Shoes

Discarded shoes are a particularly bulky form of waste, with their molded rubber soles joined to often synthetic uppers. Blueview shoes reportedly offer a greener alternative, however, as they're claimed to completely biodegrade once thrown away.

German designer Stephan Henrich has a wild, futuristic approach to form. Take these 3D-printed sneakers: little more than flexible socks up top, but their elevated, phalanged soles are designed to leave bystanders mystified when they see your tracks.

Norda's new 001 G+ Spike trail running shoe keeps feet dry and warm through snow, slush and icy puddles with a graphene membrane. Combine that with Dyneema up top and spikes down low, and you have a high-tech running shoe that thrives in winter.

The better a pro cycling shoe fits, the more efficiently its wearer's leg motion can be converted into wheel motion. That's where the carbon fiber LoreOne shoe comes in, as it's custom 3D printed to provide an exact fit for each buyer.

Graphene is featuring more and more heavily in footwear firm inov-8's catalog, this time around as part of foam cushioning in trail running shoes that is claimed to last twice as long as the industry standard.

Many people claim to get a real buzz from listening to music, but if you don a pair of EP 01 sneakers, you really will get a buzz. The "sonic-sensory footwear" feature a transducer in the midsole that coverts sounds into vibrations you can feel.

What's a little slice of the Michael Jordan legend worth? The sneakers worn by the fabled basketball player when he smashed a backboard with a one-handed dunk in 1985 have sold at auction for $615,000.

A team of scientists has been working on more environmentally friendly forms of footwear, and is now showing off a pair of algae-based flip flops that make the grade for commercial footwear, but degrade in the environment in just 16 weeks.

A couple of years ago, Harvard scientists copied the structure of snake skin to create a soft-bodied robot that gripped the ground as it moved. Now, they've applied that same thinking to shoe grips that could help keep seniors from falling.

A lot of raw material goes into the making of footwear, so the less that can be used, the better for the environment. Nike's new Space Hippie shoes were designed with that in mind, as they're composed largely of recycled materials.

While it's nice to own multiple styles of shoes, each one of the things has a rubber sole that will ultimately end up in the landfill. Made2Share shoes are different – they incorporate a single set of soles that accommodate various zip-on uppers.

This year's "Innovation Award" winner in the wearable technology category at CES 2020 is a set of intelligent shoe soles that can pop out little pads on the bottom for extra grip in the loose stuff or more cushioning when you need it.