New and Emerging Technology News part 193 ~ NEW GEN TECH LIFE : new generation technology news

Tuesday 11 February 2014

New and Emerging Technology News part 193

A Japanese inventor has built a waste basket that tracks garbage tossed in its general dir...
We've all done it: you toss a piece of trash at a nearby waste basket only to have it ricochet off the edge, forcing you to make that shameful walk to go pick it up and drop it in carefully. You only have your own hand-eye coordination skills to blame, but if you think about it, shouldn't catching trash be the garbage can's job? That certainly seems to be the thought process that led one Japanese inventor to construct a smart trash can that tracks garbage tossed in its general direction and then moves across the floor to catch it.  Read More
The Guardian slims your pack and protects your back
Geigerrig produces a line of pressurized hydration packs that deliver a stream of water by using pressure to eliminate the need to suck. The pressure also allows the water stream to serve as a spray for cleaning off your body and gear. The company's latest pack is called the Guardian and uses hard plastic panels to provide new functions.  Read More
The new female body armor will be tested next (northern hemisphere) summer
Body armor is a blessing and a curse for soldiers. Modern tactical armor has saved thousands of lives from bullets and bombs, but it can also be a major problem if it doesn’t fit properly. That’s what the women who make up 14 percent of the U.S. Army face on a regular basis. Now, according to the Army News Service, the Army is preparing to test a new armor that is tailored to the female form to replace the standard men's armor that the women now use. Working on data collected in studies overseas and at stateside army bases, the Program Executive Office (PEO) Soldier has identified several problem areas and has developed a new armor that will be tested in 2013.  Read More
@cme drives nails into the Hutchinson Serenity tires to demonstrate their durability As a number of riders in this year’s Tour de France can attest, getting a flat after hitting a tack or nail on the road not only causes delays, but can also be downright dangerous. Last year, Hutchison released its airless Serenity tire that is 100 percent flat-proof, but cyclist Steve Boehmke found they were fairly difficult to install and only fitted a very specific sized rim. To overcome this, he’s built wheelsets with the tires pre-mounted that are designed to take the hassle out of getting them on your bike.  Read More
Botiful is a Skype-based telepresence robot, designed to work with Android smartphones
Telepresence robots are definitely a neat idea – they allow users not only to interact with people in remote locations, but they also (in some cases) let those users wander around those locations from “within” the robot, its camera and microphone acting as their eyes and ears. While such robots have so far been relatively expensive, California-based inventor Claire Delaunay wants to change that. She hopes to sell her tiny Botiful telepresence robot for just US$299.  Read More
Goodyear has determined that soybean oil used in tire production could reduce the amount o... It’s good for the environment when manufacturers can find ways of using less fossil fuels, while consumers – along with the environment – benefit when products last longer. Now, thanks to the humble soybean, both parties may be able to get what they need. Researchers from the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company have discovered that soybean oil can help reduce the amount of petroleum used in tires, while also extending those tires’ tread life.  Read More
The Hexa Pot is a lightweight cooking pot that folds flat
No matter how thin and titanium-y you make a pot for camping, it's still going to take up some room in your backpack. The Energia Hexa Pot, on the other hand, folds flat. When pulled out of its packaging, it blossoms into a full-sized cooking pot.  Read More
Recycled river water creates running walls on the pavilion
With the Olympics just days away, one of the more intriguing structures of London 2012 has come into focus. BMW has fully revealed its Olympic Park Pavilion. We took our first look at the BMW's pavilion earlier this month, and now the German automaker with strong British ties (BMW brands include MINI and Rolls Royce) has provided a full tour.  Read More
iPICS2GO turns your iPhone into a scanner for photographs, slides, and negatives
Like it or not, we're now living in a digital world, with physical media of all types being superseded by new formats. This inevitably leads to us all being left with a physical legacy, and transferring the content that makes up this legacy to digital formats is often a tiresome chore. One possible quick and easy solution to transforming photos from physical to digital is iPICS2GO, a new device from ION Audio that literally turns your iPhone into a scanner.  Read More
One of the RCMP-spec MXT APCs
The RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) has become the world’s first police or security force to make use of the International MXT Armoured Personnel Carrier. Navistar Defense Canada announced yesterday that it has delivered on a US$14 million contract from the Government of Canada, to supply 18 of its vehicles to the RCMP. The police force stated that the MXT APCs “will enhance the safety of officers involved in critical incidents" – these could reportedly include hostage takings, armed standoffs, barricaded persons and search and rescue operations.  Read More

