
A Net will Collect Debris from Outer Space
Julia WeberJAXA developes a net that could collect debris from outer space.
A Plan to Eliminate Predators
Alessia AndreottiBritish philosopher David Pearce believes we should to stop animals from hunting and killing other animals.
Balloon-Powered Internet For Everyone
Alessia AndreottiProject Loon by Google has the mission of providing Internet access to rural and remote areas, with a hot air balloon network.
Belief System Meets Operating System
Hendrik-Jan GrievinkThe façade of an Indian temple constructed from a large-scale print of a Facebook Wall.
Biofabricate – NN Lecture in New York
NextNature.net4th of December Dr Van Mensvoort lectures in New York at the BIOFABRICA summit. Other speakers include Paola Antonelli and Andras Forgac.
Bioluminescent Forest
Alessia AndreottiTwo artists transformed the forest into a bioluminescent wonderland.
Bioplastic Made of Pressed Insect Shells
NextNature.netAagje Hoekstra has developed a bioplastic made of of dead beetles called Coleoptera.
Breaking Down Plastics with Bacteria
Alessia AndreottiTwo students found a way to break down plastics using soil bacteria.
Bugs Paintings: Mixing Art and Science
Alessia AndreottiPainter Stephen R. Kutcher uses different insects to create unique paintings.
Does Handwriting Matter Anymore?
Alessia AndreottiThe personal touch of pen and ink VERSUS the efficiency and productivity of digital word processors.
Drone Crash
Lotte BiesheuvelDuring a triathlon ace a drone operated by a local photographer hit one of the athletes.
Drone Diver's License? Get it Online!
Alessia AndreottiThe online course to get your drone driver’s license for civil use.
E.T. Video Games are Real Modern Fossils
Alessia AndreottiAn unsuccessful piece of video gaming history became an archeological record.
Exploring the City Soundscape
Alessia AndreottiBuq are electronic life forms that shift the experience of the street scape from the primarily visual to a more auditory experience.
First 3D-printed Skull implanted
Julia WeberFirst 3D-printed skull has been implanted on a 22 years old dutch women.
Glow in the Dark Trees
Lotte BiesheuvelDaan Roosegaarde is exploring possibilities to replace streetlights with luminous trees.
High-Tech Cemetery
Alessia AndreottiIn the Ruriden cemetery, in Tokyo, over 2.000 Buddhas statues are illuminated by high-powered color changing LED lights.
How a Self-Driving Car Sees the World
Lotte BiesheuvelThe Google self-driving car has driven 700.000 miles by itself, and now it can drive through busy city streets.
It's Always Sunny with LED Panels
Alessia AndreottiAn artificial illumination that is "authentic" enough to replace natural light.
Learning Circuits While Playing With Clay
Robin BergmanKids learn the basics of electric circuits while playing with clay.
Lunar Solar Power Generation
Alessia AndreottiJapanese engineers plan to turn the moon into a giant solar panel station.
Meet Humanity beyond Race, it's Beautiful
Koert van MensvoortMeet Humanity beyond Race, it's Beautiful
Modern African Classics
Robin BergmanTextiles manufacturer 'Vlisco' updates African classic pattern to represent personal educational preferences.
Nano-motors in Living Cells
Robin BergmanScientists succeeded in implanting non toxic nano-motors into living cells.
Nano Product: Hydrating 'Skin'
NextNature.netHydrating 'Skin': giving a second life to damaged skin.
Reinventing Nature with Synthetic Biology
Alessia AndreottiBioengineer Drew Endy shares his idea of biology as a precision manufacturer that could potentially transform civilization as we know it.
Robots Are Not Supposed To Think
Koert van MensvoortEmpathy for Robots. May cause feelings of Anthropomorphobia.
Scientists Created "Alien-DNA"
Julia WeberUS-scientists extended the DNA alphabet with two new created 'foreign' building-blocks.
Shark Deterrent Wetsuits
Lotte BiesheuvelA new way to project yourself against sharks while enjoying your favorite watersport!
Super Computer Chips
Robin BergmanIndium gallium arsenide couldbe the material of the new super computer chips of the future.
Bowerbirds' Plastic Love Nest
Lotte BiesheuvelTo attract a female, male bower birds build structures and adorn these with colorful plastic decoration.
The Human Hamster Wheel Desk
Alessia AndreottiThe Human Hamster Wheel Desk is the latest result of workspace evolution. Office work has domesticated us!
The Power Amplification Robot
Alessia AndreottiPower Loader: the power amplification exoskeleton robot.
The Smartest Artificial Skin
Alessia AndreottiStretchy artificial skin lets prosthetic hand sense heat, humidity, and pressure.
Urban Green
Alessia AndreottiThese pictures by photographer Jacob Gesink show how the urban green is carefully manufactured.
Visualizing the Tropes of 'Climate Fiction'
Allison GuyClimate fiction has gone from a once-fringe genre to a standard literary device, it acts as a barometer of our own ecological anxieties.
Xmas Unwrapped
Koert van MensvoortAn expedition along the supply chain, visiting factory floors and productions lines of our fluffy red Santa hats, shiny baubles, tinsel and fake plastic trees. Merry Christmas!
3D Holography: the Future of Medicine
Yunus Emre DuyarA new technology aims to provide doctors with a true hologram of organs.
Analogue vs Digital: Vinyl Revival
NextNature.netCDS have been largely replaced by digital downloads and mp3 players. Conversely, vinyl sales have begun to grow.
Artificial Brain Able to Perceive, Learn and Forget
Alexandra BremersScientists in Russia have taken a next step in the development of artificial intelligence by creating a "brain" that is able to educate itself.
Artificial Intelligence Able to Create Music
Tijs DuelEmily Howell is an interactive interface able to compose and perform her own pieces of music.
Beautiful Wallpapers Created with Vaccine
Yunus Emre DuyarCreated by Vik Muniz and Tal Danino, Flowers uses livers cells treated with smallpox vaccine in order to create floral patterns.
Brand Logos Translated into Chinese
Yunus Emre DuyarWould you be able to recognize these logos if they were in Chinese?
Changing your Mood on Demand with Brain-Altering Wearable Technology
Alessia AndreottiThync, is a new brain-altering wearable technology that promises to “shift your state of mind and conquer life” by allowing its users to change their mood whenever they need it.
In This Church We Only Take Credit Cards
Alessia AndreottiIn the Sanctuary of Caravaggio, Italy, devotees can make offerings just by credit cards.
Digital Mountains Shouting Your Tweets
Yunus Emre DuyarEver feel the need to hear two digital mountains read your tweets aloud with deep and sonorous voices?
Don't Trust Dictionaries and Maps
Yunus Emre DuyarEncyclopedias and maps use fake entries and locations to protect their works.
Experience Van Gogh in Virtual Reality
Abby QinAmerica artist Mac Cauley created a new way to experience the painting in virtual reality.
Fake Nature can Prevent Climate Change
Margherita OlivoScientists are working on an ingenious approach to carbon capture that will enhance the way plants isolate carbon dioxide from other emissions in order to contain it.
FB Graffiti: Reviving Ancient impulses
Alessia AndreottiFB Graffity: the extension that lets anyone “vandalize” the pictures shared by other users on Facebook
First Bionic Rose with Electronic Circuits
Margherita OlivoFor the first time, researchers at the University of Linkoping , Sweden, have succeeded in establishing organic circuits within living plants. They combined electronics with the …
Gene-Edited Micropigs Will Be Soon Sold As Pets
Wei Lun WangEarlier this year, a group of Chinese scientists published a paper about the modification of the genome of human embryos with the cutting-edge powerful technique called CRISPRs. …
Intelligent Bikini Tells You How to Tan
Alessia AndreottiThink you've had enough sun? Ask your bikini!
Intimate Technology Evening at Droog
NextNature.netDroog Foundation and Next Nature Network invites you to join the conversation about Intimate Technology: April 23, in Amsterdam.
Jazz-Playing Robot Challenges Human-Computer Interactions
Margherita OlivoA musical robot able to improvise a jazz solo in response to an actual person performing jazz.
Lab-Grown Shrimps Are Coming to Your Plate
Alessia AndreottiA startup called New Wave Foods is developing artificial shrimp meat in the laboratory.
Forget Google Street View, Here's Cat Street View
Wei Lun WangJapan city has launched an online street view map to introduce the view of the city by a cat's perspective.
Manta Ray Floating City
Alessia AndreottiFrench visionary architect Jacques Rougerie designed a utopian floating city shaped like a manta ray.
Modafinil Boosts Your Brain
Erik van der VeenA pill that makes you smarter without causing harmful side-effects? Modafinil might be this “smart-drug”.
NANO Supermarket 100 m2 Pop-Up Store
NextNature.netOur lustrous NANO Supermarket opened a 100m2 pop-up store in Stavanger, Norway.
Nasa's Projections on Global Warming
Margherita OlivoResearchers at Nasa's Center for Climate Simulation (NCCS) in Maryland can deploy a supercomputer called the "Discover".
Seowoo and her Pink Things
Koert van MensvoortNowadays the average teenager has more personal pink belongings than an emperor one thousand years ago
Smog: an Augmented Reality?
Hendrik-Jan GrievinkA few days ago, these images of iconic buildings in Beijing as they look with and without intense smog have been posted on Weibo, one of China’s most popular social media …
Solar-Powered Plane Starts its Five-Month-Long Flight Around the World
Yunus Emre DuyarSolar Impulse 2 is a Swiss project with the aim to enable long term flights using solar power.
The Future of Artificial Reproduction
Yunus Emre DuyarAccording to researchers we could go a step further and use stem cells derived from your skin cells.
The Plastic Problem #1: Biobased and Biodegradable Plastic
Alessia AndreottiWhat are then the actions to foster for an effective sustainability? A series of articles will try to point the plastic poblem.
The Sketchbook Made Of Artificial Skin
Alessia AndreottiThe SkinBook is made of synthetic skin that allows beginner tattooists to practice their skills.
Tourism's Impact on Indigenous Tribes
Wei Lun WangHow does an indigenous culture sustain, extend, and evolve nowadays? Probably, it mainly depends on the preferences of the tourism industry. Here is an example from the Mursi, one …
Talkable Vegetables
Wei Lun WangBreaking the silence, vegetables in a Japanese supermarket start to talk to the customers.
Virtual Reality Dining Experience
Alessia AndreottiUsing immersive virtual reality and aromatics to make the brain believe we are enjoying a delicious dish.
Wearable Device For Tomato Lovers
Louise HuyghebaertThe Wearable Tomato Project consists in a robot that dispenses tomatoes.
Welcome to the Hearth of the Sun
Alessia AndreottiSolarium, a video installation by NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO), puts visitors in the hearth of the sun.
We Are What We Like
Alessia AndreottiAccording to a study our PC, equipped with a list of things we "Like" on Facebook , knows us better than our friends.
53 Shades of Blue
Ruben BaartAn artist installed a sculpture on the main street of Ljubljana, Slovenia, that measures the blueness of the sky.
Adblock Plus Now Sells Acceptable Ads
Ruben BaartAdblock Plus, world’s most popular ad-blocking tool, just announced they are launching an advertising service for “acceptable” ads.
Are These the Headphones of the Future?
Monika KozubNo matter which brand is going to rule the wireless headphones scene, it's time to get used to have a computer in our ear that we never need to take out. Until it may grow into it someday!
Artificial Northern Lights
Monika KozubSwiss artist Dan Acher created a replica of the Northern Lights by way of high-powered lasers.
Artificial Senses for Navigation
Ruben BaartA team of cyborgs and digital enthusiasts developed a wearable technology for the body that perceives a human sixth sense.
Begging Ghetto Blasters Hack the System
Ingmar NieuweboerBegging ghetto blasters in Utrecht are making you question poverty.
Who Are These Trolls Invading China?
Margherita OlivoChina's government fabricates about 488 Million social media posts every year as a strategy to distract from critics to the regime.
The Biggest Impact on the Planet Comes from Household Consumption
Margherita OlivoNew study suggests that the real environmental problem is embodied in the things we buy.
Bringing In Vitro Meat to the Market
Margherita OlivoMark Post is planning to bring lab-grown meat on the market shelves within five years at a reasonable price.
A.I. Can Guess Exact Locations of Images
Margherita OlivoGoogle's PlaNet will be soon able to tell you where a photograph was taken by simply looking at its contents.
Cockroach Milk: the Next Superfood?
Monika KozubA recent research reveals that the next extra nutritious ingredient may be the liquid produced by cockrach mothers to feed their offsprings. Are you willing to try it?
The Digital Life Project
Alejandro AlvarezResearchers are creating accurate 3D models of living organisms to preserve the heritage of life on Earth.
Enlisting Eagles to Take Down Drones
Margherita OlivoAn eagle clutching a flying drone is probably not a show that you see everyday, unless you live in the Netherlands.
EcoHelmet: Foldable, Recyclable and Cheap
Monika KozubThe new recyclable, foldable and affordable bike helmet can change city bike sharing for good.
When FB Replaced Editors with Algorithm
Ruben BaartFacebook had just fired their curatorial team for the ‘Trending’ news section over an algorithm, resulting in false stories attacking a news anchor, a writer, and Mac Donald’s.
Father Hires Gamers to Virtually Kill His Son
Margherita OlivoThis father in China hired some professional gamers to find his son on online games and kill his avatar.
Feeling Lonely with 1000 Facebook Friends
Ingmar NieuweboerLoneliness is a major social issue and can only be 'cured' with real world interaction.
The First Drone Superhighway
Ruben BaartUrban planners proposed a utopian superhighway for the up-and-coming organic smart city Bao’an.
The First Self-Driving City Coach
Ruben BaartMercedes-Benz just revealed the first self-driving city coach and took it to the streets of Amsterdam for a test drive.
Foster’s Prototype for a Droneport
Margherita OlivoNorman Foster's project for a Droneport that will give a valid, affordable alternative to reach and bring help to remote areas.
Safe Driving Rewarded with Free Coffee
Ruben BaartAs part of a new traffic safety initiative, a car manufacturer, a telecommunications operator, and a coffee chain have joined forces to develop a new app designed to promote safer driving.
Good Air Quality? You Get Free WiFi
Margherita OlivoThese birdhouses in Amsterdam share free Internet whenever the air quality improves.
How We Domesticated Food
Margherita OlivoWe tend to believe that the fruit and the vegetables we eat today are "natural" and the same as they always were. It turns out that in the past this familiar food didn't look like this at all.
Israeli Tech Turns Any Road Electric
Alessia AndreottiElectRoad developed a unique technology that powers the vehicle wirelessly from the road while driving.
Let's Talk About Virtue Signalling
Daniel FragaWith virtue signalling, the joys of moral superiority are just one click away!
We Love Cities, so Do Wild Animals
Alessia AndreottiHow wild animals and cities are adapting to each other.
Explore Mars with NASA's VR Experience
Margherita OlivoExploring the surface of Mars at least 15 years before a human being in flesh and blood will be able to, this is the new ambitious idea of the people at NASA.
Meat-Eating Made Us Humans
Margherita OlivoEating meat has made us who we are today: evolved, intelligent humans, able to use a verbal language.
Turning Contact Lenses into Screens
Margherita OlivoA polymer film coating can turn contact lenses into computer screens.
More Babies for Italy
Ruben BaartThe Italian government just launched a campaign to raise awareness for falling birthrates and encourage family planning.
Smart Spoon with Spilling Prevention
Mathilde NakkenPeople with parkinson or other diseases that cause tremors or uncontrable muscular movements, eating is a major challenge. Liftware launches two smart spoons which corrects the unexpected movements of its eaters.
The Office of the Future on Four Wheels
Alejandro AlvarezNissan created the e-NV200 workspace: an electrical van with zero emissions that is packed with everything you need to work efficiently.
Photoshop for Voice on Its Way
Monika KozubWhat if we can no longer rely on authenticity of voice recordings? A demo software to alter them premiered recently.
Cutlery Set to Eat Bugs
Ruben BaartDesigner Wataru Kobayashi created a picnic cutlery set to promote eating insects.
Using Nanobots to Treat Depression
Alejandro AlvarezA team of scientists has developed a way to deliver drugs into our body using nanobots as vehicles and our toughts as controllers.
How Rare Is Virtual Gold?
Lewis JustPart one of a ten part series exploring the design of an invisible technology: money.
Re-introducing Extinct Species
Margherita OlivoExtinct European bisons are being reintroduced in parks. But what makes a national park?
Rethinking 3D Printing for the Future
Nadine RoestenburgAdditivism is a movement that calls for radical rethinking of new technologies, such as 3D printing, the plastification of the world and our human position within it.
Will We Share .thought Files?
Mathilde NakkenWith the evolving technique called EEG, electroencephalography, we can measure brain activity and ultimately even read the brain.
A Search Engine for Satellite Imagery
Margherita OlivoTerrapattern is a search engine that gathers similar elements of satellite imagery, giving surprising results.
Setting Aside Half the Earth for Nature
Ingmar NieuweboerE.O. Wilson, a respected biologist, has proposed a radical idea: set aside half of the planet as nature preserves.
A Smart Top to Correct Body Posture
Ruben BaartFysioPal is a smart top made to support and enhance the upper-body and posture.
Solar Energy Day and Night
Margherita OlivoSpecial balloons able to catch the rays of the sun from above the clouds, producing clean energy day and night thanks to the help of a fuel cell.
The Supermarket with No Employees
Alessia AndreottiThis automated store in Sweden doesn’t have any human employees, only a smartphone app.
The Modular Body
NextNature.netThe Modular Body is an online science fiction story by Floris Kaayk about the creation of OSCAR, a living organism built from human cells.
Turning Leaves into Batteries
Margherita OlivoOther than decompose and give nutrition to the soil, leaves can be used to store energy, becoming the raw material of batteries.
A Village Made of Plastic
Daniel FragaA canadian entrepreneur is trying to help reduce plastic pollution by building a village made out of plastic in Panama.
VR Surgery and Live Stream Operations
Mathilde NakkenThere is a new breakthrough coming from the operating room: an app, called MDLinking, that connects 8.5 million doctors world wide.
Walk, Talk and Get Paid
Monika KozubAs the digital age makes people more lonely, Chuck McCarthy created a service to walk with strangers.
Wi-Fi Hotspots Take Over Old Payphones
Alessia AndreottiNew York City decided to definitely say goodbye to neglected payphones and replace them with Wi-Fi hotspots.
PC Problems? Better Call a Witch!
Margherita OlivoMeet the witch who casts viruses out of computers with magic.
1916 - Artificial Womb Appeared in Cinema
Elle Zhan WeiIn 1916 the artificial womb made its first appearance on the big screen in the movie "Homunculus" by Otto Rippert.
1923 - Term 'Ectogenesis' Coined
Elle Zhan WeiThe term "ecotogenesis" was first coined in 1923 in "Daedalus".
AI & VR Impact on Architects and Engineers
Megan Ray NicholsFuture workspace, human interaction and unique experiences: here’s how artificial intelligence and VR impact on architects and engineers.
Animal Free Cow Milk
Elle Zhan WeiA San Francisco-based start up discovered a way to "brew" milk that has zero hormones, antibiotics, steroid or lactose inside, and a longer shelf-life.
Visualize the Hidden World of Digital Networks
Nadine RoestenburgHave you ever wondered what the infosphere looks like? Dutch designer Richard Vijgen’s app Architecture of Radio is a field guide to the hidden world of digital networks.
What You Should Know About Artificial Intelligence Changing Jobs
Megan Ray NicholsIt should come as no surprise that artificial intelligence naturally extends into the way we work. Let's look at how AI changes the way we relate to work.
400 BCE - Myth of Princes Grown in Jars
Elle Zhan WeiIn year 400BCE in ancient Indian Sanskrit epics, 100 princes were created from a jar of ghee.
DNA Hacking: Catch a Computer Virus
Jack CaulfieldWe know how it feels to catch a cold; how might it feel to catch malware?
Greetings from the Ciptagelar Village
NextNature.netA series of photographs from the Ciptagelar village in West Java, Indonesia.
Cruising Critters Travel the Ocean on Plastic
Charlotte KuijpersTons of living animals have floated from Japan to the United States traveling across the ocean on plastic junk and debris.
Drones and Robots Co-Work in Solar Farms
Alessia AndreottiBladeRanger might have found the ultimate solution for solar panels cleaning putting drones and robots together at work.
ECO Coin Award Interviews: Sandra Rey
Jack CaulfieldWe asked Sandra Rey, our third ECO Coin Award nominee, about her company Glowee and her hopes for illuminating the future in a more sustainable way.
Floating Green Power
Megan Ray NicholsOffshore renewable energy resources, such as floating solar arrays, have begun to pop up around the world.
The Ephemeral Future of Internet Data
Nadine RoestenburgWhat the Internet would look like if all data were ephemeral?
Gene Therapy Cures Chronic Disease
Elle Zhan WeiGene therapy can cure up to 200 different diseases and the list is growing.
Greenhouse for Space Colonies
Elle Zhan WeiResearchers from Arizona and NASA unveiled a plan to sustainably provide food in space, growing it in an inflatable greenhouse.
Hire a Smart Robot
Daniel FragaWhat if your co-worker was a robot? Dutch startup Smart Robotics is a job agency for robots that allows you to hire a smart-robot.
After Horsepower Comes Robotpower?
Jack CaulfieldWe fear being replaced by robots. They have the potential to be smarter, stronger and more hardworking than us, but so do horses.
The Human Smart Home Assistant
Charlotte KuijpersArtist Lauren McCarthy launched a project called LAUREN in which she embodies a eponymous human smart home assistant.
The Global Subway Map of the Future
Ruben BaartThe Hyperloop will turn the world into a global village.
Will Kites Provide Wind Energy in the Future?
Megan Ray NicholsIf you’ve watched clouds roll by, you know wind moves more steadily in the upper atmosphere. Turbines just can’t reach high-altitude wind energy. Kites can!
Make the World Your Office
Megan Ray NicholsImagine being able to enter your office through a digital representation of reality. It sounds crazy, but it’s possible with augmented and virtual reality.
New in: Next Nature Memory Game
NextNature.netWe are pleased to announce the launch of the Next Nature Memory Game. Now available in our web shop, it playfully explores the shifting borders between biology and technology.
Nomophobia: the Fear of Phonelessness
Jack CaulfieldNomophobia, no-mobile-phobia, is the fear of being separated from your smartphone.
Pay with Your Face
Elle Zhan WeiFace-detecting systems in China now authorize payments, provide access to facilities, and track down criminals.
Pink GM Chicken Marks Anthropocene
Julie ReindlThe Pink Chicken Project suggests modifying chickens’ DNA in order to send a message about our Earth health.
Plants + Science = Meat!
Daniel FragaWhat if you could have the taste of a juicy, sizzling burger without the destructive impact of using animals for meat? That is what Impossible Foods wants to do with its new burger.
Plastic Exoskeletons for Turtles
Nadine RoestenburgAntonio Esparza designed the TurtleBag: a 3D printable exoskeleton to help turtles distinguish plastic bags from jellyfish and extend their lifespan.
Pre-Order the Pyramid of Technology Toolkit
NextNature.netThe Pyramid of Technology toolkit is a workshop-in-a-box that helps you better understand technology and catalyze innovative processes.
Your First AI Friend for Life
Elle Zhan WeiReplika is your friend for life. He is 100% AI chatbot that you “raise” by chatting with it.
Rights for Robots: EU Calls for Regulation
Jack CaulfieldA new report recommends that we decide the legal status of robots sooner rather than later. It even suggests that they could be given personhood and rights.
Sleep and Dream Controller
Lydia HaldersDevelopers at Dutch-based company Arenar have designed a device that not only claims to improve the quality of sleep, but also induces lucid dreams.
The Smell of Global Economy
Elle Zhan WeiThe Pollution Pods installation replicates the smell and air quality of five different urban environments, forming the smell of a global economy.
Bacteria Are the New Hard Drives
Daniel FragaDNA is the densest known storage medium in the universe - and Harvard University researchers have managed to use it to store GIFs inside bacteria.
Chat with Plants in the Botanical Garden
Camille CharluetExploring methods to better connect people to the natural world, Waag Society, in collaboration with the Dutch Botanical Gardens Association, have developed an app that allows visitors to talk with plants.
The Posthuman Farm
Ruben BaartWu Tzu-ning presents a posthuman reality from genetic engineering to digital afterlife.
The Robots Are Coming!
Koert van MensvoortRobots are getting stronger and smarter every day. They are taking over our whole lives. How long will I have my job before a robot steals it?
A Truly Exotic Fruit: the Space Mango
Julie ReindlScientists sent mango embryos to space lab in order to let them develop new genetic traits.
Visit the Hypernatural Resort
NextNature.netDiscover the Next Nature Habitat VR and explore four future environments we might live in someday.
This 3D-Printed Structure Can Fold Itself
Charlotte KuijpersResearchers at the University of Technology in Delft have created flat structures able to fold themselves into three-dimensional constructions.
MIT's new voiceless interface can read the words in your head
Vanessa Bates RamirezThe way we interact with the technology in our lives is getting progressively more seamless. If typing terms or addresses into your phone wasn’t easy enough, now you can just tell …
AR City: Paving the Way for Augmented Reality Navigation
Belen MunozAugmented reality applications are a promising alternative to GPS. At least that is what Blippar’s AR City app claims to be.
This artwork lets trees tell the story of climate change
Linda ValentaIn our ongoing battle against climate change, it's hard to transcend from our human position and ‘think’ like nature. Given, nature doesn't think the way humans do, but it does …
Counteracting Climate Change with Geoengineering
Jack CaulfieldA respected astrobiologist argues that a radical new process called geoengineering might be the only way to save us from climate change.
This controversial new test could be used to screen embryos for intelligence
bryan clarkA new test promises to fan the flames of ethical debate surrounding designer babies. For the first time, couples undergoing in vitro fertilization (IVF) could soon be able to …
100.000 ECOs earned at ECO coin's Living Lab with Booking.com
NextNature.netAfter last year’s successful Living labs at DGTL and Welcome to the Village we started 2018 with another. This time with Booking.com at their Annual Meeting in January where over …
Why insects are not the new sushi
Jonas HousePeople across the world have been eating insects for thousands of years. We know that approximately 2,000 species are edible and that these insects are eaten in many different …
Aleph Farms wants to bring clean meat from the lab to the next farming industry
Kelly van GemertGrowing meat artificially, instead of within an animal, may soon be an available reality. Meet one of the pioneering developers of this product of the future: Aleph Farms. With …
Next hospitals: How virtual reality is shaping the future of medicine
Jack CaulfieldAnd it’s already showing incredible results. VR transports us to faraway worlds without even asking us to leave our chairs. Yet we usually hear about it in the context of video …
Robo Wunderkind is a modular robot even a five-year-old can program
Kelly van GemertMeet the Robo Wunderkind, a new breed of smart toys that introduces children to the basics of coding and robotics in a playful way. Advanced technologies are increasingly embedded …
Smartphone app helps indigenous communities fight deforestation
jeannedjawadiFive people suspected of illegal gold mining in Peru are in custody after indigenous community members used a system called ForestLink to alert authorities to the activity. …
The Story of Money: Plastic
NextNature.netThe story of money: an accessible roadmap from prehistory to digital age, from cows to credit, from gold mining to bitcoin mining. This episode: plastic.
These robotic flowers are attracting bees
Kelly van GemertIt is trying its very best to stay hidden: but would you be fooled by its fake nature ? This synthetic pollinizer, a conceptual project by artist Michael Candy , may intuitively …
The Ocean Cleanup heads for the Pacific
Koert van MensvoortThe Ocean Cleanup claims its device could cut the size of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch in half in five years.
Here’s what manufacturing enhanced with virtual reality will look like
Megan Ray NicholsRobots are coming for our jobs. Virtual reality is coming to make the jobs that remain easier to accomplish. All of the world’s manufacturing sectors are in the process of …
The artificial womb: dream or nightmare?
Ruben BaartThe emerging technology of the artificial womb confronts us with a series of moral and societal questions. How to cope with that? Join us on 29 March at Eindhoven University of …
This brain-controlled exoskeleton allows a paralyzed man to walk again
Freya HutchingsA breakthrough technology that responds to signals from the brain has transformed the life of a paralyzed 28-year-old man called Thibault. Four years after the initial incident …
Why electric cars should be allowed to drive faster
Koert van MensvoortIn response to the nitrogen crisis, the Dutch cabinet is planning to reduce the speed limit during the day to 100 kph. In itself a sensible decision. But it is strange that this …
There are 299 trees growing in a football stadium
Ruben BaartSome centuries ago landscape painters taught us to appreciate the quality of an untouched landscape. Ever since we have been doing everything to recreate it. We camouflage cell …
Sophia the Robot has a sister: Little Sophia
Ruben BaartRobot Sophia is pretty much the international face of the ‘modern robot’. Sophia is the Audrey Hepburn-inspired humanoid robot who stands out for multiple reasons. She is the …
This exhibition looks at how robots are changing the world we live in
Ruben BaartDelve into the science and fiction of robots at V&A Dundee’s latest exhibition: Hello, Robot . Contemplate the existence of robots and how they have both shaped, and been …
The Next Nature gift guide 2019
Next Nature DevWhether you're in need of a holiday gift for your techie spouse or tech-adverse grandpa, the truth is, your loved ones deserve better than a generic gift card. Now we understand …
Pack your bags: Next Nature is going to China
Next Nature DevTo our Chinese friends (and beyond)! From 2 November 2019 to 1 February 2020, we'll be crossing the globe for a large showcase at the OCT Art and Design Gallery in Shenzhen, …
The beginner's guide to biohacking
Peter JoostenWhat is the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the term 'biohacking'? Perhaps you are now thinking of a bunch of kids sitting in their kitchen with a DNA kit, (wannabe) …
Open call: speculative product advertisements
Next Nature DevIn anticipation of the forthcoming Next Nature Magazine, we call upon you, dearest creatives, to submit a fictitious editorial advertisement: The Infotizement. The infotizement is …
How China is enjoying blue skies thanks to COVID-19
Britta de VriesSurrounded by greyness and with the air around you having a dusty, burnt taste; for a long time this is what it has been like to live in many of the world’s highly polluted …
Her is an outlook on the possible future of dating a chatbot
Ruben BaartWith most of us stuck at home because of lockdown, for the singles around us intimacy may have turned into a distant dream. Could we find our salvation in technology? And what …
How my chatbot fell in love with me
Tim DaalderopThe virus is forcing all of us to sit at home. While we are allowed to have social contact—albeit at an appropriate distance, intimate contact is hard to find. How to cope with …
In vitro meat (finally) hits the market
Nellie FriedrichHumanity has an insatiable hunger for meat. Since 2013 we have been researching, developing and campaigning for a humane and eco-friendly way to get our protein fix. Since day one …
Next Generation: listening to ultrasound waves with Sheng-Wen Lo
Ruben BaartThis story is part of Next Generation , a series in which we give young makers a platform to showcase their work. Would you like to see your work here? Get in touch …
Marjan van Aubel wins ECO Coin Award
Next Nature DevEach year we search the globe for people and projects that have outstandingly contributed to make this planet a more sustainable place and honor them with our ECO Coin Award . We …
The Ouroboros Steak is a steak made out of human cells
Nellie FriedrichYou are what you eat; a quite common message in the midst of our self-growth society. We have to eat well to become the best version of ourselves - more productive, healthier …
How technology keeps us connected
Britta de VriesAt this moment in time, many people are staying at home in order to flatten the curve . It is times like these that we realize how vital technology is to us and our societies. It …
What will COVID-19 teach us about life?
Koert van MensvoortWe live in turbulent times. Thanks to science and technology, we are able to perceive our environment down to the atomic level. We can read DNA, manipulate cells, cut and paste …
Why your pets can't spread the coronavirus
Sarah CaddyA Pomeranian dog in Hong Kong grabbed the international media’s attention this week after scientists found traces of coronavirus in the canine. Following confirmation that the …
A button that tells your boss you're unhappy
Ruben BaartWith gyms closed and millions cooped up and restless at home, it’s little wonder that “healthtech” is now being billed as the next big battleground over which the likes of …
Coffee without the beans
Vanessa Bates RamirezAs with many of the products we consume, there’s a cost beyond what we pay at the store. Producing coffee has an environmental cost, too.
How to turn your 3D printer into a food printer
Saumil VadodariaWhile the pandemic has restricted us from doing many activities we like, household hobbies such as DIY , baking and crafts have become more popular. Now there’s a way to combine …
Metaverse: 5 things you need to know
Steve BenfordWhat is the metaverse and to what extent should we believe that the vision being presented to us is really going to be central to our daily lives?
We sequenced DNA from a million-year old mammoths
Ruben BaartMost people think of mammoths as the iconic woolly species from the last Ice Age, which ended around 12,000 years ago. But mammoths originated in Africa around 5 million years …
Welcome to new Evoluon
Next Nature DevToday our human impact on Earth is humongous. Climate change, plastic oceans, mass urbanization and deforestation. Scientist recently calculated the technosphere now outweighs the …
Fermenting Futures and the beauty of biotechnology
Kelly van GemertExploring the co-evolution of yeast and humans, while discovering the aesthetic value of yeast biotechnology, is what designers Anna Dumitriu and Alex May have been concocting. …
Meet a group of young plant scientists who share their belief in the potential of CRISPR
Marit BeerseIn the summer of 2018, the European Court of Justice (that’s Europe’s highest court) reviewed a case and concluded that gene-edited crops should be subject to the same regulations …
Why Borghildur Indriðadóttir wishes to perform on the Moon
Kelly van GemertWhat is the meaning of art on the moon? Artist on the Moon is the latest project from Icelandic visual artist Borghildur Indriðadóttir , who aims to perform for the stars and …
AI meal planner suggests humans to cook with human flesh and bleach
Kelly van GemertAI sure knows how to throw a banger of a dinner party. One that guests will never forget - or outlive. When New Zealand grocery store chain PAK’nSAVE introduced their new …
This billionaire wants to live forever
Eleni MaragkouFrom the mythical fountain of youth to the many anti-aging procedures available today: humans have dreamed of internal youth for a long time already. At lot of us perceive aging, …
A Dutch startup is saving the banana from extinction
Selin KirThere is a banana crisis happening right now. Our beloved yellow fruits are being threatened with extinction due to a fungal infection called Panama disease, which can wipe out …
Fashion brand Ganni grew leather with bacteria
Kelly van GemertDanish fashion brand Ganni proposed a post-leather future: they grew imitation leather with bacteria.
Dancing at the intersection of natural and virtual worlds
Eleni MaragkouExploring the intersection of technology and art, a team of creatives presents a virtual performance that pushes the limits of human expression.
Hurray! There are now vaccines for honeybees
Kelly van GemertA significant milestone has been reached as the US Department of Agriculture has granted approval to a vaccine for insects for the very first time. An important breakthrough, …
Meet Indonesia's virtual news anchors
Kelly van GemertVirtual news anchors seem to spread like wildfire across Asia. We've witnessed Xinhua present the news from China and applauded Lisa on becoming India’s first regional AI news …
This satellite generates and sends solar energy to Earth
Kelly van GemertThe next solar farms might be located in space, instead of on Earth. A prototype satellite by Caltech launched in January seems to be up and running, showing its capability to …
All aboard the world's first hydrogen passenger train!
Selin KirAs the world is trying to keep carbon emissions under control, humans are also looking for viable carbon-neutral transportation options. The people from French rolling stock …
Making prosthetic nipples out of human hair
Kelly van GemertDesigner Arianna Pezzano creates prosthetic nipples using keratine coming from the hair that cancer patients lose during chemotherapy.
Why we need space janitors
Kelly van GemertReduce, reuse, recycle. We know the drill. But how do we cope with a junkyard in space?
Soon you can have dinner in space in a low-carbon balloon (if you're rich)
Kelly van GemertGet ready to take your dining experience to literal new heights, soon we are able to enjoy high cuisine at the edge of space. French company Zephalto is introducing extravagant …
Playing Pong with lab-grown brains
Kelly van GemertBiotechnology startup Cortical Labs successfully guided human brain cells in a petri dish through a simulated game of Pong.
Blur Building
Dr NaturalThe pavilion is made of filtered lake water shot as a fine mist through 13,000 fog nozzles creating an artificial cloud that measures 300 feet wide by 200 feet deep by 65 feet …
Body odor databank sniffs out crime
Dr NaturalForget about fingerprints and DNA ' the way you smell has been added to the list of biometric data that can be used as personal identification. A laboratory official at the …
Branded Butterfly Wings
Koert van Mensvoort"A glowing green logo drawn by scientists on the wing of a genetically altered butterfly could herald the day that the insects are adorned with adverts and slogans . A team at the …
Cameleon concept car
Rolf CoppensThe GloCar uses LED lights to change body panel colours, intensity and frequency. A driver can thus choose at will to either stand out or blend in. Alongside the cosmetic value …
Featherless Chicken
Koert van MensvoortBehold the featherless chicken, created by Scientists at the genetics faculty at the Rehovot Agronomy Institute near Tel Aviv, Israel. The idea behind the development of this …
From Silver Screen to Computer Screen
KarlFans of The Sims video game spent the Oscar Sunday evening making virtual copies of the red carpet fashions worn by Oscar winner Reese Witherspoon, contender Keira Knightley and …
Furniture comes to life
Arnoud van den HeuvelWhen a dog walks, the leg that is put forward, is simultaniously followed by the diagonal-opposite leg (f.e. left/back+right/front or right/back+left/front). Wouter Scheublin …
GloFish
Rolf CoppensA tropical fish that fluoresces bright red is set to become the first genetically modified pet to go on sale in the US. Alan Blake and colleagues at Yorktown Technologies …
Hoax Dragon
Arnoud van den Heuvel"The baby dragon, in a sealed jar, was discovered with a metal tin containing paperwork in old-fashioned German of the 1890s. (...) Some scientists believe that dragons, though …
Hotspot Bloom
Dr NaturalHotspot Bloom is a wearable flower that glows and changes color to indicate the signal strength of a nearby wireless network (802.11b/g). With its mobile interface, Hotspot Bloom …
Ideology becomes nature
Hendrik-Jan GrievinkIs this fake nature? Surely, it's nature altered by human hands. Somewhere in the East German forest these trees started to change color in autumn a little earlier than all the …
Moving water
Rolf CoppensLibyan deserts are one of the hottest places on earth. That's why they are making a river to them. The project known as Great Man-Made River is "an enormous, long-term undertaking …
N is for Nature
NextNature.netThere are people who think what makes a good wine comes from nature - factors like rain and soil and temperature. Then there are those who think it's a matter of second nature - …
Robotic Action Painter
Rolf CoppensRAP is a new generation of painting robots designed for Museum or long exhibition displays. It is completely autonomous and need very little assistance and maintenance. RAP …
Save our Next Nature! Buy the book
A critical and visual take on culturally emerged Nature. Full of statements from designers and thinkers from around the globe. Wild systems, Genetic Surprises, Calm Technology, …
Second Life
Hendrik-Jan GrievinkSecond Life is a privately owned, subscription based virtual world created in 2003 by San Francisco-based Linden Lab. Founded by former RealNetworks CTO Philip Rosedale, Second …
Second life prostitute
Koert van MensvoortThe world's oldest profession has made quick inroads into virtual life. You can make a quick buck if you're willing to accept in-game money for sexual services -whether that's …
Sixties last
Koert van MensvoortThe flower depicted in the image is a good example of Hypernature. While fake nature is always a flatter surrogate of old nature, hypernature is a simulation of an old nature that …
Skinover
Arnoud van den HeuvelIn "Dutch dress up" (a travelling exhibition of accesoires by 40 Dutch designers), Silvia B is presenting new glove-models showing a specific skin peculiarity. In general clothes …
Typing With Water
KarlA technique developed by the German Claus Winterfor an installation artist makes whatever word you type into a computer visible by a "water-curtain". The video shows the World …
What to do with your cat?
