How to design your future family
Ruben BaartImagine a place called Reprodutopia. How would such a place look like?
Search results for Future Fossils
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?
Transportations Of The Future
Francesca BarchiesiA selection of nine enthralling and striking concepts of future way of transportation.
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.
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? …
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.
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 …
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 …
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 …
The Prefuture of Synthetic Biology
Alexandra Daisy GinsbergAlexandra Daisy Ginsberg discusses the promises and realities of synthetic biology.
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.
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 …
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 …
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. …
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 …
Signs From The Near Future
Lotte BiesheuvelWill these futuristic signs become part of our near future?
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.
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 …
Retro Future: Magic Highway USA
Koert van MensvoortNothing makes a person more modest about future speculations than Retro Future. Want proof? Here is a 1958 video entitled " Magic Highway USA ". No, they didn't anticipate traffic …
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.
Fungal Futures: the Mushrooms Utopia
Federico AndreottiExhibition Fungal Futures: design with mushrooms.
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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.
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 …
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 …
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.
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.
Future Food House in Rotterdam
Koert van MensvoortBehold the first pictures of our Bistro In Vitro ice bar in the Future Food House.
Watch Koert's TED Talk on Meat the Future
NextNature.netWe need to talk about the future of meat! Watch Next Nature Network director Koert van Mensvoort's TED talk on Meat the Future.
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.
E.T. Video Games are Real Modern Fossils
Alessia AndreottiAn unsuccessful piece of video gaming history became an archeological record.
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!
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 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.
Meeting the Future at TodaysArt
Monika KozubLast week The Hague hosted a festival dedicated to contemporary experiments in music, art and digital culture.
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.
Slogan: The Future is Analog
Koert van MensvoortI first saw this statement on the Artvertising building . Let this be our slogan of the week.
Pondering the Future
Dr NaturalPeculiar image of the week. Langley researcher Elton W. Miller stands poised in the Propeller Research Tunnel, as if pondering the future of aviation in this image from mid-1927. …
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 …
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.
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.
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.
The Ephemeral Future of Internet Data
Nadine RoestenburgWhat the Internet would look like if all data were ephemeral?
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 …
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 …
In the Future, We Will Mine for Plastic
Allison GuyPeak oil, the point when petroleum extraction is at its maximum, may have already occurred sometime in the last few years . Not only affecting whether we drive a Humvee or not, …
The future of Assisted Living
Marco van BeersArjen Born , a Dutch Photographer, envisions the future of assisted living through hilarious and moving photographs. Photography often reside in the realm of the nostalgic past, …
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
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?".
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.
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. …
Emma is your colleague of the future
Freya HutchingsEmma is in poor health. She has painful varicose veins, stress-related eczema, puffy skin, a grey complexion, red eyes and a hunch-back. She is an imagined office worker of the …
Future playground
Rolf CoppensShot taken before the robot in question short-circuited and started to kill all humans in sight.
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 …
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? …
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, …
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.
Meet the Hospital of the Future
Margherita OlivoWith its 656 beds, this hospital offers unconventional and leading computerized assistance for all sorts of patients.
The Candle of the Future
Alessia AndreottiMy New Flame uses LED technology to faithfully recreate the experience of light from the ancient past
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.
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.
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 …
Are Robots the Future of Tattoos?
Ruben BaartAn industrial robot just tattooed the first person ever in San Francisco.
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 …
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 .
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.
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?
3D Holography: the Future of Medicine
Yunus Emre DuyarA new technology aims to provide doctors with a true hologram of organs.
A Modest Future for Humanity
Koert van MensvoortThree minutes in the mind of Juan Enriquez, director of Synthetic Genomics.
Human-Like Robot Makes Freaky Joke About the Future of Mankind
Daniel FragaTo thread the uncanny valley is a conscious choice for many artists and enthusiasts, as a means to evoke, through their work, powerful emotions, thoughts and everything in between.
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 …
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?
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.
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?
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.
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?
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.
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.
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, …
Ikea's Lab-Grown 3D Printed Meatballs
Margherita OlivoIkea’s research laboratory was inspired by our Magic Meatballs to re-design their famous meatballs.
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.
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.
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.
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 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 …
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 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.
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 …
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 …
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 …
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.
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.
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.
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 …
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?
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 …
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 …
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.
See Through the Skin with Your Smartphone
Wei Lun WangIn the near future he ability to see through things won’t be a dream anymore with this infrared smartphone camera.
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 …
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, …
The Global Subway Map of the Future
Ruben BaartThe Hyperloop will turn the world into a global village.
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 …
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 …
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 …
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, …
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 …
Local Deliveries: Robots or Drones?
Margherita OlivoStarship, a robot that will remodel our local deliveries system.
Turning Contact Lenses into Screens
Margherita OlivoA polymer film coating can turn contact lenses into computer screens.
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 …
Author Jenny Kleeman is meeting the people creating our future
Ruben BaartMeet Jenny Kleeman , journalist and documentary-maker. Sex Robots & Vegan Meat is her first book for anyone interested in, well, sex robots, vegan meat, out of body birth bags …
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 …
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 …
Future Lecture in Bangkok
NextNature.netIf you happen to be in Bangkok this week, do consider attending the Creative Unfold conference, featuring prominent 'What if..." thinkers.
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!
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 …
(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: 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 …
What food design can do
Kelly van GemertFood design gives us a taste of innovation. It visualizes, speculates, challenges and problem-solves.
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
Design Your Own Vegetables
Ruben BaartWith her project Future Food Formula, food designer Chloé Rutzerveld is looking for innovative methods to design vegetables.
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 …
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'.
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.
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.
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.
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 …
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 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 …
Bizarre Retro-Futuristic Visions of Meat
Jonathon MarkowskiIllustrators from the 1800s to the 1950s offer strange prediction for the future of meat.
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 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 …
Nature Loves Technology
Next Nature DevWe interviewed William Myers and Emma van der Leest, curators of Nature Loves Technology, our exhibition at Floriade 2022
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.
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 …
Gear up for our VR timemachine!
Next Nature DevTravel to big future in our VR timemachine at the Evoluon in Eindhoven
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?
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: …
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.
Interview: Alexandra Daisy Ginsberg, Designer and Synthetic Biology Expert
Alessia AndreottiAn interview with Daisy Ginsberg, artist and synthetic biologist.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 …
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?
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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.
Next Nature's must reads
Ruben BaartTen books that continue to inspire the next nature philosophy—gathered for you to read this summer.
