Table of contents for Summer 2017 in Innovation & Tech Today

Recently, crowdfunding platforms have lured both inventors and con artists alike with their promise of a no-strings-attached way to fund their ideas. You may have heard of the Coolest Cooler, an all-in-one cooler boasting a built-in blender, USB charger, and plastic dinnerware (among other things), that became both the second-most-funded Kickstarter campaign of all time and the biggest flop. With the cooler originally priced at $450, backers were disappointed when they received a cooler that broke easily and was soon being sold on Amazon for less than the Kickstarter price. Many in the tech blogosphere chalk up this failure to managerial inexperience. But some similarly disastrous projects are actually never meant to succeed at all, using deception to draw donations only to keep the money and run when it all…

Not all biomedical researchers spend their days moving fungal samples into test tubes with pipettes and Petri dishes. Some are out in the field, strapping sensors onto sweaty baseball players or pasting instruments onto pirouetting ballerinas. That’s where you can find Dr. Antonia Zaferiou, director of a growing research lab at Rush University Medical Center that uses cutting-edge sensor technology to answer questions in biomechanics. Her team is currently working on “developing biofeedback to reduce the risk of injury while improving performance,” studying activity that ranges from shoulder movement before and after replacement surgery to how baseball players move while swinging a bat. Research like Zaferiou’s can help train athletes to adjust their movements by even fractions of an inch to avoid repetitive strain or larger injuries. She explains that…

Racing and the environment: an oxymoron? Not so much. The world of motorsports has a challenging task – reducing its ecological footprint and improving public perception. However, recent developments reveal that the industry might be getting on the right track. Motorsports is a $13.5 billion business, roughly on the same level as the National Football League. Beyond the sport’s wide appeal, it’s auto racing’s recent green initiatives that are garnering brand new (and unexpected) attention. Sustainable-minded advancements in tires, fuels, oils, and vehicles (such as electric and hybrid) have already reached the cars at your local dealership. Therefore, it should be no surprise that professional race teams – staffed with topflight engineers – are developing innovative and eco-friendly solutions. The top sanctioning bodies of NASCAR, IndyCar, and F1 are all…

That was the message companies around the globe found plastered across their computer screens during the WannaCry ransomware attack in May. Though the methods used were unsophisticated, the attack was a large-scale event that affected millions of computers worldwide. This is sobering news for leaders worried about cyber risk. Hospitals and health systems face unique liability because of medical records. Notably, Britain’s NHS public health system was hit hard by WannaCry, but its patient data does not appear to have been affected. Other health systems may not be as fortunate. Medical records are highly valuable on the black market and are common targets in cyber attacks. As technology, telehealth, and the Internet of Things become more engrained into healthcare, it is vital that cyber security be sufficiently addressed in risk…

The alarm jolts me awake. It’s time to get dressed, put water on for tea, and slip past my slumbering dog. I unplug my tablet and step outside in time to catch the sunrise over Sedona, Arizona’s red sandstone cliffs. Another traveler is already hard at work in his converted school bus. We’re 15 miles from civilization. It’s morning in the land of the digital nomad. Capitalizing on the growth of portable technology and accessible internet, the percentage of U.S. employees working away from the office rose from 9% to 37% between 1995 and 2015. In the late 1990s, a handful of remote workers began testing the limits of mixing travel and work, taking their careers with them across the globe. Originally called “techno-nomads” by The New York Times, today’s…

Ranked the number one city for food in the U.S. by Travel + Leisure magazine, New Orleans’ cultural scene is flourishing, and if you’re planning on visiting Louisiana soon, the narrow streets of the famous French Quarter are no doubt on your to-do list. But figuring out where to stay can be a hassle. That’s where the New Orleans Hotel Collection comes in. Featuring seven upscale hotels, the New Orleans Hotel Collection makes it easy to find lodgings for both business and pleasure, like the professional-yet-relaxing Dauphine Orleans Hotel. Located just a block from the bustle of Bourbon Street, this hotel is within walking distance to much of the French Quarter, including the New Orleans streetcar lines and Mississippi River front. Of course, with complimentary Wi-Fi access and a courtyard…