Dr NaturalOur relation with the animals we consume is very remote nowadays. The meat in the supermarket is abstract and square. You might consider a vegetarian life style. No? Then you …
Permafrost seed bank
Arnoud van den HeuvelThe Norwegian government will hollow out a cave on the ice-bound island of Spitsbergen to hold a seed bank. This seed vault is an answer to a call from the international community …
A Tomb for All People
Rolf CoppensThose crazy Germans are planning to build modern versions of pyramids that will function as gigantic burial sites. "The Great Pyramid can potentially be any human being's grave or …
Avatar machine
Rolf CoppensThe virtual communities created by online games have provided us with a new medium for social interaction and communication. Avatar Machine is a system which replicates the …
Bisected Brontosaurus in a Water-Filled Case
Koert van MensvoortChinese artist Xu Zhen created the monumental untitled sculpture depicted above (sorry I am such a bad photographer) for "NONO", a show without explanations or preconceptions, I …
Botanic Artists
Arnoud van den HeuvelWhere other trees grow their branches towards the light, willows seem to want to touch the surface. Tim Knowles creates drawings independent of his own hand and when he attaches …
Cloth Carpet - a lifetime of cloth consumption
Koert van MensvoortWhy buy a carpet made out of sheep wool, if you can also buy one made people wool ? This carpet is made by the cloth consumption of a persons' lifetime. Created by Volksware .
Crop Circles
Arnoud van den HeuvelIn the UK farmers recall simple circles appearing on their land for generations. The British media first reported on the circles in the early 1980s. By 1990 crop circles had …
Digizerk
Arnoud van den HeuvelHenk Rozema displaying his invention (2006), the digital tombstone "Digizerk". It was only a question of time that global digitalization would be introduced on cemeteries. The …
Ferrari Tomato
Koert van MensvoortDo you happen to know the Dutch Tomatoes? They look like Ferrari's and taste like shit. They are redder, rounder, larger, and maybe even healthier than the ones from our gardens. …
Eyebox
Arnoud van den HeuvelFuture billboards will be looking back at you! The Eyebox2 can track the gaze of several people at once from 10 metres away in order to know how much attention the billboard is …
Flesh Nike
Koert van MensvoortA Nike shoe stapled together with human flesh, created by Adam Brandejs .
Haptic technology
Arnoud van den HeuvelHaptic technology refers to technology which interfaces the user via the sense of touch by applying forces, vibrations and/or motions to the user (Just think of the Wii ). At the …
Hug T-Shirt
Rolf CoppensIf you're longing for the touch of a loved one who is a few thousand miles away, what better way than to pick up the Hug Shirt for the both of you? This shirt is capable of …
Hyper Animals
Koert van MensvoortNo no, don't worry! These hypernatural animals aren't the genetic surprise of some mad scientist, it is artist Sarina Brewer resampling, remixing and stitching together her Custom …
Modernistic Vaginas
Dr NaturalThe influence of modernism and its trend of thought that affirms the power of human beings to create, improve, and reshape the world, along with its clear universal style of …
Inversion / Tunnel house
Arnoud van den HeuvelThis week's peculiar images: Let the forces of nature redecorate your house once in a while... Some think it sucks, others call it a rebirth ! via designverb.com | Related posts: …
MDI Air Car
Arnoud van den HeuvelWill the oil-driven car grow extinct in the decades to come? Guy Negre (Fr) thinks so, for he invented: THE CLEAN GREEN DRIVING MACHINE! Utopia is near; this (toy ) car runs on …
MemorySticks / USB-tree
Arnoud van den HeuvelNow here's a nice piece of dead old nature I would like to stick in my computer! Notice the beautiful micro-organism-patterns. Designed by Oooms.nl Related posts: Sunflower …
Summit of the Mount Everest on Tour
Koert van MensvoortMount Everest is the highest mountain on Earth, as measured by the height of its summit above sea level. In May 2005, artist Xu Zhen led an ascent on Everest, and succeeded in …
Next humans
Arnoud van den HeuvelWhat will the human race look like in 1, 2, 3, 4 million years? Will it be one human race? Will there be a human race? Impressions of future scenario's must come from scientists, …
Not A Cornfield
Arnoud van den Heuvel"Not A Cornfield" is a project (2005) by Artist Lauren Bon. It's a living sculpture in the form of a field of corn east of Downtown Los Angeles. The site - historically a train …
Observe/me Bags
Koert van MensvoortNo, these aren't X-ray pictures, these are designers bags! Part of the Observe/me fashion line of bags, wallets, gloves and coats created for the modern observed people. …
p2p spiders
Rolf CoppensIt looks like spiders are learning from the web and use peer-to-peer technology to build their web: "Entomologists are debating the origin and rarity of a sprawling spider web …
People in Need Campaign
Dr NaturalEvery next nature typically parasites on some older nature, which as a result dries out and eventually vanishes. Only rarely this mechanism is made visible. The Dutch charity …
Philips Vibe Emotion Sensor
Arnoud van den HeuvelThe VIBE - emotional sensing necklace combines conductive ink and textile sensors. The necklace can read multiple biometric signals of the wearer and communicates them to other …
Pleo - the resurrected robot dino
Koert van MensvoortEver since Rosie from 'The Jetsons,' robots have been the next big thing, but the business case was never there. So far, companion robots have been a big flop in the market , but …
Printing virtuality
Arnoud van den HeuvelPhone, internet, television, photography, even books or music: today it is hard for the mind to escape from virtual worlds. A day without communication or interaction could make …
Sunflower Satellite Dish
Arnoud van den HeuvelHave an unsightly satellite dish? Time to pimp it with a giant all-weather sticker designed by The White Room . satellitedishsticker.com | schotelsticker.nl | also available at: …
Simulacra for Dummies
Hendrik-Jan GrievinkAnyone can explain Baudrillard with this move. After the recent passing-away of this philosopher, it seems appropriate to post this movie as an ultimate "Simulacra for Dummies". …
Sleeping beauty
Rolf CoppensWhere there is light, there is life. When you switch on the lamp, it provides you with light. You provide it with the generating power it needs togrow. Similar to living …
Smoke the World
Dr NaturalPeculiar image of the week: Smoke the World, Oil on Canvas (50x70) created by Mieke Gerritzen.
Modernistic Watermelon
Koert van MensvoortPeculiar object of the week is this square watermelon, found in Japan. Very practical and cost efficient when you want to pile them in boxes and ship them. Artist Piet Mondrian …
The Desktop Factory - Do It Yourself
Dr NaturalNowadays, most people can't make anything at home because it's too expensive. Roboticist Hod Lipson wants you to stop shopping and use his portable 3-D printer to make your own …
Treetrunk Bench
Dr NaturalOld nature meets next nature in the design by Jurgen Bey. Related: How to grow a Chair , Folding Chair , Sketch furniture , Dynamic terrain .
TV Helmet
Dr NaturalTV-Helmet (Portable Living Room) made by in the '60s by Walter Pichler- Photo: Werner Kaligofsky. Via: We make Money not Art , Mouse . Related: Conditioned , Schöne Aussichten , …
X-finger
Arnoud van den Heuvelwired.com | video | Related posts: Robotic hand | Bionic arm Invented by Dan Didrick of Naples, Florida, the device has NO batteries, electronics, servos or actuators. Instead, …
All Is Full Of Love
Arnoud van den HeuvelWhile time seems to flow in this one direction, some people just know how to walk straight through that fourth dimension; catch it in a videoclip and throw the message into …
All the water and air on earth..
Dr Natural... gathered into spheres and compared to the Earth. The water sphere (blue) in this computer visualization measures 1390 kilometres across and has a volume of 1.4 billion cubic …
Feelings Translated to Plants
Koert van MensvoortAmbient Biomedia is an investigative project about using living beings, in particular plants, to display human lifestyle problems information. The working principle of our systems …
Apples and Oranges
oustamanSeen in an article of Smashing Magazine . See also: Better than the real thing .
Augmented Reality Girlfriend
Arnoud van den HeuvelUsing the special cube, stick, and web camera, ARis will appear and move around in the monitor of your PC. When you touch her by the AR Stick, she shows various reactions. You can …
BicycleBot
Arnoud van den HeuvelMurata Boy, is a robot capable of riding bicycles unassisted. Balancing, pedaling and directing the bicyclee, turning the bike to avoid obstacles, etc. And this is his nephew, …
Big Dog got puppies
Arnoud van den HeuvelWe posted this fella two years ago but the guys at Boston Dynamics haven't been sitting still. Improvements have been made and Big Dog got puppies! Little Dog (a learning robot …
BlobWall
Dr NaturalWho would not need a blobwall in their officegarden? This modular freestanding, indoor/outdoor wall system was designed by Greg Lynn . It is made of a low-density, recyclable, and …
Britney
Rolf CoppensNobody in recent history was (and is) made by media like Britney Spears. This one is for you, B. Made by
DogFish
Arnoud van den HeuvelTry selling cars these days without some good old genetic manipulation...
Dutch water-management - mud obsession..
SaraOnce the Dutch became famous for their 'water-management'. Lately, their famous 'trick' turned into an obsession for mud, resulting into several experiments in and around Dubai . …
Rotating Skyscraper
Koert van MensvoortRemember the wind shaped pavilion ? In Dubai they do it bigger. Architect David Fisher designed a skyscraper that rotates by wind power. Each floor rotates independently at …
Eethapnl
Arnoud van den HeuvelPeculiar image created by Matías Lecaros (Santiago, Chile), promoting that famous boardgame . Inspired -of course- by Damien Hirsts Some Comfort Gained from the Acceptance of the …
Elephant Artist
Arnoud van den HeuvelThis weeks peculiar image was made by Elephant Artist Sri Siam at the Lamphang Elephant Camp in Thailand. It is hard to tell whether the elephants actually know what they are …
Fake for Real: Man in the Mirror
Koert van MensvoortSome days when we look in the mirror we like what we see, some days less so. Would it not be great to be able to tweak the image a bit? After all, it is our main manifestation to …
Fake for Real video
Video of the Fake for Real Memory Game , presented by Hendrik-Jan Grievink & Koert van Mensvoort at the Style First exhibition in the museum Mudac , Lausanne, Switzerland. …
Fake for Real: White House
Koert van MensvoortThe White House, seat and symbol of the US government, is built in a Roman style, which was in turn inspired by Greek architecture. At left, we see it applied in the Villa …
Faked Fireworks at Beijing Olympics
Koert van MensvoortA local Chinese newspaper, The Beijing Times , revealed some of the staggering fireworks at the opening of the Beijing Olympics were actually not fireworks, but computer graphics. …
Today in Los Angeles...
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Gel Remote
Koert van MensvoortHuman-product relationships increasingly play out in a realm which was previously considered exclusive for human-human and human-animal relationships. Panasonic now redesigned one …
Grasscutter Architects
Arnoud van den HeuvelTen tons of cement were pourred into this grasscutters ant colony, revealing a subterranean structure of 8 meters / 26 feet deep. 'Ant-City' was built including circulating …
Honeycomb vase
Koert van MensvoortThis Honeycomb vase was made from a vase-shaped hive that 40.000 bees colonized for one week, building a hexagonal comb to encompass the existing form. Created by Studio Libertiny …
Hurricane Control Causes a Storm of Lawsuits
Koert van MensvoortControlling hurricanes could save lots of lives and dollars. According to a study published in by climate physicist Daniel Rosenfeld , adding dust to Hurricane Katrina's base …
Hyper Fish
Koert van MensvoortWhile swimming in second life, India Leigh came across this cool lion fish. See also: Redefining Nemo , Augmented Fish Reality , Who wants to drive a fish? .
If the Implications of Global Warming Were Fair
Koert van MensvoortContrary to popular belief, global warming is not simply a bad thing: there are winners and losers. While low-lying countries, like Bangladesh, are expected to suffer extensively …
iHam
Arnoud van den HeuvelI eat... therefore iHam . ijam.es (by shackleton.es ) | ( Apple has a webapp called iHam... but it's far less interesting) Related: Greener Apple | The Tissue Engineered Meat of …
Image Consumption Continues...
Arnoud van den Heuvel"Do you know what it really reminds me of? ... Tasty Wheat . Did you ever eat Tasty Wheat ?" – from The Matrix. This is a project by pundo3000.com , in which 100 products were …
In the Wilderness
Koert van MensvoortRecently, I had some free time to return to my old passion of landscape painting. But somehow things seemed to have changed in the wilderness.
Banana Juice Box
oustamanThis Japanese Juice box is camouflaged from modern box designs and tries to convince consumers with its appealing 'natural' look. A schoolbook example of biomimicmarketing ; …
Mice cloned from freezer – Mammoths next?
Dr NaturalIs the second coming of the woolly mammoth near? Researchers at Japan’s Institute of Physical and Chemical Research ( RIKEN ), who have successfully cloned mice from carcasses …
Million dollar burger
Rolf CoppensPETA –People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals– has posed a challenge to the world's scientific community: The first person to come up with a method to produce commercially …
Modernistic Chair
Koert van MensvoortIn the category: Creativity with modernistic tree trunks . Created by the good people of Draw me a sheep , who with this project aim to explore today’s human relationship with …
Multifunctional city farming
Tijn KooijmansThis installation in P.S. 1 countryard (NY) serves as a music stage, leisure space and a vertical public farm. It grows - amongst others - peas, mint, rhubarb, and fennel. …
Not just Second Life, but Multiple Lives
MTHow real is World of Warcraft? When lines get blurred and people voluntarily throw themselves in a state of digital schizophrenia; current values and norms change in ways …
Observing Next Nature
Koert van MensvoortYou can watch it grow in front of your eyes. Via Core.form-ula .
PacMan's Skull
Koert van MensvoortPacMan's skeleton is our peculiar object of the week. It was created by Le Gentil Garcon , in collaboration with Fransois Escuilia, palaeontologist, from the comparative …
Peer-to-Peer Immigration
Koert van MensvoortAt the beginning of the computer era, many objects and experiences from everyday life were transferred to the digital environment in order to make technology understandable (think …
Puppy Bag
Koert van MensvoortWherever you go, always carry your puppy with you. In the category 'absurd-products-that-show-our-consumptive-attitude-towards-animals'. Buy one here , or here . See also: Catbag …
Solar Trees
Arnoud van den HeuvelWelsh designer Ross Lovegrove ('Captain Organic') placed several glowing Solar Trees in the streets of Vienna (October 2007). These solar powered streetlights could save cities …
Speaking at the Wall
Koert van MensvoortI used to hear voices in my head, but now they seem to be coming from the walls – am I back in to the womb? No wait.. it's a wall that reacts to the spectators voice (quicktime) . …
Teddy's Atonomy
Arnoud van den HeuvelWool sculptor Stephanie Metz researched the meaning of 'cute' through the morphology of some Teddy bear species. Related posts: PacMan's Scull | Animatus
The Blogging Houseplant
BramMeet midori-san , the first blogging houseplant! Through sensors connected to the leaves of this Sweetheart Hoya reads bioelectric currents through the plant, this gives …
The Evolution of the Richer
Diogo CorreiaAre we on the verge of a future human evolution, one that isn’t, at least in it’s very core, “the survival of the fittest”, but rather “the evolution of the richer”? Think about …
The first map of the internet
Arnoud van den HeuvelIts simplicity is one of a kind and it takes my breath when I realize that this little drawing is actually the internets Big Bang point of origin. It shows the first node on the …
The Invisible Movie
Hendrik-Jan GrievinkIn the Netherlands, there is a raging debate about a movie nobody ever saw. It seems that images have become so powerful, we don't even need them anymore to scare the hell out of …
The Photoshop Beauties
Koert van MensvoortUsually we don't realize the hours of photoshopping spent on magazine and advertising images before publication. The raw photographic material reveals a lot about the fine craft …
The Sun is Always Setting Somewhere Else
Koert van MensvoortImage created by Lisa Oppenheim using images downloaded from the internet of sunsets taken by soldiers in Iraq, then positioned in front of the setting sun in New York. Via VVork .
Traffic nature
Rolf CoppensJapanese scientists made people drive in circles to find out how traffic jams get born. Related: Human Swarms | Harvesting Traffic Information through GSMs | The things we design …
Soft Drinks for Suckers
Arnoud van den HeuvelTru Blood is a synthetic nutrient for vampires that completely eliminates the need to seek sustenance from any living creature. Packaged as a consumer good at your local …
Voyage of the Bacteria Bots
Dr NaturalThe 1966 science-fiction movie Fantastic Voyage famously imagined using a tiny ship to combat disease inside the body. With the advent of nanotechnology, researchers are inching …
Water in my phone
Koert van MensvoortWater inside your phone used to be rather devastating, but with the NEC FOMA N702iS (only in Japan) , designed by Oki Sato, it is turned into a joy. Watch the faked fluid move on …
A More Realistic Zoo
Koert van MensvoortGoing to the zoo is a favorite summer past-time. Visitors to the Schönbrunn Zoo in Vienna will see lots of animals in recreated ‘natural’ habitats. Except this summer, along with …
Aging Barbie
Koert van MensvoortYou wouldn't give it to her but Barbie is already over 50 years old. The doll made her debut at the American International Toy Fair in 1959 and has been a young girls (and gays) …
Another Skeleton Car
Koert van MensvoortThis one is kinda sporty! Again created by Jitish Kallat – this emerging indian artist must have a whole skeleton-automotive-industry in place by now? Related: Aquasaurus , …
Antenna Tree Mast Safari
Arnoud van den HeuvelThis picture was taken in Zambia by Sarah Los (NL) while on wildlife safari . Every fairly trained "NextNature spotter" should be able to distinguish the cellphone-tree masts from …
Anthropomorphic 3d webcam
Dr NaturalThis new 3D webcam with two cameras spaced approximately as far apart as human eyes is our anthropomorphic object of the week. Can you feel it, watching you? The little brother …
ARM•ME
Rolf CoppensLOUIS VUITTON AK-47 GUCCI MP-5 Justin Melnick is an avid photographer, digital artist, and has lived in the Middle East. All of these influences have come together in his latest …
Ars Electronica Festival goes Next Nature
This years edition of the Ars Electronica festival , which has been hangout for international experts from the arts and sciences for almost three decades, focuses on the nature …
Biodiversity of Green Brands is Increasing
Koert van MensvoortThis collection of green, leafy, eco, enviro, bio, organic logo's was collected by Andrew Kinnear . See also: Five strategies of biomimicmarketing , Biodiversity in the …
Computational Wood
Koert van MensvoortDr. Herb Smokler teaches us how to husband and harvest Computational Wood. Omitting he jerky production value of the video, one has to appreciate the inventive idea of treating …
Cursor Kite
Dr NaturalCursor Kite brings the desktop of your computer outdoors. Nerdy? Yep, but the youtube video of the mouse pointer exploring the beach is fun to watch. Related: Boomeranged …
Economy, as Seen From Space
Koert van MensvoortReliable data on economic growth is hard to come by in many parts of the world, especially in developing countries. Yet according to scientists, outer space offers a new …
Energy-aware Internet-routing
Arnoud van den HeuvelData-hungry companies like Google, Microsoft and Amazon could reduce their energy consumption with 40% by rerouting data to locations where electricity prices are lowest on a …
Energy Consumption Shown on Power Plant
Koert van MensvoortInformation decoration on a city scale. Every night from the 22 to the 29 of February 2008, the vapor emissions of he Salmisaari power plant in Helsinki will be illuminated to …
Energy Saving Chandelier
Koert van MensvoortI deem you have to be over sixty to have an object with so many historical layers of media in your house. Let's analyze. We are looking at a chandelier in which the candle …
Feeding the world: oh not organic
Koert van MensvoortDaring talk by agriculture expert Louise Fresco , who has the guts to break the organic trance of the fashionably-natural-farmers-market people at TED . During her talk she is …
From Genes, to Memes, to Temes
Koert van MensvoortSusan Blackmore studies memes: ideas that replicate themselves from brain to brain like a virus. She makes a bold new argument: Humanity has spawned a new kind of meme, the teme, …
Green Glowing Monkeys
Arnoud van den HeuvelJapanese researchers of the Central Institute for Experimental Animals , took a green fluorescent protein gene of a jellyfish, wove it into the DNA of a few marmosets embryos, …
High Line Park
Rolf CoppensOn elevated unused traintracks the city of New York created a park. Nice work, makes me think of the unnatural nature of parks I visit sometimes. Typically, the park is designed …
How do Bacteria Communicate?
Arnoud van den HeuvelSo here we are; bragging about our discoveries and great new ways of living... meanwhile we tend to forget that we are NOT the dominant species on the surface of the earth. …
iReligion
Koert van MensvoortGraphic designer Roel Boonen takes the Apple cult to the extreme with this iReligion triptych. His piece is illustrative on how central corporations and digital technology have …
Kiwi Juice Packaging
Koert van MensvoortWhat you see is what you get – at least that is what you hope – with this biomimicked kiwinut juice packaging designed by Naoto Fukasawa. See also: Image consumption , Image …
Laptop Pillow
Koert van MensvoortWith who or what do we have contact the most in our daily life routines? Our family, our bed pillow, doorknobs maybe? The answer is probably: Display. And now there is even a …
Live with Micro-Algae
c.sallustroThe Eco Pod is a experimental design proposal towards the production of clean and renewable energy, which should operate in old, abandoned buildings. Pending an eventual recovery, …
Doggerland – Mapping a Lost World
Koert van MensvoortSo you think climate change is new? So you think the flooding of landmass by the oceans is a new? So you must have not heard of the times when people walked from London to …
Mapping the DNA World
Koert van MensvoortDNA related tools, once expensive and restricted to research and crime labs, are rapidly becoming affordable. Like GPS – once a high-tech wonder now turned into a everyday gadget …
Mapping the human desire to be touched
Dr NaturalFleshmap touch investigates the collective perception of erogenous zones. Hundreds of people ranked how good it would feel to touch or be touched by a lover in different points of …
Genomics & the mapping of a wine grape
Koert van MensvoortWhat is genomics? How will it affect our lives? Serial entrepreneur Barry Schuler explains the genomics revolution. We are now not just reading genomes, we are writing them. …
Mountain Sofa
Rolf CoppensGive in to your god-complex by sitting on this Mountain Sofa by Gaetano Pesce .
Nano snowman
Rolf CoppensThis snowman is 10 µm across, 1/5th the width of a human hair. The snowman was made from two tin beads used to calibrate electron microscope astigmatism. The eyes and smile were …
Next Nest
Koert van MensvoortWhen a bird builds a nest, we call it nature, but when a human puts up an apartment building, suddenly it’s culture? As if the dividing line between nature and culture wasn't …
Nocturnal Life of Diurnal Birds
Matthijs.KwakEnglish Robins are forced to sing their song during the night. Not because they have figured out that music just sounds better in the dark, but because they can't compete with the …
Organic Condom
Dr NaturalWhile out in the wilderness , I was in need for a condom. This is what I found. It doesn't look very comfortable, but having an organic lifestyle has it's price I guess? Peculiar …
Orthorexia Nervosa: the "healthy" eating disorder
Koert van MensvoortFollowing anorexia nervosa (under eating) and bulimia nervosa (overeating and compensating), orthorexia nervosa (obsessively healthy eating) is the latest eating disorder in the …
Pimp My Planet
Koert van Mensvoort"We live in a time where everything or everyone can be upgraded or ‘pimped'. After the worldwide acceptance of plastic surgery, it was time to subject our worldly possessions …
Rain Choir
Koert van MensvoortAll right I am the first to admit this thunderstorm imitation by the a Capella choir Perpetuum Jazzile isn't exactly what we had in mind when we started our discussion on 'the …
Real Mario (closeup)
Koert van MensvoortIn next nature, video game characters become part of your everyday environment, however I am no sure if I would hire this guy to do my plumbing. This hyperreal Mario was created …
Steam Horse
Koert van MensvoortThis remarkable proposal for a steam powered street locomotive was invented by Mathewson in 1876. According to the inventor the goal was to make a machine resembling a horse in …
Sunflowers – electric gardening
Koert van MensvoortA retail lot in Austin, Texas recently sprouted a field of solar photovoltaic sunflowers that soak up the sun’s rays to provide shade while generating a steady stream of …
Synthetic biology demystified
Koert van Mensvoort://nextnature.net The expanding research culture of synthetic biology demystified in this TV item on the International Genetically Engineered Machine competition . Via Posthuman …
Tangible hologram projector
Koert van MensvoortUsing ultrasound technology, researchers at the University of Tokyo have developed a holographic projector that displays three-dimensional virtual objects you can feel with your …
Branded Pigs
Koert van MensvoortWhat are these people doing? Of course! They are tattooing a pig with the pattern of the luxury bag brand Louis Vuitton. For those who want something more special than the mundane …
The Trillion Node Network
Rolf Coppens"I think there is a world market for maybe five computers" , a remark made by Thomas J. Watson of IBM in 1943. But what if the number of computing devices connected to each other …
Think Hello
Arnoud van den HeuvelRemember Asimo ? Honda has now developped a new Brain-Machine Interface technology that allows humans to control the humanoid robot simply by thinking certain thoughts. The BMI …
This way for Survival
Koert van MensvoortCulture fakes nature? An ultralight plane piloted by an Operation Migration team member is guiding whooping cranes from Wisconsin to their winter nesting grounds in Florida. For …
Tree Shapers
Arnoud van den HeuvelPeter Cook and Becky Northey are tree shapers. Their designs are so ten years ago ; but still worth a post. Materials used: water, sunlight, soil... and a sprout planted in 1998 …
Unfolding the Earth - Myriahedral projections
Koert van MensvoortHow can we unfold the Earth? Making a map of the earth is an ancient problem. For thousands of years cartographers, mathematicians, and inventors have developed methods to …
Virtual Characters tortured for Science
Koert van MensvoortIn the classic Milgram Experiment conducted in the 1960s, volunteers were told by an authority figure to deliver electric shocks to another person as punishment for incorrect …
3D Bioprinter promises tissue on demand
Koert van MensvoortBehold "the world's first production model 3D bio-printer." A machine capable of arranging human cells and artificial scaffolds into complex three-dimensional structures, which …
Becoming female
Rolf CoppensA shot of a male body after a sex change by dutch artist and photographer Martin C. de Waal . De Waal tries to make people rethink their opinions by pushing the boundaries of …
Bird + Subwoofer
Michael KluverThe Bell Isle Zoo is one of the examples of the decay of the once great city of Detroit. Situated on an island in the Fleming Channel, the zoo was shut down years ago because of …
BMW's Flexible Skin Concept GINA
Michael KluverThis extraordinary concept model that came out of the batcave of BMW shows how textile might be the future of car design. By replacing metal bodywork with a strong but flexible …
Botnet Storm
Koert van MensvoortNo, this is not some solar system far, far away. Closer than you think, this is is a visualization of a botnet storm . For all you know this malicious virus, or one of its …
Bread-in-a-Can
Hendrik-Jan GrievinkThis morning I woke up early and started the day with a cup of coffee and some slices of wholewheat bread and dutch cheese. I realised that bread is one of these few products that …
Breathe, Believe, Surf the Web
TimoA while ago a plan was proposed within the European Union to add a “Three Strikes, Out” law regarding to copyright infringement. After three accuses of copyright infringement by …
Candlelight Switch
Koert van MensvoortCreated for the niche target group of nostalgic button freaks, by Aram Bartholl .
Connected
Koert van MensvoortThis is your life. We concur. Self portrait by Kasey McMahon made of s teel, CAT5 and other data cables . Photo by Kevin Rolly . Peculiar image of the week.
Constellation
Koert van MensvoortNo this is not some stellar system far away. What is it then? Lets make another picture, this time with the flashlight on... ...and we learn the small universe is comprised by LED …
CosmoCosmetics
Rolf CoppensThings that make us feel and look good. Branded nature? Created by Russian design agency Firma .
Digital Trashcan in a Physical Office
Koert van MensvoortThe Swedish design group Front brings the principle of the digital computerdesktop trashcan back to the physical world. When your trashcan basket is full it bulges outward. When …
Dog Modding in China
Hendrik-Jan GrievinkAs a child, I already saw some great tiger potential in my cat and some shark-ish attitude in the behaviour of my goldfish. Personally, I think that since we started domesticating …
Doll Box Coffins
Koert van MensvoortThis interactive piece called Boys & Girls was made by artist Job Koelewijn , who invites people to take place in the life size coffin–style Barbie & Ken packages, where …
From Analog to Digital, back to Analog
SandraSuijkerbuijkBitquid is an installation by Jeroen Holthuis which shows digital information transferring in an analogue way, through the use of fluorescent liquid. Nowadays the use of internet …
Geminoid Female
Arnoud van den HeuvelProfessor Hiroshi Ishiguro ( Intelligent Robotics Laboratory at Osaska University) has done it again! This time in coöperation with robot-maker Kokoro Co. Ltd . Objective: to …
Google Earth Alphabet
Hendrik-Jan GrievinkLanguage is communication technology. As Marshall McLuhan said, the spoken word was ‘the first technology by which man was able to let go of his environment in order to grasp it …
Half Life
Koert van MensvoortMeet the next species. Director David Lea's wondrous fantasy of remixed biodiversity after nuclear meltdown. Made for Greenpeace.
Harddrive on legs
Koert van MensvoortDrive Legs is a portable hard drive which stands up if liquid is spilled near it. Created by James Chambers , who is experimenting with giving products defense mechanisms to …
Highlanders in the Lowlands: Re-enactment of an Extinct Cow
Koert van MensvoortAt the end of every cold winter there is a debate in the Netherlands on whether the forestry service should feed the oxes, horses and deers grazing the Dutch nature resorts. The …
In Pursuit of Artificial Flavoring
Koert van MensvoortFollowing in the footsteps of a Marco Polo-esque spice trade, next nature explorers Jon Cohrs and Ryan Van Luit travel by canoe past massive cargo ships and factories in search of …
Kapitaal
Koert van MensvoortSo you thought augmented reality is something new? Guess you are so attuned to the already existing augmentation of reality that you don't even notice it anymore. The short film …
Lets Grow an Avatar Forest
Ruben DaasAfter making the successful and popular movie Avatar (2009), James Cameron started the Avatar Home Tree Initiative . This initiative consists of building "Avatar" forests on 17 …
Mad Cow Motorcycle
Koert van MensvoortWhat do you get when you combine bike parts, an electric motor, and a cow skeleton? Our peculiar object of the week was created by artist Billie Grace Lynn . Seen at Museum of Art …
Matt Ridley – When Ideas have Sex
Koert van MensvoortAt TEDGlobal 2010 , author Matt Ridley argues how, throughout history, the engine of human progress has been the meeting and mating of ideas to make new ideas. According to …
Media Sunrise
Koert van MensvoortOr is it a sunset? Not sure. Ubiquitous corporature either way. Image by Mieke Gerritzen .
Medicinal All-Salt
Michael KluverDo you suffer from small health inconveniences and do you like to put salt on your morning egg? Why not combine the two? Medicinal All-Salt provides a low-dosage solution for …
Memory Helmet
Arnoud van den HeuvelProtection is the fundamental purpose of the helmet. This helmet, a conceptual design project by Seungjoo Lee , enables the storage and protection of memories. Plug in your USB to …
Mirror Neurons – Simulation at the basis of Human Civilization
Koert van MensvoortWithin our society, imitation and simulation are typically seen as inferior symbols of a distorted mediated culture – think of fake Rolexes, plastic Christmas trees, silicone …
Motorola's Agressive Biomimicmarketing
Koert van MensvoortFinally a piece of biomimicmarketing (= using images of nature to market a product) that portrays nature as aggressive and destructive, rather than the idealizing and …
Mud Tub
Koert van MensvoortMud tub is an experimental tangible interface that allows people to control a computer while playing in the mud. By sloshing, squishing, pulling, punching, etc, in a tub of mud …
Nano Supermarket Opens its Doors
Nanotechnology is an important emerging technology of our time – it radically intervenes with our sense of what is natural – yet most people are still relatively unaware of its …
Nature is an Agreement
Tracy MetzNature is an agreement. Just like the nude beach. Here you keep your breasts and your crotch covered, There you drop everything and act like it is the most ordinary thing in the …
Next Nature Movie #10 – Idiocracy
Koert van MensvoortAs we are nearing the end of the year, and anticipate you might have some time to watch a film, we discus our top 10 Next Nature movies. Idiocracy (2006) is not a great film, …
Next Nature Movie #3: Koyaanisqatsi
Koert van MensvoortKoyaanisqatsi (1982) is a film with no actors, no storyline, and no dialogue. The only things we see are landscapes, images of cities, and people going about their regular lives. …
Next Nature Spotter – iPhone application
While the spotting of old nature phenomena in our surroundings – birds, insects, trees, stars, etc – has a large tradition enjoyed by millions, the spotting of next nature …
Robosaurus eats Cars for Breakfast
Koert van MensvoortThe Robosaurus is the only airplane eating, fire breathing robot on the planet. Pity the thing is merely build for entertainment purposes. Perhaps this thing could finally solve …
Seashells are becoming Unnecessary
Minke KampmanAt the beach, I'm always on the look-out for seashells big enough to hold against my ear to hear the sound of the sea . This child-like behavior still resonates with me. But I got …
Self Catching Fish
Koert van MensvoortResearchers at the Marine Biological Laboratory at Wood's Hole, Massachusetts, are testing a plan to train fish to catch themselves by using a sound broadcast to attract them into …
Nano Product: Spider Silk Condoms
Hendrik-Jan GrievinkAre we creating the penicillin or the asbestos of the 21st century? In the months preceding our Nano Supermarket Project , we share some speculative nanotech products with you. …
Spot of the Month: Arbor Artificialis Naturalis
Our first spot of the month was made by Tijn Kooijmans, who pinpointed the first Dutch Arbor Artificialis Naturalis planted in 1999 by telecom provider Libertel. You too can share …
Stelarc wins Prix Ars Electronica
Koert van MensvoortGlad to announce that performance artist Stelarc – who already for some decades incorporates themes of cyborgization and other human-machine interfaces in his (very bodily) work – …
Stephen Hawking: Übermensch
Koert van MensvoortThis sculpture of scientist Stephen Hawking – who is both highly intelligent as well as highly dependent on technology – is our peculiar image of the week. Created by by Dinos …
Toy Emissions
Koert van MensvoortYou know the HeHe collective from their laser projection on a power plant emission cloud . But did you know these folks have a real emission clouds fetish going on? In this …
Traces of Everyday Embedded in Textile
Koert van MensvoortThe ‘Decay’ project explores how traces of time and use can be embedded in textile. By wearing a carbon fibre suit over a white blouse, textile designer Marie Ilse Bourlanges …
Twitwee Clock
Hendrik-Jan GrievinkHaroon Baig from Germany has figured out a way to key up the amount of 50+ Twitter addicts. This progressive nostalgic cuckoo device displays new tweets from any twitter stream or …
Under the Beach Lies the Pavement
Koert van MensvoortDuring the riots of 1968 , as students in Paris ripped up paving stones and threw them at the police, one of the rallying cries was “sous le pave: la plage” (under the pavement: …
Unlimited Urban Woods
Rolf CoppensWhat to do when you have a small city with limited space, and you rather turn available space into parking lots instead of parks? You turn to DUS Architects for an unlimited …
Urban Mining – Gold digging in the Sewers
Koert van MensvoortResource-poor Japan discovered a new source of mineral wealth: sewage sludge. In its first month of operation, a sewage plant in Japan’s Nagano prefecture has mined 5 million yen …
Virtual | Real pet
Minke KampmanIn the 70's we had the pet rocks that have gotten lost over the years in drawers and attics. The 90's gave us Tamagotchi's to look after, which we could reset if all else failed. …
Whether or not we should engineer the Weather
Minke Kampman"Owning the Weather" is a documentary about geo-engineering by Robert Greene. It's about whether or not we should engineer the weather and the different impacts that this has. …
A Savannah Inside the Dumpster
Allison GuyFor most of us, obtaining food is easy. We go to the grocery store, where fruits are labeled and meats arranged by species. We go to a restaurant, sit, and wait for our food to …
Alex Gross
Koert van MensvoortIndulge in the paintings by Alex Gross . There is 'something' next nature about them... If happen to have more information on what that 'something' is, feel free to enlighten us …
Amber Case: We are all Cyborgs Now
Koert van MensvoortTechnology is evolving us, says cyborg anthropologist Amber Case in her 8 minutes of TED . We become a screen-staring, button-clicking new version of homo sapiens, relying on …
Angel with Cellphone adorns Cathedral
Koert van MensvoortTo mark the twelve-year restoration of the Sint Jan cathedral in Den Bosch, a new statue of an angel carrying a mobile phone was added to the building. The angel joins the many …
Blinky – Does what we want it to do
Sebastiaan WolzakIn the short movie Blinky, on a boy and his robot, director Ruari Robinson reflects on our daily dealings with technology and its risks. Alex is a child growing up in a family …
Blue, Belgian and Beefy
Allison GuyThe Belgian Blue is a unique cattle breed that was developed quite accidentally in the late 1800s. An chance mutation lead the cattle to develop 'double muscling,' which occurs …
Body Manipulation and Music
Allison GuyLucy McRae uses spandex to deterritorialize the body. #powershow #bodyart http://bit.ly/th7KyR
Breeding QR codes
Koert van MensvoortYou look at the great dane and wonder what information the QR codes on its pelt might contain. You point your smart phone camera at the dog and realize you’ve been hit by a …
Bugged Bugs
Stefan FinckenSome of you might remember the Next Nature article by Rolf Coppens called Withus Oragainstus . Since then there have been occasional newsreports on cyborg insects. For instance …
Conquering the Skies
Luc de SmetEverywhere we go, we conquer the land and shape it to our preferences. The next place to build might as well be the clouds. Tiago Barros , designer and architect, has decided to …
Crickets Inspire New Sensitive Sensor
Stefan FinckenInspired by crickets, researchers of the MESA+ Institute for Nanotechnology of the University of Twente in the Netherlands have build a biomimetic sensor that can measure changes …
Crows crack nuts... and traffic patterns
Allison Guyhttp://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=BGPGknpq3e0 Narrated by the incomparable David Attenborough, this footage goes to show that urban birds really are smarter . The cross-walking …
Did Nature Cease to Exist in the '60s?
