Janes Technology Daily

http://ift.tt/2a7R0ok Technology W e both love and loathe buying gifts for loved ones. On the one hand, it’s amazing seeing people’s faces when you’ve got them a gift they really love (plus, it kind of makes you feel like Jesus, being all selfless and what-not), but then on the other hand, it’s horrendous trying to find gifts for people. What do they want? What do they need? How much should you spend? We’ve been buying gifts for some people for decades now and we are seriously running out of ideas. Luckily for us and anyone else in a similar situation, the internet has brought with it a wealth of great gift ideas that weren’t possible a decade ago. Personalization The bulk of this article is going to be about personalization, as people believe it shows real thought (even though, in most cases, you simply need to upload a picture to a website and wait…). The internet has made it possible to personalize so many items, that you could sort out the next decade or two worth of birthdays

http://ift.tt/eA8V8J Technology S pider silk is considered one of nature’s toughest substances, comparable in strength to the Kevlar plastic present in bulletproof vests but is way more flexible. Kraig Biocraft Laboratories, a firm from Ann Arbor, Michigan, genetically altered silkworms to manufacture a fiber that is just like pure spider silk. Last week, the firm announced a U.S. Department of Defense ( DoD ) contract to test this genetically engineered silk, which they are calling Dragon Silk ™ for potential use in body armor. There is a reason that silk from worms is affordable but you possibly can’t purchase dresses made out of spider silk: spiders are cannibalistic and territorial, which makes farming them for material manufacturing ridiculously exorbitant. Enter the wonderful new marvel that’s called genetic engineering. In 2000, researchers first isolated and sequenced the key proteins that create spider silk (ampullate spidroin-1, spidroin-2, and so on.) That allowed sci

Top 10 Emerging Technologies - 2016

http://ift.tt/29QlYUC Technology T here are a number of pressing challenges confronting the world, and to solve them we’ll need the help of breakthrough technologies—including nanosensors, 2D materials, autonomous vehicles, and miniature models of human organs, the stuff of science fiction made real. Not all of them are unheard-of, and many have been on the technological horizon for some time—but 2016 promises to be their breakout year. Here’s a Look at the Top 10 Emerging Technologies of 2016, compiled by the World Economic Forum’s Meta-Council on Emerging Technologies.   1. NANOSENSORS AND THE INTERNET OF NANOTHINGS With the Internet of Things expected to comprise 30 billion connected devices by 2020, one of the most exciting areas of focus today is now on nanosensors capable of circulating in the human body or being embedded in construction materials. Once connected, this Internet of Nanothings could have a huge impact on the future of medicine, architecture, agriculture and dr