~950 B.C: WORLD’S OLDEST PROSTHETIC TOE HELPS MUMMY WALK LIKE AN EGYPTIAN. In 2000, archaeologists unearthed what was thought to be the world’s oldest prosthetic device attached to the mummy of a 50- to 60-year-old Egyptian woman who was missing a big toe. While some historians speculated that the prosthetic toe, which was made of wood and leather, was merely attached during mummification for religious or ceremonial purposes, a 2012 study suggested otherwise. Replicas of the toe were made and outfitted for volunteers missing a big toe. The volunteers' walking improved significantly while wearing the prosthetic toe, and they even found it more comfortable than a plaster, linen, and glue version that postdated it by almost 500 years! 1816: AN EARLY VERSION OF THE STETHOSCOPE AMPLIFIES HEART SOUNDS AND ALLOWS…

“People don’t live in New Orleans because it is easy. They live here because they are incapable of living anywhere else in the just same way.” So wrote Ian McNulty, whose book A Season of Night: New Orleans Life After Katrina provided poignant accounts of life in the The Big Easy after the disastrous hurricane in 2005. In addition to being an apt description of life in New Orleans, McNulty’s words capture Louisiana as a whole. Also known as the Sugar State, Louisiana has carved out a niche for itself as a vibrant cultural hub of the American South. The L-shaped seat of Cajun cooking, it’s a place with a flavor all its own, one born of an eclectic history. New Orleans is the hometown of iconic trumpeter Louis Armstrong,…

“In the planning department, we had a slogan: ‘In God we trust. Everybody else bring data,” said Bob Higdon. Bob was part of the in-house Turner Industries team in the early 1990s that created a project management, budgeting, and reporting program that won a U.S. Senate Productivity Award. Before “information technology” entered the business lexicon, the Turner key punch crew was entering job data on manila index cards into a mainframe computer. Fast-forward to today. With nearly 20,000 employees and average annual revenues approaching $3 billion, Turner Industries has grown to be the largest private employer in Louisiana. The company provides heavy industrial construction, maintenance, and related services to the companies that drive the economic engine of the state, many of which are on the Fortune 500 Global list. Bert…

Natchitoches (“naka-tush”), Louisiana may not be the first place you think of as cutting edge, but, in light of recent developments, perhaps it should be. More than 300 years in the making, Natchitoches is home to some great companies and opportunities alike. Employers like Alliance Compressors, an Emerson joint venture, trust the local workforce to deliver – and they have, earning Alliance top honors among worldwide facilities. Quality of life is also enhanced by a medical complex that invests in technology; and companies like CSRA trust the graduates of Natchitoches’ own Northwestern State University (NSU) to help them deliver technology services to the federal government. Natchitoches is worth exploring – not only because of its history and culture but because of the myriad approaches to enhancing quality of life and…

While Sony’s PlayStation VR, Facebook’s Oculus Rift, and the HTC Vive have brought virtual reality home, there are still some people who can’t afford the price of this technology or who are just waiting for VR to improve. Either way, this has opened up new business opportunities for the 21st century arcade. For instance, companies like IMAX, Starbreeze, and Zero Latency are building out a new network of arcades designed to showcase existing and cutting-edge virtual reality technology. “There are a lot of VR-curious people who don’t want to spend $1,000 to try it at home, which is helping us a lot,” explained Tim Ruse, CEO of Zero Latency. “Initially, a lot of VR developers were coming through to play. And now a lot of people are just coming through…

Ever since we took our first stroll down Sesame Street, searched the world for Carmen Sandiego, or rode The Magic School Bus, the lines between education and entertainment have been blurred. Edutainment, as you may have guessed, is the blending of education and entertainment, notably in the form of television programs and video games. However, new technology has also presented some fascinating possibilities for edutainment in the classroom. With programs such as Google Expeditions offering over 500 different virtual reality field trip experiences, there’s a good reason 84 percent of teachers surveyed by Campus Technology believe tech has had a positive effect in the classroom. Classic forms of the genre are living on as well, with Sesame Street successfully moving to HBO and Netflix to release a reboot of the…

Cyber Security Summit This year's Cyber Security Summit, located in Denver, featured a bevy of experienced cyber security experts as speakers, including presentations from the F.B.I’s Cyber Task Force Supervisory Special Agent Chad Alvarado and CenturyLink’s VP and CSO Dave McMahon. Luxury Tech Show A celebration of the dynamic new technology we will be seeing in the near future, the Luxury Tech Show in New York featured everything from smart audio equipment to the next evolution of 3D printers. All the new gadgets being shown off at the event made the Metropolitan Pavilion home to the future of tech. March for Science On April 22, 2017, more than 600 cities in the U.S. participated in the March for Science, with the goal of championing science for the greater good. Together,…