Koert van MensvoortOur historical snippet of the moment is a Canadian television fragment from 1968 featuring a debate between Norman Mailer and Marshall McLuhan on the implications of media …
E.Coli produced Spider Silk
Stefan FinckenIn a previous post we have reported on spider silk, it's applications and the way it is produced. Adding the gene responsible for the production of the spider silk protein to …
Earth 2.0 with Rachel Armstrong
Koert van MensvoortWhat are the differences between Earth 1.0 and Earth 2.0 technologies? Rachel Armstrong explains.
Entoforms
Bastiaan EkelerArtist Dolf Veenvliet ( Macouno ) is creating future fossil trilobites that have yet to exist. Using generative computer models, his Entoforms are not the result of millions of …
Fly Paper Clock
Koert van MensvoortBionic horror by designers James Auger and Jimmy Loizeau , who have created a clock that traps insects on flypaper before depositing them into a vat of bacteria. The resulting …
Holland Gets an Unnatural High
Allison GuyWhen the Dutch built the Netherlands , they forgot to add any mountains. The highest point in Holland is a measly 323 meters, compared to 2,962 meters for the highest mountain in …
Humane Technology #3: Take Human Values as a Cornerstone
Allison GuyThe third principle of humane technology: It should take human values as a cornerstone of its development. Technology doesn't have to be expensive or electronic to be humane. …
Inventing an Extinct Horse
Allison GuyAlong with the Heck cattle and Scottish Highlanders , another reconstructed species roams the Dutch dunes . The sturdy Konik horse , also known as the Polish primitive, is the …
Is that a hamster in your pocket or are you just pleased to see me?
Natalie DixonMobile phones may be the most affective technology we own but researchers at the Design Research Lab in Berlin have taken this notion to its most outlandish limit. Their cellular …
It's a plane!
Arnoud van den HeuvelBy nature, man is not meant to fly. But while we're at it, we may as well turn it into an experience . Charles Champion, Airbus Executive Vice President Engineering, envisions a …
Kitten Ears – Blushing 2.0
Koert van MensvoortAlways wanted a pair of kitten ears to express your feelings to the world? Well, you probably never thought of that – as you have to be a Japanese genius to come up with such an …
Labradoodle
Koert van MensvoortIndulge in its cuteness. The Labradoodle brings us the finest blend between the labrador and the poodle. Combining sociability with beauty, they are the perfect human companion. …
![Visual of Manko & Nothing [#5]](https://nextnature.net/media/pages/magazine/story/2011/manko-nothing-5/8f13acd5d1-1602632753/manco-4-868x486.jpg)
Manko & Nothing [#5]
Aston RevolaManko was completely cut off from everything around him, virtually dead, buried alive inside of his own body. He remembered Zero's advice not to panic, but to no effect. He had no …
Manufactured Rainbows
Bastiaan EkelerWhy wait for old nature to give us rainbows when we have so many ways of making our own? The image above shows solar-powered installation that uses recycled rainwater to create …
Mapping the Utilisphere
Allison GuyEarth has had a geosphere, atmosphere and biosphere for a few billion years. Only within the last several thousand years has earth gained a global noosphere, the intangible …
Mastering Bambi
Allison GuyIn the film Mastering Bambi, artists Persijn Broersen and Margit Lukacs have stripped the landscape of its cuddly, anthropomorphic characters. Over the course of the film, the …
Nature as a Product
Nature is a terrific marketing tool and corporations know this. Somehow the natural reference provides us with a familiar feeling of recognition and trust. We call this phenomenon …
Next Landscapes
Natalie DixonQuoted in a recent interview about his work, Landscapes without Memory , artist Joan Fontcuberta asked, “Could a natural nature exist? The answer is no, or at least, not anymore: …
Next Nature Book Trailer
Pop the champagne! Our must-read coffee table book was officially launched at the delightful and uplifting Next Nature Power Show in Amsterdam. Pictures and video's of the event …
Next Nature Server Dementia
Over the last few days the Next Nature website has been suffering symptoms of dementia due to a hardware failure at our very fancy and luxurious web hosting provider Media Temple …
Occasionally Extinct and Virtually Alive
Allison GuyJapanese researchers are currently working on cloning a mammoth, and plan to produce a fluffy new prehistoric calf within four or five years . The bucardo, an extinct subspecies …
Parks & Planes
Natalie DixonAlong with a library and museum, Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport recently added a park to its list of attractions. Officially opened by Princess Irene, the first Airport Park in the …
Playing with Microbes – Biotic Games
Koert van MensvoortStanford researchers are developing 'biotic games' involving paramecia and other living organisms. So far, they have created three games that mimic classic video games. The …
Policing Genes
Rolf CoppensThe genetics of the plants in your garden could become a police matter. Pharmaceutical companies are experimenting with genetically engineering plants to produce useful and …
Powershow 2011 in Two Minutes
NextNature.netLast November the Next Nature Power Show rocked Amsterdam with a roller-coaster of performances from artists, scientists, designers, writers and architects. This two minute …
Robots Love Animals Too
Allison GuySomeday robots may lead fish to safety. At least, that's the hope of Dr. Maurizio Porfiri, an Assistant Professor at the Polytechnic Institute of New York University and expert …
SMS Skyscrapers
Koert van MensvoortI reckoned Amsterdam did not have any sky scrapers, but I guess I wasn't looking through the right lenses. This sms-traffic Amsterdam skyline – made on new years eve 2007 – was …
Street View of the United States
Koert van MensvoortThe All Streets map visualizes of all the 240 million individual road segments in the United States. Although no other features — outlines, cities, or types of terrain — are …
Swallowable Parfum
Koert van MensvoortSwallowable Parfum is a digestible scented capsule that works through your own perspiration. Once absorbed, fragrance molecules are excreted through the skin’s surface. A unique …
Sympathy for the Device
Robin PohlTweenbots are small robots that depend on the kindness of strangers. They are only able to move straight forward and do this constantly. Once they get stuck in a hole or at a …
The Earth on Loan
Allison GuyChristian Schwägerl is a correspondent for Der Spiegel and the author of Menschenzeit (The Age of Man). He will be presenting his views on the Anthropocene at the Next Nature …
The Majestic Plastic Bag
Koert van MensvoortBehold the heroic journey of one of the most illustrious creatures on our planet. Created by the good people of Healthebay.org .
The Search for the "Real" Thanksgiving
Allison GuyThanksgiving is fake-for-real. While it's true that there was a minor harvest feast in 1621, held by English immigrants and Wampanoag Indians, the event was never celebrated …
The Woods Smell of Shampoo
Koert van MensvoortNamed after the story of a city girl that washes her hair with pine-needle shampoo and one day walks in the woods with her daddy says "Daddy! The Woods Smell of Shampoo", this …
Tokyo Nightscape – Before and After
Koert van MensvoortBy fading between scenes of pre- and post-quake Tokyo, this time-lapse video shows how Tokyo's nightscape has been affected by ongoing conservation efforts and power shortages. …
Traffic Sign Comic
Koert van MensvoortThis uncanny comical combination of traffic signs was spotted in the great city of Lisbon, Portugal. Notice the ignorant by-passers. I fear we might have a new genre here. …
Urban Birds have Bigger Brains
Koert van MensvoortResearchers learned that city birds have larger brains relative to their body size. No, they are not getting big-headed from their exposure to big-city sophistication, but rather …
Using Pigeons as Protestors
Allison GuyArtist Jaroslav Kyša has invented a novel form of social protest . By scattering seed in front of targets in London, he can attract droves of pigeons that disrupt shoppers and …
Virtual Offline Shopping
Marco van BeersAs the second most hardest working people on this planet, Koreans obviously dread their weekly shopping for groceries. It is therefore that Home Plus (Tesco in Europe) plastered …
Visualizing Wifi Landscapes
Rolf CoppensThis project explores the invisible terrain of WiFi networks in urban spaces by light painting signal strength in long-exposure photographs. A four-metre long measuring rod with …
Voodoo Phone
Koert van MensvoortJapanese professor Hiroshi Ishiguro from Osaka University has quite a track record of threading the uncanny valley. Remember his Doppelgänger Robot and Geminoid Female ? His …
Windmill Trees
Rolf CoppensA new Dutch landscape with windmills up to 120 meters. Designed by NL Architects .
21st Century Dutch Landscapes
Koert van MensvoortFor centuries the Dutch landscape has been known for its highly cultivated formal structure, however with the introduction of Google Maps a whole new layer of formalization has …
'Alp' Turns Containers into Refrigerators
NextNature.netTransporting and displaying cold food is an incredibly wasteful and inefficient process. Current display refrigerators, like those that display meats or cheeses in supermarkets, …
Architect Aims to Build House From Plastic Waste
Koert van MensvoortInterpreting the plastics in the Earths ecosystem as building material rather than as waste.
As Corn Withers in the Drought, Farmers Fatten Their Cows on Candy
Allison GuyFarmers have long made frugal use of their table scraps, feeding their leftovers to hogs, dogs and now, cows. In a bizarre sign of our cash-strapped and climate-changing …
Bioinspired Robojelly Can Swim Forever
JenniferScientists have developed a biomimetic robot that will be able to swim forever, since its artificial muscles are powered by water. And since Robojelly lives underwater, it will …
Bunny Doesn't Grow on Trees
Allison GuyHaving trouble getting the kids to eat their fruits and vegetables? Try turning their 5-a-day into a trendy, collectible toy. We've seen Buddha fruit and square watermelons …
Can Life Be a Technology?
Rachel ArmstrongIn 2009 the Initiative for Science, Society and Policy coined the phrase ‘living technology’ [1] to draw attention to a group of emerging technologies that are useful because they …
Coca-Cola embraces Organic Coke?
Koert van MensvoortCoca Cola company is considering to actually bring Organic Coke to the market?
Complete Computer Simulation of a Bacterium Holds Hope for Medicine
Allison GuyResearchers at Stanford and the J. Craig Venter Institute recently created the first complete computer model of an organism. The simulation models the genome and life processes …
Corpus 2.1
Hendrik-Jan GrievinkCould you imagine yourself having QR-code freckles, or a chlorophyl skin? Dutch artist Marcia Nolte visualises these kind of speculative scenarios in a very non-spectacular yet …
Does Chocolate Milk Come From Brown Cows?
Gillis van de ZandeAlthough chocolate milk producing cows may sound silly, scientists are seriously analyzing the feasibility of the idea. Why not add genes of cocoa and sugar to a cow, in order to create a cow that produces sweet chocolate milk?
Dumpster Fish the Future of Farming
Allison GuyCities have seen guerilla gardens, rooftop honey production, and fire escape chicken coops. Now, urban farmers may be adding aquaculture to the mix. Headed by ex-banker …
Eating In-Vitro: Kitchen Meat Incubator
Koert van MensvoortThe Kitchen Meat Incubator does for home cooking what the electronic synthesizer did for the home musician. It provides its users with a set of pre-programmed samples that can be …
Eating In-Vitro: Knitted Meat
Koert van MensvoortRather than growing whole steaks in bio-reactors, Knitted Meat assumes that it is more feasible to create thin threads of protein. Supermarkets sell balls of meat fiber seasoned …
Eating In-Vitro: Meat-Fruit
Koert van MensvoortLa Pâte Meat Fruit aims to seduce and inspire diners with an entirely new eating experience that balances eating meat and fruit. In vitro technology is used to grow meat …
Everything is an Event on the Skin
Koert van Mensvoortwrote 19th-century scientist and philosopher Hermann von Helmholtz. It was Helmholtz who inspired body-architect Lucy McRae to create Morph?.
Evolution is Blind
Koert van Mensvoort...thus it walks into a lot of dead alleys. Peculiar image of the week.
Fake Leaf is Twice as Efficient as the Real Thing
Allison GuyImproving on photosynthesis has long been a dream for scientists. The so-called artificial leaf – which wouldn't necessarily look like one – would run on only solar energy and …
Featured Page #01: Hypernature
Hendrik-Jan GrievinkDuring the coming weeks, we will present a selection of our favourite pages from the Next Nature book . To kick the series off, we’ll start with a spread about hypernature; the …
Four Objections to Lab-Grown Meat
Allison GuyIn vitro meat has been billed as a way to end animal suffering , put a stop to global warming , and solve the world's insatiable demand for animal protein. There's no doubt that …
Get into Buckminster Fuller
Koert van Mensvoort58:10 minute interview with polymath & nextnature thinker avant la lettre Buckminister Fuller.
Glass Gem Corn Looks Like Jewelry
Allison GuyMost corn has been selectively bred over the centuries to be a single color: yellow, white or blue. Glass gem corn, a varietal grown by Greg Schoen , harkens back to the days when …
Growing Fruit into Its Own "Juice Box"
Allison GuyBrazilian ad agency AGE Isobar spent two years experimenting in order to grow fruits into the shape of Camp's juice boxes. Immature limes, guavas and passionfruit were packed …
Happy Meat
Koert van MensvoortThe Happy Meat project combines the basic principles of the meat-industry and the toy-industry in an uncanny hybrid.
How To Grow Your Own Sneaker
Koert van MensvoortRaymond Ong creates uniquely customized fish leather by transferring the DNA of existing animal patterns on the skin of stingray fishes. This leather is then used to produce highly personalized sneakers.
Hybrid Hummer
Koert van MensvoortThere is something lustrous about a hummer pulled by horses. Peculiar image of the week.
Hybrid Meat
JenniferOn society's search to becoming a meatless one, several new kinds of 'meat' pop up in the food industry. From so called 'hybrid' meatballs, to 'the chicken that isn't', when will …
Living with Nature in the Post-Suburbs
Allison GuyMoMA in New York has a new exhibit exploring what can be done with American's only seemingly inexhaustible resource: foreclosed homes and sparsely inhabited suburbs. Nature-City …
Magnifiying the Universe
Koert van MensvoortNowadays the human impact on our planet can hardly be underestimated. Climate change, plastic islands, genetic manipulation – ‘We were here’ echoes all over. Yet, every now and …
Millions Mourn After Massacre Leaves City Littered with (Virtual) Dead
Jack"Earlier today, certain realms were affected by an in-game exploit, resulting in the deaths of player characters and non-player characters in some of the major cities," wrote a …
Mushrooms: The New Solution for our Plastic Problem?
Rens OverdijkYou cannot look around your local environment without seeing something made out of plastic. Almost all the stuff we buy is packaged in plastic. Since recycling packaging materials …
Nano in Milano
Hendrik-Jan GrievinkHello designers and design-lovers! The NANO Supermarket has arrived at the Salone in Milan, Italy. From today (april 18th) until sunday (april 22nd), we will present our …
Nano Product: Lungless
NextNature.net350 million years after crawling from the sea, the Lungless suit will bring us back. Inspired by fish gills, the Lungless Aquatic Respiration Suit uses millions of cascading …
NANO Supermarket at Lowlands Festival
Koert van MensvoortThis weekend some of our sustainable, energy related, NANO Supermarket products are exhibited at the lustrous Lowlands popfestival . Come visit us at the Llowlab to charge your …
NANO Supermarket in RTL Koffietijd
NextNature.netDesign fiction for the masses. Our NANO Supermarket was presented in the Dutch television show RTL Koffietijd (coffeetime). If you belong to the exquisite 5% visitors of this …
NANO Supermarket TV Commercial
Koert van MensvoortSneak peek into your nano future with the brand new NANO Supermarket TV Commercial.
Nanotech Diatoms
Allison GuyNo, those aren't plastic trinkets or beads from a craft store. They're diatoms, a group of single-celled algae, and unlike almost all of our current technologies, they can rapidly …
Next Nature Night in Rotterdam
Koert van MensvoortSome months ago the Rotterdam Think Café organized a Next Nature night featuring a prominent nextnature connoisseur.
Raise Crops on the Moon with Plant-Growing Jelly
NextNature.netIn dry areas like the desert, on mountain tops or on the moon it’s impossible to grow anything. Or is it? A rain in the desert sparks extreme plant growth from the moment the …
Sand Engine Reinforces Dutch Coastline
Koert van MensvoortNow here is an hands-on example of ‘guided growth‘ as a way to steer complex systems.
Should I be Afraid of...
Koert van MensvoortFor doom-mongers delight, the Berlin-based design studio Bold Futures made a handy interactive graph of the fatal disasters that might snuff us.
"Smart Highways" to Power Streetlights and Electric Cars
Allison GuyRoads are a ubiquitous, even defining aspect of our urban and suburban spaces. In the United States alone, parking lots and roads cover 16,000 square kilometers. So why must roads …
Surviving Progress
Koert van MensvoortMontreal filmmakers Mathieu Roy and Harold Crooks’ documentary feature, Surviving Progress presents the story of human advancement and reveals the risk of running the 21st …
Is Life on Earth Suicidal?
Allison GuyAt Next Nature, we often argue that "our image of nature as static, balanced and harmonious is naive and up for reconsideration ." Paleontologist Peter J. Ward happens to agree. …
The Sound of Silence? An Aircraft Engine.
Allison GuySilence is a thing of the past. Just as no place has been left untouched by climate change, there is no place on earth that is not 'polluted' by the sounds of planes, ships, and …
Thirsty? With a Cyborg Bladder, You'll Never Need to Drink
Allison GuySome desert animals, like the kangaroo rat, get through their lives without needing to drink even a drop of water. Now, a Japanese design company aims to make humans just as …
Transfer Your Window!
Jaap ArtsImagine you buy a special kind of window which you can place on your wall wherever you want, enabling you to get different views, not always looking at the same tree or house of your neighbors.
Turn Your Laptop into a Retro Typewriter
Allison GuyMiss the soothing clacking of typewriter keys? Long for satisfying clang of a carriage return? Noisy Typer , a piece of freeware for your Mac, adds the nostalgic noises of a …
Urban Heat Causes Trees to Grow Faster
JenniferThe high temperatures of urban environments causes trees to grow faster in the city than in rural areas. Researchers at Columbia's Earth Institute have discovered this by planting …
Vector Stones
Koert van MensvoortThese stones were dug up by future archaeologists, some centuries after the integration of the digital and the material world was completed. No seriously, our peculiar image of …
Video Game-Playing Robot Acts More "Human" than Humans
Allison GuyComputer-controlled players in video games can usually be spotted for their repetitive, illogical or unemotional behavior. Unlike humans, non-player characters (NPCs) don't get …
Why It's Time to Calm Down about "Invasive" GM GloFish
Allison GuyIs the neon green tetra GloFish soon to be the florescent, transgenic terror of America's waterways? The internet hype machine has repeated ad infinitum the Washington Post's …
Will Eugenics Become an Acceptable Strategy to Avoid Climate Change?
Koert van MensvoortClimate change is one of the biggest challenges of today and various scenarios, ranging from artificial trees , pollution trading , co2 capturing to geo-engineering, have been …
“Soccket” Ball Generates Free Electricity
Alessia AndreottiIt looks like a normal soccer ball, but Soccket has a secret: a hole for a charging cable. Designed by two Harvard students, the ball has a pendulum-like mechanism inside that …
A More Interesting, More Depressing Theory of Easter Island's Downfall
Allison GuyA new theory claims it wasn't human deforestation that caused the ecological collapse of Easter Island, but something smaller and squeakier.
Bird Sounds Visualised
Arnoud van den HeuvelMade to beat the real thing. By digital artist Andy Thomas .
CAMOVER: Destroy All CCTV Cameras!
Silvia CelibertiEarn points in an online game by destroying real-life CCTVs.
Control Your Environment with Myo
Alice FumeyA new armband interprets your muscle contractions to act as a novel computer interface.
Control Your Mobile Phone or Tablet Directly from Your Brain
Marije WillemsenSamsung is working on a brain interface that lets you go truly hands-free with your phone.
Disgusting, these Stingray Sneakers
Koert van MensvoortDutch NRC features a wonderful article today on our online film project The Rise & Fall of Rayfish Footwear.
Eco-Friendly Filter Sprouts Flowers
Alessia AndreottiA cigarette butt imbued with seeds grows flowers when it's discarded in dirt.
"Ento" Brand Normalizes Eating Insects
Allison GuyWhile Next Nature is hard at work normalizing the idea of eating lab-grown meat , a group of British design students are working to bring insect-eating into the mainstream. Though …
Food Simulator to Fulfill the Desire to Eat
Alessia AndreottiTwo master's students have created a speculative device to simulate the sensations of eating.
Forget Me Knot
Marco van BeersWe all know BioJewellery ; two wedding rings grown from bone tissue collected from two lovers. This intimate ring allows you to physically wear your partner around your finger. …
Frisky Whisky: Radioactive Booze from the Atomic Age
Allison GuyThe world's first – and hopefully last – whiskey aged with radioactivity.
From Street View Pics to Real-Life Ghosts
Alessia AndreottiThe pictures of Google Street View come to life.
Furniture Bondage
Koert van MensvoortHow the objects in our environment, which are supposed to serve us, at the same time also domesticate us.
Future Food House in Rotterdam
Koert van MensvoortBehold the first pictures of our Bistro In Vitro ice bar in the Future Food House.
Gamers Care as Much for Their Avatar as for Their Best Friend
Koert van MensvoortEmotionally the avatar has a similar position as ones best friend, despite its "virtual" presence and the often longer lasting relationship with ones best friend.
Google Birdhouse Shows Birds Their Way
Alessia AndreottiPutting the birds into the bird's eye view of Google Maps.
Have We Passed "Peak Automobile"?
Jonathon MarkowskiYou’ve heard about peak oil, but what about peak automobile?
How Much is a Polar Bear Worth?
Jonathon MarkowskiPolar bears bring only $9 million to the Canadian economy, but citizens put their collective value at $6.3 billion. Why?
If Barbie Had Human Proportions
Alessia AndreottiWhat does Barbie look like when she has the proportions of a normal 19-year-old?
I’ll Take A Variety of Fried Gadgets, Please
Alessia AndreottiIs a deep-fried iPad as unhealthy as a McDonald's meal?
Ingestible Microchips Monitor Medication
Stephen PerryDigestible Microchips are now approved by the US Food and Drug Administration.
Invisible Headphone Implants
Alessia AndreottiInvisible ear implants for listening to music, getting directions, and recording conversation.
Living Food
Koert van MensvoortMinsu Kim created a wonderful series of living dishes that wiggle and wave on your plate.
Moments in Meat History Part II- The Last Mammoths
Jonathon MarkowskiThe Mammoth was the last of the giant land mammals of the Pleistocene era.
Moments in Meat History Part IX - In-Vitro Meat
Jonathon MarkowskiIn 1995, the US FDA (Food and Drug Administration) approved the use of in-vitro techniques for commercial meat production, paving the way for lab-grown meat products to make their way to the market.
Moments in Meat History Part V- Industrialization of Farming
Jonathon MarkowskiIn 1876, the first cattle feedlot was established near Chicago.
Moss Table Powers Its Own Lamp
Allison GuyWhen moss photosynthesize, they release nutritious fats, carbs and proteins into their roots to feed colonies of helpful, symbiotic bacteria. In the process of breaking down these …
Moving From Password to Biometric Data
Alessia AndreottiUnlock our devices with our fingerprint, this technology for security represents a change in our digital life.
Mushrooms to Grow Surfboards, Shoes, and Even Your House
Allison GuyMushrooms are set to replace petroleum-based packaging... and a lot of other things too.
NASA Solves the Toxic 'New Car Smell'
Jonathon MarkowskiA new material can stop toxic off-gassing from plastics, but the 'new car smell' is so valuable the car industry might not change.
Neo-Evolution with Harvey Fineberg
Koert van MensvoortHumanity has three options when it comes to our evolution. Dr. Harvey Fineberg makes a case for "neo-evolution".
Next Natural Goats Adapt to Climb Trees
Alessia AndreottiThanks to evolution goats can climb, shifting their ecosystems to the trees.
Our Electronics, 100 Years Later
Alessia AndreottiAn artist envisions our consumer electronics in a century, moss-covered and half-decayed.
Paradise Reset
NextNature.netInterview with our own Koert van Mensvoort in the IKON Television Documentary 'Paradise Reset' on the future of human nature.
Plastic makes the world go round
Rolf CoppensCockroaches will inherit the world after humans are gone? Maybe not. Seeing plastic as the new moss, or algae, photographer Jeanny Kaethoven makes this beautiful pictures of …
Prosthetic Limbs Straight from Versailles
Allison GuyThe Alternative Limb Project makes beautifully fake artificial limbs.
Pubic Lice (Possibly) Going Extinct Due to Brazilian Waxing
Allison GuyWith each swipe of the razor or rip of the waxing strip, the world has unwittingly been massacring one of its most familiar species. In what may be the first extinction caused by …
Purple GM Tomatoes Prevent Cancer
Allison GuyA new strain of purple GM tomatoes last longer on shelves and help out cancer-prone mice.
Rollin' Safari
Arnoud van den HeuvelAssuming that true wildlife hàs gone extinct... Who needs the real thing when you can have a Next Safari ? Let's go and hunt for the plastic birds on the beach or watch genuine …
Are Hawaiian Monk Seals Natural? Not According to Some Hawaiians
Alessia AndreottiWhy native Hawaiian people are killing off native Hawaiian monk seals.
Shape-Shifting House Acts like a Flower
Jelle LangeraapImagine your home adapting itself to seasonal, meteorological and even astronomical conditions by changing its shape. D*Dynamic is based on the discovery of mathematician Henry …
"Soylent" Liquid Meals Will Save the World
Alice FumeyCan a meal replacer save us money, time, and maybe even save the world?
Strawberry Noir
Koert van MensvoortShould plants be genetically controlled to perform specific functions for us?
Toss the Brita: Bacteria Can Filter Antibiotics from Water
Fan ChenFilter and recover antibiotics from drinking water using only bacteria, water and sunlight.
Tree Caught up in the Matrix
Koert van MensvoortImagine how this tree must feel wondering "what is the Matrix?"
Twitter Gets Real in the Form of a Hotel
Alessia AndreottiA hotel where all communication is conducted by Twitter hashtag.
'Victimless Shelter' Grown from Pig Cells
Allison GuyWhile Next Nature was busy dreaming up new in vitro meat (IVM) foods, the mad scientists of Terreform ONE in New York went ahead and designed an entire dwelling made of IVM pig cells.
Visualizing Drone Attacks
Alessia AndreottiThe visualization of every known drone attack in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
We are already Cyborgs
Koert van MensvoortBuckle up for another cinematic espresso shot from our favorite performance philosopher Jason Silva.
We Are Not Alone Eating Fast Food
Lucie ViolleauBeekeepers in France have been puzzled by their bees producing blue and green honey. Turned out the bees were eating waste from an M&Ms factory.
What Will We Look Like in 100,000 Years?
Alessia AndreottiIn 100,000 years human beings might look like a manga character: big intense eyes, high forehead, large head, straight nose, more pigmented skin, and perfect symmetry. “There will …
Win the Next Nature iPad Appzine
NextNature.netThink you know your corporate animals? Show off your knowledge and win our Next Nature app!
50 Years Ago Asimov Predicted WiFi, Smartphones and Today's World Features
Alessia AndreottiIsaac Asimov predicts in 1964 what the world will look like today, in 2014.
A Brief History of Humankind
Koert van MensvoortHistorian Yuval Noah Harari takes us on a journey through the whole human history.
A Conversation with Kevin Kelly
Koert van MensvoortBuckle up for a 1:11:28 interview with technology philosopher and founding editor of Wired Magazine, Kevin Kelly.
All-Natural E-nemies
Silvia CelibertiChemistry teacher, James Kennedy, shows us that Mother Nature's products are far sneakier and complex than the lab's.
Ambulance Drone
Alessia AndreottiThe ambulance drone: an autonomously navigating mini aeroplane that can quickly deliver a defibrillator.
Bionic Plants
Alessia AndreottiScientists designed a way to improve the efficiency of plants light harvesting during the photosynthesis, using nanotechnology.
Faking a Holiday on Social Media
Alessia AndreottiDutch girl fakes an exotic holiday with the power of Photoshop and Facebook.
GMO Trees to Simplify Paper Production
Alessia AndreottiResearchers engineered poplar trees for an easier production of paper and biofuels.
In Suburbia Anything Can Happen
Alessia AndreottiWithout social bonds and solidarity, anything can and does happen: a small house surrounded by new big buildings.
In Vitro Recipe #9: Meat Oyster
NextNature.netAs ocean-based oyster beds have all but vanished, in vitro oysters may prove an exquisite alternative.
Indomitable Flock of Balloons Got Wild
Francesca Barchiesi1.5 million balloons were released in once to create a spectacular show becoming uncontrollable and dangerous.
Leaves & Logos Identification Quiz
Koert van MensvoortMost people nowadays know more logos and brands than bird or tree species. Go test your own knowledge. Take a look at the leaves and logos above and see how many you can identify without looking them up.
Lonely Sculpture Your Next Tinder Match?
Koert van MensvoortTinder users beware: somewhere out there a mechanical finger is surfing the popular dating smartphone app. This could be your next match.
Not On The App Store
Alessia AndreottiThere isn't an App for everything, and we need a sticker that reminds us so.
Now Wait, Did Tanks Have Lasers WWII?
Koert van MensvoortRealistic WOII movie Fury had to cater to the gaming generation with hyperrealistic Star Wars style laser shooting tanks.
OUT NOW: The In Vitro Meat Cookbook
NextNature.netOn the 5th of August, one year after the lab grown hamburger, the In Vitro Meat Cookbook was launched.
Phone Case Modeled After a Dead Animal
Alessia AndreottiJapanese designed a phone case using the dead carcass of a crustacean as model.
Pixel Space
Lotte BiesheuvelIf the moon were only one pixel: a scale model of the solar system that shows how big our milky way actually is.
Printing with Grass
Alessia AndreottiThis 3D Grass Printer can print a garden in any shape you can imagine
Robot Cheetah Now Runs Free
Alessia AndreottiResearchers created a robo-feline able to run and bound while completely untethered.
Robotic Furniture puts IKEA to Shame
Koert van MensvoortScience Fiction taught us to think of robots as human-like beings, yet the robots that actually make it into your home are more likely to look like furniture.
Self-Assembling Fungus Tower
Alessia AndreottiHy-Fi, a structure built from a combination of corn husks and fungus.
Sexy High Heels
Koert van MensvoortOur peculiar image of the week makes us shivers with Anthropomorphobia.
Signs From The Near Future
Lotte BiesheuvelWill these futuristic signs become part of our near future?
Technology Costs Evolution
Alessia AndreottiProducing an iPhone in 1991 would have cost 3,56 million of dollars.
Technology Reflexology
Hendrik-Jan GrievinkPeople have complex relationships with their own (and other’s) bodies. In Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), it is believed that your feet are a map of your body and can provide …
The Earth As You've Never Seen It Before
Alessia AndreottiBreathtaking satellite images that will change how you see the World.
Zero-Waste Grocery Store
Julia WeberThe first Zero-Waste Grocery Store "Original Unverpackt" will open this summer in Germany.
The Sunrise is Now Televised in Beijing
Koert van MensvoortThe smog in Beijing has become so thick that only place to hail a sunrise is on the huge digital commercial television screens across the city.
To Be Human Is To Be Transhuman
Alessia AndreottiBuckle up for a new video from our favorite performance philosopher Jason Silva: To Be Human Is To Be Transhuman.
Top 100 Economies: 37 are Corporations
Koert van Mensvoort37 of the world’s 100 largest economies are corporations.
We Are Weaker Than Our Ancestors
Alessia AndreottiHuman fitness has decreased so significantly that even the strongest of us would consider ancient men to have a supernatural force.
Wearable Technologies for Dummies
Koert van MensvoortOn the emerging field of technologies that are worn close to or on the body
Why Robots Need Personalities
Alessia AndreottiSocial roboticist Heather Knight explains why we should give robots personalities.
A Robot Scientist Could Cure Malaria
Yunus Emre DuyarAlthough there seems to be no effective drug in use to cure malaria, a scientist robot named Eve may have found a cure.
AI is as Intelligent as a Four-Year-Old Kid
Erik van der VeenComputer can already beat us in many tasks. Complicated calculation, processing speed and chess, to name a few. However, generally speaking, you’re still likely to be more …
Analogue vs Digital: Basic Parts of Matter
NextNature.netDo you think you are made from bits and bytes? Stop playing video games and spend some more time offline! Both atoms and bits are basic parts of matter.
Analogue vs Digital: Digital Value
NextNature.netCommon currencies – like the Euro – are almost all controlled by federal institutions.
Analogue vs Digital: Innovative Nostalgia
NextNature.netBrowsing through your virtual bookshelf gives you the feeling of having an easily accessible collection of books, just like your good old analog one.
Analogue vs Digital: Los Santos
NextNature.netLos Santos is a big, fictional city in the state of San Andreas inspired by the City of Los Angeles.
Analogue vs Digital Memory Game
NextNature.netThe Analogue vs Digital Memory Game explores the different ways of seeing, thinking and experiencing across the digital divide.
Analogue vs Digital: Messenger Service
NextNature.netSocial media empowered the mass by providing them with a tool to spread their voices.
Analogue vs Digital: Skeuomorphism
NextNature.netFloppy disks have not gone extinct yet. You might not realize, but you are clicking on them every day.
Analogue vs Digital: Take a Selfie
NextNature.netNo, the selfie at the top isn’t the latest post of Albrecht Du?rer on Instagram.
Animals Give Leadership Lesson to Humans
Margherita OlivoWhat are the characteristics of the perfect leader? The answer could be found looking at nature.
Anthropo-scene #9: Sense, Sensors, Sensitivity
ChristianTechnology helps us understand the unfolding of the Anthropocene.
Apple Watch Evolution
Alessia AndreottiIn 1992, decades before the era of wearable technology, Apple produced its first watch: no apps and vintage design.
Artworks that Look Virtual, but Are Completely Hand Painted
Alexandra BremersThese paintings by Johnny Abrahams look almost computer made - except they are not. Working mainly with black and white acrylic paints and with a lot of patience, the American …
Technology and Emotions
Margherita OlivoA wearable lighting device that changes color and shade according to movement, facial expressions, weather and mood.
Bionic Ants That Work Together
Louise HuyghebaertThese robotic ants by Festo are learning to work together, like real ants do.
Caress of the Gaze
Koert van MensvoortDesigner Behnaz Farahi envisions an interactive 3D printed outfit that can detect and respond to the gaze of the other and respond accordingly with life-like behavior.
Cities Evolve in Similar Ways as Galaxies
Koert van MensvoortScientists think the laws governing the structure of galaxies in outer space are the same laws underlying the growth of cities.
Controlling Smart Devices with the Skin
Len KromkampiSkin is a flexible, stretchable and visually customizable on-body touch sensor for mobile computing.
DOUG: the First Robot Able to Draw
Margherita OlivoRobots can already read, talk and reason. Yet, they do not seem to have found limits to their artistic skills either. Meet DOUG_1, first the drawing robot.
Using Drones to Fight Deforestation
Margherita OlivoBritish company BioCarbon Engineering developed a new ingenious way to exploit drones: reforestation.
Drugs Testing with Artificial Organs
Yunus Emre DuyarResearchers are working on artificial organs-on-chips will be used for drug development.
Electronic Skin can Detect Magnetic Fields
Yunus Emre DuyarThere is a new artificial skin technology that could give humans magnetoception in the future.
Facebook Turned into a Real Toxic Drug
Alessia AndreottiThe popular social network icon has been turned into a potentially lethal narcotic substance.
First Entirely Transparent Solar Panel Could Transform our Cities
Margherita OlivoOur constant need of new, cleaner energy led a Michigan State University research group to conceive a fully transparent solar panel that could replace ordinary windows.
From the Super Muscular Pig to the Hypoallergenic Cow: New GMOs May Soon Be on Your Plate
Alessia AndreottiThe acronym that keeps Europe awake at night is TTIP (Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership), a trade and investment deal that the EU is negotiating with the US. From …
Genetic Modification Could Prevent TB
Yunus Emre DuyarIt was announced this week that genetic modification allowed scientists to produce cattle resistant to tuberculosis.
Genome Editing - Bringing the Übermensch to a Shelf Near You
Daniel FragaLast April, a Chinese group of researchers published a paper that set the scientific world ablaze in a fierce debate. The paper was about their attempts to edit the DNA of a human …
Happy Next Nature!
Hendrik-Jan GrievinkTime measurement tools are perhaps among the most inventive technologies mankind has produced, as it enables us to articulate ‘natural’ time (in the form of lunar years, sun …
Hearing Colors
Hessel HoogerhuisThanks to the antenna implanted in his skull, Neil Harbisson can hear images and paint sounds.
Houses to Live Integrated with Nature
Wei Lun WangEasy-to-assemble customized tiny houses that can be covered under layers of soil, turf, or even sand and snow.
IBM Predicts Artificial Intelligence Future
Koert van MensvoortWhile the Watson technology is exponentially increasing its processing power on an annual basis and steadily moving from answering trivia questions, to cooking advice, onto medical advice, it is about time we confront it with the million dollar question: "Watson, what do you want?".
Implanting Chips into Employees
Alessia AndreottiAn he hi-tech Swedish office block implanted a microchip under the employees’ hand skin.
In Vitro Meat Godfather Dies at Age of 91
Koert van MensvoortDutch researcher and entrepreneur, Willem van Eelen, has died in Amsterdam. For more than half a century, Van Eelen relentlessly researched and promoted In Vitro Meat.
Medical Microbots Used to Perform Biopsy
Hessel HoogerhuisWith recent successful experiments, we may see doctors switching from the single forceps to hordes of so-called microgrippers.
Meet the Hospital of the Future
Margherita OlivoWith its 656 beds, this hospital offers unconventional and leading computerized assistance for all sorts of patients.