Augmented (Hyper)Reality
Hendrik-Jan GrievinkAugmented (hyper)Reality offers a glimpse of an alternate universe, with augmented reality cranked up to the next level.
‘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, …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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.
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 …
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 …
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 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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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.
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 …
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.
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.
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.
Retro-Futuristic Smartwatch
Alessia AndreottiIn 1981 the idea of what we call smartwatch was nothing more than a funny joke.
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.
I Want Wings!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Nicholas CarrRead Nicholas Carr's essay on the transhumanist dream of having wings.
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?
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.
Letter to Humanity
Koert van MensvoortNNN director Koert van Mensvoort writes a letter to humanity.
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 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.
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.
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, …
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 …
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 …
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, …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
Seeking Symbiosis
Ruben BaartVisual artist Heleen Blanken explores the complex relationship between people, nature and technology.
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 …
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 …
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, …
Paradise Now
Hendrik-Jan GrievinkAnimation studios working in the field of architectural practice like Squint/Opera create glimpses of the future that are so beautifully convincing, you sometimes wonder if the …
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 …
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.
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 …
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.
New Plant Paradigms
Alessia AndreottiIn this approaching era, what might be biologically possible for plants?
Retro-Futuristic Drones
Alessia AndreottiIn 1925 futurists envisioned a sort of aerial civilization in the sky of New York City.
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 …
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.
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!
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?
“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.
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.
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.
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.
Solar Energy: the Hottest New Currency
Lewis JustEnergy-backed money could help transition humanity to a more sustainable world, both environmentally and economically.
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.
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.
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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, …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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, …
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 …
Five things not to miss at Floriade
Veronica FanzioHere are 5 things you cannot miss at Floriade Expo 2022
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.
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.
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?
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.
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 …
Shopping in 2015?
Natalie DixonA panacea Yoghurt? Cures athlete’s foot, acne and dandruff! Triple irradiated Spinach? Three-week shelf life! Funa sushu? Asian carp fresh from Lake Superior! Minority Report …
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 …
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.
Nature is Dead, Long live Nature
Koert van MensvoortLike we did to old nature before, we must now cultivate our technological environment.
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 …
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".
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.
Jason Silva and the Dawn of Nanotech
Alessia AndreottiBuckle up for a new series of videos from performance philosopher Jason Silva.
Kitchen of 2001 – Envisioned in 1967
Koert van MensvoortRetro futuristic vision from the sixties: "The menu is given to the automatic chef via typewriter or punched computer cards."
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 …
Paradise Reset
NextNature.netInterview with our own Koert van Mensvoort in the IKON Television Documentary 'Paradise Reset' on the future of human nature.
Support Our In Vitro Meat Cookbook
NextNature.netHelp us realize the in vitro meat cookbook and be part of the future of our meat!
Pyramid of Technology: How technology becomes nature in seven steps
Koert van MensvoortHow technology becomes nature in seven steps
Three Points in Support of In Vitro Meat
Alessia AndreottiThe top three aspects why people should support cultured meat.
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.
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?
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 …
Growing Drones From Chemicals
Ruben BaartResearchers are experimenting with a new technology that would be able to grow drones from chemical compounds.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Old Cows and New Ideas
Lewis JustWill cows still graze fields in an in vitro future? And what might we do with these animals when they naturally die?
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.
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.
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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: 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 …
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 …
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 …
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, …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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
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.
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 …
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 …
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 …
Gigantic lab-grown mammoth meatball feeds an entire family
Saskia WesselingResearchers used genetic information from an extinct mammoth to create a lab-grown meatball.
Browse the Catalog For The Post-Human
Veronica FanzioAugment your physiology. Enhance your prospects. From neuro-electronics, to robotic-prosthetics and mind-altering pharmaceuticals.
Next Senses
Ruben BaartNext Senses explores the unchartered territory of how we could experience the world with technology
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.
Building the farm of tomorrow
Kelly van GemertSeven examples of how design will help us built the farm of tomorrow.
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
Nanotechnology Crashcourse
Koert van MensvoortThis mashup video project integrates various video clips that ask: What is nanotechnology? Via Posthumanblues , via Futureblogger . See also: Small Talks , Bacteria Bots , …
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: …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
Trips to the Moon
Billy SchonenbergWhen watching a science fiction flick, it can be hard to determine what time in the future it is set, although this is a usually an integral part of the movie. However, it is …
Eating in Vitro: Magic Meatballs
Koert van MensvoortMagic Meatballs are designed to playfully familiarize children with lab-grown meat.
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 …
Can This Virtual World Save the Real One?
Alessia AndreottiA Dutch artist designs a Utopian eco-socialist online society.
Few days left to Support our Cookbook
NextNature.netBefore we can decide if we are ever willing to eat meat from the lab, we need to explore the food culture it will bring us.
Fuel Your Body With Algae Headgear
Alessia AndreottiAlgae as the future alternative fuel for the human body.
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.
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.
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.
Our Electronics, 100 Years Later
Alessia AndreottiAn artist envisions our consumer electronics in a century, moss-covered and half-decayed.
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.
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.
Why Robots Need Personalities
Alessia AndreottiSocial roboticist Heather Knight explains why we should give robots personalities.
After In Vitro Burger, Chicken is the Next
Yunus Emre DuyarSoon, we might be getting a taste of the first lab-grown chicken meat.
Car Paleontology
Alessia AndreottiCars - autonomous, self driving, uncontrollable - are bound to become the animals of the future.
Modernist Food
Hendrik-Jan GrievinkThis modernist food makes the future of 3D printed food look pretty tasty!
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.
Heart Tissue Grown with Spider Silk
Yunus Emre DuyarIt might be possible to grow a new heart in labs using spider silk.
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.
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.
Dessert Goals: Bistro In Vitro Ice Cream
NextNature.netIn the upcoming episode of Dutch youth education series Denktank (translated think tank) philosopher Stine Jensen and eight teenagers will explore the future of food and try our Bistro In Vitro ice cream.
Empowered by Robots Event Report
Mathilde NakkenA report on the Empowered by Robots conference during DDW16, demonstrating fruitful collaboration between humans and robots.
Genetic Scissors Instead of Chef's Knife
Monika KozubCRISPRy cabbage has been served for the first time in the world.
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, …
Designer Govert Flint applies motion to everyday life
Ingmar NieuweboerInterview with Govert Flint, designer, architect and self-taught artist.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
The World's First Invisible Train
Margherita OlivoJapanese architect Kazuyo Sejima is designing the world's first invisible train.
