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 …
Search results for cyborg insect
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.
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 …
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 …
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 …
Cyborg Dragonfly for Special Service
Ruben BaartA Biomedical solutions company is developing a system for insects to wear, allowing engineers to steer it remotely.
Sexy Cyborg Sports Her Prosthetic Limb
Koert van MensvoortThe Brazilian model Paola Antonini uses her Instagram to show off her prosthetic limb.
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 …
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?
Insect Ramen: the New Food Trend
Julie ReindlTokyo restaurant offers sustainable new dish - ramen noodles topped with crunchy insects and people love it
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
"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 …
The World's First Cyborg Olympics
Margherita OlivoThe first cyborg Olympics will take place in Zurich in October.
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.
GM Ants Show How Insect Societies Work
Julie ReindlScientists gene modify ants in order to find out more about their social behavior.
Ecological Insecticide
Koert van MensvoortEcological insecticide allows you to extinguish-nature in a nature-friendly way. It nicely illustrates the "I love nature, but not in my backyard" attitude, so popular nowadays. …
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 …
The Insect with Natural Mechanical Gears
Alessia AndreottiThe first – and only – mechanical gears found in nature.
Harvard Creates Half-Man Cyborg Flesh
Yunus Emre DuyarBioengineers at Harvard University have created the first cyborg tissue.
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 …
We are already Cyborgs
Koert van MensvoortBuckle up for another cinematic espresso shot from our favorite performance philosopher Jason Silva.
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 …
The First Recorded Attack on a Cyborg
Stefan FinckenLooking back on the first recorded attack on a human cyborg.
Bioplastic Made of Pressed Insect Shells
NextNature.netAagje Hoekstra has developed a bioplastic made of of dead beetles called Coleoptera.
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 …
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 …
(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 …
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 …
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 …
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.
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 …
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.
Cutlery Set to Eat Bugs
Ruben BaartDesigner Wataru Kobayashi created a picnic cutlery set to promote eating insects.
What food design can do
Kelly van GemertFood design gives us a taste of innovation. It visualizes, speculates, challenges and problem-solves.
Next Senses
Ruben BaartNext Senses explores the unchartered territory of how we could experience the world with technology
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.
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 …
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.
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 …
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 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.
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 …
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.
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.
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 -- …
Turning Cockroaches into Rescue Robots
Yunus Emre DuyarCyborg cockroaches might be used for search-and-rescue operations in the future.
Interview: Mike Thompson and Susana Cámara Leret, Designers Exploring Alternative Ways of Thinking & Doing
Ingmar NieuweboerInterview with Mike Thompson and Susana Cámara Leret.
Bugs Paintings: Mixing Art and Science
Alessia AndreottiPainter Stephen R. Kutcher uses different insects to create unique paintings.
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) …
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 …
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. …
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, …
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.
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, …
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 …
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.
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 …
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 …
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, …
Want Ketchup with those Flies?
Allison GuyIndustrial-scale in vitro meat may be a long way off, but for meat-lovers looking for a cheap, eco-friendly source of protein, there's no need to wait. We just have to swear off …
Mobile Phone Avant La Lettre
Koert van MensvoortOur peculiar image of the week is exemplary of our human longing for technology that intimately integrates with our body & senses. We are all cyborgs .
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, …
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.
GM Mosquitoes: No Olfaction, No Sting
Alessia AndreottiEngineering mosquitoes to ignore the scent of human flesh.
Street Lights Permanently Change the Ecology of Local Bugs
Allison GuyStreetlights affect local ecologies for a longer duration, and at a higher level in the food web, than previously thought.
Ikea's Lab-Grown 3D Printed Meatballs
Margherita OlivoIkea’s research laboratory was inspired by our Magic Meatballs to re-design their famous meatballs.
Hearing Colors
Hessel HoogerhuisThanks to the antenna implanted in his skull, Neil Harbisson can hear images and paint sounds.
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?
What if Mosquitoes Were Only a Zoo Species?
Mathilde NakkenGenetic engineers are developing techniques to kill several types of mosquitoes.
GM Self-Destroying Moths
Julie ReindlOpen-air tests of self-destructing moths mark a new frontier for GMOs.
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 …
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, …
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 …
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 …
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. …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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: …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
Food Familiarization #2: Celebrity Endorsement
Allison GuyHow "celebrity endorsements" transformed the potato from the devil's tuber into a global staple.
Moving From Password to Biometric Data
Alessia AndreottiUnlock our devices with our fingerprint, this technology for security represents a change in our digital life.
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?
Totem Animals for the Anthropocene
Ted HeistmanInvasive species become the animal symbols for a man-made world.
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.
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.
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.
Using Shrimp Shell to Produce Bioplastics
Yunus Emre DuyarResearchers Fernandez and Ingber imitated chitin in order to produce durable, biodegradable plastics.
Bees to the Rescue of Their Queen
Margherita OlivoThousands of bees chased a Welsh woman's car for two days looking for their queen.
Plastic Pod Beetles
Alejandro AlvarezArtist Alex Aebi' s collection of insects made of recycled plastic pods show us an alternative way in which this waste can inhabit our natural world.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 …
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 …
Future Food: here's what we'll be eating in 2050
Next NatureWhat 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? …
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, …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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, …
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 …
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.
