The annual Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance sees
the world's most original and extraordinary automobiles on display, and
this year another priceless restoration joined the group. Edsel Bryant
Ford’s 1934 Model 40 Special Speedster has been the subject of an
extensive restoration which returned it to how it originally looked in
1940 after its final redesign by Ford and Ford's lead designer E. T.
Gregorie. That a 77-year-old vehicle can have aged as gracefully as it
has is testimony to the talent of those that built it. Read More
A biology student has just hovered her way into
the record books in a four-rotor, human-powered helicopter named after a
giant flying turtle
from Japanese kaiju movies. Gamera was built to try and claim the
American Helicopter Society's Sikorsky Prize, that was set up in 1980
and has yet to be claimed. The team's first flights in May resulted in a
4.2-second U.S. national record, and now the record page has had to be
rewritten again after the young pilot's frantic combination of hand and
foot pedaling action kept Gamera in the air for nearly three times
longer, during the recent summer flight sessions. Read More
Recently we heard about the M-DISC,
which can reportedly store data in a rock-like medium for up to 1,000
years. Now, scientists from the University of Southampton have announced
the development of a new type of nanostructured glass technology. Not
only might it have applications in fields such as microscopy, but it
apparently also has the ability to optically store data forever. Read More
If you’ve ever watched a maple seed spiraling
down from a branch, you may have marveled at how it looked like a tiny
one-rotor-bladed helicopter. If you did, well, you weren’t the only one.
In 2009, students from the University of Maryland’s Clark School of
Engineering unveiled their remarkable samara (maple seed)-inspired micro air vehicle,
which was billed as “the world’s first controllable robotic samara
monocopter.” Flash forward to this Tuesday, and Lockheed Martin
performed the first public flight of its similar Samarai Flyer, at the
Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International conference in
Washington, D.C. Read More
QinetiQ North America has unveiled its latest Micro Unmanned Ground Vehicle (MUGV) based on its Dragon Runner
platform. The new Dragon Runner 10 (DR10) is built around the basic
Dragon Runner design and is intended for military and first responder
duties. At just 15 inches (38 cm) long, 13.5 inches (34 cm) wide and 5.8
inches (15 cm) tall, and weighing just under 10 pounds (4.5 kg), the
DR10 is small and light enough to be carried in a standard-issue pack
and be thrown into buildings and hostile environments for reconnaissance
and surveillance missions. Read More
Last year we reported in the development of a cancer-detecting electronic nose
inspired by dogs' ability to literally sniff out different types of
ovarian cancer. Now a new study has found that sniffer dogs' abilities
extend to reliably detecting lung cancer. The researchers say the
results of the study confirm that there is a stable marker for lung
cancer, which offers the possibility that a 'breath test' for the early
detection of lung cancer could be developed. Read More
Carbon-based organic photovoltaic cells, which
use organic polymers or small molecules as semiconductors, are
significantly thinner and cheaper than their inorganic silicon-based
counterparts. Unfortunately, they are also much less efficient at
converting sunlight into electricity. That could be on its way to
changing, however, as an international team of researchers have
reportedly boosted the efficiency of organic photovoltaic cells by 20
percent ... with some help from gold nanoparticles. Read More
Trekkies might soon find themselves donning
Starfleet-issue jumpsuits and beaming off to the Middle East with news
that funding has been secured for an entertainment resort in Aqaba,
Jordan, where the main attraction will be a Star Trek themed adventure
ride. Work is due to start next year on the US$1.5 billion, 184-acre
resort called the Red Sea Astrarium project with completion slated for
2014. Read More
Although electric vehicles can claim to be
greener by producing zero local emissions, the electricity used to
charge their batteries needs to come from somewhere. For most people,
that somewhere is usually a fossil fuel-powered power station, lessening
the green credentials of such vehicles. In an effort to let drivers go
the extra green mile, Ford and solar technology company SunPower have
teamed up to offer buyers of Ford's upcoming EVs a discounted rooftop
solar system to provide enough renewable energy to offset the
electricity used to charge the vehicles. Read More
It's been bent, scraped along the runway, frozen to -42 degrees C, flown over 1700 flights and spent almost 5000 hours in the air - now the 787 Dreamliner has completed the final flight tests required for type certification with Rolls-Royce engines. Read More
GoPro’s HERO HD is certainly one of the most popular actioncams on the market, perhaps more so now that its long-awaited LCD viewfinder/playback screen
is available. As is the case with other digital cameras, however, the
glare of direct sunlight can make it difficult to see what’s on that
screen. Also, as we noted in an actioncam video comparison,
the HERO’s underwater shots tend to be a little on the soft-focus side.
