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Experience Bollinger Responsibly
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@BollingerUK #BollingerByTheGlass
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069“Themore apt question is, ‘Why isn’tthere a Pill for men, in addition tothe Pill for women?’” – Carl Djerassi
101Europe’s 100hottest startupsWelcome to WIRED’s thirdannual list of the ten techcities you need to knowabout, and 100 companiescausing the greatest buzz
126The nanonoseBreathe out: you arereleasing a powerfulchemical trail that canidentify early signs ofcancer and other diseases
134Built bythe crowdCommunity cash isbuilding parks, communitycentres and skyscrapers– so where does thatleave governments?
140LifescientistJ Craig Venter, the firstperson to sequence thehuman genome, has anew project – convertingDNA into a digital signal
FEATURES
SECTIONS 048STARTFor brighter, whiter bonesSwizzels Double Dip also does double-duty asa fire extinguisher and a taxidermist’s tool
087PLAYForging the futureAn industrious Canadian collective is ensuringblacksmiths’ skills will live forever – online
061FETISHObjects of desireHi-tech running vest; illuminated dress; midi-controller jacket; retro rides; coffee makers
018STARTHeli-plane, no driver requiredProject Zero, a hybrid helicopter-aeroplane,is taking to the skies – without a pilot
088PLAYLifft I FfwrddWales is joining the space race – and it’susing its history as a launch pad
069IDEAS BANKBrain food and provocationsCarl Djerassi; Hal Gregersen; Adam Penenberg;Nicholas Lovell; Greg Lindsay
041STARTDestinationMoonAstro Teller of Google[x] aims to improve theworld’s broken industries – to the power of ten
093HOW TOLife enhancementDefend against pirates; boost your Twitterfollowers; make compost using worms
077PLAYHacking the hidden cityBradley Garrett explores the urban world’sforgotten treasures, from tunnels to rooftops
027STARTMail-order microbiomeJessica Richman’s uBiome can reveal yourhidden microbial machinations
147TESTLab resultsFishing rods with added nanotechnology;fireworks for your back-garden displayP
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Some of our guiding dermatologist’s recommendations are quite practical:Use a face scrub to lift hairs. Lather up to reduce friction. Thenthedoctor goesdeeper: Cleanse and exfoliate daily, and you can expect fewer ingrown hairs,less razor burn. Our formulas help you satisfy all the good doctor’s advice.And guarantee great skin, great shaves.
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WHAT WIRED.CO.UKLEARNT THIS MONTH
The City of London’s recycling bins aretracking thousands of smartphones.tinyurl.com/mh57669
Selling Raspberry Pi cases has madeJacob Marsh rich. tinyurl.com/mcqc54n
Working at Nasa can lead to acareer designing Halloween outfitstinyurl.com/n5m2lfg
I’m surprised Google+ has more than50,000 users. @chrisbeach, on WIRED
attracting 50,000 Google+ followers
Nice article about makers assistingbig design names. When digitalmakers means doing it with fingers!@stonemasonryco
One of the inspirations of ourgeneration. Great article on ThomasHeatherwick. @compareschoolse
Good to see Lovejoy on thecover of @WiredUK. @jneill
“I’d like Christians to explain how THIS [Three-metre bobbit worm is the ocean’s most disturbingpredator, wired.co.uk] made it on to the Arkwithout eviscerating everything.”@demolition
OWN A TABLET?There’s a digitaledition of WIRED
just for you…
10.13 HOW TO INNOVATE ThomasHeatherwickwas the cover starof our gloss-spattered October issue. Inside, the master makerofferedsomerulesofdesignandsharedwithushis studio’splansforthefuture.We’vehadbridges,boatsandcauldrons:whatshouldhe tackle next? Let us know: [email protected]; #WIREDUK
PLAGUED BY DESIGNHaving lived in Manchester and London,I know two of Thomas Heatherwick’sdesigns quite well (Master builder, 10.13).His B of the Bang sculpture in Mancuniastarted shedding the tips of itsmetal spikes– from a height of over 50 metres beforeit was even unveiled. It didn’t manage toimpale me, but another of his projects, theremodelled Routemaster, did get undermy skin. Replacing the unpopular “bendybuses”, Heatherwick’s vehicle should havereceived a free pass from press and public,but itwas designedwithwindows that can-not be opened. Summertime temperatureson the upper deck of the 38 exceeded thelimits allowed for transporting livestock. Itseems you can have decent air-con or a bigdoor that continually opens, but not both.Steve Fentiman, via email
FROM OUR FACEBOOK PAGEUganda’s tech community is steadilyevolving (Uganda’s tech pioneers, 09.13).I trust that we will get to the pinnacleof technology innovation that will helptransform our communities for the better.Great strides, folks.AmbroseEtigu
What a great idea (This headline has beenwritten for dyslexics, 09.13). I hope it’seffective. It’s actually quite an attractiveface. Please can this replace Comic Sansnow?Please?Ben Capewell
Apps are NEVER going to take over the net(The web is dead – and the app killed it,09.13).They’renotcuttingthroughanything.They’re dumber due to being incapable ofincluding a lot of information, for technicaland ergonomic reasons.JackHertz
Enjoy autumn’sfirst fireworks
display as we put aselection of home-usebangers androckets to the test.
Download theWIRED app to
hear exclusiveinterviews with selectmembers of Europe’s100 Hottest Startups.
THIS MONTH IN OURTABLET EDITIONS
WIRED TWEETS
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contr ibutors
CARLDJERASSIIn Ideas Bank this month,Djerassi – one of thescientists responsible forthe breakthrough thatled to the creation of thefemale contraceptive Pill– tells us why we’re stillwaiting for a male Pill.“The clinical developmenttime would be too long,”he says. “Men wouldneed guarantees that,after 40 years [of use],they would still be fertile.I’d have used it, though.”
JORDANMETCALFBased in Cape Town,Metcalf provided thestriking illustratedlettering for the openingpages of our J CraigVenter interview.“People such as Venterare modern pioneerswho drag everyone elsekicking and screaminginto the new world,”says Metcalf. “It’s vitalto have people like himpushing the boundariesof human knowledge.”
COURTNEYBOYD MYERSSplitting her timebetween working withstartups in New York andLondon, Boyd Myers wasperfectly positioned totell us about Prizeo – astartup that harnessesceleb-power for charity.“It helps charitiesto take more effectiveadvantage of socialmedia and analytics,”she says. “Many of themjust aren’t proficientwith web technologies.”
ROGERHIGHFIELDThe director of externalaffairs at the ScienceMuseum Group, Highfieldinterviews genomicspioneer J Craig Venter.“Most journalists sayVenter is a ‘maverick’,”says Highfield. “But he’sa scientist who becamerich and successful bydoing great research.And he’s straightforward– if he thinks that you’vebuggered somethingup, he’ll say so.”
PERRYCURTIESCurties photographed the“big three” in our Fetishsection this month.“I like objects that blendpracticality with greatdesign,” he says. “Usinga really nice spatula canmake someone as happyas using an iPad.” Andis there something he’dlike to photograph forthe section? “I’ve seenan experimental organicfabric that growsin sheets, underwater.”
DETECTINGTHE DOCTORMaarten de Groot,The nano nose, p126:“Meeting Tjip [van derWerf] in Groningen wasamazing – he has a greatsense of humour, butalso knows how to bevery direct, which I thinkhis patients probablyappreciate. It didn’t taketoo long for him to getcomfortable in front ofthe camera. We did hisshoot in a controlledenvironment – I don’tthink I’ve ever washedmy hands so often.”
FEELINGTHE HEATJean-Mathieu Bérubé,Forging the future,p87: “Everythingabout the Les Forgesde Montréal foundrywas atmospheric: theheat, the forged metal,the noise, the sweaty,tattooed workers. I wasreally focused on gettingthe shot, so I didn’tnotice the metal sparksflying out and burninga hole in my trousers.I definitely noticedwhen it burnt throughto my skin, though…”
MAKINGWIRED
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Vintage Sport Heritage collection pays tribute to the Falcon’s 50th anniversary · Bell & Ross: +44 207 096 0878 · e-Boutique: www.bellross.com
Welcome to wired’s annual survey ofEurope’s startup hubs – featuring thehottest,mostexciting100companies, fromShoreditch to Stockholm, that you need toknow about now. For the third yearrunning, our team has hit the road toinvestigate the finance innovators, gamesdevelopers,databasewranglers,commerceenablers, travel simplif iers, mediaimpresarios, fashion analysts, securityproviders and all sorts of other boldentrepreneurs using digital tools to buildscalable, fast-growingbusinesses.Wecan’tclaim this is a scientific study – but we’recertainly confident that our months ofinquiry have unearthed 100 companieswhich at this moment have an influencethat goeswaybeyond their homemarket.
Whenwecame toplan this special report,wemade somegroundrules. First, we should aim to identify the companies that we feltwere making an international mark. Not necessarily the biggest,most profitable or best-known businesses – but those that ournetworks consider “hot” right now. Second, we would look forstrong localecosystemswhereclustersof startupsaredevelopingaconfident entrepreneurial culture. After concluding that Europe’smost significant clusters are Amsterdam, Istanbul, Stockholm,Helsinki, Moscow, Barcelona, Paris, Berlin, Tel Aviv and London(Tom Blomfield, Hiroki Takeuchi and Matt Robinson of London-basedGoCardless are shownbelow),weaskedmore than 150ofourmost informedconnections in these citieswhoweshould speak to.
We had some intense discussions. Should Tel Aviv count asEurope? (Yes, we decided, on grounds both of proximity andEurovisionSongContest rules.)Shouldshoestring localoperationssuch as Berlin’s GetYourGuide compete with well-fundedneighbours such asResearchGate for a list position? (Yes, as this isan indexof influenceandattentionrather thanfinancialmight.)Didwe miss any no-brainers and over-play companies that may notsurvive?Of course.Helpbetter informus, at [email protected].
More than ever, this year’s list highlights significant localstrengths, such as Helsinki’s gaming sector, or Paris’s role in retail.Europe is innovating, not just copyingUSsuccess stories, althoughsome of our biggest hits are localised versions of Silicon Valleyheroes. Now we need European governments to boostentrepreneurs’ freedom of movement with visa reforms, and tocreate new tax incentives for investors and founding teams. Andacross the continent, let’s continue to celebrate informed risk, andcondone rather than condemnambition that ends in failure.
Thankstoallourreportersandeveryoneinvolvedincompilingour2013guidetoEurope’shotteststartups.Willyoubeonnextyear’slist?
David Rowan, Editor
■ PPAMedia Brand of the Year, Consumer 2013■ DMATechnologyMagazine of the Year 2012■ DMAEditor of the Year 2012■ BSMEEditor of the Year, Special Interest 2012■ D&ADAward: Covers 2012■ DMAEditor of the Year 2011■ DMAMagazine of the Year 2011■ DMATechnologyMagazine of the Year 2011■ BSMEArtDirector of theYear, Consumer 2011■ D&ADAward: EntireMagazine 2011■ D&ADAward: Covers 2010■Maggies Technology Cover 2010■ PPADesigner of theYear, Consumer2010■BSMELaunch of the Year 2009
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NEWS AND OBSESSIONSTHIS MONTH: 11.13
• BACTERIA COMMUNITIES• SHADOW ROBOT• CAPTAIN OF MOONSHOTS• WIRED MONEY
EDITED BYJOÃO MEDEIROS
Project Zero’s patentscite a top speed of500kph and an altitudeceiling of 7.5km
Heli-plane, nopilot required
his aircraft is a tiltrotor – an all-electrichelicopter-aeroplane hybrid. It uses tworotors that can be angled either to easeoff the ground vertically and hover like ahelicopter, or inclinemore than 90° to fly atsimilar speeds and altitudes as aeroplanes.
Anglo-Italian helicopter maker Agusta-Westland developed the pilotless craft,
called Project Zero, beating efforts by the USArmy, Nasa and Boeing, which have all trieddeveloping aworking tiltrotor since the 1930s.
vice president of research and technology at AgustaWestland andMoretti’s project partner. Wang and three designers locked themselvesaway in a room hand-drawing the designs. “Everything in this aircraftwas a challenge because I wanted something that was supposedlyimpossible to realise,” saysWang. “So it has electric propulsion and verticaltakeoff–butnotlikeahelicopter–whichrequiredtworotorsandnomechanicaltransmission. Mostly, I wanted it to look sexy.”
In December 2012, after getting the green light for his “impossible”mission from the CEO, Wang assembled a team of 20 at AgustaWestland
headquarters and they set about finishingProject Zero within months. “If the projecttakes you twoyears you lose your chance, youlose yourmoment,” he explains.
The project drew on the expertise of allAgustaWestland’s partners: UK-based LolaComposites provided the carbon graphite forthe body; American company Rotor SystemsResearch helped with the aerodynamics ofthe rotors,whichwere produced by Japanesecompany Uchida. “This project has had themost intellectual input of all the company’swork,” says Moretti. “Even the people work-ing on the forklifts were involved, like theywere PhD students in engineering.”
Project Zero’s new system for swashplate-less, electromechanically controlled rotorscould be adapted tomake existing helicoptersmore stable in flight. The craft’s combinationof speed and control means it could replacehelicopters in emergency rescues, and pilot-less flight allows it to beused at high altitudesor in heavily polluted or toxic environments,such as during a volcanic eruption.
Only one obstacle remains, says Moretti:“The engines are there but the batteries arenot.Duringthetests, theengineswereworkingat three times their capacity.” The lithium-polymer batteries remove the need for main-tenance-heavy hydraulics but they’re notresilient enough for sustained flight. Agusta-Westland tried toadapt theultrafast batteriesby integrating a safety switch that preventsthem from short-circuiting, overheating andcatching fire. They are also considering atransition to a hybrid diesel-fuelled engine,and changing the blades so that, meetingthe wind at the right angle, the turbinescould be made to recharge the batteries.Carola Frediani agustawestland.com
It’s the first craft of its kind to integratetwo swing-bucket rotors into the mainfuselage, making it more efficient andeasier to control when taking off. Thebody, designed by Italian car companyBertone, is made entirely of carbongraphite to maximise its strengthand keep the weight down to 900kg.It also has no transmission or swash-plates, instead using electromechanicalactuators that individually rotate each blade,reducing vibrations and making flight smoother.
“It’s a flying test bench, the most beautiful in theworld,” says lead engineer Luigi Moretti, along-side the 13m-wide aircraft at AgustaWestland’sheadquarters in Lombardy. The whole projecttook just one year, of which the first three months
were devoted to planning,according to James Wang,
The outer wings of the tiltrotor aredetachable for helicopter-only missions
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The site measures240,000m2, of which4,090m2 is the floorspace of the building
S T A R T
ERIC FRIEDMANCTO AND COFOUNDER,FITBIT
“We’re seeing a new manifestation of the age-oldquest for self-understanding and self-discovery.There will be an increase in information aboutwhat we do and how we do it. At Fitbit we believegoing beyond the numbers is equally importantto enable users to act on the information in away that does not overwhelm them with charts.”
TOM WILLIAMSFOUNDER,HAPPIILY/BETTERCOMPANY
“It’s impossible to talk about impact as a singleoutcome. The impact of QS data will run the gamutof predictable human reactions: obsessiveness,laziness and, for some, action. The more significantimpact will come from ‘quantified everyone’when we’re automatically compared to othersand told explicitly how we measure up.”
SCÉ PIKEPARTNER AND CHIEFEXPERIENCE OFFICER, CITIZEN
“We’ll begin to see the emergence of digital soul.Not machines with souls, as the singularity theorysuggests, but the exact opposite. We humanswill digitise aspects of ourselves – from personalitytraits to bio-data – to create a simulacrum of oursoul. This will give us all the possibility to recreateourselves as digital entities.”
DANIELLE ROBERTSFOUNDER,AWARENESS LAB
“People will have more intimate knowledge aboutthemselves and others. Tiny sensors and actuatorsin connected clothing will enable real-timephysiological tracking, giving us insight into whatmakes us happy and healthy. Knowing someone’sstressed, we can reach out before they haveto bring up the subject, even before they realise.”
ADRIANA LUKASFOUNDER,LONDON QUANTIFIED SELF
“QS will either be essential in our lives, bringingdata literacy and individual empowerment, or yetanother trend subsumed into big platforms. Itrequires open personal-data infrastructure thatputs the three main requirements of QS usersunder their control – how to collect and export data,how and where to keep it, and how to use it.”MV
THE BIGQUESTION
“What will be the impact of thequantified self in the next decade?”
ANNE WOJCICKICOFOUNDER ANDCEO, 23ANDME
“We don’t have enough data about how lifestyledecisions impact our health. The QS movement willgenerate a massive amount of data about how welive. The aggregate of this will help us understandthe impact of various behaviours such as diet –and that will allow us to know the optimal lifestylefor each of us to live longer, healthier lives.”
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Reflectingon 300,000years
olzer-Kobler, the Berlin- and Zurich-based architectural practice, produced thisangular, reflective structure as a homageto an archaeological discovery in Schönin-gen, in Germany. Near the building, archae-ologists found 300,000-year-old woodenspears and skeletons of hunting horses. Thelocal authorities wanted to display them
to the public and commissioned the Paläon ResearchCentre (left), which was completed in June, to exhibit theartefacts. “The building is reflective – we wanted it toalmost disappear into the environment, so it mirrors thesurroundingmeadows,forestsandclouds,”explainsTristanKobler,cofounderandpartnerofHolzer-Kobler.Thedesignis split into two halves by the 17m-high foyer: one side is alab for scientists to examine finds; the other is a publiceducation centre including galleries, a café and interativelab. “Looking out, you have views to a 3km-long coalmine,
the excavation site andSchöningen,” says Kobler.“This building is special; itgives each of us a new per-spective onearly humanity.”MVholzerkobler.ch
HA laboratory-museumon an archaeologicalsite aims to blend in
The three-storey structurecost ¤15 million (£13m) andwas completed in 36 months
The ancient landscape wasevoked by planting trees andreintroducing wild horses
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GROW YOUR MIND( A N D C O N TA C T S )
BJöRKS I N G E R- S O N GW R I T E RA N D M U S I C I N N OVATO R
MARTIN REESCOS M O LO G I ST A N DA ST R O P H YS I C I ST
KEVIN ASHTONT EC H N O LO GY P I O N E E R
LANG LANGCO N C E RT P I A N I ST
ROSALIND PICARDP R O F E S S O R , M I T M E D I A L A B
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SPEAKERS ANNOUNCED SO FAR :
JACK ANDRAKAYO U N G I N V E N TO R ,A M AT EU R S C I E N T I ST A N DCA N C E R R E S E A R C H E R
SUNEET TULIC EO, DATAW I N D, C R E ATO RO F T H E A A K A S H CO M P U T E R
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BEAU LOTTON EU R OS C I E N T I ST A N D A RT I ST
LIAM CASEYF O U N D E R , P C H I N T E R N AT I O N A L
JOSHUA DAVISU S W I R E DCO N T R I B U T I N G E D I TO R
#W I R ED 20 1 3
DAVID EDWARDSFOUNDER OF LELABORATOIRE, PARIS
LINDA STONEWRITER AND CONSULTANT
EBEN UPTONFOUNDER AND TRUSTEE, THERASPBERRY PI FOUNDATION
MIKE GUNTONCREATIVE DIRECTOR,FACTUAL , BBC
Deb RoyASSOCIATE PROFESSOR,MIT MEDIA LAB; CHIEFMEDIA SCIENTIST, TWITTER
MORAN CERFNEUROSCIENTIST
KATHRYN MYRONUKDIRECTOR OF RESEARCH,SINGULARITY UNIVERSITY
ADAM SADOWSKYENTREPRENEUR AND MAKEROF RUBE GOLDBERG MACHINES
DEEPAK RAVINDRANFOUNDER, INNOZ
BRAD TEMPLETONCHAIR OF NETWORKS &COMPUTING, SINGULARITYUNIVERSITY
EVAN GRANTFOUNDER, SEEPER
CARL BASSPRESIDENT ANDCEO, AUTODESK
NATASCHA MCELHONEACTRESS
WALTER DE BROUWERFOUNDER, SCANADU
JANE NÍ DHULCHAOINTIGHINVENTOR, SUGRU
MOLLY CROCKETTNEUROSCIENTIST
OREN YAKOBOVICHCEO, VIDERE
MARCO TEMPESTMULTIMEDIA ILLUSIONIST
ISABEL BEHNCKE IZQUIERDOSOCIAL AND EVOLUTIONARYNEUROSCIENCE RESEARCH GROUP(SENRG), OXFORD UNIVERSITY
SESS IONPARTNER
PARTNERANCHORPARTNER
PHOTO
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PENCERLO
WELL
he body contains ten microbialcells for every human cell – on yourskin, in your mouth, nose, earsand gut. This network is called thehuman microbiome and, like thehuman genome, you can find outexactly what’s in it by sequencingits DNA – a service San Francisco-
basedstartupuBiome isbringing to thepublic.“The microbiome is a cutting-edge area of
research,” explains uBiomecofounder JessicaRichman (right). “But it canalsobebrought topeople, and people can be allowed to use it.”She wanted to give individuals the chance tolearnabout their ownbodies,while contribut-ing to research into themicrobiome.Themorepeople get sequenced, the more connectionscanbedrawnbetweendifferentmicrobial pop-ulations and demographic, lifestyle or healthfactors. In recent years, the microbiomehas been linked to conditions including gutdisorders, diabetes, obesity and depression.
Richman cofounded uBiome last Octoberwith biophysicist Zachary Apte and microbi-ologistWill Ludington. InFebruary, theprojectwascrowdfundedon Indiegogoandraisedmore than three times its $100,000 (£64,000) goal. Its backers are the first to receivekits, which start at $89. “It’s simple,” says Richman. “You buy it, we send you the tube,you take a sample, send it back, andwe tell you what’s in it.” Participants can swab theirskin,mouth,nose, genitalsorgastrointestinal tract (takenbyswabbingused toiletpaper).Richman’steamthenprocessestheswabsinalabattheUniversityofCalifornia,SanFrancisco.
Individual results are kept private, but participants can seewhere theirmicrobiome fits inwith the dataset in general. And as
Indiegogo’smail-ordermicrobiomeJessica Richman’s uBiome canreveal your hidden microbialmachinations: just swab and send
the project progresses, Richman hopes toallow people to ask questions of the datathatmight never be addressed by scientificstudies. “Things like, doyouswim inachlo-rinated pool? Do you eat one meal a day?”she says. “Questions that might be a bitunusual butmight affect themicrobiome.”Victoria Turk uBiome.com
Jessica Richman: “uBiome tells you every single base-pair of the DNA in that little tube”
S T A R T
TIRED
Digg as newspaper killer
Refraining from Godwin
Stellar Wind
The attention economy
Lojban
Pro-am Werewolf
WIRED
Digg as RSS reader
Passing the Bechdel Test
Tempora
The co-ordination economy
Indignadese
Meta tic-tac-toe
EXPIRED
Digg as cultural phenomenon
Not using Comic Sans
Echelon
The economy
Esperanto
3D chess
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INTRODUCINGPLAY AND PLUGTECHNOLOGYThe Soccket, a football designedby New York-based entrepreneurJessica Matthews, harnesseskinetic energy as you play with it.“Plug it in after a 30-minutegame and it will give you threehours of light,” says Matthews,CEO of Uncharted Play, thestartup behind the device.
Nigeria-born Matthews, 25,designed it while at HarvardUniversity. “We had to find asolution to a social problem,combining art and science,” shesays. She chose to tackle energypoverty. “Power cuts are frequentin Nigeria,” she says, “but peopleare so complacent about them.”
Matthews decided to design aball that could generate powerthrough play – and Africans arepassionate about football. Insidethe Soccket is a generator with amechanism similar to that in aself-winding watch, and a batterythat charges as the ball is kicked.
It has been distributed on asmall scale in Costa Rica, Haiti,Benin and Nigeria, and will be onsale in the US by the end of theyear. For every ball bought, onewill be given away in a developingcountry. “I’m not saying it cansolve the energy problem,”says Matthews, “but it is a wayto pull people into cleanenergy.”MV unchartedplay.com
Bacteria:thesocialnetworkFriendly micro-organismshave learned the value ofneighbourly co-operation
hese 600 billion soilbacter ia , known asPaenibacillus vortex( left) are one of themost elaborately struc-tured bacterial commu-nities in nature. “Thesebacteria have a great
social life, they work like a team,using chemicals to communicatein a very sophisticated way,” saysbiophysicist Eshel Ben-Jacob,who captured these images in hislab at Tel Aviv University.
Recently,he foundtheseswarmshave a social intelligence similarto that of humans. The bacteriause algae as a ‘tool’ to producefood; they transport algae towardslight-rich places, where the algaeproduce biofuel. They also movefungal spores to locations wherethe spores can germinate andput out roots. “The bacteria usethese roots to cross into placesthey could otherwise never getto,” says Ben-Jacob. His teamalso found that the microbes canadapt to environmental dangers(such as antibiotics), distributetasks, make collective decisionsabout risk and hoard food. “Com-pared todisease-causingbacteria,who live comfortably in humans,these bacteria have to survive inmuchmore complex ecosystems,”Ben-Jacob says. “Just think howmuch smarter that makes them.”MV tamar.tau.ac.il/~eshel
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S T A R T
*Covers must be shut. Only in freshwater up to 1.5m for 30 min. Full T&C apply. See sonymobile.com/testresults.Icons are for illustrative purposes only. Sony, make.believe, WALKMAN and WALKMAN W logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of SonyCorporation. Xperia is a trademark or registered trademark of Sony Mobile Communications AB. PlayStation is a trademark or registered trademark ofSony Computer Entertainment, Inc. Android, Google Chrome and Google Play are trademarks of Google Inc. ©2013 Sony Mobile Communications AB.
Order now at sonymobile.com/Xperia-Z1
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The new XperiaTM Z1 smartphone brings you our best waterproof design,
so you can take photos and record video even underwater, to a depth of
1.5 metres and for up to 30 minutes.* Capture your best moments,
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PHOTO
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REGGSEGAL.
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Bryan Baum, One Tree Hillactress Sophia Bush (whowill be raffling a chanceto skydive with her), AndrejPancik and Leo Seigal
“If you look at everyhealthcare system in theworld, it’s finished,” saysDon Cowling, VP at ProteusDigital Health. “Insteadof spending $10 billion[£6.4bn] trying to find anew molecule, why notspend half a billion gettingtoday’s products workingproperly?” That’s what heis doing at California- andLondon-based Proteus
Digital Health, whichharvests biological datausing ingestible sensors andskin patches, to improvediagnosis and treatmentsalready available. It’smaking edible sensors thatfit inside pills and tell yourdoctor when pills are taken.They’re expected to cometo market in late 2014.
When a patient takespills erratically and their
condition worsens, a doctormay simply up the dose.Proteus is building silicon,copper and magnesiumchips of about 1mm2 thatcan be inserted into tablets– these report via Bluetoothwhen a pill’s been taken.
In May, the firmannounced a $62.5 millionfunding round, includinginvestment from Oracle.But smart pills are just
the start, says Cowling.Proteus’s patch sensor cangather dozens of other datapoints, including heart rate,to present a sophisticatedpicture of patient health– like a medical-gradeFuelBand. “We can nowget a formal classificationof what disability lookslike – we can measure it.”Jeremy Kingsleyproteusdigitalhealth.com
S T A R T
Fan-funding charitiesA Y Combinator startup runs lotteries that give fans achance to meet their idols – whose causes get a boost
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PILL CALLINGDOCTOR... COME
IN, DOCTOR...
Los Angeles-based Prizeo helps celebritiesto fundraise for good causes via their onlinefan-bases. On the first day of its partnershipwithboybandOneDirection, it raised$110,000(£70,000) from fans for Trekstock, a cancer-research charity. Donors had the chance towinaneveningoutwithbandmembersLiamPayneandHarryStyles.Therewere 750,000 page-views on the first day and 10,000 donors in thefirst ten days. “Our real-time-analytics provider called because theycouldn’t believe how large the traffic was in such a short amount oftime,” says Bryan Baum, 24, Prizeo’s cofounder and chief executive.
Launched in June by Oxford University alumni Baum, Leo Seigal,22, andAndrej Pancik, 24, Prizeo’swebsite raffles “once-in-a-lifetime”experiences, such as private cooking lessonswith chef Jamie Oliver or golf weekends with
Samuel L Jackson. Fans enter each contest for a mini-mum contribution of $3 to the celebrity’s cause, andare prompted to share the contest via Facebook, Twit-ter and email. Prizeo has run25 fundraising campaignsand charities receive 90 per cent of revenue after com-mission. “It’s shocking howmany charities don’t evenhave a ‘donate’ buttonon theirwebsite,” saysBaum. “Itdemonstrates thepowerful influencecelebritieshavetofuel social impact.”Courtney Boyd-Myers prizeo.com
Infrared laserInvisible to the humaneye, the laser beamis reflected out frommicro-mirrors ofjust 3.5mm in diameter.
A robotwith lightfingers
Yellow LineThere are parkingapps, and thenthere’s Yellow Line.
This innovative and visuallyimpressive tool helps London-based residents or visitors findparking, whether free, paid, orfree off-peak. It has a pay-by-phone button, too. iOS,free yellowlineparking.com
what3wordsWhen its makersclaimed that anylocation in the world
can be identified with just threewords, we raised a collectiveeyebrow. But that’s what this appdoes, with surprising accuracy.It actually manages to makemaps sort of fun, too. Android,iOS, free what3words.com
MovesWearable tech suchas Nike+ is all therage, but your phone
features mostly the samesensors. This app lets you takeadvantage of that, logging youractivity from your pocket or bagas you bustle through the city.Or village. Or long-haul flight.iOS, free moves-app.com
Find My CarImagine you couldassign your parked cara GPS co-ordinate on
your phone. Then imagine usingyour phone’s GPS to navigateback to your vehicle. Imagine nolonger. Here’s an app that doesall this and more – it can evensend your co-ordinates to afriend. Android, free elibera.com
Nokia City LensThis app is one of thebest reasons to owna Windows Phone if
you’re often found wanderingthrough cities. Hold the phoneup and use augmented realityand Microsoft’s Bing Maps tounearth hidden venues aroundyou. Genius. WindowsPhone, free goo.gl/2XzkO
Places I’ve PoopedWe feature an oddballapp every month,but we may have
surpassed ourselves with thisparticular specimen. The titlesays it all: keep track of allthe places across the worldyou have “visited”. Thanks,technology. iOS, free (thankfully)goo.gl/LlKBN Nate Lanxon
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hadow Robot, a London-based robotics company, has developed arobot hand that has 24 joints driven by 20motors. With such a widerangeofmovement, it canpickupeven trickyobjects, suchaspencils.
Duringsummerof thisyear, thecompanyconnectedoneof thehandsto an extremely precise 3D sensor. Developed by a European Commis-sion-funded project, the sensor lets the hand effectively “see”what tograsp by scanning the environment in front of it. Future applicationscould include the hand picking up a swab located by the sensor and
using it to test a potentially con-taminated package. “We’ve spenta lot of time looking at howwe canput robots in placeswherehumanscurrently go, whichwe as a societywould much rather people didn’thave to,” explains Rich Walker,Shadow Robot’s MD. “So the clas-sic ‘difficult, dirty anddangerous’.”
Walker says the original planfor the TACO (Three-DimensionalAdaptive Camera with ObjectDetection and Foveation) was tomake a simple 3D-sensor – “andthen the Kinect came out”. So theresearch group, which consists ofseven European partners, turnedupthepower.The laser’s2kWpeakoutputallows the sensor to recogniseobjects smaller than theKinect can resolve.
An infrared beam shines on five oscillating micro-mirrors. It bounces off theobjects in front of it and is detected by a second sensor thatmeasures the time ittook to return, and calculates thedepthof the surfaces.Usingobject-recognitionsystems, a computer canmatch a detected object to an item in its database, theninstruct the robot arm to handle it appropriately. But with such power, it’s notto be toyedwith. “If the beam stops scanning, whatever it’s pointing atwill startto burn,” saysWalker. “Things catch fire with this laser.”VT shadowrobot.com
SCREENED:URBAN APPS
WIRED
WEIRD
Infrared laserInvisible to the humaneye, the laser beamis reflected out frommicro-mirrors ofjust 3.5mm in diameter.
hadow Robot, a London-based robotics company, has developed arobot hand that has 24 joints driven by 20motors. With such a widerangeofmovement, it canpickupeven trickyobjects, suchaspencils.
Duringsummerof thisyear, thecompanyconnectedoneof thehandsto an extremely precise 3D sensor. Developed by a European Commis-sion-funded project, the sensor lets the hand effectively “see”what tograsp by scanning the environment in front of it. Future applicationscould include the hand picking up a swab located by the sensor and
using it to test a potentially con-taminated package. “We’ve spenta lot of time looking at howwe canput robots in placeswherehumanscurrently go, whichwe as a societywould much rather people didn’thave to,” explains Rich Walker,Shadow Robot’s MD. “So the clas-sic ‘difficult, dirty anddangerous’.”
Walker says the original planfor the TACO (Three-DimensionalAdaptive Camera with ObjectDetection and Foveation) was tomake a simple 3D-sensor – “andthen the Kinect came out”. So theresearch group, which consists ofseven European partners, turnedup thepower.The laser’s2kWpeakoutputallows the sensor to recogniseobjects smaller than theKinect can resolve.
An infrared beam shines on five oscillating micro-mirrors. It bounces off theobjects in front of it and is detected by a second sensor thatmeasures the time ittook to return, and calculates thedepthof the surfaces.Usingobject-recognitionsystems, a computer canmatch a detected object to an item in its database, theninstruct the robot arm to handle it appropriately. But with such power, it’s notto be toyedwith. “If the beam stops scanning, whatever it’s pointing atwill startto burn,” saysWalker. “Things catch fire with this laser.”VT shadowrobot.comm
PHOTOGRAPHY:NICKW
ILSON
It’s not always easyto hear an ambulancesiren in heavy traffic,especially if you havethe radio blaring.Now ambulances inGuayaquil – Ecuador’slargest city – canbeat the queuesby hijacking carradios to announcetheir approach. Anambulance triallingthe system in Juneimproved its responsetime by 40 per cent.
Radio Ambulancewas developed byadvertising agencyMaruri Grey, basedin Guayaquil, for itsclient EcuadorianRadio Association,and the Associationof Clinics of Ecuador.“We want to showthat radio is relevantin society,” explainsDaniel Pérez Pallares,the project’s 38-year-old chief creativeofficer. Using anRF antenna and auniversal softwareradio peripheral, thecompany developeda system thatinterrupts AM andFM stations up to onekilometre ahead, witha message askingdrivers to give way.
The project wona silver and twobronze awards atCannes Lions thisyear. The companyhopes to integrate itinto more emergencyvehicles: “We wantall the ambulancesin the city to havethis system,” saysPérez Pallares. VTwww.maruri.ec
EMERGENCYSIRENS GETA TUNE-UP
Human touchThe robot handis designed to mimicthe kinematics of ahuman hand, includingthe thumb and palm.
Exact sciencePosition sensors foreach joint, and forcesensors for each degreeof movement, allowfor precise manipulation.
S T A R T
PHOTOGRAPHY:NICKW
ILSON
It’s not always easyto hear an ambulancesiren in heavy traffic,especially if you havethe radio blaring.Now ambulances inGuayaquil – Ecuador’slargest city – canbeat the queuesby hijacking carradios to announcetheir approach. Anambulance triallingthe system in Juneimproved its responsetime by 40 per cent.
Radio Ambulancewas developed byadvertising agencyMaruri Grey, basedin Guayaquil, for itsclient EcuadorianRadio Association,and the Associationof Clinics of Ecuador.“We want to showthat radio is relevantin society,” explainsDaniel Pérez Pallares,the project’s 38-year-old chief creativeofficer. Using anRF antenna and auniversal softwareradio peripheral, thecompany developeda system thatinterrupts AM andFM stations up to onekilometre ahead, witha message askingdrivers to give way.
The project wona silver and twobronze awards atCannes Lions thisyear. The companyhopes to integrate itinto more emergencyvehicles: “We wantall the ambulancesin the city to havethis system,” saysPérez Pallares. VTwww.maruri.ec
EMERGENCYSIRENS GETA TUNE-UP
Human touchThe robot handis designed to mimicthe kinematics of ahuman hand, includingthe thumb and palm.
Exact sciencePosition sensors foreach joint, and forcesensors for each degreeof movement, allowfor precise manipulation.
S T A R TS T A R T
Florida’s 12eyes ofthe stormCapable of producing winds of morethan 250kph, this hurricane-mimickingtunnel is a force to be reckoned with
Do you need to simulate a Category 5 hurricane? Located atthe Florida International University, the Wall of Wind (WOW) isa vast tunnel housing 12 fans that can produce winds in excess of250kph. (Shown above is the rear view.) The majority of hurri-canesdon’t reach these speeds, but the strongest tohit theUKwas278kph, recorded at CairngormSummit inMarch 1986.
WOW’s fans were designed for ventilating mine shafts, butwere tweaked for their current purpose, says Roy Liu-Marques,a research scientist at the centre. The current configuration isthe third: the first was a two-fan mobile unit, assembled in2005 and capable of generating winds of up to 193kph; followedby a six-fan WOW. On this model, up to 1,359 cumecs of air isdriven from the fans through flow-management devices, includ-ingvertical spires and rowsof “roughness”:floor-level triangles that create turbulence.
This is how the team simulateswhat happens in the atmos-pheric boundary layer of ahurricane, where the windsmeet obstructions. In a typicalwind tunnel, saysLiu-Marques,the blockage percentage iskept at around five to six percent, but at WOW, this can beasmuch as 30 per cent withoutaffecting thequality of the sim-ulation. This means that scalemodelsof entire townscouldbeput in front of the fans.
Liu-Marques says the focusis currently on testing singleresidential buildings andspecific buildingmaterials. ButhowevermuchWOW’s findingsgo against current thinkingon damage prevention, it couldtake a while for them to have apositive impact. “Regulationsare not retroactive. Thereare still a lot of buildings thatdo not even meet the currentregulations. To get townshurricane-ready will taket ime, even though we’redoing manifold research.”Katie Scottwow.fiu.edu
What’s exciting...KATE LAVENDER
COO,Struq
“I love the Daily Spankapp. It’s not as rude asit sounds! Launched byMind Candy’s Michael
Acton Smith andMalcolm Scovil, DailySpank sets you tasks
each day to take a certainphotograph – “Three ofa Kind”, for example. Itforces you to look at theworld in a different wayand notice things youwouldn’t usually see.”
What’s exciting...BERNIE KRAUSEAuthor of The GreatAnimal Orchestra
“Noise: A Human Historyof Sound and Listening
(Profile), by DavidHendy, is a rivetingdepiction for anyonewhose life is informed
by the soundscapes thatenvelope us. His lyricalaccount of this elusive
subject is an exhilaratingand accessible
page-turner.” MV
What’s exciting…CHRISTOPH RIECHECEO and cofounder,
iwoca
“I’m a big fan ofDark Sky, the short-term
weather forecastingapp. It uses statistical
methods to analyse radarweather-data and makehyper-local forecasts. It’sthe perfect combinationof an innovative idea,
a powerful back end anda beautifully simpleuser interface.”
EARLYADOPTERS
S T A R T
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ountries have several indicators for economicwellbeing, but what about their emotional health?MathematiciansChrisDanforthandPeterDodds, at theUniversity of Vermont’s Complex SystemsCenter, builttheir web-based “Hedonometer” (a device to gaugehappiness) to track people’s emotions according totheir tweets. “I call it theDowJonesofhappiness,” says
Danforth, 34. To make the algorithm, the pair used Amazon’sMechanical Turk service to score 10,000 of the most commonwords on a level of happiness, with a score of one for a sad wordsuch as “death”, and a maximum score of nine for a happy wordsuch as “laughter”. They assigned these scores to words in a sam-ple of about 15million tweets adayusing software theywrote. Thisvisualisation shows thehappiness reading for eachdaysince2008.
The world’s moodaccording to Twitter
Having crunched 27 billion tweets, two mathematiciansscored how happy or sad people have felt since 2008
HAPP
INES
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THURSDAY, DECEMBER 25, 2008Christmas Day is routinely the happiestday according to the Hedonometer.Celebratory words such as “merry”,“holidays” and “Santa” overcome thosesuch as “hate”, “bad” and “die” togive this day in 2008 a happinessaverage of 6.37 – the highest recorded.
SUNDAY, MAY 9, 2010The top ranking words give away thisSunday’s occasion: it’s Mother’s Day,at least in the US. The day’s happinessaverage is 6.15, 0.1 higher than thatof the UK equivalent on March 14,and also noticeably higher thanFather’s Day on June 20 of that year.
THURSDAY, JUNE 25, 2009This is the day that the death of poplegend Michael Jackson was announced.Negative words connoting death,illness and loss are mitigated onlyby a handful of messages of“peace”, “love”, and the day’s mostpositively shifted word, “music”.
2011 2012 2013
SundayMondayTuesdayWednesdayThursdayFridaySaturday
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“What we’ve found is that the happy days are very predicta-ble – they tend to fall on holidays celebrated in the United States– and the sad days occur when some unexpected event takesplace,” says Danforth. The peaks of each year are on ChristmasDay, and the two lowest dips represent the Connecticut schoolshooting in December 2012 and theBostonMarathon bombings in April 2013.
