News: tech giant Apple has bought Dr Dre's Beats headphone company for $3 billion in the same week that details emerged of a project that will turn users' iPhones into remote control devices for their homes. More about Apple buys Beats and plans home- control system to rival Nest
News: British car brand Jaguar Land Rover is working with researchers at MIT to develop technology for its vehicles, including controls operated by tracking where the driver is looking (+ slideshow). More about Land Rover developing sight-activated controls for future vehicles
News: every electrical device in the home will be linked to the internet within a decade, according to the CEO of connected home products brand Nest (+ interview). More about Within ten years "everything will have data in it", says Nest CEO
Dezeen and MINI Frontiers: developing "living architecture" could help humanity survive, claims senior University of Greenwich lecturer Rachel Armstrong, who is investigating how we could grow a city in space. More about "Growing a city from the bottom up" could save the human race
Spain and Switzerland-based studio Kawamura Ganjavian launched a Kickstarter campaign this week to fund a flexible glowing lamp (+ slideshow). More about Kawamura Ganjavian designs Kangaroo Light for the bottom of your bag
Battery-farmed chickens could be tricked into thinking they are roaming free if dressed in virtual reality headsets designed as a tongue-in-cheek proposal by US company Second Livestock (+ interview). More about Virtual reality headsets create "pastoral" illusion for battery-farmed chickens
Dezeen and MINI Frontiers: scanning people's brains to learn about their preferences "opens up new possibilities" for designers, according to Merel Bekking, who has designed a range of "perfect" products based on data from MRI scans.
More about Brain scanning could be used to design "scientifically perfect" products
News: data collected via Google Glass could soon be used to deliver advertising tailored to the wearer's taste, mood, and location, according to Tony Gaitatzis, a leading figure in the wearable technology sector. More about Brain-scanning devices will revolutionise advertising, says wearable tech chief
Wearable technology is no longer just for people, as San Francisco agency New Deal Design has designed an activity-tracking device for canine companions. More about Whistle wearable technology for dogs lets owners monitor pet activity
Dezeen and MINI Frontiers: computer scientist Hiroshi Ishii claims MIT Media Lab's Transform project consisting of thousands of physical, motorised "pixels" should be considered a completely new creative medium. More about MIT Media Lab's shape-shifting table top is "equivalent to the invention of painting"
News: a man has been arrested in Japan for possessing 3D-printed handguns, after five devices were found during a police raid on his house. More about Man arrested for owning 3D-printed gun
3D-printing guru Janne Kyttanen has designed a kit of clothes and accessories that can be printed in one go from a single computer file, removing the need for travellers to pack a bag for their holiday (+ slideshow). More about Janne Kyttanen 3D-prints essential travel items with Lost Luggage kit
The Canada-based creators of the Vanhawks Valour claim to have designed the "first smart, connected bicycle", which gives riders directions as well as alerts to prevent them cycling into dangerous situations. More about "Smart" bicycle by Vanhawks gives directions with flashing lights and vibrating safety alerts
Joseph Grima and Tamar Shafrir of design research collaborative Space Caviar explain why they set up an algorithmic journalism machine to produce magazines on the fly at Palazzo Clerici in Milan (+ movie). More about Algorithmic publishing project FOMO explores the "unexpected consequences of technology"
Disney's research company is developing a method for printing electrostatic loudspeakers in any shape – with trials including a rubber duck and a spiral. More about Disney Research unveils technique to 3D print any object as a speaker
News: a new generation of 3D printing pens will "improve the creativity of everybody" and "give the world a new way to communicate," according to the designer of the Lix pen, which launched on Kickstarter this week and has already raised over £400,000 (+ interview). More about 3D drawing will "give the world a new way to communicate"
Dezeen and MINI Frontiers: the way we interact with technology "needs to be updated", according to Talia Radford of taliaYstudio, who shows us two of her studio's projects that enable people to take a photo by kissing rather than pressing a button. More about Why not "take a photo through gestures" rather than pushing a button?
A keyboard by East London technology start-up ROLI, with soft keys that allow musicians to alter the pitch, volume and timbre of individual notes, has come out on top in the Designs of the Year 2014 product category (+ slideshow). More about Squishy silicone keys control pitch and volume on ROLI's musical Seaboard
A new camera from American company Lytro will allow users to take pictures and adjust the focus after the image has been taken using a technique called light field photography. More about Illum camera creates interactive photographs that users can re-focus after shooting
The Portable Eye Examination Kit (Peek) aims to improve opthalmic health in low-income countries by adapting smartphones with clip-on hardware and an app, and is among this year's category winners for Designs of the Year 2014. More about Peek smartphone adapter and app scans eyes to help combat blindness