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.
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!
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.
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.
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 …
Lego Bricks Come Alive
Ruben BaartLego announced the next generation of building bricks, bringing the creations to life.
Nomophobia: the Fear of Phonelessness
Jack CaulfieldNomophobia, no-mobile-phobia, is the fear of being separated from your smartphone.
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 …
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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, …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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, …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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: 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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 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 …
Visit the Embassy of Food conference during DDW22
Eloise MaraisWill there still be a supermarket as we know it today in 2050?
Next Generation: Tasting Landless Food with Malu Luecking
Kelly van GemertRegeneration of extinct flavor families via microalgae
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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: 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 …
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.
Why we need space janitors
Kelly van GemertReduce, reuse, recycle. We know the drill. But how do we cope with a junkyard in space?
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?
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.
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?
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 …
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 …
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 …
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, …
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, …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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. …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
Map of Emerging Technologies
Ties van de WerffThis nice interactive map makes it clear what’s awaiting us in the near future. Presumably.
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 …
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 …
First tasting of Printed Meat
Koert van MensvoortBiological physicist Gabor Forgacs normally works on the “printing” of new organs for use in clinical trials, however, his technology could also be used to bioprint meat. In the …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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
NANO Supermarket TV Commercial
Koert van MensvoortSneak peek into your nano future with the brand new NANO Supermarket TV Commercial.
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, …
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 …
Anthropo-scene #3: Morphing Earth, Piece by Piece
ChristianHumans act as bio-excavators that literally move mountains.
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.
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. …
Care for a Meat Flower Amuse?
Koert van MensvoortVegetarian food products typically mimic existing meat products. The meat flower reverses this principle.
Carnivorous Plants Turn Vegetarian
Robin van KampenWill extended pollution cause carnivorous plants to turn to a fully vegetarian diet?
Cow Poower! Bacteria Turn Poo into Fuel
Silvia CelibertiFarmers in the US are producing fuel and high-quality fertilizer from their cows' manure.
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!
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 …
Food Simulator to Fulfill the Desire to Eat
Alessia AndreottiTwo master's students have created a speculative device to simulate the sensations of eating.
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?
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.
Interview: Floris Kaayk, the Visionary Creative Mind Behind Human Birdwings
Alessia AndreottiFloris Kayak discusses online hoaxes and the future of technology.
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.
Join us for the Other Dinner
NextNature.netIf you happen to be in Amsterdam this weekend, attend the other dinner at Waag Society.
Living Food
Koert van MensvoortMinsu Kim created a wonderful series of living dishes that wiggle and wave on your plate.
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.
Paint by Numbers, then Eat It
Stephen PerryAn innovative workshop points out future directions for in-vitro meat products.
The Sci-Fi Prehistory of "Victimless" Meat
Allison GuyA (very) short history of a century's worth of "disembodied" meat in fiction.
Why Are Lobsters Thriving in Maine?
Allison GuyThe surprising - and predictably depressing - reasons why lobster stocks are booming.
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.
3D printing Tumors to Cure Cancer
Koert van Mensvoort3D printing cancer could be the future of treating cancer.
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.
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?
BrainDriver: the Mind Controlled Car
Alessia AndreottiImagine you could drive your car using only your thoughts. It is now possible!
In Vitro Celebrity Meat, for Real this Time?
Allison GuyA company is working on culturing celebrity stem cells for cannibal cuisine.
Nano-motors in Living Cells
Robin BergmanScientists succeeded in implanting non toxic nano-motors into living cells.
NANO Supermarket TV Commercial 2014
Koert van MensvoortSneak peek into your nano future with the brand new NANO Supermarket TV Commercial.
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”.
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.
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.
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 Flying Car
Alessia AndreottiFrom automobile to airplane: the flying car is built to travel as easily on the road as in the sky.
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.
Wearable Technologies for Dummies
Koert van MensvoortOn the emerging field of technologies that are worn close to or on the body
3D Printed Eyes with WiFi Connection
Alessia AndreottiItalian research studio is working on EYE: a 3D bioprinted sight augmentation.
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 Wind Turbine That Looks Like a Tree
Yunus Emre DuyarThe wind turbines of the future will look like post-modern tree sculptures.
Analogue vs Digital: Self-Driving Cars
NextNature.netThe image on the left is a car, as we know them. It has a lot of digital technology in it already, but not nearly as much as the other one.
Analogue vs Digital: Thumbs Up
NextNature.netWill the children of the future think Mark Zuckerberg came up with the thumbs-up gesture?
Archaeology of Media
Alessia AndreottiThe Archéologies des Medias exposition turns archaic technology that was once cutting-edge into art.
Biomimicry in Action
Abby QinAn inspiring topic about recent developments in biomimicry, Janine Benyus gave a talk on how nature influenced our future.
Communicating with City Infrastructures
Yunus Emre DuyarA recent project, named GENESI, might make it possible for city infrastructures to communicate with us.
Controlling Smart Devices with the Skin
Len KromkampiSkin is a flexible, stretchable and visually customizable on-body touch sensor for mobile computing.
Electronic Skin can Detect Magnetic Fields
Yunus Emre DuyarThere is a new artificial skin technology that could give humans magnetoception in the future.
"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 …
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 …
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.
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.
Lab-Grown Shrimps Are Coming to Your Plate
Alessia AndreottiA startup called New Wave Foods is developing artificial shrimp meat in the laboratory.
Military-Style Rehab for Internet Addicts
Alessia AndreottiInside the Chinese military-style rehab center for internet addicts.
Mini's Augmented Reality Driving Goggles
Yunus Emre DuyarThe popular car brand is working on augmented reality goggles that enhance the driving experience.
Order Anything with Amazon's Button
Yunus Emre DuyarAmazon introduced a new gadget, named Dash Button, that will help you order groceries automatically.
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.
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, …
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 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 …
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.
AI Outsmarts Face Masking Methods
Monika KozubThe latest researches showed how AI can recognize human faces even if pixelated and meant to be incognito.
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.
eHighway: a Fossil-Free Alternative
Margherita OlivoSweden hosts the World's first electric highway for trucks, giving hope for the future of fossil free transportation.
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.
Happy New Green 2017!
Alejandro AlvarezA bright green is the color of 2017, a perfect choice if we take into account some of the positive developments in renewables reached in 2016.