Military-Style Rehab for Internet Addicts
Alessia AndreottiInside the Chinese military-style rehab center for internet addicts.
Musical Journey Through the Human Body
Alessia AndreottiDe Motu is an interactive music app that let you experience your body through music and influence the sound with your own body.
Neon Waterfalls
Alessia AndreottiTransforming Northern California waterfalls into a psychedelic scenery using a colorful range of glow sticks, lasers, road flares, headlamps.
New Friends? Let Social Textiles Help You
Yunus Emre DuyarA group of students at the MIT Media Lab are working on an electronic textile that might help us interact with people more easily.
Next Nature Talk at Nature 3.x Symposium
NextNature.netKoert van Mensvoort will take part in the Nature 3.x: Where is Nature Now? symposium at the University of Minnesota.
Organs Could Self-Heal with Nanoneedles
Yunus Emre DuyarAn international team of scientists used nano-sized needles in order to promote production of new blood cells.
Plastivore – A Bird that Feeds on Plastic
Koert van MensvoortThe speculative 'Plastivore' bird thrives on a diet of fungi and plastics.
Recreating Woolly Mammoth DNA
Yunus Emre DuyarScientists at Harvard University inserted wooly mammoth DNA into the genome of the Asian elephant.
If a Robot Buys XTC on the Dark Web, Who is Responsible?
Alexandra BremersThe Random Darknet Shopper, with bitcoin to burn, has purchased counterfeit jeans, master keys, dodgy cigs and even a bag of ecstasy tablets. Who is legally liable?
Seaweed Farms to Solve the Problem of Ocean Acidification
Margherita OlivoBy burning fossil fuels we are responsible for the increase of carbon dioxide in the Earth's atmosphere. Aside from raising temperatures globally, this is also affecting our …
Seconds for Sale: Domestication of Time
Sander DijkhuisTime Ingot is a solid piece of lead alloy, its mass can slow down time in the immediate vicinity.
Seeing the Sun Through Data
Adriene LillyThe Smithsonian’s National Air and Space museum has taken the sun observation to the next level with a giant public display of images and data that show the sun in hyper-real detail.
Self-Driving Cars Practice Kids Recognition
Alexandra BremersThis year's Halloween, Google asked children from the neighborhood to come by in their spooky outfits and play around the self-driving cars.
Self-Healing Concrete
Daniel FragaA microbiologist has developed a way to make the cracks in concrete structures heal themselves.
Solar Eclipse May Impact Power Supply Due to Increased Use of Solar Panels
Koert van MensvoortSolar eclipse may impact power supply due to increased use of solar panels
Solar Tree That Provides Electricity
Louise HuyghebaertA tree, made with 3D printed leaves that contain solar cells.
Swedish Underground Cabins
Alexandra BremersIn this era we are reaching for the sky. But back in the 17th century however, something different was happening in Sweden.
The Risk of Technological Unemployment
Daniel FragaStephen Hawking gives his opinion on what technological unemployment, aka machines taking over our jobs, can represent for future human societies.
The Candle of the Future
Alessia AndreottiMy New Flame uses LED technology to faithfully recreate the experience of light from the ancient past
The Drone Circus
Alessia AndreottiThe first ever circus consisting entirely of drones is coming to Amsterdam. This fall the Amsterdam Arena will host a choreographed airshow using nothing but drones combined with …
Virtual Nose for Video Game Players
Stefan FinckenNausea is a common feeling while playing video games. A solution would be to add a virtual nose to VR experiences.
We Have Moved...
NextNature.netWhile you were on holiday we moved both virtually and physically. We are pleased to reveal our newly designed nextnature.net . We hope the updated design makes our website more …
Gameplay of the Crowds
Len KromkampAustralian programmer started a social experiment called “Twitch Plays Pokémon”. Over a Million People Play Pokémon in Social Experiment
Wireless Controlled Mouse, the Animal!
Alessia AndreottiA remote-controlled LED chip can make a mouse walk in circles.
2040: the Year We'll Know How 2000 Was
Alejandro AlvarezTThe Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows defines anemoia as the felling of nostalgia for a time you’ve never known. This word may not be frequently used, but it describes a common feeling.
The Advent of Connected Toys
Margherita OlivoIt is the era of smart toys, but they certainly raise difficult questions for parents.
Animal Fauxtography
Alejandro AlvarezFake photography, or fauxtography, has been around since the invention of cameras and nature is one of the most popular subjects of dishonest photographers.
Anonymity Becomes the New Privacy
Ioana TomiciArtists respond to biometric technology and data collecting software through subversive projects.
Are There Pokémon on the Moon?
Ruben BaartPokémon Go is slowly taking over our planet. People know more Pokémon than bird or tree species. However, avid players will have noticed that some of the first-gen Pokémon are not available in the game yet.
Branded Dreams - The Future of Advertising?
Koert van MensvoortWhat happens when our dreams become a commodity and advertisers gain the technology to enter our dreams?
No-Waste Architecture From Seawater
Margherita OlivoThe Salt Project created an additional ecosystem to revive desertified lands.
Circular Economy
Koert van MensvoortThe uncomfortable watering can ironically shows us that the size matters in a circular economy.
Colorless coral: How climate change is affecting the great barrier reef
Jack CaulfieldOur peculiar image of the week comes from the Great Barrier Reef. You've probably seen images of this vibrant underwater attraction before. If you're lucky, maybe you've seen it …
The Complex Networks of Our Planet
Margherita OlivoThis video by Nature explains the complexity of networks on our planet.
Creating a Second Skin to Look Younger
Elise MarcusScientists managed to create what every woman has been dreaming of: a second skin to reduce wrinkles and tighten the skin.
The "Dog" That Will Save Lives
Margherita OlivoA laboratory is developing a synthetic dog that will be used for surgery trials, saving many canine lives and changing the veterinary world.
Drone Racing: Sports for the 21st Century
Daniel FragaDrone racing: a new sport, where competitors drive drones at a speed of 70 mph. They control the drone by distance, using video goggles.
Drones in Agriculture
Megan Ray NicholsHere's a look at how drones can and will impact the agriculture and farming industry.
People, Use Your Drone to Map El Niño!
Margherita OlivoHow to monitor the effects of El Niño ? The Nature Conservancy wants to take advantage of the massive image production that can be collected using smartphones and drones. From …
Edible Battery for Ingestible Devices
Ruben BaartResearchers at Carnegie Mellon University are developing edible batteries to power ingestible medical devices for diagnosing and treating disease.
Fake Glaciers for Real Needs
Alejandro AlvarezEngineer Sonam Wangchuk created fake glaciers that are already improving the life of people in Ladakh, Himalayas.
The First Artificial Intelligent Lawyer
Mathilde NakkenThere is an artificial intelligent robot called ROSS that is taking over the work of thousands of lawyers. Working non-stop, reading faster then any human attorney can do.
The Bioengineered Elixir of Life
Mathilde NakkenScientists say they can reverse aging by reprogramming the genome.
Fitness Trackers Help Improve Cycle Paths
Margherita OlivoTracking your workout can help improve the safety and optimize routes for cyclists and pedestrians in your town.
Lost in the Forest? The Drones Will Find You
Daniel FragaResearchers are teaching drones to recognize and follow forest trails.
Future of Food: Eating From the Ditch
Mathilde NakkenFor years scientist and farmers are researching the possibilities of eating duckweed, shoveling it out of the ditches onto our plates. This proteinrich plants can be used in animal fodders or be eaten by humans.
Swedish Government Rewards Citizens Who Repair Instead of Throwing Away
Mathilde NakkenSweden is paying people to fix their belongings instead of throwing them away.
Getting Rid of Plastic in the Oceans
Margherita OlivoThe Ocean Cleanup Foundation’s prototype floating barrier wants to clean the oceans water.
Greetings from Mars
Monika KozubSince plans for conquering the Red Planet are becoming more serious we should get acquainted with the possible view from up there.
Growing Drones From Chemicals
Ruben BaartResearchers are experimenting with a new technology that would be able to grow drones from chemical compounds.
Guerilla Gardening in Paris
Ruben BaartParis passed a new law that not only allows locals to plant their own urban garden around the city, but also encourages them in doing so.
From Homo Sapiens to Homo Optimus
Ioana TomiciWe are entering an age of technological singularity, in which artificial intelligence and biological enhancement are combined in order to construct the next stages of human evolution.
Hyperloop Set to Change Mass Transit
Megan Ray NicholsThe Hyperloop is a future transportation means that is safer, faster, and cheaper than current forms of mass transit.
Internet Open Daily from 7:00 to 22:30
Koert van MensvoortSymbol of the stalled development in the socialist state, or design for silence, quietude and meditation?
Madrid's Future Is Greener than Ever
Margherita OlivoMadrid's new plans to fight rising temperatures and high pollution rates investing on green urban areas.
Make Toblerone Great Again!
Ruben BaartAmerican chocolate manufacturer Mondelez reduces the weight of its widely popular Toblerone bars as a result of the Brexit vote.
Mapping the Online World
Ingmar NieuweboerThe world looks quite different online, based on the country-code domains
Medieval VR Headset
Koert van MensvoortHow will the future perceive our so-called modern VR technologies?
Moscow Spent $1.3M for a Day of Sunshine
Alessia Andreotti$1.3 million will be spent on dispersing clouds over Moscow for the May 1 holiday.
The New Cinema Is Smartphone-Friendly
Margherita OlivoCinemas for Millennials will include special sections where texting is allowed.
Next Paradise
Koert van MensvoortTo celebrate the 500 year anniversary for Hieronymus Bosch, Studio Smack made a contemporary interpretation of 'The Garden Of Earthly Delights'.
Your Next Sneakers Are Made of Algae
Monika KozubAn ecofriendly alternative to plastic lies on the surface of waste streams.
Who Owns the Map?
Ruben BaartIn their pursuit of mapping the physical world online, mapping services simultaneously shape our understanding of it too.
Photoshop Hacks Become In Real Life Art
Nadine RoestenburgUV Production House reflects on popular online platforms for maker culture.
Rainforests Regrowth Boosts CO2 Capture
Margherita OlivoNewly grown rainforests can absorb 11 times as much carbon from the atmosphere as old-growth forests, a study has shown.
Ramen: the New Prison Currency
Ruben BaartInstant ramen noodles have become a valuable commodity to inmates, as cost-cutting measures in US prisons led to the deterioration of food quality.
This Robot will Grow Food in Your Backyard
Koert van MensvoortFarmBot Genesis is humanity's first open-source CNC farming machine designed for at-home automated food production.
Robots Are Making Pizza Now
Ruben BaartA new wave of automation lies in pizza. Not only will robots deliver your pizzas in the future, they will even make them.
The Scandinavian Winds Power Your Internet
Alejandro AlvarezWe may be still far away from pollution-free Internet browsing, but at least the next time you send an e-mail you can feel relief at the thought that the strong arctic winds of Scandinavia are keeping the Google servers cool and running.
If We Could See Across the Ocean
Margherita OlivoCartographer Andy Woodruff designed maps that allow us to know what actually is over the horizon.
A System that Predicts Crime
Ingmar NieuweboerAn experiment tries to prevent crime by identifying aggressive behavior with new surveillance technology before actual violence is used.
A Taste of RoboBee Honey
Mathilde NakkenWhere most researchers are focusing on keeping bees alive, researchers of Harvard are developing a bee replacement; the Robobee. The Robobee is only the size of half a paperclip, with ultra thin wings flapping 120 times per second. The main goal is to build a mechanic pollinator.
Your Teaching Assistant Is a Robot
Margherita OlivoJill Watson has been performing as teaching assistant for 5 months, but she is not a real person, and students didn't notice.
Our Tribal Genes Affect Politics
Alejandro AlvarezWhat if the cause of our politic choice was in our evolution, hidden deep in our genes and digging up our tribal instincts?
Untouched Nature Is Entirely Gone
Margherita OlivoResearchers prove that pristine landscapes haven’t existed for thousands of years, therefore we should change or mindset before trying to save the planet.
Men Pregnancy: Reality or Science-fiction?
Margherita OlivoThe first uterus transplant in the United States raises the question: could uterus transplants allow men to get pregnant too?
Cultured Meat Closer to Reality
Alejandro AlvarezMany companies are seeing the potential of this technology to solve food scarcity, reduce pollution and offer cruelty free meat. One of these firms is Tyson Foods, the meat giant.
Welcome to the Age of Plastic
Margherita OlivoAccording to a new study, humankind is now entering the "Age of Plastic". The research investigates the evidence that we are living in the Anthropocene, a time in which humanity is the main geological force.
What's Flying There? Flip Through
NextNature.netListen to the What's Flying There? story read by NNN Ambassador Tracy Metz.
World's First 3D Printed Building
Margherita OlivoThe world's first 3D printed office building opens its doors in Dubai, paving the way for the building of the future.
1996 - First Artificial Womb Experimented
Elle Zhan WeiIn 1996, Yoshinori Kuwabara at Juntendo University in Tokyo incubated a premature goat fetus by using extrauterine fetal incubation.
2016 - Human Embryo Lives 13 Days in Lab
Elle Zhan WeiIn 2016 a team of biologists has successfully kept a human embryo alive in the lab for 13 days, breaking the previous record of nine days.
AI Defeats Human at Go
Ruben BaartGo world champion Ke Jie has lost two games of 'Go' against Google's DeepMind AI system AlphaGo.
From Bad Selfie to Perfect Portrait
Ruben BaartSay goodbye to bad selfies with Adobe’s latest AI photo editor.
Anime Characters at Your Service
Alejandro AlvarezTake a look at this video to get an idea of what life with a virtual anime assistant would look like.
Obsolete Presence
Koert van MensvoortOur peculiar object in these summer weeks is a sculpture by Aram Bartholl, made for the Odyssey expo in Arnsberg.
Barbie Becomes a Hologram of Herself
Julie ReindlBarbie has been turned into a hologram version of herself and will now be your kids assistend.
Bionic Leaf Helps Vegetables to Grow
Julie ReindlBionic leaf fertilizes crops to make them weigh 150 percent more
The New Way to Boost Creativity
Julie ReindlDanish company develops device to stimulate creativity.
Brainwaves as Password
Elle Zhan WeiResearchers have found a way to use our brainwave as a verification of our identity.
Ad Blockers Go Real Life
Koert van MensvoortThe Brand Killer augmented reality headset boomerangs ad blocking into the physical realm.
Color Lessons from the Cotinga Bird
Lydia HaldersBrighter inks, without pigment: nanostructured capsules could bring about paints and electronic displays that never fade.
ECO Coin at Welcome to the Village
NextNature.netOn July 21, 22 and 23 you are invited to join us at Welcome to the Village festival in the Friesland province of The Netherlands for our next iteration of the ECO coin!
Explore Depths from Your Chair
Mathilde NakkenTo explore deep sea Standfort University developed OceanOne: a humanoid diving robot, which at the same time creates a simulation of the underwater experience on land.
Fighting Plastic Waste Together
NextNature.netEco Coin Award winner Dave Hakkens is upgrading his Precious Plastic recycling machines, and you can help him do it!
Cyborg Cabin Crew
Ruben BaartAir New Zealand is equipping its flight attendants with AR headsets to explore in-flight optimization, giving its passengers a glimpse of what the future air travel service might look like.
GM Ants Show How Insect Societies Work
Julie ReindlScientists gene modify ants in order to find out more about their social behavior.
Google Cars Can Now Sniff Out Pollution
Jack CaulfieldGoogle cars can now measure urban air quality and collect data to create interactive maps with the most detailed views of pollution patterns ever created.
Growing Mushrooms on Grass
Alec SchellinxThe Juncao Technology Project makes it possible to grow edible and medicinal fungi on chopped grass or herbal plants.
Celebrate World WiFi Day
NextNature.netDownload the WiFi Angels App: next time when you search for WiFi, just follow the angels.
NNN Presents HUBOT - The Job Agency for People and Robots
NextNature.netA horse can run faster than a human, yet nobody claims horses will make mankind dispensable. When a man rides a horse and the two work together, something new happens. Then, what …
HUBOT: Take the Jobtest!
NextNature.netThe robots are coming! They’re getting smarter, cheaper and more reliable. How long will I have my job before a robot steals it? The industrial revolution made muscular power …
Intimate Technology S01E01: All My Clothes
NextNature.netThis movie titled "All My Clothes" reminds us of a more straightforward example of intimate technology: the clothes we wear every day.
Intimate Technology S01E03: A iReal
NextNature.netWhat if your devices had a life of their own? Guy Farber’s playful short movie "An iReal" explores this very possibility.
Intimate Technology S01E02: Misbehaving (Ro)bots
NextNature.net"Misbehaving (Ro)bots" asks whether technology could hope to replicate these small bothersome quirks that instill a feeling of intimacy.
Intimate Technology S01E08: Scroll
NextNature.netThe last episode of our Intimate Technology series follows a minute in the life of a hyperconnected family in the digital era.
Keeping Up with the Eagles: Birdwatching 2.0
Alessia AndreottiThis live stream video of a Bald Eagles family nesting in Florida has counted more than 72 million viewers.
Lego Bricks Come Alive
Ruben BaartLego announced the next generation of building bricks, bringing the creations to life.
Looking into the Artificial Eye
Elle Zhan WeiSensor specialists recently developed a sensor that mimics the mammalian eye.
Space Television Network
Julie ReindlSen is a space television network that provides visuals from other planets in order to prepare us for our multi-planetary life.
Supermarkets Are Our New Savannah, Especially During Natural Disasters
Megan Ray NicholsBefore a natural disaster hordes of people crowd in supermarkets and fight over the last supplies. It mirrors the savannah with cliques and groups trying to get the available food, water or shelter.
Do a Next Nature Workshop!
NextNature.netNNN organizes workshops using a physical Pyramid of Technology as conceptual tool.
NNN Is Hiring: Managing Director
NextNature.netNNN is looking for a Managing Director to join our office in Amsterdam.
Smartflower Solar Device
Elle Zhan WeiPOP is an all-in-one solar energy system that hold visible benefits for humans.
Preventive Punishment for Robots
Elle Zhan WeiThe Punishment is an installation featuring a robotic arm that mimics a kid's handwriting perfectly, and repetitively writes "I must not hurt humans".
Recharge! Sun for Your Brain Cells
Julie ReindlA gadget called HumanCharger promises "the sun in your pocket" to give you energy, by beaming light through your ears.
Our Relationship with Tech Is Growing Stronger
Megan Ray NicholsIt's getting difficult to discern what's technology and what's not.With wearable technology becoming more and more integrated into society, our lives become infused with more technology.
Rent a Rain Room
Elle Zhan WeiRent a rain room with simulated rain with a motion sensor to go through the rain without getting wet.
Shazam Your Plant Findings
Julie ReindlShazam for Plants app lets you catch around 400.000 plant species left on our planet through the lens of your smartphone.
Skyscraper Fails to Load Its Textures
Jack CaulfieldIn New York, observant residents were surprised to see a skyscraper that looked like it was struggling to load its textures.
Smartphones Will Soon Be a Thing of the Past
Megan Ray NicholsSmartphones have become almost a part of who we are. According to tech industry experts, however, the smartphone's days are numbered and that number is lower than you might expect.
Stay Young with Millennial Blood
Ruben BaartA clinical startup sells millennial blood to reverse aging.
The Story of Money: Paper
NextNature.netThe story of money: an accessible roadmap from prehistory to digital age, from cows to credit, from gold mining to bitcoin mining. This episode: paper.
The Story of Money: Shells
NextNature.netThe story of money: an accessible roadmap from prehistory to digital age, from cows to credit, from gold mining to bitcoin mining. This episode: shells.
Technosphere Weighs 30 Trillion Tons
Koert van MensvoortIf humans would disappear from the face of the Earth today, we would still leave 30 trillion tons of mass in the geological record. Certainly, "we were here" is written all over.
The In Vitro Meat Cookbook Is Officially Art
NextNature.netThe Stedelijk Museum has added The In Vitro Meat Cookbook to its public art collection, turning the book into a piece of art!
Turning Air Pollution Into Ink
Elle Zhan WeiIntroducing world's first ink completely made from air pollution.
Turning Glass Bottles into Sand
Julie ReindlA machine lets drinkers instantly turn their empty beer bottles into sand.
Untouched Nature? Not in the Amazon
Alejandro AlvarezThe Amazonian rainforest was already transformed over two thousand years ago by people who built hundreds of large, mysterious earthworks.
Rescue Drone Will Save You in Open Water
Elle Zhan WeiDrone made to rescue in bad weather condition in open waters.
A Virtual Cure for the Socially Withdrawn
Julie ReindlUsing alternative reality as a cure for the socially excluded.
Virtual Poetry Museum Opens in Amsterdam
Ruben BaartA virtual museum for poetry opens "its doors" at Museumplein in Amsterdam.
A Voice Mask to Protect Your Privacy
Ruben BaartIntroducing world's first voice mask designed to protect your privacy.
Wind Turbines Threatens Birdlife
Elle Zhan WeiA wind farm in Scotland is on hold because of its lethal killing power towards seabirds.
The age of cyborgs has arrived
Vanessa Bates RamirezHow many cyborgs did you see during your morning commute today? I would guess at least five. Did they make you nervous? Probably not; you likely didn’t even realize they were …
How AI could revolutionize the teaching profession
Jack CaulfieldIn various parts of the world, access to education is, or risks becoming, a huge crisis. UNESCO estimates that around 20 million new teachers are needed worldwide - and that's not …
The Dictionary of Online Behavior adds a virtual layer to your vocabulary
Ruben BaartTo some extent, it's a chicken-and-egg question: Are you unable to think about things you don't have words for, or do you lack words for them because you don't think about them? …
Drones Protect Indonesia from Volcanic Danger
Jack CaulfieldIn Bali, volcanic danger looms large. Scientists are trying to use drones to forestall the danger and make the invisible workings of the volcano visible.
'e-End' means removing a person from online life
TeyoshWhen two people have a fight it is not really the end until it’s e-end. We finally have a chance to kick somebody out of our lives. People typically remove someone from friends or …
Edible packaging: Seaweed could replace plastic in disposable packaging
Jack CaulfieldWhat to do about the plastic planet ? The seas are steadily filling up with plastic , and it's vital to find ways to address the problem . One way to do this is to move away from …
Celebrating Dutch Water Protection:
Last Weeks to See 'Gates of Light'
Kelly van Gemert
If you are in The Netherlands you can explore the latest art project by Studio Roosegaarde and discover the iconic, yet historical value of the Closing Dike.
A phone that says “no” to little kid fingers
Rachel MetzIt may soon be possible for your phone to automatically figure out whether it’s you or your five-year-old who’s swiping the screen—and, if it’s the latter, block apps you want to …
Brain-assisted driving: Mind-control your car
Charlotte KuijpersBefore fully autonomous cars take over our streets, we may experience a transition phase: Fasten your seatbelts, as Nissan introduced a so-called Brain to Vehicle (B2V) system to …
A next natural landscape of bikes
Alec SchellinxIt was just little over a year ago that bike sharing schemes started to take off in China. Yet in the blink of an eye, millions of bikes painted in vivid colours, popped up in and …
The next sexual revolution is going to be all about technology
Peter DiamandisSex is one of the most powerful, fundamental human drives. It’s caused wars, and built and destroyed kingdoms. It occupies a significant percentage of most people’s thoughts. As …
'Overpresent' means to actively exist both offline and online
TeyoshPhysics teaches us that it is not possible to be present at two places at the same time. However, some users of social networks seriously challenge that fact. The amount of …
This startup uses body heat to mine crypto
Camille CharluetWhile many love to speculate about the sheer number of jobs that robots and artificial intelligence are going to replace in the near future, no one seems to be coming up with any …
'WFF' is a person who you encountered briefly, but stays in your online life forever
TeyoshBefore social networks, there were episodic characters in our lives - people we've only met once or twice, and we haven’t heard from since. Nowadays whoever, we once add a person …
Aleph Farms grew meat in space
Freya HutchingsHello meat lovers! In vitro meat innovator Aleph Farms has taken the saying 'one small step for man and one giant leap for mankind' to a whole new level. The startup has succeeded …
Join us for the closing event of Reprodutopia!
Next Nature DevShould men be able to give birth to children? Should we externalize pregnancy with artificial wombs? And are these feminist dreams or frankenstein nightmares? Welcome to …
The Pyramid of Technology: Could a technology establish new routines?
Hendrik-Jan GrievinkThis question is an excerpt from the Pyramid of Technology toolkit Imagine asking your grandparents if they ‘have googled anything lately?’ Chances are they actually did, …
How to play e-dead
TeyoshPlaying e-dead means to avoid being visibly active online because of not having answered to someone’s message or comment. This is a part of a social media code of conduct; if you …
The remaining numbers of endangered animal species shown in pixels
Ruben BaartToday is World Animal Day , a day to put the spotlight on man's best friends in order to improve their welfare standards around the globe. At Next Nature HQ, we honor this day by …
A forcie is an involuntary selfie
TeyoshThere are many reasons why somebody doesn’t want to take a photo at a certain place in a certain moment or with a certain people and put it online. The reason might be anything …
The Pyramid of Technology: How will technology enchant us?
Hendrik-Jan GrievinkThis question is an excerpt from the Pyramid of Technology toolkit Take a mundane object from your house. Now ask yourself: How will this particular technology enchant me? …
The Pyramid of Technology: Is the technology outside or inside your body?
Hendrik-Jan GrievinkThis question is an excerpt from the Pyramid of Technology toolkit The first computers barely fit in your living room. This all changed with the introduction of the desktop …
Recap of the Next Nature book launch
Next Nature DevThe new Next Nature book is here ! Next Nature fellows, ambassadors, members and newly interested people came together on the 4th of June to celebrate the book launch with a …
Who should win the ECO Coin Award 2019?
Next Nature DevEach year we celebrate ecological heroes as part of our ECO Coin Award and this year is no different. Have you seen an inspiring person who is making the world a more …
Work with us!
Next Nature DevWe are a network of makers, thinkers, educators and supporters. With members in 44 countries, we are the international network for anyone interested in the debate on our future – …
The Next Nature guide to Transmediale 2019
Ruben BaartBerlin is kicking off its cultural season with the not-to-miss 23th installment of Transmediale . This year the digital art/culture festival focuses on how feelings are made into …
A guide to parenting with AI Barbie
Siri BeerendsThe rise of artificial intelligence has brought us more advanced toys. If AI Barbie and her talking robotic friends are going to raise our kids, what would their parenting style …
This startup is growing sushi-grade salmon from cells in a lab
Vanessa Bates RamirezAs the ills of factory farming become more pronounced, people are increasingly gravitating towards vegetarian or pescatarian diets. Besides producing a large percentage of our …
How public camera recordings domesticate us
Janina SteinmetzFacial recognition is increasingly being used in many countries around the world. In some cases the take up has been dramatic . As a result, people are being observed by cameras …
(Im)possible bodies: responsiblity and care in our cyborg future
Koert van MensvoortWhat does it mean to become a cyborg? Better yet, aren't we cyborgs already? What then, does it mean to have a body? Is a 'standard' desirable, what does that even mean, and what …
Next Generation: Creating utopian and dystopian futures with Bas Jansen
Freya HutchingsThis story is part of Next Generation , a series in which we give young makers a platform to showcase their work. Want to see your work here? Get in touch and …
Perfect Sense explores what it means to love in turbulent times
Ruben BaartImagine you are single and you finally meet that someone you like. You are in the early stages of dating, but then a virus appears and compromises everything. For some of us this …
6 gadgets to make your long distance relationship last
Claire Ouwejan"Absence makes the heart grow fonder" is a common phrase people associate with romance that has been forced apart by distance. But for long-distance couples (as many of us can …
Have you thought about your social media death?
Freya HutchingsRecently, Twitter announced it would be clearing all inactive accounts in an effort to free up dormant usernames and prevent the risk of old accounts being hacked. The new policy …
Welcome to the Novacene
Ruben BaartJames Lovelock (1919) has lived on Earth for over a century. You may find that long, but it is short for himself. He thinks big and from a long-term awareness. At the age of …
Why physical distancing feels so unnatural to us
Isabelle Catherine WinderFor many people, the most distressing part of the coronavirus pandemic is the idea of social isolation. If we get ill, we quarantine ourselves for the protection of others. But …
Can we grow wood in a lab the same way we grow meat?
Ruben BaartIn old nature, wood is grown in the forest. In the next nature, wood might be grown in a lab. Akin to the process of growing in-vitro meat , researchers in Velásquez-García’s …
CO2 injected volcanic rock could save the atmosphere
Kelly van GemertThe rapid technological advancement of the human race has led to many consequences, especially regarding the integrity of the atmosphere that protects all life on Earth. Although …
An artificial skin to breathe underwater
Leanne VoshellThe human world often sees itself as separate from the rest of the natural world. Because we have deemed ourselves, ironically, as higher functioning beings over all others on …
This exhibition explores the open ends of the apocalypse
Ruben BaartThe exhibition "Apocalypse - End Without End" shows that the end is a human invention
La Belle Verte imagines a world of harmonious existence
Leanne VoshellUtopianism and dystopianism are themes often found in today’s movies, especially considering the increased awareness of the damage done to the Earth by human activities. Often …
Leonardo DiCaprio is investing in future meat startups
Leanne VoshellGlobally, humanity consumes almost 350 million tons of meat a year. In the next 10 years, this number is expected to increase by a significant percentage. Scientists believe that …
How the ECO Coin could bridge the gap between sustainable farming and monetary returns
MaithriFor the last six months millions of Indian farmers have been marching through the national capital in an effort to repeal the laws that they believe would end guaranteed pricing …
Using tattoos in medicine
Marit BeerseWhat if we can use tattoos to measure the concentration of certain components in your blood? Scientists developed a film that can detect the amount of oxygen.
Reconnecting with wildlife through biodiverse meditations
Ruben BaartSleep and dream like a koala, relax under biodiversity and feel the meditative effect of artificial wildlife.
Building Floriade 2022
Next Nature DevWe met at the Floriade grounds in Almere with Xander de Bruine, program manager Floriade Expo 2022, with project manager Jennifer Palumbo. Along with head curator William Myers we …
Are plants our new co-composers?
Lucas ZarzosoMusicians have stumbled upon an unconventional and intriguing creative partner: plants. Yes, that's right, plants. Through the use of advanced sensors and software, …
People are now having sex in self-driving taxis
Selin KirIn the evolving scenery of self-driving taxis in San Francisco, passengers are getting frisky in the backseat of driverless taxis.
Scoring music hits with Grimes using her Elf. Tech
Selin KirThe music industry is witnessing drastic changes. With the emergence of artificial intelligence technology, no industry has been left untouched and there are broad discussions …
People would rather give up sex and vacations than their smartphones
Koert van MensvoortDid you know that some Dutch people are so addicted to their devices that they'd rather give up sex, vacations, or even a finger than their phone?
We can now grow insulin from lettuce
Selin KirIn a ground-breaking discovery, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania have achieved to produce insulin out of lettuce. There's no need for needles and injections anymore, …
How WhatsApp voice memos help Senegal's farmers
Selin KirWithin the digital realms of our smartphones, WhatsApp groups cater to diverse intents: exchanging witty dad jokes, soliciting style counsel ahead of night-outs with friends, or …
I'm not a robot: AI better at proving to be human than humans
Kelly van GemertResearchers at the University of California discovered that bots now excel at solving CAPTCHAs faster and more accurately than humans.
Merging AI with human brain cells
Kelly van GemertA team of researchers are currently investigating the fusion of human brain cells with artificial intelligence. Creepy or innovative?
This device helps you to control your lucid dreams
Méline MaquartWhat if we could control our dreams? In the near future, this might become a reality. Prophetic developed a new technology that enables lucid dream control.
Interruptions
Rolf CoppensEvery ecology needs balance. So that's also true for the ecology of the office. The office is a ecology that is highly regulated: temperature, light, humidity, distance to other …
24 hours economy
Rolf CoppensCould the biggest, most successful discount store in the world really meet your every need? Twenty-four hours a day? That's what the TV spots are saying. Really living there. …
Ambient bathtub
Koert van MensvoortI am sorry I couldn't be there— I had an important meeting with my bathtub that could not be rescheduled. This bathtub with an internal multicolour LED light fitting, creating a …
A plant that glows when thirsty
Dr NaturalSINGAPORE (Reuters) Some people like to talk to their plants. Now, students at Singapore Polytechnic say they have created a plant that can communicate with people - by glowing …
Architecture of density
Rolf CoppensPictures taken by Michael Wolf in Hong Kong. See the whole series here .
Avian Android
jdthSculpture, android bird's voices, a mechanical reconstruction of organic life-forms, electronically controlled by Judith Fegerl Taking "The Chinese Nightingale", a tale of Hans …
Biojewellery
Koert van MensvoortDesigning Rings with Bioengineered Bone Tissue. Married couples used to wear a ring as a symbol of their affective relationship. But with these bioengineered rings made out of …
Biopresence - Human DNA Trees
Koert van MensvoortImagine a graveyard without tombstones, instead there are growing trees that contain genetic material of the deceased people burried there. Biopresence creates Human DNA trees by …
Biosphere 2
Koert van MensvoortBiosphere 2 is a manmade closed ecological system in Oracle, Arizona. Constructed between 1987 and 1989, it was used to test if and how people could live and work in a closed …
Bit.fall Aquadisplay
Rolf CoppensA screen of water displays images by controlling drops of water falling down. Density creates light/dark shades that create the image— Project site
Child Care Robot
Koert van MensvoortNEC corporation is developping a "Childcare Robot PaPeRo" capable to play with and watch over children. The Childcare Robot is capable of recognizing and verbally communicating …
Cloaca - Art(ificial) shit machine
Koert van MensvoortCloaca is a giant machine that makes shit. At one end of the machine, they pour 2.6 gallons of water and a meal from a fancy SoHo restaurant. 27 hours and 33 feet later, a nozzle …
DNAncestry Project
Arnoud van den Heuvel"Become a part of history." and "Your journey begins" are just two quotes from the Trace your ancestry with DNA website. That says enough about the business behind it, but what I …
Eat this!
Rolf CoppensSushi made up of flavoured sheets printed out on an inkjet printer. Using ink-jet printers and lasers in the kitchen may seem like a futuristic vision but at Moto restaurant in …
Entry 2006 exhibition opened
Koert van MensvoortToday the Entry 2006 exhibition opened in the coalwashe building, Zollverein. For 100 days 'perspectives and visions in design' with over 300 exhibits from more than 20 countries …
Everyday robots
Rolf CoppensA beautifull movie about robots in everyday life. Made by 1st Avenue Machine. Watch the Quicktime here
Eye 2.0
Rolf CoppensNow with Google smart look. Don't worry, it is science fiction (still). Created by Sean Hamilton Alexander.
First Second Life Millionaire announced
Koert van MensvoortAnshe Chung is an avatar, or onscreen graphic character, created by a Chinese-born language teacher living near Frankfurt, Germany has proclaimed herself the first second life …
Close to skin technology
Wearable Interfaces, Smart Materials and Living Fabrics. V2_, Institute for the Unstable Media, Rotterdam, and Amsterdam-based Virtueel Platform, the expertise centre for …
fully automated news bulletin
Arnoud van den HeuvelNews at Seven is a set of preferences for what a newsreport should be about. Using keywords entered by the user, the program selects news site RSS feeds and specific stories to …
Harddisk tree visualisation
Koert van MensvoortRemember the beautiful sequoiaview harddisk visualisation posted a while ago? Above a more illustrative harddisk tree visualisation by professor Jack van Wijk. Branches are …
Harvesting traffic information through GSM's
Koert van MensvoortTomTom and Vodaphone want to use mobile phone signals sent from traffic jams to gather real-time travel information. The data will be used for TomTom users to establish if roads …
How To Grow A Chair: An Interview with Richard Reames
Rolf CoppensUsing ancient grafting techniques and a few basic tools, Richard Reames shapes living trees into furniture and sculpture near his home in Oregon for clients worldwide. He is the …
How to grow a Heinz bottle
Rolf CoppensA nice video made by the Mill. Looks like Debbie Mollenhagens How to grow an Orangina bottle .
How to grow an Orangina bottle.
Koert van MensvoortConsider an Orangina bottle: shaped like an orange it is designed to look like one. But it does so in a very primitive way. Imagine the product is the packaging. Wouldn't it be …
Hypernose
Arnoud van den HeuvelHypernose is a short movie made by students of the HKU/KMT. Klick to view it here Found at Lucky Coin Films
Infant Pillow - Simulates a Mother's Hand
velinaIf you've ever wished for a "hand" to leave behind so that your baby would feel as if you've never left the room, your prayers have been answered with the Zaky Infant …
Info Toaster
Rolf CoppensToasted bread as an information display device (originally developed in 2001 but somehow still intruiging): a toaster that parses meteorological information from the web and then …
Kernwasser Wonderland
Dr NaturalThe construction of this nucleair powerplant near Kalkar (DE) started in 1973. After the build was finished, in 1991 it was decided not to use it for political reasons. The …
Klima Kontrolle
Koert van MensvoortKlima Kontrolle (video) is a project by Roel Wouters and Luna Maurer . A fan is placed in front of a computer screen and accelerates until it blows away the entire desktop. …
Lifestyle pets
Rolf CoppensALLERCA has produced the world's first scientifically-proven hypoallergenic cats. These cats allow some of the millions of people with feline allergies to finally enjoy the love …
Liquid Orange
Koert van MensvoortWouldn't it be great if we could grow Orangina bottles? Graeme Davies of RCA Industrial Design Engineering, now presents a kitchen appliance for providing orange juice packaged …
Meta meta reality
Rolf CoppensTringo is an online multiplayer game created by Nathan Keir (aka Kermitt Quirk) in December 2004 that runs inside the virtual reality platform Second Life. It is described as a …
Metalosis Maligna
Koert van MensvoortMetalosis Maligna is a documentary by Floris Kaayk about a disease which affects patients with medical implants. Sourcing from such implants a wild metal growth ultimately …
More leg = more money
Rolf CoppensThe Stock market skirt Nancy Paterson made a blue taffeta & black velvet party dress that represents the real-time stock market situation by lowering or raising its hemline. …
WiFi-enabled Ambient Rabbit
There may even come a moment that our connection with an industrially manufactured coke bottle may be richer and more mythical that our relation with a genetically analysed and …
NEXT NATURE Biggest Visual Power Show
Dr NaturalThe Biggest Visual Power Show is an intellectual show that blends between a conference and a pop concert. Over twenty arists, filmers, philosophers, politicians and designers …
Next Nature is...
