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Design
SmartPlanet stories related to the research, theory and execution of solutions to problems, from consumer products to corporate processes to the built environment.
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How the crowd is making fashion design more efficient
Could excess inventory become a thing of the past? New style startups not only give a boost to emerging designers, but bring unheard-of levels of economy to the fashion business.
May 16, 2013 3:00am |
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Students design storm chasing UAVs
In the wake of the tornado that tore through central Oklahoma, a team of students have ramped up the design of UAVs to track them.
May 24, 2013 10:50am |
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Recycling is not architecture
The Take's C.C. Sullivan wonders why designers, architects and artists think that recycling is automatically an aesthetic success. It takes a bit more than just reusing old stuff to create good...
3 | May 22, 2013 3:00am |
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Consumers are starting to design cars over the Internet
Some auto manufacturers are dipping their toes into co-creation with customers, seeking design preferences via online communities, social network sites, crowdsourcing and contests.
3 | May 22, 2013 7:01pm |
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Q&A: Leila Takayama, research scientist, on human-robot interaction
Leila Takayama imagines a world where human-friendly robots interact successfully with people. But it's not always easy teaching a 500-pound machine not to block the office coffee maker.
1 | May 20, 2013 3:00am |
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Q&A: Dan Formosa, award-winning product designer
An award-winning designer, Formosa spoke with us about designing IBM's first personal computer, how design has changed over the decades -- and why you should have meetings in elevators.
4 | February 18, 2013 2:22am |
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The Golden Gate of Helsinki
The world's top architects are competing to design Finland's longest bridge. Why is it so special? Three words: no cars allowed.
9 | May 22, 2013 4:44am |
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Apple's tangled web of tax shelters
Apple's web of subsidiaries, designed to save the company billions in taxes, is global, complex and beyond anything most experts have ever seen. Today, CEO Tim Cook faces Congress.
2 | May 21, 2013 8:31am |
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The Sam Can: a 2-year, $1 million journey
The search for a suitable Samuel Adams can presented some interesting design challenges. The goal: make the experience as close to drinking from a glass as possible.
May 17, 2013 12:47pm |
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Art, design, and business blend beautifully in Miami
At Art Basel Miami Beach and Design Miami, galleries, collectors, and the host city all benefitted from the intersection of high art and high design. And high sales figures.
December 11, 2012 10:05pm |
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Q&A: Nathan Cooke, designer and instructor at MIT's D-Lab
In a Nairobi slum, newly minted entrepreneurs run more than 160 public toilets and transform their waste into fertilizer -- and someday they'll turn it into electricity.
2 | April 22, 2013 4:00am |
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Human-powered helicopter prize unclaimed for 33 years
Now the Igor I. Sikorsky prize is worth $250,000. Check out three designs that are getting close.
2 | May 13, 2013 12:09pm |
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Transforming your local supermarket into the Garden of Eden
Keep the function but improve the experience -- how a team of architects created a supermarket oasis.
May 21, 2013 6:15am |
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Architecture schools, beyond the classroom
A new generation of architecture students is marshalling their brains and muscle behind projects that make a real-world difference for the disadvantaged, disabled or displaced.
1 | May 8, 2013 3:00am |
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New street light design eliminates light pollution
A team of scientists has outlined a new LED street lamp design that could help reclaim the luminosity of the heavens.
10 | April 25, 2013 6:55pm |
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Honeywell releases designer smart thermostat
Honeywell is going high end with its new Wi-Fi Smart Thermostat and is tapping its formidable sales and distribution channels to turn up the heat on its competition.
1 | April 24, 2013 8:37pm |
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Q&A: Stephen Chung, host, 'Cool Spaces'
The Boston-based architect will use his new reality television show to showcase some of North America's most provocative public architecture.
2 | April 4, 2013 3:00am |
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Toward a blacker architecture in America
There are few black architects in the pipeline, and fewer still with a high national profile. C.C. Sullivan looks at the latest news, which suggests a growing role for African-American designers.
38 | April 24, 2013 1:45am |
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The rise of alternative learning in laneways, pubs and new 'schools'
MELBOURNE -- Wish someone had taught you how to be confident or how to find a job you love? Melburnians are picking up some life lessons and new skills as part of a trend in "altucation."
4 | May 15, 2013 2:30am |
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3D printed cyborgs closer to reality
Princeton University scientists have successfully combined organic tissue with electronics, potentially extending the boundaries of human hearing beyond natural limits.
2 | May 14, 2013 6:55pm |