Danforth and Dodds will add a dozen languages to the Hedo-nometer by the end of the year and plan to include data fromothersources, suchasGooglesearchterms,newsoutletsandsharedBitlylinks.Usingmetadata suchasgeotagging, theyalsoaimtopinpointemotional responses topolitical events fromdifferentdemograph-ics. “We hope that we can use that to provide real-time feedbackonpolicymeasures,” saysDanforth.VT hedonometer.org
INFOPORN
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2012
SATURDAY, MARCH 17, 2012“Party” occurs often in Saturdayrankings and the popularity of “green”here suggests tweeters are celebratingSt Patrick’s Day. There’s a decreasein the use of negative words suchas “bitch” – but a notable increase in“drunk” (which is scored as a negative).
MONDAY, APRIL 15, 2013With a happiness average of 5.88, thedate of the Boston Marathon bombingsis the saddest day on the Hedonometer.Although many people were inspired totweet about “prayers” and “families”,there was much greater emphasison “victims”, “bombs” and “tragedy”.
MONDAY, MAY 2, 2011You might think Osama Bin Laden’sdeath would have been ranked higher,but the increase of words denotingviolence makes for a low happinessaverage of 5.92. Specific words such as“terrorist” and “Pakistan” (3.94 onthe scale) contribute to the low score.
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At White Labs in SanDiego, technicians workto reanimate cryogenicallyfrozen single-celledorganisms. Their quest:to unravel the geneticsbehind the more than500 flavour and aromacompounds found in beers.
Yeast has been brewedfor millennia but scientistshave only now begun tolearn how genetics affectsthe resulting beverage.White Labs and biotech firmIllumina have sequenced96 strains, looking for cluesas to why, say, some givesaison ale fruity noteswhereas others lend thesame recipe a clove aroma.
Still don’t think yeastsmake a difference? WhiteLabs has a tasting room toconvince unbelievers. “Youcan tell people,‘That’s thesame beer,’” says founderChris White. “You see thelook on their faces, like,‘Wow, you must have addedsome spice or herbs orsomething in this beer.’But that’s all from yeast.”
The next round ofsequencing includes theyeast Brettanomyces, knownfor nefarious aromas (thinkbandages or sweat) thatcan be either contaminantsor the masters of funk inBelgian lambics. See you atthe bar. Peter Andrey Smith
S T A R T
BEER’S DNA DECODED
Saison BlendYeast WLP564(multiple strains)Tasting notesComplex, with clovearomas and mediumpeppery character
Belgian Saison IYeast WLP565Tasting notesEarthy, peppery,spicy, with slightlysweet fruity notes
Marco Boerries’s latest startuphasn’t even started yet – but it stillconvinced big-spending investors
SAME RECIPE,DIFFERENT YEASTS
Ser i a l Ge rman en t rep reneurMarco Boerries’s latest startup,NumberFour, announced it had secured$38 million (£24 million) funding inJune, inEurope’s largest series-A roundsince Rovio raised $42 million in 2011– and it hasn’t launched a product yet.
Best known for creating softwaresuite OpenOffice, Boerries has beenquietly working on NumberFour, hisfourth company, since 2009. Thoughhe’s yet to reveal exactly what they’re
building, he aims to bring 21st-century tools to a market he feels has been neglected:small businesses. “Fundamentally, they’re in a similar place as theywere 25 years ago, inthat they are themost underdevelopedmarket from a technology perspective,” he says.Theproblem, he explains, is that small businesses alonedonotmakevaluable customers.However, as a whole, the market presents a huge opportunity – “200 million plus smallbusinesses that, by theway,make up over 70 per cent of theworld’s GDP.”
NumberFour is targetingbusinesseswith20orfeweremployees–fromsmall restaurantsto individualssellingaservice.Thecompanywillofferacloud-basedplatformthatworks inconjunctionwithaseriesofapps.Oneappwillhandlesales, say, andanotherwill run inven-tory or track reservations. These apps link together in thewider business platform,which“connects the dots” between activities. If a sale ismade through one app, for example, theplatformcould also update a company’s inventory or adjust the accounts.
Boerries is confident that he has identified a market opportunity which, if his teamdelivers, will make $38 million not seem so high after all. “If you can make 200 millionsmall businesses look like one,” he says, “you change the dynamic.”VT numberfour.eu
A small£24m idea
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wired: Larry Page and SergeyBrin have often said that, ratherthan solving the fairly big prob-lems, Google should go for thehuge problems. How would youdefine thatmindset?Astro Teller: There are tests thatyou can apply to see if you’rethinking big enough. The easi-est one, the mantra that we useat Google[x], is ten times ratherthan ten per cent.When you try todo something ten per cent better, you tend to work from whereyou are: if I ask you to make a car that goes 50 miles a gallon,you can just retool the engine you already have. But if I tell youit has to run on a gallon of gas for 500miles, you’re going to haveto start over. And that causes you to approach the problem sodifferently that weirdly, counter-intuitively, it’s often easier tomake something ten times better – because perspective-shiftingis just that much more powerful than hard work and resourcesbeing thrown at problems via traditional, well-tried paths.
Give some examples of “10x” projects.You know about Google Glass and self-driving cars, but [previ-ously] when I was a serial tech-entrepreneur, I built a wearable-body-monitoring company, BodyMedia, that was recently sold toJawbone. For almost a hundred years before BodyMedia, peoplehad this perspective that [if] you put a sensor on a person, youhave a model for why the human body creates these signals onthat sensor – and then when you put it on a new person, you get areading. You run that mechanismmodel you have for the human
body in reverse, and then youfigure outwhat youthink is wrong with them. And we said, what ifinstead we put many sensors on a person, andwe build mathematical models between the setof sensors and how they change relative to eachother? Thiswas very uncomfortable to themedi-cal establishment 15 years ago when we starteddoing this. Another example: I have had thisinterest for a very long time in making
DestinationMoonAstro Teller of Google[x] is aiming to improve
the world’s broken industries – to the power of ten
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nly a few hundredmetres from Google’smain Mountain Viewcampus is Google[x],its audacious skunk-works l ab whereresearchers pursuethe company’s hyper-
ambitious projects such asautonomous cars, augmented-reality glasses and balloon-powered Wi-Fi networks. Thesecretive lab, overseenbySergeyBrin, is run by Astro Teller, 43,whose business card describeshim as Google[x]’s “Captain ofMoonshots”.wired editorDavidRowan asks Teller about hismission at the lab to prioritise“10x over ten per cent thinking”.
O
TAKING LECTURES TO ANOTHER DIMENSION
a software factory for ideas, a software system thatbuilds its own ideas. I started a company that pickedfinance as its first industry to use this software on.It’s a nontrivially sized hedge fund [Cerebellum Capi-tal] now… It haswildly better returns than almost anyother hedge fund on the planet.
What characteristics, apart from a tolerance forfailure, do you notice in the entrepreneurs you seeasmost likely tomake a successfulmoonshot?Really great entrepreneurs have this very special mixof unstoppableoptimismandscathingparanoia. If youdon’t have a tonne of optimism, you’re not going tomake it… you won’t be able to evangelise to everyoneelse. On the other hand, if you aren’t constantly para-noid about what can go wrong and put plans in place,then you’re going to get bitten at some point.
I canseesomewiredreaders insidebigcorporationsnow thinking, “It’s OK for this guy with his crazyjob-title to talk about moonshots, but that’s justa Silicon Valley fantasy – we have thousands ofshareholders to think about.”They’re right, and that is part of the problem. Theyneed to reset expectations with their shareholders.This is one of the things that Larry and Sergey havedone brilliantly and unwaveringly: they told theirshareholders from day one that there will be twoclasses of shares – you don’t get to vote, we do. And ifyou’renot in this for the longhaulwithus, you’reprob-ably better off putting your money somewhere else.And the stock price is doing just fine… It’s a little latefor Kodak, but you know, Nokia and others could havethat sameconversationwith their shareholders. If theyhave alreadywritten off long-termbets and long-termthinking because their shareholders won’t tolerate it,they’re already dead and they just don’t know it.
Howmuch autonomydo you have at Google[x]?A lot. I report to Sergey. Sergey is like BruceWayne and I’m Lucius Fox – it’ssort of his Batcave, but I help him oversee it. Google[x] has been tasked withsomething emotionally and intellectually hard,which is going and takingbig,smart risks. But in order to ask a group to do that, you do have to give them agood bit of space – you have to give them the room to fail.
How far do your ambitions stretch?We have interest in every industry which is broken: the factory industry, theenergy industry, the industry of agriculture. If we could figure out a way tobuild a technology thatwouldmake theworld radically better by fixing deep-seated problems in one of those industries, as self-driving cars might in thetransportation industry, why shouldn’t we?
I guess therewill be somemid-career executives now reading thiswho arethinking, “Maybe I ought to be pushing a bit harder…”I talk to these mid-career execs all the time. I start hour-long presentationson innovation by giving them two choices: you can deliver a million-dollar
bottom line to your company thisyear, guaranteed – or you get a onein a hundred chance of deliveringa billion dollars. Nobody raisestheir hand for choice A; every-body raises their hand for choiceB. I say, “Okay, congratulations,you’ve all passed the maths test,choice B on an expected utilitybasis is worth ten times as much.Howmany of you believe that yourmanager, your boss or your boardof directors would let you chooseB?” Not a single hand goes up.
And then I say, “You don’t need a lecture on innovation. You need to quit yourjob.” You can lecture about innovation till the cows come home, but if the peo-ple at the topdon’t have the stomach for a real risk, nothing is going tohappen.And that’s why Google is successful. Larry and Sergey just innately aren’tinterested inplaying it safe. And that permeates thewhole organisation.�
‘Great entrepreneurs havethis very special mixof unstoppable optimismand scathing paranoia.If you don’t have a tonneof optimism, you’renot going to make it’
S T A R T
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London-basedjunior doctors KapilSugand and PedroCampos want toliven up lectures – byreplacing PowerPointswith holographicanimations.
“When we weremedical students,it was painful attimes,” says Sugand(left). “People arestuck inside lecturetheatres for up tonine hours, wherethey go through back-to-back PowerPointpresentations onvery complicated andabstract concepts.”
Sugand and Camposfounded HAMLET(Holography-AssistedMedical Lecturing &E-Teaching) at thestart of the year.They tested the first3D animation, whichfeatured a rotatingfour-metre-tallkidney, at St George’s,University of London.
The floatingimage is made usingan illusion knownas Pepper’s ghost.A screen is placedat an angle, and theanimation projectedon to it is reflectedinto empty space.
The lecturer canthen walk aroundand be seen throughthe image. “Thatcommunicationis much clearerusing 3D holographyas opposed to2D PowerPoints,”says Sugand.
The aim is toget the technologyimplementedacross the medicalcurriculum, with thegoal of training saferphysicians: “If youimprove yourself as astudent, you improveyourself as a doctor.”VT sgul.ac.uk
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ENEDICTREDGROVE
ngineer Richard Brown wants asecond shot at breaking theworld bike-speed record. Hisbike, Jet Reaction, is a stream-lined two-wheeler built arounda 932kW helicopter turbine thatBrown has modified to produceextra thrust. This is paired with
an afterburner, which triples the thrustwhen it’s switched on. The bike-speedrecord currently stands at 606kph and wasset by Californian Rocky Robinson, drivingthe two-engined bike, Ack Attack.
Brown’sfirstattempt,withabikecalledtheGillette Mach 3 Challenger (GM3C), won him
thethen-fastestone-wayrunin1999,butsoftgroundconditionsdeniedhimthereturnrunrequiredtomake itarecord.“GM3Cwasfullofhighlyvolatilehydro-genperoxide,”saysBrown,48.“Mostofthe improvementsonJetReactionwereabout logistics, cost and safety. It’s a joy that it runs on regular kerosene.”
Following a series of successful testruns, Brown is now confident thathe can push the world record past640kph. “Partly it’s unfinished busi-ness,” he says. “It’s also an opportunityto demonstrate how a small team oftalented individuals without vast finan-cial support can produce a world-classvehicle.”RobinHague jetreaction.net
In thrustwe trust
Richard Brown wants another crack at the recordbooks with his indie-funded afterburner bike
Boosting the bike
A 24v NiCd aircraftbattery is fitted in theJet Reaction’s nose.
The bodywork and fin aremade from carbon fibre,Kevlar-reinforced glassfibre and aluminium alloy.
Jet Reaction’s Goodyeartyres can withstandspeeds of up to 725kph
Right: Richard Brown withJet Reaction at ElvingtonAirfield, Yorkshire, wherethe test runs took place
S T A R T
Whenever you see an historicbui ld ing, you observe itsarchitecture. Acoustic Archivesfocuses on a less tangible aspect:its sound. The teamcaptures a place’s sonic imprint and applies that profile tootheraudio, impartingtheauralqualitiesof that location.Directorscanoverlaythese profiles on dialogue tomake it site-specific. Bands could then give a newfeel to studio tracks. (TakeU2’s castle-recordedTheUnforgettable Fire.)
Archives cofounders Mesta Bish and Vito Finamore wanted a creepyvibe for an album, so they teamed up with Ryan Schimmenti and EricFarahnai to record a closed-down insane asylum. This led to forays intoother buildings, where they record tones that then get processed out toisolate the acoustics. Their secret weapon is this 3D microphone, designedby Bish and Finamore. “When people see it,” Schimmenti says, “they’re
like, what kind of Ghostbusters nonsenseis this?” High on their sonicwish list: the SpaceShuttleEnterprise.Courtney Balestier
Cities of soundIt takes a 3D microphone andimitation ear to captureold buildings’ aural signatures
Tablet extra!Download the WIRED appto find out what theinsane asylum sounds like
Austrian entrepreneur Bernhard Niesner wantedlearning a foreign language more sociable so, alongAdrian Hilti, he founded Busuu. “Traditionalmeanshave always been inflexible and expensive,” says NiesnerBusuu’s idea: combine learning with social networking.creating a profile on the site or app, users haveexercises such as vocabulary drills and dialogue
languages. They can interact via text or video – “so you’re not only a student, you’re a tutor for your ownThe pair founded Busuu in 2008 after graduating from IE Business School in Madrid. It now has
users, with 40,000 joining every day. For £5 a month, users can access extra features such as audioAfter securing ¤3.5 million (£3m) of series-A funding last year from PROfounders and Brent
the pair moved from Madrid to London and expanded the team from nine to 30. They’re making themore adaptive, to suit different learning goals. By analysing usage, it compares your progress to youror sends a notification to prompt more practising. “With technology, we can solve the traditional[of language learning],” says Niesner. “We can solve the issue of motivation.” VT busuu.com
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Humanlike “ears”simulate the waywe hear sound
The microphone’shousing is made ofindustrial plastic
Social media’sTower of Babel
S T A R T
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This classic sweet treat also does double-dutyas a fire extinguisher and a taxidermist’s tool
For brighter,whiter bones
WHAT’S INSIDE:
S T A R T
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CITRIC ACIDCitric acid is a weakorganic acid ofmolecular formulaC6H8O7. When you putthe sherbet on yourtongue, the saliva inyour mouth dissolvesthe citric acidcrystals. The acidthen reacts withsodium bicarbonateproducing carbondioxide gas, which inturn causes thefizzing sensation.
SODIUMBICARBONATESodium bicarbonate iscommonly used incooking as aleavening agent, andas an antacid to treatheartburn andindigestion. Untilrecently, it was usedin kitchen fire-extinguishers as, inthe heat of a fire, itreleases a cloud ofcarbon dioxide thatsmothers the flames.
MAGNESIUMCARBONATEThis acts as ananti-caking agent.As a food additive(E504) it has laxativeeffects in highconcentrations. It isemployed as a dryingagent for hands inrock climbing andweight lifting, and,when mixed withhydrogen peroxide, itis used in taxidermyfor whitening bones.
LUTEINIn Double Dip, luteinacts as a flavouringand colouring agent(orange-red). Typicallyfound in green, leafyvegetables, lutein isan antioxidant andhelps protect the eyesand the skin from UVdamage. It waspreviously used inchicken feed toimprove the colour ofthe skin and fat, andto give a darker yolk.
CURCUMINAs the main, activecompound inturmeric, curcumin isresponsible for itsyellow colouration.With purportedantioxidant,antifungal, antiviral,antibiotic andanti-inflammatoryproperties, Curcumalonga has long beena staple of Indianand Chinesetraditional medicine.
WIRED chemist Dr LingGe, based at ImperialCollege, is the authorof many high-impactresearch papersand popular-sciencearticles, and hasedited two books
INGREDIENTSSodium bicarbonateModified starchSugarDextroseCitric acidMagnesium carbonateTartaric acidCornflourStearic acidMagnesium stearateBeetroot redCurcuminLutein
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San Francisco-based designer Ri Liuwanted to use hard data to inform the col-our schemes she uses in her work. So shecreated Web Colour Data, an app thatanalyses the hues that appear across theweb. She plans to use the data to revealtrends, such aswhich colour combinationsare favoured by particular industries.
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Visitors to the site can enter any URLand the app will analyse which shades itcontains, and in what quantity. By July,three months after launch, it had col-
lected data from close to 50,000 sites and recorded more than 340,000tones. “There’s a particular shade of blue that’s very common,” Liu says.Celestial blue (identified by the hex triplet #4997D0) appears mostfrequently, while pinks and purples seem to be the least popular.
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S T A R T
Investing in thefuture of money
WIRED Money event, we assembledinnovators from the financial world to discuss the threatsand opportunities ahead. Compiled by Mark Hooper
30 things we learned at WIRED Money
Taavet HinrikusTransferWise
Tom BlomfieldGoCardless
Rachel BotsmanCollaborative Lab
Yoni AssiaeToro
Peter VessenesCoinLab
Douglas MerrillZestFinance
On July 1 this year, wired launched the first of our new series of one-daysummits by focusing on a sector facing imminent disruption –money, bankingand finance. Onstage, a series of A-list speakers who are transforming financein the digital age highlighted the trends and risks that are shaping innovationand the future of money. With a focus on keynotes and one-on-oneinterviews rather than panel discussions, the event attracted financiers,investors, startup entrepreneurs, regulators, technologists and policy-makersto Canary Wharf’s new accelerator space, Level39. On the main stage, amongmany other speakers,MITMedia Lab’s Kevin Slavin argued thatmarket tradingneeded to be rebuilt for humans, IDEO’s Anne Pascual made the case for banksto be remade as platforms and PayPal’s John Lunn revealed how we’ll beusing wearable technology to make payments in the future. In a separatepitch room, a series of exciting financial startups announced their bold plansto an audience of potential investors and influencers.
02/Customers stick to what theyknow – particularly where their
money is concerned.“Even if they’renot good, protocols tend tostickaround,” saidPeterVessenes, founderand CEO of CoinLab, a Bitcoin exchange.“The email protocol designed in the 60sis terrible, but we still use it. With money,it’s doubly sticky – you’re almost paid toimplement this protocol.”
03/Banks have a very long and hardroad ahead of them.
“It could still end very badly for banks,”said Richard Johnson of mobile-paymentservice Monitise. “Banks could just end upas thedumbpipe, the rails overwhichotherpeople providehigh-value services.”
04/Many of us still choose our bankpredominantly because our par-
entsarecustomers,orbecauseit’snearby.“Youwouldn’tchoosemusic, fashionorfoodlike that –why choosefinancial institutionslike that?” asked Yoni Assia, founder ofsocial tradingandinvestingplatformeToro.
05/ Infrastructure is a problem…“Payment systems are holding back
online progress,” said John Collison, co-founder of online-payment service Stripe.
06/…and hardware firms need to getwise to that, and fast.
“If you’re a company that only producespayments hardware, you better start think-ingabouthowtostayrelevant inthefuture,”warned Jacob de Geer, CEO and founderof card-paymentplatform iZettle.
Banks need to understand what“customer first”really means“Investment banking is a perfect example ofbanks forgettingwho their customers are,”
saidGilesAndrewsof peer-to-peer lender Zopa. “Thebankingindustry needs to dowhat low-cost airlines have done: identifywhat is important to consumers and simplify accordingly.”
01/
07/A little transparency can begin tofix banking’s image problem.
Trading platforms need to offer fairerdeals without any hidden surprises, saidMichael Laven, CEO of foreign-exchangeplatformThe Currency Cloud.
08/The mid-market exchange ratedoesn’t exist at your bank.
TaavetHinrikussetupTransferWisetohelpusexchangecurrencyat the ratesbanksdo:“Ask your bank to explain the mid-marketrate. I guarantee it’ll be fun,” he promised.
11/Emerging markets in the devel-oping world need a dedicated B2B
foreign-exchangeplatformtohelp themdiscover the best possible rates.Leslie Onyesoh founded Kwanji for thatreason. “Think of us as... a money super-market for the foreign-exchange market,”he said of the soon-to-launch company.
12/Banks still don’t understand theconcept of open source.
By sharing their API with developers,banks can let trusted tech companies dotheir research and development work forthem. Developers can enhance the banks’apps and digital offerings while ensuringthebanksretaincontrolof theirdata.That’sthe idea behind the Open Bank Project,according to founder SimonRedfern.
15/Wonga isn’t going away.“People want short-term loans, no
matterwhata loudminority says,” insistedfounder and CEO Errol Damelin of thedigital finance company.
16/Weneed to demystify trading.Majormarket crashes have occurred,
and will continue to occur, because themarket no longer has a human interface,saidKevinSlavin fromMITMedia Lab.
17/TheVCsystemisbroken.Stephen Piron founded consultancy
Bright*Sun to offer a curated database ofbusinesses for mid-range investors, aimedat countering the herd mentality of VCs.“The best ideas will get money,” he said.“The resourceswill bewell distributed.”
10/Technology needsto be invisibleThe best type of payment isone you don’t see. That’s thefuture of spendingmoney,”insisted John Lunn, globaldirector of PayPal Developer,which helps startupsintegrate their systemswith the payment giant.
09/The sector’s smaller retailersstrugglewith data analysis.
To this end, has Darren Oddie formedAGILE Customer Insight to offer easy-to-use, low-cost shopper insight software.
13/You’vebeen lending tobusinessessince you had a bank account…
…you’ve just had no control or say in theprocess, and it hasn’t always been donenecessarily to your advantage. We needto learn to lend smarter and moredirectly, urged EdWray of Funding Circleand cofounder of Betfair.
14/ Investing in startups isn’t just forangels and venture capitalists.
“This is the time for investing in start-ups,” announced Jeff Lynn, cofounder andCEO of crowdfunding platform Seedrs.“Weneed to get that investment out of thehandsof theso-calledestablishedeliteandinto the hands of the masses… The modelis working, this shouldn’t be a surprise.”
18/The basics of saving should betaught as early as possible.
“There is a fundamental disconnectbetween the way young people today viewmoney and the way the previous genera-tions did,” said Lisa Halpern, founder andCEO of Kiboo, which offers budgeting andpersonal-finance tools to children.
19/We need to prevent reputationaldamage caused by our growing
digital footprints.Expectantmothers are posting ultrasoundphotos on Facebook, so people have adigital footprint before they’re even born,said Alastair Paterson, CEO of cybersecu-rity company Digital Shadows. “Almostevery interactionwe have is recorded.”
Paul HawtinDerwent Capital Markets
John FingletonJ Fingleton Associates
John LunnPayPal
Anne PascualIDEO
Jacob de GeeriZettle
John CollisonStripe
“
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27/One-snap” paymentsare comingSoon, youwon’t need achip-and-pinmachine, oreven a card reader, tomakeinstant payments usingyour smartphone – justits camera, according toStevie Graham ofmobile-payment platform Zap.
20/Social media has created a“currency of reputation”.
“Personal reputation is going to becomea currency and cornerstone of our societyin the next decade,” said CollaborativeLab founder Rachel Botsman. “People arerealising that their reputation data hastremendous value – it can help them get ajob, a leaseoramortgage.”
21/Banks need to see themselves aspeer-to-peer networks.
“Peers drivemotivation, not experts,” saidAnne Pascual of design agency IDEO.
22/Theconsumerpredicament is likea plot froma sci-fimovie.“We need data artists to save zombie bor-rowers,”saidZestFinance’sDouglasMerrill.
S T A R TRichard JohnsonMonitise
Errol DamelinWonga
Alastair PatersonDigital Shadows
Sean ParkAnthemis
WIRED Moneyby numbers
48The number of hours it took tocomplete Tweetoro, a hack whichallows you to buy stock via atweet using your eToro account.
2030The date by which cash will belargely unused in the westernworld, according to estimationby Robot Corp’s Tom Le Bree
23/Therewon’tbeaTerminator-styleriseof themachinesanytimesoon–but the realitywill be just as scary.“Anything I’ve learned about giving com-puters autonomy is that they crash, soI’m not so much worried about themtaking over as I am about the present inwhich they fail dramatically,” said KevinSlavin, founder of MIT Media Lab’sPlayful Systems group.
24/Machines may soon need theirown social networks.
Stan Stalnaker, founding director of HubCulture, the social network that runs VenCurrency, revealed that the winner of ahackathon it instigated allowed robots topayeachotherusingthecurrencyandcouldsharemore than just informationonline.
25/Financial institutions need tocombine forces to face off the
threat of cyber attack…“The relative inability of commercialorganisations to share threat informationand to collaborate is hampering theresilience of the industry as awhole,” saidMeline Von Brentano, forward deployedengineer at Palantir. “Hackers often targetmany institutions. One organisation hasonly one part of the puzzle. Cyber defenceis not about competitive advantage butcombating a shared threat.”
26/…And the response needs to bepre-emptive, not reactive.The reconnaissance phase of a cyberattack has become themost critical phase,according to Alistair Paterson.
01/ Scan the regulatory landscapeto identify anachronistic rulesthat may disrupt your plans.
02/ Think about how incumbentswill try to block you.
03/ Think about how regulationcan help you gainaccess to your customers.
(according to John Fingleton, left,who ran the Office of Fair Trading)
Three importantlessons for startupswhen dealingwith regulation “
28/There’s no such thing asbad data.
“If misinformation moves themarket, it’s valuable to traders,”said Paul Hawtin of DerwentCapital Markets, which usedsocial-media sentiment analysisto trade financial derivatives.
29/Regulatorsneedtounder-stand howbankswork.“We need a regulatory frame-work that accepts tolerable risksand losses,” suggested Sean Park,founder of Anthemis. “Let’s startan incubator of regulators.We cancrowdsource it. We’ve got a blankslate, so let’s not go straight backto the box-tickingmentality.”
30/Some financial regulations are soinflexible that they’re nonsensicalThat’s according toJohnFingleton, formerheadof theOfficeof FairTrading. “Teslaemployees, for instance, aren’tallowed to tell consumersprices, offer test drives or sellcars,” he explained. “This is howregulation canget in theway.”
To view video highlightsfrom this year’sWIRED Money sessionsvisitwired.co.uk/topics/wired-money-2013.WIRED Money willreturn on July 1,2014. For news andupdates about nextyear’s event, visitwiredmoney.co.uk
25,000The number of trades carriedout each day by eToro,the world’s largest social-investment network.
£122 millionThe amount distributedto startups via Innotribe’sincubator programme andStartup Challenge since its2009 launch, according tocofounder Matteo Rizzi.
ObsolescenceWhat Jesse Powell, founderof Kraken – an exchange andtrading platform focused onalternative currencies – hasplanned for the industry.
FOR MORE, VISITWIRED.CO.UK
1The number ofdifferent fees banksneed to charge toreflect their customerbase, accordingto ChristopherKampshoff, CEOof Lendstar. “Wedon’t need to chargedifferent amounts.One flat fee is fairer.”
Kevin SlavinMIT Media Lab
Giles AndrewsZopa
Meline von BrentanoPalantir
Ed WrayFunding Circle
Jeff LynnSeedrs
wired Money also hosted a startup pitch room,which brought together emerging and estab-lished entrepreneurs to present new ideas inquick-fire sessions. Startups were given nineminutes each to introduce themselves, explaintheir business idea and talk about how they aretrying to shake up the existing infrastructures.
Yoni Assia, eToro; PhilippeGelis, Kantox; JF Groff,Mobino; Lisa Halpern,Kiboo (above); ChristopherKampshoff, Lendstar UG;Dominic Keen, MoPowered;Michael Laven, The CurrencyCloud; Tom Le Bree, RobotCorp; Samad Masood,FinTech Innovation Lab;
Darren Oddie, AGILE.ci;Leslie Onyesoh, Kwanji;Stephen Piron, Bright*Sun; Simon Redfern,Open Bank Project;Christoph Rieche, iwoca;Matteo Rizzi, Innotribe;Rupert Robson, TorchPartners; Stan Stalnaker,Hub Culture, Ven
IN THE WIRED MONEYPITCH ROOM:
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ERRYCURTIES
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ELECTRIC COUTUREY I N G G AO ( N O)W H E R E ( N OW ) H E R EI N T E R AC T I V E D R E S S
The illumination ofthis garment isn’tsomething thatthe wearer cancontrol. Eye-trackingtechnology activatesthe photoluminescentthread when itdetects a spectator’sgaze. The makerwasn’t just concernedwith mixing fashionand technology, butwanted to explorethe artistic conceptof the gaze with adress that glowswhen stared at, butdisappears into thedark when ignored.POA yinggao.ca
WEARABLE MIXERM I D I CO N T R O L L E RJAC K E T V 1 .0BY M AC H I N ATypically, interactingwith your jacket isprobably limited topulling a few zips, butfour flexible sensors,an accelerometer,a joystick and fourpush-buttons makethis a “wearablemachine”. It has beendesigned to workas a midi controllerthat lets its wearercreate music as theymove. That’s notthe limit, though– the independentdevelopers behind itintend to make thejacket fully hackable.$400 machina.cc
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The 270kg Venenumis handmade in Tuscany,without the use ofany heavy machinery
RETRO-RIDERS REINTERPRETEDSTEP BACK IN TIME WITH MODERN TAKES ON MOTOR-BIKING CLASSICS
STRIPPED-BACK SCOOTERH O N DA R U C KU S 2 01 3
For riders whofondly recall therambunctious butsadly discontinuedHonda Zoomer,its US sibling, theRuckus, is still inproduction. Thisstripped-down 88kgscamp of a scooterhas a liquid-cooled,
single-cylinder, four-stroke 49cc enginecapable of 114mpg– so it will carry youup to 238km on a4.92-litre tank. Theautomatic V-Maticbelt drive means nogear-changing.From $2,649 powersports.honda.com
TIMEPIECE-INSPIREDU - B OAT V E N E N U M
This is the watchmanufacturer’s firsteffort at creating amotorcycle. It is partof a limited seriesof 100, designedwith Dino Romanoof Moto Dal Cuore(translation: “bikefrom the heart”).It took four months
to make this customversion of theTriumph Rocket IIIwith a three-cylinder,160hp, 2,300ccengine. The Venenumalso features a petrolcap that mimics thedistinctive U-BOATwatch crown-guard.£TBC dinoromano.it
PEDAL-PETROL PUSH-BIKED E R R I N G E R CYC L E
An updated approachto board-track racingmotorcycles of the20s, the moto-hybriddrivetrain here allowsthis bike to achievefuel economy of 2.8litres per 100km.Each Derringer iscustom-built – thisone is powered by
a pull-start, 49cc,overhead valve,four-stroke engine.Patriotic patrons cantake comfort in theknowledge that allDerringers featureBrooks saddles –handmade here inBlighty. From $3,500derringercycles.com
JA N U S H A LCYO N 5 0
Paying homage to20s and 30s record-breakers such asBrough Superior,Indian and Zenith,Janus has createdthe Halcyon 50. Theleather panniers andseat, together withthe 36-spoke rimsand hand-formed
aluminium fuel- andoil-tanks, are a nodto bygone elegance.The Halcyon is aboutcruising rather thanracing, so the 50cc,water-cooled, six-speed engine willonly achieve a stately90kph. From $3,900janusmotorcycles.com
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The large halogenheadlight in the originalR90S is updatedhere with a bright LED
RACE-READY TRIBUTEB M W CO N C E PT 9 0
It’s been 40 yearssince the launch ofthe original R90S,so BMW askedchampion racerand award-winningdesigner RolandSands to help sculptthe gorgeously retroConcept 90. Its 900cc,air-cooled, flat-twin
boxer engine putsout 115hp, andthe handcraftedaluminium bodyworkensures the Concept90 weighs in at under190kg. The colour isinspired by the R90S’slurid 70s “Daytonaorange” hue. £TBCbmw-motorrad.co.ukW
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BREWING FORPATIENT PEOPLEP R O P E R CO F F E ECO L D - D R I PCO F F E E M A K E R
The Japanese styleof coffee makingand America’sartisanal “ThirdWave” of coffeeconnoisseurship haveinspired this brewingtower. At just 35drips per minute, thissystem cold-brewscoffee, taking aleisurely 12 hours tofunnel up to a litreof water through itsstone filter. $599propercoffee.co
The stone filter trapsmore moisture, and soincreases the amount ofcoffee syrup produced
High-precision water jetswere used to cut outthe AutoCAD-designedaluminium frame
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PHOTOGRAPHY:SUNLEE;WILSONHENNESSY
CONNOISSEUR COFFEE-CRAFTERSJAVA-BREWING ESSENTIALS FOR HANDS-ON ARTISANS AND PUSH-BUTTON BARSITAS
ESPRESSOS GO ONLINEBLOSSOM ONE LIMITED COFFEE-MACHINE
The former Nasaengineers and Applealumni who designedthe hand-madeBlossom One, usingpremium materialssuch as mahoganyand teak, aimed tobalance the scienceand art of coffeebrewing. A built-in
HANDMADE-COFFEE MACHINEHG ONE PRECISION GRINDER
The brainchild of aclassically trainedmusician and aHollywood VFXsupervisor, thishand-powered grinderdelivers the optimumbalance of coarseand fine groundsrequired for espresso.Eschewing a motor
reduces repair-costsand prevents excessheat damaging theflavour of the coffee.The vertical, free-flowing design of theconical burr ensuresalmost zero wasteand, consequently,minimal cleaning.$904.95 hg-one.com
QR-code reader andinternet connectivity(802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi),ensures that everymachine is part ofa network of coffeeenthusiasts, allmaking and sharingtheir perfectedrecipes. $11,000blossomcoffee.com
WHIPSEVERIN INDUCTION MILK-FROTHER SM9688
You can’t have aproper macchiatowithout frothy milk– but fiddling withmilk-steamers istiresome. Your badbarista imitationscan be replaced witha simple button-pressing exercise,and any concerns
over burnt milk areremoved by theinduction-heatingprocess. Four heat-settings (45°C/55°C/60°C/65°C) anda thermal safetycutout should allowfor plenty of perfectlyfoamed beverages.¤90 severin.com
FOR YOUR SPEEDY FIXPIAMO MICROWAVE ESPRESSO
Look away now, slow-brewed artisanal-coffee fans: thePiamo is all aboutspeed. Time-starvedoffice workers andover-sleepers willneed only 30 secondsand access to amicrowave to gettheir espresso fix.
This four-part setquickly createssteam in the uppercompartment which,due to the resultingpressure, forcesit down through afilter and your coffeegrounds, and into theexpectant cup. ¤40piamo-espresso.de
ESPRESSOS GO ONLINE
RASPBERRYP I -POWERED
ELON MUSK’SMAGLEV TRAIN IDEAS
HUMAN-POWEREDHEL ICOPTER COMPET IT ION
EAVESDROPPING ON
ENDANGEREDSPECIESWITH I PODS
POLLUT IONMON I TO R
AFRICA’SFIRST BITCOIN WALLET
THE TINY MOONS OF
NEPTUNEANTI-LONELINESSAU G M E N T E D Q U I LT S
‘UNGOOGLEABLE’BAND NAMES
THE FUTUREOF L IVE MUS IC
FAC E B O O K . C O M / W I R E D U K
3D-PRINTEDLIQUID METAL STRUCTURES
BRA IN FOOD AND PROVOCAT IONS TH I S MONTH : 1 1 . 1 3CARL DJERASSI_ HAL GREGERSEN_ ADAM PENENBERG_ NICHOLAS LOVELL_ GREG LINDSAY_
CARL DJERASSI_
I, a feminist father of thePill, foresee no male Pill
ondomsandcoitus inter-ruptusaretheonlymeansof reversible birth con-trol in men – and willremain so because theproblem is not scientific,but economic. Scientifi-cally, we know how tocreate a male Pill. Yetdespite much clinicalresearch, the top 20
pharmaceutical companies have shownzero interest in taking such a product tomarket. Aside frombig pharma’s focus onolderpeople (aresounding“yes”ontreat-ment for erectile function, an equallyresounding “no” for contraception), thebiggest problem is the fact that a youngman’s reproductive span is two to threetimes longer than a20-year-oldwoman’s.A young woman will not ask whethercontinued use of her Pill would affect herfertilityat45or50,whereasmany20-year-oldmenwould require aguaranteedanswer.Toprovideanepidemiologicallyvalidanswertoa youngmanwould be expensive,time-consuming (thus cannibal-isingmost of the potential patentlife) and open to lawsuits, sincemenmay blame their Pill for age-related erectile dysfunction andprostate-glandproblems.
I’m a firm believer in menassumingmore responsibility forbirth control, but have been sopessimistic about the prospectsof a male Pill that I made the fol-lowingpredictioninmy1979bookThe Politics of Contraception:
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“Every post-pubescent American femalereading this in 1979will bepast themeno-pausebeforeshecandependonhersexualpartner tousehisPill.”
Inseveralhundredlecturesonadvancesin femalecontraception, Ihave frequentlyencountered aggrieved feminist crit-ics asking: “Why is there no Pill for meninstead of the Pill for women?” A malefeminist such asme (who sees a liberatedwoman as a person in charge of her ownfertility) would respond that under suchcircumstances, most decision-makingpower about awoman’s pregnancywouldstill remain inmen’s hands.
Themore apt question is “Why is thereno Pill for men in addition to the Pill forwomen?” More recently, I’ve addressedthat issue in my “science-in-fiction” ascase histories: in my writing I smugglesuch information into the reader’s mindin theguiseof engagingfictional plots.
My novels Menachem’s Seed and NOconcentrateonmalereproductivebiology.InMenachem’s Seed, amale reproductivebiologist addresses the female director of
a foundation backing research in repro-ductionandcontraception:
“Could you support aproject ofmine?”“I could arrangeanexpedited review–”“I’m sure you could… but to be frank,
I’d rather not have the competition seewhat we’ve got up our sleeves. You knowhow small a community male reproduc-tivebiologyis.Yourpanelmustbefullof–”
“OK,”she interrupted.“Sowhat’ssohotabout yourproject?”
“It’s anewapproach to impotence…”“Areyou trying to cause it or cure it?”“Be serious.We’re trying to cure it.”“That’s all youmen ever think of.What
about prevention rather than perfor-mance? In other words, pay some atten-tion to contraception. We get so fewapplications for contraceptive research.And virtually none formale birth control.All the reproductive fraternity is inter-ested in is impotenceor infertility.”
Shethenoutlinessomepromisingnovelapproaches tomale contraception, manyof which have worked in actual clinicalstudies, but which no large pharmaceuti-cal companywill pursue.
Scientists and pharma are not inter-ested in male contraception,but rather in the more “glamor-ous” topic of impotence, thus thecapitalised NO in my title. To achemist, NO is nitric oxide – thecausative agent for penile erec-tion and the basis throughwhichViagraand relateddrugsoperate.
In 1951, Carl Djerassi synthe-sisedthemoleculenorethisterone,a feat which led to the develop-ment of the oral contraceptive.He is emeritus professor of chem-istry at Stanford University andauthor of many books and plays.He will speak at wired2013 onOctober 17-18, and turns 90on October 29. djerassi.comIL
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ADAM PENENBERG_
We are architects of thesimulation we’re living in
e’ve all heard that “Lifeis a game”. Butwhat if weareall, rightnow,actuallyliving in one, designed bysomeone who is livingdeep into the future?
It’s usually the kind offar-out idea debated incollege dorms with theritual passing of a bongand comprised of equal
parts The Matrix and Star Trek’s holo-deck. According to the theory, whichan academic from Oxford and a scien-tist from Nasa have put forth separately,there’s analmostmathematical certaintythat we’re toiling inside an intricate sim-ulation created by beings existing any-where from 30 years to fivemillion yearsfrom now. In essence, we’re just somefuture being’s hobby, his or her versionof a massively multiplayer online role-playing game such as World of Warcraft.I supposeyoucouldsaywe’re livinginsim.
Mind-bending, sure, but is it more far-fetched than religion, which promotesthe idea that God created the Earth andHeavens? Or less believable than the BigBangtheory,whichholdsthattheuniversestarted out as a speck ofmatter of incred-ible density, smaller than a pore on yourskin?Tento15billionyearsago,amassiveexplosion began stretching the fabric ofspace like a balloon, forming a hundred-trilliongalaxies in theuniverseandthree-hundred-trillionstars inourgalaxy. In theprocess, itheraldedthebeginningsoftimeand, somewhat later, the Earth coalescedfrom hot gases and, by sheer luck andhappenstance, ultimately created anenvironment fromwhich life sprang.
Really? Compared to that, existing in agamesimulation seemsplausible.
Nick Bostrom, a philosopher at OxfordUniversity and director of its Future ofHumanity Institute, calls it the “Simula-tion Argument”. An adherent is astrono-mer Rich Terrile, director of the Centerfor Evolutionary Computation and Auto-mated Design at Nasa’s Jet PropulsionLaboratory. They don’t wear tinfoil hats,wanderaroundcityparksandspoutsci-fi-worthy conspiracy theories. Their viewsare shapedbymaths, scienceandhistory.