Well, two new products from camera gizmo-maker XSories are designed to
address both of these situations. Read More
It's a sign of the times - after 15 years of
production of its retractable hardtop (vario-roof) convertible SLK
series, Mercedes has given the compact roadster a diesel engine. The 204
bhp four-cylinder delivers fuel consumption of 56.5 mpg/4.16 L/100km
(combined cycle), but thanks to the 2143 cc diesel engine's 500 Nm
midrange and 7G-TRONIC PLUS automatic transmission, the car offers a
0-100 km/h (62 mph) acceleration time of 6.7 seconds and a top speed of
150 mph (241 km/h). Read More
Ecotricity has unveiled plans to install
green-energy-powered electric vehicle (EV) charging points at selected
motorway service stations running up the UK's automotive backbone.
Aiming to end potential range anxiety and speed up the adoption of EVs
in Britain, the national network of charging posts will be rolled out to
every Welcome Break service station, as well as other key locations, in
the UK by the end of the year. Each charging post will receive its
power from the company's wind and solar parks across the country, and
one of the first three to go live is directly connected to the resident
wind turbine at Reading's Green Park business park - offering electric
motorists true zero emission driving. Read More
The world record for a car sold at auction was
smashed on Sunday when the Ferrari Testa Rossa prototype sold for
US$16.4 million. The previous record
(US$12.1 million) for an auctioned car belonged to a 1957 Testa Rossa,
so the original prototype had been expected to capture the record in the
lead up to the Gooding & Co Pebble Beach auction. That's the hammer
falling in the pic, with various auction fees making up the difference
between the US$14.9 million and the "record" US$16.4 million. Read More
Individually, insects have proven a deep well of
inspiration for robotics engineers looking to mimic designs refined over
millions of years of evolution. Now Boeing has demonstrated swarm
technology for reconnaissance missions using unmanned aerial vehicles
(UAVs) that is similar to the way insects communicate and work together
as an intelligent group. Potential uses for the technology include
search-and-rescue missions and identifying enemy threats ahead of ground
patrols. Read More
Over the years Sony has shown its ability as a
genuine innovator in the digital imaging space - in the early days of
Gizmag the (then) bleeding-edge, 5-megapixel Sony F707
digital camera was a treasured part of our kit - and its latest venture
looks like it could be holding that line. That venture is the company's
move into digital binoculars with two models - the DEV-5 and DEV-3 -
which boast full HD video recording, 7.1 megapixel still capture,
optical image stabilization, 3D recording, HDMI output and (on the more
expensive DEV-5) geotagging via an in-built GPS receiver. Read More
We’ve seen a number of devices - such as the UltraCane and EYE 21 system
- that combine sonar and haptic or audio feedback to let the visually
impaired “see” their surroundings through the senses of touch or
hearing. Tacit is a similar device that also uses sonar to measure the
distance to objects and provide users with a ‘view” of their
surroundings through haptic feedback. But unlike previous devices we’ve
looked at, Tacit is mounted on the wrist so it doesn’t impair a user’s
hearing or interfere with the use of other assistance devices such as
canes. Read More
Toyota Motorsport GmbH (TMG) will attempt to set a
new lap record for an electric vehicle at the legendary Nürburgring
later this month. The attempt will be made in the TMG 100 percent
electric car that is based on a two-seater sportscar chassis fitted with
a high-performance electric powertrain developed by TMG. With a top
speed of 260 km/h (161.5 mph) and the ability to go from 0 to 100 km/h
(62 mph) in 3.9 seconds, the vehicle will be looking to better the
current EV lap record of 9 minutes 1.1338 seconds set earlier this year
by the Peugeot EX1. Read More
Cadillac debuts stunning Ciel grand-touring car concept
By Vincent Rice
August 21, 2011
A few years ago the very existence of parent
company General Motors was hanging in the balance but the Cadillac brand
has made a spectacular comeback with an edgy design vocabulary in the
CTS line and a seriously powerful headline-grabbing variant in the CTS-V
coupe. The house style is sufficiently distinctive and the handling
sufficiently sorted (we'll ignore the soon-to-be-killed-off Escalade)
that the CTS is attracting buyers in Europe, something notoriously
difficult for US car brands. Cadillac is feeling confident and that
confidence was evident at Monterey last week where it unveiled a concept
convertible that showcases a design direction for the future and its
desire to move further upmarket, which of course, is exactly where
Cadillac should be. Read More
Marrying space saving efficiency with a touch of
21st Century hospitality, Yotel hotels treat guests to a fully automated
check-in service featuring Yobot, a theatrically lit robotic baggage
drop-off machine that creates a mechanical performance for guests as it
loads and stores their belongings. The robot porter is just the
beginning of the novel hotel experience offered by Yotel, a capsule
style hotel chain with locations in London, New York and Amsterdam. Read More
Earlier in the year Logitech released a wireless
PC keyboard powered by both direct sunlight and ambient light, like that
from a table lamp. Now the tech innovator is about to show some Mac
love, by launching a version for users of the popular Apple operating
platform. Read More
Last year we took a look at the EntroSys Motorcycle Air Conditioning system,
which is a vest that’s designed to blow cooling air across the torsos
of leather-jacket-clad bikers. While the EntroSys needs to be attached
to a bike-mounted air conditioning unit, there are doubtless many
sweltering people who would appreciate a similar but more mobile
garment, that they could wear while walking around or working outside.