Holland Before the Dikes
Koert van MensvoortA speculative rendering of a climate change catastrophe? Is this our future? Or our past, long before people starting building dykes in the low lands?
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.
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.
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.
Interview: Mike Thompson and Susana Cámara Leret, Designers Exploring Alternative Ways of Thinking & Doing
Ingmar NieuweboerInterview with Mike Thompson and Susana Cámara Leret.
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...
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.
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. …
Medical Practice Aided by Robots
Ioana TomiciRobots in health care could lead to a doctorless hospital.
Medieval VR Headset
Koert van MensvoortHow will the future perceive our so-called modern VR technologies?
VR Days Europe: Next Nature Habitat
Monika KozubNext Nature Habitat premiered at VR Days Europe in Amsterdam last weekend.
Next Nature and Next Generations
Elise MarcusOur workshop with kids from Lanterna Magica, an unconventional primary school in Amsterdam.
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.
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 Robots of Tomorrow: Biodegradable
Margherita OlivoWhat happens to robots that are no longer needed? In the future robots will be biodegradable.
A Tablet for the Visually Impaired People
Margherita OlivoU.S. researchers are working on an affordable braille tablet for blind people.
Towards a Post-Animal Bioeconomy
Ruben BaartAs emerging biotechnologies are blurring the lines between synthetic food and natural food, who will regulate cellular agriculture?
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.
Scientists Connected a Brain to a Tablet
Ingmar NieuweboerSeverely paralyzed woman controls a tablet with her brain.
From Bad Selfie to Perfect Portrait
Ruben BaartSay goodbye to bad selfies with Adobe’s latest AI photo editor.
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.
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.
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.
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!
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 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!
A Floating Gym in Paris
Ruben BaartThis floating gym harnesses human energy to sail down the Seine River in Paris.
Floating Green Power
Megan Ray NicholsOffshore renewable energy resources, such as floating solar arrays, have begun to pop up around the world.
Next Nature Habitat VR Wins Sweden VR Award
NextNature.netOur Next Nature Habitat VR experience has won the Sweden International Virtual Reality Award in the category Best 360 Video!
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.
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 …
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.
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.
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.
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 …
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.
Payment by Wedding Ring
Ruben BaartThe Tappy 'smart ring' is a wedding ring connected to your bank account.
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".
Robot Librarians Instruct Young Generations
Ruben BaartThe Dutch province Gelderland-South uses two educational robots to increase kids' knowledge on such a technology.
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 …
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.
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.
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.
Visit the Garden of Eden
NextNature.netDiscover the Next Nature Habitat VR and explore four future environments we might live in someday.
Visit the Hypernatural Resort
NextNature.netDiscover the Next Nature Habitat VR and explore four future environments we might live in someday.
Visit the Modernist Dream
NextNature.netDiscover the Next Nature Habitat VR and explore four future environments we might live in someday.
Visit the Techno Favela
NextNature.netDiscover the Next Nature Habitat VR and explore four future environments we might live in someday.
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.
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.
World’s First Lab-Grown Chicken Is Here
Elle Zhan WeiMemphis Meats reveals world’s first lab-grown chicken.
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!
How to Train Your Robot
Alejandro AlvarezHumans and robots can work together to maximize the potential of both and boost productivity to new levels.
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.
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.
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. …
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.
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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. …
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 …
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 …
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 …
Celebrate 10 years of Studio Drift at the Stedelijk Museum
NextNature.netTonight, Studio Drift is launching their debut museum solo exhibition at the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam: Coded Nature . As NNN Fellows , this Dutch duo is showcasing a …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
Showcase your work on Next Nature!
Next Nature DevAre you a recent graduate or young maker who feels your work deserves a spotlight? Does your project seek to understand how technology becomes so omnipresent, complex, intimate …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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.
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 …
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?
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 …
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. …
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.
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 …
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: …
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 …
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
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.
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.
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 …
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.
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.
Next Generation: Fantasising about fashion with ShirpShiro
Kelly van GemertFinding realistic solutions to the humanitarian and environmental issues in the textile and fashion industries.
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 …
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, …
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 …
Fashion brand Ganni grew leather with bacteria
Kelly van GemertDanish fashion brand Ganni proposed a post-leather future: they grew imitation leather with bacteria.
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 …
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 …
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.
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.
How to design your (home)office
Govert FlintDesigner Govert Flint proposes a new office concept, entirely based on movement and play.
Cooking with mycelium
Ruben BaartResearchers from the University of Colorado created a recipe book to cook with mycelium.
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.
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.
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?
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 …
Handsets gets taken to the grave
Koert van MensvoortMore people than ever are asking to be buried or cremated with their mobile phones when they die. The trend, which began in South Africa, has now spread to a number of countries, …
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.
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 …
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 …
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 …
Utility Pets
Koert van MensvoortIn the not-so-distant future people will be given a pig with their own DNA engineered into it. The pig, known as a "knockout" pig in the scientific jargon, is a form of living …
Vertical marketplace
Rolf CoppensNice example of blob architecture meets skyscraper. Looks like it could grow! Link
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 - …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
Electronic tattoos
Rolf Coppenshttp://www.youtube.co/watch?v=fW0BZsOcZZE It's like... the future! Check website .
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 …
How to print an Organ?
Koert van MensvoortWhat to do about the shortage of human organ donors? An emerging branch of medicine, called organ printing (future vision alert) , takes a patient's own healthy cells and uses a …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
TeleBombing
Koert van MensvoortThe MQ-9 Reaper is loaded, but there's no one on board. Its pilot, as it bombs targets in Iraq and Afghanistan, will sit at a video console 7,000 miles away in Nevada. Although …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
Worm-storm weather report
Koert van MensvoortA short video showing a live o utbreak of malware named Small.DAM. Are we looking at the weather report of the future here?
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 …
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. …
Gameboy Bricks a million years from now
Arnoud van den HeuvelA million years from now that hand would probably look more evolved, but the idea is nice: What if we would mold objects of the now into stone or bricks to preserve them over time …
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 …
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 …
Remember nature? Fake or real?
SaraVisiting the American Natural History Museum in New York, I pictured myself in about, let's say 150 years from now, trying to explain my younger family members what nature looked …
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 , …
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 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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
Augmented Phone Browsing
Arnoud van den HeuvelThis video shows the first beta version of TwittARound – an augmented reality Twitter viewer on the iPhone 3Gs. It shows live tweets around your location on the horizon. Because …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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
GPS influence on street signage?