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 …
DNA as Information Storage
Dr NaturalScientists have written a message into the DNA of a living organism , a breakthrough they believe could lead to a new era of organic computers capable of healing themselves if …
Fire fighting beetle - OLE
Arnoud van den HeuvelJust like centipedes OLE can roll up into a ball when danger threatens and retract its six legs. Its heat-resistant shell is made of a ceramic-fibre compound which can withstand …
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, …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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, …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
Robo-fly
Arnoud van den HeuvelWaiter, there's a robot in my soup! Weighing only 60 milligrams, with a wingspan of three centimeters, robo-fly's tiny movements are modeled on those of a real fly. While much …
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 – …
Electric Topiary
Allison GuyHas this tree gone Pac-Man on the power lines? In truth, the slice through the side of the tree is the work of 'utility pruning.' Topiary was once determined on entirely aesthetic …
In Ethiopia, the Bible Grows a Forest
Allison GuyWhat are those two green dots in the dusty landscape? Ethiopian Orthodox Christians believe in preserving forests around their churches as living symbols of Eden. Since 95% of …
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, …
The Amazing Technicolor Dream Ant
Allison GuyA scientist in Mysore, India has figured out how to color-code his backyard ants. Mohamed Babu's wife noticed that the ants' abdomens turned white after drinking milk, so it was …
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 …
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 …
Who Needs Real Humans? Not H&M
Allison GuyClothing giant H&M no longer uses real humans in its online catalog. The company has admitted that it pastes real models' heads on computer-generated bodies. At least there's …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
Bionic man
Marco van BeersAn showcase of what we are currently capable of installing in human beings.
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?
Carnivorous Plants Turn Vegetarian
Robin van KampenWill extended pollution cause carnivorous plants to turn to a fully vegetarian diet?
Cockroach Farms Do Big Business for Food and Pharmaceuticals
Allison GuyBig bugs make big bucks for Chinese farmers turning to roach ranching.
Food Familiarization #1: Semantic Tricks
Allison GuyWhen does a rose not smell as sweet? When it's a Patagonian toothfish.
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.
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 …
Yes, Naturally
Ine GeversThe introductory essay from the Yes, Naturally book - available in our store!
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 …
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.
Transportations Of The Future
Francesca BarchiesiA selection of nine enthralling and striking concepts of future way of transportation.
Anthropo-scene #9: Sense, Sensors, Sensitivity
ChristianTechnology helps us understand the unfolding of the Anthropocene.
Bionic Ants That Work Together
Louise HuyghebaertThese robotic ants by Festo are learning to work together, like real ants do.
Cybernetic Bugs
Alessia AndreottiBeetles, dragonflies, butterflies and bugs made from recycled deconstructed computers, smartphones and consoles.
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.
Ocumetrics Bionic Lenses can Triple Your Eyesight Capability
Daniel FragaDr. Garth Webb, an optometrist from British Columbia, has invented the Ocumetics Bionic Lens : lenses that after being implanted through an eight minute surgery, improve eyesight …
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!
The Hotel Run by Robots
Alessia AndreottiA futuristic Japanese hotel will be run by robots, designed to be extremely human-like.
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.
The Death of the Traffic Light
Daniel FragaMIT researchers have developed a system of traffic control that will make traffic lights obsolete.
Who Deserves to Earn an ECO Coin?
This year we are going to hand over a second Eco Coin! Do you know someone who would really deserve an Eco-Coin? Please email 'who' and 'why' to ecocoin@nextnature.net.
I Want Wings!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Nicholas CarrRead Nicholas Carr's essay on the transhumanist dream of having wings.
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.
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.
Fellow Day: Next Senses
Ingmar NieuweboerOn June 17th a NNN Fellow Day was organized to explore the future project: Next Senses.
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.
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.
Greetings from the Ciptagelar Village
NextNature.netA series of photographs from the Ciptagelar village in West Java, Indonesia.
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.
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.
Letter to Humanity
Koert van MensvoortNNN director Koert van Mensvoort writes a letter to humanity.
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?
A Truly Exotic Fruit: the Space Mango
Julie ReindlScientists sent mango embryos to space lab in order to let them develop new genetic traits.
Turn Your Smartphone into a Microscope
Ruben BaartDiscover the cellular world with stick-on camera lenses for your smartphone.
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 …
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 …
Sandra Rey wins ECO Coin Award
NextNature.netThis year we are proud to announce that, with her ambitious work within the field of bioluminescence for Glowee, Sandra Rey is the ECO Coin Award 2017 winner.
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
Who should win the ECO Coin Award 2019?
Next NatureEach 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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
‘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, …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
Exploring the society of trees
Tracy MetzIn conversation with Canadian researcher Suzanne Simard, inventor of the Wood Wide Web.
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 …
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 …
Discovering AI generated species
Marit BeerseSofia Crespo and Feileacan McCormick have made an AI-generated endangered species installation on Times Square.
Publish your graduation project
Next Nature*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 …
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.
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?
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.
Next Nature's must reads
Ruben BaartTen books that continue to inspire the next nature philosophy—gathered for you to read this summer.
Seeking Symbiosis
Ruben BaartVisual artist Heleen Blanken explores the complex relationship between people, nature and technology.