Koert van Mensvoort—placing the sugar in the supermarkt at a fixed location and knowing where this is.
Park Buildings
Koert van MensvoortSeoul Commune 2026: Reconfiguring Towers in the Park, by the Korean office for architecture Mass Studies. I think in the future... buildings will grow.
Park-card
Rolf CoppensBusiness card slash micro-terrain by Tur & Partner, landscape architects. It's a portable garden: impregnated with seeds, in the photosynthetic presence of sunlight and water, the …
PictoOrphanage
Koert van MensvoortPictoOrphanage opened its gates to all abandoned creatures we thought should be saved from falling into oblivion. these helpless, lonely waifs and strays could be found …
pour des dents d'un blanc éclatant et saines
Dr NaturalAnother peculiar image by jeroen diepenmaat
Projecting wildlife
Arnoud van den HeuvelCarolina Sobecka released her tiger into the night, projected by a moving car. The animal's movements are programmed to correspond to the speed of the car. As the car moves, the …
Pushing the Desktop Metaphor
Koert van MensvoortDespite the metaphor, current virtual desktops (a) have little resemblance to the look or feel of real world desktops (b). Bumptop explores making virtual desktops behave in a …
RFID Chips: Is your cat infected with a Computer Virus?
Koert van MensvoortA group of computer researchers from Amsterdam have demonstrated that it is possible to insert a software virus into radio frequency identification tags, part of a microchip-based …
Robotic Mule
Rolf CoppensDesigned for army uses, the Robotic mule is build for walking and carrying heavy loads through rough terrain. It also has balancing systems that keep it running when you try to …
Sababa
Rolf CoppensThe Sababa is the first real time lava visualiser kit of global city flows. It takes the lava lamp one step further by reconstructing it according to the language of the current …
Scientists want to create human-cow hybrid
Koert van MensvoortScientists in the UK applied for permission to create part-cow, part-human embryos for research aimed at treating diseases such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's. The embryos created …
Sequoiaview - harddisk visualisation
Koert van MensvoortDid you ever wonder where all that hard drive space went too? Sequoiaview generates organic-like views of the files and folders on your hard drives using cushion treemaps. …
Shapeshifting memory plastic
Dr NaturalScientists have invented a plastic memory material that can change into three different shapes based on heat. Researchers demonstrated a plastic tube with three "programmed" …
Social Robots
Koert van MensvoortSmile! We are your friends. Robots will play an important role in our future society. We need to ensure that robots are socially compatible with us in order for society to accept …
Supermouse Experiment
Koert van MensvoortOk, so it is a bit corny. But since there is an amazing hypernatural supermouse starring in this video (quicktime) , we had to post it. Created by Nieto Luis. Thanks Jan.
The infoBreath
KarlA flower arcing from a frosted pane of glass. Rigged with a breath sensor and connected to an internet packet sniffer, the flower is cued in to the wireless network flowing in the …
The Living Tower
Arnoud van den HeuvelAccording to Environmental Health Science Department of Columbia University, nearly 80% of the earth's population will, in the year 2050, reside in urban centers. At present, …
Technology behind Google's results
Rolf CoppensAs a Google user, you're familiar with the speed and accuracy of a Google search. How exactly does Google manage to find the right results for every query as quickly as it does? …
Tree traffic light
Koert van MensvoortFunded and produced by the Public Art Commissions Agency. On roundabout just beyond the Canary Wharf estate there are three trees, two are London planes; the third is a traffic …
Universal Connections - USB fetish
Koert van MensvoortUSB was originally only used by computer experts and nerds. Nowadays USB (universal serial bus) has developed into an every-day item and symbol for connecting the digital with the …
Vertical marketplace
Rolf CoppensNice example of blob architecture meets skyscraper. Looks like it could grow! Link
Virtual Miss Germany
basiakScientists are looking for the most beautiful woman in Germany... At the 2002 Miss Germany pageant, the eight finalists were photographed from the same angle without makeup. The …
Virtual missing limb
Arnoud van den Heuvel"Many people who lose a limb experience the sensation that it is still attached to their body. This is also often accompanied by a feeling of pain in the missing appendage. …
Walls with Ears
ricardoportilhoA traditional textile heritage is celebrated with flocked wallpaper that comes to life as it reacts to ambient noise levels. The louder the space the brighter the wallpaper glows. …
We Love You Lucy
KarlLucy the Margate Elephant is a New Jersey landmark built in 1881. Pilgrims came from all around to gaze in wide wonder at the Elephant god (after gambling). The back of this …
What's Epic?
Arnoud van den HeuvelEpic is a fictional prospect (from 2004) on the future culture of media and internet-corporations. The human addiction to news and information must - according to this video - …
When there's smoke, there's nature
Rolf CoppensWhen I was a kid, I thought that people that could make smoke circles were really cool. Now I think machines that can do that are even cooler!Â? Made by Takeshi Ishiguro
Wind Shaped Pavillion
Koert van MensvoortThe Wind Shaped Pavilion is a design proposal for a large fabric structure that can be used as a public or private pavilion. As a lightweight fabric structure, the wind slowly and …
Withus Oragainstus
Rolf CoppensJust read this article on Darpa 's work on using bugs for war effort . They are planning to make a kind of insect cyborg to use in the army. The Defense Advanced Research Projects …
Would You Like a Bouquet of Nanoflowers?
Koert van MensvoortThese crystalline 'nanoflowers' were developed by Cambridge University PhD student Ghim Wei Ho. The nanostructures of silicon carbide are grown from droplets of gallium on a …
apple stickers
MarcoApple Mac logo with apple stickers by Mark Ferguson. Found on: danieleatock.com
C_YK
Rolf CoppensT-Mobile is the proud owner of a trademark which says it owns the colour Magenta. T-Mobile and its parent Deutsche Telekom, have trademarked magenta. The move means that if you …
A hunt for hightech
Rolf CoppensIn "A Hunt for High Tech", Bart Hess seeks to harness both nature and technology and create armoured skin and fur for a new human archetype incorporating animalistic and …
A room with a view
Rolf CoppensParaisópolis favela (Paradise City), Sao Paulo Huge slums, located on prime real estate, calmly being closed in by money (at least in the shape of concrete towers). Dharavi, …
Apple Desk - Symbol of a digital lifestyle
Koert van MensvoortBehold the Apple Desk , created for all those Apple IPod style victims. Moreover this design is a wonderful illustration of the penetration of computing in everyday life; once the …
Arnolds Hybrid Hummer
Koert van MensvoortSure, governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is Mr Nextnature avant la lettre, but since the man cruises in a hybrid hummer , he is the living evidence that nextnature can be supportive …
Backpacker Airplane
Koert van MensvoortNo, I am not sure if and how this distressed airplane wearing its passengers luggage on its back relates to our research topic. Anyhow, it is the peculiar image of the week. The …
Big Ass Browser
Arnoud van den HeuvelFirst we had the internet. We stored all our texts and images in databases. Then came search engines to locate the data. Now is the time to interconnect it all; to share knowledge …
Biomapping
Koert van MensvoortBio Mapping is a research project which explores new ways that we as individuals can make use of the information we can gather about our own bodies. The project envisages new …
Bioprinting in Hawai
Koert van MensvoortThis Fall, the 1st world Bioprinting Congress is organized in Honolulu, Hawai. Four whole days of biopatterning, bioassembly and biofabrication! The ironic choice of location …
Bleeding till Death
Koert van MensvoortFlowers start dying from the moment they're being cut. We try to keep them alive as long as possible by giving them water, sunlight and feeding them. But all of a sudden they …
Botanicalls: The Plants have your Number
Koert van MensvoortBotanicalls is a system that allows plants to call their owner when they need more (or less) sunlight or water. It works by placing moisture and light sensors in plants and then …
Brain biometric key
Arnoud van den HeuvelUsing electrodes positioned around a person's scalp, scientists from the Centre for Research and Technology Hellas in Greece are developping a method for electronic identification …
Brain-computer interface for Second Life
Dr NaturalWhile recent developments in brain-computer interface (BCI) technology have given humans the power to mentally control computers, nobody has used the technology in conjunction …
Car Navigation - Just Follow the Red Cable
Koert van MensvoortJust follow the yellow brick road ... thin red cable and you know where to go! Instead of looking at a small 6 inch screen, or listening to less than exact turn by turn …
Ceci n'est pas une Montagne
Koert van MensvoortThis is not a mountain, this is a building. Expedition Everest is a "themed roller coaster" attraction created by the imagineers of Disney's Animal Kingdom in Florida. …
Chewing = Browsing
Rolf CoppensJapanese researchers have developed head gear that lets people control devices such as an iPod using their teeth. Now that is not really new, except when you take in mind that …
Cockroach Controlled Mobile Robot
Hendrik-Jan GrievinkBy putting this cockroach in control over a mobile robot, our perception of the animal is changed. Technology empowers the little creature you would normally squash under your …
Coexist
Hendrik-Jan GrievinkDonna Conlon is a Panama-based artist who often uses the relation between man and environment in her work. In her short film "Coexist" we get a close-up look at leaf cutter ants …
Compubeaver
Rolf CoppensCompubeaver by Kasey McMahon "I am interested in the way we interact with nature. As we become increasingly reliant on technology, we become disconnected from our natural …
Super Mario Cloud
MarcoCory Arcangel hacked and modified a piece of hardware'the cartridge on which the game "Super Mario" is stored, or rather, was stored to produce "Super Mario Cloud" This is …
Deep in the Forest : Owls, Logs and Noise
SaraStarting as noise makers, the owlproject work on different products which are deeply rooted in nature. And electronics.With their logs the owlproject travel around the world, …
Die Hard - Vilcus plug dactyloadapter
Koert van MensvoortMany people get a kick out of a direct contact with AC power supply. To that end, people normally use U-shaped fragments of bare wire, paper clips or even usual metal forks. All …
Diesels Global Warming Ready Campaign
Koert van MensvoortThe Earth is heating up. The sun will blow up within 5 billion years. The human race will probably go extinct before entering the posthuman stage, or the probabillity that we are …
digital cave of lascaux
Rolf CoppensThe lasertag , made by Graffiti Research Lab , allows people to leave their mark on the city for a short while, without getting your hands dirty. After Rotterdam, New York, …
Digital trashcan
Rolf CoppensThe TEMPO is a fake product with a real idea. As I am really neat and eager to clean up my digital desk I tend to throw away too much files. This digital trashcan copies the stuff …
Do you "MIND"?
Arnoud van den HeuvelNeuroSky (founded in 2004) innovator in "wearable" bio-sensor/signal processing systems and SEGA TOYS are developing mind-controlled computer games and next generation consumer …
Earthrise on YouTube
Koert van MensvoortThe Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and public broadcaster NHK have released a video of the Earth rising over the lunar horizon. The video was taken on November 7 by the …
Ecopod
Arnoud van den HeuvelInspired by the ancient Egyptians and made from 100% environmentally friendly materials, the Ecopod is the ideal product for a non-toxic burial or cremation. ecopod.co.uk | via …
Edible RFID tags
Dr NaturalInventors keep coming up with new ways to exploit RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) tags. Now Kodak wants to use them to probe a person's digestive system. RFID tags are tiny …
EnergyTree
Rolf CoppensThe EnergyTree is a device dedicated to monitoring your household energy use. It monitors you energy output from sockets and any device that is using electricity. It also monitors …
Espace Pur
InformationlabEspace Pur by Marc Hottinger & Lucien Iseli (MID-ECAL) is an air ionizer that uses dust as pixels and that displays patterns thanks to it, in a very slow motion way. It cleans …
Fake for Real: Disasters like from a Movie
Koert van MensvoortTwo disasters in New York, with the Emirpe state in view. In The Day After Tomorrow, a Hollywood blockbuster about climate change, New York is submerged by a catastrophic flood. …
Fake for Real: The Real Life of flat Characters
Cartoon characters fuel our imagination. For the duration of the book or movie, they supply us with an alternative playful identity; an escape from the dull monotonous everyday …
Fake for Real: QWERTY, the Right Order
Koert van MensvoortDid you ever wonder why the letters on the keyboard are in the order they are? The reason for QWERTY goes way back. This order was chosen to reduce the probability that mechanical …
Fake for Real: Romantic Sunsets
Koert van MensvoortSunsets are loved by people all around the globe. Could this universal aesthetic preference be linked to a deeply rooted understanding of the sunset's importance? Life on earth …
Fake for Real: Virtual Miss
Koert van MensvoortWhich of these women do you think is more beautiful? At the 2002 Miss Germany pageant, the eight finalists were photographed from the same angle without makeup. The portraits were …
Fake for Real: Walking Leaf
Koert van MensvoortAlmost by default, we associate simulation with modern media: games and virtual reality. But what about the Phyllium giganteum ? It is not a leaf but an insect disguised as one. …
Fake XP grass
Rolf CoppensFake commercial for Norton computer maintenance software. Made by some student, who's name I couldn't find.
First documentairy made inside Second Hype
Koert van MensvoortAfter the many documentaries and TV coverage on Second Hype, now the first documentary made inside Second Hype is here. My Second Life is a documentary about a man named Molotov …
Flat Pets
Arnoud van den HeuvelHere's an animal-friendly alternative for Tinkebells Cat Bag and it scares the crap out of mice! There's also an instant infant and a cuddly fish bowl . These cardboard-pets were …
Forest clock
Rolf CoppensTiWalkMe is a clock (still in conceptual stage) designed to track 1,000 years using a forest seeded along a ribbon of land to tell time. Annual tree plantings set the pace, …
French Aids Campaign
Koert van MensvoortThis French Aids campaign is a wonderful example of biomimicmarketing (using images of old nature for propaganda or marketing purposes). They may be disturbing but the message …
Furry Display
Koert van MensvoortI applaud any new display technique that isn't emitting light. A recent patent application by Philips for a new type of screen based on "furry" pixels , or physical pixels made …
Future Beauty: Hyperbreasts?
Koert van MensvoortLet's talk about hyperbreasts. Have you ever wondered why men like women with large breasts? Historically large breasts are presumably sexually attractive for men because they …
Generative graffiti
Arnoud van den HeuvelHere 's a work by Theodore Watson (Amsterdam) on the face of the Maritime Hotel (New York) The particles are attracted to one another but will repel away from the non-lit windows. …
Giant Plush Microbes
Arnoud van den HeuvelThe bear is a wild animal, a predator and hostile to man. Yet somewhere in the beginning of the 20th century someone caught the idea of making a cuddly toy out of it. Perhaps …
Global Warming Mug
Arnoud van den HeuvelAl Gore would love one of these mugs; displaying what happens when the world heats up and oceans begin to rise. Via Shikake | See also: ScaryIdeas.com | Related posts: Design A …
Google 2084
Koert van MensvoortTongue in cheek speculation on what Google's home page may look like in 2084, created by Randy Siegel for NY Times. Frankly, I don't think this is very realistic: We don't have to …
Greener Apple
Koert van MensvoortApple knows more about clean design than anybody. But apparently their products contain hazardous substances that other companies have abandoned. Hence, green my Apple! Via …
Human Tetris
Dr NaturalA tribute to the virtual world boomeranging back to the physical world by Mega64 . Or do you rather prefer the corny japanese gameshow version? Via Engadget ,
iBiogenetics
Arnoud van den HeuvelIn 1998 at the introduction of the iMac , Apple declared that the "i" stood for "internet". Apple later adopted the "i" prefix across its consumer hardware and software lines. …
Inter Face - Yariv Alter Fin 1968-2007
Koert van MensvoortThis Inter-Face was made by our friend Yariv Alter Fin, who sadly ended his life last week in Tel Aviv. Yariv was a wonderful digital artist and a giving person. Yariv, you are …
Karmeraflage
Rolf CoppensKameraflage is a technique to put a layer on top of an image that can only be seen by digital cameras. In this way, an invisible layer of extra information can be added to a …
Lego Towers
Arnoud van den HeuvelWhat did you play with when you were 8+ years old? Well let's say some people can never quit playing. The Bjarke Ingels Group ( BIG , Copenhagen-based group of 85 architects, …
Liquid armor
Arnoud van den HeuvelThe US Army Research Lab in collaboration with the University of Delaware developped a special liquid called s hear thickening fluid . It is actually a mixture of hard …
Manufactured landscapes
Rolf CoppensEdward Burtynsky is a photographer that makes pictures scarred or altered landscapes, changed by industrial activities. His work shows the disappearance of nature and the …
Moon Tanning?
Hendrik-Jan GrievinkFeel unhappy? Little depressed? Headaches? Why not try a little trip to de Arizona desert? Richard Chaplin built the Interstellar Light Collector. As is often the case, tragedy …
Nanosculpture
Arnoud van den HeuvelThis copy of Rodins "Le Penseur" / "The Thinker" (1880) shouldn't have that much on its mind... By using laser-technology, Korean researchers have crafted the microscopic version …
Natural light
Arnoud van den HeuvelProducts by 100%... to make the light in your house/office feel more natural. 100per.com
Never mind guitar solo's | ReacTable
Hendrik-Jan GrievinkEver seen a performance of electronic musicians? No matter the genre, these events don't have the reputation of being very lively, rock 'n roll-like experiences. In the best case, …
No transparent frog
Arnoud van den HeuvelIt was in the news all over the world, but wonder why at NextNature.net we have not mentioned the 'invention' of the transparent frog before? Probably because we think the frog is …
One RC to rule them all..
Rolf CoppensAs our lives become more and more controlled by devices, we need ways to control them all. The pultius is the answer.
Out of Body Experience
Hendrik-Jan GrievinkDid you have your Out of Body Experience today? We knew already that our nature is merely how we perceive it, but now scientists from the Ecole Polytechnique Federale in Lausanne …
Packet garden
Dr NaturalPacket Garden is an experimental artwork that seeks to provide an alternative and accessible approach to visualizing daily internet use. Plants are also grown for each protocol …
PET project
Rolf Coppens"I love the idea of using liquid containers to make water animals. Contained/containing, trash/not-trash, like the jelly-fish or anemone: Living/non-living And I wanted some …
Stoneage noodles
Arnoud van den Heuvel15.000 Years ago we lived in caves, wore animal-fur and ate mammut- noodles !? Oh well, though our knowledge has grown a bit, the human nature hasn't changed that much: every …
Stump
Koert van MensvoortThis morning I found a tree stump in my laminate wooden floor?! Oh well, that's the peculiar object of the week, created by David Lefkowitz .
Surplus - Terrorized into Being Consumers
Koert van MensvoortFor those who find it to difficult to read John Zerzan , there is still a Youtube version. Surplus: Terrorized Into Being Consumers is a Swedish documentary film on consumerism …
The surrealist were telling the truth
Koert van MensvoortAfter Magritte; Surrealism in the 21th century. Peculiar image of the week, created by Isabel Lucena.
Take nature, add nature
Rolf CoppensMyoung Ho Lee, a young artist from South Korea, has produced an elaborate series of photographs that pose some unusual questions about representation, reality, art, environment …
Temporary printing machine
Rolf CoppensA nice light printer by rAndom International . The printer makes images with light on a light reactive surface. Really nice and high tech, but what I like is that the images fade …
The objectuals
Rolf CoppensThe Objectuals is a series of work by artist Hyung Koo Lee , it features an interesting mix of visual distortion apparatus for the human body. Lee says that he experienced …
The Professors Doppelgänger Robot
Dr NaturalAlthough there are numerous researchers out there creating humanoid robots, none are as explicit about the close relation between anthropomorphism and narcissism as professor …
Tickle Massage Robot
Koert van MensvoortTickle is a small robot that walks on the human body to generate a pleasant, tickling sensation.It has two motors and rubber feet for a good grip on the skin. When it encounters a …
Typosperma
Rolf CoppensAnother project by Oded Ezer, Typosperma is the second experimental typo project in his 'Biotypography' series. As a paraphrase on the biotechnology definition, 'Biotypography' is …
User Vaporated Content
Hendrik-Jan GrievinkToday, I had the strangest experience. I visited the dutch MSN website (don't ask me why) and found myself erasing al the content with a flick of my cursor. As I moved the cursor …
Victoria 4.0
Arnoud van den HeuvelVictoria has great realism, perfect imperfections, and incredible ease of use. Based on live human models she is trying to close the gap between real life and models typically …
Video dress
Rolf CoppensSometimes I have a hard time choosing between going out and staying home watching TV or my computerscreen. The great fashiondesigner Hussein Chalayan made these choices a lot …
True Knowledge beats Google
Arnoud van den HeuvelWhat you are looking at, is the logo of perhaps the (in idea) biggest competitor on the search-engine market. It is beta-testing right now, but its demo video looks promising. Why …
Where Ships go to Die
Koert van MensvoortBrendan Corr's created a photo essay of the Bangladesh beach/port Chittagong where half of the world's supertankers are disassembled. The reported facts: over 200,000 Bangladeshis …
You only live Twice
Koert van MensvoortYes, I understand the media interest in Second Hype (Of course we don't take it serious as a virtual reality concept. Steering a mouse, sitting behind a flat screen, moving 3D …
Meatatarians
oustamanThis ad is made by some people who claim that they eat only meat. Their establishment is called meatatarians/ . We have seen food fights , plants that eat insects, but we haven't …
A Mobile Phone Embedded in Asphalt
Koert van MensvoortIf future anthropologists would ever dig up this cellphone, they might identify it as some sort of mysterious pseudo-religious device carried around fervently by early 21th …
Air traffic
Koert van MensvoortThe paths of air traffic over North America visualized in color and form. Created by Aaron Koblin .
Animator vs Animation
oustamanWhat happens if the user interface becomes a landscape? Watch the short film by Alan Becker.
Asus introduces scented laptops
ConnieIntegrating nature in our technology. There are four different laptops: Floral Blossom (pink), which has a tropical, flowery scent; Musky Black (black), which incorporates a waft …
Back to Nature?
Koert van MensvoortNow this is how you do it. First you take the meat of a hundred animals; chickens (19%), turkeys (17%). Secondly, you blend them in a large tank with water, mais, wheat, oil, fat, …
Banksy Pet Store
NielsFamous street artist Banksy left his grafitti spraycans at home and sets to opening a pet store. The difference with this pet store is that instead of looking at pets, you look at …
Biomechanical Energy Harvesting
Arnoud van den HeuvelLet's face it: every time your cellphone battery runs empty you feel amputated and you quickly run back to your house to connect to a powering-adapter. Bionic Power Inc. is now …
Blendie - the voice controlled blender
GuusBlendie is an voice controlled blender with a mind of its own. Materials are a 1950’s Osterizer blender altered with custom made hardware and software for sound analysis and motor …
Boxing the Desert
Arnoud van den HeuvelWith his Waterboxx , Pieter Hoff (The Netherlands) won the Bèta Dragons Award 2008. It is an instrument that supports plants and trees in order to survive in difficult …
Car tech makes reality look like a game
Rolf CoppensTech company Fuijtsu released a new way to look around you while driving a car. Following the old fashioned neck turning and mirroring this tech has cameras around the vehicle to …
Cell phone cooking
Koert van MensvoortPopping corn with your handheld? Pity this recently discovered cellphone feature is a hoax , created by a company to promote bluetooth headsets (thanks Teun ).
Consuming Illusions
Koert van MensvoortSo you thought the 'consumption of illusions' was a typical digital world activity of second life residents and gaming addicts? Never underestimate virtuality in everyday life. …
Corporate animal pattern laptop
Koert van MensvoortThese photo's were send to us by NextNature.net reader Gordon Cohen, who decided he liked the corporate animal backdrop so much that he and his girlfriend had it laser etched on …
Did you know? 2.0
Chris HegerUpdate of the video " Shift happens " by Karl Fisch. Wonderful, concise video that helps raise awareness of the issues of globalization in our newly connected world first raised …
Don't you just love those classical games?
Koert van MensvoortPeculiar image of the week by Anne de Vries .
Driving on Algue
Koert van MensvoortGreen bubbles? Yes, they seem to be everywhere nowadays. But for a change we aren't talking about those greenish marketing bubbles of the flourishing sustainability cult. …
Face swapping for privacy
Rolf CoppensFace swapping software finds faces in a photograph and swaps the features in the target face from a library of faces. This can be used to "de-identify" faces that appear in …
Fake for Real: Cartoon Rats
Arnoud van den HeuvelIn 2000 on a Japanese auction site , 20 real live Pokemon Pikachus were offered for 925 million dollars. Roughly translated: We capture each one after your order, so we guarantee …
Fake for Real: Everyday Acting
Koert van MensvoortWas it real, or is she just trying to please me? Let’s face it: men are secretly insecure, because with women you just can’t tell! The classic romantic comedy When Harry Met Sally …
Fake for Real: The most famous reproduction
Koert van MensvoortThe Mona Lisa is the most famous painting in the world. Just about everyone knows the mysteriously smiling lady. But how many of us have actually been to the Louvre to see it with …
Fight climate change: Hack the Planet
Dr NaturalLots of clouds this week. The peculiar picture above shows the eruption of mount Pinatubo in 1991, which apparently resulted in a certain amount of global cooling (next to some …
Find Brain, replace with GPS
Rolf CoppensSo far, over-dependence on GPS devices has resulted in more inconvenience than actual danger, but earlier a U.K. woman sent her £96k Mercedes flying into a river, trusting the …
Flatscreen TV Now Required for Survival?
Hendrik-Jan GrievinkGRONINGEN (NL) – Low-income people in the Dutch city Groningen should be able to buy a flatscreen television, according to the alderman of social affairs Peter Verschuren. The …
Flying Penguins
Koert van MensvoortLast week, the BBC reported a colony of penguins that had gained the ability to fly (video) . The penguins were reported to fly thousands of miles and spend the winter in the …
Föhn le fenêtre
Hendrik-Jan GrievinkTired of looking out on a grey wall and in dire need of a green touch? Then Föhn le fenêtre has got just what you need. The concept is simple enough: artist Karel Verhoeven offers …
Food Fight
Arnoud van den HeuvelIf food and consumption are part of a nations identity, then could warfare be culturally determined as well? The short film that plays with this theme is called Food Fight by …
God Says No
Koert van MensvoortPeculiar object of the week. 'God Says No', made by Jirri Geller , via Trendbeheer .
Google tracks flue spread via sick searchers
Koert van MensvoortThis Tuesday, search giant Google released an experimental tool that tracks the intensity and movement of the influenza virus across the United States by monitoring the number of …
Green Blues: Biofuels add to Global Warming
Koert van MensvoortIt is official: the Green Blues has begun. Almost all bio-fuels used today cause more greenhouse gas emissions than conventional fuels if the full emissions costs of producing …
Green Roofs for Living
Arnoud van den HeuvelThis impression shows the ambitions of the city of Rotterdam for the coming decade. The city is supposed to have an image problem concerning its greenlife; as a big industrial …
Happy Meal
Koert van MensvoortHow to create your own milkshake with globally available ingredients. Video by Oskar Nilsson, taken from Shampoo Generation DVD . See also: Image Consumption , Million Dollar …
Hemp–Mote
Arnoud van den HeuvelThis weeks peculiar image gives gaming that "natural" touch: the Hemp–Mote by dhrek.com Made from 3 kinds of 100% natural hemp string on the outside, while remaining 100% …
Hollywood on Canvas
Koert van MensvoortPeculiar image of the week. Source: Worth 1000 , via Trendbeheer . See also: Mona Lisa goes LA , The Photoshop Beauties .
Hortus Conclusus
Arnoud van den HeuvelThis weeks peculiar image is a work by Zeger Reyers. In 2001 he vaccinated some everyday objects - found in the basement of Rotterdam Art Centre Witte de With - with oyster …
How to get rid of 2400 memory games
Koert van MensvoortThe Fake for Real memory game was sold in a stylish box with a pattern resembling the internationally known and faked Louis Vuitton pattern. The LV pattern was ironically mimicked …
Human body farm
ElinWhy not use the human body to grow products for the medical industry? The designer Michael Burton envisions Future Farm where the body is used as a farm to cultivate clinical and …
Hunters
Koert van MensvoortCreated by Banksy . Peculiar image of the week. See also: Join the Neolithic Revolution .
Hybrid Carp with human face
Koert van MensvoortI never expected anthropomorphobia to be evoked by a fish! This hybrid species fish was born between a carp and a leather carp in the pond of a personal house in Chongju. Each of …
If avatars could vote
Koert van MensvoortDemocratic presidential candidate Barack Obama has made a play for online gamers, placing in game campaign advertisements in a series of popular titles from video game giant …
If the earth is not round..
Sara://nextnature.net The convincing tone of the Iraqi Astronomy researcher Fadhel Al-Sa'd in his elaboration on the shape of the earth in an Iraqi television show, is just as …
Indoor swimming pool for penguins
Koert van MensvoortThis peculiar image of the week was made by Beatrice Jansen . We are unsure if this penguin refugee camp is global warming related or merely for entertainment purposes.
Interactive Nanotech Food
Koert van MensvoortNanotechnology isn't just protecting your food - it's in your food. Scientists are manufacturing nano-sized vitamins that are easier for our bodies to absorb. In the future they …
It came out of the Sea
Koert van MensvoortA giant, smiling Lego man has been fished out of the sea in the Dutch resort of Zandvoort. Workers at a drinks stall rescued the 2.5-metre tall model. "We saw something bobbing …
It is a weird world out there.
oustamanHereby I present you the new order of the world. Image found at strangemaps.blogspot.com
It is Nature... but not as we know it
Dr NaturalNo, this isn't the newest picture of some star system or nebula taken by Hubble telescope in deep space. This is a map of the internet. It might not be of much use since it is …
Join the Neolithic Revolution
Koert van MensvoortWhy hunt? Why gather? Join the Neolithic revolution! Somewhere around 9500 BC proto-farmers began to select and cultivate food plants with desired characteristics. While in their …
Next Nature lecture at Lift Conference
Lecture this Friday on Next Nature by Mieke Gerritzen at Lift conference in Geneva, Switzerland. Expect wild trees, wild beaches, wild animals, wild implants and wild corporations.
Letting Go
Koert van MensvoortInspired by the death of his grandfather, LEGO builder Shannon Ocean visualizes the chaos that lies beyond death in this thoughtful and somewhat disturbing piece called " Letting …
Making Objects Invisible: It's getting easier
Koert van MensvoortTheorists predict a new class of materials that could render objects invisible. The materials work because they interact with light in unusual ways. Researchers are beginning to …
Man charged for shooting his lawn-mower
Koert van MensvoortA 56-year-old man from the Midwestern US state of Wisconsin has been arrested after shooting his lawn mower in his garden because it would not start. The man was charged by police …
Metaphors be with you
Koert van MensvoortThese iconesque web images of shopping carts and bag icons where gathered by Ro London . I guess soon we will see 'Buy Now' buttons appearing in real life shops? Via …
Michelangelo's David After his Stay in the US
Mieke GerritzenI got this in my email from my uncle who lives in Australia. "After a short stay in America, David returns to Italy" . You know what's coming before you even open the picture. …
Mobile garden
SaraNo green area's in your neighborhood? Well, this mobile community garden might be a solution. You can take it to your office, park it on a suburban industrial zone, pick your …
Recycled Books
Arnoud van den HeuvelA lot of dead books were used to make this piece of tree trunk. By Jacqueline Rush Lee | Related: Modernistic Tree | Modernistic Chair
Modernistic Tree
Koert van MensvoortMondrian would have appreciated square trees. Furthermore, they would enable wood industry to lose less material, to cut easier with machines and to store more efficiently. Hence …
Museums becoming billboards
Rolf CoppensAfter selling his school , entrepreneur Teun Castelein is now selling the Dutch museum of graphic design.
My latest cellphone
Dr NaturalI think I'll have my next one implanted in my tooth . Via joe-ks.com .
Nobuo Takahashi's Exploding City (video)
Koert van MensvoortIn 2008, for the first time in history, more than half of the world's population will be living in towns and cities . By 2030 this number will swell to almost 5 billion, with …
Observing Old Nature
Hendrik-Jan Grievink"At twilight, nature is not without loveliness, though perhaps its chief use is to illustrate quotations from the poets." – Oscar wilde Picture by Noor Bongers , shot at Sedona, …
Oil Price Threatens Biofuel Firms
Dr NaturalEconomy is ecology? Technology Review writes the price of oil has dipped to levels that could be far too low for many advanced-biofuel startups to succeed, especially those that …
Power Ivy
Rolf CoppensCochran’s sustainable design group, SMIT (Sustainably Minded Interactive Technology) came up with a project called GROW. It's an Ivy-like covering of a building that generates …
Prof. Dr. Jos de Mul's - Poetry of Genetics
Koert van MensvoortIn the weeks towards the Biggest Visual Power Show 2008 we post a few video's of earlier power show presentations. Philosopher Prof. Dr. Jos de Mul – author of countless articles …
RepRap - a self-reproducing machine
GuustThe RepRap is a selfreproducing 3D printer. The 3D printer 'prints' his own components by melting tiny plastic particles together. Imagine what would happen if this 3D printer …
Robomonk
Rolf CoppensAn industrial robot has been given an unusual production task; writing out the full Martin Luther bible "by hand" in a calligraphic style. The robot arm appears to be a fairly …
Roboswift, Eyes in Disguise
Arnoud van den HeuvelWith its 50 cm wing span and 80 grams of weight, this high tech bird is ready to infiltrate swift surveillance squads next summer. Aerospace engineering students at TU Delft , …
Second Skin Trailer
Arnoud van den HeuvelSecond Skin takes an intimate look at computer gamers whose lives have been transformed by the emerging genre of Massively Multiplayer Online games (MMOs). World of Warcraft, …
Simulacra for Imposters
Arnoud van den Heuvel“Transformation” is the title of the video by a group of bio–industrialists called Foster Farms . They also sell chicken products, but that’s just to fund their quest for fair …
Sneakpreview
This week we are sneak previewing our forthcoming compilation DVD featuring the best of the Biggest Visual Power Shows at the Picnic 08 - E-art event on 24,25,26 September at …
Social Networking down to the Genetic Level
Koert van MensvoortIf you've ever wanted to know just exactly how much DNA you share with your ridiculously tall brother or doppelganger best friend, you'll soon be able to find out. 23andMe , a …
Space Race in Cyberspace?
Koert van MensvoortAfter having build nightclubs, shopping malls and natural resorts, second hype residents have constructed a spaceport in their metaverse. They sure have a lot of different rockets …
Surrogate Sushi Unmasked with DNA Test
Koert van MensvoortThese two teenagers, Kate Stoeckle and Louisa Strauss, just found out many New York sushi restaurants and seafood markets are playing a game of bait and switch with their sushi. …
The copypaste Bird
Koert van MensvoortOne might think this video is just another witty flick made by some media artist. It is not. This is a real bird living in Southern Australia. In order to attract females, the …
The Love Boat
Arnoud van den HeuvelThis is Petra. In 2006 she fell in love with a peddle boat designed to look like a swan and has never left its side. In winter, when swans should be flying southwards, the peddle …
Third Life
Diogo CorreiaLong after Second Life servers have been shutdown, Augmented Reality is a common place . Thanks to our bioengineered eyes, or our electronic contact lenses , and years of data …
Type trousers
Rolf CoppensBeauty and the Geek jeans by Erik de Nijs. The trousers offer a full Querty keyboard layout as well as a mouse, speakers and a little joystick. As he calls it: "Beauty is skin …
Untitled Sound Objects
Jan van der AsdonkPe Lang and Zimoun have created a range of sound objects, also referred to as the Untitled Sound Objects . These sound objects are mainly triggered by simple vibration motors, …
Vegetarian Nike
Koert van MensvoortNo animals were hurt or injured in the production of these vegetarian Nikes. Created by Paul van Barneveld . Thanks Floris . See also Flesh Nike .
Wallpaper Blooms When the Heat is On
Koert van MensvoortNow this is a spot on example of information decoration : a heat–sensitive wallpaper of which the printed flowers will be blooming when the radiator is on. Created by Shiyuan .
Brandscape: Welcome Home
Arnoud van den HeuvelWednesday May 21st the boeing I was in, flew over some crop–fields near Schiphol (Amsterdam airport) where I took this picture. It reads: "Welcome home!". Unox is a famous Dutch …
When Facebook gets Physical
Koert van MensvoortWhat would it be like if the communication on a social networking site like Facebook was actually played out in everyday life? Hilarious sketch by Idiots of Ants (thanks Martijn ).
Your grand-grand-parents new media
Koert van Mensvoort19th century people needed some explanation to understand the difference between the regular candlelight and the electrically simulated candlelight. Note the disclaimer at the …
A day in the Dutch dunes
Koert van MensvoortRecently, I had a nice day in the Dutch dunes with the people of Blocter.com , who show the people behind blogs. We closely investigated the Scottish highland cattle that acts as …
Advanced Seed Bombs
Arnoud van den HeuvelDesigner Jin-wook Hwang from South Korea came up with the idea of replanting and reforesting arid areas using seed bombs . When airdropped, the bombs disassemble themselves, …
Agenda Wallpaper
Koert van MensvoortUsing thermochromatic ink, which changes color when the temperature exceeds a specific degree, designer Josien Pieters created a prototype of a dynamic wallpaper that …
Animatronic window dummy
Koert van MensvoortWhat if the mannequins in the shopping windows suddenly started moving? Would you buy more, or would it just trigger your anthropomorphobic responses? Soon we will know. Momo is a …
Apple Salad
Dr NaturalTasty realization of the classic Apple rainbow logo, made entirely out of fresh fruit. The clever creation was made by Richard Thomas from sliced kiwis, bananas, oranges, …
Autimacy
Koert van MensvoortAutimacy [aw-tih-muh-see] - noun, plural - cies. The term was coined by Simona Kicurovska .
Back to Where it Came From
Koert van MensvoortFish sticks are among the most wondrous modernistic inventions of the previous century. They are easy to eat, efficient in their packaging & transport and the greatest of all: …
Bacteria that Turn CO2 into Energy
Koert van MensvoortWe’ve written earlier about man–made bacteria that eat waste & shit petrol . How about a genetically modified bacteria that can eat CO2 and excrete methane that could power …
Battery-Free Implantable Neural Sensor
Koert van MensvoortThe shrinking size of electronics allows for the implantation of increasingly sophisticated electronic devices in the human body, paving the way for new prosthetics and …
Beauty kit for little girls
Koert van MensvoortPlastic fantastic starts at an early age. Created by Pleix . Related: Photoshop Beauties , Software that ranks female beauty , Virtual Miss , Natural Breasts .
