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This paper presents reports and surveys of selective innovative research in systems and cybernetics. They include: biocybernetics, thought‐controlled machines, advances in nanotechnology, technological initiatives, innovations worldwide.

The work represents an advance in understanding spider silks related to supercontraction which is clearly the water triggered shape recovery phenomenon. A structural model of spider silks is established, which can integrate a number of phenomena such as tunable mechanical properties, the origin, functions and ground state of supercontraction. The shape memory mechanism of protein fibers lays foundation for man-making and bio-mimicking spider silks using chemical approaches rather than genetic ones.

Examines the tenth published year of the ITCRR. Runs the whole gamut of textile innovation, research and testing, some of which investigates hitherto untouched aspects. Subjects discussed include cotton fabric processing, asbestos substitutes, textile adjuncts to cardiovascular surgery, wet textile processes, hand evaluation, nanotechnology, thermoplastic composites, robotic ironing, protective clothing (agricultural and industrial), ecological aspects of fibre properties – to name but a few! There would appear to be no limit to the future potential for textile applications.

Examines the ninth published year of the ITCRR. Runs the whole gamut of textile innovation, research and testing, some of which investigates hitherto untouched aspects. Subjects discussed include cotton fabric processing, asbestos substitutes, textile adjuncts to cardiovascular surgery, wet textile processes, hand evaluation, nanotechnology, thermoplastic composites, robotic ironing, protective clothing (agricultural and industrial), ecological aspects of fibre properties – to name but a few! There would appear to be no limit to the future potential for textile applications.

Drawing upon Alfred Sohn-Rethel's work, we argue that, just as capitalism produces abstract labor, it coproduces both abstract mind and abstract life. Abstract mind is the split between mind and nature and between subject/observer and observed object that characterizes scientific epistemology. Abstract mind reflects an abstracted objectified world of nature as a means to be exploited. Biological life is rendered as abstract life by capitalist exploitation and by the reification and technologization of organisms by contemporary technoscience. What Alberto Toscano has called “the culture of abstraction” imposes market rationality onto nature and the living world, disrupting biotic communities and transforming organisms into what Finn Bowring calls “functional bio-machines.”

New Communications Systems will Affect Computer Jobs? One of the constant worries about the new high‐tech developments that are announced with such frequency is their effect on the employment market. Throughout the ages each new discovery has affected the working patterns of society but more than ever before the rapid growth in new technology has quickly altered not only the way in which we work but the number of people who can work. It does not require a social scientist or a cybernetician working in this field to inform society of the effects that will accrue from the apparently never ending technological advances that are being announced, and subsequently implemented. Each one produces a scare of enormous proportions. In the 1950s the computer was to put most people out of work, the microcomputer “revolution” was later expected to make sure that those who kept their jobs would soon be redundant. Fortunately, these predictions were not true and although the world's workforces have changed in so many instances to accommodate the new technology the age of total leisure or of mass unemployment has yet to arrive.

The production of commodities from renewable organic material has gained enormous interest due to the rising public understanding of conscious development. Natural fibers are accessible in environment, and their parameters depend on their physical traits and chemically engineered makeup. Grewia optiva (GO) comes under the category of bast fibers, also known as Bhimal. This study aims to realize the consequences of alkali treatment on the characterization of natural fibers, their developed yarn and then the woven mat.

Raw fiber was treated with 20% alkali solution. After treatment, it was evaluated for changes in the general laboratory system. This treatment is known as mercerization, through which the parameters of cellulose fibers can be enhanced. After this process, the content of cellulose increases due to the removal of the hydroxyl group. The removal of microfibrils, hemicellulose and the introduction of hydrogen bonds increase the interactive capacity of fiber. The job was divided into different sections, including acquiring fiber, developing yarn and creating a mat.

The quality of the surface of the fiber was enhanced after the treatment. Its diameter was reduced to 54.72 microns. In the developed woven mat, it was densified using water treatment and attained grams per square meter (GSM) of 389.7.

The usage of mercerization softens the fiber to twist into yarn, which is finally woven into a mat. Treatment of fabric or mat makes it denser to impart better strength. A woven mat of natural fibers provides maximum strength to the composites.