Graduate shows 2016: Royal College of Art graduate Micaella Pedros has repurposed discarded plastic bottles into joints that can be used to hold wooden furniture together (+ movie). More
New materials company Ananas Anam is using pineapple waste to create a new material that provides an animal-friendly alternative to leather. More
Clerkenwell Design Week 2016: US company Loll Designs has created a range of bright-coloured garden furniture from discarded milk and detergent packaging. More
Researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have developed a method for 3D printing artificial hair, allowing them to print everything from paintbrushes to fake fur (+ movie). More
Milan 2016: in response to the vast amount of finished products on show at Milan design week, a group of graduates from Design Academy Eindhoven decided to exhibit only materials (+ slideshow). More
The architecture college at Washington University in St Louis has announced it plans to prohibit students from using styrene in their models, citing health risks related to the chemical that is used to make foam boards. More
Sportswear brand Nike has opened a textile design studio in east London to develop new fabrics for its shoes and apparel. More
Dutch textile designer Aniela Hoitink has created a dress using disc-shaped pieces of mushroom mycelium, which she believes will "change the way we use textiles". More
Architect Phillip Lühl has added a pair of extensions to a Modernist house in Namibia, using cement brickwork textured with the coarse fibres of hessian fabric (+ slideshow). More
DesignMarch 2016: product design student Ari Jónsson has combined red algae powder with water to create a biodegradable bottle. More
DesignMarch 2016: students from the Iceland Academy of the Arts have created a range of materials including paper, glue and string by adding nothing but heat and water to willow (+ slideshow). More
Composite materials and adhesives could "revolutionise" construction and lead to entire towers being glued together, according to American architect Greg Lynn. More
To create this set of tableware, designers Allegra Santis and Anna Groet moulded body parts from a flesh-like material they call "booger" (+ slideshow). More
Indian-born British artist Anish Kapoor has acquired exclusive rights to the revolutionary Vantablack pigment, said to be the blackest shade of black ever created. More
A group of researchers at the University of Queensland has developed a new method of using fibres from grass to manufacture condoms that are "as thin as human hair". More
London designer Alexander Taylor has made a prototype for customisable Adidas trainers based on an industrial sewing technique used to manufacture heated car seats (+ movie). More
A team at Massachusetts Institute of Technology has developed a transparent film that could be applied to windows or clothing to store energy from sunlight, then later release it as heat. More
This bikini is made from a sponge-like material that repels water but absorbs oils, designed to help filter impurities from water and turn swimming to an "eco-friendly activity". More
Hungarian designer Demeter Fogarasi has created a prototype chair with a seat that looks like a windswept sheet of fabric frozen in motion. More
Students at the Bartlett School of Architecture have developed a composite material using felt and resin that can be stitched together to create tubular furniture. More