Bionic Pinguins
Tijn KooijmansFesto Bionic Learning Lab demonstrates their new technologies inspired by nature. Another step towards artificial pets replacing extincted animals, or just an exposé of scientific …
Brainwave Binoculars
Arnoud van den HeuvelThe eye passes on more information to the brain than the brain will process. In that sense, the brain functions as a filter. But on the battlefield the risk of neglecting …
Carhenge
Rolf CoppensJim Reinders, an experimental artist with a history of using curious media, became so enthralled by the beauty of the famous Stonehenge in England that he had to recreate it. …
Children's Dictionary Dumps 'Nature' Words
Koert van MensvoortTo make way for modern tech terms such as BlackBerry, blog, voicemail and broadband, the latest edition of the Oxford Junior Dictionary has opted to drop terms pertaining to old …
Controlling Human Odour
Florian Conradi and Michelle ChristensenThe ultimate personal hygiene product, feces odor tablets, is another Japanese innovation sold by the Takano Yori Beauty Clinic . These pills promise to make your excrement …
Cyborg Insects
Koert van MensvoortScientists at the University of California created a neural implant for a beetle that gives them wireless control over the insect. Electrical signals delivered via the electrodes …
Deforestation in China threatens giant pandas
Rolf CoppensI found this ad very ironic; after killing the giant panda (by turning it into a logo) WWF is complaining that the Chinese are killing the living version of it. I wonder if they …
Dolphin fitted with prosthetic fin
SelbyTyre manufacturing company has come to the rescue of Fuji the dolphin who was stricken by a mysterious life threatening illness and lost her fin. She caught a disease that begun …
Exmovere Chariot: the wearable wheelchair
federicaExmovere Holdings , a biomedical engineering company, is focused on government and consumer applications for healthcare, security and mobility. This company developed Exmovere …
Eyeborg
Arnoud van den HeuvelThe Eyeborg Project is the work of Rob Spence, a 36 year old filmmaker residing in Toronto, Canada and Kosta Grammatis – an unemployed engineer from San Francisco, California. …
FDA holds up the delivery of an 'Apple'
Koert van MensvoortThe US Food and Drug Administration is holding up the delivery of an iMac because they seem to think it is an apple, not an Apple. I don’t want to believe that either UPS or the …
Field of Waves
Koert van MensvoortParks are not nature. Parks are culture: man-made simulations of nature, carefully constructed to provide walkers, runners and mountain bikers with a recreational, yet confined – …
Flu Collector
Koert van MensvoortRather than trying to delay or avoid a flue infection, why not plan it? The INFLU flu collector mask helps you to get sick when you want to. The INFLU mask is outfitted with a …
Flyvertising
Arnoud van den HeuvelTo draw attention to a stand at the publishing house of the Frankfurter Buchmesse , a publisher hired some flies. The paper mini-banners -- attached with self-dissolving wax -- …
Forefather Ox cloned to revive delicious Steak
Koert van MensvoortDelicious retro-future meat from Japan. Food technology in the overdrive. Japanese researchers successfully cloned what is believed to have been the forefather ox of Gifu …
Four environmental 'heresies'
Koert van MensvoortTED talk by Steward Brand – the man who helped usher in the environmental movement in the 1960s and '70s – has been rethinking his positions on cities, nuclear power, genetic …
Fun River Waterslide
Arnoud van den Heuvel"A clean river is a fun river." Peculiar ad by stirmarketing.com Related: Playing with Dry Water | Datafountain | A Future Love Story
Future babes
Arnoud van den HeuvelA future in which prosthetic patches prevent bodies from aging? Or a sexists view on femininity in robotics? Either way, the question is whether they are up- or downgrades of …
Google Ads talk back!
Hendrik-Jan Grievink‘Advertising is the cave art of the 20th century’, Marshall McLuhan said. Advertisings are mythical depictions of hunting and gathering rituals, that don’t take place on some …
GPS Parody
Koert van MensvoortAnd you thought GPS was supposed to make life easier? Created by Sheepfilms . Related: Find Brain, replace with GPS , GPS influence on street signage . Via Beyond the Beyond .
Green Vibes
Arnoud van den HeuvelThe big lobby to endeavor for a climate neutral lifestyle must have reached its peak. It is common knowledge that recycling electronic and battery operated utensils is better for …
Growing a nano forrest
Koert van MensvoortJohn Hart, assistant professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Michigan, is inventing techniques for growing carefully structured forests of high-quality carbon …
Hamburger sneaker
Koert van MensvoortWe are unsure whether it is just an accidental evolutionary recombination, or that the hamburger sneaker was bound to happen – somehow, it feels natural. Our peculiar object of …
Hightech Landscape
Koert van MensvoortDiscarded shells of computers and monitors float in a drainage canal in Accra, Ghana. Our peculiar image of the week was made by Peter Essick. Via National Geographic .
Hollywood Nature
Arnoud van den HeuvelFor those who feel like the world is heading for economical malaise and financial disaster: cheer up! there's always a worse scenario. End sequence of our 2008 show in LA, by Luke …
How will Michael Jackson appear in heaven?
Koert van MensvoortOur beloved King of Pop, Michael Jackson, who died tragically at the age of fifty after suffering cardiac arrest, was one of the most widely beloved entertainers and influential …
Human garbage can
Koert van MensvoortAnthropomorphobic object of the week. Created by Sarah Hatch .
I'm loving it
Koert van MensvoortSometimes you just need to settle with the surrogate. Peculiar image of the week. See also (in the baby series): Infant pillow , We are all born in a world . Thanks Hendrik-Jan .
Implantable Silicon-Silk Electronics
Koert van MensvoortScientists of the University of Pennsylvania are creating electronics that almost completely dissolve inside the body, through the use of thin, flexible silicon electronics on …
Inorganic Flora
Arnoud van den HeuvelBy highlighting the geometric and mechanical structure of flowers, computer graphics illustrator Macoto Murayama produced these beautiful renderings. These flowers must not be …
KOBIAN Shows Emotion
Arnoud van den HeuvelMeet KOBIAN, the humanoid robot that is not only able to walk about and interact with humans, but uses its entire body in addition to its facial expressions to display a full …
Living Root Bridges
Koert van MensvoortIn the depths of northeastern India, one of the wettest places on earth, bridges aren't built – they're grown. What could 21th century architects learn from these dynamic …
Meat Pork
Koert van MensvoortThis meat pig was reconstructed by Ton Meijdam . See also: Get vegetarian teeth and eat less meat , Million Dollar Burger , Back to where it came from ,
Mikel Uribetxeberria
Rolf CoppensBeautiful images by Mikel Uribetxeberria, I think that he also made videos out of this work. Or I saw something exactly like it in a gallery in Chelsea. Gimme more
Millions of gadgets unused in Britain
Koert van MensvoortGadgets! You love them when you buy them, but what happens next? Over half of Brits have abandoned gadgets because they don't know how to use them properly. Seventy-one per cent …
Modernistic Meat
Koert van MensvoortThis slightly uncanny piece of modernistic meat is actually not made from meat, but from wax, oil, paint polystyrene, stage blood & latex, by artist John Isaacs , who titled …
Monokultur
Koert van MensvoortA peculiar photo series by Hubert Blanz . Related post: Lost on the Freeway? , Observing Next Nature , Waves of Asphalt , Interchange , Exploding City , Magic Highway USA .
Nanocars
Arnoud van den HeuvelThis smart-looking image is a model of what James M. Tour at Rice University (Texas) and his research team like to call a 'nanocar'. The clustered molecules can roll around on a …
Natural Condoms
Koert van MensvoortNature is a terrific marketing tool and corporations know this. When having to choose between eighteen different types of condoms, I am intuitively drawn towards the one with the …
Natural Fountain
Koert van MensvoortFountains are peculiar objects: We associate them with nature even though they are typically entirely artificial and man-made (unless you are living in Iceland of course). …
Nature Transformer – Microwave Festival 2009
If you happen to be in the neighborhood, you may want to attend that inspirational Next Nature lecture Dr. Van Mensvoort will be throwing this Sunday 15-11-2009 at the Microwave …
No Signal
Arnoud van den HeuvelAs technology evolves, people are more and more depending on it to function properly. But the nature of technology is that it needs networks, sources, software, batteries and …
Not so Little Red Ridinghood
Rolf CoppensPart of the Fallen Princesses series by Dina Goldstein. "These works place Fairy Tale characters in modern day scenarios. In all of the images the Princess is placed in an …
Office Kiss
Arnoud van den HeuvelNeo was here. By Kristof Wickman, Tyler Peterson, and Shaun Owens-Agase, November 2004. Source: oodagroup.com | Related: Warp Your Room | Learning to Build Superman's House | …
Where cavemen live?
JurrianRock 2007. Peculiar image of the week by Hans Wilschut . Made in Shanghai. If you know more about the orgins of the building: let us know. Thanks to Vivid Gallery , Rotterdam, NL.
Phone of the future
Dr NaturalComic relief for the weekend. The Sumsing Turbo 3000 has it all. Commercial spoof of a cellphone with many functions by Groen Brothers . Related: Excuse me, Is Your Tooth Ringing? …
Pixxxel
Rolf CoppensInternet porn graphics transferred to real life objects. A nice photography project by Jean Yves Lemoigne .
Platanus Guerilla
Arnoud van den HeuvelIn this simple but effective guerilla poster action by Moiré , stacks and pillars were disguised as sycamore trees to give the streets of Tokyo that ever so natural look. …
Popolate
Koert van MensvoortPeculiar image of the week. Created by Janis Pönisch and Anne de Vries .
Re-visualizing Molecular Science
Koert van MensvoortI vividly remember being offended throughout my high-school education because 'atoms' where consistently presented as these perfect slick round little spheres. At one time I even …
Romantic Landscape
Koert van MensvoortBut not as we know it. This peculiar image of the week was created by Cyprien Gaillard and is titled: Belief in the Age of Disbelief (2005). Seen at Trendbeheer and Stroom .
Rubber Duck XL
Koert van MensvoortThis gigantic rubber duck was created by artist Florentijn Hofman and is currently traveling around the world. Unsure how the over-sized bird is related to our explorations in …
Screen Saver
Koert van MensvoortEver wondered what happened to your old computer screen? At Monitex, a Grand Prairie, Texas recycler, workers strip picture tubes from used computer monitors. Tubes that work will …
Second Sight - Augmented Contacts
Arnoud van den HeuvelGetting information as fast as possible and on the spot is the trend. So what could be more direct than having information fired directly into the eye? Today - together with his …
Sion Chicken
Arnoud van den HeuvelHow SecondLife ends up to be a virtual chicken farm? Watch Patrick Davison explain about the rise of Next Nature on the social platform. Image by Kaie Magic | Related: Confetti …
Sixth Sense
Koert van MensvoortAlthough this TED video has been all over the web and commented on this website already, it still deserves a separate post: Desigineers Pattie Maes and Pranav Mistry of the MIT …
Stockholm Underground
Koert van MensvoortSubway stations are usually designed in a clean and modernistic style in order to make people forget they are traveling deep underground. How different in the Stockholm subway, in …
Strategy #2: Use Nature As A Metaphor
Koert van MensvoortThe border between the first and the second category is fluid. With the products in the second category, the link is more content oriented. For instance, by calling a sneaker …
Strategy #3: Promote A Natural Feeling
Koert van MensvoortA third category of biomimicmarketing is the group of products that sell themselves by emphasizing they provide the consumer with a ‘natural feeling’. Bra’s so light and soft that …
Strategy #4: Brand It ‘Eco Friendly’
Koert van MensvoortThe products in the fourth category don’t necessarily provide the consumer with a natural feeling. Their biomimicmarketing revolves around the claim to be ‘friendly towards …
Suffering from Anthropomorphobia?
Koert van MensvoortAnthropomorphobia is the fear of acknowledging qualities we wish to consider only human in non-human things. Sufferers from the condition used to have trouble mostly at fairs or …
The anatomy of fun
Rolf CoppensThis guy put his work as an x-ray technician and his gaming hobby together and put his (old) gaming devices under the scanner. I was surprised how some of them actually look like …
The Biodegradable Credit Card
Hendrik-Jan GrievinkNo question about it, Americans have an overconsumption problem. The total outstanding balance of bank-issued credit cards per consumer was $5,710 in December 2008, according to …
The Eye of a Cyber Sapien
BartAn earlier post on this blog already displayed the possible future of sight using augmented contact lenses. Researchers at MIT take this second sight to a next level by …
The Internet Mapping Project
Arnoud van den HeuvelKevin Kelly -- senior maverick at Wired -- asks people how they see the internet and if they can, visualize it. Here is how: "The internet is vast. Bigger than a city, bigger than …
The Modernist agenda uncovered
Koert van MensvoortPeculiar image of the week. Created by Merijn Bolink .
Skin Suit
Arnoud van den HeuvelThe general assumption about sports, is that it's healthy to exercise for a fit and nicely-shaped -- perhaps muscular body. Such a body could be a sign of good health and is being …
The naturalness of travelling with a Jeep
Koert van MensvoortGPS is not the most easiest product to advertise. Jeep uses biomimicmarketing to bring the message across. In this advertising campaign an iconic arrow is comprised by images of …
The Printed Pot
Koert van MensvoortThese printed pots were inspired by Southwest Native American pottery and were printed using powdered slip and binder in a three-dimensional printer. Mixing ancient traditions …
Time pilots us...
Lizette ReitsmaYou step out of bed. Why? Because your alarm clock tells you it is time. A quick glance at the alarm clock tells you that you are still on schedule. First you take a shower and …
Everyday...
Koert van Mensvoort... a new McDonalds opens somewhere in the world. Via RebelArt , via Ekosystem . Related: post-apocalyptic religious artefact , hamburger sneaker , Image consumption .
Tree Construction
Koert van Mensvoort“Museum staff preparing Olympic Forest Scene exhibit”. Photo by Lee Boltin. American Museum of Natural History Library . Peculiar image of the week. See also: A day in the Dutch …
USB condom
Dr NaturalAs soon as the USB Condom detects a virus, built-in software shuts off USB access, verifies the problem, removes the nasty bug, then reopens the communication bridge to your …
USB Finger
JurrianNo this isn't photoshopped. After a motor accident Finish hacker Jerry Jalava decided not to use a normal prosthesis and felt that a prosthesis usb memory stick would enhance his …
Where newspaper racks go to die
Koert van MensvoortThese photos of disused newspaper racks in a San Francisco storage yard – taken March 13, 2009 by AP/Noah Berger – are pretty much all you need to know about the state of the …
Where the Green Grass Grows
Arnoud van den HeuvelIt grows freshly in your windowsill; a lawn to linger. By hyock.com | Related: Grass Wheel | Office Grass | Caravan Garden | Parking
Your Grandparents Google
Koert van MensvoortYes Child. Back in the days, before computers existed, we Googled by postcard. Although it exists for less than 20 years, online search has become such a commonplace activity it …
A Soft Drink Fairytale
Hendrik-Jan GrievinkOnce upon a time there were two global soft drink brands. One old brand and another, slightly younger. The older one positioned itself as The Real Thing as it entered the market …
American Power
Rolf CoppensAmos coal powerplant in Raymond, West Virginia. Taken from the series "American Power" by Mitch Epstein .
Augmented (Hyper)Reality
Hendrik-Jan GrievinkAugmented (hyper)Reality offers a glimpse of an alternate universe, with augmented reality cranked up to the next level.
Battle of platforms
Arnoud van den HeuvelEver wondered why there is so much competition in the world of operating systems? This video made by Leon Wang illustrates that "old nature" mechanisms like survival of the …
Beware of the Virtual Squirrels
Koert van MensvoortKasey McMahon and Derek Doublin demonstrate the tension between people and their environment through the eyes of its non-human inhabitants. Beware of the Virtual Squirrels ! The …
BioPong II
Ties van de WerffThis time no technological enhanced roosters, dogs, cats or wood lice, but sheep! The famous viral Extreme Shepherding by The Baaa-Studs.
DIY Cardio Plumming
Koert van MensvoortDon’t worry, your tongue will only stay neon green for an hour or two after consuming Liquid-Plumr-Cardio. Despite the plaque-busting nanoparticles, we doubt whether this is the …
Castle Duivenvoorde
Rolf CoppensThat Next Nature is nothing new can be proven in a walk around Castle Duivenvoorde. The castle dates back from the 11th century, while the gardens date from 1631. In a time where …
Climate Craze in Russia
Koert van MensvoortClimate change is often thought to have its winners and losers, with Canada, Nordic countries and Russia being portrayed as among the lucky few chilly nations where moderate …
Clouding the brain
Ties van de WerffMan is a flexible species. We tend to adapt quite rapidly to new environments. But how fast can these adaptations turn to new evolutionary traits? For instance: to what extent is …
Coca-Cola Vase
Koert van MensvoortCoca-Cola, 2006, Vase from the Neolithic Age (5000–3000 BC), paint, 45.4 x 36 x 36 cm. Our peculiar object of the week was created by Ai Weiwei. Courtesy Galerie Urs Meile, …
Coke Mutation
Koert van MensvoortWe're unsure on the survival prospects of this oddly mutated Coca-Pepsi-Cola can. This could be the ultimate coke - if only the current species could interbreed. Peculiar image of …
Computer versus Bacteria: Round Two
Billy SchonenbergLast year, scientists managed to use the bacteria Escherichia coli to solve a mathematical problem , described in this research . This year, the building blocks of a computer are …
Cows as superior species
Arnoud van den HeuvelLet's slightly move back to the NextNature theme with an amusing video by Cyriak . And if that doesn't convince you of cows being the superior species... this video most certainly …
Crops Running Wild
Minke KampmanOnly for the title already I wanted to post this as soon as I read it on Nature.com. The newsarticle is entitled " GM crop escapes into the American wild ." Brilliant! Let's walk …
Death: An in your Face type of Business
Marco van BeersEveryone wants to be remembered after his or her death. Some choose to be buried, others to be cremated. The company Cremation Solutions has a new service which ensures you will …
Digitally Enhance your Ego
Tomas PietersAvatars, almost every internet user has at least one of them running around somewhere on the web. We control then in numerous games and forums, but do they also control us? …
Don’t feed the Tourists
Hendrik-Jan GrievinkWe could have decided to domesticate pigs into pets, instead of dogs and cats. Then this would be a totally normal picture. And it wouldn’t be featured here as peculiar image. © …
Downriver in the Lowlands
Teun CasteleinThe Netherlands is known for its outright flat landscape – its even part of the name. How come the Dutch Womans Youth Rafting Team just won the World Cup in the category …
Drive in Wheel
Koert van MensvoortThe Drive in Wheel is an unique and spectacular giant wheel made especially for cars. The wheel is 100 feet high and takes four cars on one trip. City sightseeing has never been …
Environmental Recreation in the Overdrive
Koert van MensvoortSeen the grand canyon? Lived through the survival weekend in the woods? Enjoyed the ecology safari Antarctica cruise? Think you've seen it all? Buckle up for an unprecedented …
Europe airspace reboot
Rolf CoppensAfter a ban on flying last weeks due to the volcanic eruption in Iceland, the European airspace was slowly rebooting to its old state of activity. This movie shows the movement of …
Fat/slim magnifying label
Arnoud van den HeuvelWith an optical trick, this German bottle of water is trying to prove its effectiveness for the body. Though drinking water is a necessity for life, the downside of this product …
First tweet from space
Arnoud van den HeuvelThat's one small tweet for man, one giant tweet for mankind. The virtual realm has physically expanded once again as Timothy Creamer a.k.a. Astro_TJ made Twitter history by being …
Follow the Leader
Koert van MensvoortNo birds or airliners where hurt in the making of our peculiar image of the week. The perceived mingling of the birds and the airplane is in fact an optical effect, masking the …
Glamor & Oil
Koert van MensvoortIn response to the latest oil spill famed photographer Steven Meisel made a shoot for the Italian Vogue (the only fashion magazine in the world worth reading, really) that …
HappyLife
Koert van MensvoortAs our everyday living spaces are packed with electronics and become increasingly sentient, we might one day wake up in a house that knows more about your family's state than you …
How does your Graph feel today?
Orestis TsinalisWith all the new health management gadgets available becoming more and more widespread and cheap (even in the form of free iPhone apps), your brain, your stomach, your heart, …
Hydrogel Heals Injured Brain & Bone-Tissue
Nicolas NelsonA new nano-particle-infused hydrogel, developed by scientists from Clemson University, should be able to heal scrambled brains and broken bones. The gel creates new blood vessels …
Intimacy Dress
Koert van MensvoortThe Intimacy dress takes our notion personal space to a next level: the closer someone approaches, the more transparent the dress becomes. As such, the garment becomes a sort of …
LED Religion
Koert van MensvoortThe Catholic Church is not exactly renowned for its progressive attitude towards technological progress. Just think of the belligerent attitude the Church still has towards …
Making a Telegraph with Stone Age Tools
Koert van MensvoortThe suited guy in the video is an employee from the office of materials that goes into the wilderness to test if it would have been possible to create a fully functioning …
![Visual of Manko & The Invitation [#3]](https://nextnature.net/media/pages/magazine/story/2010/manko-the-invitation-3/a58a0af2b6-1602632753/manco-2-530-868x486.jpg)
Manko & The Invitation [#3]
Aston RevolaLast month we discussed how the vacuum played a big role in Manko's life since he lost his right leg. Soon he developed this idea further, beyond the mere notion of extensions …
Marching Back to the Tribe
Hendrik-Jan GrievinkHurray, the Next Nature tribe is growing! Today, we’ve welcomed our 2,000th friend on Facebook . And what better way is there to honour this person with a celebrational parade …
Meat Stylus
Koert van Mensvoort“ Who wants a stylus? ” Words by Apple’s Steve Jobs when introducing the iPhone that uses a revolutionary input device: the finger. And it works wonderfully, yet in some …
Miniature Sensor Network for the Office
Koert van Mensvoort"Have you seen my stapler? No, but just look it up on Google home office maps ." CSIRO Researchers have developed miniature sensors that track lab equipment, coffee mugs and …
Nano-Silver Foam Condom For Women
Koert van MensvoortAs we are calling for debate-provoking nanotech products that might hit the shelves of the Supermarket in the next ten years , some products much crazier than the ones we could …
Nano Supermarket on Dutch TV News
Koert van MensvoortThe Dutch evening News payed a visit to our Nano Supermarket to familiarize the television viewers with the intricate world of nanotechnology and its potential impact our economy …
Nanoparticles in Sunscreen Damage Microbes
Koert van MensvoortNanotechnology has been hailed for its benefits because of the potential ability to create drugs that could cure cancer and radiation poisoning, make miniature pollutant filters …
Natural-Born Junkies
Orestis TsinalisHippopotamus: a 2,5cm-long tablet-shaped nonliving chewable animal, member of a multi-species flock known as the Animal Parade, which tastes like fruit and is found in little pill …
Nature as a building
Rolf CoppensAs the world is preparing to show off at the World Expo in Shanghai, their pavilions are nearing their final stage. To me, it feels like a lot of them are making references to …
Nature as a Commodity
Koert van MensvoortNature conservation organizations – like the WWF and Greenpeace – typically present nature as a commodity that has become increasingly scarce and will be used up altogether if we …
New World Order
Koert van MensvoortForget about nation states, behold the new world order of social networks. This world map was created by Vincenzo Cosenza .
Next Nature Movie #2: Being There
Koert van MensvoortThe main character in ‘Being There’ (1979) is a simple-minded gardener named Chance, played brilliantly by Peter Sellars, who has spent all his life as a servant in the Washington …
Old Nature, the Museum
Koert van MensvoortOur peculiar image of the week was created by Ilkka Halso .
On the Road
Koert van MensvoortExcuse me, I am lost. Can you point me to the information super highway? Rendering by Chris Baker, photo Erik Pawasser. Via Wired . See also: Car Navigation - Follow the red cable …
Onion Pill
Koert van MensvoortSince the intake of medicines has become a mundane ritual nowadays, why not naturalize the interface? French artist Mathieu Lehanneur is rethinking the pill-person interface in …
Outer-Space as Local-Space
Florian Conradi and Michelle ChristensenIn 1977, NASA launched Voyager 1 and Voyager 2, two unmanned interplanetary space probes that were sent out to explore the outer space. Aboard each was a record which intended to …
Palmtree Drilling Platform
Koert van MensvoortIn our ‘ under the beach lies the pavement ’ series. Already in 1973, Steven M. Johnson drew cartoons of oil drilling platforms disguised to look like palm trees, in an attempt by …
Pixel Terror in New York City
Koert van MensvoortUnsure whether this video by Patrick Jean should be interpreted as an allegorical vision of the utterly transmuting effect the digital has on the physical , or that it is just an …
Polar Ice for sale
Rolf CoppensOriginal pieces of polar ice will be sold in a shop in Amsterdam from this Friday the 25th. MyPolarIce is a venture led by Coralie Vogelaar and Teun Castelein . They went to the …
Polar ice gone in two days
Hendrik-Jan GrievinkYou have only two days left to purchase your own piece of history at the MyPolarIce store in Amsterdam and express the value the polar caps have for you – in real money. €24,95 to …
Remote Control Mouse
Koert van MensvoortMind control for beginners: A mouse expressing ChR2 channels in its neurons starts running when it receives blue light in its motor cortex. Unsure what applications the …
Rocky Messages
Koert van MensvoortThese SMS-style messages scribbled into the mountains by Belgian artist Wim Delvoye , make us so humbly aware of the discrepancy between our everyday human experience and some of …
Save the Coral: Dump a Tank
Koert van MensvoortOur peculiar image of the week learns us that what is good for the environment doesn't always look good for the environment. The adieu of this disused tank into the Gulf of …
Sea Breacher
Arnoud van den HeuvelA relatively new kind of marine species is called "Seabreacher" . These watercraft vessels started appearing from 1997 and have been evolving at a rapid pace. Seabreachers enable …
Search Stories
TimoOnce upon a time humans told stories by painting on cave walls, showing plays in an amphitheater, pressing text on paper and shining light trough pieces of film. Today we tell our …
Self-healing Surfaces
Arnoud van den HeuvelWhat if a scratch on your car door could heal itself, just like the human skin does? Engineers are working on a way to transfer the self-healing ability of the skin to surfaces …
Skin Paper
Koert van MensvoortSkinpaper is a speculative work by Tommaso Lanza and Vanessa Harden that explores the cross section between a living specimen and paper. "Skin paper is made of breathable …
Smart vending machine
Arnoud van den HeuvelAt Tokyo's Shinagawa Station visitors can now select beverages from a 47-inch touch panel. An embedded camera will recognize your gender and age, allowing the machine to …
SMSlingshot
Ties van de WerffUrban intervention, naughty boy-style! The public media interventionists of VR/Urban have designed a cool tool to intervene into next nature: the SMSlingshot. A wooden, embedded …
South Korea Rules 'Virtual' Money on Par With 'Real' Money
Koert van MensvoortOur regular readers know that whenever we write about money in these quarters, we always feel obliged to write the words 'virtual' and 'real' between brackets, as money is by …
Space Monkey
Arnoud van den HeuvelDuring the 1960s, monkeys were sent into outer space as part of the US space exploration program. But they didn’t all return, until now. Via scaryideas.com | Related: WWF
Squirming ‘umbilical’ phone cable
Koert van MensvoortThis umbilical cord-inspired charger cable by interactive media artist Mio I-zawa comes to life when connected to an iPhone. Don't watch the video if you are anthropomorphobic . …
The Footsticker
Rolf CoppensThere are many advantages of bare feet sporting: better motion control, more feeling in your feet and direct floor contact, etc. In this way you are more grounded and more aware …
The Human LED screen
Marco van BeersAll living creates produce light by default, so do humans . Now researchers from US, China, Korea and Singapore collaborated have collaborated in order to create ultra-thin …
The world according to data
Rolf CoppensA map of the world, drawn in two layers: the red for population density (over 2 persons per square mile) and the black overlay for connections between Facebook friends. Made by …
Traffic Jam Celebration
Hendrik-Jan GrievinkOn this day (Saturday May 29th 2010), the Dutch nation takes pride in celebrating their first real traffic jam. During the pentecost weekend in 1955, a mass exodus of a tribe of …
Transgenic Stingrays for Fashionable Feet
Allison GuyRayfish Footwear, a company based in Thailand, has recently produced what may be the world's first genetically modified stingray. This ray exhibits an unusual, colorful pattern …
Tree Hugger
Koert van MensvoortWhile driving on the highway, I saw a tree. Our peculiar image of the week was spotted by Arnoud van den Heuvel using the Next Nature Spotter iPhone app .
Where do Cursors come from?
Koert van MensvoortOut of the cursorwoods of course! Our peculiar image of the week was created by Nathan W. Pyle . Thanks Willem H. Lucas .
Where's your Head at?
Michael KluverThe issue of cloning is a much-debated one. Where is the fine line that divides the ethical from the unethical? Let’s say we take it over the top and start cloning away just for …
A bacteria of a different color
Allison GuyIn 2009, undergraduates at the University of Cambridge worked with scientists and artists to engineer E. coli into E. chromi , a new type of bacteria that secretes a range of …
Alter Nature: We Can
Koert van MensvoortThis peculiar carrot, created by Driessen & Verstappen , is the promo image of the Alter Nature: We Can exhibition, which takes place from November 2010 to March 2011 in …
Augmented Ecologies
Koert van MensvoortIt might take a while before this goes mainstream, if ever, but there is a certain luster in being a plant VJ. Augmented Ecologies is an installation by Guido Maciocci, who rigged …
Babel Fish
SelbyResearchers are working on a language and a device that will help humans and dolphins talk with each other. Denise Herzing , a researcher and founder of the Wild Dolphin Project …
Bare necessities
JurrianAccording to a research by JWT AnxietyIndex the changing mediascape is upon us. Do to the recession people are forced to validate their luxuries and it turned out that teens and …
Biomodd at work
Minke KampmanModding is the act of adapting hardware/software to have it do what you want it to do, which does not always correlate with what it is originally built to do. Biomodd (ding) is …
BitFriday - First Crash for Digital Currency
Allison GuyOn June 10, the digital currency Bitcoin lost 30% of its value in a few hours, dropping from US $28.92 to $20.01 per coin. Bitcoins are a largely untraceable form of money, …
Black Wolves Have Dogs to Thank
Allison GuyBlack wolves should probably not exist. The same species as their gray relatives, these wolves have a genetic mutation that causes them to produces excess melanin, a pigment …
Browsing the Technological Sublime
Allison GuyIn this video, Geert Mul uses online photos to tap into the divine presence in image search #powershow http://bit.ly/uk79b0
Concrete Cabin
Koert van MensvoortOur peculiar image of the week was made by Peter Doig . Oil on canvas, 200x275 cm, 1992. Via De Groene Amsterdammer .
Effortless Learning
Stefan FinckenMatrix-style learning sounds like an impossibility, yet new research suggests it might become reality. Boston University and ATR Computational Neuroscience Laboratories in Kyoto …
Fake Plastic Bags – Made From Real Leather
Koert van MensvoortFakeness is traditionally associated with inferiority; cheap Rolexes that break in two weeks, plastic Christmas trees, leaking silicone breasts, imitation caviar... However, in a …
Fata Morgana
Koert van MensvoortFinally... A gas station in the ocean! If we all rigorously continue filling up our tanks, this fiction can become a reality one day. This is not a photoshop, this is our peculiar …
Feel-o-Meter Feels for a Whole City
Allison GuyIn cities across Germany, Big Brother looks like a smiley face. The Fühlometer, a piece by Julius von Bismarck, Benjamin Maus, and Richard Wilhelmer, uses security cameras and …
First Lab-Grown Organ Transplanted
Koert van MensvoortAnother step in the fusion of the made & the born: Surgeons in Sweden have successfully transplanted a fully synthetic, tissue-engineered organ – a trachea– into a man with …
Gamers Solve Enzyme Riddle
Natalie DixonIn a vivd example of the blur between culture and nature, players using an online game called Foldit have helped solve complex questions for researchers about enzyme models. The …
German Robots Destroy a Living Room
Allison GuyArtistic duo Robococo, aka Petra Gemeinboeck and Rob Saunders, have embedded a group of autonomous robots in the walls of a gallery. Wielding hammers and creepy electronic eyes, …
Get Thee Up into a Fake Mountain
Allison GuyIf you felt like building a 2,000 meter mountain in the Netherlands, which features would you like to add? Journalist and accidental landscape visionary Thijs Zonneveld wants to …
Ghosts with Shit Jobs
Rolf CoppensThis trailer for the mockumentary Ghost With Shit Jobs shows a could-be-future in which the role of the West and the East is reversed. Very good timing I would say. More on: …
Growing Cement like Coral
Allison GuyCorals are the master builders of the animal kingdom. Powered on plankton and their symbiotic algae, hard corals extract the carbon dissolved in seawater and turn it into their …
Hallucinogenic Reindeer Moments
Natalie DixonCan art change perceptions more than drugs? An art project which was on show in Berlin’s Hamburger Bahnhof allowed 12 free-roaming reindeer in the former railway station creating …
Human Furniture
Koert van MensvoortThis unpractical yet not less pretty anthropomorphic furniture piece was created by photographer David Blazques . We are clueless on whether it is in permanent use, yet it serves …
Humane Technology #4: Resonate with human senses
Allison GuyPrinciple number four: Humane technology should resonate with the human senses, rather than numbing them. If you're an office worker or a video game fanatic , you may spend most …
Hungry Birds
TimoA while ago I wrote a post about birds which tried to adapt to the city by singing louder and in different tones than before. Now it seems the birds have taken this adaptation to …
Hunter-Gatherer
Koert van MensvoortDifferent totems, same rituals. Peculiar image of the week by Walter Robinson .
Incredibly Shrinking Humanity
Allison GuyArne Hendricks thinks we can solve the ecological crisis by shrinking every human on earth to 50cm tall: http://bit.ly/sxxNr1 #powershow
![Visual of Manko & Dinner [#7]](https://nextnature.net/media/pages/magazine/story/2011/manko-dinner-7/fa6279d39a-1602632753/manko9-868x486.jpg)
Manko & Dinner [#7]
Aston RevolaManko blinked. Then blinked again, and again and again. While he did, he went through various layers at once and he was dazzled and amazed, his jaw dropped at all that he saw. He …
![Visual of Manko & Escape [#10]](https://nextnature.net/media/pages/magazine/story/2011/manko-escape-10/a8f06ba912-1602632753/manko10-868x486.jpg)
Manko & Escape [#10]
Aston RevolaThe children looked startled. 'Leaving?', Askr asked. 'But it's not time yet!', Embla said. Manko had no clue of what was going on. Not yet time for what? The red ball turned …
![Visual of Manko & The Earth [#12]](https://nextnature.net/media/pages/magazine/story/2011/manko-the-earth-12/b1f1cf8f03-1602632753/manko12-868x486.jpg)
Manko & The Earth [#12]
Aston RevolaZero: 'Where to begin? We've had many discussions in our Lab about the future of the children. The plan was simple: to raise the kids to the physical age to be 'frozen' in. Then, …
Mapping the World through Facebook
Koert van MensvoortThis world map is drawn using Facebook connections only. It was created by Paul Butler using connections between 10 million Facebook friends. The result is a remarkably good …
Microbic Landscapes
Rolf CoppensBeautiful Google Maps shots of housing projects in southwest Florida. Probably designed to look and feel more natural than your average straight street neighborhood, they remind …
Monsanto's Technorhetoric Kills Corn
Allison GuyMega-agro-biotech corporation Monsanto recently denied that insects have developed resistance to their patented Bt corn . Injected with a bacterial gene toxic to corn rootworms, …
Morphotheque #15
Koert van MensvoortUnsatisfied with the variety of vegetables in your local Supermarket? Why not try the Art Gallery? Morphotheque #15 (2011) is a form collection that consists of 27 elements, 1:1 …
Nano Supermarket seeks Assistants
Always wanted to work in a Supermarket? Here is you chance. The Nano Supermarket seeks assistants. The Nano Supermarket assistant is part of a team, knows the products and knows …
Natural Car Alarms
Allison GuyWhile hiking in Trinidad, artist Nina Katchadourian was struck by the similarity of bird calls to car alarms. One inspires us to poetry, the other makes us groan and pull the …
Next Nature Hands Out Performance-Enhancing Pills
Allison GuyRecently Google slapped our site with a warning that "something's not right here!" It seems that the Drug Enforcement Agency has caught the Next Nature staff handing out baggies …
NN Book review in NRC Newspaper
Koert van MensvoortDutch quality newspaper NRC reviewed our lustrous Next Nature book with an extensive two page article. The review by Bianca Stigter discusses our shifting notions of nature & …
Peel that Bottle
Koert van MensvoortThere’s nothing quite like peeling a piece of fruit, but if you end up with a bottle of Vodka after peeling, you know you have been caught in a biomimicmarketing fantasy. I guess …
Peelable Ice Cream
Koert van MensvoortFiled under Biomimicmarketing . Pleases your inner monkey. Peelable banana ice cream by Nesle . Thanks Jurrian.
Physical Scrollbars
Koert van MensvoortScrollbars is a series of installations and physical scrollbar-representations created by Dutch artist Jan Robert Leegte. According to the artist, most of us consider the …
Pixelated Nature
Koert van MensvoortWhat happens if your childhood experience of your environment has been solely through video games? According to artist Shawn Smith, "pixels became a sort of map from which to …
Pixelhead
Sebastiaan PijnappelI woke up this morning and grabbed my Iphone to have a browse on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. I looked at pictures of a far away friend and his family on a night out in …
Poaching from the New Savannah
Allison GuyThe Ipswich Museum, the Tring Museum, and around 30 other European cultural institutions and antiques dealers have experienced a rash of theft over the last few months. What turns …
Pregnant Avatars
Arnoud van den HeuvelThis interview from 2008 is exemplary for a time when people started experimenting on humanizing anonymous avatars in the virtual realm. Shopping, building, going on holiday, …
Pump My Ride
Rolf CoppensLovely image of a really fat car by Austrian artist Erwin Wurm . This image is for a Belgian eco-awareness campaign.