Bostrombaseshis thesis onanassump-tion he calls “substrate-independence”,meaning thatmental states are not solelyattainable byhumansandother animals – IL
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HAL GREGERSEN_
Teachers should rewardquestions, not just answers
ccording to a paper in thejournal CommunicationEducation, an averagechild aged between sixand 18 asks only one ques-tion per one-hour classpermonth–anumber thatstarkly contrasts with theinnate curiosity exhibitedby an average four-year-old. Contrast thatwith the
average teacher,who, according to theBrit-ish Education Research Journal, pepperskids with 291 questions a day and waits anaverage of a second for a reply, and it’s easyto see why students quickly learn to valueright answersmore than right questions.
What ifwereversedthis, andencouragedquestions year-roundat home?
Although Steve Jobs was earmarked asa rebel in school for his curious nature, hegrew up with parents and neighbours whocared about his creative skills. His fathergave him part of his workbench and accessto tools so he could figure out how thingsworked. A neighbour whoworked at Hewl-ett-Packard fuelled his interest in electron-ics by teaching him not only how devicesworked, but how to make them work.These andmany other adults gave Jobs thecreative confidence to ask the provocativequestions, the ones that challenged thestatus quo in any context at any time.
The best and most famous leaders tell asimilar story. Eachhad family, teachers andneighbourswhofosteredthecapacity toaskthe right question – the fundamental firststep in finding an idea that creates value.
The same holds true for lesser-known but equally successfuldisruptors. Consider HowardRheingold,awriterandvisiting lec-turer at Stanford, who understoodthrough his mother, an art teacherwho “defended my right to colouroutside the lines”, the importanceofquestions;orOritGadiesh,chair-womanof Bain,whose parents val-ued questions somuch her teacherwrote inheryearbook: “Alwaysaskthose two questions. And then thethird and the fourth” – advice shenever stopped following.
To raise disruptive innovatorslike these, wemust, as parents andeducators, consider the following:
• Pay close attention: childrenaround the age of four repeat aquestionbecausetheydon’tbelieveadults are listening. If a pattern ofnot feeling understood develops,persistence in asking questionscan shift into reluctance to chal-lenge the status quo. If they’re notlistened to and encouraged to askquestions, children will lose curi-osity, potentially stunting theirintellectual growth and assuredlystunting their creative growth.
• Do question “homework”:help children to unlock answersto things they care about. Thisapproachcanbeassimpleastakingtime together when they getstuck and then writing down 20questions about theproblem.
• Ask better questions: when itcomes to increasing your child’squestioning, you must excel as anadept questioner to truly impartcreativity and confidence. Reservetime to brainstorm questions forfourminutesadaytohelpsolveany
vexing personal and pro-fessional challenges.
Let’s give the world’schildrenthecouragetoaskmorequestions. Let’s keeptheir “what if?”s and “whynot?”s alive, so they buildabetter, brighter future.Hal Gregersen (@Hal
Gregersen) is the AbuDhabi Commercial Bankprofessor of innovationand leadershipat INSEAD.He is co-author of TheInnovator’s DNA (Har-vard), founder of the 4-24Project and he speaks oninnovation and change
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NICHOLAS LOVELL_
Everyone is your customer,but only somewill pay you
theycanexist inotherphysicaland/ordig-ital phenomena. A conscious, intelligent,self-awarebeingcouldresideinanorganicbrain, siliconbrainormagneticbrain.Youcould say the product remains the same;only the packaging has changed. If he’sright, a powerful computer with inordi-nately complex software could achieve astate of what we know as consciousnessand which Terrile claims is no more thanthe by-product of sophisticated architec-ture in thehumanbrain.
According to Hans Moravec of Carne-gie Mellon’s Robotic Institute, a $1,000computer in 1980 had the brainpowerof a bacterium. But, he says, if comput-ers’ processing power follows the samegrowth curve, by 2030 a computer couldachieve a complexity equivalent to thehuman brain. Terrile seconds themotion,predicting that in the next ten to 30 yearsartificial consciousnesswill be embeddedinmachines. The fastest Nasa computerscrunchdataat twice the speedof ahumanbrain. Before 2020,we could compute theequivalent of 10,000 human lives, includ-ingevery thought, inonegamecontroller.
Of course, we won’t know we’re in asimulation. “If the simulators don’twant
us to find out, we probably neverwill,” Bostrom wrote in a 2003paper.Terrilefinds inspiration inthe idea that we may soon havethe technology to create our ownsynthesised universes. Then we,who live in a simulated world,have created a simulated world,whose denizens wouldn’t knowthey’re the product of our col-lective computing imagination.And what if our master design-ers also lived insidea simulation,and so on, and so on? Potentially,you could have levels and levelsof sims,perhapsmillionsof them.
In that case, Terrile speculates,if there is a creator for ourworld,it is we, or at least an offshoot ofus,hailingfromthedistantfuture.Then, “We are both God andservants ofGod,” he says.
Now that’s what I’d call theultimate gamedesign.Adam L Penenberg is author of
Play atWork: HowGames InspireBreakthrough Thinking (Piaktus)and a journalism professor atNewYorkUniversity
ow much should youcharge forwhat you do?
That is the questionthat anyone trying tomake a living has wor-ried about since the dawnof civilisation. Is it abouthow much it costs you toprovide? Is it about howmuch the market willbear? Is it driven by com-
petition or marginal cost or some otherimmutable rule of economics?
In the world of physical distributionthrough physical shops, we made up ourmind what the price should be, and all ofour customers paid the same. Even thoughwe understood that our customers andfans might vary in their willingness to paymoney for whatever it is we offer, we wereforced topick aprice and stickwith it. Eve-ryonepaid the sameamount (give or take),whether theywereanuninterestedpasser-by or our biggest,most committed fan.
But how much is something reallyworth? You wouldn’t have to pay me to goto a football match, but it would be close;yet a fanwas recently reported tohavepaidover £10,000 for a pair of tickets to the FACup Final. So what is the value of that pairof tickets? Somewhere between zero and£10,000, depending onwhoyou are asking.
To many creators and businesses, theweb is aboutdestructionof value, as indus-try after industry is disrupted. Incumbentscomplain about digital dimes replacingphysical dollars. We are still searching forsustainable ways to fund art, culture andniche businesses in a world where the bigare getting bigger all the time. Evendigital
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utopians are concerned about theissue. Kevin Kelly, the foundingexecutive editor of wired US, haspointed out that the long tail hastwo winners: a few lucky aggrega-tors, such as Amazon and Netflix,and seven-billion potential con-sumers, receiving products andservices at pricesmuch lower thanwerepossiblebefore. “The longtailisamixedblessingforcreators.Thelong tail does not raise the salesof creators much, but it does addmassive competition and endlessdownwardpressure onprices.”
There’s another way. The per-ception that the long tail is bad forcreators and niche business is onetrapped inpre-internet thinking. Itis drivenby anobsessionwith free.
It istruethatthewebhasenabledcheap, low-friction sharing. It isalso true thatmuch of this sharingis involuntary,drivenby illegalfile-sharingandacustomerbase that isbecoming increasingly disinclinedtopay forbitswhat theypreviouslypaid for atoms. To many this is athreat. I see it as anopportunity.
The web enables you to reacha global audience at an unprece-dented scale and a very low cost.The key is to flip your thinking: ifyou think that everyone shouldpay the same and that freeloadersare only a half a notch above evilpirates, youwill struggle.
See freeloaders as potentialcustomers.Somewillbeasuninter-ested in what you have to offer asI am in football. Otherswill happilypay a premium – perhaps 10x theaverage or 1,000x – for somethingthey truly value, like the fan pay-ing £10,000 to a tout. Theweb ena-bles you to service them all. Buildone-to-onerelationshipswithyourcustomers. Let your biggest fansspend lots on things they value.Above all, realise that your audi-ence is on a continuum from free-loaders to superfans, and the webmakes it possible to satisfy all ofthem. Some spend nothing, somespend an enormous amount, somespend at every point in between.Understanding variable pricing isoneof theprimaryskillsofcreatorsandbusiness in thedigital age.Nicholas Lovell is the author of
The Curve: From Freeloaders intoSuperfans: The Future of Business(Portfolio Penguin). He will speakatwired2013 on October 17-18 IL
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My phone knows your CV,but not if I should know you
ilicon Valley’s latestmanagement fad is tonot manage. “Some ofthe best decisions andinsights come from caf-eteria discussions, meet-ing new people, andimpromptu team meet-ings,” said Yahoo! whenit revoked working fromhome.MarissaMayer, ex-
Google, knew that hits such as Gmail andStreetViewweretheproductofengineersmeeting serendipitously over lunch.
Google’s new campus is designed toencourage “casual collisions” at its roof-top cafés, and Facebook has hired FrankGehry to build “the perfect engineeringspace: one giant room that fits thousandsof people, all close enough to collaboratetogether,”MarkZuckerbergexplained.
Study after study has demonstratedthe power of proximity when it comesto birthing ideas, and network theoristshave shown how bridging “structuralholes”betweenteamsanddisciplinescon-sistently leads to better and more inno-vations. What’s ironic is how the world’slargest search companies and social net-workappeartohavenobetter ideasofhowto plug these holes than to toss everyoneintoa roomwithanespressomachine.
Google is obsessed with “engineeringserendipity”,combiningusers’ searchhis-tory, locationandcontext toanswerques-tions before they’re asked.Whatwould ittake to build a social serendipity engine –onethatcould identifywho’snearby,mine
your hidden contexts and relationshipsand make the necessary introductions?After all, not everyonedrinks coffee.
The first step is finding people, whichlocation-based dating services such asOKCupidandGrindrmanagewell.They’vebeen joined by “social discovery” appssuchasSonarandCircle,which linkusers’networks to their smartphone’sGPS.
“Ten years from now, you will look atyour phone or through Google Glass, andknow everyone in the room,” says Social-Radar founderMichaelChasen. “I haven’tmet anyonewhodisagreeswith that.”
Thenextpiece isharder. It’snotenoughto knowwho’s in the room–you also needto care. Facebook “likes” aren’t accuratepredictors of a match. What’s missing iscontext – why I want to meet this personnow. Grindr works because its consider-ation is binary. Any serendipity enginewithhigheraspirationsmustgraspdeepermotivations than socialmedia supplies.
One solution is to build rich profilesmanually. That’s the tack taken by Rela-tionship Science, which maps potentialconnections between 2.3 million mem-bers of the 1 per cent. Customers cantrace the shortest path to their quarry viacolleagues, corporate boards and almamaters, each link graded into strong,medium and weak ties – captions Glassmight somedayflashover their faces.
Another approach is to collect datausing sensors.AnMITMediaLab spin-off,SociometricSolutions,equipsofficework-ers with “sociometric badges” to meas-uremovement,speechandconversationalpartners, using the results toplotmapsoforganisations. Its findings suggestYahoo!should invest in large cafeteria tables:workerswho eat at tables for 12 aremoreproductive than thoseat tables for four.
The last step is the trickiest: givenenough context about the strangersheaded towards you, can an algorithm
crunchenoughdataintimetospotconnections? Another startup,Ayasdi, does that by render-ing every big data set as anetwork map, revealing hiddenconnections that CEO GurjeetSingh labels“digital serendipity”.
I f yoked together, theseapproaches could help fill in theblank spaces on the org chartwhereworkactually happensandnew ideas are spawned. Althoughluring them into the same roomwith an espresso machine wouldprobably speed thingsupabit.GregLindsay isasenior fellowof
the World Policy Institute and co-author ofAerotropolis (Penguin)
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PRODUCING
LNG – LIQUID
NATURAL GAS
Obtain raw fuelTraditionally,natural gas has beenpiped tomarketfrom its origin. Thishasmeant that gasexploration andextraction has beenlocated near itspoint of use. Pipingfromdeep-ocean gasfields, for example,has been too costly.
Chill to liquefyToday, thanks tonewextractionmethods, a third ofgasmade availableis turned into LNG.Once impurities(such as C02 andH20) are removed,it’s chilled to below-170°C, so it takes upone six-hundredth ofits original volume.
Ship tomarketTheLNGcan thenbeshipped from theliquefaction plant towhere it can beusedaround theworld.Its low temperaturerequirementsmakeit best suited tolong-haul transportvia rail, shipping andsome freight. Itmustbe kept chilled.
Re-gasify for useOnce atmarket, theLNG is re-gasified tonatural gas, so it canbe used to generateheat and electricity.It can also be turnedto CNG (compressednatural gas) andused as a fuel forcars and lightcommercial vehiclesincluding lorries.P
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Below: at the SurOman facility, inQalhat, naturalgas is liquefied to betransported abroad
N�TUR�L G�S.N�TUR�L G�S.Why is it being talkedabout so much? And what makes it soimportant for the future? This naturallyoccurring mixture is mostly methane,with other alkanes (including ethaneand propane) and carbon dioxide. But, simply put, it’smade of short strands of hydrocarbons.
The gas is formed from the decay of organic matter. Like other hydrocarbons (such as oiland coal) it was generated deep underground over millions of years, and lies in reservoirs, orfields, of various accessibility. Newdevelopments in horizontal drilling techniques andhydro-fractal extraction have introduced the possibility of tapping the previously hard-to-reachreserves of tight gas, shale gas and coal-bed methane. The IEAWorld Energy Outlook esti-mates that, if effective, this could roughly double global gas-reserves to over 750 trillionm3.
But why is natural gas seen as such a panacea? The answer lies in the strand length ofthose hydrocarbons. When hydrocarbons react with oxygen, they produce water and carbondioxide. The ratio of this is in proportion to the ratio of carbon tohydrogenatoms in thehydro-carbon. Coal has a hydrogen-to-carbon ratio of roughly 1:1, gasoline 2:1 andmethane (CH4) of4:1. Thismeans that burningmethaneproduces far lessCO2 thanother fossil fuels.Of course,the idealwould be no carbon or hydrogen, but current productionmethods rely on fossil fuels.
For now, at least, gas is our cleanest option. But it isn’t perfect. It’s tricky to transport,so techniques such as liquefaction – turning it into liquefied natural gas (LNG) – have beendeveloped by Shell and others. This reduces its volume by more than 600 times, making iteasier to ship and viable as a transportation fuel on roads and water.
Such liquefaction plants have been constructed on land and at sea (such as Shell’s FLNG),making it a potential global energy source. Although not a permanent solution to our energyneeds, its importance should not be underestimated. wired.co.uk/promotions/shell-lets-go
H�R� TOD�Y�OR POW�RTOMORROW
THE NEW TECHNOLOGIESHELPING GAS TO BRIDGETHE PLANET’S ENERGY GAP
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FollowusonTwitter:@WIREDINSIDERUK
COMPILED BY RUBY MUNSON-HIRST3D FLYINGBEERBOTTLES
Designer Jon Fidler usesselective laser sinteringto create his pubdoodles. Fidler headsupModla, a creativedesign-consultancyfirm specialisingin 3D printing andprototyping. The flying-duck-inspired trio willbe on display at the 3DPrintshow, November7-9. 3Dprintshow.com
MULBERRYBAYSWATERBAG
Made of strikingoxblood-coloured hair-calf and leather, theMulberry Bayswaterbag is big and beautiful.Handcrafted toMulberry’s famouslyhigh standards, thedetachable frontpocket makes it doublyfunctional, creating agreat nighttime clutch.£2,750 mulberry.com
MADE.COMPRISMASTEEL TABLE
This contemporaryside-table is a stylishstatement piece suitablefor bedrooms and livingrooms alike. It’s availablein grey or white witha sand-effect powder-coated finish – so it’swonderfully tactile, likeaWIRED cover. The steelconstructionmakes itboth tough and beautiful.£119made.com
WIRED NEXTGENERATIONCONFERENCE
WIRED’s new one-dayevent is designed toinspire young minds.Showcasing innovators,designers, coders,inventors and artists,speakers include MarcoTempest and NickD’Aloisio. Workshopswill satisfy the mosttech-hungry teens.wiredevent.co.uk/wired-2013-next-generation
NARCISORODRIGUEZMUSCOIL
This limited-editionluxurious post-bathtreat is inspired bytraditional Egyptianessential oils. It can beused alone or combinedwith the eau de toilette.The scent is rich anddistinguished, withfloral, woody notesoffset by delicatevanilla and amber tones.£66 selfridges.com
EVENTS, PROMOTIONS,
FROM THE WIRED INSIDERPRODUCTS AND COMPETITIONS
TALK TO US ABOUT YOUR BUSINESS’SPECIFIC REQUIREMENTS
WIRED’S CONSULTING SERVICE OFFERS BUSINESSESTHE OPPORTUNITY TO ENGAGE WITH THE MAGAZINE’SFUTURE-FACING CONTENT VIA BESPOKE PROJECTS,LEVERAGING OUR EXPERTISE AND THE WIRED NETWORK
If you want to know how yourbusiness could innovate forthe future, wired Consultingruns stimulating workshopsfor groups large and small.Whether a half- or full-dayworkshop, or longer, we willcurateanagendathat inspires.
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wired consultants are con-fident, proficient speakers,delivering thought-provokingpresentations and keynotes ona broad range of topics aroundfuture trends, technology,designandbusiness.Ourreportsaredetailedanddrivenbydata.
wired Consu l t ing runsdynamic and exciting events.The wired Test Lab can beset up at your office or event,bringing the latest innova-tions and technologies to lifewith hands-on experiencesand installation pieces.
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wiredConsulting’sexpertteamof designers, researchers andwriters is on hand to packageyour message in a format thatis at once authoritative, engag-ing and visually compelling.We are open to discussing abroad range of design projects.
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Bradley Garrett explores the urbanworld’s forgotten treasures
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WIRED CULTURETHIS MONTH: 11.13WELSH SPACE MISSIONOLD TRAFFORD REDESIGNEDMISFITS RETURNSEDITED BY TOM CHESHIRE
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To find the head space to write his firstbook, BradleyGarrettwould takehis laptopand some beers up into the unlocked cabinof a disused 30-storey-high crane near Ald-gate East in London. After spending thenight writing, he’d descend through theadjacent Ibis hotel via the employees’ areasandwalk out through themain entrance tothehave-a-nice-days of the receptionists.
Garrett calls himself a “place hacker”.He started as a teenager in his native Cali-fornia, driving out into the Mojave Deserton the lookout for petroglyphs and NativeAmerican ruins, often staying there forweeks. His book, Explore Everything: PlaceHacking the City fromTunnels to Skyscrap-ers, is an account of a year spent probingLondon’s forgotten – or forbidden – places.“Each city has what we call a golden age ofexploration that usually lasts two to fouryears,” says the 32-year-old. “For NewYork, it was 2000 to 2005. London was2008 to2012.”Garrettwas in theUKduringthat time to complete a PhD in ethnogra-phy atOxfordUniversity, but he spentmostof it in the capital with fellow explorers,theLondonConsolidationCrew.Theyinves-tigated sites such as the Shard, abandonedasylums and stately homes, as well as bur-ied rivers, sewers andunused tunnels – andeven threwa few“monster parties”.
For underground infiltration, he’d use amap. “You take a 1932 Tube map and com-pare it with a 2012 one to spot [missing]stations,”saysGarrett. “Thenyoufindawayin. Often, there’s a little substation: you trya door and it’s open.” Most of the time, hedoesn’tgoback.“Derelictspaceoftendisap-pears.We’re theonly oneswho’ve recordedtheseplaces – it’s guerilla archaeology.”
Garrett isnowworkingonanaugmented-reality app thatwill reveal London’s hiddenrivers. He’s also exploringMoscow, the citycurrently in its “golden age”. His ultimateplace-hack, though? “There’s a derelictMetro station in Pyongyang. I’d love to getin there, butwe’dprobablyneedachange inregime.”TCExploreEverything ispublishedby Verso on October 8 placehacking.co.uk
Below: Bradley Garrett picturedunderground in an RER tunnel in Paris
alhambra552552 pools
adams-normandieFOURFOUR pools
exposition park2626 pools
florence firestoneSIXSIX pools
highland park172 pools
compton147147 pools
fairfax217217 pools
highland park172172 pools
baldwin hills421421 pools
gardena375375 pools
cudahy2121 pools
del aire7979 pools
Angeles lifeBenedikt Gross
perspectiveflying in for a
my Royalall these. It looked
was crazy.”wonderedmapped
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historic south-central14 pools
pacific palisades93 pools
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view park-windsor hills448 pools
each other.Gross: “In some neighbourhoods all the poolsmight be medium-sized and rectangular, in othersthey might range from small to large and beoval-shaped and curvy. They are a physicallandmark that show how geography, planning,and socioeconomics intermingle over time.”
Benedikt Gross wanted to map LA’s 43,123swimming pools. So he took the plunge
palms152152 pools
studio city299299 pools
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heabsurdityofLosAngstruck designer Benedikonce he’d gained a perspectiveon the city. “I was flying
study trip during the first year of myCollege of Art degree, and I sawswimmingpools,”recallsGross,33.like there were millions. It wasPools being social indicators, he wonderwhat would happen if they werealongside other data sets. SoCalifornia-based geographer Josephhe beganThe Big Atlas of LA Pools.
After an aborted attempt at mappingthemthemselves–theircomputeridentifying roofs or cars as pools –turned to clippingfactory.com, anbased service mostly used by companieswhich need photographs editedcatalogues.Gross,however,asked itually tracemore than 43,000 poolscheap – it’s interesting how we begproject inLAandherewewere in Indiaingwithcheap labour issues.”Theimageswere then analysed by crowdsouringmarketplaceAmazonMechani
Did the dataset reveal the pattexpected? “There are correlationspools and crime, but I think that’because there’s less crime in richA more intriguing outcome, he sayshowpoolshapes functionasfingerprintneighbourhoods. Poorer areas harectangularpools (as thesearepublicties);wealthy areas havedifferent
Themostvaluableresult,hesaysact of trying to reach a result: “Wethe project would reveal a corrbetween something like the SexList and pools. But it’s just aboutcess of how to create a dataset asthat.” Charlie Burton benedikt-gross.de
All 43,123 pools overlaid on top of each
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P L A Y / T V
owardOverman is reflectinguponthesuperpoweredcomedy-dramaMisfits. “There are very few televisionseries where series five is the best one,” he says. “Itgets harder and harder. You use up all your best ideas,
youget tired, youget fedup.”Overman is the creator of the series,in which a group of juvenile delinquents receives an assortmentof special abilities (telepathy, invisibility, the power tomake any-one you touch incredibly horny – the usual…). The fifth – and final– series is on now. “And it isn’t shit,” Overman says.
Season five introduces a rival gang of vigilantes (an “A-listversion”), along with a support group for superheroes withunderwhelming powers – including a characterwho can turn intoa turtle, and“thisolderwomanwhoknits visionsof the future.Thetrouble is, it’s hard to get a good likeness in wool,” says Overman.“So you cannever be surewho it refers to.”
The programme strikes a balancebetween sci-fi and human drama. “Misfits
has always had a couple of different audiences,” saysOverman. “It’s had a real comic-book-fan following,who love the superhero stuff, then an audience thatenjoys the rude comedy. I’m probably the person whofalls in themiddle of theVenndiagramof those two.”
Misfits is part of a crop of social science-fiction,characterised more by emotion than by lasers: thinkBeing Human and The Returned (inspired byMisfits,according to its creators). “It’s sci-fi for people whodon’t like sci-fi,” the 41-year-old says. “Sci-fi is at itsbestwhen it has something very human at its heart.”
Overman’s other work sticks to that rule. He’ssold a US version of Misfits (“It was the easiest gig
in the world. Slightly less swearing. They were like, ‘Can he notsay piss on her tits? Can he just say eat jelly off her tits?’”), aswellasafilm,TheSlackfiProject,aboutabaristawhosavestheworldfrom a viral pandemic. Hisnewest creation,Atlantis, isshowing on BBC Two. Init, Jason, pre-Argonauts,is the hero. A youthful,snakeless Medusa alsostars, as do Pythagoras – ageek – and Hercules, who is“a fat PRman who spins hisown legend.” Like Misfits,it’s an irreverent spin on afamiliar trope. “I don’t everseemyself writing anythingbleak.” TC e4.com/misfits
Heroesofemo-sci-fiWith the final series of Misfits showing now, the cult show’s creatordiscusses ancient Greece, pitching to the US and knitting the future
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Above: Karla Crome,who plays Misfit Jess,on set in Thamesmead
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Dancingmachine
en dancers appear inWayneMcGregor’snewworkAtomos. An unseen eleventh is aself-generatingdigital“creature”thatscansfilms, then generates weird new limbs and
uses them to dance on a plasma screenmounted in thestudio. Called “Becoming”, its moves join the humanperfomanceonstage.“It’sabadlybehaveddancer,”saysMarcDownie, a digital artist andBecoming’s creator.BecomingisanevolutionofatoolthatDowniecreated
for McGregor in 2007, the Choreographic LanguageAgent (CLA), a prototype interactive notebook for cho-reographers. “The CLA was an attempt to get to themiddle ground, between the cold, formal languagethat computers have and Wayne’s choreographiclanguage,” says Downie. AlthoughMcGregor used theCLA, itmeant sitting downat a computerwith amouseeverytimehewantedtomakeanote. “That’sa fatalflawwhenyou’reworkingwithmovement.Wethoughtwe’dgiveWayne somethingmuch closer to an autonomousartwork that requiredmuch less intervention.”
Computers and choreography combine to create bold new movesDownie’s new systemwatches a secret film. “No one
will ever figure out what it is,” he says, only revealingthat it is a well-known title distributed to all ofMcGregor’s collaborators as text and reference forAtomos. The Becoming programbreaks the film into 1,222 discreteshots, analysing the movementand the colours in each. “The coreof the piece that results is abouthow the creature can grow itsbody. It will take a decision abouthowtoedit itsbody,andthen itwillplay out the motion that the bodygenerates.” TC randomdance.orgAtomos opens on October 9 atSadler’s Wells Theatre, London.AversionofBecoming is ondisplayat the exhibition Thinkingwith theBody, which runs until October 27at theWellcomeCollection,London
TA human dancer
(above) emulatesthe moves created bythe digital dancerBecoming (below)
PHOTOGRAPHY:RICKGUEST
SAVED BYTELETEXT
Tablet extra!Download the WIREDapp to watch a videoof Becoming in action
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Philipp Ronnenbergis preparing for apost-cyberwar world.“When regular networksare under attackfrom governments orcriminals, there needsto be a set of alternativenetworks that will stayturned on,” says the29-year-old computerscientist. So he designedthe Social TeletextNetwork, to streamsimple data during aninternet blackout.
The networkrepurposes Teletext –the now defunct proto-internet, which overlayedtext and blocky diagramson a TV screen, usinganalogue video frequencysignals. Ronnenberg’sprototype networkconverts data enteredinto your computerinto Teletext, via aninstrument called aninserter, and requiresan antenna and atelevision to view it.
Ronnenberg envisagesthat activists in thefuture will use it as asecret communicationchannel. “The internetin 20 or 30 years will bedifferent to what it istoday… because of moregovernmental controlover our networks.” Bycontrast, Social Teletextis an independent,uncontrolled alternative“where information canexist safely, driven andmaintained by people”.MV phiron.de/social-teletext-network
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ManchesterUnitedgets anupgradeOld Trafford’s lack of atmosphere can’t just be down to Fergie’sdeparture. WIRED asks a firm of architects to give it 110 per cent
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FANZONE GROUND“The experience of a game startswhen you leave home,” says Lee.A fanzone, featuring screens, drinksand food, “extends that experiencefor the final mile into the stadium”.
SOUND CLOUDWith acoustic materials, “youcan start directing sound in realtime, using reflective materialsin the sound cloud thathangs over the whole stadium.”
CROWD ENERGYHarness the crowd’s power: “Thesepiezoelectric rockers move less thanhalf a millimetre. Each time someonesteps on one, energy is captured.”It is then used to heat seats.
LED SCREENDouble-sided OLED screens wouldupdate Old Trafford and allow theclub’s millions of fans worldwide“inside”. “Branded United bars couldhave a live feed into the stadium.”
LED PITCHLacing the turf with LEDs could addan edge to replays, highlighting howthe play developed. “It’s about bringingthe information that you get athome into a three-dimensional arena.”
COMMUNICATIONSPopulous fits its stadia with turboWi-Fi. “This is about using mobiledevices to order a drink, and to getsocial interaction between those inthe stadium and the remote audience.”
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“I used to go out a lotin the early 90s,” saysMatthew Johnson– but these days hespends his eveningscataloguing postersand flyers from hishome in Oregon forthe Rave PreservationProject. It’s a websitethat shows his stashof party memorabilia,as well as that ofdonors from theUS, UK, Canada andRussia. He acceptsonly physical, notdigital, submissions:“I’m hoping it willbecome a library for[rave] memorabilia.”
Now Johnsonis launching aKickstarter to buya faster scanner,and is expanding hiswebsite so that userscan search for events,viewing all its postersand flyers along atimeline, “so you’llsee the evolution ofthe artwork”. Sorted.TC ravepreservationproject.com
RAVELIVES !
n April this year, the Manchester Evening News reported thatManchesterUnited had commissioned an acoustic engineer to surveyOld Trafford, to find out why 75,000 football fans were producing solittle noise. The engineer’s findings remain undisclosed, so wired
askedPopulous, thearchitecturefirmthatbuiltWembleyStadiumandtheOlympicStadium, to redesign the Theatre of Dreams, with the aim of generating a betteratmosphere.ChristopherLee, seniorprincipal at thefirm’sLondonoffice,explainsthe modifications, all of which “are very feasible – nothing we’re talking abouthere is prohibitively expensive”. Quick,Moyes – sign himup!TC populous.com
FANZONE ROOFThis extends the fanzone to thetop of the stadium – it could bea venue for pre- and post-matchentertainment, or a viewingarea for fans without tickets.
LED FAÇADEA Populous-designed stadium inKazakhstan has a 160-metre-longvideo façade of “embedded red-green-blue LEDs on a mesh. You could havea 1,500-metre board to play live video.”
THE KOPA single-tier stand for 20,000 people.“It becomes the engine room for theatmosphere in that seating bowl.As it gets noisier, everyone else getsnoisier – it’s natural amplification.”
“The money that is given to the World Land Trust, in my estimation,
has more effect on the wild world than almost anything I can think of.”
—Sir David Attenborough, Patron, World Land Trust
Orangutans are running out of habitat.
We’re running out of time.
We have a lot in common with Orangutans. We share 97%
of our DNA with them. But Orangutans are in a state of
emergency. In the Bornean rainforest, their habitat is being
destroyed by agricultural industry forcing them into shrinking
islands of forest, stranded amidst vast expanses of plantations.
Small isolated families of Orangutans cannot survive for long
in these conditions as they aren’t able to travel to find food
or to meet other Orangutans to breed, so their numbers are
rapidly decreasing.
We can help save the Orangutan, but we don’t have much
time. October 2nd –16th is our Big Match Fortnight.
During this time, any donations we receive will be doubled
by our sponsors. We will use this money to secure corridors
of rainforest land, safeguarding it from destruction and
deforestation and giving Orangutans a safe place to live,
eat and breed, forever. For these animals, it’s now or never.
If we don’t act now it will be too late.
For more information go to www.worldlandtrust.org
OR ANG-UTAN. Pongo p ygmaeus . FACING extinction.
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n a small, nondescript building near theoldmanufacturingheartofMontreal, a col-lectiveof artisanblacksmiths isworking tosave its trade–andgive itback to theworld.
Les Forges de Montréal aims to address the dwin-dlingnumberofmastersofmetalcraft. “Ourmandate isto preserve and share traditional blacksmithing tech-niques,” explainsMathieuCollette (above), founder ofLes Forges. “[We] conduct research and host demon-strations, invitingmasters to sharewhat they know.”
Collette’smainareaof research is in recreatingedgetools. “I’m researching the Canadian Biscayne tradeaxe,”hesays. “Itwasexchangedwith thenatives for fur,which was taken to France. Unfortunately, the Indus-trial Revolution killed the blacksmith, so now I haveto rediscover how those axeswould have beenmade.”
The ultimate aim is to build an online archive ofblacksmithing knowledge, accessible to all, and builtfromcrowdsourced information andmetalwork “reci-pes” passed frommaster to apprentice. Time is not onthe project’s side, though. “We’re going to lose black-smithing if we don’t link together,” Collette warns.“There are no [new] masters, so if this is not donein the next ten to 15 years, it’s going to be too late tocollect theknowledge fromtheoldmasters. Thedesireistoassembletheexpertisegatheredsofar intoaframe-work foranencyclopaediaofblacksmithing, a resourcethatblacksmithseverywherecouldconsult and contribute to.”
Les Forges de Montréal is cur-rently looking for funding to allowthose who run the ambitious pro-ject to spend more time estab-lishing and populating the onlineframework. Collette is optimisticabout the future: “The success oftheencyclopaediaofblacksmithingwill rest inthehandsofblacksmithsthroughout the world – via theinternet, of course.”Matt Kamenlesforgesdemontreal.org
FORGINGTHEFUTURE
The Biscayne tradeaxe dates backto the 16th century
An industrious Canadian collective is ensuringblacksmiths’ skills will live forever – online
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It turns out that new media is actually pretty old:Tom Standage’s new book, Writing on the Wall, issubtitled Social media – the first 2,000 years.Here he explains what links Twitter to the Tudors.
You’re sopasse, Zuck
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ROMANS HADA TWITTERFor the elite of the late Roman Republic in thefirst century, papyrus rolls carried by messengersserved the same purpose as Twitter does today,allowing letters, news, speeches, essays and booksto be shared and discussed. Cicero’s words give anexample of how it worked: “I sent you on March24 a copy of Balbus’s letter to me and of Caesar’sletter to him,” he wrote to a friend. Scribes andmessengers copied and carried documents,from dashed-off notes to books. A single copy ofthe newspaper Acta Diurna was produced andposted at the Forum. Choosing, copying anddistributing the best bits was left to its readers.
THE ENLIGHTENMENTHAD TROLLSA common complaint about social media is thatit distracts people from working. The samecharge was levelled at coffee houses in the late17th century. People went to read the latestpamphlets and discuss the news with strangers:coffee-house rules required people to be politeand to put aside distinctions of class. Critics,however, worried that coffee houses were“enemies to diligence and industry”. But thismixing of people and ideas meant they werecrucibles of creativity, fuelling innovation: theRoyal Society, the London Stock Exchange andLloyd’s of London all grew out of coffee houses.
TUDORS HADA TUMBLRCommonplace books were notebooks in which youwould note down inspiring quotations, favouritepoems, jokes, riddles, remedies and recipes. Theybecame particularly popular in the Tudor period, asthe emergence of printing made paper cheaperand literacy more widespread. The poems oraphorisms you chose to copy into your book or topass on to your correspondents said a lot aboutyou. Most material was quoted from other sources;the same is true of modern scrapbooking platformssuch as Pinterest and Tumblr. Then, as now, peopleenjoyed defining themselves by compiling andcurating content created by others.
Social media? It’s not anew idea. Try following
Cicero and Caesar’s feeds
Pembrokeshire wool-millTregwynt supplied the fabric
Hefin’s brother Rhodri builtthe suit’s pressure system
A clog-maker created theboots (called “space clogs”)
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olyhead, we have a problem.“The Welsh Space Campaignaims to launch Welsh peopleinto outer space,” says Hefin
Jones, the man behind the idea. “It doesso through a recontextualisation of Welshculture and skills into a cosmic context.”
The project started in September 2012.Jones (left) returned home from his Gold-smiths College design course to Cardigan,Wales, to workwith his brother, a plumber.“We looked at domestic heating systemsto see if we could reappropriate them fora space-travel pressure-system applica-tion.” He later asked his father to translatetheApollocountdownsequence intoWelsh,which he played over a recording of theNasa launch. “That contradiction betweensomething so domestic and something sofar away – that’s when it began,” says the22-year-old. The campaign reimagineslocal industries in “an alternative universefor their skills, a parallel existence”. First,Jones built a spacesuit (far left). Then heworked with physicists at AberystwythUniversity to work out how to put a rocketinto near-Earth orbit overWales. And CeriWynJones, themeurynforTalwrnyBeirdd,haswritten a countdownpoem.
What’s next? “A rocket,” says Jones.“We’re lookingatmining culture andaban-doned railways.Does their reconfigurationallow for a rocket launch platform?” TCwelshspacecampaign.com
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Wales is joining the Space Race – andit’s using its history as a launch pad
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The campaign’s embroidered emblem featuresthe red dragon’s tail from the Welsh national flag
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PLAYPAWWSAfter a tour with MGMT,SoundCloud-sensationsongwriter Lucy Taylor isplaying UK and Europeandates of her own.soundcloud.com/pawws
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HOLLYWOODBEYONDPS3 game Beyond: TwoSouls features EllenPage and Willem Dafoe,motion-captured foryour gaming pleasure.£37.99 beyondps3.com
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LIVING ROOMFURNITUREBrian McClellan andMercan Tara Sismangrow furniture – so far,chairs and lamps – frommushrooms, laterbaked. merjantara.com
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H O W T O . . .“Big” Phil Campion – a mercenary and former SAS soldier – works the private-security circuit to protect everything from embassies to shipments in conflict zonesincluding Iraq, Afghanistan, Gaza and Israel. He brags that he’s never been kidnapped,captured, tortured or killed (obviously) – “But I’ve come bloody close.” One of hisregular missions is to defend ships against pirates off the east coast of Africa:here’sCampion’s guide tokeepingyour crewsafe.VictoriaTurkbigphilcampion.co.uk
DEFENDAGAINST PIRATES
HOW TO . . . H OW TO . . .BOOST YOURTW I T T ERFO L LOWERS
BE INFORMATIVETweets rich in URLsare the biggestpredictor for positivegrowth, so link tointeresting contentthat’s likely to bere-tweeted, whetherthat’s a news storyor a cat video, as thiswill increase yourexposure. In contrast,only tweeting aboutyourself is a sureway to haemorrhagefollowers – unlessyou’re Rihanna.
Online, you’re onlyas influential as yourfollower count. Buthow do you reachas many people aspossible? In May,after analysing halfa million tweets over15 months, a team atGeorgia Tech publishedits results on whichfactors increasedTwitter followers.Research scientistCJ Hutto explainshow to enhance yourimpact. Tom Banham
BE POSITIVEHutto breaks Twitterusers down into twotypes – Eeyores andTiggers. Eeyores,like their donkeynamesake, moan alot. As Twitter userstend not to know eachother in real life, anEeyore’s followers willfeel bored rather thansympathetic. Tiggers’tweets are positive –a strong indicator forincreased followers –so keep yours upbeat.
HARDENYOUR VESSEL“Hardening” your ship meanscreating defences that are botha visual and physical deterrent.“If you don’t have access toexpensive gear, you can make dowith improvised, A-Team-styledefences,” Campion, 44, suggests.He’s used anti-climb spike barriers,electric fences and what he callsthe “bouncing bomb” – an emptyoil-barrel on a rope, flung over theside. “A line of these thumpingalong the side of the ship willmake most attackers think twice.”
SECURETHE CITADELEvery ship will have somewherebelow deck that can be used as asafe room. This is where the crewshould hunker down if piratesboard. “Make sure you havewelding gear and enough materialto make an effective barricade thatwill keep the bad guys out untilhelp arrives,” says Campion. Afterall, it’s the crew that has ransomvalue – the ship will be covered byinsurance. These defences can bemade offensive if you manage tolure and lock an attacker inside…
CALL THEPIRATES’ BLUFF“Most pirates are only interestedin easy targets, so if you put outa strong ‘don’t mess’ message,a lot of them will back off,” saysCampion. Lining the deck withdummies to make it look likethere are more people on board isa good tactic, especially if they’reequipped with fake weapons: “I’ma dab hand at knocking up a fakeAK-47 from a bit of cardboard.”It doesn’t matter if it’s not soconvincing close up – you’re aimingto keep the pirates at a distance.
PREPARE TODEFEND YOURSELFThe law is far from straightforwardregarding firearms on ships, socheck the vessel’s rules and theregulations in any ports you’ll bestopping at. If you can’t take yourown weapons, floating armouries ininternational waters will loan youanything from guns to body armourand extra manpower. Otherwise,use on-board equipment, such asflares or makeshift petrol bombs.“Of course, these days it is now alot easier to hire professionals,”says Campion. “Like me.”
MAKE COMPOSTUSING WORMS
HOW TO . . .
HOW TO . . .EXTRACT ABOT F LY
arrot tops, apple cores, potato peels and other organicscraps produce methane as they decompose in landfill.This greenhouse gas is about 20 timesmore potent thancarbon dioxide. To help alleviate climate change, you
can use worm compost-bins, and let a clew of Eisenia fetida digestyour table-scraps. “People don’t realise that worm-bin compostingfits into every kind of lifestyle,” says Rebecca Louie, founder of TheCompostess,aNewYorkCitycompanydedicatedto introducingurbanwormeries.“Theycanbekeptunderasink, inacupboardoroutdoors.”Here’showtogetyourwriggleon.RachelNuwer thecompostess.com
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1 BUILDTHEBINYou’llneedastrongrubberstoragebox, at least 45 litres. Using a6.350mm-diameter bit, drill holes7.5cm apart in the lid. Shred someold newspaper – not glossymaga-zine paper – into long strips. Thisprovides carbon for the worms.Dip theshreddedpaper intowater,and thenwring it out so it’s aswetas adampsponge. Fill your bin.
3 INTRODUCETHEWORMSOrder 500g of “red wiggler”worms from an online provideror shop that specialises in com-posting. Empty your worms outon to thedamppaper.They’ll needa little time to get acclimatised.If, by the next day, they haven’tburrowed into the paper, you canshine a light on the bin to encour-age themtoheadunderground.
