Fungus, yeast-based bioplastic and other materials grown by microbes have been used to make the Korvaa headphones, designed by Finnish studio Aivan in collaboration with scientists.
All up, the Korvaa headphones feature six different microbially grown substances. They were designed to showcase the potential of the technology known as synthetic biology, or "synbio" for short.
This discipline fuses engineering with biology to channel natural processes into such uses as fabricating materials, producing energy and treating illness.
The headphones are made from six different microbially grown substances
Working with scientist from VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland and Aalto University, Aivan wanted to demonstrate the fabrication side of this science in the form of a three-dimensional object. The team chose headphones because of the variety of materials they contain ? from hard plastic to pliable mesh and leathery soft textile.
The rigid plastic frame of the headphones is a petroleum-free bioplastic grown using the lactic acid in baker's yeast (scientific name saccharomyces cerevisiae). This polylactic acid (PLA) polymer is biodegradable and can be used for 3D printing, which is how the Korvaa component was fabricated.
Finnish studio Aivan designed the headphones to demonstrate potential of synthetic biology
The padding that sits over the ears is produced by a fungus called trichoderma reesei, dubbed "nature's strongest bubble-maker" by the team at A...