Koert van MensvoortIn the future, every street will be a Nokia street? Perhaps not, however we may expect some changes in street signage due to the arrival of mobile & gps technology. Once …
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 …
Hyper Fruit
Koert van MensvoortImaginary advertizement for genetically engineered hybrid hyperfruits featuring an 'limwi', 'kiwange' and a 'strawblackberry'. Imagine a taste of things to come. Makes you want to …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
Nextnature pocket outdated – buy it cheap
Remember the Next Nature pocket , featuring a 140 page trip of visions and statements from thinkers from around the globe on their explorations in next nature? We now consider …
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 …
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, …
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 …
3D Organ Printing
Koert van MensvoortSlowly but steadily moving from science fiction to science faction. Via Discovery .
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 …
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 …
First man infected with computer virus
Arnoud van den HeuvelDoctor gets chip. Chip gets virus. Virus infects other devices... Dalek shoots doctor? Dr. Mark Gasson of Reading University implanted a RFID chip under his skin last year. It is …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
Mind Expanding Lead
Florian Conradi and Michelle ChristensenThese pencils release allegedly mind-expanding aromas, letting you 'smell your way to smartness while you write'. According to the creators , the fragrance is encapsulated using …
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 …
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 #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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
Social Avatar Beats Death
Arnoud van den HeuvelAvatars are commonly known as virtual characters in the digital realm representing a user. But what if avatars could house personal history, profile and ideas? Could that enable …
There is not enough Africa in Computers
Koert van MensvoortBrian Eno - artist, composer, inventor, thinker - spoke to Kevin Kelly about the meaning of Africa for music and technology. "Africa is everything that something like classical …
Tin Hybridization
Koert van MensvoortArtist José E. Rivera takes pleasure in the sculpting of animals from electronic infrastructure. Same artist who created the evolving mouse . We are unsure what to conclude from …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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: …
Human Augmentation™
TimoAs a gamer, I come across many visions of possible futures. But this trailer from the upcoming video game Deus Ex: Human Revolution , the third part in the Deus Ex series shocked …
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 …
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 …
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 & 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 …
![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, …
Mushrooms in the Mokum
Allison GuyMediamatic is hosting a pop-up urban mushroom farm in the middle of Amsterdam. Rows and rows of shiitake, oyster, and the elusive almond-flavored Agaricus subrufescens are …
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: …
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 …
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 …
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 & …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
Tattoo 2.0
Marco van BeersAs a child you probably had one of those temporary tattoos that come packed with over-sweetened chewing gum. It was a nice decoration, and a way to stand out. Recently researchers …
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 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 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 …
The Pigeon that Shat the Golden Soap
Allison GuyEver wished you could take a shower with pigeon poop? Artist Tuur van Balen proposes changing pigeons from flying rats to cleaning agents. A speculative, specially engineered …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
A Second Life for Rescued Plastic Pens
Allison GuyArtist Willis Elkins "rescues" plastic detritus from the sea. His most recent venture, the Jamaica Bay Pen Project , retrieves sun-baked, useless pens from the shores of New …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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?
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 …
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 …
Hybrid Hummer
Koert van MensvoortThere is something lustrous about a hummer pulled by horses. Peculiar image of the week.
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 …
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 Supermarket in Rotterdam
Koert van MensvoortThis week our lustrous NANO Supermarket visits Rotterdam as part of Dutch Electronic Art Festival . Come learn, discuss, and taste some medicinal chocolate. Have better ideas for …
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 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 …
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 …
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.
Cake Made from Human Skin
Allison GuyCake or death? Cake! The Slice cake is a (vegetarian) vision of the forms lab-grown meat may take in the future.
"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 …
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 …
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. …
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.
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 …
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 …
3D Print a New House in One Day
Jonathon Markowski3D printers using concrete can now create complete houses from the ground-up.
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.
A Stroll Through the Bubbles of Chemicals and Men
Etienne TurpinA stunning pre-history of the anthropocene
"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 …
Andras Forgacs on Victimless Leather
Koert van MensvoortAndras Forgacs argues that bioengineering meat and leather is a civilized way to move beyond slaughtering animals for hamburgers and handbags.
Clothes that Turn Heat into Electricity
Allison GuyWith rising energy costs and our growing arsenal of iPads, smart phones, and wearable monitors, we're always on the lookout for new ways to power our devices. Perpetua Power , an …
Now Dads Can Experience Pregnancy Too
Alessia AndreottiA new device replicates the kicking and moving of a baby inside a mother's womb.
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.
Drones Swarm While We Sleep
Koert van MensvoortMesmerizing drone ballet from Kmel Robotics and Lexus.
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 …
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.
Buckle up for Black Sky Thinking
Koert van MensvoortHow can we anticipate what happens after the technological singularity?
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.
Google's Shoes Talk to Runners
Alice FumeyNeed a personal trainer? Google's new sneakers fulfill the role of a human coach.
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.
Have a Meat Foam Cocktail
NextNature.netWe thank all our supporters for making the In Vitro Cookbook possible.
Implanted into Bacteria, Synthetic DNA Functions as a Diagnostic Computer
Jiwon KimIn the movie Fantastic Voyage, a submarine and its crew were shrunk and injected into the body of a sick man in an attempt to save his life. Despite the fictional nature of this …
Ingestible Microchips Monitor Medication
Stephen PerryDigestible Microchips are now approved by the US Food and Drug Administration.
Interact with Friends (in Real Life) with Facebook Monopoly
Alessia AndreottiA Facebook version of Monopoly forces players to interact with each other in meatspace.
Lego Minifigs Will Take Over The Planet By 2019
Silvia CelibertiImagine the devastation when there are more Lego minifigs on Earth than humans...
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 , …
Maya YogHurt: Fermented Drink Made with Human Lactic Acid
Jiwon KimArtist Maja Smrekar modified yeast with her own DNA to produce human lactic acid.
Meat & Greet Workshop Report
Insoo HwangLast week, Next Nature Lab had the first Meat & Greet to explore the future of in vitro meet.
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.
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 III- Preservation
Jonathon MarkowskiThe oldest evidence of cold food storage dates back to 1700 BCE.
Moments in Meat History Part IV- Substitutes
Jonathon MarkowskiThe story goes that in the 7th Century, Buddhist monks in China stumbled upon the product now known as "wheat gluten" while cooking. Noting that it looked, felt and tasted …
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.