Well, needless to say, there is one – it’s the Kuchofuku Air-Conditioned
Cooling Work Shirt. Read More
Six years ago, researchers at the University of
Birmingham discovered that more than half of the cancers of white blood
cells they looked at responded in the test tube to the
growth-suppressing properties of psychotropic drugs, including
amphetamine derivatives such as ecstasy and weight-loss pills, and
antidepressants such as fluoxetine (Prozac). Building on this previous
work, the researchers have now discovered a modified form of MDMA,
commonly known as ecstasy, they claim has 100 times more cancer-busting
properties than the designer drug itself. Read More
If you were to come up with a list of places you're unlikely to stumble across Google's Street View
trike snapping 360 degree panoramics, the banks of the Amazon would
surely be pretty close to the top. Yet that's precisely where the search
behemoth's imaging team is currently focusing its attention. Starting
off with a 50 km stretch of the Rio Negro River, the team plans to
document life in some our world's most remote and richly biodiverse
regions - visiting local communities, going inside village buildings and
floating up and down the waterways to offer virtual visitors a unique
insight into the wonders of the Amazon. Read More
Autonomous wave energy PowerBuoy device commences sea trial
By Darren Quick
August 23, 2011
Maritime surveillance and monitoring systems that
require remote power at sea often rely on diesel generators that need
frequent maintenance and fuel replenishment. Now New Jersey-based wave
energy company Ocean Power Technologies (OPT) has commenced sea trials
of an autonomous wave energy device that provides clean energy for
sea-based radar and communications systems in remote ocean locations and
in all wave conditions. Read More
Alesis iO Dock offers music production on the move
By Paul Ridden
August 22, 2011
I have to admit to feeling a flutter of excitement when Digitech announced its programmable iPad pedalboard.
Now it's the turn of vocalists, musicians of all kinds, producers and
writers to access the wealth of digital music apps available for the
iPad with the release of the iO Dock, from professional audio and studio
equipment manufacturer Alesis. Read More
Is it worth buying a discounted HP TouchPad?
By Darren Quick
August 22, 2011
Last Thursday, HP announced that it would
"discontinue operations for webOS devices, specifically the TouchPad and
webOS phones." The surprise announcement came less than two months
after the release of the TouchPad
and the company subsequently slashed its price, prompting a stampede of
customers looking to snap up a tablet bargain. But just how much of a
bargain is it considering there won't be any future updates to webOS
from HP and developers aren't likely to produce many new apps for a
discontinued device? Having spent some time with a TouchPad recently,
I'd have to say, like most things, it depends. Read More
You may have heard people saying that most
electric vehicles have plenty of range for an average driver’s daily
needs, but ... how does that apply to you? It would definitely
be disappointing to purchase an EV, only to discover that your driving
habits are significantly more taxing that what is considered “average.”
What would be good is if there was some sort of device that you could
attach to your existing car, that would observe your driving habits,
then tell you how a certain make and model of EV would stand up to those
demands. That device, it turns out, exists in the form of the EV
Profiler driving data recorder. Read More
In a world increasingly concerned with waste, the
smart manufacturers are identifying ways of utilizing the by-products
of manufacturing and creating two products from one process. One example
– a graduate student in agriculture at the Hebrew University of
Jerusalem has developed a way of creating foam from the waste from paper
mills, radically reducing waste from paper production and creating two
products that are highly valuable and in demand. Read More
MIT microparticle-making technique opens up biomedical possibilities
By Ben Coxworth
August 22, 2011
Whether you want to deliver medication to specific cells or create scaffolds
for building artificial tissues, currently one of the best media for
doing so are polymer microparticles filled with drugs or cells.
