Hardware, Prototyping, and Fabrication

🔬 The Franzininho is the latest flavor of Arduino-compatible hardware, and it distinguishes itself with its tiny design and easy-to-assemble components.

💨 Pneumatic stepper motors allow this specialized robot to collect biopsy samples inside of an MRI scanner.

💲 We don't always think of them this way, but services like AWS and Cisco could be considered "Hardware-as-a-Service". As such, there are similarities and differences from the more well-understood SaaS world that can uniquely position hardware startups (in addition to creating unique kinds of headaches).

🔦 What happens when you combine a shake flashlight with a TV remote? An alternative to batteries.

⛓ The rise in legal marijuana has also spurred a renaissance in child-proof packaging.

👉 We're one step closer to the flexible touch screen.

🍻 Arizona senator Jeff Flake has introduced a unanimously adopted amendment to a DoD spending bill that prohibits the use of DoD research funds for the development of alcohol serving robots. At face value, this might seem like a useful curtailing of government spending. When you actually look into the research Senator Flake is highlighting in his argument, however, it becomes clear that this amendment is uninformed at best and malicious at worst. (via The Prepared).

Software and Programming

📔 What is a machine learning algorithm's take on the Bible?

🔊 Will Pluffnub finally be able to overthrow the dominance of "Africa" by Toto?

🔎 This robot takes all the fun out of Where's Waldo.

🆗 The original source code for Furby, in case you were interested.

🎦 Give this AI the "impression" of a video and it can synthesize an entire scene from scratch in impressive detail. My pessimistic prediction: we won't be able to completely validate any video online by the 2020 US presidential election.

Science, Engineering, and Biomedicine

👨🏾‍💼 Consultancy firm Jericho Chambers takes a look at what the future of white-collar work will look like in an automated world in this full-length report.

🗾 Hate people? The Henn Na Hotel is your spot.

👶 Try to think back to your first memory... there's a good chance it isn't true.

💧 Moving a droplet by doing the wave... on the nanoscale.

💎 Crystals are supposed to be stiff and brittle, but this one made by researchers in Queensland is bouncy, rubber-like, and can even be tied in a knot! (Original paper here.)

Mapping, History, and Data Science

⏲ I turned 26 yesterday. In observance of my birthday, I invite you to find out how much time I've got left to live.

🍻 There are lots of pubs in Great Britain, but what is the distribution by name?

⚰ When notable people die, it triggers, among other things, a change in the pattern of visits to their Wikipedia page. The Pudding has put together a pretty detailed analysis of the phenomenon.

Make your hometown into its own tiny little world (think The Little Prince) using @pissang's Little Big City.

Events and Opportunities

We're definitely back in full swing for the fall with all of these events coming up:

Tuesday, 9/11 SciArt Center, an organization focused on the intersections between science and art is having their next after work mixer at Peculier Pub.
Tuesday, 9/11 The New York Biopharma Networking Group gathers again at Tir Na Nog.
Tuesday, 9/11 The NYC geospatial mapping community is once again showcasing its awesome members with 8 flash talks from the community and networking over drinks and pizza.
Wednesday, 9/12 The Weill Cornell Bench to Bedside Initiative kicks off their 12-week seminar series with an overview of up-and-coming translational technologies.
Wednesday, 9/12 If social entrepreneurship is more your wheelhouse, then head over to the networking happy hour being hosted by social venture accelerator Net Impact.
Thursday, 9/13 The first installment of New Lab's new cross-disciplinary discussion series, The Radicant, will focus on how AI is blurring the lines between truth and fiction.
Thursday, 9/13 In celebration of the fall of the Berlin Wall, the German Consulate is featuring 20 scientists and entrepreneurs, each of whom will be pitching their answer to the question "What will be the next walls to fall?". The winner of the pitch competition will head to Berlin in November for the annual Falling Walls conference.
Thursday, 9/13 The latest installment of the Cornell Tech @ Bloomberg speaker series features Shan Lyn-Ma, co-Founder of Zola. She'll be discussing how she helped take the company from funding, to launching, to scaling and becoming a leader in tech-enabled weddings.
Saturday, 9/15 Head down to Sunset Park to celebrate the 100th birthday of the Brooklyn Army terminal. Originally the largest supply depot for the US Army on the East Coast (the majority of all US troops deployed in WWI went through there) it's been revitalized as a hub for advanced manufacturing and startups in the NYC ecosystem. Oh, and Busta Rhymes will be headlining, too.
Saturday, 9/15 Queens Council on the Arts' Artist Commissioning Program and Viva la Comida Festival present the World Premiere of Salsa Masala: A Jackson Heights Block Party, a new work completed by ACP Awardee in Music Composition Neil Padukone.
Wednesday, 9/19 The NYC chapter of Astronomy on Tap will meet up once more at The Way Station to talk about Space Junk.
Thursday, 9/20 Before the official kickoff for Maker Faire NYC, catch up with the local maker community and friends from MatterHackers at the Fat Cat Fab Lab.
Thursday, 9/20 Hackaday and Kickstarter are getting in on the pre-Maker Faire festivities, too, with a meetup focused on amazing musical hardware projects.
Thursday, 9/20 Bio-entrepreneurship community ECHO will be hosting a farewell to summer mixer at the newly opened NYC JLABS. You'll need to use the code NYCINNOVATION to get access to RSVP.
Saturday & Sunday, 9/22 - 9/23 New York World Maker Faire returns to the New York Hall of Science. It is, without question, one of the single most exciting technology events in the NYC region and, if that wasn't enough, I'll be there with my 3D printing materials startup, Proto-Sauce!

Some other upcoming events to keep on your radar...

Tuesday, 9/25 New York's premier biotech entrepreneurship program, ELab NYC, will kickoff their call for applicants at Alexandria LaunchLabs, featuring networking with alumni of the program.
Saturday, 10/13 Head down to the Brooklyn Navy Yard to celebrate New Lab's second birthday party at one of the biggest startup parties of the year.
Thursday, 10/18 The next Mid-Atlantic BioAngels 1st Pitch competition will be held at Weill Cornell Medicine.
Saturday, 10/20 Interested in what the future of biomedical innovation holds? Want to meet the rest of the NYC biotechnology community? Then check out the 2018 Future of Care conference at the Rockefeller University.
Ongoing: Check out the Futureworks Ops21 courses being offered on the latest trends in advanced manufacturing.

Map of the Month

⚔ This map of the world's disputed territories will make you ask "why can't we all just get along"?

Odds & Ends

👉 Revisiting that old viral internet sensation: Pointer Pointer.