Moments in Meat History Part VII - Factory Farming
Jonathon MarkowskiIn the 1950s, the transition towards what is now known as factory farming picked up speed with farmers.
Moments in Meat History Part VIII- Fast Food
Jonathon MarkowskiThe very first restaurant to typify the modern fast food genre was White Castle, who opened their first location in 1916 in Witchita, USA. Ironically, at the time fast food was …
Moving From Password to Biometric Data
Alessia AndreottiUnlock our devices with our fingerprint, this technology for security represents a change in our digital life.
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.
Nature through the Windshield
Brendan CormierVolume magazine interviews Next Nature founder Koert van Mensvoort.
New in Store: Volume Magazine
NextNature.netNew in our store: Two very next natural issues of Volume Magazine.
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.
Next Nature saves Old Nature
Koert van MensvoortConservation workers ask synthetic biologists to help them save the world's endangered creatures and habitats.
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 …
"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.
Scientists Implant False Memory in Mice
Alessia AndreottiManipulations of the mind that were once the terrain of futuristic fantasy are now one step closer to becoming reality. Scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology …
Serious Gamers Assist Society
Martijn PeetersNew citizen science games are bringing gamification to serious issues.
Strawberry Noir
Koert van MensvoortShould plants be genetically controlled to perform specific functions for us?
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.
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 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 (Almost) Invisible Dancing Wheelchair
Jonathon MarkowskiDesigned by a dancer, a new wheelchair moves intuitively with the user's movements.
The Artificial Touch-Sensitive Hand
Alessia AndreottiRestoring the sense of touch with an artificial hand, using a brain interface.
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 Twitter Tooth Implant Becomes a Reality (Again)
Allison GuyAn implant equipped with an accelerometer can tell when you're chewing, chatting, smoking or sipping.
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 …
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 …
Work Out Like the Flintstones
Alessia AndreottiThe Paleo workout replicates the fitness regimen of our caveman ancestors.
Yes, Naturally
Ine GeversThe introductory essay from the Yes, Naturally book - available in our store!
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.
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.
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.
Anthropocene Exhibition
NextNature.netNext Nature Network will take part in the Deutsches Museum exhibit "Welcome to the Anthropocene: The Earth in Our Hands".
Anthropocene: the Shrinking of Aral Sea
Alessia AndreottiAs a consequence of a big water diversion project to irrigate surrounding areas the Aral Sea is drying up.
Auto Paint Stones
Koert van MensvoortNextnatural stones formed from layers of paint in old car factories.
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.
Fish Fins vs Bones
Lotte BiesheuvelZebrafish can regrow fins. Is there a possibility we can regrow bones in the near future?
GMO Trees to Simplify Paper Production
Alessia AndreottiResearchers engineered poplar trees for an easier production of paper and biofuels.
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.
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.
In Vitro Recipe #10: Home Incubator
NextNature.netThe home incubator does for cooking what the electronic synthesizer did for musicians.
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 #2: Dodo Nuggets
NextNature.netKids go crazy for the crispy flavor of cutting-edge science.
In Vitro Recipe #4: Lab Pearls
NextNature.netThese delicate structures, reminiscent of fish roe or tapioca balls, are filled with lab-grown animal fat.
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.
In Vitro Recipe #7: Rustic In Vitro
NextNature.netMany people dismiss lab-grown meat as slick, soulless and completely artificial, but rustic in vitro bioreactors bring artisanal production methods back to cultured meats.
In Vitro Recipe #8: Bone Pickers
NextNature.netBone pickers stimulate your 'inner caveman'. They satisfy our carnal appetite for gnawing and ripping.
In Vitro Recipe #9: Meat Oyster
NextNature.netAs ocean-based oyster beds have all but vanished, in vitro oysters may prove an exquisite alternative.
Learning Circuits While Playing With Clay
Robin BergmanKids learn the basics of electric circuits while playing with clay.
In Vitro Recipe #3: Magic Meatballs
NextNature.netMagic meatballs playfully familiarize children with the concept of in vitro meat.
Meet Humanity beyond Race, it's Beautiful
Koert van MensvoortMeet Humanity beyond Race, it's Beautiful
NANO Supermarket Best Product 2014
Alessia AndreottiA jury of design and science experts awarded the best NANO Supermarket product a € 2.500 prize.
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.
Painting the Anthropocene
Alessia AndreottiGovedare paints the human impact on natural environments, showing how nature has become a subset of culture.
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.
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.
Super Computer Chips
Robin BergmanIndium gallium arsenide couldbe the material of the new super computer chips of the future.
The Bionic Kangaroo
Alessia AndreottiThe BionicKangaroo technologically reproducesthe unique way a kangaroo moves.
Zero-Waste Grocery Store
Julia WeberThe first Zero-Waste Grocery Store "Original Unverpackt" will open this summer in Germany.
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.
Top 100 Economies: 37 are Corporations
Koert van Mensvoort37 of the world’s 100 largest economies are corporations.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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: 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: Augmented Reality
NextNature.netNo longer is the perception of the analog limited to its physical elements.
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 …
Anthropo-scene #9: Sense, Sensors, Sensitivity
ChristianTechnology helps us understand the unfolding of the Anthropocene.
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.
Bionic Ants That Work Together
Louise HuyghebaertThese robotic ants by Festo are learning to work together, like real ants do.
Converting Gestures into Concrete Action
Yunus Emre DuyarFrancesca Barchiesi's glove concept allows the user to translate hand gestures into images and information.
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.
Drone Maps Christ the Redeemer
Yunus Emre DuyarThe current technology has not been able to replicate Christ the Redeemer perfectly, until now.
Drone Operated by Honeybee Brain
Yunus Emre DuyarThe Green Brain Project aims to create drones that will think, act and sense like a bee.
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.
Everything Stew from the Home Incubator
The home incubator you can prepare a stew made with thirteen different sorts of meat, is heaven for carnivores.
Facebook's Internet Drone Unveiled
Yunus Emre DuyarFacebook introduced its solar-powered drone project aimed to provide internet access to rural areas.
Fast Food = Lower Test Scores
Alessia AndreottiThe amount of fast food children eat may be linked to how well they do in school, a study suggests.
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 …
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.
Harvard Creates Half-Man Cyborg Flesh
Yunus Emre DuyarBioengineers at Harvard University have created the first cyborg tissue.
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.
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.
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.
Possibilities for Drones in Performing Arts
Alexandra BremersJapanese fashion brand Buyma created this video with a wink, wherein drones play a crucial role.
