Can we reprogram ourselves?

In the future, will we be able to create smart viruses that only target cancer cells or fix genetic defects in our DNA? Professor Jan Madsen from TU Denmark believes we can. At the ESI Symposium this year, Jan talked about the characteristics of systems and how they can be applied to that ultimate system,…

More than MakerBots

About 18 months ago I saw a demonstration of 3D printing at TEDxYouth@Flanders and watched as these homemade devices built up layers of plastic to create small toys and other items. I was impressed but at the same time somewhat disappointed. They were a long way from Star Trek replicators and only seemed useful for…

Disrupting media

TV advertising is big business. Billions of euros are spent annually to convince us to buy a particular company’s products or services. But viewers are getting fed up with the disruption and services such as on-demand or time-shifting are giving the consumer more tools to skip the adverts. But without advertising, there would be no…

Behind the scenes at TEDxBrainport

I guess I am a bit of a TED fan. I have seen many TED talks online and have been to several independently organized TEDx events here in Belgium. I am always filled with a sense of wonder at the talks and the speakers who get up there on stage to talk about their ‘ideas…

Cutting solar manufacturing costs

Manufacturing solar cells traditionally involves complex and costly vacuum-based processes. Now, some industry specialists believe new approaches can cut costs and bring ‘grid parity’ within reach. They urge producers to discover how thermal processes and electro-deposition enable cost-effective high volume thin-film PV production. Sunlight may be free, but generating electricity with PV cells remains expensive.…