TU Graz

Some of the world's best skis and snowboards are made from a combination of materials, including wood at the core for its strength and low weight. They're usually glued together with additional layers – but what if we stitched them together instead?

Why tear down an entire building, if only its flimsy interior components need to be replaced? That's the thinking behind a new Velcro-like fastening system which allows interior walls to simply be yanked out and swapped for new ones when necessary.

Even in clear water, it can be easy for divers to lose track of which way they're heading. An experimental underwater navigation system could help keep that from happening, using a combination of electromagnetic waves and HUD (head-up display) tech.

A consortium of researchers from four European countries is developing a way to tattoo microbes on the exterior of buildings. These "living tattoos" will be able to suck carbon out of the air, protect the buildings, and even make them glow.

Manufacturing could be dramatically changed thanks to two new techniques for joining materials created by scientists in Austria. The two methods create super strong bonds at the pore level, eliminating the need for caustic adhesives.

Scraping ice off your car window might get a lot easier in the future thanks to a new spray coating developed by scientists in Austria. That's because of the way the molecules line up – or don't – during its high-tech creation process.

It may seem like electronics will always get faster, but at some point the laws of physics intervene. Scientists have now calculated the absolute speed limit – the point at which quantum mechanics prevents microchips from getting any faster.

Manufactured by Austrian startup Tec-Innovation, the InnoMake shoe uses ultrasound sensors to warn blind users of obstacles in their path. The footwear may soon become even more capable, though, thanks to integrated cameras.

Scientists have developed what they claim is the smallest particle sensor in the world, designed specifically to detect harmful pollutants and offer a highly localized picture of air quality by being integrated into wearables and mobile devices.

​Starting at the end of next year, some of Vienna's walk-light push-buttons will be disappearing from the city's pedestrian crossings. Instead, a new system will be trialled, that uses cameras and computers to visually detect when people wish to cross the road.

​In order to make electric cars more appealing to consumers, automakers have been experimenting with robotic chargers that automatically plug themselves into specific cars such as Volkswagens or Teslas. A new system, however, is designed to work with a wide variety of electric vehicles.