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It appears the tech-startup bubble is bursting. Today we get another confirmation that this dot-com 2.0 explosion of speculative surreality has peaked. Silicon Valley darling Fab raised US$ 150 million just over a year ago (at a $1 billion valuation), but is in talks to sell to PCH International for just US$ 15 million in a half cash and half stock deal.
None of these companies invented anything that hasn’t been done before. There are no barriers to entry, and anyone can jump right in and offer the exact same thing. None of them are tech companies though they have apps and websites. This is how they’re going to disrupt. With glossy junk mail.

A shale boom built on lies.

Next time you get into your car and drive to the supermarket, think about how much energy you consume on an annual basis. It is widely assumed that Westerners are some of the world’s worst energy pigs. While Americans make up just 5 percent of the global population, they use 20 percent of its energy, eat 15 percent of its meat, and produce 40 percent of the earth’s garbage.

These evil overlord beetles have evolved the bizarre ability to produce pheromone passcodes that give them free reign over their host ant colonies--including access to the nests, where they unrepentantly dine on their hosts’ babies.

One of the most compelling things about the 3D printing market right now is quite simply the variety of printers and other related design tech, out there. In turn, that leads to an incredibly diverse range of products now being scanned, modelled, and printed.

The "Minibuilders" project features three small robots that work together to build objects much bigger than themselves. Quite adorably, teamwork is their greatest asset: by taking over from each other as the building requirements change throughout construction, they can print the whole thing from start to finish.

Sheepdogs think algorithmically. Using just two fundamental rules, the dogs analyze the state of a given herd and determine the best action to take among a limited set of possibilities.

The simple dandelion may serve as raw material to replace synthetic rubber in the near future. Google translation

Every piece of garbage can be turned into a raw material that can be used for future products. With his influential Cradle-to-Cradle movement, Germany's Michael Braungart espouses a form of eco-hedonism that puts smart production before conservation.

Researchers made so-called “nano-pixels”-like devices that are just 300 by 300 nanometers across and could be incorporated into film-like materials for foldable flexibility. Think screens, smart glasses, or even contact lenses.