“Maher must have missed the irony of speaking about tech addiction from a › platform that the average American spends about 5 hours a day glued to.” “The tycoons of social media have to stop pretending that they’re friendly nerd-gods building a better world and admit they’re just tobacco farmers in t-shirts, selling an addictive product to children,” Bill Maher brazenly announced to his HBO audience back in May. Addressing what has recently been dubbed “brain hacking,” Maher must have missed the irony of speaking about tech addiction from a platform that the average American spends about 5 hours a day glued to. But I digress. Social media addiction is an important problem. In fact, one thing that distinguishes this dependence is just how ubiquitous its symptoms are. In movie…

Ohio has long been a premier automotive state, and it continues to lead by investing in technologies that will drive the industry’s future. Today, as the nation’s number one producer of transmissions and engines, Ohio is pioneering a new generation of automotive innovation: smart mobility. The State of Ohio, JobsOhio, and The Ohio State University recently committed $45 million to fund the Smart Mobility Advanced Research and Test Center (SMART), a new state-of-the art hub for autonomous research and testing. The 540-acre facility represents an expansion of Ohio’s 4,500-acre Transportation Research Center (TRC), the nation’s largest independent automotive proving ground. “SMART is just the latest investment in Ohio’s smart mobility ecosystem, which we believe is unrivaled in North America,” said Kristi Tanner, senior managing director for automotive at JobsOhio, the…

“They were so angry, but it was just so comical to me. I don’t understand how a girl throwing a football can be so offensive to anyone.” Throwing a football with precision can take years of practice, as even the greatest quarterbacks of all time spent decades honing their skills. But for internet sensation Callie Bundy, that talent came naturally. Best known for her “trick shot” videos, in which she makes unbelievable throws from long distances, Bundy has amassed hundreds of thousands of views online. A typical video on Bundy’s YouTube channel will feature her doing everything from throwing a football into a basketball hoop from the other end of the court to firing a perfect spiral through an airborne hula hoop. Describing herself as an “ex-jock who just likes…

Feeling bogged down by the daily dose of mind-numbing gridlock, pushy salespeople, and recurring nightmares of unfinished tasks on your ever-expanding to-do list? Maybe you’ve endured one too many excruciatingly long meetings that could have been an email. It’s time you cash in on some of that hard-earned PTO you’ve accrued over the past few years and take the trip of a lifetime. Heck, you deserve it. QUICK FACTS: Belize is the only country in Central America where English is the official language. Although it’s a rather small country, Belize contains many wildly diverse ecosystems. The Belize Barrier Reef is the second largest coral reef system in the world, after the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. Your escape to adventure in paradise is closer (and much cheaper) than you think!…

Pau Hana Endurance Designed to take on anything in its way, the Pau Hana Endurance paddle board lives up to its name. Utilizing specialized Ricochet Impact Resistant Technology, the Endurance can take on any obstacle with ease. $1,599 Copenhagen Wheel Easy to install and able to fit on nearly any bike, the Copenhagen Wheel will get you to ride more and drive less. Featuring the ability to select different modes and collect data on your bike ride directly from your smartphone, the Copenhagen has literally reinvented the wheel. $1,499 WASPcam 9907 4K Camera Few cameras are as versatile as the WASPcam 9907 4K from Cedar Electronics. Waterproof without a case down to 98 feet, this camera can take 4K video and photos up to 20MP. You can also use its…

Concussions have quickly gone from an accepted part of contact sports to a more widely recognized health issue with long term consequences if not addressed early and prudently. As highlighted poignantly in the PBS documentary League of Denial, in which the negative connection between brain injuries and football is explored by Dr. Bennet Omalu, concussions are much more than “getting your bell rung.” The brain trauma caused by concussions can lead to a wide array of symptoms, including but not limited to: headaches, dizziness, visual dysfunction, sleep disorders and cognitive dysfunction. Omalu, on whom the 2015 film Concussion is also based, told Time Magazine that football players “have impaired memory…mood problems…I think 90 to 100 percent of all of them will have some residual problem from their exposure to thousands…