2PREPARETHEWORMFOODYour wormswill eat most organicmatter – fruits, vegetables, coffeegrounds, grains, bread and egg-shells are good. Don’t feed themdairy, oils or meat – they can’tdigest these.Beginwithanamountof food you canhold in two cuppedhands (you can increase this asyour worms multiply). Bury thatfistfulundera layerof thepaper.
4HARVESTTHECOMPOSTOnce you have enough dark, richworm-droppings, you can harvestthem. Remove the top layer ofpaper, thenuseasmallgardenforktogently rakeanyundigested foodand theworms toone side. Put thebedding back on top of that area.Place fresh scraps in only thatcorner, so the worms migratethere, leavingthecompostbehind.
BE READABLEPotential followersmerely glanceover your tweets,so if they’re inindecipherable text-speak, expect to beignored. Over-use ofhashtags is equallyoff-putting, warnsHutto: “One is fine.Anything beyond thatsignificantly degradesyour growth rate.”Keep them to singlewords at the endof tweets: #winning.
BE REGULARThe Georgia Techstudy found that theoptimum number oftweets is betweenone and eight perhour – less than thatand you go unnoticed,more and you mayirritate your followersby clogging theirfeeds. It also helps tokeep to a topic. Huttofound that userswho used the samewords regularly grewfollowers more rapidly.
BE HUMANTwitter is awashwith bots, so ensureyour followers knowyou’re the real deal byreaching out to them.Swap the defaultTwitter profile for aninteresting biography,post a clear pictureand interact withpeople you’d like tofollow you. “Reply topeople, mention or re-tweet them,” advisesHutto. “It sendsa signal directly.”IL
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If you’ve visited SouthAmerica, you mayhave brought backan unexpected, nastysouvenir. Botflies arerife there, and theirlarvae are carried bymosquitoes, whosesting allows the eggsinto human skin, wherethey incubate for eightweeks. Universityof Virginia physicianJonathan West explainshow he extracted onefrom a friend. RN
HAVE A MEDICALDOCTOR ON HANDFolk remedies aboundfor removing botflies– such as placing meatover the wound to coaxthe larva out – but Westrecommends having aphysician on board. “If thelarva breaks,” he says,“you’re likely to end upwith an infected woundand further complications.”
VERIFY ITSIDENTITYOutside South Americathey are often mistakenfor cysts, so if you’vebeen to botfly territory,tell your doctor. Lookfor the larva’s breathingapparatus – a small holein the middle of the lump.When West’s friendwas infected, he diagnosedthe botfly himself.
APPLY A VENOMEXTRACTOROnce you’re sure, use avenom extractor (£10 froma camping-supplies shop).Usually used for poisons,it can vacuum the larvaeout of their burrows. Westused one on his friend: “Itwent off without a hitch.”But be gentle – if the larvaruptures, you’ll need theservices of a surgeon.
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goodpitch-deckisvital ifyou’retryingtopersuadeinvestors to back your startup. Just ask payment-networkDwolla,whichraised$16.5million(£10mil-lion) inaSeriesCroundthisAprilwiththehelpofan
18-slidePowerPoint. CofounderBenMilne,whoadmits his firstpitch-deck had around 80 slides and hundreds of bullet points,shareswhathe’s learnedaboutmakingawinningpresentation.VT dwolla.com. You can see the pitch at tinyurl.com/k36vvjq
MAKE THEPERFECT PITCH
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GETGRAPHICDwolla’s pitch includes a sim-ple flow-chart of “How creditcards work”, followed by oneshowing“HowDwollaworks”.Milne explains that diagramsdemonstrate a technical pro-cess to investorswhomaynothave specialised knowledge:“You want to talk about thethings you do differently, at alevel that somebody can lookat it fora fewsecondsandsay,‘OK, I understand that.’”
SHOWOFFTHEPRODUCTIf youhaveaphysicalproduct,Milne advises demonstratingit as soon as you’ve coveredthe basics – about ten min-utes into the pitch. “Just closethe damn deck and show theproduct,” he says. “The prod-uct is more valuable than anywords.” A slide titled “Prod-uctdemo” isauseful reminderto cut to the chase. Don’t besurprisedifyounevergetbacktore-openingthePowerPoint.
KEEPYOURDETAILSBRIEF“I’m a college dropout froma small school in Iowa,” saysMilne. He argues that yourbackground isn’t as impor-tant as your product, andwilllikely comeup later inconver-sation anyway. Include a briefdescriptionofyourcompany’sleadership,butdon’t leadwithyourCV.Keep the focuson theproduct, “because that’swhatyou’regoing tobebuilding forthenext fiveor tenyears.”
MAKESURE IT’S SIMPLERatherthantryingtocompareDwollatoPayPal,Milne’spitchdeck describes it simply as apayment network. “Pitchesneed to be as simple as possi-ble,” he says. “Stop trying tomakethingssoundmorecom-plicated or glorious. Just saywhat it is.” Youwant to defineyour product, say how it’s dif-ferent fromexistingofferings,how big the market is andwho’s going tobuild it.
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The big academicpublishers wrap theirscientific papers indespotic paywalls. Butyou need that researchto feed your naturalcuriosity! Here’s how toread up without paying apenny. Katie M Palmer
ASK THE AUTHORMany academics postcopies of their workonline. Search for titleswith “site: [theirdomain]”and “filetype:pdf”. Or justask directly, by sendinga brief, slightly fawningmessage to the author.
ASK FOR HELPCertain internet-dwellerscan do your highbrow dirtywork for you. On Twitter,post the URL of a paperwith #icanhazpdf. Deletethe request afterwards,and remember not tothank the sender by name.
SEARCH SMARTERUse Google Scholar tosearch for the full titleof the paper you require.Can you see “[PDF]” onthe right? Then you’re inluck – some learned andhelpful soul has made acopy available elsewhere.
TAP UP A STUDENTMany libraries offerdatabase access or inter-library loans on-site, sohead over if you’re nearby.Otherwise, locate a willingstudent – their accountand password should getyou in remotely.
GO INCOGNITOIf a site offers a limitednumber of articles for freeper month, try browsingvia Chrome Incognito.Your cookies get dumpedwhen you exit, so sitescan’t recognise thatyou’ve been there before.
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4 PLACE FLAMMABLESTUFF NEAR THE CENTREIf a ship will be travellingthrough piracy-pronewaters, exposed containersof combustible materialcould be ignited by pirates’rocket-propelled grenades.
5 KEEP CERTAINCHEMICALS APARTAcetylene must beseparated by at leastone container space orbulkhead from chlorine;barium cyanide mustbe isolated from acids.
6 ALWAYS GUARDYOUR VESSELContainers are sealed afterinspection, but thieveswho have sneaked onboard can use simple toolsto get around the sealsand pop open the doors.
2 GIVE EVERY BOXAN ID NUMBERThese show the owner andcategory of the container,plus a serial number andcheck digit. Once they’reloaded, a separate systemlocates each container.
1 MINIMISE THE NUMBEROF CRANE MOVESAlgorithms and computersystems help plan themost efficient and practicalstorage schemes. Thismeans the ships can getin and out of port quickly.
3 STACK THE HEAVIESTBOXES DOWN LOWA bit of common sense,as this prevents the stackfrom collapsing. They’realso distributed as evenlyas possible to ensure theship remains balanced.
Container ships are the pack mules of global trade, andjournalist Rose George’s new book, Ninety Percent ofEverything, examines how the steel boxes full of solids,liquids and gases get where they’re going. One hugechallenge, George says, is simply loading and unloadingthese giant ships, a task that calls on physics, chemistry– and knowledge of pirate tactics. Bryan Gardiner
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For the third year, WIRED’S editors have visitedthe continent’s startup hubs to identify
the ten tech cities you need to know about.Our conclusion: Europe is on a roll. Here
are the 100 companies causing the greatestbuzz, according to the local commentators,investors and entrepreneurs we surveyed
ondonisontopof itsgame,”says Joanna Shields, CEO ofthe government’s Tech Cityinitiative. “It has NewYork’surban diversity, LA’s con-
centration of media, film, TV and creativeindustries andWashington DC’s proximityof government, all in oneplace.”
Thethree-year-oldstateprojecthasbeenresponsible for taxbreaks for investors, theintroductionofvisas forentrepreneurs andtheadditionofanewdivisiononthe London stock exchange, theHigh Growth Segment. A num-ber of high-growth companiesweresnappedup in thefirsthalf
S W I F T K E Y91-95 Southwark Bridge Road, SE1 0AXFounded by Cambridge graduates JonReynolds and Ben Medlock, SwiftKey isa keyboard app for Android phones. Itworks in 60 languages and syncs withGmail, Facebook and Twitter accounts,collecting data on previous typing habitsin order to predict what users want towrite. The app has been downloadedover 15 million times and was thebest-selling Android app globally in2012. The company has been licensingits technology to manufacturers and itestimates that it will be embedded in100 million devices by the end of theyear. It also recently closed a $17.5million series B funding round led byIndex Ventures. “The way we createlanguage models – by exposing ouralgorithms to huge data sets – meanswe can create very specific languagemodels for any industry,” Medlockexplains. swiftkey.net
of 2013, including Mendeley andSummly, acquired byReedElsevierandYahoo! respectively.
However, there remains a skillsgap: according to the UK Commis-sion for Employment and Skills,the UK digital sector needs around30,000peopleeducatedtograduate
level or above each year, but applicationsto IT-related degree courses have almosthalved inthe lastdecade.Meanwhile,44percentofdigital employers reportdifficulty infinding teammembers with the necessarytechnical andpractical skills.
“Weneedtodomuchmore,”saysShields.“I’m a big fan of MOOCs [massive onlineopencourses]andit’sencouragingtoseeUSuniversities like Stanford andMIT openingup their courses for free. We have exciting
plans in development to startnarrowing the digital-skillsgap in this country andcreating opportunities forlearningon amajor scale.”
4 . S H U T L5-25 Scrutton Street,EC2A 4HJShutl is a same-day fulfilmentservice that offerscustomers rapiddelivery of packages.Its algorithmmatches orderswith couriers, takingdetails such aslocation, cost and thecourier’s reviews intoaccount, as well aswhen the customerwants the product tobe delivered – eitheras soon as possible(with a record of just15 minutes) or at aspecific time. It isused by retailers suchas Argos and Maplin.shutl.com
James Hay, Lucy Yu, JonReynolds, Ben Medlock,Caroline Gasperin,Ruth Barnett, JamesClarke, all of SwiftKey
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The UK’s capital continues to attract funding and talent, helped by theTech City Investment Organisation, despite a shortage of native skil l
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MakieLab sells highly customised,3D-printed dolls called Makies,who occupy an accompanyingvirtual world. “We set out toblend toys with games. We maketoys that our customers canpersonalise through games andapps, and then their toy islocally manufactured using3D printing. Each toy is unique,and ‘born digital’,” explainsfounder Alice Taylor. “It’seffectively the opposite oftraditional toys, which aremass manufactured, made inthe Far East, with maybe somedigital stuff bolted on.” Makiesbecame the first 3D-printedtoys to pass the CE safety testin February and the Makies DollFactory app, launched in March,was installed 150,000 timeswithin a month. makielab.com
5 . A D Z U N A67 Wingate Square,SW4 0AFLaunched in 2011,Adzuna is a searchengine for ads forUK jobs, propertyand cars. It was setup by former Gumtreeemployees DougMonro and AndrewHunter. It trawlsthousands of sites tolist items in a singlevertical search andties in with Facebookand LinkedIn toallow users find jobconnections or mapwhere friends live.It claims to have1.5 million monthlyvisitors, withrevenue growing 50per cent each quarterin 2012 and 2013.adzuna.co.uk
G O C A R D L E S S22-25 Finsbury Square, EC2A 1DXFintech startup GoCardless allows users to tap into the direct-debitnetwork, usually reserved for big players such as utility companiesand mobile operators. “It levels the field,” says cofounder MatthewRobinson. GoCardless worked with banking authorities to create anAPI that makes it simple for small businesses to take direct debitpayments, avoiding credit-card fees andmerchant accounts. It takes one per centof each transaction, up to a limit of£2, and, according to Robinson, revenuehas been growing 40 per cent everymonth since 2011. gocardless.com
7 . D U E D I L20 Broadwick Street,W1F 8HTDueDil’s free-to-access databasebrings togethera wide range ofcompany info –including CompaniesHouse data and creditratings – in a simpleinterface. Users cansearch for accounts,shareholders andcompany directors.The company wasfounded by NewYorker DamianKimmelman, whosays the company,whose user base hasgrown around 20 percent per month, is“close to turning aprofit”. duedil.com
8 . T R ANS F E RW I S E56 Shoreditch HighStreet, E1 6JJTransferWise is apeer-to-peer money-transfer servicethat undercuts thecurrency-exchangefees charged bybanks. Founded byTaavet Hinrikus andKristo Käärmann,TransferWisetakes a £1 feeon transactionsbelow £200 and0.5 per cent of thepayment amount onanything larger. Ithas processed morethan £100 million ineight currencies andplans to add ten moreby the end of 2013.transferwise.com
9 . H A I L O C A BHMS President,EC4Y 0HJHailo Cab’s mobiletaxi-hailing app Hailolaunched in Londonin November 2011and is now used bymore than 11,000London cabbies –around half – and hasbeen downloaded by250,000 potentialpassengers. Thecompany takes tenper cent commission.Following a $30million series Bfunding round inearly 2013, Hailohas launched inNew York, TokyoWashington, Madridand Barcelona.hailocab.com
1 0 . G R A Z E26 Dunstable Road,TW1 2JNGraze is a snack-delivery companythat sends (mostly)healthy snacks suchas dried fruit, nuts,breads and dipsacross the UK bypost. The 250-strongcompany uses anAI algorithm tocustomise individualportions and optimisefreshness of theproduce, based oncustomer preferences.Graze developed akids’ range in 2013,which offers snacksalong with gamesand activities. It isexpanding to the US.graze.com
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6 . Q U B I T20 Broadwick Street,W1F 8HTQuBit allows retailersto create dynamic,personalised sitesthat are tailoredto individual usersbased on theirpast behaviour andpreferences. Foundedby four ex-Googlers,the company saysthat it has doubledrevenues in 2012.qubitproducts.com
1 . S W I F T K E Y91-95 Southwark Bridge Road, SE1 0AX2 . G O C A R D L E S S22-25 Finsbury Square, EC2A 1DX3 . M A K I E L A B32-38 Scrutton Street, EC2A 4RQ4 . S H U T L5-25 Scrutton Street, EC2A 4HJ5 . A D Z U N AW67Wingate Square, SW4 0AF6 . Q U B I T20 Broadwick Street, W1F 8HT7 . D U E D I L20 Broadwick Street, W1F 8HT8 . T R A N S F E R W I S E56 Shoreditch High Street, E1 6JJ9 . H A I L O C A BHMS President, EC4Y 0HJ1 0 . G R A Z E26 Dunstable Road, TW1 2JN
Grey Baker, HirokiTakeuchi, MariaMoynihan, Matt Robinson,Harry Marr and AlinaSolovjova of GoCardless
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ith 62 million internet users – anaudience larger even than Germany’s –Russia has an appetite for online servicesthat’s growing steadily. Last June, Britishinvestment bank GP Bullhound reported
the Russian digital-advertising market to be worth $1.4billion, havingovertakenprint advertising. “E-commerceis simply explodinghere,” saysMishaLyalin, CEOof gam-ing company ZeptoLab and managing director at invest-ment firm Kite Ventures. “There’re thousands of pounds’worth of packages being held by the Russian postalservice since Christmas, and people are still buyingonline.” The next trend to watch is finance. “Russia hasbeen slow to adapt to credit cards, but adoption hasincreased 2.5-fold since last year,” Lyalin says. “Look outfor innovation in this sector, it’sgrowingridiculously fast.”
Z E P T O L A BMoscow and LondonSince Om Nom turned ZeptoLab’s Cut theRope game into a global hit in 2011, thestartup has grown hugely. The physicspuzzle had 300 million user downloads and60 million active monthly players, as ofApril 2013. Since last year, it has launcheda game, Pudding Monsters, as well as TimeTravel, another sequel to Cut the Rope,which includes a time-travel element. “Ournew games such as Time Travel incorporateanimation as an integral part because we areexpanding into other media like television,”says CEO Misha Lyalin. The Moscow-basedstartup, created by twins Semyon and EfimVoinov, still makes money on about 20 percent of its Cut the Rope downloads but is
cashing in on the Om Nom trademark. “We released a series ofvideo stories called Om Nom Stories on YouTube, which havehad 100 million views,” says Lyalin, 39. He says they will launchtwo more games, unrelated to Cut the Rope, and anothersequel, featuring Om Nom, by the end of 2013. The companyhas sales offices across Europe and in Japan. zeptolab.com
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Z I N G A Y ASerebryanicheskayaNaberezhnaya 27, 109028Click-to-call service Zingaya,launched in 2010, enablespeople to make free customer-service calls to companies viaa button integrated into thecompany’s site. It now has
600 firms signed up, including US companiessuch as TriNet, Swimoutlet and BlogTalkRadio,as well as large Russian companies such asVolkswagen Russia and national banks MTSBank and Promsvyazbank. Last year, 1.4 millioncalls were made via Zingaya. That number hasalready been exceeded in the first quarter of2013. “Our revenue has grown 300 per centduring 2012, to around $500,000 per year. Weare now really close to breaking even,” saysAlexey Aylarov, 27, Zingaya’s founder andCEO, who raised $1.15 million from Americaninvestor Esther Dyson and others in 2011. Thecompany is now working with global softwarecompany Salesforce to integrate a VoIPmodule into its sales-rep software. zingaya.com
6 . D I G I T A L O C T O B E RBersenevskayaNaberezhnaya 6,119072Digital October is ahub, incubator andevents centre for theinternational tech-startup community.“We produce ourown content, such asTechCrunch Moscowand Demo Europe,and we are workingon education withCoursera,” says CEODmitry Repin, whohas just spun offchess.tv.digitaloctober.com
5 . A V I T OBusiness CenterSummit, Tverskaya22, 125009Founded by Swedishentrepreneurs FilipEngelbert and JonasNordlander in 2007,Avito is the country’slargest classifiedssite. It has 40 millionmonthly users and450,000 ads areposted a day. “That’severything from carsto clothing,” saysCOO ChristofferNorman. “The totalvalue is two per centof GDP.” avito.ru
9 . L I N G U A L E OTverskaya St 6,5, 125009LinguaLeo teachesEnglish to fourmillion Russians andBrazilians online, andadds 10,000 usersdaily. Students canlearn sets of wordsand phrases, gothrough interactivecourses on grammarand writing (for afee), watch and readEnglish content witha built-in contextualdictionary and chatwith each other.lingualeo.ru
4 . O S T R O V O KBolshoi Savvinskiy18, 119435Online hotel-bookingstartup Ostrovokcontinued to grow in2012, and now has amillion unique visitorsa month. Foundedby Kirill Makharinskyand Serge Faguet,Ostrovok has135,000 hotels in 200countries and recentlyadded VC Yuri Milnerto its list of investors,which includes AccelPartners, EstherDyson and AtomicoVentures. ostrovok.ru
1 0 . E RUD I TOR GROUPAviakonstruktoraMikoyana 12BEgor Rudi launchedEruditor in 2005, asa marketplace forprivate tutors. Thestartup has over100,000 registeredprivate tutors,and about 400,000customers. “Webook over $200 millionof tutoring everyyear,” says Rudi, 32.In 2010, Eruditoropened up to otherskilled professionalssuch as doctors.eruditor-group.com
8 . G AM E I N S I G H TBolshaya Tulskaya44, 115191Three-year-old mobilegames publisherGame Insight hasmore than 150 millionmonthly active usersplaying its mobile andtablet games, and 15games studios. CEOAlisa Chumachenkostarted the companywith no investmentbut recentlyannounced $25 millionin funding fromRussian investmentfirm imi.vc.game-insight.com
N A R R 8BolshayaTulskaya 44,115191
NARR8 is a freetablet app for iOSand Android that’sa digital-contentchannel (similar toNetflix). It producesoriginal, interactivecontent such asmotion comics,animations, novelsand non-fiction.Since its launch lastNovember, it hasbeen downloadedmore than 700,000times. narr8.me
7 . O N E T W O T R I PBolshayaGruzinskaya 5Founded in August2011, as an onlineflight-booking service,OneTwoTrip is nowthe most popularticketing website inRussia. It has 600,000unique users everymonth and sells 5,000tickets daily. Monthlyrevenues are $50million (£32 million),says executivedirector Max Karaush.“Only Aeroflotsells more online.”onetwotrip.com
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erlin has been the mosttalked-about (and talked-up) startup hub in Europefor several years. How-ever, a backlash of sorts has
emerged over the past year, with someasking when Berlin will produce an exit ofglobal significance. Of course, there havebeensuccessful exits: Jamba in2004($273million/£180 million), Brands4Friends(€150 million/£129 million) and Citydeal(€130 million) in 2010, and DailyDeal in2011 (around €130 million) are evidencethat Berlin can deliver. “People expectedit just to happen, but these things takethree to five years,” says Sven Schmidt, aventure partner at Accel.
JörgRheinboldt, anearly-stage investorand long-time observer of Berlin start-ups (he sold his ecommerce site Alandoto eBay in 1999 for £28 million), has beenadvising the German government onits technology strategy. Recently, he’snoticed a growth in accelerators andincubators, such as Axel Springer’s Plug &Play, Berlin StartupAcademy, The Factoryand initiatives from companies such asMozilla, Microsoft and Google, as wellas an increasing number of events andconferences. And there is easier access tocapital – Berlin attracted €173 million inVC funding last year.
But some of the companies that havebeen seen as exemplars of the city’s stand-ing in the tech scene, such as SoundCloud,have yet to make money. Rheinboldtsees a coming together of maker eventsand hardware: “It’s super early butI have the impression that there’ll be
more startups that arehardware oriented.”
Left:GetYourGuide’sJohannes Reck
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Germany has had eight-figure exits since the 90s and is one of Europe’smost talked-about hubs – but when will its stars such as SoundCloud profit?
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G E T Y O U R G U I D EErich Weinert Straße 145, 10409In 2009, Johannes Reck, Pascal Mathis andTobias Rein had spent the previous yearbuilding a peer-to-peer travel network whereusers would sign up for – or offer to host –activities such as wine tastings or city tours.But things weren’t going as they had hoped.“We went back to square one and rebuilt theentire business plan,” Reck says. “We realisedthat there was a huge opportunity in thethings-to-do market where you have thousandsand thousands of suppliers around the world –Stasi tours in Berlin, tickets without queuingfor the Empire State building. All these thingswere not online yet; most of the transactionswere offline.” The peer-to-peer model wasditched in favour of one where third-partyvendors use GetYourGuide as a platform fortheir services. The site, according to Reck,is now the largest platform on the web forbooking activities of all kinds. “Our goal is todigitise all the things you can do,” he says.The company, which employs 100 people,takes a commission on each booking. Seedfunding came at the end of 2011, when BrentHoberman from ProFounders Capital invested£1.3million. “That was really important – ittransformed our student business into aproper business,” Reck says. getyourguide.com
5 . S O U N D C L O U DRosenthalerstraße13, 10119It’s impossible towrite about Berlinwithout includingSoundCloud, the city’sposter-child startup.The biggest streamingsite in the world,it has 38 millionusers, with five percent paying for Proaccess. It introducedadvertising featuresin March 2013 to driverevenue (it has yetto turn a profit). “It’sat the scale whereyou can consider ita platform,” saysCiarán O’Leary ofBerlin-based VCfund, Earlybird.“It was a sharingthing but now majormedia companiesare embedding it.”soundcloud.com
4 . R E S EARCHGAT EInvalidenstraße 115,10115Founded in 2008by doctors IjadMadisch and SörenHofmayer, andcomputer specialistHorst Fickenscher,ResearchGate – whichconnects scientists,data and research– has grown into aclear category leader.The platform, with2.9 million members,recently receivedseries C funding, ledby Bill Gates, whichbrought investmentto £23m. “This isa great case of USinvestors givingfounders the choiceof where to base afirm,” says PhilippHartmann, partner atRheingau Founders.researchgate.net
6 . T H E F O O T B A L L A P PMünzstraße 19,10178With 3.5 millionmonthly active users(1.5 million active aday), The FootballApp is a mobileservice that providesnews and data from100 leagues acrossthe world. Foundedin 2009, it’s beenbootstrapped byentrepreneur Lucasvon Cranach butrecently received¤10 million inseries A funding fromEarlybird VentureCapital. Its uptake isstrong in Germany,France and the UKand looks set tocompete well in amarketplacethat is rapidlyshifting to mobile.thefootballapp.com
W O O G ASaarbrücker Straße 38, 10405Wooga is the third biggest games company onFacebook, with 50 million active online users per
month, yet founder and CEO Jens Begemann has been thinkingbeyond the social network for some time: at the end of 2011the company released its game Diamond Dash as an iOS app.It was downloaded 50 million times. At the end of 2012 thecompany repeated the exercise, on Android. “It’s not that we’reexclusively going to mobile, but it’s our first focus,” he says.“For all the new games we do them mobile first. We do thatbecause to make a true and great mobile game we need to makethe most of what’s special about mobile.” Wooga has developeda reputation for relentless, granular A/B testing of its products,but the company’s move into mobile has meant a shift infocus. “It’s easier to do analytics on a PC, as the games are onthe web, than on mobile. On mobile the market is different:analytics are still important, but there is more focus on testing.So we invite people to our offices and they play a game, and weobserve them and see how they react. Games are very human.”
And the shift has caused a corresponding change in thecompany’s business model: 18 months ago its revenues wereentirely from online products, now 50 per cent come frommobile products. The company, which has 250 employeesfrom 41 different countries, is growing at a rate of two newemployees per week and is planning multiple launches. “Wewere lucky to have the right timing in the shift to mobile,”Begemann says. “Not too early, not too late.” wooga.com
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9 . C L U EBethaniendamm 19,10997“Clue is a period andovulation trackerthat predicts when awoman’s next period,fertile window andPMS will be, so shecan make the rightdecisions,” explainsfounder Ida Tin. Theplatform was onlyrecently released buthas investment fromthe founders of anonline property site.Users input physicaland emotional data,and the app calculatesevents such asovulation. All datais kept on the user’shandset. The app isfree – the businessmodel is based onhardware that hasyet to be disclosed.helloclue.com
1 0 . R E B U YKanalstraße 139,12357It’s rare to findsomeone who doesn’thave unwanted DVDs,books, video gamesand mobile phones intheir homes. ReBuyis a recommerceplatform that allowsconsumers to sellunwanted productsfor a fixed price – andhelps businessesunload extra stock.Sales were in theregion of ¤40m in2012 and, in March,Iris Capital led anexpansion roundof finance with anundisclosed amount.“This is one of thegreatest founderstories in Berlin,”says RheingauPartners’s PhilippHartmann. “Thefounders started thisventure out of theirkids’ rooms.” rebuy.de
E Y E E MBrunnenstraße 9a, 10119The mobile photo-sharingapp is two years old and, inJanuary, briefly overtookInstagram on the iOS appcharts. Why? The companyreacted to the furore overInstagram’s terms andconditions by announcingthat its users would retainimage rights. “It’s the oneI’ve got my eye on,” saysAydogan Ali Schosswald,a venture partner atDeutsche Telekom’sincubator hub. eyeem.com
8 . S O C I O M A N T I CPaul-Lincke-Ufer39/40, 10999This real-time-bidding ad platformis a strong exampleof a business thathas been builtunder the radar:founded in 2009,Sociomantic isn’t atypical Berlin hipsterstartup. Rather, thebusiness-to-businessplatform finds andaccesses consumerswho are searchingonline and delivershistorical data aboutthem to e-commerceplatforms. Potentiallya global-scalecompany, Sociomanticis privately owned,but is thoughtby analysts to beprofitable in the tensof millions of euros.sociomantic.com
7 . T R A D E M O BFriedrichstraße 126,10117A mobile marketingplatform that claimsto reach 500 millionsmartphone usersin 190 countries,Trademob offersclients optimisationtechnology (thealgorithm will switchbetween ad networks,for instance), andanalysis tools tosee how campaignsfor mobile appsare performing andwhere traffic iscoming from. Clientsinclude Wooga,eBay classifieds andUniversal Music.The company raised$15 million in seriesB financing led byKennet Partnersin November 2012.trademob.com
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1 . G E T Y O U R G U I D EErich Weinert Straße 1452 . E Y E E MBrunnenstraße 9a3 . W O O G ASaarbrücker Straße 36-384 . R E S E A R C H G A T EInvalidenstraße 1155 . S O U N D C L O U DRosenthalerstraße 13
6 . T H E F O O T B A L L A P PMünzstraße 197 . T R A D E M O BFriedrichstraße 1268 . S O C I O M A N T I CPaul-Lincke-Ufer 39/409 . C L U EBethaniendamm 191 0 . R E B U YKanalstraße 139
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wedish programmers find web developmentso easy that they do it blindfolded. In March, thewindows of the Tictail offices in Södermalm wereblacked out with bin bags. Smoke filled the roomfrom a machine and lasers lit it up; electronic
music played loudly. “It was really overdramatic,” says TictailcofounderKajDrobin,whoputon theevent, calledCode inthe Dark. In themiddle of the roomwas a bank of screens,the arena for the battle royal: 30 developers had torecreate the frontendofsomewell-knownsites– includingPinterestandDropbox– in20minutes,withoutpreviewingthem. The 40-strong crowd, comprising employees fromstartups including Spotify, Klarna and Bloglovin, thenrated the best efforts. The final took place at about 10pm
and the winner was chosen unanimously: AlexanderRyden, who used to work at Tictail.
Stockholm is hosting more tech events than ever.According to Drobin: “If you look back a year ago,mostof theeventswereheldbythebigcompanies, likeKlarnaand Spotify. But now you see events everywhere.” The
StockholmStartupHack, in its secondyear, tookoverSkeppsholm-skyrkan, a church; theDJ for theafter-partyplayed fromthepulpit.
“The startup scene has exploded in the last year,” says Osomcofounder and CEO Anton Johansson. With massive globalsuccesses such as iZettle, Wrapp and Mojang showing that Swe-den produces categorywinners, it’s party time in the capital city.
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M E M O T OTeknikringen 7It can take whole seconds to Instagram a picture of your lunch.Who has that sort of time? Memoto’s life-logging camera,about the size of a stamp, hangs on a lanyard. Every 30 seconds,it takes a five-megapixel photo, logging the GPS position andtime. Memeto’s killer app is an, er, app, for Android, that sortsthe photos to create “moments”, based on time, faces in thephoto, GPS and light level. So instead of a dump of 2,880 photosat the end of each day, users end up with about 30 key frames.CEO and cofounder Martin Källström says the idea came from“miserably failing” to keep his own diary. “We thought abouthow you could make documentation of your life effortless.”
In March 2012, Källström teamed up with Oskar Kalmaru andBjörn Wesén to build the hardware. They launched the cameraon Kickstarter, aiming to raise $50,000. It took five hours,eventually securing $550,189. The company has been usertesting the product – aware of how some people might react toa camera worn in public and that’s always taking pictures. “Wefeel that the interactions with real people are more importantthan the photos you get,” Källström says. memoto.com
T I C T A I LAlsnögatan 12Tictail is a good-looking, intuitiveservice that letsanyone set up anonline store painlessly.It launched as a privatebeta in May 2011 and
went public a year later. “Building ane-commerce platform is not a smallthing,” says Carl Waldekranz, the27-year-old cofounder and CEO. “It’snot like an app that tells you whenyour cat needs food.” Tictail’s firstclient was Waldekranz’s mother, anartist. Since then, the platform hasboomed: within ten months there were10,000 stores; a month later therewere 13,000. tictail.com
5 . I N S T A B R I D G ESaltmätargatan 19AInstabridgelets Facebookfriends connectto each other’sWi-Fi networksautomatically.Launched in betain 2012, it now has10,000 active usersand is preparing aniPhone app, followingan Android version.The ultimate vision,though, is to be “theDropbox for Wi-Fi,allowing users accessto Wi-Fi on anydevice wherever theyare,” founder and CEONiklas Agevik says.instabridge.com
7 . 1 3 T H L A BPilgatan 313th Lab is takingNasa technology -originally invented foruse by autonomousspacecraft – to yoursmartphone camera.The first implantationwas Ball Invasion,an AR iPad game,but in early 2012,the startup releasedPointCloud Browser,a platform fordevelopers. It raised¤550,000 from NordicVC firm Creandum(which also investedin Spotify) – all partof a mission to create“a user interface forreality”. 13thlab.com
6 . M A G I N EPrimusgatan 112“We can consumemusic whereever we are, on aphone or laptop,”Mattias Hjelmstedt,cofounder of magine,says. “But TV isstuck on your wall. Sothat’s what we setout to solve.” Magine,which launched inSeptember 2012, hasdeals with channelsincluding the BBC andNational Geographic,and streamsprogrammes fromits servers to anydevice. A UK launchis expected in2014. magine.com
1 0 . S H A P E U P C L U BKungsgatan 73ShapeUp Club’siPhone and Androidapps help userskeep track of whatthey eat with datavisualisations andtailored weight-lossplans. It launchedin December 2011and, in its first year,it lost its Swedishmembers a combinedtotal of four millionkg (across onemillion users). HenrikTorstensson, formerhead of premiumsales at Spotify,is its new CEO.shapeupclub.com
9 . B I O L A M I N ALöfströms Allé 5AStockholm hasa tradition ofconsumer-facingapps, but BioLaminais proof it can dohard biotech. Itstagline is “stem-cell culturing madeeasy”: its laminin(the protein networkthat supports mostanimal cells) isaffordable – 100mgof Laminin-521,used for human cells,costs ¤219) – andcan be used eitherclinically or forresearch purposes.biolamina.com
8 . F U N D E D B Y M EKlara ÖstraKyrkogata 2BFundedByMe isa startup that’sbuilding theStockholm techscene more directlythan most: itscrowd-equityplatform connectsentrepreneurs withbusiness angelsand investorsaround the world.FundedByMe wasfounded in February2011 and claimsits pool has a totalof ¤266m (£230m)to invest each year.fundedbyme.com
O S O MAprilgatan 12Osom isa money-generating
version of Instagram:every retro-filtered photoon the app has a “buy”button. Its founders,veterans of Twingly andVideoplaza, launched this“mobile marketplace forbeautiful things” in April.CEO Anton Johanssoncalls it “emotionalshopping”. getosom.com
4 . S H O T B O XKungsgatan 33Shotbox is a web-based tool that letsusers create andcollaborate on videostoryboards duringthe pre-productionprocess for films,games or television.A bare-bones publicbeta launched inApril this year. Itsfounders – who areaiming for 20,000users after one year –hope that by makingstoryboarding easier,creative types will domore pre-production,which means betterfilms. shotbox.se
Right: Tictail’s CarlWaldekranz. Left:Stockholm’s WaterfrontCongress Centre
ne of the heroes of theParis tech community is thebillionaire Xavier Niel. Niel,46, made a career champ-ioning a digital economy
that has created internet giants such asVente-privee.comandCriteo.Niel’sVCfirm,KimaVentures, invests intwostartupseveryweek. InMarch this year, he announced thecreation of 42, a Paris-based tuition-freeacademy for coders and entrepreneurs.The school, opening in early November,will takemore than 1,000 studentswhowillbe taught through a project-based system.“The French education systemisn’t working,” Niel announced.“Two-hundred-thousandyouths
8 . W I T H I N G S20 rue Rougetde L’IsleAt the LeWebconference last year,Cédric Hutchings,CEO of Withings,announced theWithings HealthCompanion, anapp that lets youtrack your weight,activity, sleep andblood pressure. Thelatest product, theSmart Body Analyzer,launched in March2013, costs £130 andtracks and monitorsusers’ weight,body fat and bloodpressure, and also airquality. withings.com
9 . D E E Z E R12 rue d’AthènesDeezer competes inthe crowded music-streaming market.It has 26 millioncustomers, fourmillion of whom arepaying subscribers,in 182 countriesand it received $130million last year fromAccess Industries.“Music streamingisn’t about givingpeople a soullessdatabase of songs,”says CEO AxelDauchez. “We wantto build an immersiveand entertainingexperience.”deezer.com
L E E T C H I7 rue ComminesCéline Lazorthes got the idea for her startup when she was tryingto collect contributions for a university party. “It was a nightmare.People were lazy, they had no cash. I had to pay out of my ownpocket,” says Lazorthes, 30. In 2009, she founded Leetchi, a social-payments platform that allows people to collect money online andmake group purchases. With 600,000 users, it collected over ¤40million in 2012. Since its inclusion on last year’s WIRED startup list,it’s become an official electronic-money institution and releasedits API, MangoPay, as a separate app, allowing third parties tomake bank transfers and offer e-wallets and one-click payments.“The next step is internationalisation,” says Lazorthes, who raised$8 million from VC fund 360 Capital Partners, Oleg Tscheltzoffand Jeremie Berrebiof Kima Ventures.“Already 20 per centof our revenue comesfrom abroad. We’reinvesting a lot inSpain and Germany.”leetchi.com
leave French schools each yearwithout diplomas. They could bethe talents of the future and a partof innovative companies.”This wasn’t the only good news
for French entrepreneurs: in thesame month, president FrançoisHollande announced a series ofmeasures including a startupvisa for talented developers whowant to work in France. Thesemeasures are an indication thatattitudes may be changing inFrance – after all, entrepreneurs
know that embracingfailure is usually a pre-requisite for success.
Left: Céline Lazorthes,previously at Eyeka,now founder of Leetchi
6 . C A P T A I ND A S H86 rue de la Fontaineau RoiCaptain Dash enablesusers – marketersin particular – tovisualise their socialmedia and digital datain one app. Founded in2012 by Gilles Babinetand Bruno Walther,former CEO ofOgilvyOneWorldwide,it synchronises datafrom many sources,including Twitter andGoogle Analytics.captaindash.com
7 . C A P I T A I N ET R A I N9 rue AmbroiseThomasThis search engineallows users to buytickets for majorEuropean train lines– Eurostar, SNCF,Thalys and DeutscheBahn – in 30 seconds.Founded in 2009 byValentin Surrel, 30,Martin Ottenwaelter,28, and Jean-DanielGuyot, 30, it soldmore than 400,000tickets last year.capitainetrain.com
5 . V I A D E O30 rue de la VictoireWith over 50 millionusers, Viadeo isthe second-largestprofessional socialnetwork, afterLinkedIn. Its Chinesearm, Tianji, hasover 14 millionmembers andViadeo is focusingon expanding to theBRICs. Last year itreceived investmentof $32 million – takingthe total to $50.2m –from a diverse groupof investors includingIdinvest, Ventech,Allianz and Jefferies.viadeo.com
4 . A P P S F I R E23 rue du DépartAppsFire is an appthat offers apprecommendations.Cofounded byOuriel Ohayon andYann Lechelle, theservice is used by 1.5million people a day.Features include anApp Score metric thatscores apps basedon criteria such asconsistent presencein the rankings,the reputation ofthe developer andexternal mentions onsocial media, as wellas on review sites.appsfire.com
9 . 5 P E R D A YAV E R A G E H O U R S W O R K E D B YP A R I S I A N E N T R E P R E N E U R S
P A R I SThe government has relaxed the rules for work visas and there’s a newcoding academy, while startups such as BlaBlaCar continue to thrive
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an online mediaplatform forteenagers, whichcomprises 12specialised channelscovering subjectsfrom food to fashion.The startup, whichhas a presence inboth France andItaly, was founded in2008 by AlexandreMalsch and JeremyNicolas, and has11 million uniquemonthly visitorsand a turnover of¤3 million in 2012.It recently closed afunding round of ¤3.6million led by SerenaCapital, and includinginvestors MarcSimoncini and PierreChappaz. melty.fr
B L A B L A C A R33 rue de ChazellesIf you need a car ride, BlaBlaCaris the digital alternative to raisinga thumb in the air. The Parisianstartup is responsible for movingmore than 600,000 people acrossEurope every month. “By the endof the year, we will be transportingmore people than Eurostar, whichtransports around 850,000 peoplea month,” says BlaBlaCar’s COO,Nicolas Brusson. “Today you canbuild something with a hundredthof their capital and transport morepeople.” BlaBlaCar was founded in
2007 by Brusson, Frédéric Mazzella, 37, and Francis Nappez, 34.“Fred couldn’t find a train to go back home for Christmas oneyear,” says Brusson, 36. “He thought there might be a websitewhere you could find drivers going from Paris to the west ofFrance. There was nothing.” The founders came up with theidea of building a travel network based on car pooling. Today,BlaBlaCar has three million members and its average trip is320km. Passengers use an online booking system to book theirseat, with BlaBlaCar taking a commission. “More than a thirdof people using BlaBlaCar wouldn’t have travelled otherwise,”
Brusson says. “I always thought mostEuropean companies tend to expandlate,” he says. “We want to bea European leader as opposedto a French company.” blablacar.com
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1 . L E E T C H I7 rue Commines
2 . B L A B L A C A R33 rue de Chazelles
3 . M E L T Y . F R18 rue Pasteur
4 . A P P S F I R E23 rue du Départ
5 . V I A D E O30 rue de la Victoire
6 . C A P T A I N D A S H86 rue de la Fontaine au Roi
7 . C A P I T A I N E T R A I N9 rue Ambroise Thomas
8 . W I T H I N G S20 rue Rouget de L’Isle
9 . D E E Z E R12 rue d’Athènes
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1 0 . D E V I A L E T126 rue RéaumurDevialet makeshigh-end amplifiers.Its latest product,the Devialet 240, isa hi-fi system thatuses an analogue-digital technologywhich, it claims,ensures superb audiofidelity. It comeswith the DevialetAIR Wi-Fi streamer,which lets youwirelessly play audiofrom your laptop.Founded in 2007, thefirm is Paris-basedbut production isin Normandy. Itraised ¤19 millionfrom investors suchas Xavier Niel, andJacques-AntoineGranjon, CEOof Vente-privee.devialet.com
romstreetlevel,numbers11-13onItämerenkatu,awideboulevardnearHelsinki’s harbour, seems like any officeblock. Inside, though,it’s getting amakeover: Nokia’s research teamhavemoved out andstartups aremoving in. Jolla, a smartphone firm,moved 150devel-opers in. Supercell, thewildly successful company behindHayDay
and Clash of Clans, has taken over one floor. “There are lots of new companies inHelsinki, quite a few to do with mobile,” Tomi Pienimäki, the CEO of Jolla, says.“Finland is small so there are many people who have worked for Nokia.” RovioreleasedAngry Birds and became the newNokia –whichworried some: “Over thelast year inHelsinki, Supercell has grown tremendously and has been topping thecharts,” saysGregAnderson,editorof theblogArcticStartup. “Aside fromthe$2.4million a day that’s pouring into Helsinki from Clash of Clans, Supercell has alsohad the effect of giving us somethingmore thanAngry Birds to point to.Wewereafraid of another Nokia situation: becoming a one-company town.”Many smallerstudios are quietly creating successes: no big deal was made when Tribeflamerecently hit 15million downloadswith Benji Bananas,published by another Finn-ish startup, Fingersoft. And an ecosystem of tertiary services such asMetrify.io,EveryplayandApplifier ishelpingpublisherstogrow.Helsinki’ssmartphone-basedstartups span everything from retail analytics to sport fishing to pet fitness.