Rainbow Tulips
Koert van MensvoortHuman design brings us ‘natural’ experiences that could not exist without the human hand, but can be appreciated nevertheless. Perhaps we are intuitively faked to believe …
Resizing Daddy
Allison GuyA little girl gets angry at her father, and uses her index finger and thumb to make a pinching motion . No, she's not trying to hurt him. She's using iPad sign language to say, "I …
Retro-futuristic Weather Machine
Koert van MensvoortGeo-engineering avant la lettre. This is what 19th century people thought a 21th century weather machine would look like. This retro-futuristic postcard was produced around 1900 …
Selective Shopping
Koert van MensvoortIn a cheerful attempt to investigate and subvert the image consumption power structures of the contemporary supermarket , designer Marco Ugolini and photographer Pedro Motta went …
Shrink
Rolf CoppensYou are what you eat, taken seriously. Shrink is a work by the artist Lawrence Malstaf . Visitors place themselves between two large, transparent plastic sheets. The air gets …
Sin free for just €1.59
Marco van BeersFor just £1.19 ($1.99, €1,59) you can download an app for your iPhone which offers tips and guidelines with the sacrament, "the perfect aid for every penitent" as the description …
So that's where blackberries come from
Koert van MensvoortPeculiar image of the week, by Arnoud van den Heuvel . Related: Children's dictionary dumps 'nature' words , Crackberry addicts are suing their employers , handset gets taken to …
Social Microbial life
Marco van BeersMyMicrobes , interestingly dubbed "Fecesbook" by ABC News , is the new social network for your gastrointestinal bacteria. For only $2,100 and a bit of poo you can become a member …
Soundmixtree
Arnoud van den HeuvelDiego Stocco is sound designer and composer from Burbank CA/US. He plays a tree as a rhythmic musical instrument, recording its sounds using a custom stethoscope. I suggest him to …
Special in Groene Amsterdammer
Koert van MensvoortThis week the oldest and classiest Dutch newsmagazine De Groene Amsterdammer features an 11-page special with lots of material from the forthcoming Next Nature book The special …
Streetlight Trees
Marco van BeersWe all know the cellphone masts disguised as trees , created in an attempt to blend technology within the 'natural' landscape. Now Taiwanese scientists have created trees that …
Take your transgenic kids to the CPNH
Allison GuyThe Center for PostNatural History doesn't house the dinosaurs or dioramas of your run-of-the-mill natural history museum. Instead, it's the first museum dedicated exclusively to …
Use and Abuse of Vegetational Concepts
Koert van MensvoortOur proposal to study the financial system as an ecosystem is sometimes criticized as 'abuse of vegetational concepts'. Interestingly enough BBC documentary maker Adam Curtis now …
Bird and Towers
Koert van MensvoortTwenty-first century Fata Morgana. If only. Accidental photograph by Pauline Gerritzen.
The Neighborhood's DNA
Allison GuyI've noticed DNA spray notices springing up around Amsterdam. I assumed it was a fairly standard anti-theft device: A crime is committed, a little nozzle is activated by the …
Transformer Owl
Koert van MensvoortSo, what do you get when an owl watches too much animated TV cartoon series? An amazing shape-shifting Transformer Owl! Now seriously, we don't actually think this wondrous White …
Transgenic Jell-O, more human than ever!
Allison GuyThe American Chemical Society has announced a new method of producing gelatin that sounds like good news for cannibals and the canni-curious. Researchers are able to create …
Typically Dubai
Koert van MensvoortPresumably the only place on Earth where burkas & protein supplements coincide in jolly harmony. Peculiar image of the week. Photo by me .
Typing Out Evolution
Allison GuyFrom the exhibit "What Machines Dream Of" in Berlin comes Life Writer , a work by Christa Sommerer and Laurent Mignonneau. As the participant types, letters are projected on a …
White Blood Cell War/Game
SelbyBlood Wars is an art-science installation that will pit white blood cells from two different people against each other in a "tournament" that aims to see which person has the …
Who Watches the Watchers?
Allison GuyIn The Watchers , the creative geniuses at Studio Smack picture a world where surveillance systems don't just watch us - they actively judge. Are you a green-coded Conformist or …
Why Do We Love Pandas?
Natalie DixonThey remind us of ourselves We love their dexterity - thanks partly to that "pseudo thumb", which functions as a sixth digit. It's in the eyes We love their big eyes because it …
Why Handwriting Must Die
Koert van MensvoortAssociate professor Anne Trubek argues that handwriting will soon be history , because writing words by hand is a technology that's just too slow for our times, and our minds. A …
Would you care more if I was a Panda?
Erik SwaagstraA smart campaign by Ogilvy Paris for WNF shows that also the ‘non-cute’ animals need our help. via Fubiz
Lecture on Next Nature book
NextNature.netOur resident designer Hendrik-Jan Grievink will give a presentation about next nature and our book Next Nature: Nature Changes Along With Us in Amsterdam on february 14th. Yes, we …
A More Realistic Mermaid
Koert van MensvoortAfter being denied permission to reproduce the famed Little Mermaid statue from Copenhagen, the authorities of Vancouver decided to go for something more realistic.
Algae in the Supermarket
JenniferAs mentioned earlier , the world seems obsessed with algae. Not limited to producing light or energy , algae has also found its way to our plate as a new vegetable, and maybe …
Animals of the Future
Nick van der WeijdenNearly every adult in the Western world owns a personalized pet, sometimes more than one . It is treated with great care, fed when necessary and fitted to the owner’s wishes and …
Annual Meeting of Time Travellers
Hendrik-Jan GrievinkAppropriated from the blogosphere by NextNature.net. Peculiar image of the week.
Archaeologist Finds Ruins of 'Friendster'
Koert van MensvoortLast month internet archaeologist Dr Maxwell Fry stumbled upon the perfectly preserved ruins of an online community called 'Friendster'. Remember, that predecessor of Facebook, …
Artificial Islands for a Tsunami-Proof Japan
Allison GuyKeiichiro Sako of Sako Architects has proposed constructing giant, drum-shaped islands on dry land as a means to protect residents of Tohoku from future tsunamis. The elevated …
Biosphere meets Technosphere
Koert van MensvoortNow who's gonna scare who? Our peculiar image of the week was sent in by Béla Zsigmond .
Brain Implant Restores Memory to Cocaine-Addled Monkeys
Allison GuyA team of researchers from three universities have succeeded in creating the first device that boosts the brain power of primates. In the study, five rhesus macaques were trained …
Caterpillar in the Grass
Daniel den BoerHow natural it is to travel with the train. The flat screens in the trains of Dutch Railways almost makes you believe that it is a yellow, blue spotted caterpillar in the long grass.
Christian Schwägerl - Riding the Anthropocene
Koert van MensvoortChristian Schwägerl , freelance journalist and biologist, author of the book The Anthropocene: The Human Era and How It Shapes Our Planet , introduces us into the Anthropocene , a …
Cigarettes: Bad for You, Good for Birds
Allison GuyBirds use whatever they can get their beaks on to build nests, including cigarette butts. Surprising new research from the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México shows that …
Close Personal Friend
Koert van MensvoortYou may want to spend 24-minutes on this Close Personal Friend. Made in 1996, this film anticipates contemporary phenomena like social media and self-branding.
Corn 2.0: Survival of the Cheapest
NextNature.netCongrats to Sean Serafini, the winner of our April Next Nature Spotter contest. While we received many images of fake nature , Sean's entry delves deeper into more diverse next …
Dolphin Wannabe
Arnoud van den HeuvelSame article , different example: Water Powered JetPack by Jetlev . (Thanks: Marlies Peeters)
Dyeing Salmon Pink for Farms and Profit
Allison GuyWild salmon gets its robust pink color from a diet rich in red-hued krill. Farmed salmon are fed on fish meal, chicken byproducts, soybeans, wheat and a long list of other …
Enjoy Udder Milk
Koert van MensvoortImaginary infomercial on the hypernatural udder cows, optimized for milk production
Escaped Pet Birds Teach Wild Cockatoos how to Talk
Koert van MensvoortIn some parts of Australia it is no exception to hear voices when there are no people near. The voices are the chatter of wild cockatoos that where taught words and sentences from escaped domesticated cockatoos.
Featured Page #02: Google Nature
NextNature.netDuring the coming weeks, we will present a selection of our favourite pages from the Next Nature book . This week the second one in this series: Google Nature. Imagine you are an …
Featured Page #08: McLuhan’s Tweets
NextNature.netDuring the coming weeks, we present a selection of our favorite pages from the Next Nature book . This week a page that is an homage to Marshall McLuhan, who is one of the most …
Free Range Robot Filters Out the Ocean's Plastic
Allison GuyWhale sharks are great at filtering; plastic needs to be filtered. For now, however, whale sharks only have an appetite for plankton. Industrial designer Elie Ahovi has jumped …
Frying Nemo
Koert van MensvoortImage consumption in the overdrive. Peculiar image of the week. Created by Erin Murphy, Victoria Bellavia, Yong Jun Lee & Sanggun Park . Thanks Jeroen van der Meij.
Genetically Engineered "Arctic" Apple Will Never Turn Brown
Allison GuyCanada-based Okanagan Specialty Fruits is pitching a genetically engineered apple that does not turn brown when bruised or exposed to air. This new technology, available in both …
GM Bacteria Turn Carbon Dioxide into Biofuel
Allison GuyIn a twist on the classic " microbes that turn shit into petrol ", researchers at MIT have developed a bacterium that turns carbon dioxide into a direct substitute for gasoline. …
Goats Replace Lawnmowers in San Francisco
Allison GuyThey might not be as fast, but goats offer several advantages over diesel-powered lawnmowers. They're quieter, they emit fewer greenhouse gases, and they fertilize soil as they go …
Greetings from the Ohio Turnpike
Koert van MensvoortApparently freeways have obtained a level of nostalgia that they are now suitable objects to be depicted on postcards (speaking of nostalgic objects). Perhaps one day in the …
Growing Plants in the Dark
Allison GuyWhile sunlight contains all colors, the dominant type of chlorophyll in plants only needs purple light to function. This simple fact has big implications for the future of …
Hidden Cities Emerge from the Amazon
Allison GuyFamed for its jaguars, orchids, and horrifying parasites, the Amazon is just as famous for what it lacks: human presence. For many years, the prevailing wisdom has been that …
How People spend their Day
Koert van MensvoortThe layers in this visualization represent an average of how thousands of Americans spent their day
Ice Cream Cones Made from Ice Cream, and Other Wikicells
Allison GuyPlastic is a part of the earth's ecosystem , but it's a part that no one wants. At Harvard, scientists are looking to replace single-use plastic bottles, plates, and cups with …
Implanted Magnets to Keep Your iPod Close
NextNature.netBody-mod enthusiast David Hurban has decided to make a lifelong commitment to his iPod Nano. By implanting magnets in his wrist, Hurban has created a permanent bracket to hold his …
Just Browsing
Rolf CoppensDutch designer Boris Rijksen experiences a culture shock when he enters the real world after a day of screen work. Before, the ‘digital immigrant’ struggled to understand digital …
Let the Robotic Farmers feed the World
Koert van MensvoortThe future of farming is not to be found in further mass-industrialization nor in the return to traditional farming with man and horse power, but rather in swarms of smart, cheap robotic farmers that patiently seed, tend and harvest fields one plant at a time without the need for damaging pesticides.
Man-Made Coral Reefs
Koert van MensvoortLast week I had the pleasure of being the studio guest at the Earth Beat radio show. I was treated with examples of 'artificial nature' and asked to respond from a Next Nature …
Nano Product: Conception Control
NextNature.netUsing a condom impregnated with artificial nano-antigens, Conception Control only permits sperm with the right chromosome to pass through: X for girls, Y for boys. Conception …
Nano Product: Energy Belt
NextNature.netWith Energy Belt, stop treating your excess fat like a liability, and instead embrace its untapped potential. Artificial protocells in the belt mimic natural brown fat, taking …
Nano Product: Glo-Doo
NextNature.netDog feces are an unsightly blemish on city streets. With Glo-Doo, dog food laced with bioluminescent bacteria transforms each pile into an appealing way to light up the night. As …
Nano Product: Honest Egg
NextNature.netDo away with dishonest health claims for eggs and uncertain promises of organic, free-range hens. With eggshells that change color according to hormones, medicines, and nutrients, …
Nano Product: Keratin Ink
NextNature.netUsing genetically modified bacteria, Keratin Ink turns your fingernail clippings into a highly personal ink for writing and drawing. The bacteria transform the keratin in your …
Nano Product: Nansense
NextNature.netFor years, people have relied on harsh drugs and irritating alarms to control when they sleep and when they wake. Now, the Nansense wristwatch offers an all-natural way to …
Natura Prossimo a Milano
NextNature.netThis week our NANO Supermarket will be visiting Milan as part of the Salone Internazionale del Mobile.
New Robot Turns Poo into Energy
Allison GuyThough disgusting, sewage is an abundant, nutrient-rich resource. Researchers at the University of West England have taken advantage of this fact by creating a robot that turns …
Pantone SkinTone
Rolf CoppensShould made-to-order babies become a reality in the near future, one piece of the design puzzle has been solved now Pantone has release their SkinTone system. Indexing 110 skin …
Pikachu Pussy
Koert van MensvoortThe pursuit of the cute: Pokemon Hypernature . Please don't try this at home with your own kittens, dear intelligent readers. Luckily our peculiar image of the week is digitally …
Plastic Soup
Koert van MensvoortRecipes from a post-fish world? Our peculiar image of the week was created by Nathalie Faber & Matthijs Immink.
Portable Data Silence
Rolf CoppensExperience full data silence with the Faraday Bag. Made from electromagnetic shielding silver coated fabric, it prevents devices inside it from being contacted. Made by artist …
Portal to the Internets
Hendrik-Jan GrievinkIs this progressively nostalgic telephone booth the smallest internet café in Asia, an exit from the Matrix, or did Dr. Who just get his car pimped? You say! Peculiar picture …
Pre-Peeled and Plastic-Wrapped Bananas
Allison GuyFor when nature's perfect packaging is just too darn hard to get off: Pre-peeled bananas in styrofoam and cling-wrap, from the kings of convenience at Austrian supermarket Billa. …
Put on your Pixelhead
Rolf CoppensA while ago we wrote about the Pixelhead mask by artist Martin Backes . Now he informs us that the masks are for sale. Get one while they last!
Regrowing Bones with Silk
Allison GuyTime to add another superpower to insect silk, which already includes bulletproof skin and implantable microelectronics . Recent research indicates that silk may be an ideal …
Robots Invade Stores to Steal Our Jobs
Allison GuyThere's a new threat to the world's unemployed. Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University have developed a robot that helps to organize shop inventories, making that trip to the …
Robutt
Arnoud van den HeuvelTokyo University of Electro-Communications , revealed SHIRI (? = "buttocks"), a "Buttocks Humanoid That Represents Emotions With Visual and Tactual Transformation of the Muscles." …
Salad Dress
Koert van MensvoortPush your organic-sustainable-veggie-lifestyle in the overdrive with the Salad Dress.
Scuba Airport
Koert van MensvoortWeird biomimicmarketing commercial brought to you by American Airlines.
Selling Rum with Dragons, Berries & Bats
Koert van MensvoortApparently the marketeers of Bacardi expect the combination of bats, berries and dragons should help to successfully promote the alcoholic sugar drink in the shops.
Spray On Liquid Glass
Koert van MensvoortNow here is a product that should soon find its way into the NANO Supermarket soon. At least, if supermarkets are willing to put it on their shelves, as they currently make huge …
The Relative Size of Old Nature
Allison GuyCreated by Cary Huang, this interactive scale of the universe shows the relative sizes of everything from quarks to the Hoover Dam. Be prepared for some cosmic gee-whiz moments …
Tiny Amounts of Alcohol Might Extend Life
Stefan FinckenA new study on the effects of cholesterol on the life span of Caenorhabditis elegans, a tiny worm often used in experimentation, resulted in some surprising finds. The life span …
Tracy Metz – Nature is an Agreement
Koert van MensvoortWriter and NRC journalist Tracy Metz dissects our Image of Nature , how it is constructed, by whom and for what reason. Her conclusion: "Nature is an Agreement. Just like the nude …
Transparent Smart Window
Arnoud van den HeuvelDisplays have been on our desks for too long. Samsung makes space and introduces the Transparent Smart Window . This LCD touchscreen is powered by the sunlight shining from the …
Twitter Followers as Currency
Hendrik-Jan GrievinkImagine what you could do if you had one million Twitter followers. You would be so rich! Now seriously: Are followers becoming an alternative currency? Perhaps, although we are …
Using Nanoscale Wood Pulp to Replace Metal and Plastics
Allison GuyNanocrystalline cellulose (NCC) sounds almost too good to be true. The same microscopic particles that help trees to stand up straight are also lightweight, non-toxic, stronger …
Watch Out Whales, Humans Want Your Krill
Allison GuyKrill, those tiny members of the ocean's planktonic community, have an importance disproportionate to their size. They are a vital food for whales, penguins and increasingly, …
Welcome to the Woods
Koert van MensvoortEnter through the gate and suspend your disbelief to indulge in the nature theater. Peculiar image of the week by Nick Zonneveld .
Welcome to the Anthropocene
Rolf CoppensWatch human and urban life evolve in this 3-minute journey through the last 250 years of our history, starting at the beginning of the Industrial Revolution.
When Biomimicmarketing Kills
Allison GuyLoosely regulated and largely untested in clinical trials, herbal medicines nonetheless do big business based on their image of being wholesome, natural, and backed by millennia …
Where Be Dragons? Try Your Instinctual Fear of Snakes
Allison GuyThis last Monday rang in the Chinese Year of the Dragon. Not restricted just to the benevolent, snake-like creature of Chinese mythology, or to the greedy, princess-stealing …
Who will Question Bio-Engineering?
Koert van MensvoortBioethicist Paul Root Wolpe presents a parade of recent bio-engineering experiments, from glowing monkeys , to genetically boosted salmon , to cyborg insects . He asks: isn't it …
Why does a Salad Cost More Than a Big Mac?
Koert van MensvoortRemarkable infographic by pcrm.org . Via NY Times , via Consumerist.com .
Years
Koert van MensvoortArtist Bartholomäus Traubeck created a hyper-nostalgic record player that, rather than making music from vintage vinyl records, uses slices of woods to generate sound.
3D Pizza Printer for Astronauts
Alessia AndreottiPrintable pizza. The next big food innovation after sliced bread.
3D-Printed Skin Cells as an Aesthetic Statement
Insoo HwangAn exploration of one way we might use 3D printed stem cells for body modification.
A Lifetime of Questions through Google
Hendrik-Jan GrievinkGoogle becomes the authority on existential questions about aging.
A Robot to Make Rats Depressed
Marco van BeersThe robot in the picture above chases and attacks the living rat rights besides it. The W-3, as the robot is named, is designed to make rats seriously depressed. In fact, this …
A Touchable, Moss-Covered Keyboard
Allison GuyDesigner Robbie Tilton's keyboard replaces the impersonal metal of a keyboard with lush imitation moss and wooden keys. Though it's a good example of fake nature , Tilton's …
Anthropo-scene #4: Longing for Nature
ChristianWhat one ugly overpass in Berlin reveals about our attitudes towards nature.
Anthropo-scene #5: Industrial Wilderness
ChristianOld ironworks in Germany have become more natural than "real" nature.
App Brings Big Data to Birdwatching
Allison GuyThe eBird app is bringing big data to bird spotting.
Are We Seeing the Same Thing?
Stephen PerryA fundamental philosophical question, how do we know my blue isn't your yellow? The current human and "natural" understanding of color is fundamentally based on a …
Gathering Electricity from the Atmosphere
Stephen Perry"Atmospheric energy" has the power to revolutionize the production of electricity.
Bionic man
Marco van BeersAn showcase of what we are currently capable of installing in human beings.
Care for a Meat Flower Amuse?
Koert van MensvoortVegetarian food products typically mimic existing meat products. The meat flower reverses this principle.
Chinese Whisper Challenge Pits Man Against Machine
Jort BandEver played "telephone" or "chinese whispers" as a kid? Now, you can pit your speech recognition skills against a computer.
Cliff Swallows Are Evolving to Avoid Cars
Allison GuyCliff swallows, as their name suggests, like to build nests on cliffs and other rocky outcroppings. They also like building their nests on bridges and overpasses, and sunbathe on …
Colorado Town votes on License to Hunt Drones
Koert van MensvoortDrones are the mosquitoes of the 21st century. A small town in Colorado will be voting on an ordinance for drone hunting licenses for shooting down the wild robotics.
Colorized Photographs Blur the Line Between History and Simulation
Jonathon MarkowskiIs a colorized antique photo more or less "real" than the original?
Computer Teaches Itself to Play Games
Geert van den BoogaartAn algorithm observes human players to learn how to beat Super Mario Bros.
Customizing the Brain with Psychoactives
Jan Willem van der LindenIt’s long been a desire of the human species to have complete control over our own thoughts. We’ve all had these moments where we curse our brain. Asking questions like: “Why …
Delivery Drones Are Coming
Koert van MensvoortAmazon announces they want to use drones to deliver your order within a half hour at any location you choose.
Digital Sharing Becomes Physical
Wout KregtingThe embedded "share" button in the new Playstation assumes that sharing is at the center of our existence.
Dirty Ocean
Arnoud van den HeuvelApparently, most action pictures of surfers have the waste photo-shopped out?
Disney Princesses Fight Against Cliché
Alessia AndreottiWatch your back: the Disney princesses are feeling murderous.
DIY Body Modification to Hack Evolution
Alessia AndreottiBiohacker Tim Cannon inserted a chip into his arm to monitor his bodily data and transmit it to an Android device.
Drones Swarm While We Sleep
Koert van MensvoortMesmerizing drone ballet from Kmel Robotics and Lexus.
Electric Skin Could Allow Robots to Feel
Koert van MensvoortA new kind of piezotronic transistor mesh could make for robotic skin that’s as sensitive as your own is, covered in thousands of tiny mechanical hairs.
Electricity Travels Through Spider Web
Alessia AndreottiIn future electric cables could be made ??of spider webs. 100% natural electric cables, sounds like an oxymoron, but it’s possible! Researcher at Na tional High Magnetic Field …
Our Image of Nature is Naïve
Koert van MensvoortA while ago I tried to make a landscape paintings as seen on the Bob Ross television show, yet thing turned out a little bit different in my wilderness. Nature is perhaps the most …
Tattoos that Make Everyone a Product
Alice FumeyQR and barcode tattoos turn an artist's body into a business card.
Exploring the Offline World, if It Still Exists
Bram de VogelThe surprising results of a year offline in the "real" world.
Bionic Eye: Limited Vision to the Blind
Marco van BeersA new implant lets blind people see letters, crosswalks and people.
Food Familiarization #2: Celebrity Endorsement
Allison GuyHow "celebrity endorsements" transformed the potato from the devil's tuber into a global staple.
Forward to the Dark Ages: Our Horrifying Post-Antibiotic Future
Allison GuyThe world is returning to the era when a scraped knee or ear infection could lead to sudden, swift death.
Free Electricity from the Technosphere
Teije OudshoornScientists learn how to harvest electricity from radio waves.
Gardening on the Roof of a Bus
Alessia AndreottiA cheeky experiment to reduce CO2 results in a highly mobile garden.
Get Your One Way Ticket to Mars
Alessia AndreottiWhat to do when earth is not enough? Thousands of people, tired of their life on Earth, are ready to emigrate to Mars. Since subscriptions opened on April 22, 80,000 people have …
Ghost Imaging: Taking Pictures of the Invisible Thanks to a New 3D Technique
Alessia AndreottiBritish research group created anew scanning technique permits to obtain 3D images and detect wavelengths that our visual system is not able to see.
GM Mosquitoes: No Olfaction, No Sting
Alessia AndreottiEngineering mosquitoes to ignore the scent of human flesh.
Google Wants to Tattoo a Phone Onto Your Throat
Jonathon MarkowskiGoogle has just submitted a patent for lie-detecting throat tattoo that can also make calls.
Hong Kong Says "Cheese" to Pollution
Alessia AndreottiHong Kong has a rather cynical solution to the problem of ugly air pollution.
How Food Scientists Engineer the "Bliss Point" in Junk Food
Allison GuyCheetos and other junk foods are more carefully engineered than the average bridge.
How to Avoid a Global Wine Shortage
Jonathon MarkowskiA global wine shortage is looming. Never fear: Next Nature has a solution.
How to Turn Pork in to Beef
Koert van MensvoortNext, we are anticipating recipes on how to turn pork into dinosaur filet.
In the (Physical) Cloud
Hendrik-Jan GrievinkDutch artist Berndnaut Smilde uses smoke, moisture and lighting to create temporary clouds.
In-Vitro Meat Visions in The Guardian
Koert van MensvoortLast weekends edition of the Guardian featured some of the In-Vitro Meat Visions developed at Next Nature Lab.
Kid Convinces Mother to go Vegan
Koert van MensvoortWhile most children nowadays believe the woods smell of shampoo, there are still those critical young minds out there eager to question things.
La Surconsommation
Koert van MensvoortFor those who "eat meat, but don't like in-vitro meat, because it is so unnatural" . Please spend 5 min to watch this video and change your thinking. You were watching the …
Making Fake Eggs to Beat the Real Thing
Allison GuyTech experts are betting that they can make vegetarian eggs that outperform the real thing.
Manmade Global Warming Is at Least 15,000 Years Old
Allison GuyHow the extinction of mammoths changed the atmosphere.
Manufacturing Imperfection in Processed Luncheon Meats
Allison GuyFood companies are hard at work inventing processes to make luncheon meat look "deli fresh".
Modern Countries Mapped on Pangea
Koert van MensvoortSome 300 million years ago, all countries were united in the Pangea continent. Unfortunately at the time there weren't any nature preservation organizations around it to protect and it drifted apart.
Modern Fata Morgana
Koert van MensvoortImagine bumping into a cola dispenser after a hike in the pristine Canadian forests for three days. Would you believe your eyes?
More than Fake Nature: The Surprising Sociology of Museum Taxidermy
Allison GuyThe greatest taxidermy in the world reveals a great deal about our changing notions of nature.
Nanosponges "Soak Up" Toxins and Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria
Jordy RooijakkersNano-scale sponges show promise for defeating a variety of bacteria and toxins.
Now Your Smartphone Can Smell Like Barbecue and Buttered Potatoes
Alessia AndreottiAn olfactory device for Smartphones that spreads the aroma of barbecue using an app.
Offshore Wind Farms Generate Their Own Microclimates
Patty ChanAs we strive to milk all available energy from nature, we not only harvest but alter our surroundings in the process. By mixing the warm sea air with cooler air above, offshore …
Painting with Toxic Runoff
Allison GuyA professor and an artist have invented a method to manufacture paint from acid mine runoff.
Q&A with CEO of In Vitro Meat Company "Modern Meadow"
Stephen PerryExcerpts from the Rebbit AMA with Andras Forgacs, founder of a company that manufactures in vitro meat.
Relics of the Past
Koert van MensvoortYes grandchildren. Back in the old days we used to *read* books.
Reverse Retouching: Fattening Up Too-Thin Models
Allison GuyThe more we look like ads, the closer we get to some ideal of beauty, the more off-putting we find the results.
Rubber Duck XL: the Bath is Over
Alessia AndreottiThe gigantic rubber duck created by Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman floated on Hong Kong's Victoria Harbour, with the island skyline in the background. The XL duck showed up in …
Sexual Fetishes Evolve with Technology
Allison GuyOnce common, statue-loving has disappeared from the sexual landscape.
Six Tweet Under: Live Forever via Twitter
Hendrik-Jan GrievinkA new company analyzes your personality and writing style in order to keep producing tweets after you die.
Sony's Smart Wig: Top or Flop?
Alessia AndreottiSensors, a communication interface and an actuator for tactile feedback all hidden ina wig.
Space Farming for Astronauts
Alessia AndreottiSpace Farming: NASA plans to grow a vegetable garden 230 miles above the Earth.
Spy Agencies Infiltrate in Online Games
Koert van MensvoortFor NSA, spying on you isn't enough, they monitor your avatar too.
Surviving the Anthropocene in China
Allison GuyHow people adapt to toxic food, air and water in Beijing.
The 10th Anniversary of the World's First Lab-Grown Steak
Allison GuyMany people don't know that growing and cooking in vitro meat is a decade old.
The "Actroid" Lives in the Uncanny Valley
Allison GuyThe Actroid robot holds clues for climbing out of the uncanny valley.
The Artificial Touch-Sensitive Hand
Alessia AndreottiRestoring the sense of touch with an artificial hand, using a brain interface.
The birth of the artificial womb
Alessia AndreottiResearchers in Tokyo have developed an artificial womb (for goats).
The Chinese Museum with 100% Fake Art
Allison GuyNew wealth and old laws mean that China is awash in forged artwork.
The Evolution of the Treble Clef
Allison GuyNongenetic evolution strikes again in the elaborate shape of the treble clef.
The Only Blue Sky in Beijing is Fake
NextNature.netBlade Runner becomes reality in China. Just try not to breathe.
Turning Detroit into Farms and Forests
Jonathon MarkowskiConcerned locals are turning Detroit back into farmland and forests.
Tykkään or En tykkää? Digital Voting Takes to the Streets
Silvia CelibertiHelsinki tested out a Facebook-like interface to get public opinion on a new construction project.
Use a Touchscreen Without Touching it
Alessia AndreottiUltraHaptics is a system for creating haptic feedback in mid-air, offering new kind of interactions with our touchscreens.
Virtual Offline Shopping
Koert van MensvoortIf the Korean Virtual Shopping Store becomes a success, all shop shelves will soon be LCD Screens.
Wearable Urban Farms
Paul StoutjesdijkGot no space for a farm? Just shrink one and turn it into jewelry!
Werner Herzog on "Old" Nature
Allison Guy"The birds are in misery. I don’t think they sing, they just screech in pain"
Where the Other Half Lives
Allison GuyMap-enthusiast Valerie Pieris has created a fascinating visualization of human population centers. We all know that a huge fraction of humanity lives in Asia, but this map really …
Why Are Lobsters Thriving in Maine?
Allison GuyThe surprising - and predictably depressing - reasons why lobster stocks are booming.
Wild Ones
Koert van MensvoortTypically when we look at nature we exclude ourselves. Finally there is a book looking at people looking at animals.
World's First In Vitro Hamburger Arrives
Allison GuyBreak out the ketchup: Mark Post has grown the world's first entirely artificial burger from cultured beef cells.
3000 Years Old 8-Bit Music Instrument
Alessia AndreottiThe more iconic video game audio track played with an ancient woodwind. The resulting sound is pure 1980s nostalgia.
A Jet without Windows for a Better View
Alessia AndreottiSupersonic jet replaces windows with massive live-streaming screens.
A Next Nature Christmas Present
NextNature.netBuy the In Vitro Meat Cookbook with free worldwide shipping and gift-wrapping with the Corporate Animals paper included.
Age of Internet Empires
Alessia AndreottiA map of the most visited websites in each country. Google or Facebook, which one will conquer the world?
Auto Paint Stones
Koert van MensvoortNextnatural stones formed from layers of paint in old car factories.
BAT Flies High in the Sky to Make Energy
Francesca BarchiesiBuoyant Airborne Turbine is a giant high altitude wind turbine that brings low cost energy to remote areas and off-grid sites.
Biological Bakery
Koert van MensvoortLucy McRae and Rachel Wingfield made a edible DIY bio fab–lab called the Biological Bakery.
Building a Boat with Marine Plastic Trash
Alessia AndreottiA man from Kenya collected tourists’ disused slippers and seaborne plastic bottles to build a boat.
Camouflaged Ships
Robin BergmanThese unbelievably rich and dazzling graphics were made to avoid enemy attack.
Cat-like Sensitive Whiskers for Robots
Alessia AndreottiElectronic whiskers put sensitive catlike sensors on robots.
Change Your Notion Of Nature
NextNature.netA message for all you Next Nature readers from the one and only Snow White, who knows a thing or two about Hypernature . Download the Next Nature Appzine for free and change your …
Dissected Motorcycle
Koert van MensvoortThe dissected motorcycle learns us that, like in old nature, much of the inner workings of next nature are occluded to us.
Electronic Make Up
Koert van MensvoortIf this technique become widely accessible it could allow you to regain anonymity in webcam and facetime conversations.
Emoticons Among US
Alessia AndreottiWhat if emoticons were not just a replacement for the written word, but creatures looking for a place in society?
eTree – Electric Gardening
Alessia AndreottiAn eco-sculpture that looks like a tree. Its foliage is made of solar panels able to produce energy.
Faraday Tent
Koert van MensvoortWhile in old nature people build shelters to protect themselves from natural forces like wind and rain, today one has to protect oneself from nextnatural forces.
First Completely Artificial Heart Transplant
Alessia AndreottiWorld's first self-regulating artificial heart transplanted in France.
Fish Fins vs Bones
Lotte BiesheuvelZebrafish can regrow fins. Is there a possibility we can regrow bones in the near future?
H / AlCuTaAu: a New Artificial Mineral
Lotte BiesheuvelA new artificial mineral made of technological artifacts, such as computers, tools and machinery.
High Frequency Trading Visualized
Koert van MensvoortOur peculiar image of the week is titled "High Frequency Captured on the Surface of Augmented Objects" by Ryota Matsumoto , Mixed Media 140718 110cmx85cm.
Human Workers Get Increasingly Obsolete
Alessia AndreottiRobots are coming to replace humans at work, are they a real threat to the world’s unemployed?
In Memory of New Materials Gone
Koert van MensvoortA deceased scrollbar in a Church. What does it mean?
In Vitro Celebrity Meat, for Real this Time?
Allison GuyA company is working on culturing celebrity stem cells for cannibal cuisine.
In Vitro Recipe #11: Meat Fruit
NextNature.netMeat fruit combines the femininity of fruit with the masculine sensibilities of red meat in a hybrid celebration of our post-patriarchal, post-gender society.
In Vitro Recipe #12: Meat Flowers
NextNature.netIf vegetarian products can mimic meat, then why not the other way around?
In Vitro Recipe #5: See-Through Sashimi
NextNature.netInvisible meat with a pure, delicate flavor. Honest from the Lab.
In Vitro Recipe #6: 3D Printed Marrowbone
NextNature.netLab-grown marrow bones lend meaty notes to vegetarian soups, and taste delicious when roasted and spread on toast – no stone bludgeon required.
Innovative Nostalgia Can Afflict Anyone
Alessia AndreottiHanx Writer, an app that digitally simulates the experience of typing on a typewriter.
Listening to Wi-Fi
NextNature.netModern technologies give deaf people the ability to hear again, not only regular sounds but also the invisible Wi-Fi signals.
Living in the Forest in the 21st Century
Alessia AndreottiPortraits of people who live alone in the forest.
In Vitro Recipe #3: Magic Meatballs
NextNature.netMagic meatballs playfully familiarize children with the concept of in vitro meat.
Making Seawater Drinkable with Nanotech
Robin BergmanFiltering sea water to drinkable fresh water is no longer science fiction.
Making the Skin your New Touchscreen
Alessia AndreottiA tool that could turn the arm into a touch screen display.
Marine Plastic Creatures
Alessia AndreottiPhotographer Kim Preston transforms everyday household plastic objects into sea creatures.
My Device is in the Sky
Koert van MensvoortTruly advanced technology will be light as sunshine and indistinguishable from nature.
Need to Unplug? There is an App for that
Koert van MensvoortAt times it seems we serve our technology as much as it serves us. The OFFTIME App wants to save us from our own devices.
Next Nature Emergency Blanket
Hendrik-Jan GrievinkThe Survival Blanket protects against the forces of next nature: drone attacks, electrosmog, internet fail, etc.
Painting the Anthropocene
Alessia AndreottiGovedare paints the human impact on natural environments, showing how nature has become a subset of culture.
Pepsi Aubergine
Koert van MensvoortOccasionally you bump into an image that seems related to our next nature quest, but you are unable to verbalize.
Raptor Aircraft Paints Rainbows in the Sky
Francesca BarchiesiNext Nature Rainbow painted by F-22 Raptor Jet.
Razorius Gilletus Flexball Subspecies
Koert van MensvoortThe latest subspecies in the Razorius line is the Razorius Gilletus Flexball. While Gillete proclaims they reinvented shaving, others argue Gillette's new razor is everything that's wrong with America.
Recovering Phosphorus from Wastewater
Julia WeberResearchers found a technology that allows to recover valuable substances from wastewater.
Retro-Futuristic Drones
Alessia AndreottiIn 1925 futurists envisioned a sort of aerial civilization in the sky of New York City.
Retro-Futuristic Society of Simulations
Alessia AndreottiIn 1930 Germans envisioned our Society of Simulations.
Robot Swarm that can form any Shape
Koert van MensvoortMaybe in the future swarms of robots could help cleaning oil spills, provide immediate emergency help at a disaster or guide millions of self driving cars.
Robotic Easter Egg Decorator
Alessia AndreottiA robot that applies computer controlled motion to precisely decorate your Easter eggs.
Salmon Cannon Shoots Fish Over Dams
Alessia AndreottiA cannon that sucks salmon up and “shoots” them out in a different body of water.
Scan Yourself With Your Digital Doctor
Mateja VidakovicThere seems to be a high demand for the ability to self-diagnose. Consider Scanadu , a company developing a medical device for self-diagnosis, has become the highest funded …
Share the Smell of Your Delicious Dish
Julia WeberThe oPhone and oSnap allow you to send pictures with aromatic vocabularies.
Smart Contact Lens Can Monitor Glucose
Alessia AndreottiSmart contact lens project to monitor glucose.
Smart Tags Change Color as Food Spoils
Alessia AndreottiSmart Tags stick to containers of food and change color when something has expired.
Special Deal: Two Books Package
NextNature.netThe Next Nature Book & The In Vitro Meat Cookbook now only €50!
Spider Silk will be Commercialized in 2015
Julia WeberCompany AMSilk will commercialize spider silk in 2015.
Styles for Anti-Face Detection
Koert van MensvoortThe desire to avoid face recognition algorithms could bring us a whole new set of make up styles,
The Arctic Leisure Resort
Koert van MensvoortIf the global warming trend continues, we might be able to take the whole family on a trip to the North Pole someday.
The Flying Car
Alessia AndreottiFrom automobile to airplane: the flying car is built to travel as easily on the road as in the sky.
The Self-Portrait of the Digital Age
Alessia AndreottiThe series Museum of Selfies combines the original art of portraiture with its modern counterpart, the the smartphone self-portrait.
Up in the North: the Rising Kingdom of Google Earth
Koert van MensvoortNation states and geographical borders. But for how long?
Urban Aquarium in an Abandoned Mall
Alessia AndreottiAn abandoned shopping mall became a self-sustained urban aquarium filled with thousands of fish.
Veggie Burger That Bleeds Like Real Meat
Alessia AndreottiProf. Patrick Brown developed a meatless burger that look and taste like meat, made out of plant ingredients.
Virtual Reality Headset for Chickens
Alessia AndreottiA virtual reality headset could give chickens the freedom to roam without the roaming.
