Townew bin seals and changes garbage bags at the push of a button
Canadian company Knectek Labs has automated an often messy and unhygienic part of household waste collection with the Townew bin, which seals and changes its own bags. More
Apple, Google and Amazon unite to make all smart home products talk to each other
Apple, Google, Amazon and the Zigbee Alliance have joined forces to develop a smart-home standard that will mean new devices are likely to be compatible with any of their hubs and voice assistants. More
Lorenzo Spreafico's 3D-printed prosthetic arm provides tactile feedback for low cost
Design student Lorenzo Spreafico has invented a prosthetic arm that could bring tactile feedback to people who can't currently afford it. More
Kiki & Joost creates patterned solar panels for MyEnergySkin
Design duo Kiki & Joost has created a collection of solar panels for MyEnergySkin, a Dutch company that wants to make products attractive enough to cover building facades. More
Adidas and Fabio Novembre reinvent the classic varsity jacket
Adidas has partnered with designer Fabio Novembre to create patches for its VRCT jacket — a customisable and adaptive take on the American college classic. More
Dosist opens second LA cannabis store that elevates "wellness in every detail"
Dose-controlled cannabis brand Dosist has opened its second shop in Los Angeles, with an interior designed to reinforce its products' associations with wellness and consistency. More
Ford announces all-electric Mustang Mach-E
Ford's latest electric vehicle is the first addition in 55 years to its lineup of Mustangs – the classic American cars known for their powerful engines. More
Heliogen's 1000C solar-heating technology could be key to low-emission cement
American company Heliogen has managed to concentrate solar energy to temperatures of more than 1000 degrees Celsius – hot enough to provide a fossil-fuel-free way to make concrete. More
Form Us With Love creates modular benches to give people privacy in public spaces
Swedish studio Form Us With Love has designed a modular bench seating system for +Halle, which aims to create privacy in public without using walls or dividers. More
BIG's Friday Smart Lock is its smallest ever product
Danish architecture firm BIG has branched into smart home products with the Friday lock, which combines a minimal form and enhanced security features. More
Rain-harvesting panels would let people in drought-stricken cities catch their own water
Designer Shaakira Jassat has created a rain-catcher that is slim enough to fit on the outside of buildings in dense urban environments. More
Two robotic fabrication methods entwine to make Tongji University bridge
Thin carbon fibres wind over a 3D-printed metal frame to form this bridge, made by university students in Shanghai using two emerging robotic fabrication techniques. More
Applications now open to Make Your Own Masters course
Stacie Woolsey has turned her experience of unaffordable further design education two years ago into her Make Your Own Masters course, which will take on 10 students in 2020. More
Plastic bubbles incorporated into high-rise to reduce concrete usage by 35 per cent
A German construction project has saved an estimated 136 tonnes of carbon dioxide from entering the atmosphere by incorporating air pockets made of recycled plastic within its concrete slabs. More
Soft neural implant allows scientists to manipulate brain cells via smartphone
Brain disease research could be sped up using a smartphone-controlled "plug-and-play" neural implant invented by scientists from the USA and South Korea. More
Dosist sets out to redefine edible cannabis products with Dose Dial
Los Angeles-based brand Dosist has designed a "sleek and discreet" cannabis dispenser called Dose Dial, which issues dose-controlled tablets. More
UK student's fish-waste bioplastic MarinaTex wins 2019 James Dyson Award top prize
An easily biodegradable material that could be "part of a global answer" to single-use plastic pollution has won its inventor, British designer Lucy Hughes, the international James Dyson Award. More
Seek app builds biodiversity database as users identify plant and animal species
Kids can identify plants, flowers and wildlife in their area while adding to a global biodiversity database that helps monitor the planet's health, using the augmented-reality app Seek by iNaturalist and the WWF. More
Spira countertop bioreactor allows users to grow their own algae for food
Individuals could cut their greenhouse-gas emissions by replacing meals with algae grown at home using the countertop Spira device by recent design graduate Rob Russell. More
Recycled tyres form pavement that self-repairs when it rains
Rain would repair rather than damage roads if they were made of the tyre-based pavement invented by Israel Antonio Briseño Carmona, a Mexican student and winner of the nation's James Dyson Award. More