H O L V ITallberginkatu 1Kristoffer Lawson and Tuomas Toivonen wanted to create a simpleruser-interface for online banking. “The only solution we couldfind was to attack the very core of the financial system,” saysLawson. “In other words, rethink what a bank is and how it relatesto our life.” Lawson and Toivonen founded Holvi in 2011. “We gotincreasingly frustrated with how difficult it was to manage ourown finances – the user interfaces were horrible, the informationthey gave you was non-existent,” says Lawson. “We thought, astech people, this is something that computers should be doing.”
Holvi users can share accounts with others, set up shops forcollecting money owed, incorporate an easy-to-use invoice serviceand set up bills. A budget tool creates financial reports, breakingdown money in and out, according to category. The service launchedin Finland last autumn, and 1,000 organisations are now using Holvi.Lawson says he’s planning to launch Europe-wide, with the UK thefirst market – subject to red tape. “There’s a lot of paperwork andregulations you need to be aware of. It’s the biggest challenge.But we’re actually quite proud none of us are bankers.” holvi.com
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Nokia taught the Finnish capital to be sure to hedge its bets.In Rovio’s wake comes a fleet of highly successful game firms
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J O L L AItämerenkatu 11-13Thought the battlefor mobile OSdomination was astraight slug-outbetween iOS andAndroid? Jolla begsto differ. “In general,the operating
systems for the mobile world arevery old,” the company’s CEO TomiPienimäki says. The startup wasfounded in March 2011 by refugeesfrom Nokia’s cancelled MeeGomobileOS: they continued working on the OSto create Sailfish. It’s gesture-based,built for multitasking, but energy-efficient. The company recentlyunveiled the Jolla phone, a sleek,buttonless slab with a 4.5” screen,which can run Android apps. jolla.com
K I P P THelsinki andSan FranciscoThe first
Finnish companyto be backed byY Combinator,Kippt superchargesbookmarking, makingit easy to storeweb content, andthen collaborateon it with others.A specialised versioncalled Inc is pitchedfor businesses. Earlierthis year the companymoved, giving ita pretty distinctidentity: “Handcraftedin San Francisco withFinnish heritage”.kippt.com
4 . S C A R L E TM O T O R SLutherinkatu 2Scarlet Motors istaking Helsinki’straditional strengthin mobile to the mostmobile of devices:the car. It is designingan electric sportsvehicle and open-sourcing the process,inviting users to offersuggestions online.Julien Fourgeaud,CEO and cofounder,has stepped down,but remains as aninvestor, and a designis due this year.scarletmotors.com
6 . G R A N D C R UHämeentie 33Investors looking forthe next Rovio andSupercell may alreadyhave missed theirchance with GrandCru, which managedto raise $2 millionfor its debut gameThe Supernauts – apuzzle platformerthat mixes Minecraftwith a social twist.grandcrugames.com
8 . WA L K B A S ETykistökatu 4DIt’s easy for onlineretailers to trackshoppers’ activity,but what aboutoffline? Walkbaseputs sensors intoshops, lettingbusinesses monitorconsumer behaviour– including thenumber of passers-by entering a shop,where customersbrowse and for howlong – based onsmartphones’ Wi-Fisignals. The servicecan be combined withGoogle Analytics.walkbase.com
7. P R O T O G E OSalomonkatu 17ProtoGeo is thecompany behindthe Moves app,which works justlike the Jawbone UPor Nike+ Fuelband,but without thewristwear. It usesa smartphone’ssensor to recogniseautomaticallywhen the user iswalking, running orcycling. CEO SampoKarjalainen foundedkids’ virtual worldHabbo Hotel. InJanuary the companyraised ¤1.2 million.moves-app.com
5 . S U P E R C E L LItämerenkatu 11-13Is Supercell still astartup? Each dayit takes $2.4 millionand its $130 millionfunding round inApril valued it at$770 million. But itwas founded onlythree years ago andhas released justtwo games. CEOIlkka Paananen isn’tgetting carried away:“We remind ourselvesevery day, don’t growtoo quickly. We havea saying: get bigby thinking small.”supercell.com
9 . Z E N R O B O T I C SVilhonkatu 5AComputer vision,metal detectors, 3Dscanners and brainscience combinewith a big robot armin the world’s firstautomated recyclingsystem, capable ofsorting wood, metaland stone fromrecyclable material.A Zen Roboticssystem won’t betaking out yourrubbish yet, though:the cheapest costs¤480,000, even thoughit’s built from off-the-shelf components.zenrobotics.com
1 0 . I N DOOR AT L A SElektroniikkatie 3Google’s street-mapping involveddriving cars aroundneighbourhoods;Indoor Atlas wants tomap inside buildings.But instead ofcameras, it will useanomalies in theEarth’s magnetic fieldthat are caused bybuilding structures.Users and businessescan then build linkedlocation-aware apps.In April the companyraised a ¤500,000seed round fromMobility Ventures.indooratlas.com
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W I X40 HanamalWix has turned designingwebsites into a simple drag-and-drop activity. “Even a non-creativeperson can create a beautifulwebsite in HTML5 or Flash, justby choosing from templatesand customising them,” saysOmer Shai, VP of marketing atWix. Founded in 2006, Wix haspublished over 29 million sitesthrough its platform. AlthoughWix is free to use, users pay extrato have the Wix logo removedfrom their site, or to integratea payment-checkout optionfor an e-commerce website.With a pervasive advertisingcampaign in the UK, this companyis widely tipped by investorsto go public soon. wix.com
Avishai Abrahami, CEOand cofounder of Wix
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WIRED’s map of Europe is as flexible as Eurovision’s – so Israel’s thriving techcapital, building on local talent and global reach, has to be in our list of cities
word s b y M A D H U M I T A V E N K A T A R A M A N A N p h o t o g r a p h y : F R E D M A C G R E G O R
here’s a Yiddish word that best describesthe mindset of Tel Aviv entrepreneurs:chutzpah – audacious confidence. “Thecommunity is thriving, full of energy witha ‘go get it’ culture,” says entrepreneur and
conferencechairmanYossiVardi,who’smentored80com-panies in the last 16 years. The secret to their success, hesays, is the partnerships with multinationals, includingGoogle, Intel and IBM, which have flocked to Tel Aviv’s“SiliconWadi”. Saul Klein, partner at London-based IndexVenturesand techenvoy fromtheUKto Israel, hasanotherexplanation. “Theenergy, focusanddynamismcomesfromeveryone being in the army,” he says. “The challenges youface, the innovatingyoudo, it’sa lot likebeing inastartup.”
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4 . W A Z E25 Haharoshet StAmong Israelitaxi drivers, theword “Waze” issynonymous with“GPS”. Since itsfounding in March2008, map app Wazehas signed up 45million users, most ofwhom are in Europe,Latin America andthe US. It is crowd-powered, collectingdata from users.Having received atotal of $67 millionin funding, it wasrecently acquired byGoogle for $1 billion.waze.com
6 . L O O LV E N T U R E S8 Dov FriedmanLool Ventures is anincubator started byserial entrepreneursAvichay Nissenbaumand Yaniv Golan,to nurture mobile-internet startups.It invests in early-stage ideas, but alsocomes up with ideas,and launches fast.Projects have includedsheet-music iPad appTonara, which turnspages automatically,and MyPermissions,which alerts you toapps that access yoursocial network. lool.vc
5 . E T O R O32 HaBarzelThe six-year-oldstartup is a social-investment networkwhose 2.8 millionusers can invest instocks, currenciesand commoditiesonline, and sharethese trades in realtime with others.They can follow thetop traders in thenetwork, learn fromtheir investmentsand even “copy” theirtrades. Founded byYoni Assia, eToro actsas a broker, making acommission on everytrade. etoro.com
A N Y . D O6 Agripas StreetAny.do is a to-do list app that launched on Androidin 2011 and on iOS a year later, when it became themost downloaded to-do app on both platforms, withfivemillion users.With its uncluttered design anddaily reminders to review your list and set alarms,it helps you to actually complete your tasks ratherthan just list them. “People try to-do lists butmost of them have a hard timemaintainingthem,” says founder and CEO Omer Perchik. any.do
O U T B R A I N6 Arieh Regev StreetWhen Israeli adman Yaron Galai was running contextual
advertising company Quigo, which he sold to AOL, he realised herarely clicked on his own ads. “In general, most ads are terrible.They squeeze out revenue with no relevance to the reader at all,”he says. “So I thought, how do we build a business that is sortof in the ad space, but feels curated, part of the package?” Hissolution was Outbrain, a startup that supports online journalismby promoting editorial content. “We recommend links to readerson a site, either to other stories within that site or on anothersite,” says Galai, who is cofounder and CEO.
Founded in 2007, Outbrain now powers recommendations on100,000 sites including the Daily Telegraph and Sky News in theUK and American sources such as theWall Street Journal. Thebusiness model is similar to an advertising-revenue approach.“If you are on CNN and you see recommendations for CNNstories, we don’t charge,” Galai, 42, says. When links pointto other sites, Outbrain makes money. “The site we direct towill pay us on a cost-per-click basis, and we share the revenuewith CNN, if that’s where they were linked from.” The brain ofthe system is 30 algorithms, which constantly compete witheach other. “Each link we serve you is the result of a winningalgorithm,” Galai says. The startup, based in Tel Aviv and NewYork, has raised $65 million from four VCs, including IndexVentures. “Our goal is simple. We don’t care if you’re consumingtext, video or audio,” Galai says.“We want to be the recommendationengine for all contentproduced online.” outbrain.com
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1 . W I X40 Hanamal Street
2 . A N Y . D O6 Agripas Street
3 . O U T B R A I N6 Arieh Regev Street
4 . W A Z E25 Haharoshet St
5 . E T O R O32 HaBarzel
6 . L O O L V E N T U R E S8 Dov Friedman
7 . T A Y K E Y32 Maskit Street
8 . M Y H E R I T A G E3 Ariel Sharon
9 . F I V E R RHaumanim Street
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9 . F I V E R RHaumanim StreetNeed a logo designed?You might ask for arecommendation ordo a search online,but how do youget the right price?Three-year-old TelAviv startup Fiverrmakes it easy: it runsan online marketplacefor “gigs” – servicessuch as graphicdesign, copywriting,translations,animations – alloffered for $5.“It takes awaythe friction ofnegotiation,” saysCEO Micha Kaufman,42. fiverr.com
8 . M Y H E R I T A G E3 Ariel SharonFounded in 2003,MyHeritage is afamily-genealogystartup. It has abillion profiles anduses advancedalgorithms to findlost family membersby comparingrecords (includingphotos and storiesin newspapers,census recordsand governmentdatabases back tothe 1700s) to 27million family treesin 40 languages fromaround the world.myheritage.com
1 0 . D E N S B I T S7 Palyam StreetDensBits is not inthe sexy consumer-internet business,but its product hasthe potential totransform how datais stored, according toBessemer VenturesPartners’ AdamFisher. The startuphas designed thepatented MemoryModem, a technologyto reduce the cost offlash-memory chipsby up to 50 per cent,while maintainingtheir reliability andperformance on a parwith magnetic harddisks. densbits.com
One of the newer hubs, Istanbul has had manysuccesses – such as Trendyol – and will havemany more now that it’s learnt to love failure
stanbul’s startup sector, known as theDigitalBosphorus,enjoyedasignificanthighin 2011, with some clear winners emerging– from e-commerce giants Trendyol andLidyanatogaminggroupPeakGames.How-
ever,asIstanbulcomesofage,therehavebeengrowthpainswithin its thriving startup community and 2012 markedthe first failures. The German company Rocket Internet,which has a portfolio of over 100 companies, shut severale-commerce sites 15 months after entering the Turkishmarket, and several high-profile local startups, includingPabbuc.comandGurunzi.com,alsoclosedtheiroperations.In the eyes of Ali Karabey, MD of 212 Ltd, one of Turkey’sleading early-stage venture-capital funds, these closuresaren’t detrimental to Istanbul’s business hopes, but are avital part of establishing a more mature startup environ-ment. “The biggest battle currently faced by the Turkishentrepreneur is that they’restill scaredof failing,”explainsKarabey, 37. “Even very successful people don’t seem totalk about howhard their journeywas, or howmany timesthey failed. Entrepreneurs are only just starting to get togrips with the fact that failure is OK, so long as you learnsomething andapply it to yournext venture.”Alongwith this shifting attitude towards failure, Istan-
bul’s successes have encouraged younger generations toseekentrepreneurial success, resulting in strongsoftwareand gaming sectors emerging in a city best known fore-commerce. Venture capital has also begun to emerge.“For the best and the brightest talent in Turkey, entre-
preneurship and startups arenowaviable career option,”saysCemSertoglu, 41, partner of EarlybirdVentureCapi-tal. “Thiswasn’t the case twoor threeyears ago.”Hereareten startups that pay tribute to Istanbul’s coming of age.
7 . T A Y K E Y32 Maskit StreetThe algorithms ofadvertising startupTaykey eavesdrop onthe real-time onlineconversations ofa client’s audienceand then place adsaccordingly. If a studiois releasing theG.I. Joe film, forexample, and wantsto target teens,Taykey can spot thatteens are talkingabout Justin Bieber.G.I. Joe ads are thenplaced on Bieber fansites. Clients includeUnilever and Sony.taykey.com
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4 . M A R K A F O N IErtuğrul GaziCaddesi 4Markafoni is marketleader in Turkey’sfashion sector, andthe second-largestmember site forfashion in the world.CEO Sina Afra claimshis firmwas the firstTurkish web companyto go global. It hasn’tbeen smooth: thecompany has closed inKorea. Markafoni had18 million visits eachmonth in 2012 andsold 700,000 itemsevery four weeks.markafoni.com
5 . Y O U L I K E . C O MEski ÜsküdarCaddesi 10/7Having foundedTurkish news siteUzmantv and socialhangout Itiraf,YouLike’s creatorErsan Özer, 44, is wellversed in Turkey’sonline habits.Launched in February,YouLike is a datingsite that factorsusers’ mutual likes,and also dislikes.With 20,000 membersin Turkey, the UK andthe US, it’s expandingafter a funding round.youlike.com
C L O U D A R E N ABagdatCaddesi458/6,SuadiyeCloudArena’s
HotelRunner software allowsoffline hotels to gain anonline presence with amobilesite, website and Facebookpage. Additional servicescan then be purchased, suchas online reports. A seedinvestment of $500,000 inApril 2012 from 212 CapitalPartners and a $210,000grant in July 2012 fromTUBITAK allowed it to launcha public beta of HotelRunnerin November 2012. It nowoperates in more than 80cities around the world,with over 1,200 registeredproperties. cloudarena.com
“makes a radio station ‘radio’ rather than a playlistgenerator”. In addition, listeners can create theirown station experience with a crowdsourced musicservice powered by Silicon Valley startup Jelli.Users vote for tracks, which in turn influencesthe group’s FM playlists.The service also allows listeners to browse
band biographies and purchase gig tickets via apartnership with Ticketmaster. Karnaval.comoperates a business model Abhary claims is uniquefor Turkey, in which advertisers can buy ads thattarget specific demographics, geographies or devices,a significant upgrade from “analogue” radio spots.Over six million unique users visited the
site in March. In January, ratings groupTriton Digital ranked Karnaval.com as thelargest online music service in Turkeyand the 14th largest in the world. karnaval.com
K R O M B E R ALevent Mahallesi, Güvercin Sokak 29Krombera, founded in March 2011 byAlper Ozdemir, 28, and Hakan Bas,29, (whose e-commerce site Lidyanaappeared in last year’s list), is a digitalagency that offers marketing servicesfrom website and app creation toaugmented-reality projects. Kromberawas awarded Preferred MarketingDeveloper status by Facebook withinits first ten months of existence andhas gone on to create more than 200Facebook applications for clients. Its
Toolbera platform, launched in 2012, allows companies to rentapps for Facebook, Twitter, Instagramand Kinect that can be tailored tospecific marketing needs. Revenuerose from $1.5 million in 2011 to$3 million in 2012. krombera.com
Left: the Markafonioffice in the Küçükköy.district. Right:Hakan Bas of Krombera
K A R N A V A LBüyükdere Caddesi, CEM Business Centre 23/4
In 2011 SpectrumMedya, the largest radiobroadcaster in Turkeywith five FM stations, wasfacing a dangerous decline in advertising share.“Much like other countries – but perhapsmoreprecipitously in Turkey – the radiomarket was indecline,” explains SpectrumMedia CEOAli A Abhary,41. Spending had fallen “from six per cent of addollars just seven years ago to only three per cent”.As listeners tuned out, Spectrum –wholly owned
by the Actera Group, one of the largest private-equity firms in Turkey – sought to become the firstTurkish radio group to develop a significant onlinepresence with an in-house startup, Karnaval.com.Launched in early 2012, Karnaval.com is a multi-platform digital radio service, offering two listeningexperiences: 13 digital stations target major musicgenres, hosted by their own DJs, providing news,sport and local content that, according to Abhary,
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8 . C L O V E R G A M E S T U D I ODanış Park B4,MaltepeEstablished by threecomputer-engineeringgraduates, CloverGame Studio’sfirst mobile title,Reveal The Maze,was a huge success,receiving over amillion downloadsin its first monthand claiming theprestigious number-one spot on Apple’sApp Store in over 50countries. The trioare currently workingon their secondgame, Candy Chain.clovergamestudio.com
9 . S O L V O Y OARI 2 Teknokent ITUAyazaga KampusuEstablished in 2005,Solvoyo took fiveyears to developits supply-chain-planning software,planLM, whichincorporatescloud computinginto supply-chaindecision making.Its flagship SaaSoffering, SolvoyoElevation Platform,was snapped upby internationalcompanies suchas HP, AppliedMaterials and Vestel.solvoyo.com
1 0 . V I V E N S EBeyazgül Caddesi 32,ArnavutköyKemal Erol, 33, aformer managementconsultant, foundedVivense, an onlinefurniture store, inMarch. The platformallows customersto browse over5,000 discounteditems and providesdesign expertisefrom a network ofinterior designers.With no showrooms,it organisesdelivery from themanufacturer directlyto the customer.vivense.com
7 . Y E M E K S E P E T IBestekar Şevki BeySokak 16-18Yemek Sepeti isTurkey’s biggestonline food-orderingservice, linking7,500 of the nation’srestaurants to 1.9million registeredusers, who make over60,000 orders a day.Founded in 2001, thecompany has recentlypushed beyond homedelivery and intovertical projects suchas Papyon.com, whichcollates informationthe company holdson restaurants.yemeksepeti.com
6 . I D EMAMA . C OMMaslak Mahallesi,Bilim Sokak,Sun PlazaWith 20 years’experience inadvertising betweenthem, Rahsan Tan, 38,and Leslie KandiyotiMori, 34, were wellplaced to provideTurkey’s two millionSMEs with a design-crowdsourcingplatform. Idemama.com launched inSeptember 2011.“We see potentialin the growth ofSMEs in Turkey,”says co-CEOMori.idemama.com
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msterdam is a true port city – international, tolerant andadaptable. These qualities, plus liberal tax laws, make it attrac-tive for foreign companies. Aussie software giant Atlassian, forinstance, choseAmsterdamas itsEuropeanoperationshub in2008because of the city’s convenience and strong tech community.
This year it will run AtlasCamp, a developer conference, in the city.“It startswith our history – being a small countrywith awacky language forces
many Dutch entrepreneurs to be fluent in English and look beyond our borders tocreate a business ofmeaningful size,” explains Don Ritzen, 29, cofounder andMDofRockstartAccelerator. “But it’s thepeople themselves that built thebuzzwith alot of fantastic bottom-up initiatives. Startups here still facemany regulatory andvisa barriers. In short, the scene todayhas been createdby the entrepreneurs.”
There are clear trends – 3D printing is a standout technology, from Shapewaysto Ultimaker – and fintech is a growth area. One problem – aswith all port cities –is peoplemovingon. Enterprise applicationplatformMendixwas foundedhere in2005butmovedheadquarters toBoston in2008whenitraised$13million inseriesAfunding.Pressure ismount-ing for government initiatives to retain startups.
P E E C H ORokin 75-5, 1012 KL“The cloud is connecting Amsterdamstartups in the way the ocean did inthe 15th century,” according to MartijnGroot, 40, who met his cofounder, CTOSander Nagtegaal, 38, at Albumprinter– a photo-book company acquired byVistaprint for ¤65 million in 2011. Peechoconnects websites to a network of printfacilities – currently only 2D, but with3D in the pipeline. This means most ofits 2,000 clients across Europe and theUS are digital publishers, museums andcorporates that need bespoke printingacross the world with short, high-qualityprint runs on demand. A fee of ¤50 permonth secures the basic Simple PrintService, with an embeddable buttonfor sites that operates with oneclick. Revenue comes from the profitmargin on each job. peecho.com
7 . G R E E N C L O U D SAert van Nesstraat45, 3012 CAGreenclouds offersa way to maximisespare capacityon cloud servers.According to CEOPeter Zonneveld,43, the challenge fordata centres is theirconsumption of largeamounts of power.Many run at lessthan 30 per centcapacity. Greencloudsbuys and sellssurplus powerand profits fromthe arbitrage.greencloudsonline.com
5 . S Q U L APanamalaan 5N,1019ASSqula offers quizzes,games and instructionmovies to supportthe Dutch curriculum.Apps are free, andcarry advertising.Some 33,000 childrenuse Squla’s virtualtesting tools andnational testingagency Cito hassigned a content deal.An initial angel roundof $540,000 wasfollowed in May 2013by RTL Ventures –previously best knownfor backing datingsite Pepper. squla.nl
A M S T E R D A MThe Dutch port easily attracts hi-tech firms but loses the more transientstartups. Fintech and 3D-printing successes keep Amsterdam in our chart
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Left: Martijn Grootof Peecho, which receivedfunding from Peak Capital
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1 0 . B O T T L E N O S ESingel 540, SingelFor brands, keepingtrack of social-network trendsis complex – likemaintaining multipleconversations.Bottlenose thinks it’sfixed this. The social-media search andanalytics companypulls together real-time updates from allconnected accountswith a dashboardshowing key topics.It’s freemium – publicbeta is free butlater roll-outs willinclude professionalsubscription offers.bottlenose.com
9 . W E R C K E RLauriergracht 116z,1026 RRWercker helpsdevelopers test anddeploy code. It usesa social-networkingelement so updatescan flow and teamscan see who’sdoing what witha high degree oftransparency. It aimsto slot between thelikes of GitHub andBitbucket – wheresource code is storedfor developers tocollaborate – and alsoHeroku and AmazonWeb Services –where it’s deployed.wercker.com
8 . 3 D H U B SVijzelstraat 79, 1017HG Amsterdam3D Hubs is a platformconnecting 3D-printerowners – or hubs– with local peoplewho need somethingprinted: the Airbnb of3D printing. There arejust 15 such hubs inAmsterdam and 400production locationsspread over 100 citiesreceiving an averageof ten orders per day/per city. With 100,0003D printers soldglobally, foundersBram De Zwart, 30,and Brian Garret, 27,hope for rapid growth.3dhubs.com
6 . F A S H I O L I S T ABloemgracht 20,1015 TJFashiolista is aplatform for sharingfashion “finds”. Usinglinks to Facebook andTwitter, memberscan follow friends,magazines, bloggersand designers. Withover 1.5 millionregistered membersin 160 countries,Fashiolista visitorsmake 25 millionpage views a month.Revenues for 2012are projected tobe ¤3 million.fashiolista.com
4 . A D Y E NSimonCarmiggeltstraat6-50, 1011 DJWhen Indiegogo– the US-basedcrowdfundingsite – startedtaking paymentsin internationalcurrencies at the endof 2012, it picked theAmsterdam startupAdyen to handle itsonline payments. Thistopped a successfulyear for the company:in 2012 Adyenprocessed morethan $10 billion inpayment transactionsworldwide. adyen.com
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he financial climate in Catalonia hassomewhat put the brakes on its talent-richstartup sector. “The root of the reason is ashortage of angels,” says Hermés Piqué ofstartup community Barcelona.IO. Although
there are some angels active in the city, entrepreneurs arelooking to the state, banks, corporations and the smallnumber of local VCs to provide funding – but such sourcesare reluctant to invest in anythingother than a sure thing.
The city’s work/play lifestyle continues to drawin global talent – a balance attested to by the manystartup events held in Barcelona. “Barcelona attracts alot of international talent thanks to the lifestyle,” saysChristopher Pommerening, of Active Venture Partners.“True disruption and high growth in Barcelona are not ascommon as we would like them tobe,” says Piqué. Here are ten start-ups thathaveachievedthosegoals.
S O C I A L P O I N TCarrer de la Llacuna 166, 08018Cofounders Andrés Bou and Horacio Martoswere only 23 when they set out to builda games business. Graduates of Facultatd’informàtica de Barcelona, the youngentrepreneurs turned heads when theylaunched their debut free-to-play gameon Facebook in 2011: Dragon City, in whichplayers breed their own fighting force ofdragons, was an immediate hit and becamethe second-highest-rated game on the sitein 2012. During the first month of thegame’s iOS release in March, the app wasdownloaded two million times. Dragon Cityand titles including Social Empires and Pool
Right: District 22@,in the formerly industrialPoblenou area
PHOTOGRAPHY:CARLOSMARTINEZ/CORBIS
T
A shortage of angels has turned startups’attention towards the state and banksto sustain the Catalonian city’s momentum
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Master have helped the social-game developer attract thefourth most active users on Facebook, with 42 millionusers per month. In less than a year, Social Point’s dailyactive-user tally grew from a million to 6.5 million. Thefreemium model, where users can make in-game purchases,generated revenues of $20 million in 2012. socialpoint.es
S I L KSpuistraat 239-3, 1012 VPOne of the few Dutch startups to raise money from
a prominent Silicon Valley VC, Silk has grown significantlysince it was last featured in WIRED. A funding round inAugust 2012 raised $1.6 million, mainly from New EnterpriseAssociates – which previously backed Salesforce, Grouponand TiVo. A full relaunch followed in April 2013 – Silk nowallows users to build pages around their passions, asdo most other blogging platforms, but it adds data-searchfunctions for users and visitors alike. silkapp.com
S K Y N R GStadhouderskade 140, 1074 BASkyNRG is the only biofuelssupplier to the airline industrythat can guarantee RSB-certifiedsustainable biofuels to aircraftat any airport in the world. In2009 former KLM VP of businessinnovation Dirk Kronemeijer, 39,(below) joined with sustainabilityconsultants Spring Associatesand fuel-distribution giant ArgosNorth Sea Group to form the
company, and began feasibility studies for its cooking-oil-based fuel on the Amsterdam-Paris route. The company isin discussions with several airlines and, in April 2013, VirginAustralia and Brisbane airport began a study into buildinga “bio-port” in collaboration with SkyNRG. skynrg.com
9 . A K A M O N08902 L’Hospitaletdel LlobregatAkamon providessocial gaming witha local hook; everytime it enters anew market in LatinAmerica or southernEurope, it developsthree to five locallythemed games. Thecompany won BestGaming Startup atGamesBeat 2012 andBest Rising Star atthe EGR OperatorAwards in November2012. The grouphad a turnover of$8.5 million in 2012.akamon.com
7 . C H A N G EY O U R F L I G H TCarrer de la Llacuna162, 08018ChangeYourFlighthelps passengerswho want to cancelnon-refundableplane tickets. Theplatform aggregatespassenger requestsfor partial refunds onflights free of charge.When a request isaccepted, the userreceives a refund anda voucher for anotherflight, while theairline gets to resellthe available seat,aiding both parties.changeyourflight.com
R E S T A L OCarrer de Guitard 43,08014Founded in 2009, Restalois the leading providerof real-time onlinerestaurant reservations
in Spain and Italy. Founder and CEOJuan Otero saw an opportunity toreplace pen-and-paper reservationswith a cloud service: “With theincrease in mobile devices, socialmedia and micropayment methods,technology is infiltrating the foodand restaurant industry like neverbefore,” he says. Restalo processes3,000 bookings a day, generatingmonthly revenues of ¤2.2 millionfor its restaurants. Partnershipswith Google, TripAdvisor and Yellhave increased numbers. restalo.es
K A N T O XCarrerde Llacuna
162-164, 08018Founded in June 2011by Philippe Gelis andAntonio Rami, Kantoxis an alternativemarketplace onwhich companies canbuy and sell foreigncurrency to eachother, with reducedcharges. “It’s theopposite of the forexmarket,” says Gelis.Kantox has tradedmore than $50 millionsince November 2011.kantox.com
4 . W H I S B ICarrer Calàbria 169,08015Whisbi helps brandsclose online saleswith a service thatallows sales teamsto talk to customersvia a two-waytelephone or one-wayvideo conversationwithout the customerneeding any software.Whisbi’s businessmodel charges brandsa small fee for everylead entering theirsystem, or for use oftheir own video-agentteam. whisbi.com
5 . Y U I L O PCarrer de Paris 207,08008Yuilop is a mobileapp that offers freecalls and texts toother mobiles –without the otheruser needing to havethe app. Users don’thave to pay to makecalls or texts, butgenerate a virtualcurrency, “Energy”,by receiving calls andsending alerts. CEOand founder JochenDoppelhammer ishoping to expand onYuilop’s five millionusers with entryinto the US this year.yuilop.com
1 0 . P A S S N F L YLlull 321-329,edificio CINC, 08019Launched in February,Passnfly provides adigital solution forchecking in to flights.It automaticallychecks in passengersto their preferredseat, and sends theboarding card straightto their phone.Passnfly is partneredwith 200 airlines andexpanding: travel-services providerAmadeus believes 15per cent of all check-ins will be processedautomatically by2015. passnfly.com
8 . C L O U D W O R KAvinguda Diagonal622 7.2, 08021Launched in October2012, CloudWorkis a web-basedservice from Nubera,the creators ofindependent appmarketplace GetApp.It enables small andmid-size companiesto increase theirproductivity byconnecting theirbusiness apps,pooling data andprocesses frompreviously isolatedsources such asDropbox and Twitter.cloudwork.com
6 . K N O KCarrer del Comted’Urgell 240, 08036Knok has set itssights on changingthe face of theholiday industry;this home exchangeallows members tostay free of chargein others’ homes. Anannual membershipcharge of ¤95 includesunlimited swaps andcovers all insurancecosts. Knok’s 20,000registered usershave a choice of 159countries to visit.Knok raised ¤500,000in a private fundinground in March.knok.com
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STILLLIFE
(PREVIOUSSPREAD):CHARLIESURBEY
fter the surgery, Boyle tried to think of any earlysymptoms they might have overlooked, but came upblank. Kate, 34, hadbeenhealthy enough to travel aroundthe United States, fundraising for her charity, just daysearlier. “I think it comes down towhether or notwe couldhave identified it at an earlier stage, because if we’d spot-ted it at stage one, her survival rate would have been 90to 95 per cent,” Boyle says. In other words, early diagno-sis in such cases are thedifferencebetween life anddeath.
Boyle is a straight-talking Belfast native, with a dim-pled smile and light brown hair. At the time Kate wasdiagnosed, he was running Cambridge-based OwlstoneNanotech, a chemical-sensors startup that he cofoundedin 2004. The company’s primary focus was to develop
technology capable of detecting noxious gases simply by theiryou know, hundreds of millions of
on research for detection of explo-” says Boyle, 34. Owlstone sensorserous chemicals by their odour –or explosives at airports – for mil-
security purposes, attracting clientsBut Boyle’s weeks in the sterile
ooke’s oncology wards made himdiagnostics is probably a better use
helping oil companies clean up expensiveSo Boyle began looking at howadapted for use in medicine.
His extensive reading turned up an unusual pocket ofresearch: the study of how body odours – from breath, skin orurine – can contain clues about health. “It turns out there is thiswhole new field called ‘metabolomics’ – how chemical patternson your breath or off your urine could indicate illness,” Boylesays. Published research over the last ten years has shown thatdiseases such as asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary dis-ease (COPD), tuberculosis, lung cancer, gastric cancer and coloncancer all have a distinctive “smellprint” – a pattern of volatilemolecules that can’t be sensedbyahumannose, but canbepickedup by a mass spectrometer, a large laboratory instrument thatseparates and identifies chemicals from an air sample. The prob-lem currently faced by engineers is how to shrink a cumbersome,£500,000machine into a simple table-top device for a GP’s office.
smell. “This was post-9/11 – yodollars were being spent onsives and chemical weapons,”can filter out various dangerjust as dogs sniff out drugs oritary and domestic securityin the oil and gas business.corridors of Addenbrooke’restless. “I realisedmedical diagnosticsofmy technology than helpingcontaminations,” he says.his military sensors could be
Mass spectrometers aren’t the onlyways to sniff out disease. In2009, Claire Guest, a clinical psychologist in Milton Keynes, alsofound out she had cancer. But unlike Boyle’s girlfriend, it wasn’ther doctor who alerted her; it was her fox-red Labrador, Daisy.“She kept jumping up and pawing my chest; she was strangelyanxious aroundme,” saysGuest, 49.Whenshe felt that thepawinghadmadeher chestunusually sore, shehadabreast-cancerbiopsyconducted, which came back negative. When Daisy’s strangebehaviour continued, Guest had a core needle biopsy. The pro-cedure confirmed her fears – she had breast cancer. “It was avery deep tumour, and could have been quite advanced by thetime I noticed it,” says Guest, who has since had treatment and isnow cancer-free. Guest is a passionate advocate of using dogs as
“It would be suitable for use outside of specialist settings, andsignificantly reduce screening costs, because the chip itself is low-cost and treatmentswould be given earlier.”
Therearealreadyahandfulofelectronicbreath-testsonthemar-ketwhich have been given regulatory approval by theUSFood andDrug Administration (FDA). Besides alcohol breathalysers, therearetestsforcarbon-monoxidepoisoning,heart-transplantrejectionand asthma. Tests for breast, prostate, colon and lung cancer, aswell as tuberculosis (TB), heart failure and diabetes, are beingdeveloped.Suchtestswouldberelativelycheap,painlessandquick.
InmedicalfieldssuchasoncologyandTB,whereexpensive, inva-sive tests suchasbiopsies, sputumcultures andblood tests are thenorm,asimplesmell-testcouldbetransformative incountrieswithlimitedresources. “Atuberculosisbreath testwouldbeparticularlyinteresting fordevelopingcountrieswherethedisease isextremelyprevalent, because breath is always available and easy to collect,”saysAntonAmann, directorof theBreathResearch Instituteof theAustrian Academy of Sciences, and editor-in-chief of the JournalofBreathResearch,whichhe founded in2007. “It couldcompletelychange howwe screen for life-threatening diseases.”
disease sensors; she runs a charity calledMedical Detection Dogsthat works with researchers, NHS trusts and universities to trainspecialist dogs to detect the odours of human disease.
Butdogs aren’tmachines – theirwork is not easily reproducibleand they cannot convey nuances. So at theTechnion – Israel Insti-tute of Technology, in Haifa, a team has been working to developan electronic nose. “My inspiration for this work was from dogs,which can naturally smell chemical traces in the range of parts-per-trillion,” saysHossamHaick, a chemical engineer at theTech-nion.Utilisinganimals for real clinical applications isnot realistic,he says,mostlybecausewedon’t understandhowthedata isbeingprocessed. “I thought an electronic system that works on similarprinciples, but where we know what data was fed in and howthe results are calculated, could serve just as well,” says Haick.
Your every exhalation is a window into your body’s innerworkings; each breath contains infinitesimal concentrations –in the range of parts-per-trillion – of over 3,000 volatile organiccompounds. Did you just breathe out? You just revealed cluesabout whether you are male or female, young or old, pregnantor sick, what drugs you regularly take (even illegal ones such ascocaine and marijuana), and whether you may have radiationpoisoning. T can be identified by the complex mixtures ofalkanes, alcohols aldehydes, oxides and acids which form aredolent patt based onwhat’s going on inside you.
Israeli microbiologist Mel Rosenberg made a living out ofanalysing these eath odours, before he recently retired to write
children’s books about dentalhygiene. “I started smelling breathprofessionally in the 80s and haveprobably sniffed over 10,000 peo-ple for signs of disease, over mycareer,” Rosenberg says. “It tookme 30 years, but I can distinguishbetween bacterial odours from thenose and the back of the tongue,those fromkidneys, lungs or gums.”In fact, research from ETH Zurich’sDepartmentofChemistry,publishedin the PLOS ONE journal this April,has shown that breath-prints are a
lot like fingerprints: although theyfluctuate in a single personoverthecourseofaday,eachpattern,measuredbyamassspectrometer,has a core signature that is unique enough to identify aperson.
As Boyle began reading about the role of smell in detectingdisease, he realised that his nano-sensors could recognise thesesignatures, just like amass spectrometer. “The challenge is how toshrink it and bring it to clinics,” he says. “We realised that our sen-sors would be easier to usewithin themedical community, and farcheaper than what’s currently available.” In fact, because the pat-tern-recognitionelementwouldbeprogrammed into the software,“we could just change what we were looking for on the computer,and adapt the sensor for anumber of different diseases,” he says.
This ability to hack electronics easily is second nature to Boyle.He has been experimenting with DIY electronics since he was 13,
Far left: ClaireGuest,whosecancer detectedby her pet aisy(left), before a coreneedle
about whethor sick, whatcocaine andcocaine andpoisoning. Talkanes, alcredolent patt
Israeli mianalysy ing the
Far leftwhosecac ncerby her p(lefft), bnenn edle
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and marijuana),This can
alcohols,pattern basedmicrobiologistthese breath
left: Clairebreast
cerwas detpet, Daisybefore a
needle biopsy
when he spent the summer of 1992as part of a programme called Projecttroubles in Ireland and they got a scruffy– and a Protestant kid from Belfastwith an American family,” Boyle saysApart from going to barbecues andBoyle spent his free time at a nearbyexperimented with metal detectcontrollers. “WhenIgothome, Istartelectronics.Mydadwasconvinced Isomanyweird chemicals,” Boyle saysbe ridiculous. He’s just a geek.’” Tdata loggers and sensors that hewould“Imade little things like, if you left ytoo long, an alarmwouldgooff for 30
Although this fascination waneduate at Trinity College, Cambridgeabsorbedbybusiness, economicsandlove for fixing engineering systemsfinal term’s rent, Boyle took a summfor his engineering professor in thenology Group, and decided to staytwo Owlstone cofounders, Americanand Spanish engineer Dave Ruiz-Alonsosit together at the same boring-assout for drinks after lab and get toAndrew told us about his idea for thsays. Boyle had experience in manufacturingRuiz-Alonso knewhow tomodel signal-prthe three decided to start a businessand thought, ‘Ah,we can stick that downoutand tried to raise somemoney.Wegot twomilliondollars froma private NewYork investorwithin sixweeks,” Boyle says.
The result: the field asymmetric ion mobility spectrometry(FAIMS) chip, Owlstone’s core product. Although not a massspectrometer, the 7mm-wide chip acts on a similar principle, as achemical filter. “What our device does is take amix of gases fromany air sample, and ionise the chemicals, giving each particle acharge,” Boyle explains. When a high-voltage electric current isapplied to the chip, the different ions will move at different ratesthat are characteristic to each one, and can be separated fromone other. “So it picks out the chemical composition of a gas anddisplays it as a graph,” Boyle says. If the sensor has beenmeasur-ing your breath, that graph is your breathprint. And people witha certain disease should have breath-graph displays which areentirely different from the graphs of their healthy counterparts.