Traditionally, it has only been possible to make such particles in a few
shapes, out of a few materials, and/or with only one layer of “cargo”
inside. A new technique developed at the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology (MIT), however, could see multilayered microparticles being
made in many shapes, from a wider variety of materials. Read More
New study highlights mobile device dangers for pedestrians
By Ben Coxworth
August 24, 2011
This year, according to the United States'
Governors Highway Safety Association, pedestrian deaths in the U.S. rose
for the first time in four years. While there could be a number of
reasons for that increase, one likely culprit is mobile technology - or,
more accurately, pedestrians' reluctance to disengage from their mobile
devices when crossing the street. New research from the University of
Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) lends weight to this argument and show that
it's not just texting and talking that can get you into trouble when you
step out onto the road. Read More
The miniaturization of electronics has meant that
the inner workings of a mouse can be crammed inside a package that is
much smaller than is ergonomically recommended for such a device. This
has freed up mouse manufacturers to put some of that wasted space to
good use by extending the capabilities of the ubiquitous pointing
peripheral. We recently looked at the Canon Mark I
that combines a mouse, keyboard and calculator and now LG is getting in
on the multi-capable mouse action with what strikes us as a very good
idea - a mouse that doubles as a handheld scanner. Read More
Rumors of Apple releasing a cheaper iPhone to
compete at the lower end of the smartphone market have been floating
around for some time and now Reuters
is citing “sources with knowledge of the matter” who say that
manufacture of a cheaper 8GB version of the iPhone by Asian suppliers is
already underway and is expected to be released around the same time as
the upcoming iPhone 5. Read More
It seems like only yesterday, but Lego Technic
has been with us now since 1977, and in that third of a century, the
technical building blocks have no doubt stimulated the young minds of
hundreds of thousands of would-be engineers. Off-road trucking
manufacturer Unimog (Universal Motor Gerät)
celebrates its 60th anniversary this year, so the two companies got
together and produced a functioning (with pneumatic crane with working
gripper arm) 1:12-scale model. You can buy the 2,048 piece kit for
GBP155 (US$255). Great detailed images inside. Read More
Owning an open top Ferrari is perhaps one of the
most common male fantasies, though with a five liter V8 providing motive
force, it's infinitely more practical to have the protection and
quietness of a hardtop when atmospheric conditions aren't optimum. Hence
Ferrari's new 458 Spider with its automated folding aluminum hard-top
solution makes infinite sense. Read More
The fear of having a mechanical drill crammed
into one’s mouth is enough to keep many people from regularly seeing a
dentist. New technology developed by researchers at the University of
Leeds that is based on knowledge of how the tooth forms in the first
place could soon be providing a pain-free way of tackling the first
signs of tooth decay. It uses a peptide-based fluid that is literally
painted onto the tooth’s surface to stimulate the tooth to regenerate
itself. Read More
DARPA has confirmed the splash down of its
unmanned Falcon Hypersonic Technology Vehicle (HTV-2) following the
hypersonic vehicle’s second test flight
on August 11. While a “controlled descent” generally refers to a human
directing and guiding an aircraft to an unscheduled landing, safety
systems onboard the HTV-2 kicked in after an anomaly was detected a
little over nine minutes into the test flight and autonomously directed
it into the ocean. Read More
The teasers keep rolling in ahead of the 2011 Frankfurt Motor Show
(IAA) with Kia releasing images of a new four-door sports sedan
concept. The powerplant is rumored to be a V8, but all we know for sure
about the as yet unnamed car at this stage is that it seats four, is
rear-wheel drive and, as you might expect from a concept car, it
"signals the company’s distinctive new design direction." Read More
There’s no doubt that skylights make for
psychologically-nicer buildings, while also reducing the amount of
electricity required for daytime artificial lighting. If they let in too much sunlight,
however, they can actually increase the amount of electricity needed
for air conditioning. California-based EnFocus is attacking the
situation from two ends – its Diamond-Power panels diffuse sunlight to
keep interior heat down, while also harnessing it to create electricity.
Read More
Augmented reality (AR) seems to be touching almost every part of our lives at the moment. It's bringing arcade games to life, keeping back seat kids entertained during long journeys, offering on-the-spot translations and helping us to see the world in a different light.