It may not be the first place that comes to mind when thinking about tech, but Louisiana is quickly becoming one of the most advantageous places for software companies to set up shop. And it’s not just because software developers want to enjoy the warm weather, delicious seafood, and festivals. There are many logistical reasons for the state’s burgeoning software development industry, starting with the economy. According to Area Development’s annual Top States for Doing Business Report, Louisiana is No. 5 in the nation for doing business. Additionally, software development is Louisiana’s No. 1 industry sector in terms of growth, with 10.5 percent job growth from 2012 to 2016. This economic surge has had one significant result: the massive boom of software development. Since 2015, several major software companies –…

Justin Salerian knows a thing or two about thermodynamics, lab animals, and the urban legends surrounding icy rivers. That sounds like a random assortment of knowledge, but, as the current Vascular Neurology Fellow at Tulane University, Dr. Salerian – in partnership with Drs. Aimee Aysenne and Robert Schock – is combining all three in a study to see how therapeutic hypothermia can help stroke patients. In the past, doctors had limited means of intervening in a stroke. “About 20 years ago there was nothing you could do for an occluded blood vessel in the brain. [We could only] give them an aspirin to hope [to] prevent another one from happening,” Salerian says. In the 1990s, a drug called Tissue Plasminogen Activator (tPA), which functions as a kind of Drain-O for…

“I thought it was just going to be this little cartoon.” Acting is a notoriously unnerving profession. But can you imagine what it’s like to regularly perform on the set of a Michael Bay film? Thousands of dollars’ worth of explosions are being set off around you, and, if you flub your lines, all of it has to be reset. Very few professional actors ever have to face this kind of pressure, but it’s something to which Transformers veteran Josh Duhamel has grown more and more accustomed during his run with the franchise – which is marking its 10th year with this summer’s The Last Knight. Playing Lt. Colonel William Lennox ever since the debut of the successful blockbuster series back in 2007, Duhamel has some unique insights regarding what…

Flippy, The Robot Chef The most bluntly named of the robots on this list, Flippy has no issue with flipping burgers the rest of its life. The robot, which is currently being integrated by the California burger chain CaliBurger, is built to perfectly cook and flip hamburgers, even putting them in a bun afterwards. But, as is the great limitation with our robotic counterparts, it still can’t put condiments on said burgers. Take that, robot empire! To read more about Flippy, go to pg. 22 Cafe X, Barista Bot Are you tired of the 30 seconds of human interaction it takes to order a cup of coffee? Then look no further than Cafe X. The “robotic cafe” kiosk, which can currently only be found in San Francisco,…

In the North Pacific, there’s a vortex of trash roughly twice the size of Texas. Known as “The Great Pacific Garbage Patch,” this sluggish whirlpool grows daily – swelled by massive currents hauling literal tons of human waste. The “Patch” is one of 11 naturally occurring global current systems called “gyres.” And it was only in the past three decades that researchers began to notice that these gyres were gradually collecting thousands of pounds of plastic debris. As of today, it has been estimated that at least 270,000 tons of plastic are floating among these systems in the ocean (not counting what’s on the seafloor). It would be a wake-up call if it didn’t already sound so nightmarish; the image of gargantuan oceanic trash vortexes smacks of doomsday science fiction.…

Home Sweet 3D Printed Home Building a home can be extremely expensive, taking months or even years to complete. But imagine if constructing a house were as easy as just pressing “print.” Apis Cor, a company with a huge focus on 3D printing, has created an entire home using their technology in just 24 hours at the cost of $10,000. The company, which has offices in both San Francisco and Russia, developed the sleekly designed house in just a day. Their next step? Using the technology to help people in tough living situations afford housing. Because the process is quick and fairly cheap, it could provide a real boon to people in need. Considering the heightened rent many of us are seeing, a 3D printed home is starting to seem…

Starting all the way back in June 2016, when the Democratic National Convention revealed that its computer systems had been breached by Russian hackers, allegations (and evidence) that Russia has been using cyber-warfare in attempts to influence the politics of other countries have exploded. In January of this year, a declassified report released by the U.S. Intelligence Community, containing assessments made by the C.I.A., F.B.I., and N.S.A., concluded that “Putin and the Russian Government aspired to help President-elect Trump’s election chances…by discrediting Secretary Clinton and publicly contrasting her unfavorably to him.” Just months later, in a situation eerily similar to the one experienced by U.S. presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, France’s election also had emails leaked at a crucial time. On May 5, 2017, a little less than 48 hours before…