In2007, Phillips set out to correlate chemical patterns indiseasedbreath with the source of the illness. “We looked at the breath ofpatientswith pulmonary TB and found that a combination of six toeightbiomarkers couldaccuratelypredict thedisease,”hesays. “Wethen testedsmells fromtheTBbacteria itself, and found that severalcompoundswerethesameorsimilartowhatwesawinbreath.”Phillipsknewhedidn’tneedamassspectrometer:“Wewantedacheapinstru-ment to identify these known chemicals and spit out a diagnosis.”AlthoughMenssanaistestingtheOwlstonechip, ithasalsopatentedits own system called BreathLink – a cloud application linked to theBreathscanner, amachine that, with the app, can deliver a TB diag-nosis insixminutes.TheBreathscannersensorisnotaspectrometer,but itmakesbreathpatternsbasedonthesonic frequencyofspecificchemicals. Amulti-centre trial in London,Mumbai and the Philip-pines tested the Breathscanner/BreathLink in 2010. “Somebody satatthemachineinMumbai, India,breathingout–andacoupleofmin-utes later,wecoulduploaddataandsee theresults inNewJersey.”
h esult of the study published in the journalTuberculosis inwas about 85 per cent accu-
patients. The important thing,howsureyoucouldbethatbetter than 99 per cent. So
esult is]negative,wecansayconfidence you don’t have
Phillips says. If it’s negative, youif it’s positive, your doctorher test to confirm,which,
seofTB, isachestX-rayoraculture. “This is not just foralso for lung andbreast can-
Phillips says. “A biopsy is theandard,butwithabreathtestminimisethecostandpain.”
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1992 in Charlotte, North Carolina,oject Children. “It was during thescruffy little Catholic kid – meand put us in a house togethersays, grinning at the memory.
and hanging out at McDonald’s,nearby electronics retailer, where he
ectors, fuses, LEDs and micro-artedbuyinglotsofchemicalsand
wasagluesnifferbecause Ihadys. “Mybrotherwas like, ‘Don’t
The teenage Boyle would buildwould hook up around the house.your car’s indicator light on for30 seconds,” he says.
waned as an engineering undergrad-e, where Boyle was much moreandthepub,he re-discoveredhiswhenhegraduated. Topayhis
mmer job as a research associateeMicrosystems andNanotech-ay on. That’s where he met his
American PhD student Andrew KoehlAlonso. “The three of us would
boring-ass Thursday lunchtime talks, goknow each other. That’s whenthe design of this chip,” Boyle
manufacturing silicon chips andsignal-processing algorithms, so
business. “We wrote a business plan,downonourCVs,’ andwewent
he Owlstone sensor has impressed Michael Phillips, CEO ofNewark, NewJersey-basedMenssanaResearch. One of the longest-established companies in the field of breath research, it has beenrunningclinical trialsofbreathsamples foraround20years.PhillipsisnowusingOwlstonesensorsinexperiments.“Weareactivelywork-ingwithBilly[Boyle]tousehischips in lung-andbreast-cancerdiag-noses,”Phillips says. “It’s getting the technology from lab to clinic,”
The results of the study, published in the2012, showed that the Breathscanner wasrate when diagnosing TB-positive patientthough,wasitsnegativepredictivevalue–howa negative resultwas correct. “Ourswas bett
if [the resultwith full confidenit,” Phillipsgo home; ifdoes anothein thecasesputum culturTB, but alsocer,” Phillipsgoldstandaryoucanminim
Far left: Tjip van derWerf of the Universityof Groningen blowsintoan eNoseAeonosediagnostic unit.Left: an isolationroom for TB patients
TheOwlstonechip isalsobeingusedat theUniversityofWarwickhospital, in a pilot study conducted by engineer James Covington.“Withall the technologyanddrugsavailable, peoplehave forgottenabout smell,” he says. “Doctors in China still sniff their patients.”Covington was interested in bowel disorders: irritable bowel syn-drome, ulcerative colitis and colon cancer, which are hard to tellapart in theirearlystages.Thediagnostic test for these isacolonos-copy–“ametal tubeupthebum”-typeprocedure,asBoyledescribesit, to scrape out a sample of tissue fromyour bowels. The process isprimitive: clinical reports say about one in 5,000 patients die fromit; three times thatnumberhave their colonsperforated–asurgicalemergency.Therearenowidely acceptedalternatives to this test.
Covingtonranasmall trial usingOwlstone’s andother sensors inlate2012, testingtheurineodoursof 100people; somewerehealthyand others had ulcerative colitis or colon cancer, like Boyle’s girl-friend, Kate. “We got the initial results back just before Christmas,right in themiddle of her chemotherapy,” Boyle says. “The sensorhad ID’d every colon-cancer patient in the group.” Covington saystheywere even able to differentiate the cancer patients from thosewith ulcerative colitis. He is now running a larger trial, adding irri-tablebowel-diseasepatients, tosee if thesmell testcandifferentiatethe three groups, and how advanced each disease has to be beforeit is detected. “If this works in double-blind trials, it will be huge,”Covington says. “The odour reader will first appear in secondaryhospitals, but you want to get it into GP and walk-in clinics. Forspecificdisease groups, you could evenhavehomemonitoring.”
Larger trials are being run in Hossam Haick’s lab at the Techn-ion. His sensor, theNA-Nose, and Boyle’s FAIMS sensor are built ona similar principle: “You knowyou’re smelling coffee, but your nosedoesn’tknowwhatchemicalsare init,”Boyleexplains. It’syourbrainthat interprets this signal. Similarly, the sensors do not distinguish
atemolecules,buttransferthecollectivepat-computer. The sensors first need to be taught toparticularsmell.Thesesignalsarethenprocessedern-recognitionalgorithm,andstored,until the
encounters anunknownsample thatmatches this.has succeeded in identifying lung, breast,
ostate,head-and-neck,andstomachtumours.wasparticularly effectiveat stomachcancers
onagroupof130patients,andtheresults,pub-ch,arenowbeingverifiedintrialsrunningviaa
consortiumof eight universities and companies,“The ultimate goal is to use the NA-Nose toat the level of a single cell,”Haick says.
Although diagnosing cancers earlier could save lives,screening for TB could help stanch the unchecked spreadofadisease thataffectsabout8.7millionpeopleeveryyear,according to theWorld Health Organisation. “I was disap-pointed by the first generation of breath tools in the 80s,but these new sensors, they are a sort of magic box,” sayspulmonary physician Tjip van derWerf at the Universityof Groningen in the Netherlands. Van der Werf is a bald-ing 59-year-old Dutchman who paces up and down as hetalkspassionatelyaboutTB.“Currently,whatdowehave inthe TB toolbox? Very little, to be honest,” he says. “We areworking with technologies invented over 100 years ago.If you compare to malaria or HIV, there have been manymore advances, both in diagnosis and treatment.” Van der
Owlstone FAIMS
charge, making themmove at differentspeeds in an electricfield. This way thechip can separate thevarious componentsand identify them.Cost per test:A few pence
Breathscanner
affected mechanicalwave into an electricalsignal. Changes inamplitude, phase,frequency or timedelay can be used todetect and measurethe presence ofspecific chemicals.Cost per test: “It willbe cheaper than a TBsputum-test.”
eNose Aeonose
infection, can reactwith the metal oxidewhen it changes itselectrical conductivity.This change can bemeasured, andascribed to a certainchemical. A breathpattern is built up bymeasuring a range ofchanges in electricalconductivity.Cost per test:Less than £8
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betweenseparattern to a computidentifyaparticularusingapattern-rsensor encount
Haick’s lab hascolorectal,prostTheNA-NosewaswhentestedonlishedinMarch,European consortiumled by Haick. “Tdetect cancers
Type: Fieldasymmetric ionmobility spectrometryHow it works: Thechip is an ion mobilityspectrometer. When itencounters a mixtureof gases, such as apatient’s breath, itgives each particle a
Type: Gaschromatography/surface acoustic-wavedetectorHow it works: Thesensor relies on themodulation of surfaceacoustic waves tosense the gases. Thedevice transduces the
Type: Metal-oxide sensorHow it works:Developed in theNetherlands, theeNose Aeonose is ametal-oxide sensor.A volatile chemical inthe breath, such asthat caused by an
The idea of diagnosing diseases through smell is not anew one: Nobel Prize-winning chemist Linus Pauling per-formed an early chemical analysis of breath in the 70s,using gas chromatography to separate out the volatilecompounds and identify illnesses. Since then, research-ers have used gas chromatography, mass spectrometryand electronic noses, but the technique has not yet madeit into mainstream clinical practice. The bottleneck untilnow, according to researchers, has been the technologyitself. “Thesensorsweren’tveryaccurate–therewasalargeoverlap between people with and without the disease inthereadouts,” saysvanderWerf.Theprocesshasalsobeensloweddownbyclinical trials,whichhavetoberunforeachdisease group. “Clinical testing and licensing is a long andexpensive process; small companies will need the help oflarge, wealthy medical-diagnostics and marketing com-panies,” says Phillips, ofMenssana, who is trying to obtainFDAapproval for theTBBreathscanner.Billy Boyle, however, is optimistic. “I think we are
uniquely positioned to launch this commercially,” he says.“Whatyouwant is twothings: rawanalyticalcapabilityandusability – is this portable and cheap?Our system is both.”InMarch thisyear,Boyle’sgirlfriendKatehadtofly to the
US to have seven tumours removed from her liver, beforecominghomeforthreemoremonthsofchemotherapy.Priorto travelling for her surgery, she and Boyle weremarried.“The chemo is working and her chances are about 50-50now,” saysBoyle. “It’s a lotbetter thanfivepercent.”�
Madhumita Venkataramanan iswired’s assistant editor.She co-compiled theExtremeHowTo feature in09.13
TheeNoseAeonoseisasky-blue, iPad-sizedmachinewithafunnel,which you grip on either side and directly breathe into for five fullminutes. Just as Boyle’s sensors were originally used for militaryand defence purposes, the Aeonose uses technology from a devicebuilt for the Dutch police, used to sniff out cannabis. In 2010, thedevice was tested in Bangladesh on 150 TB patients. “The resultsfromBangladeshmademepuzzled and thrilled,” says vanderWerf,recalling the moment when he saw the numbers. “An automatedself-learningnetwork systemwas recognisingpatterns and you cansee the two clouds of TB and no-TB widely apart. From a clinicalperspective,wenever see such adifference.” If the breath test couldserve as a screening tool before expensive chest X-rays and sputumcultures,unnecessaryexpensecouldbeprevented,butprecioustimewouldalsobesaved–suspectedpatientscouldbeisolatedtoprevent
thest
eatmenttheandis
spot”
The Groning erooms for it atelevision, eTBbacteria sfrom endemic orhomeless loc .Divya [name omKanpur, India, marriedlast year. Rec antTB, she is living in isolation; speakingwithDivyaDiv requires a specialmask that seals off your mouth and nose and continuously filtersthe air she is raggedly breathing out. This is the second time shehas been diagnosed with the disease – the first time was in India,when she took a nine-month course of medicines and was toldshe was cured: no one checked whether she had a drug-resistantform of the disease. “I tested out the [Aeonose] and it was so easy,much simpler than the X-rays and the sputum,” she says. A quickbreath-screenbeforeshecametotheNetherlandscouldhaveshownthat shewas still positive and she could have stayed in India whilebeing treated with a last-resort drug, which she is taking now.“And thenmaybe Iwouldn’t be here onmy own,” she says, softly.
Werf spent his early years as an infectious-disease doctor,training inGhana,whereTBbecameaparticularobsessionfor him. “I ended up doing a PhD in it while I was in Ghana,alongsidemymedical training. I shippedabunchofsputumsamples back to the lab in Groningen and started buildingup a database of local infections.” Now, as the head of theinfectious-diseaseunitattheUniversityofGroningen’shos-pital,vanderWerfwantstotackleTBagain–thistimeusingthe most modern technology available. In Groningen’s hi-tech TBsanatorium, where infectious patients are compulsorily admittedbythegovernment,aDutch-basedcompanycalledeNose is trainingits smell sensor using theward’s in-house patients, and comparingtheirresults tothoseobtainedfromstandarddiagnostic techniques.
Far left: Billycofounder ofCambridge-basedOwlstone. BeloOwlstone Tourista detectorwhichthe FAIMS
the infection spreading. After thecurrenttrial,vanderWerfwantstotestif theAeonose canmonitor treatmentand if human breath can reflect thedifferencebetweendrug-resistantandsusceptible TB. “Drug-resistant TB isbecoming incurable. If you could spotitearly,thatwouldbeworld-changing.”
oningen sanatorium is a large, airy facility, with privateits inhabitants, each equipped with a desk, a bed and aplus air filters and negative pressure gauges to ensure
eriacan’tescape.Mostof thepatientsareeither immigrantsendemic countries such as India, Bangladesh or Senegal, or
locals, some of whom have drug and alcohol problems.[name changed] is a 32-year-old software engineer fromIndia, who moved to the Netherlands when she marriedRecently diagnosedwith highly infectious drug-resistantliving in isolation; speakingwithDivya requires a special
Billy Boyle,ofe-basedBelow: theTourist –which useschip
By Kevin GrayPhotography: Cameron R NeilsonTypography: Thomas.Matthews
1 3 4
After Kickstartercomes Brickstarter,SpaceHive andother crowd-fundingurban-infrastructuresites. Community cashis building parks andeven skyscrapers– so where does thatleave government?
of Architects argued that members whosefundraisingislimitedbypropertydeveloperscould seize crowdfunding to build notwhata big developer wants, but what they andthe community think it needs.“Creating cities based on the Kickstarter
model is a cultural and business shift,” saysRodrigoDavies,aresearchassistantatMIT’sCenter forCivicMedia,wherehe ispursuinghis master’s on civic crowdfunding. “Butthere’s a big difference between funding afoldingbike and fundinga skyscraper.”
n the spring of 2012, the citizens ofGlyncoch in south Wales had a problem.Foryears, their rustingcommunitycentre– a corrugatedhulk built in 1977when thelocalminestill producedcoal –hadbeenashameful eyesore, agrimreminderofhowfar their tinyvillage in theRhonddaValleyhad fallen. If they could build a new one –with modern IT facilities and classroomsfor job training – itmight help prise theirlives from poverty and boost their civicpride. But the cost, at £793,000, was
prohibitive. Over several years the citizensmanaged to raise as much as £750,000 incharity grant pledges, but those pledgeswere set to expire in March 2012, if theycouldn’t raise the remainder on their own.Rather than turn to the council, local
people turned to the internet. In March2012, they pleaded their case on a UKstartup, SpaceHive.com. Launched thatmonth, SpaceHive seizes Kickstarter’scrowdfundingmodel and applies it to civicbuilding projects. Within weeks, Glyn-coch’s citizens had raised £43,000. “Themoney and the oldways of doing things aredryingup,” saysChris Gourlay, the 32-year-old founder of SpaceHive. A former archi-tecture critic at the Sunday Times, helaunchedthesiteafterbeing inspiredbytheDIYethosofsocialmediaandcrowdfundingmodels and because he was frustrated bythe opaque procedures of municipal plan-ning boards. The financial crisis fuelled hisbelief that infrastructureproblemsmustbesolved not by governments, but by citizendesigners and street activists. “It’s a moredemocratic way to engage in and changethe built world around you,” he says. “It’screated opportunities for citizens to solvetheirownproblemswithmarketefficiency.”As budgets shrink, the restricted ability
of cities and towns to build parks, poolsand art centres is leading citizens to step inwith newways to create public spaces andbuildings – using crowd-based models. InRotterdam, locals pooled money to build apedestrian bridge across a city roadway. InBogotá, a group of local citizens will soonownpart of a new66-storey BDBacata sky-scraper in the centre of town. And in NewYork City, two architects are creating andcrowd-funding the first ever undergroundpark, in an old tram station. The trend hasspreadso far thata reportpublished inFeb-ruary this year by the American Institute
Previous spread:A test section fora subterraneangarden, lit by parabolicdishes and built in aformer tram station,under New York’sLower East Side.A rendering of theSan Jose terminuson a proposedhigh-speed railline in California.An artist’ssuperimpositionof the $15m +poolon to NY’s EastRiver, which it wouldpurify and thenuse for bathing.
It’s not just about size. Firstly, Kickstarter project-supporters can pledge moneyfor a simple consumer product from anywhere on the planet: a bike, for example, isshippable. But a skyscraper or bridge is static, meaning that the pool of potentialinvestors is limited by geography. Cities such as London and Paris have millions ofcitizens and tourists who may have an interest in funding something they mightvisit or use. Contrast this with towns and villages that have a smaller base of people,which means they are able to attract less revenue. Secondly, large capital projectscost more than bikes and need to be broken into phases. That can test the patienceof donors accustomed to seeing projects reach goals in weeks, rather than the yearsit can take for a civic project to go from plan to realisation.
A case in point. Three young designer friends in New York City decided that theywanted tobuildapublic swimmingpool inanunlikely, buthighlyvisible, place: themid-dle of the pollution-chokedEast River. The ideawas to build a floating pool anduse theriverwatertofill itviaasophisticatedfiltrationsystem. InJune2011, thefriendspostedaproposalonKickstarter–thefirsttimethesitehadeverbeenusedforamunicipalproject.The designers sought $25,000 (£17,000). Within a week, their +pool had gained somuch buzz – thanks in part to a cool animated video – that they had pulled in $41,647.
excitedabout thosepieces,even if it’s some-thingboring like a feasibility study?”
Projectssuchasthisnotonlyraiseaware-ness andmoney, they create communities.The +pool has 30,000 followers on socialmedia,alongwith2,000funders.This iswhycivic crowdfunding has an enormous busi-ness upside: backers accustomed to socialmedia think in terms of personalisingwhatthey experience. “More citizens expect, orat the very least desire, to be involved inthe decisions around them,” says BryanBoyer, a 32-year-oldHarvard-trainedarchi-tect. Last year, he founded an experimentalsite called Brickstarter, with the help of theFinnishinnovationfundSitra,ahybridthinktank and economic-innovation incubator.
Its proto site researched the civiccrowdfundingfieldanditsbusinessimplications. One of the problemsincities,Boyersays, is that“it takesa lot of time to put together a legit-imate proposal, shop around forfinance and get authorities behindit. Ifweget thatmoneyup front,wecanmake it plausible.”
The California High-Speed Railproject, a $9.9 billion public-worksplan to connect several major cit-ies, fromSacramento to SanDiego,has diverse opponents, from anti-tax groups worried about cost toenvironmentalists. Boyer says hecanseeasite likeBrickstarteroffer-ing to bring these people into onecommunity. “Most people don’thave time formeetings,” he says.
The democratisation of design for public structures and spaces encouragesleaps of imagination and innovation that would be unlikely to occur in a develop-er’sboardroomorthecubiclesofa localplanningauthority.For65years,acentury-old tram station sat abandoned beneath a crowded street on New York’s LowerEast Side. The city’s transportation agency had never thought to reclaim it. ButJames Ramsey, a 28-year-old architect, discovered it and thought it wouldmakeagreat public space. Sohedevised a system for turning the station into apioneer-ingundergroundpark: collect sunlight on the surfacewithparabolic dishes, chan-nel it through fibre-optic cables and disperse it below ground, creating enoughphoto-synthesis to support acres of trees, shrubs and grass. His renderings of thesite depict a Jules Verne-like ceiling. Beneath it, families and a sprinkling of hip-sters (who tend to support these schemes) lounge in theweird subterranean light.
Yet the 1,203 peoplewho pledgedmoneyto +pool weren’t funding a pool. Theywerefunding a lab test to see if the filtration sys-temwould work. “The scale and amount ofmoney you need to fund a capital project ismultitudes bigger than what you need tofundan iPodwatch,” saysDong-PingWong,who,with friendsArchieCoates andJeffreyFranklin, is designing the$15million+pool.“The trick is how do you start breakingdown the scale of the project and funding itinpieces?Andthenhowdoyoukeeppeople
‘The scale and amountof money youneed to fund a capitalproject is muchbigger than fundingan iPod watch’
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Ramseyandhisfellowmastermind, formerGooglemarketingstrategistDanBarasch,dubbedit theLowLineandraised$150,000onKickstarter lastyear, thesite’shighestamountever foracivicproject.ButBarasch,whodealswith thedrudgeryof fundraisingandwinningoverpoliti-cians and planning boards, quickly saw the limitations of crowdfunding his $100million pro-ject. “It’s great for getting people motivated,” he says. “It creates an inspired community ofpeople that didn’t exist prior to this. But it doesn’t work for every phase of development.”
Barasch, who says he won’t use Kickstarter for his next round of fundraising, says groupssuch as his need to expand their definition of crowdfunding to include “traditional models”– meaning asking corporations, foundations and philanthropists to foot the bill.“Yourbroadestbaseofsupportersprobablydoesn’thave20or30buckstospare,andthat’sOK,”Barasch says. “But they are seriously engaged and that attracts big money.” In other words,crowd psychology can be as important in executing such projects as the money itself.“When you see thousands of people involved,” says SpaceHive’s Gourlay, “thatmakes it veryattractive for politicians and for industry to get involved. These are their customers.”
Consider the Luchtsingel pedestrian bridge in Rotterdam. For generations, a major roadsliced through central Rotterdam, cutting off the city’s bustling Hofplein district from easypedestrian access. The result was a dangerous crossing. Several young architects proposed
renewal. And because of its crowdfunding success, the bridge won a ¤4million munici-pal grant to continue. “It’s a new reality,” says one of its architects, 35-year-old KristianKoreman. “We have retreating governments and an ongoing economic crisis. But peopleareno longersimplygoingtowait for things tohappen.There isasoft revolutiongoingon.”
But it’s a revolution that needs the chequebooks of corporations and foundations. JaseWilson, CEOofNeighbor.ly, a US-based civic-crowdfunding platform,watched theRotter-damproject for clues. “We think of the crowd as individuals, but it’s also corporations andinstitutions,”Wilsonsays. “Who’sbuyinghundredsof thesewoodplanksat a time? It’snotindividuals. It’s organisations that have an interest in getting their name on something.Thattaughtusto lookbeyondtheKickstarterdefinitionofacrowd,whichisperson-centric.”
Wilsonappliedthis lessontoNeighbor.ly’sfirstproject,a tramline intheplatform’shometown of Kansas City, Missouri. Using the Rotterdammodel, the site hopes to sell naming
Some of the planks– each sold for¤25 – that makeup Rotterdam’sfootbridge, begunin 2012. Backersdedicate a plankor sponsorsleave a message.The above-groundentrance to NewYork’s subterraneanpark (rendering).An artist’s renderingof the 66-storeyskyscraper inBogotá, which wascrowdfunded fromthe capital’s citizensand its authorities.
crowdfundingapedestrianbridgeandplazawhere locals couldhangoutandreclaimtheregion from cars and trucks. Their fund-ingmethod influenced their design: 17,000U-shaped planks to sell and stampwith thedonor’s name or message. Called I MakeRotterdam, the project’s slogan is “Themore you donate, the longer the bridge”.Donors can buy a single plank for €25 (£20)or a larger section for €1,250. The project,begun in2012, capturedthepublic imagina-tion and became part of Rotterdam’s urban
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oradvertisingrightstoindividualseats,stops, theoutsideofthecarsandtoofferpre-boughtridership rights. The group hopes to build a sense of ownership and enthusiasm, and thatlocals and corporationswill find value and civic pride in having their names on it.Wilson’sapproachalsoaimstodrawgovernmentback into themixbyraisingmoneytodrawUSfed-eralmatching funds. “We’re looking atNeighbor.ly as adown-payment engine,” he says.But should private citizens have to pay for public infrastructure? Isn’t this the business
of central government and local authorities? “People say, ‘Shouldn’t our tax money bepaying for this?’” saysMIT’s Davies, whoworked for SpaceHive as a governmentliaison before joiningMIT. “That’s one ofthe biggest questions we try to address:‘If citizens start doing this job, won’tgovernments just pull back?’ And we’resaying ‘No, this moneywill not replace it,but sit alongside it.’”SpaceHiveworks likes this. Anyone can
start a project – a citizen, special-interestgroup, business owner, even a governingauthority. In addition to providing afundraisingportal, thesiteofferspublicitystrategists, legal contracts to ensure thework gets done, and verification of theproject with councils and landowners.Gourlayandhiscofounderstargetprojectsthathavealreadyreceivedpartial fundingfrom federal or local agencies, but havebeen unable to raise the target amount.They then try to match them with localdonors and charitable grant funding. “Wethoughtwhenwestartedthat thecouncilswould be threatened, that there’d be thissenseofanarchyfromthestreetsthankstotheseupstarts,”saysAndrewTeacher,pol-icy director for the site,which has formeddozens of council partnerships. “Theyrealise theopportunitieshere for them,ofharnessing this power andmoney.”One of the ironies of the financial
crisis, says Gourlay, is that nomatter howhard a business owner on the high streetmight try to improve their shop or café,the street itself remained run down anduntended due to a lack of infrastructurefinancing. And trying to source fundingfromthelocalcouncil isa lessoninbureau-cratic frustration. “The systemmakes itdifficult for ordinary people to invest inpavements and parks, or increase footfalloutside their business,” saysGourlay.SpaceHive overcomes this by directly
partnering business owners and citizenswith local councils, charity groups andcorporatedonors.For instance, to increasefoot traffic in Mansfield in the east Mid-lands, SpaceHive raised £36,850 to helpthe town become the first in Britain tofund its own Wi-Fi hotspot. Donationscame fromthecouncil aswell asExperian.In Somerset it paired activists with thelocal council and Experian again, to turna public toilet into a £10,462 micro artgallery and food kiosk. “It’s been anempoweringtool forsourcingcreativeandfantastic ideas,” Teacher says.
ince SpaceHive launched last year, a half-dozen similar sites have sprung up,mostlyin the US, including Neighbor.ly, IOBY.com, and Citizinvestor. As odd as it seems,cities themselves, such as Philadelphia,are launching their own crowdfundinginitiatives. Boyer of Brickstarter and hiscolleagues have floated a unique idea:using your own tax money to fund a pro-ject of your choice. “Imagine your own taxgiven back to you as currency, or credits,on a site like Brickstarter, allowing you todecidewhat gets funded,” Boyer says.Perhapsthemostremarkablethingabout
Brickstarter, which was funded in part bymoneyfromtheFinnishgovernment, is thatBoyerwantssomeone in theUSorUKeitherto take it over or use its research to build amoneymaking, community-generating siteout of it. “From the beginning, I didn’t careifwebuilt it or someoneelsedoes it,”Boyersays. “Itwasmeantasaway toshowpeoplethis can be done andhow todo it.”�
KevinGray isa contributing editoratMen’sJournalmagazine in New York. He writesabout business, crime, politics and culture
‘When you see thousandsof people involved,that makes it veryattractive for politiciansto get involved’
One thing that inspired the SpaceHiveteam is the knowledge that a generation ofyoungpeoplewhowouldneverconsiderset-ting foot in aplanningmeeting eagerly taketo social media to discuss ways to improvethe built world around them. “There is agrowing awareness that young people docare about where they live and have greatideas on how to improve it,” Teacher says.“Let’s sayaparkhas satderelict for 15yearsand there’s no political will to fix it, mean-ing there’s no resources that will ever bedevoted to it,” says MIT’s Rodrigo Davies.“This is a new form of democratic repre-sentation. The voters are speaking to youonline. You have to pay attention: these areyourconstituentsandthis isareferendum.”
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J Craig Vent
er made head
lines across th
e worldwhen h
e became
the first perso
n to sequence
the human gen
ome.
Now his work
on synthesisin
g artificial life
-formshas led
him to an incredibl
e
new area of re
search– conve
rting DNA into a d
igital signal
Interview: Roger Highfield
Photography
: Art Streiber
Typography: Jordan Metcalf
CraigVenterhasbeenamolecular-biologypioneerfor two decades. After developing expressedsequence tags in the 90s, he led the privateeffort to map the human genome, publishingthe results in 2001. In 2010 the J Craig VenterInstitute manufactured the entire genome of abacterium, creating the first synthetic organism.Now Venter, author of Life at the Speed ofLight: From the Double Helix to the Dawn ofDigital Life, explains the coming era of discovery.
wired: In Life at the Speed of Light, youargue that humankind is entering a newphaseof evolution.Howso?J Craig Venter: As the industrial age isdrawing to a close, I think that we’re wit-nessing the dawn of the era of biologi-cal design. DNA, as digitised information,is accumulating in computer databases.Thanks togenetic engineering, andnowthefieldofsyntheticbiology,wecanmanipulateDNA to anunprecedented extent, just aswecanedit software inacomputer.Wecanalsotransmit itasanelectromagneticwaveatornear the speed of light and, via a “biologi-cal teleporter”, use it to recreate proteins,viruses and living cells at another location,changing forever howweview life.
So you view DNA as the software of life?All the information needed to make a liv-ing, self-replicating cell is lockedupwithinthe spirals of DNA’s double helix. As weread and interpret that software of life, weshould be able to completely understandhow cells work, then change and improvethem by writing new cellular software.The software defines the manufacture of
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proteins that canbeviewedas its hardware, the robotsand chemical machines that run a cell. The softwareis vital because the cell’s hardware wears out. Cellswill die in minutes to days if they lack their genetic-information system.Theywill not evolve, theywill notreplicate, and theywill not live.
Of all the experiments you have done over the pasttwo decades involving the reading andmanipulationof thesoftwareof life,whichare themost important?I do think the synthetic cell is mymost important con-tribution. But if I were to select a single study, paper orexperimentalresult thathasreally influencedmyunder-standing of life more than any other, I would chooseone thatmy teampublished in2007, in apaperwith thetitleGenomeTransplantation inBacteria:ChangingOneSpecies toAnother.Theresearchthat ledtothispaper inthe journalSciencenot only shapedmyviewof the fun-damentals of life but also laid thegroundwork to createthefirstsyntheticcell.Genometransplantationnotonlyprovided a way to carry out a striking transformation,convertingonespecies intoanother,butwouldalsohelpprove thatDNA is the software of life.
Whathashappenedsinceyourannouncement in2010that youcreateda synthetic cell, JCVI-syn1.0?At the time, I said that the synthetic cell would give usa better understanding of the fundamentals of biologyand how life works, help develop techniques and toolsfor vaccine and pharmaceutical development, enabledevelopment of biofuels and biochemicals, and help tocreate clean water, sources of food, textiles, bioreme-diation. Three years on that vision is beingborneout.
Your book contains a dramatic account of the slogand setbacks that led to the creation of this firstsynthetic organism.Whatwasyour lowestpoint?When we started out creating JCVI-syn1.0 in the lab,wehadselectedM.genitaliumbecauseof its extremelysmall genome. That decision wewould come to reallyregret: in the laboratory,M. genitalium grows slowly.So whereas E. coli divides into daughter cells every20 minutes,M. genitalium requires 12 hours to makea copy of itself. With logarithmic growth, it’s thedifference between having an experimental result in24 hours versus several weeks. It felt like we wereworking really hard to get nowhere at all. I changedthe target to the M. mycoides genome. It’s twice aslarge as that ofgenitalium, but it growsmuch faster. Inthe end, thatmovemade all the difference.
Some of your peers were blown away by thesynthetic cell; others called it a technical tour deforce. But there were also those who were under-whelmedbecause itwasnot “life fromscratch”.They haven’t thought much about what they are actu-ally trying to say when they talk about “life fromscratch”. Howabout baking a cake “from scratch”? Youcouldbuyoneandthen ice itathome.Orbuyacakemix,towhichyouaddonlyeggs,waterandoil.Orcombining
the individual ingredients, such as bak-ingpowder, sugar, salt, eggs,milk, short-ening and so on. But I doubt that anyonewouldmean formulatinghisownbakingpowderbycombiningsodium,hydrogen,
carbon and oxygen to produce sodium bicarbonate, or producinghomemade corn starch. If we apply the same strictures to creat-ing life “from scratch”, it could mean producing all the necessarymolecules, proteins, lipids, organelles,DNAandso forth frombasicchemicals orperhaps even fromthe fundamental elements carbon,hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, phosphate, iron and soon.
There’s aparallel effort tocreatevirtual life,whichyougo into inthe book. How sophisticated are thesemodels of cells in silico?In the past year we have really seen how virtual cells can help usunderstand the real things. This work dates back to 1996 whenMasaru Tomita and his students at the Laboratory for Bioinfor-maticsatKeiostarted investigating themolecularbiologyofMyco-plasma genitalium – which we had sequenced in 1995 – and by theendof thatyearhadestablished theE-Cell Project.Themost recentwork onMycoplasma genitalium has been done in America, bythe systems biologist Markus W Covert, at Stanford University.His team used our genome data to create a virtual version of thebacterium that came remarkably close to its real-life counterpart.
You’vediscussedtheethicsofsyntheticorganismsfora longtime–where is the ethical argument today?TheJanus-likenatureof innovation– its responsibleuseandsoon–was evident at the very birth of human ingenuity,whenhumankindfirst discoveredhowtomakefireondemand. (Do I use it burndowna rival’s settlement, or to keepwarm?) Every fewmonths, anothermeeting isheld todiscusshowpowerful technologycutsbothways.It is crucial that we invest in underpinning technologies, science,education andpolicy in order to ensure the safe and efficient devel-opment of synthetic biology. Opportunities for public debate anddiscussionon this topicmust be sponsored, and the laypublicmustengage.But it is importantnot to losesightof theamazingopportu-nitiesthatthisresearchpresents.Syntheticbiologycanhelpaddresskey challenges facing the planet and its population. Research insynthetic biologymay lead tonewthings suchasprogrammedcellsthat self-assemble at the sitesof disease to repair damage.
Whatworries youmore: bioterrororbioerror?I am probablymore concerned about an accidental slip. Syntheticbiology increasingly relies on the skills of scientists who have littleexperience in biology, such as mathematicians and electricalengineers.Thedemocratisationofknowledgeandtheriseof “open-sourcebiology”; theavailabilityofkitchen-sinkversionsofkey labo-ratorytools,suchastheDNA-copyingmethodPCR,makeiteasierforanyone– includingthoseoutsidetheusualnetworksofgovernment,commercial anduniversity laboratoriesandthecultureof responsi-ble trainingandbiosecurity – toplaywith the softwareof life.
Below, left: Venter,in June 2012, visitingthe building site ofthe J Craig VenterInstitute in California
‘My greatest fear is not the abuse oftechnology, but that we will not use it atall, and turn our backs to an opportunity’
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Following the precautionary principle,shouldweabandonsynthetic biology?My greatest fear is not the abuse of tech-nology, but thatwewill not use it at all, andturn our backs to an amazing opportunityat a timewhenwe are over-populating ourplanet and changing environments forever.
You’rebullishaboutwhere this isheaded.I am – and a lot of that comes from seeingthe next generation of synthetic biologists.We can get a view of what the future holdsfromaseries of contests that culminate in ayearly event in Cambridge, Massachusetts– the International Genetically EngineeredMachine (iGEM) competition. High-schooland college students shuffle a standard setof DNA subroutines into something new. Itgivesmehope for the future.
You’ve beenworking to convert DNA intoa digital signal that can be transmitted toaunitwhich then rebuilds anorganism.At Synthetic Genomics, Inc [which Ven-ter founded with his long-term collabo-rator, the Nobel laureate Ham Smith], wecan feed digital DNA code into a programthat works out how to re-synthesise thesequence in the lab. This automates theprocess of designing overlapping pieces ofDNA base-pairs, called oligonucleotides,addingwatermarks, and then feeding theminto thesynthesiser.Thesynthesisermakesthe oligonucleotides, which are pooled andassembled using what we call our Gibson-assembly robot (named after my talentedcolleague Dan Gibson). Nasa has fundedus to carry out experiments at its test sitein the Mojave Desert. We will be using theJCVI mobile lab, which is equipped withsoil-sampling, DNA-isolation and DNA-sequencing equipment, to test the stepsfor autonomously isolatingmicrobes fromsoil, sequencing their DNA and then trans-mitting the information to the cloud withwhatwecall a “digitised-life-sendingunit”.The receiving unit, where the transmit-ted DNA information can be downloadedand reproduced anew, has a number ofnames at present, including “digital bio-logical converter”, “biological teleporter”and – the preference of former US wirededitor-in-chief and CEO of 3D Robotics,Chris Anderson – “life replicator”.
What kind of things can you do nowwiththis kindof technology?The most obvious is to distribute vaccinein the event of an influenza pandemic. In2009, when theWorld Health OrganisationdeclaredH1N1 influenza(swineflu) tobethe
J CRAIG VENTER’S FIRSTS
In 1998, Venter foundedCelera Genomicsto sequence thehuman genome usingtechniques calledshotgun sequencing andexpressed sequencetags. Using the mostpowerful civiliansupercomputer at the
time, Venter managed,in three years, to achievehis goal. However,Celera initially decidednot to publish certainsections of the genome– copyrighting theminstead. But, faced withpublic and scientificoutcry, it backtracked.
Venter is founder,chairman and CEOof the J Craig VenterInstitute, which isworking on artificiallife-forms with functionssuch as producingbiofuels. In May 2010,his team synthesisedthe genome of the
bacterium Mycoplasmacapricolum. Venter’sown showmanship hasat times overshadowedthe project: a fellowsynthetic biologist toldthe New York Times thatthe only regulation theirfield needed was “of[Venter’s] mouth”. MV
MAPPING THEHUMAN GENOME
CREATING THE FIRSTSYNTHETIC ORGANISM
One of the world’s leading geneticists, Venter hasinnovated and infuriated in equal measure.Here are two of his most significant achievements
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first pandemic inmore than 40 years, there was the fastest globalvaccine-developmenteffort inhistory.Withinsixmonths,hundredsofmillions of vaccine doses had been produced. But it was not fastenough. The traditional method ofmanufacture relies on growingthe viruses in fertilisedhen eggs. In all it takes around35days. As aresult, around250,000peopledied fromH1N1,mostof themyoung.Had this virus beenmore pathogenic, the lag time in vaccine avail-abilitymighthaveresulted instrife,disorderandsocialbreakdown.
Howcan theprocessbe speededup?Synthetic Genomics, Inc, and the JCraigVenter Institute arework-ing with Novartis to accelerate the production of influenza seedstrains,backedbytheUSBiomedicalAdvancedResearchandDevel-opmentAuthority.Weareusingamethodcalled “reversevaccinol-ogy”,whichwasfirstappliedtothedevelopmentofameningococcalvaccine by Rino Rappuoli, who is now at Novartis. The entiregenome of an influenza virus can be screened using bioinformaticapproaches. Next, particular genes are selected for attributesthat would make good vaccine targets, such as outer-membraneproteins. Those proteins then undergo testing for immuneresponses.We and Novartis have produced vaccines in fewer thanfivedays. Since thecompletionofaproof-of-conceptdemonstrationin 2011, the process has been successfully repeated for multipleadditional influenza strains and subtypes.
Andyoualsohave superbugs in your sights.Thefearhasbeenexpressedagainandagainthatwemaybefacingareturn toapre-antibioticera.Oneapproach is torevisitphage ther-apy, inwhich bacteriophages that are specific to a certain bacterialstrainareused tokillmicrobes.Every fewdays, half thebacteriaonEarth are killed byphages. Canweenlist their help?
Unlike traditionalantibiotics,whichcancausecollateraldamageby killing “friendly” bacteria in our bodies, phages are likemolecu-lar “smart bombs”, targeting only one or a few strains. That is notto say they are easy to use. As with antibiotics, cells canmutate todevelop resistance to phages. Humans also clear phages rapidlyfrom the bloodstream. With our new DNA synthesis and assem-bly tools,we coulddesign and synthesise 300newphagesper day.
What’s next for “teleportation”?At this point in time we are limited to making protein molecules,viruses, phages and single microbial cells, but the field will movetomore complex living systems. I amconfident thatwewill be ableto convert digitised information into living cells that will becomecomplexmulticellular organismsor functioning tissues.
Why is this technologygoing to changehowweexploreMars?We could send sequence information to a digital-biological con-verter on Mars in as little as 4.3 minutes, that’s at the closestapproach of the red planet, to provide colonists with personaliseddrugs.Or, ifNasa’sMarsCuriosity roverwereequippedwithaDNA-sequencing device, it could transmit the digital code of aMartianmicrobe back to Earth, where we couldrecreate the organism in the labora-tory.Wecan rebuild theMartians inaP4spacesuit lab – that is, a maximum-con-tainment lab – instead of risking them
crash-landing in the Amazon. I am assuming thatMar-tian life is, like life on Earth, based on DNA. I think thatbecauseweknow that Earth andMars have continuallyexchangedmaterial. There aremanypeople (often reli-gious)whobelievethat lifeonEarth isspecialorunique,andweare alone in the cosmos. I’mnot among them.
Whyareyou so confident about life onMars?Well, it has been estimated that Earth and Mars haveexchanged in the order of 100kg of material a year,making it likely that Earth microbes have travelledto and populated Martian oceans long ago and thatMartianmicrobeshave survived to thrive onEarth.
One of our teams at Synthetic Genomics, in collabo-ration with BP, spent three years studying life in coal-bedmethane wells in Colorado. We found remarkableevidence, inwatersamples fromonemile [2.2km]deep,ofthesamedensityofmicrobesasarefoundintheoceans(one million cells per millilitre). Simple calculationsindicate that there isasmuchbiologyandbiomass in thesubsurface of our Earth as in the entire visibleworld ontheplanet’s surface.Thesamecouldbe true forMars.
Andbeyond, presumably?If it works, thenwewill have a newmeans of exploringthe universe and the Earth-sized exoplanets and superEarths. To get a sequencer to them soon is out of thequestion with present-day rocket technology – the
planets orbiting the red dwarf Gliese 581 are “only”about 22 light-years away – but it would take only 22years toget thebeameddataback.Andthat if advancedDNA-based life does exist in that system,perhaps it hasalreadybeenbroadcasting sequence information.
