Twelve fabric-covered gadgets that show how technology can be more cosy
Fabric-coated tech products have slowly but surely padded into the market in 2018, suggesting a future of gentle, unobtrusive devices. Here's a look at some of the best examples. More
Urban wind turbine wins 2018 James Dyson Awards grand prize
The "ingenious" O-Wind Turbine designed by UK students Nicolas Orellana and Yaseen Noorani is the winner of the international James Dyson Awards. More
Photovoltaic concrete facade uses sunlight to generate energy
Concrete facades could soon capture solar energy to power buildings, using a prototype photovoltaic cladding developed by materials company LafargeHolcim and electronics manufacturer Heliatek. More
Jony Ive and Marc Newson design all-diamond ring
Apple design head Jonathan Ive and renowned designer Marc Newson are creating a ring entirely from a single diamond for sale at a charity auction. More
Harley-Davidson debuts motorcycle "that just happens to be electric"
Harley-Davidson has launched its first electric motorcycle, the LiveWire, which is set to go on sale in 2019. More
Helm Personal Server lets users take control of their data security
Gadi Amit's studio New Deal Design has collaborated with tech start-up Helm to create a home server to save people from "being caught up in the next massive online breach". More
Bio-bricks made from human urine could be environmentally friendly future of architecture
University of Cape Town researcher Suzanne Lambert has created a zero-waste building material made with human urine, which hardens at room temperature, as an alternative to environmentally taxing kiln-fired bricks. More
WEDEW turns air into drinking water by creating artificial clouds in shipping container
A team led by US architect David Hertz has developed an energy-efficient technology for harvesting fresh drinking water from the air, which is contained within a shipping container for easy transport. More
Brixels are modular blocks that can be combined to create moving walls
New York design studio Breakfast has combined elements of the brick with the pixel to make Brixels, a building block for moving architectural art. More
MIT surveys two million people to set out ethical framework for driverless cars
Self-driving cars should swerve to protect young people over the elderly and humans over animals, according to the Moral Machine survey of more than two million people, conducted by researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. More
Terra alarm alerts people before an earthquake hits
Students from Sweden's Umeå Institute of Design have created a minimal, low-cost earthquake alarm that is also a source of calm during non-destructive incidents. More
Superstar is a graphene wheelchair that promises strength and lightness
Swiss company Küschall has made a wheelchair it claims is the world's lightest, using wonder material graphene. More
Five geoengineering solutions proposed to fight climate change
If humans can't reduce greenhouse-gas emissions, can we design our way out of climate-change catastrophe? Last week's UN report shone a light on geoengineering, a discipline that proposes large-scale interventions to counteract global warming. So what ideas are geoengineers proposing? More
BCXSY and Atelier Robotiq's Out of Order lamp created by "absent-minded" robot
Dutch design studios BCXSY and Atelier Robotiq have collaborated to create a lamp with a disorderly pattern that is meant to suggest that it was made by a robot with a mind of its own. More
Night Loo is a safe portable toilet for women in refugee camps
American designer Anna Meddaugh has created a personal urinal that women in refugee camps can use in shelters at night to avoid the threat of sexual violence outside. More
Facett hearing aid takes inspiration from precious gemstones
The mineralogy collection at the Melbourne Museum inspired Australian designer Leah Heiss' Facett hearing aid, which aims to shift talk "from disability to desirability". More
Pin-free Mi Plug project reimagines power outlets for the 21st century
Northumbria University design graduate Will de Brett has redesigned the everyday electrical plug, making it pin-less and stackable to accommodate numerous devices. More
Air-filtering bus takes to the streets in the UK
UK transport operator Go-Ahead has launched a bus with a rooftop filter that removes air pollution as it travels. More
Anti-flood greenery-boosting Climate Tile installed in Copenhagen street
Danish architecture studio Tredje Natur has installed a street paving system in Copenhagen that aims to reduce street flooding and create green spaces. More
Bermuda is a pop-up seawater purifier that uses light to remove salt
Mexican designer Marco Antonio Barba Sánchez has won a James Dyson Award for inventing a low-cost seawater purifier, for castaways and people without access to drinking water. More