All the world's a 3D printer

Nature has proved lucrative in providing inspiration for current innovations, but nothing can be as inspirational as nature's ability to re-invent, re-use and recycle matter: organic or inorganic.
As Sir Isaac Newton's First law of Thermodynamics states: energy can neither be created or...

Gifts that show you care about your loved ones and your bank balance.

Gift: Home-made chutney.

Cost: £6.50 (organic ingredients from The Better Food Company or Waitrose).

Equipment:

• 5 Jars (can be old pasta sauce, honey or actual jam jars available from local kitchen ware store/ Amazon).
...

Are our insatiable appetites for the latest technology the last nail in the coffin for sustainability?

If you popped into your local PC World last year, the display aisle dedicated to Tablets would have consisted of a foot. Now you can not fail to notice the mile-long parade of not-quite-but-nearly-palm-sized...

At the count.

The atmosphere inside the University West of England's exhibition centre was tense today during the count for Bristol's first elected Mayor. Ballot papers were counted twice after the first count revealed a tie between Labour candidate Marvin Rees and independent candidate George Ferguson. Rumours swept the room...

Bristol's Mayoral candidates were duly challenged during the Youth Mayoral Debate, hosted by 'Young Bristol' at The Station on Thursday 25th October. The questions posed by Bristol's youth reflected a range of concerns and took a detour from the usual employment and housing-centric topics popular during former hustings.

One such...

Imagine boarding a train in Birmingham that will zip to London in less than an hour. By 2026 the government hopes this will become a reality with the building of a brand spanking new high-speed rail link from Birmingham to London, courtesy of the tax-payer of course. As well as...

The age we live in now can be crystallised by one word: excess. One obvious example is the sheer amount of information we are bombarded with at every moment. We are permanently plugged in to a network of mobile phones, radio, internet and TV. The daily press greets us with...

It seems like it was only yesterday that my family and I were watching the 5 flame-forged rings ascending above the Olympic stadium. Now that we have been sung out of the Olympics by Britain's best, my thoughts turn to how we can best keep the flame ignited and inspire...

Feel enraged, confused, tired or (forbid) happy?

Go for a walk!

Sounds simple doesn't it?

My walks have taken on a meditative quality. I try to consciously feel every muscle move as I walk. This gets my mind off of any issue I was struggling with and I...

The teaching profession has become saturated with theory. We are in an age where there is more theory than ever before, yet our basic demands of the education system (literacy and numeracy) have not been met. At times I wish I was the terminator (slightly because of the fashion, definitely...

"Thank you for speaking with me" she said.
"It was my pleasure." I replied.
"You see, I appreciate it because you may be the only person I speak to today."
I was so shocked, I asked her to repeat herself.

Who is Jean? Well, she...

Should we analyse our patterns of behaviour in the savannah and use this blueprint for our understanding and manipulation of behaviour now?

I experienced a brain-flare of indignation after reading an article in New Scientist regarding the 'neuroenhancement of love and the biological limitations of love'. The authors of...

What is your earliest food-related memory? Is it a multi-sensory extravaganza? A memory saturated in saffron hues and heady citrus aromas. No? Perhaps it involves fear, or the dull, metallic tang of the authoritatively-wielded but well-meaning spoon most infants encounter during their first foray into solid foods?

For a...

Realising I am now teaching students born in the year 2000 (or the year of Eminem Vs Bob the Builder Christmas no.1 battle as I remember it), was one of those moments where the generation gap was thrown into sharp relief. After I read an article on New York's iZone,...