Whereelse is digitisedDNA information takingus?Creating life at the speed of light is part of a new indus-trial revolution.Manufacturingwill shift from central-ised factories toadistributed,domesticmanufacturingfuture, thanks to the rise of 3Dprinter technology.
Finally,where is this great endeavour takingyou?Since my own genome was sequenced, my softwarehas been broadcast into space in the form of electro-magnetic waves, carrying my genetic informationfar beyond Earth. Whether there is any creature outthere capable of making sense of the instructions inmy genome, well, that’s another question.�
Life at the Speed of Light: From the Double Helix tothe Dawn of Digital Life by J Craig Venter is publishedby Little, Brown. Roger Highfield, former editor ofNew Scientist and current director of external affairsat the Science Museum Group, was external editor ofthe book. This interview was conducted in a series ofconversations and emails over the past year
Above, left: J CraigVenter stands among
cloned plants atSynthetic Genomics,in La Jolla, California
‘Many people believe life on Earthis somehow special, and we’re alonein the cosmos. I’m not one of them’
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WIRED puts on a show oftesting fireworks – butwhich were damp squibs?P
HOTO
GRAPHY:C
HARLIESURBEY
1 4 7
LAB RESULTSTHIS MONTH: 11 .13FISHING RODSFIREWORKS
EDITED BYJEREMY WHITE
••
THE WIRED ROD -CAST
JALSAll
with
JAA
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T E S T
Nanotechnology has come to the gentle art of fly-fishing.WIRED took the bait and put four hi-tech, premium poles to the test
HOW WETESTEDWe travelled toEyebrook Reservoirin the East Midlandswith Marcus Janssen,deputy editor ofFieldsports magazineand field editor ofThe Complete FlyFisherman, to testfour high-end troutrods. Each was 2.75metres long and ratedfor a five-weightline, the perfectcombination for river-trout fishing. Janssen(below) rated each onlooks, craftsmanship,weight, short- tomid-range and long-range performance,price and ease of use(but not the numberof fish caught).
ORVIS HELIOS 2,TIP-FLEXClaimed to be thelightest fly-rod in theworld, the Helios 2 isa delight to hold andcast. With a crisp,medium-fast actionand near-perfecttracking (minimumvibration), theseare powerful rods.They’re made to avery high standard,but aren’t suitablefor beginners: timingneeds to be precise,as duff or mistimedcasts are punished.
SAGEONESage rods have longbeen the choice ofpro anglers, butthe One, althoughgood, is far from thebest it’s produced.It does feel light inthe hand and has anice, smooth castingstroke, but it lacksfinesse and is slowerthan you’d expectfrom a Sage. Thefinish of this rod isn’tterribly impressive,particularly the plainblack-coloured blank.
WIRED Punchyand powerful; verygood at long rangeTIRED Pricey
£675 orvis.co.uk
WIRED Smoothaction andplenty of powerTIRED Lacks finesse
£559 sageflyfish.com
SPECLine rating5Length2.75mSections4ColourMidnight blueWeight70gMaterialGraphite fibre andthermoplastic resinsReel seatUp-locking, anodised-aluminium skeletonwith Californiabuckeye-burl insertHandleReverse half-wellsRod case/tubeMidnight blue andsilver carbon
SPECLine rating5Length)2.75cmSections4ColourBlack IceWeight80gMaterialKonnetic high-modulus graphitecompositeReel seatBrown anodised-aluminium skeletonwith walnut insertHandleSnub-nose half-wellsRod case/tubeBlack powder-coatedaluminium
JANSSENALSO USED:All of the rods were tested using an identical fly-line andleader set-up: a Rio Gold WF 5wt floating line (left)with a Scientific Anglers 2.74m 3X tapered copolymer leader(the nylon bit at the end, to which you attach the fly).
●
WORD
WORD
WORD
WORDS:M
S:M
S:M
S:M
ARCU
ARCU
ARCU
ARCUSJA
SJAJJ
SSNSSE
NSSE
NSS
N.P
N.P
N.P.
NHOTO
HOTO
HOTO
HOTOOTO
HGRAP
GRAP
GRAP
GRAP
GRAP
GRAP
GHY:
HY:
HY:
HY:
HY:
HY:
HSUN
SUN
SUN
SUN
SUN
SUNNN
LEE
LEE
LEE
LEE
LEE
LEE
E
F I S H I N G R O D S / 1 1 / T E S T
●
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G LOOMISNRX LPThis is a dream tocast and exudesrefinement,particularly at shorterdistances. Despitebeing the heaviest ontest, the NRX felt thelightest in-hand of allthe rods. Designedspecifically for lightpresentation, thisis the top choicefor dry-fly fishing,particularly onsmaller streamswhere delicate castsare necessary.
WIRED Accurateand preciseTIRED Unforgiving;not for beginners
£669 gloomis.com
SPECLine rating5Length2.75mSections4ColourEvergreenWeight85gMaterialG Loomis graphiteand nano-resintechnologyReel seatAnodised-aluminiumskeleton withgreen graphite insertHandleReverse half-wellsRod case/tubeDark-green glossaluminium
HARDYZENITH.5Constructed withHardy’s newSINTRIX composite(carbon fibre heldtogether with a resinimpregnated withsilica nanospheres),the Zenith has animpressive weight-to-strength ratio.Its incredibly smoothaction is precise,forgiving andseriously fast,making it suitablefor all purposesand abilities.
WIRED Versatileand forgivingTIRED A British brandnow made in Korea
£549 hardyfishing.com
SPECLine rating5Length2.75mSections4ColourDark brownWeight82gMaterial3M’s SINTRIXresin technologyReel seatUp-locking, two-part skeletalanodisedaluminiumHandleHalf-wellsRod case/tubeBlack powder-coatedaluminium
HOW TO CASTYOUR LINE:
12
11
10
9
8
1
2
3Pull the rod back to a one-o’clockposition. When the lineleaves the water, abruptly stop
Move the rod forwardand stop abruptly when youfeel the line unloading
When the line is in flight,turn your thumb downslightly and let the line fly
WORDS:A
DRIA
NJU
STIN
S.P
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GRAPHY:C
HARLIESURBEY
● T E S T
Which of these garden fireworks willmake a bigger bang at your display?
GREEN BALLHEADThis rocket has abroad trail on ignition,resulting in a loud“whoosh” before abooming explosion.Aerodynamicallydubious, the GreenBall’s unpredictableflight path demandsstrict observation ofthe 25m-minimumsafety distance.
WIRED High and loudTIRED Requireslarge safety distance
£15
SPECType RocketLength 99cmHead diameter 70mmDuration 7sVolume from 25m:86dBTrajectory Vertical
SUPER CONICFOUNTAINA kilo of powdercauses the ConicFountain to simmeraway before spittingwhite crackers froma frothy plume. Thesparks travel upto five metres – achange in the windcoated us in debrisfrom its smokescreenten metres away.
THUNDEROUSFINALE TWOThis takes around aminute to blast out80 shots, four at atime from 25mm-bore tubes. Eachshot explodes intomulti-coloured palmsthat overlap withthe next round ofvolleys, ending witha screaming doubleeight-shot finale.
WIRED Long lasting;impressive heightTIRED Lots of smoke
£11
SPECType FountainShots ContinuousDiameter 110mmDuration 100sVolume from25m 78dBTrajectory Fan
WIRED Fills the skyTIRED Repetitive
£65
SPECType BarrageShots 80Head diameter 25mmDuration 60sVolume from 25m84dBTrajectory Vertical
SPACEBLASTERThe first launch fromthis five-pack has anexpectation-loweringthree-second ascent– but the rest provemore exciting. Redand Green Wave formbright orbs; GoldenWillow (left) and SeaBlue are tree-like; andBlue Peony does adecent flower-shape.
WIRED Cute patternsTIRED Short-lived;inconsistent
£9
SPECType RocketLength 630mmHead diameter 30mmDuration 4sVolume from 25m76dBTrajectory Vertical
LIGHT IT UP
HOW WE TESTEDWe were suppliedwith a selectionof display andgarden pyrotechnicsby specialistsEpic Fireworks(epicfireworks.com).From a field inCambridgeshire, weset up and startedour fireworks display.Each item was filmedand photographedusing tripod-mountedcameras and a sound-pressure level meter.They were rated forvisual impact – ooh– and the noise theyproduced – ahh.
WORDS:A
DRIA
NJU
STIN
S.P
HOTO
GRAPHY:C
HARLIESURBEY
● T E S T
Which of these garden fireworks willmake a bigger bang at your display?
GREEN BALBALLHEADThiT s rockketet hasa abroad trail on ignition,resulting in a loud“whoosh” before abooming explosion.Aerodynamicallydubious, the GreenBall’s unpredictableflight path demandsstrict observation ofthe 25m-minimumsafety distance.
WIRED High and loudTIRED Requireslarge safety distance
£15
SPECType RocketLength 99cmHead diameter 70mmDuration 7sVolume from 25m:86dBTrajectory Vertical
SUPER CONICFOUNTAINA kilo of powdercauses the ConicFountain to simmeraway before spittingwhite crackers froma frothy plume. Thesparks travel upto five metres – achange in the windcoated us in debrisfrom its smokescreenten metres away.
THUNDEROUSFINALE TWOThis takes around aminute to blast out80 shots, four at atime from 25mm-bore tubes. Eachshot explodes intomulti-coloured palmsthat overlap withthe next round ofvolleys, ending witha screaming doubleeight-shot finale.
WIRED Long lasting;impressive heightTIRED Lots of smoke
£11
SPECType FountainShots ContinuousDiameter 110mmDuration 100sVolume from25m 78dBTrajectory Fan
WIRED Fills the skyTIRED Repetitive
£65
SPECType BarrageShots 80Head diameter 25mmDuration 60sVolume from 25m84dBTrajectory Vertical
SPACEBLASTERThe first launch fromthis five-pack has anexpectation-loweringthree-second ascent– but the rest provemore exciting. Redand Green Wave formbright orbs; GoldenWillow (left) and SeattBlue are tree-like; andBlue Peony does adecent flower-shape.
WIRED Cute patternsTIRED Short-lived;inconsistent
£9
SPECType RocketLength 630mmHead diameter 30mmDuration 4sVolume from 25m76dBTrajectory Vertical
HOW WE TESTEDWe were suppliedwith a selectionof display andgarden pyrotechnicsby specialistsEpic Fireworks(epicfireworks.com).From a field inCambridgeshire, weset up and startedour fireworks display.Each item was filmedand photographedusing tripod-mountedcameras and a sound-pressure level meter.They were rated forvisual impact – ooh– and the noise theyproduced – ahh.
F I R E W O R K S / 1 1 / T E S T ●
SAFETY FIRSTPREPARINGFOR LIFTOFF
VENUSSKY TRAPThis single-ignitionbarrage ejects six redstars that fan outand explode at theirapexes, turning intoslowly falling silverstrobes. Furtherpretty bouquets eruptinto flowers andthen morph intobeautiful clouds ofgolden crackles.
WIRED Impressive,long-lasting displayTIRED Gets tedious
£50
SPECType BarrageShots 42Diameter 29mmDuration 40sVolume from 25m92dBTrajectory Fan
ANGELS VSDEMONSIt takes just 20seconds for thisbarrage to spit out70 silver spinningarrowheads. Eachshot corkscrews20m upwards andsplits into a cascadeof golden glitter,weaving nicely intothe rising shots.And it’s noisy, too.
WIRED SatisfyingTIRED Expensive forsuch a short show
£80
SPECType BarrageShots 70Head diameter 30mmDuration 20sVolume from 25m88dBTrajectory Fan
SKYSTORMSupplied as a triplepack, each metre-longrocket reaches 60min just two seconds.The traditional launch“whoosh” leads to anexplosion that soundslike two cannons,which is followedby two different-coloured, but equallyimpressive, shapes.
WIRED Double effectTIRED Big stick coulddamage on descent
£30
SPECType RocketLength 100cmHead diameter 65mmDuration 6sVolume from 25m80dBTrajectory Vertical
3. Create a 25-metresafety zone that extendsin every directionfrom where the fireworkswill be ignited.
25M
25M
4. The area behind thefireworks zone iscalled the fall-out zone.Angle rockets so thatthey land in this area.
FALL-OUT ZONE
5. The wind should blowtowards the fall-out zone,away from spectators.Rockets can track into thewind and tilt after launch.
WIND WIND
2. Put ground-basedfountains at the front,candles and barragesin the middle and the bigrockets at the back.
1. Set your fireworks onthe ground, ensuringthere’s a safe distancebetween them forthe firer. Cover and label.
ROCKET ROCKET
BARRAGES
CANDLES
–
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●
SAFSA ETYY FIRSTRSTPREP PARPA INGNFORFOR LIIFTOFTOFFF
VENUSSKY TRAPThis single-ignitionbarrage ejects six redstars that fan outand explode at theirapexes, turning intoslowly falling silverstrobes. Furtherpretty bouquets eruptinto flowers andthen morph intobeautiful clouds ofgolden crackles.
WIRED Impressive,long-lasting displayTIRED Gets tedious
£50
SPECType BarrageShots 42Diameter 29mmDuration 40sVolume from 25m92dBTrajectory Fan
ANGELS VSDEMONSIt takes just 20seconds for thisbarrage to spit out70 silver spinningarrowheads. Eachshot corkscrews20m upwards andsplits into a cascadeof golden glitter,weaving nicely intothe rising shots.And it’s noisy, too.
WIRED SatisfyingTIRED Expensive forsuch a short show
£80
SPECType BarrageShots 70Head diameter 30mmDuration 20sVolume from 25m88dBTrajectory Fan
SKYSTOSTORMMSupSupplip edd as a ta ripleepack, each metre-longrocket reaches 60min just two seconds.The traditional launch“whoosh” leads to anexplosion that soundslike two cannons,which is followedby two different-coloured, but equallyimpressive, shapes.
WIRED Double effectTIRED Big stick coulddamage on descent
£30
SPECType RocketLength 100cmHead diameter 65mmDuration 6sVolume from 25m80dBTrajectory Vertical
3. Create a 25-metresafety zone that extendsin every directionfrom where the fireworkswill be ignited.
25M
25M
4. The area behind thefireworks zone iscalled the fall-out zone.Angle rockets so thatthey land in this area.
FALL-OUT ZONE
5. The wind should blowtowards the fall-out zone,away from spectators.Rockets can track into thewind and tilt after launch.
WIND WIND
2. Put ground-basedfountains at the front,candles and barragesin the middle and the bigrockets at the back.
1. Set your fireworks onthe ground, ensuringthere’s a safe distancebetween them forthe firer. Cover and label.
ROCKET ROCKET
BARRAGES
CANDLES
–
1 5 1
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INSIDE CONDÉ NASTIN THE USA:The Condé NastPublications IncChairman:S. I. Newhouse, Jr.CEO:Charles H. TownsendPresident:Robert A. Sauerberg, Jr.Editorial director:Thomas J. WallaceArtistic director:Anna Wintour
IN OTHER COUNTRIES:Condé NastInternational LtdChairman andchief executive:Jonathan NewhousePresident:Nicholas ColeridgeVice presidents:Giampaolo Grandi,James Woolhouse andMoritz von LaffertPresident, Asia-Pacific:James WoolhousePresident, new markets:Carol CornuauDirector of licenses,new Markets:Natascha von LaffertPresident, Condé NastInternational digital:James BilefieldPresident and editorialdirector, branddevelopment:Karina DobrotvorskayaVice president &senior editor, branddevelopment:Anna HarveySenior editor, branddevelopment:Alexandra HarndenDirector of planning:Jason MilesDirector of talent:Thomas Bucaille
THE CONDÉ NASTGROUP OF MAGAZINESINCLUDESUSVogue, ArchitecturalDigest, Glamour,Brides, Self,GQ, Vanity Fair,Bon Appétit, CN Traveler,Allure, Wired, Lucky,Teen Vogue, The NewYorker, W, Details, GolfDigest, Golf World
UKVogue, House & Garden,Brides & Setting upHome, Tatler,The World of Interiors,GQ, Vanity Fair,CN Traveller, Glamour,Condé Nast Johansens,GQ Style, Love, Wired
FranceVogue, Vogue HommesInternational, AD,Glamour, VogueCollections, GQ,AD Collector, Vanity Fair
ItalyVogue, L’Uomo Vogue,Vogue Bambini, Glamour,Vogue Gioiello, VogueSposa, AD, Sposabella,CN Traveller, GQ,Vanity Fair, GQ Style,Wired, Vogue Accessory,Myself
GermanyVogue, GQ, AD, Glamour,GQ Style, Myself, Wired
SpainVogue, GQ, VogueNovias, Vogue Niños,Sposabella, CN Traveler,Vogue Colecciones,Vogue Belleza, Glamour,Vogue Joyas, VogueComplementos,Sposabella Portugal,AD, Vanity Fair
JapanVogue, GQ,Vogue Girl, Wired
TaiwanVogue, GQ
RussiaVogue, GQ, AD,Glamour, GQ Style,Tatler, CN Traveller,Allure
Mexico and LatinAmericaVogue Mexico andLatin America,Glamour Mexico andLatin America, ADMexico, GQ Mexicoand Latin America
IndiaVogue, GQ,CN Traveller, AD
PUBLISHED UNDERJOINT VENTUREBrazilPublished by EdiçõesGlobo Condé Nast S.A.:Vogue, Casa Vogue,Vogue Passarelas, VogueNoiva, GQ, Glamour
SpainPublished by EdicionesConelpa S.L.: S Moda
PUBLISHEDUNDER LICENSEAustraliaPublished byNewsLifeMedia:Vogue, Vogue Living,GQ
BulgariaPublished by S MediaTeam Ltd: Glamour
ChinaPublished undercopyright cooperationby China Pictorial:Vogue, Vogue CollectionsPublished by IDG:Modern BridePublished undercopyright cooperationbyWomen of China:Self, AD, CN TravelerPublished undercopyright cooperationby China News Service:GQ, GQ Style
HungaryPublished by AxelSpringer-BudapestKiadói Kft: Glamour
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PolandPublished by G + J MediaSp. z o. o.: Glamour
PortugalPublished by EdirevistasSociedade de PublicaçõesS.A.: Vogue, GQ
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The NetherlandsPublished by G + JNederland:Glamour, Vogue
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UkrainePublished byPublishing HouseUMH LLC: Vogue
Sina AfraArden AgopyanGreg AndersonGiles BabinetLea BajcJason BallColette BallouJaume BaróHakan BasJens BegemannSergueiBeloussovJeremie BerrebiCyril BertrandDanielBlomquistLiam BoogarPhilippe BotteriJoanaBreidenbachFlorian BucherEileen BurbidgeJean-DavidChamboredonSimon CookFrederic CourtEliza DabneyKathrin deGraafPatrick DeZeeuwBram De ZwartGuillaumeDecugisGil DibnerNilufer DuraEsther DysonMichaelEisenbergJoakim EkbergMarie EkelandMartina ElmKemal ErolOlivier EzrattiAdam FisherJulienFourgeaud
Brian GarretAntoineGarriguesPascal GauthierCedric GiorgiYaniv GolanJason GoodmanRichardGorodeckyLevent GültanEeva HaaramoAndré HaardtAnil HansjeeOskarHartmannPhilippHartmannJennifer HicksBen HolmesPer HolmlundUweHorstmannTom HulmeCedric IngrandGilad JaphetAntonJohanssonLeslie KandiyotiAli KarabeyBryce KeaneRobin KleinSaul KleinMichelKorpershoekMichiel KottingNaomi Krieger-CarmyTariq KrimDirkKronemeijerUgur KurtMikko Kuusi
CelineLazorthesLoic Le MeurYann LechelleNimrod LehaviLucianaLixandruMisha LyalinBlair MacLarenIjad MadischRichard MarshNicklasMattssonGabrielMatuschkaRichardMenneveuxLuke MillerYuri MilnerMori MuratSanderNagtegaalJoost NautaAlicia NavarroYehuditNewmanJake NoakesAvichayNussbaumCiarán O’LearyJuan OteroRaphael OuzanAlper OzdemirPar-JorgenParsonAlex PavlovHermes PiqueChristopherPommeringSonia RameauDmitry RepinJörg RheinboldtOriol RiberaDanny RimerNeil RimerDon RitzenPablo Rodriguez
Yaron SamidSven SchmidtAydoSchosswaldWillem-JanSchutteRodrigoSepúlvedaSchulzCem SertogluEdwardShenderovichMarta SjögrenReshmaSohoniEcemSongelenDominiek terHeidePieter van derDoesMichaHernandezvan LeuffenYossi VardiRoxanneVarzaHeiniVesanderJulián VinuéRenaudVisageNiko WaescheThorbjörnWarinDavidWaroquierElla WestonJames WiseKseniaYolkinaAlice ZaguryPeterZonneveld
Sources for the statistics in the Startup Cities feature [p101]:[London] tinyurl.com/obws82f[Moscow] tinyurl.com/m9ngm4o[Berlin] tinyurl.com/lqwg2ov[Stockhom] tinyurl.com/nh9nlrx[Paris] tinyurl.com/m9ngm4o[Helsinki] tinyurl.com/oe6mvjs[Istanbul: first stat] tinyurl.com/nttnwnp[Istanbul: second stat] tinyurl.com/nnjnr8t
Want to write for WIRED? Editorial guidelines from [email protected] please contact us at [email protected] and not by phone.
Want to intern? Details from [email protected] us at wired.co.uk and follow us on Twitter at twitter.com/wireduk.
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Current estimation of the number of planets in our galaxy that could support life
DATA CLUTTERING OUR INBOXES THIS MONTH. WE SOURCE EVERYTHING. SEE RIGHT
Total student loan debt in the US in 2013
The same in 2003
Number of neuron connections in the brain
2.1 BILLION AVERAGE NUMBER OF SEARCH QUERIES PERFORMED ON TWITTER OVER 24 HOURS IN 2013
1,000 NANOMETRESLENGTH OF PANDORAVIRUS, THE LARGEST VIRUS EVER DISCOVERED, TWICE AS BIG AS THE PREVIOUS RECORD HOLDER
Length of Leedsichthys, the largest fi sh ever, which lived about 165 million years ago
Length of cables in the London Array which, in July, became the world’s largest off-shore wind farm
The Curiosity Mars rover’s longest one-day drive, in metres, which was on July 21
1 billionAverage number oflikes on Instagram in 24 hours
40 milligrammesWeight of an electrode backpack for dragonflies, made by scientists in July
700,000 years Estimated age of DNA that scientists recently decoded, making it the world’s oldest sequenced genome
Percentage change in global internet page-views when google.com was down for fi ve minutes on August 16, according to GoSquared
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Please turn the page to view Supplement
A F R E E , 4 8 - PAG E S U P P L EM EN T W I T H W I R E D . N O V EMB E R 2 0 1 3
PHOTO
GRAPHY:STEPHEN
LENTHAL.WORDS:HEN
RYFARRAR-HOCKLEY
TOP-END TEST DRIVE PAGE 06 | TIME FOR AN IMAGE UPGRADE? PAGE 12| TRUE HI -F I SOUND AT HOME PAGE 14 | BOOM FOR YOUR ROOM PAGE 16 |THE NEXT LEVEL PAGE 19 | OBJECTS OF DES IRE PAGE 24 | D ISC WARSPAGE 38 | PICTURE PERFECT PAGE 40 | 4K RESOLUTION REVOLUTION PAGE 43 |SLIMLINE SOUNDS PAGE 46 | APP ESSENTIALS PAGE 48
The Extremiscomprises four chunkyseparates: a Toucanheadphone amp;a QuteHD USB DAC;a Prime pre-amp; and aScamp power amp, allhoused in an aircraft-grade aluminium billetrack with a handle.Attach it to a musicsource and a speakerpairing for a sonictreat. £6,000chordelectronics.co.uk
3SOUND&VISION 2013 00
Published by The Condé Nast Publications Ltd, Vogue House, Hanover Square, LondonW1S 1JU (tel: 020 7499 9080; fax: 020 7493 1345). Colour origination by AltaimageLondon. Printed in the UK by Wyndeham Roche Ltd. WIRED is distributed by Condé Nast & National Magazine Distributors Ltd (Comag), Tavistock Road, West Drayton,Middlesex UB7 7QE (tel: 01895 433600; fax: 01895 433605). The one-year (12 issues) full subscription rate to WIRED in the UK is £35, £48 to Europe or US, £58 to therest of world. Order at www.magazineboutique.co.uk/wired/W173 or call +44 (0)844 848 5202, Mon-Fri 8am-9.30pm, Sat 8am-4pm. Enquiries, change of address andorders payable to WIRED, Subscription Department, Lathkill St, Market Harborough, Leics LE16 9EF, United Kingdom. Change of address or other subscription queries:email [email protected] or call 0844 848 2851. Manage your subscription online 24 hrs a day at www.magazineboutique.co.uk/youraccount. All rights reserved.Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is strictly prohibited. All prices correct at time of going to press but are subject to change. WIRED cannotbe responsible for unsolicited material. Copyright © 2013 THE CONDÉ NAST PUBLICATIONS LTD, Vogue House, Hanover Square, London W1S 1JU. The paper used forthis publication is a recyclable and renewable product. It has been produced using wood sourced from sustainably managed forests and elemental or total chlorine-freebleached pulp. The producing mills have third party certified management systems in place, applying standards such as ISO 9001 and ISO 14001. This magazine canbe recycled either through your kerbside collection or at a local recycling point. Log on to www.recyclenow.com and enter your postcode to find your nearest sites.
Directors: Jonathan Newhouse (chairman), Nicholas Coleridge (managing director), Stephen Quinn, Annie Holcroft,Pam Raynor, Simon Kippin, Jamie Bill, Jean Faulkner, Shelagh Crofts, Albert Read, Patricia Stevenson
Supplement free with WIRED 11.13. Not for sale separately
EditorSupplement editorExecutive editorManaging editorChief sub-editor
Deputy chief sub-editor
Art directorArt editor
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Promotions and sponsorship directorAdvertisement manager
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Contributors
Cover photographyNew Paris typeface
David RowanJeremyWhiteGregWilliamsDuncan BaizleyMike DentSimonWard
Andrew DiproseBen FraserDalia NassimiKieran Gardner, Miles Johnson
Rupert TurnbullRachel ReidyClaire DobsonMax MiramsMadeleine WilsonRuby Munson-Hirst
Sarah JensonXenia AntoniJoanne PackhamAlicia ShepherdLucy ZiniLouise LawsonMartin MacMillanLouise Walbach
Henry Farrar-Hockley, AdrianJustins, Richard Melville,John Archer, Steve May
Stephen LenthallSwiss Typefaces
SOUND&VISION 2013 400
elcome to wired’s annual celebration of Sound & Vision.If you like high-end hi-fi or dream of turning your living room intoa state-of-the-art cinema, you’ll enjoy this special supplement.
We kick off by testing supercar sound systems. Writer HenryFarrar-Hockleydrew the short straw for this – you can feel his painonpage six. Elsewhere, RichardMelville tests thenewalternativestoDSLRcameras.Could thesebebetter thantheirbiggerbrothers?John Archer selects what will soon be the finest TV sets on themarket – including a gargantuan option that is almost worth itsprice-tag. Speaking of televisions, it is apparent that the industryis moving on from the giddy thrill of 3D redux, and settling ondefinitionasbeing the favouredbattleground–but isnowtherighttime to invest? Steve May puts us in the picture on page 43.
Withkit likethis,yourmedianeedswillbewellandtrulycovered.Enjoy your read… but don’t break the bank. JeremyWhite
The Samsung DA-F60 Portable Wireless Speaker brings you the nextlevel in portable entertainment � featuring up to 12 hours of playback fromthe rechargeable battery, class leading lossless wireless audio and one touchpairing for ultra simple wireless playback from your mobile phone**.
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Studio quality wireless audio. Anywhere.
*Expert Reviews, 26.03.2013. **NFC required for one touch pairing. Manual pairing possible without NFC. Bluetooth required for wireless playback. apt-X compatibility required for lossless playback.
�Simply the best combination of audio quality and featureswe�ve seen in a portable speaker�*
Perfect for the Samsung GALAXY range ofphones, including Samsung GALAXY S3 and S4.
HOW WE TESTEDWe drove three high-end convertibles fitted with comparable audiophile systemupgrades to assess their acoustic credentials on the open road. Sound quality wasjudged with the roof down using a hard-wired iPhone 5 loaded with a playlist of 15specific tracks – each with a bitrate of AAC 256kbps – although CD, HDD and radioplayerswerealsoput through theirpaceswhereavailable. Furthermarkswereawardedfor ease of setup, user experience and each car’s overall handling and comfort.
Bentley GTC V8Convertible
Naim for BentleyPremiumAudio System
The GTC V8’s “infotainment”system is controlled through aneight-inch touchscreen abovethe gear stick and has an arrayof inputs. CD/DVD and SD slotstop and tail the display, and16.75GB of hard drive, anoptional TV-tuner and six-CD
changer provide the content; tenspeakers, powered by a 1,100Wclass-D amplifier, take care ofthe sound business. Setup was atad problematic: the suppliediPhone connector was faulty, theSD reader can only read MP3and WMA files (which rules outdragging music directly fromyour iTunes library), and theradio lacks DAB – a strangeomission for a car of this quality.Once calibrated, it all soundssuperb – but the fact it requires
time and patience to achievethis is what grates slightlywith this system. Sitting ina lay-by with your head buriedin the manual is the lastthing you should be doing ina car as majestic as this.WIRED Loudness; designWIRED Too many settings;unintuitive interface●●●●●●●●●●
Total price as tested £171,397Cost of Naim upgrade £5,365bentleymotors.com
SOUND&VISION 2013
Mercedes SLSAMG Roadster
Bang &Olufsen BeoSound AMGHigh-End Surround Sound System
Getting your head around theAMG’s entertainment system issimple. A click-wheel guidesyou through the menu on thedash-mounted display, and mostof the inputs (multi-CD/DVDchanger, digital/analogue cables)are confined to the glove box.
The DAB radio is excellent, as isthe way you can use the scrollwheel to tune it like anold-fashioned wireless. Theoptional 1,000W B&O setupcomprises a ten-channelamplifier and 11 speakers. Withthe roof up it occasionallystruggles to cope with all thatwattage, resulting in a bit ofcabin rattle. Fold the canopyaway, however, and therear-mounted subwoofers haveroom to breathe. A pair of
illuminated tweeters poking outfrom under the windscreen,meanwhile, deliver beautifullysharp detail to complementthe seven mid-rangespeakers wrapped aroundthe inside of the cabin.WIRED Exceptional clarityTIRED Dated interface;some bass issues●●●●●●●●●●
Total price as tested £201,485Cost of B&O upgrade £5,055mercedes-benz.co.uk
TEST 1CAR
AUD IO
700
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TEST 1CAR
AUD IO
JaguarF-Type S
Meridian SurroundSound System
This is by far the easiest car ontest to configure. A shortcut onthe dash-mounted touchscreentakes you straight to Bluetoothsyncing mode, and the homepage is split into three options:multimedia, phone and GPSnavigation. Equally useful isthe location of the media inputs:the single CD/DVD slot, aux and
How to…TEST YOUR CARSTEREO’S HIGHS,LOWS ANDMID-RANGE
USB sockets are all squeezedinto the central armrest.Volume, track and phonecontrols are a little stiff andunforgiving, and there’s abrief but noticeable delay inimplementing the desiredcommand, but this is a smallblip in an otherwise user-friendly system. The flagshipMeridian Surround SoundSystem we tested uses a12-speaker configurationwith an output of 825W – ithas four audio presets, but youonly really need the default
“Meridian” one. Sound qualitythrough every source is superblybalanced, clear and loud. Takethe roof down and you realisehow hard this system has towork to compensate for thecar’s low-cut lines, but audioperformance remains great.WIRED Easy to use;excellent sound-qualityTIRED Unresponsive steering-wheel media controls●●●●●●●●●●
Total price as tested £79,230Cost of Meridian upgrade £1,700jaguar.co.uk
WIRED hand-picksthree killer tracksguaranteed tostretch your in-caraudio’s capabilities.
Low endNitin Sawhney,“AnthemWithout Nation”An unfeasibly deep,layered basslinethat will challengeeven the mostaccomplished ofsub-woofers.
SOUND&VISION 2013 800
Mid-rangeMassive Attack,“Paradise Circus”Staccato hand-clapsand a hypnoticvocal from HopeSandoval punchthrough someportentous electricpiano and bass.
High endTrentemøller,“Take MeInto Your Skin”The fizzing synthsand tambourine onthis epic piece ofelectronica willput your tweetersthrough their paces.
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Time for anTime for animageupgrade?4K — or Ultra HD — packs four times as many pixels on to SCREENS ASREGULAR hd tVS. we pit BOTH TYPES display-to-display to SEE if it’s worth switching
HOW WE TESTEDWe used test signals on the Digital Video Essentials: HDBasics Blu-ray to optimise the picture quality of each TVbefore testing. Input-lag tests were performed by photo-graphing a time-signal split between each TV and ourreference low-lag monitor. With commercial 4K foot-age currently scarce, each TV was supplied with a server
containing content filmed using 4K cameras. When testingHD content, we used identical Blu-ray scenes for directcomparison – these include chapter 12 of Harry Potterand the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (a stiff contrast test) andThe Dark Knight’s opening scene, which was shot on 75mmfilm and can therefore upscale to 4Kwith relative ease.
LG 84LM960V
This 84-inch 4K model looks thepart, but the use of edge lightingcauses uneven patches whenviewing. Also, it can’t show 4Kdigital photos in their nativestate and takes too long torender gaming images.WIRED Fantastically hugeTIRED Backlight flaws; high lag●●●●●●●●●●
£17,000 lg.com
Panasonic TX-P60ZT65
Panasonic’s flagship 2K plasmamodel produces deep black tonesand has a beautifully subtlecolour range, sharp motionreproduction and excellent HD.The last word in 2K technology.WIRED Great picture; smart TVTIRED Limited video services;it’s not actually 4K●●●●●●●●●●
£3,500 panasonic.co.uk
Samsung UE55F8500
This model supports 55 inchesof screen in a remarkably thinframe. Its Smart TV system canlearn your viewing habits andrecommend content, and, fora 2K, picture quality is great.WIRED Smart TV interface;picture quality; thin designTIRED It’s not 4K●●●●●●●●●●
£2,800 samsung.com
Sony KDL-65X9005A
You can appreciate 4K’s detailand depth here. Powerfulpicture-processing converts HDsources to 4K superbly; this isa stunning attempt to bring 4Kto the (relative) mass market.WIRED Sensational pictures;outstanding audioTIRED Minor dark-scene flaws●●●●●●●●●●
£6,000 sony.co.uk
Even 4K TVs producebetter pictures if youcalibrate them. Thesetips should help youget the best picture.
1 Turn off all noisereduction whenwatching HD/4K.2 Reduce contrastto around three-quarters of itsmaximum to limitpicture noise.
How to…CALIBRATEYOUR TV
SOUND&VISION 2013 210
3 Use dynamiccontrast featuresonly on a low powerlevel to boostpicture stability.4 Turn motionprocessing to lowpower levels, or off
completely, to stopimages lookingover-processed.5 Use game presetsand deactivatevideo processingfor a fast responsewhen gaming.
LCD with direct (rear)LED lighting
85in
33ms (good)
LCD with edge LEDlighting,
3D Type: Passive
85in
100ms (poor)
Netflix, LOVEFiLM,Blinkbox, BBC iPlayer
4 x HDMI, 3 x USB,D-Sub PC input,built-in Wi-Fi
Netflix, LOVEFiLM,Blinkbox, BBC iPlayer,
4oD, Demand 5,ITV Player
4 x HDMI, 3 x USB,D-Sub PC input,built-in Wi-Fi
LCD with edgeLED lighting
65in
32ms (good)
Plasma
60in
33ms (good)
LCD with edgeLED lighting
55in
Netflix, LOVEFiLM,BBC Sport, BBC iPlayer,Demand 5, Sony Video
Unlimited, Sony World ofEntertainment TV
4 x HDMI, 3 x USB,D-Sub PC input,built-in Wi-Fi
Netflix, BBC Sport,BBC iPlayer, BBC News,
Euronews
3 x HDMI; 3 x USB,D-Sub PC input,built-in Wi-Fi
Netflix, LOVEFiLM,Blinkbox, BBC iPlayer,
4oD, Demand 5,ITV Player
4 x HDMI, 3 x USB,D-Sub PC input,built-in Wi-Fi
37ms (good)
Screentechnology
Screen size
Key onlinecatchup /subscriptionservices
Connections
Gaminginput-lag
14-speaker multichannelaudio system
2 x 10W speakers,2 x 15W bass-woofers
Magnetic fluid delivering65W of total power
2 x 5W speakers,1 x 10W woofer
2 x 10W main speakers,2 x 10W sub-woofers
Audio
LG 84LM960V SAMSUNG UE85S9SONY KDL-65X9005APANASONIC TX-P60ZT65 SAMSUNG UE55F8500
SamsungUE85S9
Samsung’s 85-inchset is a showcasefor what 4K/UltraHD can be capableof. Its LEDs arepositioned behindthe screen, helpingto deliver superbcontrast and colour.The screen “floats”within a strikingeasel-style framethat houses itssound system.Thankfully,Samsung hasfuture-proofed thisbeast against anypotential new 4Kformats, so youwon’t need to tradeup in a year. Timeto remortgage…WIRED Amazingdesign and outputTIRED The price tag●●●●●●●●●●
£35,000samsung.com
TEST 2SMARTTVS
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How can I make myroom sound better?
Before you consider any dras-tic structural alterations for thesake of improving your audioroom’s sound, you can makesmall adjustments to the spaceyourself for a more detailedsonic experience.“You don’t want the room to
be too damped,” says DominicBaker, audio systems managerat London-based hi-fi makerCambridgeAudio. “A simple testis to talk to a friend across theroom. If you have to raise yourvoice, then the room is absorb-ing energy and is too damped,so remove any rugs or soft fur-nishings. If your voice has a lotof echo, then it is under-dampedand adding a rugmay help.”You’ll notice the extremes
of echo and loud chatter in aminimalist restaurant or barwith hard surfaces and few softfurnishings. Recording stu-dios have polyurethane foam toreduce similar echo; the homeequivalent is based aroundusing rugs and curtains to stopsound reflections.There’s no perfect ceiling
height for audio, dispelling thecommon myth that high ceil-ings are better (a small floor-footprint with a high ceilingis far from ideal, for example).Roy George, technical directorat Naim Audio, says that ceil-ing height is just one part ofthe room-dimension equation.Other factors are the furnishingsand power of your system, andthe type and size of speakers.
SOUND&VISION 2013
THEMEDIAROOM
TIP 1Call in theexperts
You know good soundwhen you hear it, but
getting perfection isa real skill. Qualifiedinstallers can helpyou set up your hi-fisystem and carry outany work to your
home, whether that’sstructural tuning orputting cables insideyour walls. The bestport of call to locatea qualified and
professional installeris cedia.co.uk,which trains andrecommends thevery best the UKhas to offer.
Where should I place my speakers?
Danish speaker-company DALI recommends that speakers areplaced 25cm to 30cm from a back wall, roughly in a triangularformation, so that the distance between the two speakers is thesameas the listener from the speakers. “Ideally, a speaker shouldbeplacedwith the tweeter levelwith theearwhen in the listeningposition. Thiswill give you the best response in termsof timing,”saysMattMiller,marketingmanager at DALI.
The idea of wall-mounting speakers appeals to many –particularly in rooms where floor-space is at a premium – butthere’s a sonic pay-off, explains Roy George, technical director atNaim Audio: “This energises the wall, from the acoustic energycoming from the speaker and the forces generated within thespeaker, and it can have a negative influence on the sound.”
510
TIP 2Buy good-qualitycables and speaker stands
You should aim tospend roughly tenper cent of yoursystem value here,and this extendsto bigger powersupplies on largersystems. Fat cables
may look ugly butthey’re necessaryfor decent sound.You can hide thesnake-sizedinterconnects thatunite music sourcesto your amplifier.
High-end speakerstands are designedto match particulartypes and shapesof speakers, andyou can also oftenconceal cablesinside their frames.
What aboutsurround sound?
Your surround-system amplifier willhave controls to help youmanipulate
sound setup in the room, but the keyto creating a cinema-style effect forspeechandmusic is togetthebalancebetweenyour frontandrearspeakerscorrect. Assumingyou’re facingyour
TV and behind your seating area is awall, you should consider placing abookcase or similar behind you, thenaim the rear speakers directly at thecase todiffuse the sound.IL
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FOR THElistening room
Naim Uniti 2 system(£2,795); DALIEpicon 2 speakers(£3,750); Dalistands (£550)The Uniti 2 system isa single box withwireless-musicstreaming, a CD playerand an amplifier, allcontrollable via an iOSapp. Epicon 2 speakersweigh 22kg combined,and work best withtheir custom stands.
FOR THEliving room
Linn Akurate musicstreamer (£4,500);Linn Akubarikspeakers (£15,600)The Linn Akubarikspeakers are active, soyou don’t need anamplifier to hear yourmusic, just a sourcesuch as the LinnAkurate box. This willneatly handle yourdigital-music fileswhile keeping a lowprofile, design-wise.
FOR THEhome office
Cambridge AudioAzur 851A amplifier(£1,200); Azur 851C CDplayer (£1,200); KEFLS50 speakers (£800)This traditionalamplifier-and-CDcombination joins thediminutive but punchyKEF LS50 speakers,which offer powerbeyond their size,but are ideal for anoffice in which floorspace is limited.