Watch Your City at Night from Space
Koert van MensvoortLess than one millennium ago the Earth at night was all black. Today it is all glowing and blossoming.
Wearable Antenna for Health Monitoring
Julia WeberWearable multifunctional antenna made of silver nano wires to monitor recovering people.
WikiGalaxy
Alessia AndreottiTurning 100,000 entries from the Wikipedia into a growing nebula of human knowledge.
3D Printed Fish Remove Toxins and Deliver Drugs
Alessia AndreottiResearchers from UC San Diego announced that they have developed 3D print tiny microrobots in the shape of fish able to detect and remove toxin from liquid.
A Tiny Trackpad That Fits on Your Nail
Yunus Emre DuyarResearchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have developed a tiny wireless trackpad that could easily fit on your finger nail.
Ambient City
Koert van MensvoortHow cities will function when there are more robots than people working in factories, everything is intelligently interlinked, autos drive autonomously and drones deliver the mail?
Analogue vs Digital: 3D Printing
NextNature.netIn both vases pictured, you can put your flowers in water. The manufacturing process is the analogue/digital difference.
Analogue vs Digital: Caught on Film
NextNature.netDigital cameras have made us think less about taking a snapshot. Why should you think twice?
Analogue vs Digital: Drone Wars
NextNature.netThe use of armed drones has dramatically escalated in the war in Pakistan.
Analogue vs Digital: Handwriting
NextNature.netWill handwriting soon be history? Or will we always prefer a handwritten love letter from our beloved?
Analogue vs Digital: News, Now and Then
We are all journalists in a century in which Twitter is the main news outlet.
Analogue vs Digital: Phoning
NextNature.netRemember these? If you are a digital native there is a chance you never noticed one of them.
Analogue vs Digital: Simulated Farming
NextNature.netWant to grow some vegetables but don’t want to get your hands dirty? There is an app for that!
Archaeology of Media
Alessia AndreottiThe Archéologies des Medias exposition turns archaic technology that was once cutting-edge into art.
Bio is the New Digital
Koert van MensvoortParallel to the democratization of computers some decades ago, biotech is rapidly becoming more accessible to creative people outside of closed institutions.
Car Paleontology
Alessia AndreottiCars - autonomous, self driving, uncontrollable - are bound to become the animals of the future.
Controlling the Weather with Drones
Hessel HoogerhuisThe Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) picked six test sites throughout the US to experiment with drone-based cloud seeding.
Modernist Food
Hendrik-Jan GrievinkThis modernist food makes the future of 3D printed food look pretty tasty!
Drinking Water From the Air
Yunus Emre DuyarWarka Water is an alternative water source to rural population that faces challenges in accessing drinkable water.
Drone Maps Christ the Redeemer
Yunus Emre DuyarThe current technology has not been able to replicate Christ the Redeemer perfectly, until now.
Ear-Free Headphones
Alessia AndreottiUsing bone conduction, this device allows to hear the sound directly in the head, keeping the ears free.
Electronic Gadget Cemetery in Ghana
Yunus Emre DuyarAgbogbloshie is a former wetland that is turned into a slum and now it is full of toxic electronic waste.
Eventually, Drones Will Be Everywhere
Hessel HoogerhuisCity of Drones puts you in a first person view of a drone drifting through an abstract futuristic cityscape.
Facebook's Internet Drone Unveiled
Yunus Emre DuyarFacebook introduced its solar-powered drone project aimed to provide internet access to rural areas.
Feeding the World with Insects
Abby QinShould we make a next step in what we serve at the table? What about insects? Would you give them a try?
GM Salmon Approved for Consumption
Margherita OlivoTime ago we wrote about the fact that US Food and Drug Administration was considering whether to approve the first genetically engineered salmon. We have a verdict: from now on …
Flights Delayed Due to iPad Crash
Yunus Emre DuyarDozens of American Airlines flights were grounded as pliots' iPads crashed.
GM Pigs for Animal-to-Human Organ Transplant
Alessia AndreottiScientists have been trying to develop GM pigs that could be used to solve the shortage of organs for transplant patients.
Grow your Dinner in a Kitchen Insect Farm
Koert van MensvoortThe Kitchen Insect Farm enables people to grow their own protein source (read: larvae) at home.
Human-Shaped Power Lines
Alessia AndreottiJust a project for now, but a far more creative way to deal with unsightly public works than tree-shaped antennas.
The Ice Cream That Doesn't Melt
Margherita OlivoResearchers discovered a protein that can be used to produce the first ice cream that melts more slowly that the normal products on the market today.
Local Deliveries: Robots or Drones?
Margherita OlivoStarship, a robot that will remodel our local deliveries system.
Meet the Modern Miners
Koert van MensvoortA visit to a massive, secretive Bitcoin mine that is said to make 800.000 Euro per month.
Meet Yangyang, Actroid From China
Alessia AndreottiThe humanoid robot Yangyang can function autonomously, talking and gesturing while interacting with people.
MIT Lets Robot Cheetah Off Leash
Hessel HoogerhuisRobot Cheetah has grown up! Scientists at MIT's Biometrics Robotics Lab have now trained their robo-feline Cheetah to detect obstacles and jump over hurdles as it runs, making it …
Tracking Employees' Body Functions to Improve Business Performance
Alessia AndreottiIn the quest for competitive advantage, companies adopt wearable biometric technologies to monitor employees and improve business results.
NANO Supermarket Opens in Latvia
NextNature.netThe tour of our lustrous NANO Supermarket is coming to Riga, Latvia.
NANO Supermarket Opens in Norway
NextNature.netOur lustrous NANO Supermarket just opened a 100m2 pop-up store in Norway.
Algorithm Tells You How to Dress
Alessia AndreottiWhat should I wear today? The answer to one of life’s big questions could came from an algorithm created to solve all your fashion problems.
First Testings of Google's Project Loon Announced
Margherita OlivoGoogle plans to connect more than 100 million people in a cheap, new and sustainable way, in a territory where only one person on three has access to the Internet.
Next Nature Talk at IoTx in Dubai
NextNature.netGoing to the lustrous IoTx conference in Dubai this year? Don’t miss out the Next Nature lecture.
Next Nature Talk at SXSW
NextNature.netGoing to the lustrous SXSW festival in Texas this year? Don't miss out on the Next Nature presentation!
One Tree, 40 Different Types of Fruit
Alessia AndreottiA single tree that can produce 40 different stone fruits, or fruit with pits, including peaches, apricots, almonds, plums, cherries and nectarines.
Order Anything with Amazon's Button
Yunus Emre DuyarAmazon introduced a new gadget, named Dash Button, that will help you order groceries automatically.
Our Bodies, Our Fuel
Adriene LillyThis piece from Ars Technica details the breadth in the variety of energy sources emitting from our every day interactions.
Over 300 Sharks are Now on Twitter
Koert van MensvoortRecently 338 sharks in Western Australia subscribed to the microblogging service. They are now tweeting out where they are.
Permanent Eye-Color Change
Alessia AndreottiA new laser surgery can permanently turn eyes from brown to blue.
Robot Swans Monitor Water Quality
Alessia AndreottiThe National University of Singapore released a group of robot swans in the Pandan Reservoir to swim around and keep an eye on water quality.
Scientists could Reveal a Parallel Universe
Yunus Emre DuyarLarge Hadron Collider in Geneva will attempt to detect or create mini black holes, to reveal a new universe.
Sexy Car – From Russia with Love
Koert van MensvoortHumans cannot have intercourse with cars or replicate with them, so why would we find cars sexy anyhow?
Sharing Your Newborn's Heartbeat
Yunus Emre DuyarThese parents use the Apple Watch to share their newborn child's heartbeats with friends and family.
Bacteria and Drones: New Ways to Collect Samples
Erik van der VeenWhile a hipster-drink bacteria are hunting space organisms, robots are catching whale snot in the open ocean.
Australians Wake Up One Hour Early Due to System Error in Their Mobile Phones
Koert van MensvoortThe glitch meant many woke an hour earlier than usual, leaving not just phone customers but whole households unhappy about rising early.
The Emergence of 4D Printing
João Paulo Miranda LammogliaAn inspiring TED talk by computational architect Skylar Tibbits about 4D printing, where the fourth dimension is time.
The Sound System that Knows your Mood
Martijn BohnenBeoSound Moment is an intelligence sound system that predicts the music the user is in the mood for.
The Weather Machine
Alessia AndreottiThe Weather Machine: an installation that explores rain, clouds and sun heat to recreate the weather occurring outside.
The World's First Virtual Reality Park
Alessia AndreottiA virtual reality theme park where visitors can explore the virtual world in a physical environment.
The World’s Largest Indoor Farm
Alessia AndreottiThe world’s largest indoor farm in Japan is 100 times more productive than traditional agriculture.
Turning Poop Back Into Food
Alessia AndreottiNasa funded a program to turn astronauts’ poop into food.
Virtual Reality Can Intensify Emotions
Margherita OlivoResearchers discovered that people's reactions to 3D images of facial expressions are more emotional than the responses to classic 2D images.
Every Wikipedia Article Leads to Philosophy
Alexandra BremersAccording to the Wikipedia page 'Wikipedia: Getting to Philosophy', more than 94% of all articles will eventually lead to the English article "Philosophy".
72h Offline Challenge for Teenagers
Monika KozubAround 100 Polish teenagers aged between 12 and 18 agreed to withstand 72 hours totally offline: no phone, no computer, no TV. What were the results?
Microsoft Is Betting on Mixed Reality
Ruben BaartThe Microsoft HoloLens is a holographic computer that enables you to interact with high-definition holograms through augmented reality.
Australia Moves Too Fast for GPS
Mathilde NakkenThe entire continent of Australia has shifted and that's a problem for GPS, meteorologists, automated cars and even drones.
Roboat Ahoy: the First Autonomous Boats
Ruben BaartThe first self “driving” boat will be entering the canals of Amsterdam in 2017 with versatile ends.
Breaking Language Barriers
Margherita OlivoWe have witnessed significant progresses in the field of real-time translation, and this new wearable translator, called ili, sums up perfectly this essence.
Cars Are Ready to Recognize Us
Alejandro AlvarezWe already recognize faces in our cars, now it is time for our cars to recognize our faces.
Coming Soon: Video Face Hacking for All
Alejandro Alvarezteam of computer scientists at the universities of Germany and California has created what they call photoshoping videos in real time.
Dave Hakkens Wins the ECO Coin 2016
NextNature.netDave Hakkens wins the 2016 ECO coin Award for his incredible work on the Precious Plastic recycling machines.
Disney Lights Up the Sky with 300 Drones
Mathilde NakkenDisney’s latest attraction? 300 drones flying in formation.
Facebook Provides a Suicide Prevention Tool
Ingmar NieuweboerFacebook provides a new tool for suicide prevention
Feelling Information with Our Fingertips
Alejandro Alvarezching 64GB SD cards to each of our fingers challenges how we store and share information in a world were our digital privacy is at risk.
Fiction to Reality: Invented Traditions
Alejandro AlvarezIt’s true that mexicans celebrate Day of the Dead dressing as skeletons and setting shrines to death, but the carnivalesque parade with giant puppets was a surprise to every local who watched the movie.
'Fiji Water' Is Purer than Tap Water, No?
Koert van MensvoortResearchers tested 'Fiji Water' against ordinary tap water. What they found is kind of shocking.
First Self Sufficient Solar-Powered Airport
Margherita OlivoThe Cochin International Airport is self-sufficient thanks to its solar power plant.
Future Architecture: Digesting Walls
Mathilde NakkenThe University of West England is developing living bricks, turning your walls into a digesting organism.
Future of Feelings: Emotion Reading Radio
Mathilde NakkenResearchers have the developed the EQ-Radio: a tool to read people emotions from a distance.
Genetic Scissors Instead of Chef's Knife
Monika KozubCRISPRy cabbage has been served for the first time in the world.
Geography Class via Smartphone
Ruben BaartA new Google Maps app is designed to get kids exploring the Himalayas without having to actually go outside.
Traffic Lights for Smartphone Zombies
Ruben BaartGround Level Traffic Lights For Smartphone Zombies
Augmented Biology: Growing Ears on Apples
Alejandro AlvarezA promising way to grow body parts: using an apple.
Growing Grass from Carpets
Ruben BaartMartin Roth brings Persian rugs to life with the cultivation of grass.
How Is Hi-Tech Changing Sports?
Margherita OlivoHitech is changing sports, but what are the consequences?
In Defense of the Eggplant
Ruben BaartThe eggplant emoji became a political weapon and gain cult status being the forbidden fruit of the web.
Japan Is Ready to Pay Bills with Bitcoins
Alejandro AlvarezJapan is the first country to accept the bitcoins as payment method for basic services.
KaraokeBot Sings Christmas Carols
NextNature.netThe KaraokeBot is an AI system that generates and sings Christmas songs from the visual components of an uploaded image.
The Lightest Solar Cell Ever Made
Margherita OlivoResearchers created solar cells as light as a soap bubble.
Look for The Bistro In Vitro Ice Cream Cart
Margherita OlivoOur Bistro in Vitro Ice Cream Cart took off for the Spring/Summer season in Vondelpark, Amsterdam.
Lunar Insurrection Vol.2: Harvest Moon
Daniel FragaLunar Insurrection is a group of architects that explores the creative possibilities of the moon as a potential territory for human activity and inhabitation. In Vol.2 , their …
Making King's Day More Sustainable
Margherita OlivoOn King's Day the water board of Amsterdam wants to collect urine and use it as fertilizer.
Man Controls Prosthetic Arm with His Mind
Ingmar NieuweboerResearchers at the John Hopkins University School of Medicine succeeded in hooking up a prosthetic arm to the human brain.
Meet Biomimic Alyssa Stark
Daniel FragaUsing biology as a model for innovation and progress, Alyssa Stark embodies the essence of Biomimicry.
Meet the Buddy Drone
NextNature.netMeet the Buddy Drone: it protects your from danger and helps you with everyday tasks, but most of all it's a friend for life!
Meet the Queen Bee Drone
NextNature.netThe Queen Bee Drone helps solving the bee crisis of the last decade, not intruding, just bringing help and assistance.
Meet the Vaccinator Drone
NextNature.netThe Vaccinator Drone will provide you with the medicine you need.
The New Era of Tourism is Underwater
Margherita OlivoSleeping underwater has always been your dream? Thanks to an ambitious project it will be soon reality.
Shark Drones Clean up the Port of Rotterdam
Mathilde NakkenIn the port of Rotterdam you might be able to cross a floating Waste Shark: a robot able to collect up to 500 kilos of trash.
What Is Next Nature? #12
Ingmar NieuweboerRemoving your make-up together with your sense of identity.
What Is Next Nature? #5
Ingmar NieuweboerWalking on the grass while there is a road and feeling rebellious.
There Are More People Flying in Airplanes right Now, than there were Alive on Earth in the Stone Age
Koert van MensvoortToday there are on average there are some 8000 planes in the sky carrying at least half a million people. On average during the Stone Age there must have been less.
Pigs Have a Heart for Us
Elise MarcusReplacing your old heart with a new heart from an animal may seem extreme? Well, this future may arrive sooner than we think.
A Political Weather Forecast
Ruben BaartJames Bridle is comparing vast amounts of historical weather data and polling results in order to produce hybrid weather forecasts.
Fitness Tracker to Make Happy Meal Healthier
Ruben BaartMcDonald’s provided their Happy Meals with a high-tech activity tracker toy.
The Reinvention of Children's Books
Mathilde NakkenWhy are children still learning to read from a book? Therefore Amazon is reinventing the children’s book in the form of an educational reading app, called Rapids.
Robot Breaks Rubik's Cube World Record
Alessia AndreottiWatch this robot solving the Rubik's Cube in 1.047 second.
A Robot to Help The Refugee Crisis
Margherita OlivoIn the last months we've been witnessing a refugee crisis of huge proportions. More than a million people crossed the sea to flee violence in Africa and the Middle-East. Together …
Slenderman: the Modern Big Foot
Alejandro AlvarezThe new mythical creature hunting our imagination is called Slenderman and is born on the internet. But who is this being and how it came to be? It may just be the modern version of a much older myth.
A Step Further in the Race Against AI
Alejandro AlvarezToday, we all have superpowers. It may not seem like it because we are attached to our physical devices to use our powers, but with a Neural Lace that may soon change.
Storing Knowledge for Eternity
Margherita OlivoResearchers discovered a way to store data in five dimensions on a nano structured glass able to survive for billion of years.
The Surplus Food Supermarket
Ruben BaartThis supermarket sells expired food to raise awareness over poverty, hunger and the environment.
A Tablet for the Visually Impaired People
Margherita OlivoU.S. researchers are working on an affordable braille tablet for blind people.
This Indestructible Micro-Animal Will Help Us
Monika KozubWill a small step for Ramazzottius Varieornatus be a giant leap for mankind?
A Temporary Tattoo That Heals
Monika KozubMoving tattoos from purely aesthetic crave to a healing method thanks to nanotechnology.
The Autonomous Tractor Is Here
Ruben BaartCase IH debuted their autonomous farm tractor that plants, monitors crops and harvests, all without a driver.
The Interactive Supermarket
Ruben BaartCoop Italia has opened a flagship store in Milan to present their vision of what grocery shopping might hold for us in 2050.
The Wordless Language
Margherita OlivoEmoji are taking our communication to a faster, simpler level.
'Thinking Soil' Will Change the Way We Build
Monika KozubSelf-constructing foundation thanks to genetically modified microbes.
Old Cellphones to Fight Deforestation
Margherita OlivoA Californian engineer is using old cellphones and solar panels to save the rainforest ecosystem against deforestation.
Using Solar Powered Drones as Satellites
Ruben BaartThe experimental solar powered airplane Solar Impulse 2 succeeded its record-breaking journey over the Pacific. The Swiss team is now developing the next step of the project: solar drones.
VR as a Tool for Social Change
Monika KozubUnited Nations aims at turning a playful technology into a serious medium.
Waiter, There's a Pig in My Soup!
Monika KozubA miniature piglet staring at you from a soup, to remind you the origins of your meal.
Web Training Collar
Ruben BaartJasper van Loenen developed a wearable that sends a corrective electrostatic shock to its wearer when visiting an unprotected website.
Welcome to Chanel Data Center
Mathilde NakkenTwo robots opened the show of Chanel during the Paris Fashion Week of 2017. Well robots, two models dressed up like humanoid robots entered the catwalk. Is Chanel going Next Nature?
What's Flying There? Coloring Book
NextNature.netWhat’s Flying There? is a coloring book that opens up new perspectives for drones applications in the human habitat.
World's "Coolest" Hotel
Ruben BaartSweden's new Icehotel 365 uses solar cooling to stay open all year.
Xian'er, When Religion Meets A.I.
Margherita OlivoA robot monk has been created in China, mixing spirituality with artificial intelligence.
AI Tries to Decode Dolphins
Julie ReindlOver a four year project period, researchers will use artificial intelligence to understand the dolphin language, creating a dolphin dictionary.
An AI Is Writing the Next "Game of Thrones"
Jack CaulfieldOne fan has become so impatient for the conclusion to "Game of Thrones", he's programmed an AI to write it for him. Move over, George R.R. Martin!
Animal Tsunami Alerts from Space
Alejandro AlvarezGlobal data about animal movements are indispensable in our today international networked world to understand how to safe human health and wildlife simultaneously.
Artificial Sun Tested in Germany
Julie ReindlThe biggest artificial sun was set up in Germany to find out how carbon neutral fuel can be produced.
Artificial Womb Workshop at BioClub Tokyo
NextNature.netOn August 8, NNN gave a workshop at BioClub Tokyo to share some insights on the future of technologies concerning human reproduction, sexuality and relationships.
Bacteria Use Electronic Messaging
Julie ReindlBacteria use electronic messaging system to recruit new workers.
Billboard Show the Landscape They Block
Koert van MensvoortIn the desert landscape of the Californian Coachella Valley, artist Jennifer Bolande installed a series of billboards that camouflage themselves with the surroundings.
Antarctica Is Turning Green
Ruben BaartRising temperatures have boosted the growth rates of seasonal mosses on Antarctica, turning the continent green.
Cyborg Dragonfly for Special Service
Ruben BaartA Biomedical solutions company is developing a system for insects to wear, allowing engineers to steer it remotely.
App Activates Cells That Manage Diabetes
Julie ReindlScientists develop engineered cells to be implanted in patients with diabetes to regulate blood sugar levels, controlled with a smartphone app.
ECO Coin Award 2017 Nominations Open
NextNature.netThe nominations for the ECO coin Award 2017 are now officially open. Let us know who you think deserves to earn the award.
ECO Coin First Trial at DGTL 2017
NextNature.netWe had a wonderful first run of the ECO Coin during DGTL festival in Amsterdam.
ECO Coin Goes to DGTL Festival 2017
NextNature.netThis year the ECO coin will run its first community experiment with our partners at DGTL festival. Come and earn your first ECO!
The Birth of a Digital Nation in Estonia
Daniel FragaDue to its digital citizenship program, something interesting is happening in Estonia. In July there were more new applications for e-citizenship than newborn babies. Are we …
Sustainable Flying with Electric Planes
Elle Zhan WeiGerman company revealed fastest electric plane.
Female Menstrual Cycle on a Computer Chip
Julie ReindlThe complicated system of a female menstruation cycle was reproduced on a computer chip for the first time.
Longest Lived Human Embryo in a Lab
Elle Zhan WeiScientists keeping a human embryo alive in lab for 13 days for the first time.
Your Personal Plant Assistant
Ruben BaartMeet Grovio, a smart and wireless assistant for your plants. Using specialized sensors, it automatically waters and monitors your plants in real time.
Next Nature Habitat VR at SXSW17
NextNature.netThis week our virtual reality experience landed at the inaugural VR program of SXSW festival.
Heart Repair with Spinach Leaves
Julie ReindlScientists developed a procedure to repair your heart with a spinach leaf.
HUBOT: Meet the Exoskeleton Mover
NextNature.netA job from HUBOT: as an exoskeleton mover, you wear a motorized exoskeleton suit that gives you the muscular power of a gorilla.
HUBOT: Meet the Remote Savior
NextNature.netWhen giving first aid, all kinds of emotions are in play. Thus it is important for the victim of an accident to receive emotional assistance and to be mentally supported during an …
Human Artist Hatches Ten Chicken Eggs
Ruben BaartFrench performance artist hatches 10 hen's eggs in Palais de Tokyo.
Internship at Next Nature Network
NextNature.netTo all students! It's that time of the year again. We have six wonderful intern positions opening up in February 2018. Six! From editorial talent to design heroes to marketing …
Intimate Technology S01E04: So Happy Together
NextNature.netWhat if you could upload your fondest memories to the cloud? Watch episode 4 of our Intimate Technology video series.
Intimate Technology S01E06: Also, the Dichotomy of Pragmatism and Perversion
NextNature.netDo we treat our technologies with more care and sentimentality these days than we did in the past?
Intimate Technology S01E07: Our Selves
NextNature.netWe think of selfhood as residing in our everyday stream of consciousness. But could we possibly have a second digital self in our online behaviors? Watch episode 3 of our Intimate Technology series.
Lazy Worker Ants
Charlotte KuijpersA study reveals that about 40% of "worker" ants spend most of their days doing nothing, but those lazy ants make themselves useful in unexpected ways.
New AI Model Can Mimic Any Human Voice
Elle Zhan WeiLyrebird is an AI model capable of synthesizing anyone’s voice from just a one-minute audio sample.
Making Tomatoes Tasty Again
Alejandro AlvarezScientists have found a way to bring back the lost flavor of tomatoes.
The New Male Birth Control
Ruben BaartA new contraceptive has appeared on the horizon, bringing the prospect of an alternative form of male birth control one step closer.
Online Ads in Offline Locations
Ruben BaartEver stood in front of a mountain and wondered which other mountains you might like after seeing this one? No? Well, it's what we do everyday. London-based artist duo Scott Kelly …
Call for Videos: Intimate Technology
NextNature.netNext Nature Network is curating the One Minutes series for September 2017.
Precious Plastic One Year After
NextNature.netHelp Dave Hakkens build the third version of his Precious Plastic recycling machines!
Print Your House in a Day!
Julie ReindlA Russian construction firm prints houses in 24 hours on site with their mobile 3D printer.
Robot Librarians Instruct Young Generations
Ruben BaartThe Dutch province Gelderland-South uses two educational robots to increase kids' knowledge on such a technology.
Dubai Employs First Robotic Police Officer
Julie ReindlThe first robotic officer will soon report for duty in Dubai.
Rothko in Salts
Alec SchellinxThe multiplication of bacteria "paints" this lake with peculiar colours. Tints vary along magenta, green and yellow, giving it Rothko-like appearance.
Sexy Cyborg Sports Her Prosthetic Limb
Koert van MensvoortThe Brazilian model Paola Antonini uses her Instagram to show off her prosthetic limb.
Skyscraper Hanging from the Sky
Elle Zhan WeiWhat if we rethink the system and instead of building from earth to sky, we do it the other way around?
Slaughterbots Video Depicts Killer Bots Nightmare
Koert van MensvoortThis seven-minute video, titled 'Slaughterbots', shows a future in which palm-sized autonomous drones commit untraceable massacres.
Smell of Data Documentary on Nextnature.net
Ruben BaartThe Smell of Data documentary will make its online debut on nextnature.net.
Speech Development Lost in Screens
Elle Zhan WeiA study shows that screen time for kids between six months and two years triggers expressive speech delay.
The Story of Money: Gold
NextNature.netThe story of money, an accessible roadmap from prehistory to digital age, from cows to credit, from gold mining to bitcoin mining. This episode: gold.
Tattooing Fruits and Veggies with Lasers
Ruben BaartEco-friendly lasers might soon replace stick-on labels on fruits and veggies.
The Age of Rust
Koert van MensvoortMeet the incredible new species "Petramosaurus Cavator" and discover its impact on our planet.
Toilet Paper for Your Smartphone
Ruben BaartToilet paper for smartphones now on offer at Japanese airport.
Turn Your Smartphone into a Microscope
Ruben BaartDiscover the cellular world with stick-on camera lenses for your smartphone.
Twittering Trees Talk Climate Change
Camille CharluetHow do trees feel? A team of scientists have developed a network of twittering trees to monitor their feelings and raise awareness over climate change.
A Virtual Counselor for Mental Health
Siebren de VosA Facebook chatbot that offers interactive cognitive behavioral therapy. It’s called Woebot and it's your personal virtual counselor.
Virtual Networking, the Future Social Media
Megan Ray NicholsVirtual reality is already becoming a part of the conversation surrounding social media. Will it become the next popular social network?
Visit the Modernist Dream
NextNature.netDiscover the Next Nature Habitat VR and explore four future environments we might live in someday.
Plastic-Eating Worm Can Help Ease Pollution
Elle Zhan WeiA recently discovered plastic eating worm could be used to safely digest our massive plastic waste.
The World's First Floating City
Elle Zhan WeiIn effort of protecting and prospering their country, the Polynesian government has signed an agreement to realize the world’s first floating city.
World’s First Lab-Grown Chicken Is Here
Elle Zhan WeiMemphis Meats reveals world’s first lab-grown chicken.
How to Train Your Robot
Alejandro AlvarezHumans and robots can work together to maximize the potential of both and boost productivity to new levels.
How self-driving cars will change our sex lives
bryan clarkIt’s clear that driverless cars will revolutionize the way we get from Point A to Point B. Perhaps less obvious is how it’ll change our sex lives. According to a new study by the …
Here's all you need to know about the future of the ECO Coin (and how it came about)
NextNature.netToday is Earth Day! This means that we think about the relationship between man, nature and technology, as technology is becoming a nature of its own. Acknowledged in 192 …
Elzelinde van Doleweerd wins the ECO Coin Award 2018
The ECO Coin Award honours outstanding ecological heroes. In 2015, we handed out our first ECO Coin award to Yoyo Yogasamana for his digitalization of sustainable knowledge to …
Flock of Drones fly over Amsterdam
NextNature.netTonight a flock of drones can be seen in the skies of Amsterdam.
![Visual of #French [Green] DreamTowers](https://nextnature.net/media/pages/magazine/story/2018/french-dream-towers/d09be6a9fe-1602632756/han-1xtu-868x486.jpg)
#French [Green] DreamTowers
Alec SchellinxFrenchDreamTowers is an eco-friendly high-rise complex imagined by Paris-based architect studio XTU , for the city of Hangzhou in Southern China. Currently under study, the …
'Halfseen' means reading (the beginning of) a message without opening it
TeyoshThe appearance of “seen” has created a new phenomenon: opening messages partially, having a peek at the beginning of the message and assuming the rest so that the other person …
HUBOT: Meet the Walker Inspector
NextNature.netWhile many people consider a rollator as a sign of decay, you as a rollator inspector are just part of the headway! The walker inspector measures air quality, particulate matter …
Interview Mark Wigley: "We are living in an ecology of antenna"
Ruben BaartWith the invention of the radio antenna in the late 19th century, we became a different species: Introducing the human insect. A species, able to communicate across oceans using …
Interview: Jeremy Bailenson on his latest book "Experience on Demand"
Katherine Oktober MatthewsVirtual reality has come a long way. Like most technological leaps, it’s had a huge push from the entertainment industry, but current applications span a wide range of social and …
Proposing with a Phone Case
Charlotte KuijpersNot only does this phone case conceal your engagement ring in preparation for the big moment, but it’ll then take a video of your partner as you go down on one knee.
Making Seawater into Clean Fuel
Jack CaulfieldScientists have been hard at work searching for renewable energy sources. Now, a new breakthrough: the ability to produce hydrogen fuel from seawater.
Skiing on Mars? It's possible!
Kelly van GemertFor those experiencing symptoms of motion sickness in VR , it’s now possible to step inside a real-life simulation of what it could be like to ski on mars. Last week, desert dust …
Smart Ring Turns Thumb Gestures into Words and Numbers
Belen MunozFrom the Georgia Institute of Technology arrives FingerSound, a smart ring that recognizes thumb gestures and converts them into words and numbers.
How animal filters unmask the estranged relation to our wild self
Meike SchipperWould you like a dog snout, cat eyes or fluffy bunny ears? The choice is yours. Virtual selfie filters have become a widespread phenomenon on social media platforms such as …
'Thrillification' is thrill about getting notifications
TeyoshChecking for new notifications has become a habit that is hard to resist. For some users of social networks it is a kind of an impulse. When receiving and opening notifications, …
This tiny tooth sensor tracks what you eat, and it could help you be healthier
Vanessa Bates RamirezThe South Beach diet. The Atkins diet. Eating paleo. Cutting out gluten. Going vegan. The list of fad diets and health crazes goes on, yet health statistics in the US and around …
China's state news agency has unveiled a virtual newsreader
bryan clarkDon’t adjust your TV set, that’s just a new computer-generated news anchor working out the bugs. Xinhua, a Chinese state-run media company, and Sogou, a Beijing-based search …
Next Nature is hiring an army of bots
Next Nature DevAs we showed with HUBOT , we can use new technologies and robotics to make our work more enjoyable, interesting and humane. Aside from our speculative jobs, a lot of robotic …
Clickvalue is the subjective value of someone's online social media behavior
TeyoshAlthough all likes, shares, and retweets come from the same act of clicking, not all of them carry the same value. If you are in love, the most valuable like will be the one from …
FRAP: Fear of a Recently Added Person
TeyoshDo you know that feeling when you add someone on your social media and you cannot help to think that, now that this person sees your profile, your posting will never be the same? …
Future Food: here's what we'll be eating in 2050
Next Nature DevWhat will you be having for breakfast, lunch or dinner in 2050? Where will this food be sourced? And how will it be prepared? Edible insects? A hamburger made from cultured meat? …
How technology bridges the generational communication gap
Freya HutchingsEmoji, Skype, Selfies - can these communication technologies close the generation gap? In part, yes! Young people are teaching senior citizens how to use technology, and it’s …
Iceland is mourning a dead glacier
Rupert ReadDeath certificates and commemorative plaques aren’t something you’d normally associate with a glacier. But that is exactly how Iceland recently mourned the loss of 700-year-old …
(Un)postable: the (un)suitable qualities of social media posts
TeyoshWhen perceiving the world around us as a potential Instagram post, some thoughts, stories and situations can easily be packed into a tweet or a photo, while others are harder to …
AI Song Contest: the show must go on!
Ruben BaartThe spread of the coronavirus has led to the cancellation or postponement of many events around the globe. Luckily there are still events we can look forward to, such as the AI …
Fake for real: Octopus lips
Freya HutchingsA recent lip filler trend blew up on social media. 'Devil lips' , or Octopus lips, have attracted divided opinion online. When the body modification hit Instagram, some spectators …
With this technology we can shake hands during the pandemic
Claire Ouwejan“Please refrain from hand shaking" is a common sign we now see as a result of public health organizations advising people to avoid shaking hands as a greeting. As people still …
Cyborg artist Moon Ribas feels earthquakes
Freya HutchingsImagine waking in the night, and feeling the vibrations of an earthquake on the other side of the world pulsing through your body. This is a reality for Catalan-born artist Moon …
Netflix is the new symbol of quarantine
Claire OuwejanSince the 16th of March 2020, the government of the Netherlands applied new measures to stop the spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19). Schools, cafes, restaurants and sport …
Synthetic skin is bringing the sense of touch to VR
Britta de VriesCurrent social distancing measures are all about keeping a physical distance from each other in order to flatten the curve. But this does not mean we have to keep a distance from …
Team Human is a manifesto for humankind
Ruben Baart' Team Human ' is a manifesto—a fiery distillation of media theorist Douglas Rushkoff’s most urgent thoughts on civilization and human nature. In one hundred lean and incisive …
This app allows you to talk to quarantined people around the world
Ruben BaartLoneliness is one of the silent serial killers during the pandemic. Therefore Next Nature provides you the tip to pick up your phone. Artists Danielle Baskin and Max Hawkin …
14 Golden Rules of working with a robot
Next Nature DevThe 14 Golden Rules of HUBOT are rules of conduct which must be followed and which everyone needs to hold each other to account. Themes like respect, teamwork, creativity, and …
Seeing in 3D
Leanne VoshellIf you are a regular reader of content from Next Nature, then you know that 3D printing can be used in all sorts of technological developments, such as organ printing , food waste …
This book explains why cooking food was essential to human evolution
Ruben BaartA must-read to the Next Nature fan: Catching Fire: How Cooking Made Us Human (2009). Written by British primatologist Richard Wrangham, the author shares his hypothesis that …
This electronic skin enhances our virtual tactile perception
Kelly van GemertFrom mouse, to stylus, to finger: our virtual tactile perception has changed a lot over the years, just like our overall virtual experience. With new developments our virtual …
Lab or nature: scientists are debating the origins of COVID-19
Ruben BaartWe need to talk about COVID-19. Again (or, still). One of the main questions about SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, has for a while been about its origins. Most viruses …
Next Generation: Exploring non-binary futures with Lena Kuzmich
Ruben BaartThis story is part of Next Generation , a series in which we give young makers a platform to showcase their work. Your work here? Get in touch and plot your …
This documentary tells the story of Biosphere 2
Ruben BaartCan we create a new biosphere on another planet? Documentary "Spaceship Earth" shows how - in the Arizona desert.
Roman Krznaric contemplates on becoming a good ancestor
Ruben BaartRoman Krznaric's ultimate guide to radically change our perception of time and become good grand-grandparents
The Next Nature book is now available in Chinese
Next Nature DevIn Next Nature: Why Technology Is Our Natural Future , Koert van Mensvoort takes us on an epic exploration through the wonderful world of culturally emerged nature. It offers a …
This machine makes human clouds
Kelly van GemertHumans have been changing the composition of the atmosphere for years, resulting in concerns such as air pollution and extreme climate events. According to Filips Stanislavskis , …
Driving solar with Lightyear: the world's first solar car
Ruben BaartImagine driving along in your car, powered by the same solar energy that nourishes the landscapes around it. Lightyear 0 is the world's first solar powered car, charging itself …
The Limits and Beyond: A report about the future
Marit BeerseIn 1972, the Club of Rome published The Limits to Growth, a report about the future of the world. They described the limits of the world’s resources and what it is capable of …
Mapping the world's DNA
Marit BeerseThe Earth BioGenome Project is aiming to create a database of genomes of all organic life on earth within 10 years.
Our VR timemachine comes to Amsterdam
Next Nature DevSo you missed your flight to the Big Future? Or do you have withdrawal symptoms from your previous trip? Not to worry, we have news for you. Schedule a new flight from 12 March—1 …
The Cyborg Foundation is fighting for cyborg rights
Marit BeerseCyborgs - part human, part machine - are becoming more present in society, but their rights are not yet established.
Bluehouses are the new greenhouses
Kelly van GemertFishfarming , or aquaculture has been the fastest growing food-sector for decades. This is nothing to be surprised about: fishing as a practice has been in existence since the …
A shoebox of fractal flowers
Koert van MensvoortIt's not every day that someone walks into your office with a shoebox, and even more rare when that shoebox contains a potential future.
NASA's 'Human Computers' helped land the first human on the moon
Kelly van GemertNowadays mechanical intelligence is often chosen over that of our own human capabilities. But there was a time where our computers were still not always a match against our own …
Hedgehog's robotic fungi farms
Selin KirBeyond being little umami bombs, mushrooms are: protein-packed and nutritious. But here's the pitfall: their cultivation can be pricy. Especially gourmet mushrooms such as …
Gigantic lab-grown mammoth meatball feeds an entire family
Saskia WesselingResearchers used genetic information from an extinct mammoth to create a lab-grown meatball.
Meat the future: the Netherlands might soon become a global hub for in vitro meat
Lucas ZarzosoRemember when we created a little petition back in 2018 in the hope to legalise the tasting of in vitro meat? About 4000 of you agreed with us and signed it. If you were one of …
This coffee is prepared without coffee beans
NextNature.netThe Netherlands is a real coffee country. With the amount of coffee Dutchies drink per year, they have been in the top 10 of most coffee drinkers for years. Drinking so much …
Like fish that don't know they are wet, we are dwelling in a waterworks of money
Koert van MensvoortThe ancient Egyptians and Greeks saw water as the source of life, the "origin of everything". Today that role is reserved for money.
Why NASA sends giant disco balls into space
Kelly van GemertIn the 1970s, NASA and the ASI launched a giant disco ball into space. Its purpose? Teaching the humans of today and the civilizations of tomorrow about Earth.
Cleaning water with magnets
Kelly van GemertWhat if we could clean our water with magnets? Wageningen University & Research, introduces the Magnetic Adsorption-Desorption (MAD) project.