Now, Sony UK has developed an online tool that uses AR to help users
visualize a new big screen TV in their home without needing to resort to
a tape measure, or just leaving it to guess work and hoping for the
best. Read More
The iconic, brand-defining Porsche 911 Carrera
has once again been redesigned, and the latest incarnation will be seen
for the first time at the Frankfurt Motor Show.
It's lighter, more economical, more powerful, cleaner and orders are
being taken from September 1, with deliveries beginning December 3.
After 48 years, the 911 remains a rear-engined, boxer six with vague
styling similarities to the 956 and Volkswagen Beetle DNA, but the 911
name still represents excellence, performance and a badge of success.
Read More
While more and more music is being created on
computers with a QWERTY keyboard, researchers at the University of
Southhampton are looking to bring the tangible interface one gets from
actually playing an instrument to creating music on a computer. The
Audio d-touch system uses a computer, a standard webcam, a printed sheet
of paper and physical blocks that are moved around to determine how the
computer samples and reproduces sound. Read More
Samsung has ushered in a new naming system for its Galaxy
range of smartphones with the release of four new Android 2.3
(Gingerbread) powered devices. Designed to simplify things for
consumers, the new naming structure groups its Android-powered
smartphones into one of five classes that are identified by a single
letter, which can then be broken down further with an additional
indicator to provide an indication of more specific functionality. Read More
Late last year we ran a story on the MXB Shocker Motocrossboard,
an electric-powered two-wheel vehicle from Performance Concepts Inc.
(PCI) described as a cross between a snowboard and a dirtbike. At that
time the company had intended a limited release of the 2011 MXB Shocker
with prices starting at US$2,999 but in the wake of widespread media
interest the Motocrossboard’s inventor and PCI CEO, Andy Keel, decided
against taking orders, choosing instead to focus on further product
development and design. The extra R & D has resulted in a lighter
and cheaper 2012 MXB Shocker that is now ready for sale alongside three
new models. Read More
In the recent past, we’ve seen outfits that incorporate bio-sensors and batteries, and even a bikini
with integrated solar cells. One of the latest innovations in smart
fabrics, however, allows a person’s clothing to act as multiple
antennas. Developed at Ohio State University (OSU), the system could
prove particularly useful to soldiers, who don’t want to be encumbered
by a protruding whip antenna. Read More
If you're looking to invest in a high-end,
all-purpose bicycle that will last a lifetime, then feast your eyes on
the beautiful lines of the No1 and No2 luxury bikes built by Paul
Budnitz. Each of the two models currently available is based around a
lightweight but strong Titanium frame, from which flows a veritable
cyclist's wish list of components ... but yes, they don't come cheap.
Read More
Fans of three-wheeled cars will tell you that the
vehicles come in two configurations: delta, with the single wheel in
the front, and tadpole, with the single wheel in the back. Well, now
there's another type. The prototype Thrustcycle SRT has all three of its
wheels in a straight lateral line, and utilizes a mechanical
gyroscopic stabilizing system to keep it firmly upright even when
standing still. That same system also stores kinetic energy generated by
braking, extending the vehicle's range. Read More
There's no denying that pacemakers are
life-saving devices, but they do have their limitations. These include
the facts that their metal leads can break, they need to be surgically
accessed if their batteries run out, and they can be disrupted by strong
magnetic fields. Some or all of these problems may one day become
things of the past, however, due to research currently being conducted
at New York's Stony Brook University - scientists there are working
towards the development of pacemakers that control the heart through
pulses of light. Read More
Self-inflating tire keeps the pressure up for cyclists
By Ben Coxworth
August 24, 2011
While it’s nice to hear that Goodyear is developing self-inflating tires
for cars, where does that leave bicycle riders? Still pumping,
presumably? Well, not if they’re running PumpTires on their steed. As
its name implies, the PumpTire is designed to automatically pump air
into the inner tube, using the compressive effect of the tire meeting
the ground as it turns. Once the tube reaches the desired pressure, the
pumping action ceases. Read More
The grand final of this year's Electrolux Design
Lab 2011 competition is fast approaching. The field has been reduced to
the last eight solutions for compact living and video presentations of
the concept designs produced. The young designers will get their chance
to pitch for victory in front of the judges on September 7 in London,
but before that Electrolux has opened up the ballot box for the People's
Choice - a chance to reward your favorite design with some of the
limelight. Read on for a look at those video presentations... Read More
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