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.
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".
Next Nature Night on Design & Evolution
NextNature.netNext Nature Night on Design & Evolution, Tuesday 30th June.
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!
OUT NOW: Save the Humans! Book
NextNature.netThe SAVE THE HUMANS! book is now available on our web shop.
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.
Poem Passes the Turing Test
Yunus Emre DuyarZackary Scholl developed a program to produce a poem that passed the Turing Test.
Puppy Delivery Drones
Yunus Emre Duyar3 Million Dogs released a funny video, which shows puppies delivered by drones.
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?
Space Archeologist Unlocks Secrets of Ancient Civilizations
Margherita OlivoSarah Parcak is a pioneering "satellite archaeologist" from University of Alabama, a sort of Indiana Jones with 21st century tech. She has been awarded the 2016 TED Prize for her …
Seaweed That Tastes Like Bacon
Alessia AndreottiA new seaweed that tastes like bacon and is better for you than kale.
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 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
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 …
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.
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.
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.
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 …
The Golden Quarter
Michael HanlonSome of our greatest cultural and technological achievements took place between 1945 and 1971. Why has progress stalled?
The Hotel Run by Robots
Alessia AndreottiA futuristic Japanese hotel will be run by robots, designed to be extremely human-like.
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 Cockroaches into Rescue Robots
Yunus Emre DuyarCyborg cockroaches might be used for search-and-rescue operations in the future.
Turning Poop Back Into Food
Alessia AndreottiNasa funded a program to turn astronauts’ poop into food.
Using Shrimp Shell to Produce Bioplastics
Yunus Emre DuyarResearchers Fernandez and Ingber imitated chitin in order to produce durable, biodegradable plastics.
Watch out for Bullied Robots
Alexandra BremersDystopian future scenarios filled with evil robots are everywhere. We are afraid of robots treating us badly, but what will happen if it'll be the other way around? According to …
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.
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.
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.
Anonymity Becomes the New Privacy
Ioana TomiciArtists respond to biometric technology and data collecting software through subversive projects.
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.
Plastic-Eating Bacteria Are Coming
Ingmar NieuweboerThe bacteria that degrades and assimilates plastic.
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.
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.
The Complex Networks of Our Planet
Margherita OlivoThis video by Nature explains the complexity of networks on our planet.
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 Lights Up the Sky with 300 Drones
Mathilde NakkenDisney’s latest attraction? 300 drones flying in formation.
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.
Drone Contest Winner: VR Drone for Elderly
NextNature.netThe lucky winner of our What’s Flying There? contest is Jiska, Dutch 10-year-old who imagined a virtual reality drone for the elderly and won an actual drone for herself.
Drones in Agriculture
Megan Ray NicholsHere's a look at how drones can and will impact the agriculture and farming industry.
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.
The First Drone Superhighway
Ruben BaartUrban planners proposed a utopian superhighway for the up-and-coming organic smart city Bao’an.
The Bioengineered Elixir of Life
Mathilde NakkenScientists say they can reverse aging by reprogramming the genome.
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.
Getting Wasted on Plastics
Lewis JustA new community currency that rewards recyclers with local discounts and deals.
Good Air Quality? You Get Free WiFi
Margherita OlivoThese birdhouses in Amsterdam share free Internet whenever the air quality improves.
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 Potatoes at JFK Airport
Ruben BaartThe 5th largest airline in the United States, JetBlue, is growing potatoes at John F. Kennedy Airport in New York.
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.
Human Cloning Now Possible in China
Daniel FragaIs human cloning here? Chinese scientist is ready to clone people at his ‘replication factory’.
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.
Robot Babies to Prevent Pregnancy
Ruben BaartAn Australian study has shown the use of lifelike robot babies increased teen pregnancy, rather than discouraging it.
Japan Is Ready to Pay Bills with Bitcoins
Alejandro AlvarezJapan is the first country to accept the bitcoins as payment method for basic services.
King Bee Inspecting His Drones?
Koert van MensvoortFacebook boss Mark Zuckerberg at the Mobile World Congress, in Barcelona.
We Love Cities, so Do Wild Animals
Alessia AndreottiHow wild animals and cities are adapting to each other.
Luminous Bike Lane Opened in Poland
Monika KozubThe first self-sufficient luminous bike lane opened last week in Poland.
Meat Lovers Megasteak Delight
Koert van MensvoortGrown in a laboratory in Wageningen and it is vegetarian too.
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.
Nature-Inspired Nano-Robots
Ingmar NieuweboerResearchers developed tiny, autonomous robots able to repair circuits.
Fellow Day: Next Senses
Ingmar NieuweboerOn June 17th a NNN Fellow Day was organized to explore the future project: Next Senses.
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.
Payment by Thumb
Alessia AndreottiAustralian biohacker Meow-Ludo Meow Meow implanted a chip in his thumb to make contactless payments.
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.
Cutlery Set to Eat Bugs
Ruben BaartDesigner Wataru Kobayashi created a picnic cutlery set to promote eating insects.
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.
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.
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 Robot Builds a House in Two Days
Ruben BaartA Bricklaying Robot builds low-cost houses in just two days.
Robots Taking Government Jobs
Ruben BaartMeet Amelia, the first robot to work along with human coworkers in a council job.
Will We Share .thought Files?
Mathilde NakkenWith the evolving technique called EEG, electroencephalography, we can measure brain activity and ultimately even read the brain.
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.
Solving Crimes Thanks to Amazon Echo
Ruben BaartAmazon's Echo smart speaker may have witnessed a murder. But will it talk?
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.
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.
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 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.
Painted by Drones
Ruben BaartGerman aerial-photography group Cooper Copter is exploring “vandalism 2.0” with drones that throw paint bombs.
'Thinking Soil' Will Change the Way We Build
Monika KozubSelf-constructing foundation thanks to genetically modified microbes.
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.
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.
Virtual Reality Meditation
Ruben BaartSpiritual leader Deepak Chopra just unveiled a 20-minute therapy session inviting us to come back to the present moment through virtual reality.
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.
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 Is the Selfie Elbow?
Ruben BaartThe advent of digital communications media is bringing along some health conditions.
The World's First Cyborg Olympics
Margherita OlivoThe first cyborg Olympics will take place in Zurich in October.
1923 - Term 'Ectogenesis' Coined
Elle Zhan WeiThe term "ecotogenesis" was first coined in 1923 in "Daedalus".