The last time Silicon Valley proclaimed the end of the traditional automobile industry it didn’t go so well. In the late 1990s tech bubble, in the heyday of Pets.com and Webvan, online retailing was supposed to render old-school car retail obsolete. Those digital entrepreneurs may not have appreciated the historical significance of the automotive franchise system, but they found out it worked, and the survivors ended up serving the traditional industry. These software “guys” may have lost that battle, but they’re back with a vengeance this decade. You could make a good argument that the center of the automotive world’s future is being planned in Silicon Valley. Tesla aside – and that company is manufacturing cars along with innovative software in Northern California – every auto company has a presence…

“I’ll say this: there are some cities that without doubt have had some coordinated attacks that caused temporary outages. And it has not been publicized.” The threat of all-out cyber warfare is looming. That sentence may sound exaggerated, alarmist – the kind of thing you’d expect to see in a clickbait headline. However, according to Shawn Key, an expert in cybersecurity with nearly 20 years in the business, it’s one of modern life’s hard truths. Key, who works directly with Stratford University to train anti-hackers, was frank in explaining just how imminent a large-scale cyberattack is, all while drawing a picture of what one would look like and what we can do to prepare. Innovation & Tech Today: What is the biggest threat right now with regards to…

While sports have seen some minimal changes over the years, such as minor rule tweaks or instant replay, how we follow our favorite games has changed dramatically. First, fans were reading up on the game scores in the newspaper. Then they were catching up on sports stories on the nightly news. And, in the smartphone era, they are getting immediate phone notifications in real time. The medium of sports journalism itself is also no stranger to change. In fact, it was only around 1914 that sports editors were widely recognized in the journalistic world. As the Super Bowl attracts viewers in the hundreds of millions and highlights have become a mainstay of water cooler talk, sports coverage has become a necessity of popular culture. However, the industry is beginning to…

Hendersonville is an ideal spot in Western North Carolina for those looking to escape busy schedules and immerse themselves in outdoor adventure. This vibrant town has emerged from the shadow of nearby Asheville with a mix of adventure, arts, and locally brewed spirits, all surrounded by the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains. DuPont State Recreational Forest contains more than 10,000 acres of public-access forest. Visitors enjoy 80 miles of trails and several of North Carolina’s prettiest waterfalls. The forest recently gained attention as a filming location for The Hunger Games. Sliding Rock in the Pisgah National Forest is another favorite. The 60-foot boulder is a natural water slide that empties into a chilly mountain pool. Meanwhile, Lazy Otter Outfitters offers tubing, kayaking, canoeing, and stand-up paddleboarding on the peaceful French Broad…

News on genomics is common these days: from gene editing that can, for example, create so-called “designer babies,” to precision treatments for cancer and personal genetic testing, which can provide valuable insights on our disease carrier status (for family planning). Genetic testing can also tell us about traits related to athletic performance and our body’s response to certain drugs. But why is this all happening now, particularly at such a rapid pace? A PRIMER ON DNA AND GENOMICS Our DNA is sometimes referred to as the “blueprint of life” because it contains all the necessary instructions to make a living organism, while helping it survive and reproduce. Every single one of the living cells in our body contains this blueprint, which is composed of 23 pairs of chromosomes (46 total),…

Hearing one of your coworkers say they got a good night’s sleep has become as rare as hearing they’re glad the weekend is over. Whether the blame is placed on over-caffeination, using devices late into the night, or those noisy neighbors that play techno music until the wee hours of the morning, there’s a good chance you’re not getting enough sleep either. Perhaps it’s that the time-honored traditions of a glass of warm milk and counting sheep late into the night just won’t cut it anymore. According to the CDC, over one third of adult Americans don’t get enough sleep, which can lead to everything from sickness and exhaustion to obesity and unneeded stress. Smart devices have taken much of the blame, as they can bring an extra layer of…

