Robotics has now made its way into the most unlikely place of all: kebab shops. North London’s Super Kebab takeaway has replaced manual kebab slicing with the Atalay doner robot, which uses sensors to slice off perfect cuts of lamb.

  Underwear designed to protect male fertility against the EM radiation emitted by WiFi devices has been introduced by British scientist Joseph Perkins.

  The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved the first 3D printed drug. SPRITAM levetiracetam, manufactured by Aprecia Pharmaceuticals for the treatment of epileptic seizures, is printed using the company’s ZipDose Technology platform.

  At the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York, a humanoid robot has passed the wise man puzzle of self-awareness.

  According to a recent survey, the average person loses 5.6 umbrellas in their lifetime. The Kisha umbrella, claimed to be the world’s first smart umbrella, can never be lost.

Sunglasses with electrochromic lenses that allow users to manually switch between clear and tinted modes have been introduced by Skugga Eyewear. The user can manually adjust the Skugga sunglasses with the companion app, which allows them to monitor the level of their UV exposure. Users can also switch between auto and two user-defined tint presets by flipping the right arm of the glasses. 

As part of a university pilot scheme, a former British soldier who was paralysed in Afghanistan is learning how to walk again with the help of an exoskeleton. James Johnson, who served with the Grenadier Guards, is the first paraplegic person to be part of the Salford University pilot scheme to teach people how to walk using robotics.

UK cities and businesses are being encouraged to apply for a £10m fund in a competition that will revolutionise the way the IoT benefits citizens by offering environmental improvements, economic opportunities and more efficient and effective delivery of services such as transport, healthcare and energy.

We have all seen virtual reality in films and wanted it, it is the ultimate gaming experience. HTC have jumped on the bandwagon and partnered with Valve, the creators of Portal, Half-Life, Left 4 Dead and the Steam platform, to create the Vive headset. The headset pulls virtual words off your computer screen and right in to your eyes, offering users lifelike experiences and transporting them right into the game.

A smart bra designed to stop women emotionally eating has been developed by Microsoft, in collaboration with researchers from the University of Rochester and the University of Southampton. The undergarment, which is the result of a study titled Food and Mood: Just-in-Time Support for Emotional Eating, features sensors in its cup pockets and side panels that detect changes in heart rate, skin temperature and stress levels. This data is then transm...

A 15 year-old boy claims to be the world’s youngest ‘cyborg’ after implanting a microchip into his hand. Byron Wake, of Martock, Somerset, used a hypodermic needle to implant the device. The transponder, which is the size of a grain of rice, works by using NFC which emits a low power radio-frequency signature that triggers pre-programmed events. Since implanting the microchip, Wake has used it to unlock his phone and control its...

Following Apple’s lead, MasterCard is introducing biometrics at POS for online transactions. Currently the company uses SecureCode to verify identity, which requires the cardholder to enter a password in a pop-up window. However, people are creating more and more online accounts, making it harder to remember passwords. According to a survey conducted by Certify, the average person is thought to have to remember at least 19 passwords, and on...

Corning Incorporated announced its latest optical cabling innovation for data centres and Storage Area Networks (SAN), EDGE8solutions. EDGE8 is the industry’s first modular, tip-to-tip optical cabling system to feature an eight-fibre (Base-8) cabling design that maximises per rack unit density for better network scalability and improved link performance.

Web-based tools developed as part of a Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) competition will enable M&E consultants to improve the efficiency and lower the cost of onsite energy schemes. The tools developed by Guru Systems analyse performance data and apply powerful machine learning algorithms to identify the root causes of inefficiency and propose costed measures to improve heat networks.

Wearable products could bring medical monitoring to the masses but, as Steve Rogerson found out, a clash between consumer and healthcare cultures is looming.

  Alcohol-detection technologies designed to prevent vehicles from being driven when a driver’s BAC (Blood Alcohol Concentration) exceeds the legal limit are being developed by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). 

The practice of urban mining has seen an increased growth in recent years. This is due to the precious metals contained within mobile phones, which include gold, copper, silver and platinum. When recycled, these metals are melted down and sold as nuggets to jewellers, investors and sometimes back to the manufacturers. 

ESA astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti has been cataloguing her home of six months, the International Space Station, to create 360° panoramic images users can rotate and explore. Each section of the Space Station required around 14 fisheye photos stitched together. This has created a virtual tour, allowing the public to view the space laboratory.

With massive projected growth attributed to the Internet of Things, how are semiconductor vendors keeping up with demands for capacity and performance from internet and data centre infrastructure? Sally Ward-Foxton finds out.

The productronica innovation award is the first independent award in the electronics production industry and will be bestowed by productronica. To have a chance to win the first productronica innovation award, entries must satisfy very clear criteria. They must be technologically innovative, feature a totally new design or be easy to integrate into systems.