A team of designers at Design Computation Lab, co-directed by Gilles Retsin and Manuel Jiménez Garcia, has developed a 3D-printed chair made from a continuous line of melted, transparent biodegradable PLA plastic. “The process we developed allows us to not print in layers, like with normal 3D printing, but in three dimensions,” Retsin said. The complex software allows designers and engineers to design and organize millions of tool paths for 3D printing directly. It is also inexpensive and fast, allows for larger objects to be manufactured, and uses less material than typical 3D printing. The design of the chair is a reflection of the famous S-shaped Panton Chair by Danish designer Verner Panton. The team does not currently plan to bring the chair to market, but they will release the software later this year. [Digital Trends]

Chemical engineering professor Behdad Moghtaderi of the University of Newcastle in Australia has partnered with local company Infratech Industries to develop and produce an industrial-sized reduction-oxidation (redox) machine—containing "a specially blended particle mixture that cyclically gains and loses electrons," according to New Atlas—that acts as both a generator and a battery. The Chemical Looping Energy-on-Demand System (CLES) can both use natural gas to generate electricity for a building and collect energy from the grid to store it for later use. CLES functions in two modes: the "energy storage mode" offers protection during power outages and collects electricity during off-peak pricing times; meanwhile the "energy on demand" mode generates power for an entire building by continuously using natural gas to power the redox process. The team estimates that CLES will cost approximately 75 percent of Tesla's energy storage Powerwall products, which currently sell for $6,000. [New Atlas]

Amsterdam-based bike company VanMoof has introduced its latest electric bike model, which was exclusively designed for Tokyo. Weighing approximately 50 pounds, the Electrified X model has 24-inch wheels and retains all smart features of its predecessor, Electrified S, such as pedal assist and anti-theft location tracking. Unlike other electric bikes available in Tokyo, the Electrified X is designed to be compact, light-weight, and compatible with narrow city streets. Though most electric bike–users in Tokyo use the transportation for short distances, according to VanMoof CEO and co-founder Ties Carlier, Electrified X encourages riders to travel further distances with a range of up to 75 miles in its economy mode. [The Verge]

Paint by Drone is a project developed by Italian design firm Carlo Ratti Associati that employs 1-meter-wide unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) that are regulated through a central management system. Using the CMYK (cyan, magenta, yellow, and black) color model, each drone paints one color. According to a CityLab article, this number could increase to eight, 12, or more for painting larger murals. The central management system tracks the UAVs' movement in real-time and can detect multiple devices simultaneously with an advanced monitoring system, allowing accurate painting, specifically on large canvases like urban facades, highways, and bridges. Users can connect to a smartphone application to submit personal artwork and designs. The next step for Paint by Drone is painting artworks on two proposed European sites: an urban façade in Turin, Italy, and a construction site in Berlin. [CityLab]

Hong Kong–based startup Ambi Labs has released the second generation of its Ambi Climate product, a device that connects smartphones to residential air conditioning units. Ambi Climate 2 automatically adjusts users' air conditioners based on their preferences using machine-learning capabilities to register individual home comfort preferences via sensors while monitoring temperature, humidity plus sunlight, and time of day. It allows for user feedback via its companion smartphone application and collects local weather data for accuracy. The device can also reduce energy consumption by up to 20 percent energy in the process. [Engadget]

ICYMI: MIT Media Lab's Mediated Matter Group created three iridescent columns that explore the capabilities of its second-generation 3D glass printing technology. [ARCHITECT]

The Swiss electorate voted to support government plans for renewable energy subsidies, a ban on new nuclear plants, and the bailout of struggling utilities companies in a binding referendum on May 21. According to a Reuters article, "480 million francs (approximately $493,827,182) will be raised annually from electricity users to fund investment in wind, solar, and hydro power." Swiss energy minister Doris Leuthard argues that these new measures will only cost taxpayers 40 more francs (approximately $41) per year. Certain aspects of the plan will take effect as early as 2018, while the first of Switzerland's five nuclear plants is slated to close in 2019. [Reuters]

Africa's Lake Chad, which borders the countries of Chad, Cameroon, Niger, and Nigeria, is at risk of disappearing forever, but Cameroon-based firm Hermann Kamte & Associates hopes to save the body of water through constructing a solar-powered research center. The Limnology Center would enable scientists and researchers to conduct studies on the lake and its region, while a pipeline would deliver water from the Atlantic to a desalination center and converted into freshwater to restore the lake as well as to provide water to the people who have settled around the body of water. [Inhabitat]