You might assume that most products arrive to the U.S. after travelling hundreds of miles in the hold of an airplane or stacked in the back of a tractor-trailer. In reality, more than half of all U.S. imports arrive by boat, a major portion sent through just five large ports located along the lower 255 miles of the Mississippi River. One of these is the Port of South Louisiana (PSL), which handled over 294 million short tons of cargo in 2016, more than any other American port. With that much trade coming in, PSL is undoubtedly a critical part of the United States’ infrastructure, making it a potential target for sabotage or terrorism. So how does Louisiana keep its biggest port safe? Enter the Maritime Security Operations Center (MSOC). Established…

It is not often that a community can witness the birth of a new industry sector. But that is happening right now with the technology/digital media sector in Lafayette, Louisiana. With five major business recruitment announcements since 2014 and other projects in the works, Lafayette has firmly established itself as a technology hub, not only in the south but in the entire U.S. For more than 50 years Lafayette has built a reputation as a technology-savvy community. The University of Louisiana at Lafayette was among the early national leaders in the field of computer science – offering the nation’s first Masters of Science program and the first doctoral program in the state in the 1960s. Silicon Bayou was launched in the 1980s as an initiative to recruit technology companies to…

“There’s a rhythm to our communication. The old days of the inauthentic, put-together speaker are gone. People see through that. It takes too much effort — a lot of mental and emotional effort — to wear a mask.” FEAR OF PUBLIC SPEAKING I believe that we have bigger fish to fry than standing up in front of a person and talking. I know there are statistics out there… Here’s what I believe: I believe that each individual has a unique groove, a flow state, when they’re at their absolute best as a communicator. And that takes precedent over any fear that may be there. There was a story…of BB King. Someone asked him one time how he became such a great blues guitarist. And he said, “For years and years,…

The Force remains strong at Electronic Arts. The game company continues to develop brand new adventures in the official Star Wars canon through its licensing agreement with Disney-owned Lucasfilm. The latest game, Star Wars Battlefront 2, will ship Nov. 17 for PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One, and introduce a full single-player campaign (something the original game skipped). That storyline will feature performance capture from Hollywood actress Janina Gavankar as Iden Versio, the leader of Inferno Squad, an elite special forces unit of the Galactic Empire. That’s right. This female hero will be fighting against the Rebel Alliance. The story picks up at the conclusion of The Return of the Jedi, where the destruction of Death Star II and the death of the Emperor drive Versio on a quest for…

“Don’t put words in my mouth,” we often say. But apparently this mischief is something we enjoy. Just take a look at the 800 million total video views on Bad Lip Reading’s YouTube channel. If you’re unfamiliar, BLR takes existing video and masterfully dubs new audio that matches the lip movements, often to hilarious effect. As perfectly synced as those videos are though, they’re still lacking in one crucial way: the dubbed audio isn’t in the subject’s actual voice. But what if it was? During the Sneaks portion of Adobe’s MAX 2016 conference, presenter Zeyu Jin unveiled an experimental project – titled VoCo – that could take BLR to the next level. “You guys have been making weird stuff online with photo editing,” he said to a chorus of laughter.…

On August 1, 2007, the eight-lane I-35W Mississippi River Bridge – one of Minneapolis’s busiest bridges – collapsed into the Mississippi River during the middle of rush hour, killing 13 people and injuring 145 more. An investigation revealed that a design flaw was most likely to blame; one of the steel sheets connecting the girders and beams to the central pillars had been made too thin, and as a result rivets had been able to tear through it. The collapse served as a serious reminder of the fragility of the everyday infrastructure that we take for granted and how costly it can be when it fails. The I-35W bridge, for example, cost $234 million to rebuild, not including the damage done to the local economy because of the ensuing detours.…

When physicist Andrew Yakub set out to bring down the cost of solar panels, he turned to studies conducted for the 1950s nuclear arms race. This research would then become the basis for his new company, Rayton Solar. As company founder and CEO, Yakub discusses the technology behind his solar story. Innovation & Tech Today: Rayton’s unique method of manufacturing solar panels revolves around a particle accelerator. What led you to develop this concept? Andrew Yakub: In 2013, I was looking to lower the cost of Solar by 30 percent to continue doing installations. The process of cutting silicon when manufacturing panels is incredibly expensive and wasteful, so I decided to reinvent this by using a particle accelerator instead. I&T Today: How did you embark upon…