1999 - Ectogenesis Enters The Matrix
Elle Zhan WeiThe movie The Matrix brought ectogenesis to the public eye.
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.
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.
Architects, You Better Design Cars!
Alejandro AlvarezHyundai envisions a future where your smart home is your driverless car, and vice versa.
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.
DNA Hacking: Catch a Computer Virus
Jack CaulfieldWe know how it feels to catch a cold; how might it feel to catch malware?
Circular Runway for Airport Efficiency
Elle Zhan WeiThe endless runway is a new airport concept by Dutch scientist Henk Hesselink.
Climate Change Turns Leaves into Junk Food
Julie ReindlClimate change turns rainforest leaves into junk food.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Ecosexuality: Make the Biosphere Your Lover
Ruben BaartEcosexuality reconceptualizes our perspective on the biosphere by having consensual experiences with it.
Farming in Silico
Jack CaulfieldFarming is more than manual labor. The hard part is knowing how to get the best yield. Thankfully, there’s an app for that: growing crops in silico.
Sustainable Flying with Electric Planes
Elle Zhan WeiGerman company revealed fastest electric plane.
Longest Lived Human Embryo in a Lab
Elle Zhan WeiScientists keeping a human embryo alive in lab for 13 days for the first time.
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.
Flying Car Modular Transport System
Elle Zhan WeiAirbus and Italdesign unveil modular urban land and air transport system.
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.
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.
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.
Hoverboarding Over the Atlantic
Elle Zhan WeiIn 2017, a hoverboard can fly 164 feet above earth and able to hover over the Atlantic Ocean.
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 …
Human Artist Hatches Ten Chicken Eggs
Ruben BaartFrench performance artist hatches 10 hen's eggs in Palais de Tokyo.
How a Hummingbird Creates Green Energy
Michelle GuenneA start-up company build a wind turbine inspired by the hummingbird.
Work Remotely in VR Nature
Julie ReindlBreakroom is a VR app that lets you fill your daily working tasks in a simulated nature surrounding, enhancing productivity and mental balance.
Insect Ramen: the New Food Trend
Julie ReindlTokyo restaurant offers sustainable new dish - ramen noodles topped with crunchy insects and people love it
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.
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 …
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.
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.
HUBOT: Meet the Robot Coach
NextNature.netCraftsmanship is generally very appreciated, but it takes a lot of time to master a craft. Therefore, as a robot coach you train - you guessed it, a robot - to transfer your …
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.
The Next Nature Guide to Games in 2017
Jack CaulfieldIn the next nature, many people spend as much time in the digital world of gaming as they do in the real world. We have covered video games before, but this year we thought it …
NNN Is Hiring: Managing Director
NextNature.netNNN is looking for a Managing Director to join our office in Amsterdam.
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.
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.
Pay with Your Face
Elle Zhan WeiFace-detecting systems in China now authorize payments, provide access to facilities, and track down criminals.
AI Foodcial Recognition
Julie ReindlPic2Recipe is an artificial intelligence system able to recognize ingredients, identify a dish and suggest recipes from a single image.
Pink GM Chicken Marks Anthropocene
Julie ReindlThe Pink Chicken Project suggests modifying chickens’ DNA in order to send a message about our Earth health.
Smartflower Solar Device
Elle Zhan WeiPOP is an all-in-one solar energy system that hold visible benefits for humans.
FarmVille Turns into Real-Life Agriculture
Julie ReindlA Japanese Start up brings Farmville back into real life by letting players grow physical food.
Refreezing the Arctic
Ruben BaartA team of scientists developed a peculiar strategy to counter the Arctic ice melting.
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.
The Self-Flying Taxi Drone
Ruben BaartPassenger-carrying drones will hit the skies in Dubai this summer.
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.
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.
Swap Your Smartphone for a Pineapple
Nadine RoestenburgDutch commercial telecom provider Ben recently launched an advertising campaign to sell smartphone plans by promoting disconnection.
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 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!
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.
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.
Wind Turbines Threatens Birdlife
Elle Zhan WeiA wind farm in Scotland is on hold because of its lethal killing power towards seabirds.
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
How blockchain technology is changing the agriculture industry
Megan Ray NicholsBlockchain is useful for more than cryptocurrency. It’s revolutionizing industry after industry. Next, it may change the way we get our food. The agriculture industry is complex. …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
Flock of Drones fly over Amsterdam
NextNature.netTonight a flock of drones can be seen in the skies of Amsterdam.
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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.
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 …
'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. …
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 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.
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 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: …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
Should men be able to give birth to children?
Koert van MensvoortWithin a few years, it may be possible for premature babies to grow inside an artificial womb. And when that day arrives, should men be able to give birth to children? Should we …
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 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) …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 – …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 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 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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
Next Nature announces their 2021-2024 plans
Next Nature DevWith great pleasure we announce our plans for 2021-2024: ‘Hello, Superorganism’ . Our human presence has a huge impact on the planet; plastic in the oceans, climate change, mass …
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 …
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, …
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 …
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 …
This exhibition explores love in the internet age
Ruben BaartData Dating is an exhibition that explores what it means to find romance in the internet age. Love it or hate it, technology has transformed the way we date. So, how are digital …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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.
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
This exhibition explores the open ends of the apocalypse
Ruben BaartThe exhibition "Apocalypse - End Without End" shows that the end is a human invention
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
Donna Haraway rejects the doomsday rhetoric of the Anthropocene
Ruben BaartFor multispecies feminist theorist Donna J. Haraway, “it matters what stories make worlds, what worlds make stories.” She studies the current age as the Chthulucene (chthon, …
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 …
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 …
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 …
The Next Nature book is now available in Italian
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 …
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 …
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. …
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. …
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.
The long history of the metaverse
Tom BoellstorffMany aspects of the current metaverse were already familiar 143 years ago.
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 …
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: (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 …
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.
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 …
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 …
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.
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 …
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 …
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.
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 …
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.
Next Generation: Designing chairs with mealworms and Will Eliot
Kelly van GemertWilliam Eliot designs chairs while collaborating with mealworms.
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.
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 …
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.
Yes, we can fry potatoes in space!
Kelly van GemertThanks to the European Space Agency (ESA) and a team of enthusiastic researchers from the University of Thessaloniki we now know for certain: we can fry potatoes in space. …
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.
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?
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.
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.
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.
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.
Enter the symbiocene
Glenn AlbrechtWhat if we would use the idea of symbiosis as the basis for the next period of Earth’s history?
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.
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 …