FOR THEdesktop
Onkyo CSN755 (£449)including speakersThe Onkyo system hasthe option to streamSpotify and play digitalmusic from yourcomputer wirelessly.There’s a CD driveand internet radioas well. Wi-Fi andBluetooth add-onsare also available,ensuring the systemremains as future-proofed as possible.
THEMEDIAROOM
TIP 3Consider softfurnishings
Curtains, carpets and upholstery generally absorb highfrequencies – useful, but their overuse can unbalancea room, making audio sound muffled. Adjust the room bytrial and error and use your ears to judge results.
Boom foryour roomit’s essential to understand how a system performs in different-sized spaces. here are four options for a variety of situations
SOUND&VISION 2013 610
ILLU
STRATIO
N:R
OBIN
BOYDEN
Imagine...A 3D Printer for under £700,available on the high street...
...no need to imagine.Introducing the Velleman K8200 3D Printer.
Put your imagination to better use.Print, prototype, construct, improve, develop and fabricate to the extent of your imagination.
www.maplin.co.ukOver 200 stores nationwideFriendly expert advice on 0844 557 6000
www.maplin.co.uk/3d-printer
- Exclusively available on the High Street at Maplin -
Flax TechnologyAria’s unique speaker diaphragms
consist of a layer of Flax encased
in an ultra-thin f iberglass skin.
This hybrid material is as rigid
as Kevlar and twice as l ight as
tradit ional poly glass, making it an
excellent choice for sound quali ty.
Aria drivers feature a new Zamak
(zinc/aluminum/magnesium/copper)
basket and tweeters are suspended
using Poron, a ‘memory foam’ material
developed for the reference Utopia range
which reduces distort ion three-fold in
crit ical areas of the audio spectrum.
Choose the compact bookshelf
906 or the floorstanding 926.
Both are a vailable in W alnut
or Black High Gloss f inishes
with real leather front panels.
Designed and manufactured
in the heart of France.
We have teamed up with our partners, Naim Audio, and select
UK retai lers to offer y ou a special introductor y price on the Aria
906, 926 and the a ward-winning NaimUnit i 2 all- in-one player .
To f ind out more and for a l ist of part ic ipat ing retai lers visit :
www.focal.com/aria-unit i
Exclusive Offer
Performance Choice
Aria 900InnovationExtraordinaire.Focal research has led tothe creation of a newbreed of loudspeaker.
n 1983, a transition in gaming took place.At one end of the spectrum, Atari, then thefastest growing company inUShistory, led aLemmings-like procession of console devel-opers into the abyss, as market saturation
plunged thevideogame industry intodecline.At theother, Nintendo introduced the Famicom (aka theNintendo Entertainment System, or NES), a devicewhichwouldgoontopopularise thenowubiquitousD-pad controller while making a household nameof a portly Italian plumber. The NES became thebenchmark for every console thatwould follow, andremained inproduction for twodecades.
That landscape is now unrecognisable; 8-bitRicoh CPUs have made way for 8-core AMD ones,
Thenext levelAs Sony and M icrosoft prepare for e ighth -gen launches , thegaming world is preparing to power up, writes henry farrar-hockley
ILLU
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ATTHEW
BILLINGTO
N
SOUND&VISION 2013910
the game-cartridge superseded by Blu-ray andDLC (downloadable content); gesture-based inter-faces andmedia streaming are asmuch the normasbleeding-edge graphics and surround sound. At theheartof thismultibillion-dollarempireareSonyandMicrosoft, long-standing rivals whose new plat-forms, the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, will vie forcontrolof thehomeconsolemarket–Nintendo’sWiiUhaving failed toreplicate thesuccessof its innova-tive forebear. Snapping at their heels, meanwhile,are an emergent crowd-funded “microconsole”movement and a new tier of powerful handhelds.Even before the twoprinciple players have releasedtheir next-gen systems, Sony haswon the battle forhearts andminds. Despite sharing a number of
NEXT-GEN
GAMING
specificationswiththenewXbox–similarAMD Jaguar x-86 architecture, Radeon-based graphics, 4K support, gameplayvideosharinganda500GBHDD–thePS4has the edge in terms of performance,price and ease of self-publishing forindependent developers. ConsideringMicrosoft’s inauspicious unveil at thisyear’s E3 conference (the result, a flip-flop over prospective Xbox One owners’user rights), the Redmond company hassignificant ground to recover.
espite some early own-goals, the XboxOne should not be underestimated.Focusing on convergence over gaming– and publishers over consumers – mayhave been an error, but that doesn’tmean it lacks the capacity to perform, orto rethink thewaywe game. For one, thehigherprice-tagensures that theconsolecomes bundledwith an improved Kinectsensor requiring less lounge-space tofunction, and it’s capable of trackingindividual fingers and measuring yourheart rate. All it now requires is theimagination of developers to implementthis in an engaging way. In the mean-time, the Xbox One titles announced sofar include robotic FPS Titanfall, time-shift dramaQuantumBreak, open-worldzombie-festDeadRising3and–ofcourse– anall-newHalo running at 60fps.
Second-screen functionalitywill likelybecome a prevalent feature of next-gengaming, too. Microsoft’s SmartGlass
companion app for Windows and Android devices promisesexpanded multimedia controls and contextual film and TVtrivia alongsidemore appealing in-game interactivity, such astablet-controlled drone strikes in Tom Clancy’s The Divi-sion, an immersive slice of apocalypse from Ubisoft Massive.Sony, meanwhile, has gone one better by overhauling its long-underperformingRemotePlay function tobreathenewlife intoits handheld division. Consequently, PS4 games can be playedanywhere with aWi-Fi signal via the PS Vita, solving that oldgripe of fully-featured consoles being restricted to the home.
Elsewhere, casual gaming’s ongoing appeal has led to a rashofcrowd-fundedmicroconsoles: compact, inexpensivesystems
opting for convenience over processing power. UK-based developer PlayJam raised more than $647,000(£413,000) onKickstarter to green-light the £80Game-Stick, a USB dongle-sized games machine runningAndroid Jelly Bean. It’s billed as “the world’s mostportable TV games console”. Then there’s Bluestacks’Gamepop – a similar concept operating a Netflix-stylesubscription service –Mad Catz’s ProjectM.O.J.O. box,andtheYvesBehar-designedOuya,anotherKickstarterstartup that attracted$8.95million in funding (makingit the secondmost highly-pledged Kickstarter projectever, after the Pebble smartwatch). All promise afford-able plug-and-play gaming on the big screen, with thepotential to tap into a vast catalogue of Android titles.Butwithoutthegraphicsorexclusivedevelopersupportbehind them, they could struggle tomake an impact.
Two new handheld systems will also offer high-spec, portable gaming. The Razer Edge Pro comprisesa 10.1-inch Windows 8 tablet, a dual-core Intel Corei7 CPU and Nvidia graphics. It comes at a significantcost, however. Priced from $1,300, it provides a mere1.1 hours battery in gamingmode, andweighs in at 1kgwith its optional joystick controller attached.At$350,
Nvidia’s ProjectShielddevice –essentially aquad-core,Tegra-powered joypad bolted to a five-inch touchscreen – is a moreaffordable option, and can access Google Play titles as well asstreamPC games froma home computer.
Even more tantalising is the future for gamers looking tolose themselves inavirtualworld.Crowd-fundedadd-onssuchas the Oculus Rift virtual-reality headset (which almost gavewired vertigo when we tested an early version) are expectedin 2014, followed by the Virtuix Omni treadmill, which allowsusers tophysically runtheirwaythroughfirst-personshooters.
It’s too soon to predict the success of these next-genplatforms, but the breadth and scope of today’s hardwareaugurswell for gamers andgamingalike.
2014’s virtuix omni treadmill willenable its users to physicallyrun through first-person shooters
SOUND&VISION 2013 020
NEXT-GEN
GAMING
This isn’t the first time
I’ve locked myself out.
And it won’t be the last.
Sometimes I forget my
wallet. My gym bag.
My lunch. But music –
that’s different.
Bose.co.uk
Better sound. From awireless speaker that fits in the palm of your
hand. The radically different design of this ultra-compact speaker
delivers clear, full sound you simply have to hear to believe. So pick
up a SoundLink®
Mini and take yourmusic places it’s never been.
©2013 Bose Corporation. The Bluetooth®
word mark is a registered trademark of Bluetooth SIG, Inc. and any use of suchmark by Bose Corporation is under license.
NEW
Bluetooth®
speaker
Bose®
SoundLink®Mini
Wherever I go,mymusic goes.
PAC K AG E WO R T H £ 4 1 . 8 8
SAVE
78%
PAC K AG E WO R T H £ 4 1 . 8 8
A L L F O R O N LY £ 96 PR INT I SSUES RRP £23 .94 DIGITAL EDITIONS RRP £17.94
SUBSCRIBE TO THE PRINT COPY AND ENJOY ACCESS TO THE iPADEDITION EVERY MONTH. ALL YOU NEED SUBSCRIPTION NUMBER.VISIT: WIRED.CO.UK/SUBS/CWR10399 OR CALL 0844 848 5202 REF:CWR10399
TRIAL OFFER6 PRINT ISSUES + 6 DIGITAL EDITIONS: PAY ONLY £9
FREEIS YOUR
ALL ACCESSGET EVERYTHING ’S INTHE PRINTED MAG , PLUSINTERACTIVE TRAS THATBRING STORY TO LIFE.
iPAD ANDKINDLE FIRE
INTERACTIVEEDITIONS
SAVE
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WIRED.CO.UK/SUBS/CWR10399 0844 848 5202*AFTER YOUR TRIAL PERIOD, UNLESS WE HEAR FROM YOU, YOUR SUBSCRIPTION WILL RENEW WITH 6 ISSUES FOR £12 ON DIRECT DEBIT PAYMENT. OUR DIRECT DEBIT
GUARANTEE MEANS YOU CAN CANCEL AT ANY TIME AND GET A REFUND. OFFER CLOSES ON 31/10/2013, SUBJECT TO AVAILABILITY AND LIMITED TO THE UK.
THE ENHANCED iPAD INCLUDES: ADDITIONAL VIDEO AND AUDIO,360-DEGREE CLICKABLE PHOTOS, PLUS TOUCHSCREEN INTERACTIVITY
THATAZINE
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OR CALL REF: CWR10399
EDITION
Objectsof desire
High-end audio gear thatlooks as good as it sounds
The capacitive andresistive loading canbe easily adjustedfrom the control deck
Eclipse TD508Mk3
The egg-shaped designof these speakershelps eliminateinternal standing- anddiffraction-waves,generated at the front-baffle edges, improvingsound quality. The coneneeds to be extremelylight, so fibreglass hasbeen used for the 8cmdrive-unit. Its expansiveaudio aims to resemblethat of a live concert.£960 eclipse-td.net
EAT E-glo preamp
Resembling a reel-to-reel tape recorder,EAT’s valve-basedE-Glo phono preamphas three double-triodetubes per side, guardedby the circular casesatop the chassis (hencethe vintage tape-playerlook). This high-qualityphono stage featuresMundorf capacitorsas well as a separatepower supply. £5,390absolutesounds.comPhotography : stephen lenthal
WORDS:J
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AHMED
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The legs in the standeliminate vibrations andensure a tight low-frequency performance
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The rack-style handlesaren’t really needed,but are a nod to TEAC’spro-audio heritage
Teac Reference 501 stack
This stack forms ahigh-end mini hi-fi withconsiderable clout.The 501 consists ofa 90W-per-channelintegrated amplifierwith DAC; dual mono,DSD-compatible digital-
to-analogue converterwith USB streaming;the new super-high-endformat DSD-compatibleCD player; and adual mono, class-Aheadphone amplifier.£699 each audio.teac.com
FET ISH
720
Finlux 55-inch Smart TVVery smart, and internet savvy.
The Finlux 55S8090-T Smart TV will bring a world ofHD entertainment, catch-up TV and on-demand ser-vices into the comfort of your own living room. EnjoyFreeview HD, 100Hz picture motion quality as well asrecord live TV through USB PVR.This TV also comeswith a USB Wi-Fi dongle that’ll allow you to connectthe set to your home network wirelessly.
What’s more, it comes with everything you need inthe box and free next-day delivery, that’s what wecall a happy Finnish.
Internet Ready
Smart (inc. Wifi Dongle)
Freeview HD
USB PVR Recording
Smartphone App
100Hz Full-HD LED
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£769.99MODEL NO: 55S8090-T
Only available online. Visitwith free next-day delivery
direct.com
FINLAND 1964
happy Finnish
FET ISH
You’ll need plenty ofspace – this speakerweighs 48kg and is61cm x 48cm x 91cm
Davone Grandefloor speakers
Six sheets of 16-layerbeech wood – and awalnut finish – areused to make eachof these tightlysealed cabinets. Theindividually designed16.5cm mid-tone driversuse undamped Egyptianpapyrus membranesand powerful low-distortion neodymiummotors. ¤15,000davoneaudio.com
920
FET ISH
030
A 3mm aluminiumsheet is laser-cut,folded and then weldedto form the chassis
Absolare Passionpower amp
Standard componentswon’t do for Absolare –all those used here werecustomised for optimumperformance. Two 845triodes protrude fromeach 40kg leather andaluminium chassis(they come in pairs).These run in parallel,with no feedback,to deliver 52W ofclass-A power. $37,000per pair absolare.com
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7—9NOVEMBER
THE BUSINESSDESIGN CENTRE
13—15FEBRUARY
METROPOLITANPAVILION
PARIS2013
NEWYORK2014
LONDON2013
www.3dprintshow.com
15—16NOVEMBERCARROUSELDu LOUVRE
/3dprintshow
URBEE 3D printing by RedEyeOn Demand and Stratasys
THE URBEEYOUR CHANCETO SEE THE
WORLD’S FIRST3D PRINTED CAR
TICKETSONSALENOWAT
3dprintshow.com
3D PRINTEDFEATURES3DPRINTSHOPARCHITECTUREARTDESIGNEDUCATIONFASHIONHISTORYMEDICALMOVIES
FET ISH
330
Don’t own a Bluetooth-enabled device?The speaker also hasa 3.5mm aux-in jack
Tangent Classic BT speaker
TheWalnut finishand oval shape ofthe Classic offers a60s-style Scandinaviantwist on the wirelessspeaker. Your device sitsin an elegant woodenstand while using
Tangent’s B4StreamBluetooth interface tocommunicate with thetwo 50W bass-reflexstereo speakers. There’salso a USB port forcharging your iPhone.¤449 tangent-audio.com
FET ISH
430
McIntosh MT5 turntable
A stainless-steelchassis, a glassfront illuminated byLED via fibre-opticlight-diffusers, and aglowing, magneticallysuspended platter makethis turntable hard to
ignore. For such a high-spec piece of kit, it’ssurprisingly “plug andplay”, as many of itscomponents come pre-tuned to give a standoutperformance. £7,495jordanacoustics.co.uk
Magnetic anti-skate andhorizontal tone-armbearings reduce frictionwhen tracking vinyl
THE FUTURE W I L L BE HERE
OC TO B E R 1 7 - 1 8 , LO N DON
BOOK NOW AT W I R ED .CO .UK / 1 3
GROW YOUR MIND( A N D C O N TA C T S )
BJöRKS I N G E R- S O N GW R I T E RA N D M U S I C I N N OVATO R
MARTIN REESCOS M O LO G I ST A N DA ST R O P H YS I C I ST
KEVIN ASHTONT EC H N O LO GY P I O N E E R
LANG LANGCO N C E RT P I A N I ST
ROSALIND PICARDP R O F E S S O R , M I T M E D I A L A B
JONAH PERETTICO F O U N D E R ,T H E H U F F I N GTO N P OST;F O U N D E R A N D C EO,B UZZ F E E D
SPEAKERS ANNOUNCED SO FAR :
JACK ANDRAKAYO U N G I N V E N TO R ,A M AT EU R S C I E N T I ST A N DCA N C E R R E S E A R C H E R
SUNEET TULIC EO, DATAW I N D, C R E ATO RO F T H E A A K A S H CO M P U T E R
Nick D’AloisioF O U N D E R , S U M M LY
BEAU LOTTON EU R OS C I E N T I ST A N D A RT I ST
LIAM CASEYF O U N D E R , P C HI N T E R N AT I O N A L
JOSHUA DAVISU S W I R E DCO N T R I B U T I N G E D I TO R
#W I R ED 20 1 3
DAVID EDWARDSF O U N D E R O F L EL A B O RATO I R E , PA R I S
LINDA STONEW R I T E R A N D CO N S U LTA N T
EBEN UPTONF O U N D E R A N D T R U ST E E , T H ERA S P B E R RY P I F O U N DAT I O N
MIKE GUNTONC R E AT I V E D I R EC TO R ,FAC T UA L , B B C
Deb RoyA S S O C I AT E P R O F E S S O R ,M I T M E D I A L A B ; C H I E FM E D I A S C I E N T I ST, T W I T T E R
MORAN CERFN EU R OS C I E N T I ST
KATHRYN MYRONUKD I R EC TO R O F R E S E A R C H ,S I N G U L A R I T Y U N I V E RS I T Y
ADAM SADOWSKYENTR EPR ENEUR AND MAKEROF RUBE GOLDBERG MACHINES
DEEPAK RAVINDRANF O U N D E R , I N N OZ
BRAD TEMPLETONC H A I R O F N E T WO R KS &CO M P U T I N G , S I N G U L A R I T YU N I V E RS I T Y
EVAN GRANTF O U N D E R , S E E P E R
CARL BASSP R E S I D E N T A N DC EO, AU TO D E S K
NATASCHA MCELHONEAC T R E S S
WALTER DE BROUWERF O U N D E R , S CA N A D U
JANE NÍ DHULCHAOINTIGHI N V E N TO R , S U G R U
MOLLY CROCKETTN EU R OS C I E N T I ST
OREN YAKOBOVICHC EO, V I D E R E
MARCO TEMPESTM U LT I M E D I A I L LU S I O N I ST
ISABEL BEHNCKE IZQUIERDOS O C I A L A N D EVO LU T I O N A RYN EU R OS C I E N C E R E S E A R C H G R O U P(S E N R G ) , OX F O R D U N I V E RS I T Y
S E S S I O NPA R T N E R
PA R T N E RA N C H O RPA R T N E R
Sony BDP-S3100
With its strikingasymmetricalbodywork, thisdiminutive 2D-onlyBlu-ray player beliesits low-budget price.The feature set alsoimpresses, with avaried selection ofinternet TV, plusSony’s own movie
and music pay-services. As a mediastreamer, theBDP-S3100 is heroic,supporting all mainfile types from bothUSB and NAS. Discloading-times aresprightly: our HobbitBlu-ray went fromtray to screen in just
36 seconds. Imagequality is excellent,but the player can bea little noisy.WIRED Mediastreaming; solid IPTVselection; Wi-FiTIRED Noisydisc-mechanism●●●●●●●●●●
£109 sony.co.uk
To get the most outof any modernBlu-ray player itneeds to benetworked. Step-upmodels now comewith Wi-Fi built infor easy linking toyour router. If yourplayer requires awired connection,and you don’t haveEthernet readilyavailable, opt fora HomePlug AVpower-line system,which extends yournetwork connectionvia the ring main.A highly ratedsolution is theDevolo dLAN 500AVwireless+ starterkit (£130 devolo.co.uk). Its receiverunit features threeEthernet ports forconnecting otherdevices, and it evenacts as a wirelessaccess point toextend your signal.
HDMI, digital optical audiooutput, Ethernet, USB
Video Unlimited,Music Unlimited, BBCiPlayer, Demand 5, SkyNews, LoveFilm, Netflix,YouTube and more
Web browser,smartphone control,
file playback
29 x 20 x 4cm
1.1kg
No
Connections
InternetTV services
Dimensions(W x H x D)
Weight
Specialfeatures
3Dcompatible
SONY BDP-S3100
HDMI, digital opticalaudio output,Ethernet, USB
BBC iPlayer,Netflix, YouTube,
Picasa
Smartphone control,file playback, Miracast
43 x 18 x 4cm
1.4kg
Yes
TOSHIBA BDX5400
HDMI, digital optical audiooutput, Ethernet,2 x USB, SD card slot
BBC iPlayer,Netflix, iPlayer,
YouTube,DailyMotion and more
Smartphone control,file playback, personalwallpaper, Miracast
43 x 18 x 4cm
1.4kg
Yes
PANASONIC DMP-BDT230
HDMI, optical & coaxialdigital audio
output, Ethernet, USB
BBC iPlayer, Demand 5,ITV Player, 4oD, Sky News,LoveFilm, Netflix, YouTube
and more
4K upscaler, Web browser,smartphone control, file
playback, screen mirroring/Miracast
4.3 x 20 x 4.5cm
1.7kg
Yes
SAMSUNG BD-F7500
2 x HDMI, digital opticalaudio output, 7.1
analogue audio output,Ethernet, USB
Netflix,YouTube,Picasa
Super Audio CD compatible,smartphone control, file
playback
4.3 x 2.5 x 5.8cm
2.1kg
Yes
PIONEER VSX-922
GET YOUR BLU-RAYPLAYER ONLINE
Sony’s TV SideView app(iOS and Android) letsyou use your smartphoneor tablet as the remote
HOW WE TESTEDWedelved into these players to assess basic usability and codec fluency fromUSBmedia and across a LAN.Markswereawardedfordepthandbreathofthestreaminginternetvideoservicesonoffer.Wealsotimeddisc-loading speedswithaJava-heavyblockbuster,TheHobbit:AnUnexpectedJourney, and judgedperformanceonhowwell theydeliveredthedisc’ssoundandvision.Finally,weassessedbuildqualityandoperatingnoise.
This mid-range,3D-ready playeroffers a reasonableselection ofstreaming TV, butfile support acrossa network is lesscomprehensivethan from one ofthe two front-mounted USBs.Disc loading is fast
– our referencemovie took just 33seconds to reach itsmenu. Audio-visualperformance provedto be top-notch.WIRED Superb user-interface; MiracastTIRED Limited file-support via network●●●●●●●●●●
£130 panasonic.co.uk
DiscwarsBlu-ray is still the cinephile’schoice — but can the latestplayers keep up with demand forstreaming technology?
Pioneer BDP-150-K
Pioneer’s playerlooks backwardsrather thanforwards: it’scompatible withSuper Audio CDs,but offers little inthe way of onlinecontent. There’s nobuilt-in Wi-Fi, andfile support whenstreaming across anetwork is limited.Disc-loading is very
slow, taking 47seconds to load upour Hobbit platter.Still, once it’s readyto go, its audio-visual performanceis fine, and theplayer-volume islibrary-quiet.WIRED HardcoreAV aestheticTIRED No Wi-Fi●●●●●●●●●●
£120 pioneer.co.uk
This full-width,3D-ready, home-cinema wannabe hasbeen designed for usewith AV receiversand boasts two HDMIoutputs (one just foraudio), a seven-channel analogueoutput and a niftydual-core processor.There’s a wealth ofstreaming contenton tap, including
catch-up from iPlayer,ITV Player and 4oD.Disc-loading speedsare decent (TheHobbit took just 37seconds) and picturequality is excellent.The deck is also veryquiet when running.WIRED Ideal for usewith AV receiversTIRED Rather large●●●●●●●●●●
£250 samsung.co.uk
Toshiba BDX5400
A 3D-capable budget player, this has Wi-Fi and supportsMiracast mirroring from compatible mobile devices.The overall picture quality is decent, but disc-loading issluggish at 41 seconds. Internet-TV choice is a littlethin, with only iPlayer, Netflix, YouTube and Picasa onoffer, but you can play most file-types from a USB.WIRED Wi-Fi TIRED Clunky interface●●●●● £89 toshiba.co.uk
SOUND&VISION 2013 930
TEST 3BLU - RAY
PHOTO
GRAPHY:W
ILSON
HENNESSY;D
AVELIDW
ELL
.ILLU
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OBIN
BOYDEN.W
ORDS:S
TEVEMAY
PictureperfectDitch the bulky camera and take something slimmerfor a spin — these high-end compacts are DSLR-beaters
HOW WE TESTEDWetookthecamerastothehighestmountains intheUK–BenNevis, Scafell Pike andSnowden.The chal-lenging conditions required lightweight, compactcameras that could perform under pressure. Wetimed powered-off to picture-ready, and comparedlike-for-like imageswhen shooting scenes.
Weight
2 seconds
11.9 x 6.7 x 4.2cm
24.3
353g
SONY NEX-7
2.2 seconds
11.1 x 6.4 x 4cm
16.2
299g
NIKON COOLPIX A
1.8 seconds
12.9 x 7.5 x 3.8cm
16.3
350g
FUJIFILM X-E1
3.7 seconds
10.8 x 6.6 x 3.2cm
18
298g
CANON EOS M
4.3 seconds
10.1 x 6 x 2.8cm
14.2
244g
NIKON 1 J3
TEST 4CAMERAS
Canon EOS M
Although ideal for the beginner,more experienced photographerswill be annoyed by the lack ofoptions and slow focus. At thisprice level, we think it’s worthspending that little bit more fora fully-featured camera.WIRED Rugged buildTIRED Slow focus●●●●●●●●●● £399 (inc18-55mm lens) canon.co.uk
Nikon Coolpix A
This quick-off-the-mark cameradelivers portrait and landscapeshots like no other shooter at thisdinky size. The results will beat atypical entry-level DSLR – so it’sa good option if space is at apremium, but the need for thevery best, pro-level snaps isn’t.WIRED Compact; great imagesTIRED Fussy focus in close ups●●●●●●●●●● £999 nikon.com
Nikon 1 J3
Despite its relatively small 14MP sensor, the J3delivers some truly great images. Titchy enough fora city-break satchel, the Nikon is a compact designmasterclass, with easy options for the beginner,but enough control to keep the pros happy, too.WIRED Micro build with impressive imagesTIRED Manual lens-controls can be clunky●●●●●●●●●● £539 (inc 10-30mm lens) nikon.com
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Switch your camera to manual and ensureyou’re set at the highest resolution, or usingthe RAW file format, which will offer moreoptions when editing on a computer. Formore depth, select a small aperture, such asf/16, dial down the ISO to 100-200, switch tomanual focus and use the single-shot mode.
How to… SNAP LANDSCAPE SHOTS
Sensor (MP)
Dimensions(W x H x D)
Shootingfrom off
ny NEX-7
This Sony looks likea DSLR that hasshrunk in the wash– and it behaveslike one, albeit withhelpful, info-packed
menus for beginners.A 24MP sensor andhuge array oflenses means thiscamera bypassesentry-level DSLRsand rivals mid-levelshooters. An optical
viewfinder takesover from thetilting display-screen when youput your face nearthe camera, soquick shots can beeasily achieved.
WIRED Easy to use;speedy start-up timeTIRED The displayscreen only tilts upand down●●●●●●●●●●
£729 (body only)sony.co.uk
Fujifilm X-E1
Unashamedly retro,this is the choice ofpro photographers andHunter S Thompson-impersonators alike.It is smaller than aDSLR, but only just,wedging in the latestsensor tech used onFuji’s bigger cameras.The great array of
handy buttons,switches andmultiple dials formanual control arereassuringly firmand balanced. Forfast action, it canmanage six shotsper second, makingit ideal for shootingsports. The extra
bulk in your bag isworth the sacrificefor gorgeouslooks like these.WIRED Plenty ofmanual optionsTIRED Bulkyagainst rivals●●●●●●●●●●
£899 (inc 18-55mmlens) fujifilm.eu/uk
The X-E1 can take shotssimulating the look ofFuji’s films, such as thecolour-saturated Velvia
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ILLUSTRATION:ROBIN
BOYDEN.W
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L I S T E N ATW I R E D .CO .U K / PODCA S T
A L SO AT I T UN E S ,V I A W I R E D N EWS A P PO R S U B S C R I B E V I A R S S
T H E D E F I N I T I V E U KPODCA S T FO RT E CHNO LOGY,
I D E A SAND BU S I N E S S
P O D C A S TPHOTOGRAPHY:W
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Is the time right to upgrade your TV from 1080p Full HDto 4K Ultra High Definition? Steve May investigates
elevision is under-going a dramaticchange. The f irstgeneration of 4KUltra High Definition
(UHD) TVs offer four times thedetail of Full HD, making yester-day’s flatscreens look, frankly,ratherdrabbycomparison.But is4K really the start of somethingbig or just another fad designedto fill the gap left by 3D?
Former ly ca l led “QuadHD” – because the image isthe equivalent of four full HDscreensstitchedtogether–3,840x 2,160 (eight million)-pixel 4Ktelevisions produce imagescomparable tothoseseen in lead-ing edge digital cinemas. Thisdetail bonanza is not just a boonfor movie lovers but also pho-tographers. However, althoughthe new sets offer unrivalledclarity, questions remain overcontent, price and practicality.To appreciate the benefits of 4Kyou’ll need an extremely largescreen (sizes start at 55 inches,but 65 inches upwards is moresensible). Perhaps counter-intu-itively, the idea isn’t to go largerand sit further away, but toactually sit nearer. “4K isabout trying to rebalance the
SOUND&VISION 2013 340
4K TV
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relationship between the eye of the viewer and the picture onthe screen,” explains Chris Cookson, president of Sony PicturesTechnology. “In commercial cinemas, we’ve changed the physi-cal relationship between the size of the screen andpeople in theseats.Back intheday,amoviewassomethingthatyousawattheendofa longtunnel;yousattypicallythreetofivescreen-heightsaway, as that’s where the picture looked themost comfortable.Today, cinemas are larger andwider; themiddle is nowonly 1.5screen-heights back. And thanks to digital projection technol-ogy,theamountofinformationyoucanperceiveismuchgreater.”
The movie industry appears to be moving fully behind thetechnology. In Hollywood, the migration to 4K movie pro-duction is well underway – recent fare included After Earth,Oblivion, Argo, Lincoln and Django Unchained all shot in theformat. Studios have alsobeen actively restoringpast classics to 4K. Signif-icantly, Sony Pictures saysit is no longer shooting anyTV pilots in HD; all newproductions are 4K, to pre-serve their value in tomor-row’s syndicationmarket.
The catch for buyers ofthese first-generation TVsis that this content just isn’tavailable for home viewing– a huge hurdle in trying tomotivate purchases. Also,UHD’sdenser imagemeansmuch largerfile sizes,which requiremoreefficientcompressiontechnologiestokeepdataratesman-ageable.Consequently,acompleterethinkwhenitcomestovideodistribution is required. Trials using a new codec called HEVC(high efficiency video coding) H.265 havemanaged to deliverdata rates in the 20mbps to 34mbps range – current HD broad-castsareabout12mbps.“Thedifferenceisn’tthatmuch,certainlynot the four-times greater you’d expect it to be,” notesRobertWillox, directorofbusinessdevelopmentatSony.
ut although HEVC has been successfully testedwith over-the-air broadcasts in Korea andinternet streaming in Japan,mass-produced hard-ware is some way off. Sky’s chief engineerChris Johns has been keeping a close eye on
the emerging 4K market, but says there’s no confirmedtimetable for when HEVC decoding will filter into set-topboxes and televisions. But he does say that silicon vendorsnow have a considerable number of orders for decodingchipsets. “This is all still at an early stage. We need tolearn what works and what doesn’t,” he cautions. Inter-estingly, Johns adds that “delivering 4K movies is easy”,but thinks sport “could be the format’s killer app”.
However, 4K advocate Toshiba seems convinced thatadvancedupscaling technologycanbridge thegapuntil nativecontent flows. Senior productmanager Glenn Zanoni says thebrand’s much-lauded CEVO picture-processing engine hasbeen reworked specifically for 4K. “It’s all about maximisingwhat’s out there, and that’swhere our technology is focused.”
Sony agrees that, in the short term,upscaling 1080p is paramount, which iswhy it’s released a range of Blu-ray titlesunder the banner “Mastered in 4K”, sothey are optimised for a UHD display.Jeremy Glassman, manager for emerg-ingplatformdevelopmentandmarketingat Sony Pictures Home Entertainment,says that although thenewdiscs are fullycompatible with existing Blu-ray play-ers, theycontainresidualhigh-frequencyinformation that the brand’s 4K TV canexploit, and have been mastered with“a wider colour space” that the sets can
deliver.HeexplainsthattheSonyX-Reality PRO upscaler containsadatabaseofcontentalgorithmsthat helps the TV’s picture pro-cessor intelligently guesstimatepixels. Couple this to its abilityto interpolate detail from “hid-den” high-frequency data andyou end upwith an imagewhich(subjectively at least) looksremarkably close tonative4K.
4K screens currently have asignificant price premium onregular full HD sets, but that’snot going to last as volumes
increase. LG spokesman Epic Kim, whoworks at LG Display’s panel-makingfacility inPaju,SouthKorea, saysmaking4K LCD panels is not difficult. The Pajufacility has turned full HD LCD panel-making into a high-volume, automatedart, and the production process for 4Kglass is not dissimilar, he states. Thenumber of pixels bakedon to a substrateis simplyquadrupled. “Fifty-five-inch4Kscreens are more difficult to make thanthe largermodels,” he confides.
Butdespitethelackofcontentandhard-ware only just filtering into the market,4Kisalreadybeingsuperseded.Japanesestate broadcaster NHK is hard at workon an 8K Super Hi Vision system, which,at 33 megapixels (or 7,680 x 4,320), is16x as sharp as full HD. Keiichi Kubota,NHK’s executive director general ofengineering, says that progress has beensorapid that thebroadcasterhasdecidedto leapfrog 4K transmissions entirely.Sky’s Chris Johns has doubts that 8Kwillever become a domestic standard, how-ever. “We believe the largest screen sizeUK homes will ever adopt is 84-inches,”he says. “And that’s only the startingpointwhere8Kbegins toofferbenefits.”
In hollywood,the migrationto 4k movieproduction iswell underwayrecent fareincluded argoand oblivion
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4K TV
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Air PoweredPerformanceSound-tuned by the illustrious Air Studios,the SC-LX87 brings studio quality sound andthe pinnacle of performance with effortlessClass D amplification.
Enjoy app control with iControlAV2013, 4K Ultra HD pass-throughand upscaling, high resolution audio via USB-DAC, USB and networkconnection.Multi-zone capabilities also extend entertainmentthroughout the home.
trim enough to squeeze under the largestTVs, soundbars can deliver big audio
HOW WE TESTEDEach model was tested with itsown wireless sub-woofer, asidefrom the Sonos, where the sub-woofer is an optional extra.We compared sound qualityby feeding Dolby Digital soundto each setup, from a SamsungF7000 screen, with the TV alsoacting as a multichannel hubfrom a Sky+ HD box. HD Blu-raysound tracks and CD audio camevia a Sony Blu-ray deck. Whereappropriate, streamedaudiowasprovidedviaWi-FiandBluetooth,andassessed for easeof use.
yamaha ysp-3300
Fancifully termed a“slim digitalsound-generator”rather than merelya soundbar, theYSP-3300 features16 mini-drivers thatfire individualsound beams. Itssurround-sound isgenuinely powerful,but dialoguedoesn’t resonate asmuch as it should.WIRED Sleek; HDaudio decodingTIRED No AirPlayor Bluetooth●●●●●●●●●●
£800uk.yamaha.com
The aluminium bodyof the YSP-3300 helps todampen vibrations,making sounds more 3D
It’s all about inputs:the HDMI input on asoundbar should beused to receivepicture and audiofrom a Blu-ray deck.The audio is decodedand amplified whilethe picture is routedto the TV. For othersources, such as a
How to…GET THE BESTAUDIO USINGA SOUNDBAR
games console, thesoundbar’s HDMIoutput can act as aninput for multi-channel audio data,sent via the TV’saudio return channelHDMI socket, solong as all devicesare set to outputDolby Digital.
Samsung HW-F751
It can be positionedflat or upright, butthe HW-F751’s realbragging rightscome from thevalve-amp tubes,which can be seenglowing in thecentre of the bar.Samsung SmartTV-owners will likethe proprietarywireless link, but
there’s Bluetoothfor everyone else.Its audio is warmerthan the all-digitalequivalents, thoughthe 3D mode isdistinctly echoey.WIRED Premiumdesign; valve ampsTIRED LacksHD-audio decoding●●●●●●●●●●
£420 samsung.co.uk
Philips fidelio htl9100
Like the Samsungand Sonos bars, theHTL9100 optimisesaudio output via asensor that detectsorientation. Poweredby rechargeablebatteries, the leftand right speakerscan be split off andconnected wirelesslyfor 5.1 sound. It’sbursting with digital
and analogue inputs,and Bluetoothhandles streamingaudio. Performanceis consistently good,though the bassdoes need tweaking.WIRED Orientationsensor; 5.1 audioTIRED DistractingLEDs; no display●●●●●●●●●●
£700 philips.co.uk
panasonic sc-htb770
With a width of1.2m the SC-HTB770 offers awide soundstage.It has a separatemedia box, wiredconnections foreach speakersection, and awireless sub-woofer. Its six
digital-signalprocessing modesare comprehensive,but we thought itsperformance waslacking in gusto.WIRED BroadsoundstageTIREDNo LCD display●●●●●●●●●●
£400 panasonic.co.uk
Sonos PLAYbar
An extension ofSonos’s modular,Wi-Fi-connectedaudio system, thePlaybar can becoupled with otherspeakers to build a5.1 setup. By itself,it is still highlycapable, streamingaudio from a PC or
smartphone. It hasno HDMI, though,connecting to a TVvia a single digitaloptical output.WIRED Operatedvia a slick appTIRED No HDMI orDTS decoding●●●●●●●●●●
£599 sonos.com
SOUND&VISION 2013 740
TEST 5SOUNDBARS
Numberof drivers
Wirelessaudiostreaming
HDMIsockets
Audio-onlyinputs
Surround-sounddecoding
6
103 x 7 x 15cm
Bluetooth A2DP
2 x inputs,1 x output with ARC
Optical; coaxial,stereo phonos,3.5mm line-in
Dolby Pro Logic II, DolbyDigital, DTS
PHILIPS FIDELIO HTL9100
6
93 x 4.6 x 12cm
Bluetooth A2DP
1 x input,1 x output with ARC
Optical,USB,
3.5mm line-in
Dolby Pro Logic II, DolbyDigital, DTS
SAMSUNG HW-F751
9
90 x 8.5 x 14cm
Wi-Fi
None
Optical
Dolby Pro Logic II, DolbyDigital
SONOS PLAYBAR
18
100 x 8.6 x 16cm
None: 30-pin Apple,USB
4 x inputs,1 x output with ARC
2 x optical, coaxial,stereo phonos,3.5mm line-in
Dolby Digital Plus, DTSHD MA, Dolby TrueHD
YAMAHA YSP-3300
8
123 x 6.8 x 40cm
Bluetooth A2DP
3 x inputs,1 x output with ARC
Optical
Dolby Pro Logic II, DolbyDigital, DTS
PANASONIC SC-HTB770
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LAPSE ITCreate time-lapse videos of up to1080p resolution with frames takenas frequently as every second.Android, £1.99; iOS, £1.49 lapseit.com
DISPLAYPADThis app turns your iPad or iPhoneinto a fully functional secondmonitor for your Mac via Wi-Fi.iOS/Mac, £1.99 displaypadapp.com
GPLAYERIf you’ve used VLC on a Mac,consider this its handy iOS twin.It plays almost any video format.iOS, £1.99 tinyurl.com/kpyjla8
TVCATCHUPWatch UK Freeview TV on yoursmartphone or tablet, even over 3G.Android, BlackBerry, iOS, WindowsPhone, free tvcatchup.com
iiPHOTORemove red-eye, cut, tag, crop andenhance using Apple’s smashingphoto editor for iOS. Essential. iOS,£2.99 apple.com/uk/apps/iphoto
CAMERA+A delightfully advanced version ofthe iPhone’s built-in camera app,with editing and enhancement toolsincluded. iOS, £1.49 campl.us
MIXBITFrom the original creators ofYouTube, MixBit is all aboutcapturing short videos and mixingclips. iOS, Android, free mixbit.com
GIF CAMERATurn your Android device into ananimated-GIF machine. Point, shootand share your seconds-long movie.Android, free listen5.com
Everything you need to bring an enhanced audio-visualexperience to the smaller screens in your life
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TWISTEDWAVEA well-featured app that allowsfor audio recording from internalor external microphones.iOS/Mac, £6.99 twistedwave.com
ANIMOOGThe Moog synthesiser’s distinctivesound comes to BlackBerry 10and iOS. £6.99 (iPhone), £20.99(iPad), £7.50 (BB10) moogmusic.com
GUITAR TUNER!An accurate way to tune guitarsusing an iPad or iPhone’s built-inmicrophone, with on-screen cues.iOS, £1.99 tinyurl.com/m4d5efv
SOUNDCLOUDCapture sounds around you, keepthem to yourself, or share themwith the world. Android, iOS, freesoundcloud.com/mobile
DOWNCASTA great way to discover, downloadand organise on-demand audioand podcasts, syncing via iCloud.iOS, £1.99 downcastapp.com
DJAY 2 FOR iPADAn advanced all-in-one iPad-basedalternative to real turntables formodern DJs, bursting with pro-levelfeatures. iOS, £2.99 algoriddim.com
TUNETRACEFancy turning your photos anddrawings into music? Now you canwith this easy-to-use app. iOS, freeqappsonline.com/apps/tunetrace
THX TUNE-UPConnect your iOS device to a TV(via HDMI) and use your smartphoneor tablet to configure it THX-style.iOS, £1.49 tinyurl.com/lhdgnyd
SOUND&VISION 2013 840
APPS