Hilary Bart-Smith's robotic cow-nosed ray
Sometime in the future, perhaps sometime soon, the robotic jellyfish, octopi and fish cruising the world’s oceans may have to make way for one other companion – the robotic ray. A team led by University of Virginia engineering professor Hilary Bart-Smith has created such a “creature,” in hopes that its autonomously-operated descendants may someday help us humans explore and study the sea, or possibly perform surveillance for the military.  Read More
Felix Baumgartner has successfully carried out a 96,640 foot parachute jump from the Red B...
Skydiver "Fearless Felix" Baumgartner has done it again - successfully carrying out an 18.3 mile (29.5 km) skydive from the Red Bull Stratos balloon high above Roswell, NM. His top speed was 536 mph (865 km/h). At that altitude, the speed of sound is about 673 mph (1083 km/h), so Baumgartner's top speed was Mach 0.80!  Read More
Marrs M-1 electric bicycles are made with an eye towards hot rods and custom motorcycles
You know what one of the neat things about electric bicycles is? It’s the fact that because riders don’t have to rely solely on their own physical strength to propel the things, manufacturers have the freedom to explore designs that aren’t centered around keeping the weight down. Case in the point is the M-1 ebike from Anaheim-based Marrs Cycles – it probably has more in common with a custom Harley Davidson than with anything put out by Specialized or Trek.  Read More
FAKRO's Galeria is a window that converts to a balcony While an upstairs balcony is a nice feature for any home, adding one to an existing house can be pretty involved, and thus pricey. Now, there’s a simpler solution – a window that converts into a balcony ... of sorts.  Read More
Mountain Lion is available now on the Mac App Store for just US$19.99
Today Apple unleashed OS X Mountain Lion, the latest iteration of the Mac computer operating system. Those who own a Mac which meets the required minimum specifications can head over to the Mac App Store and upgrade for just US$19.99. With improved iCloud integration, enhanced security and the inclusion of some iOS apps like Notes and Reminders, Mountain Lion sees OS X move further toward the so-called “iOS-ification” which Apple first introduced in Lion. The result is a much less disjointed user experience and a stronger operating system overall.  Read More
ECOmove's QBEAK is an electric car targeted at urban dwellers
Over the last few years, electric cars have become more mainstream with the launch of successful models such as the Chevy Volt and the Nissan Leaf. Now, Danish developer and manufacturer ECOmove hopes to enter the expanding e-car market with its QBEAK model, which is slated to hit the road in 2012.  Read More
The T-Reign's retractable cable ensures your smartphone or GPS doesn't meet a swift, painf...
Based on a design originally created to keep workers' keys on their persons, T-Reign gear tethers keep your most essential outdoor gear handy while preventing you from losing or breaking it. Its latest product adds an extra layer of protection for electronics in the form of a protective case with retracting cable. It protects portable electronics from the dings, cracks, chips and outright loss that daily life can dole out.  Read More
Five Norwegian engineering students from the University of Life Sciences in Oslo have desi...
Five Norwegian engineering students from the University of Life Sciences in Oslo have come together to design and build an electric motorcycle that's a little different from the rest of the field. Rather than construct the vehicle around a steel or aluminum frame (like the Brutus we covered last year, for instance), the Roskva bike features a carbon fiber monocoque frame that reportedly weighs less than 25 kg (55 pounds). Carbon fiber is also the material of choice for the wheels, single-sided swingarm and enclosed driveshaft.  Read More
Lorenzo Maggiore with his Bug-A-Salt pump action gun that finishes bugs off with a pinch o... We recently took a look at the InaTrap insect trap that lures insects into its designer-inspired form to quietly and efficiently send them to an early grave. But if you’re looking for something slightly more badass that provides a greater sense of satisfaction when taking out those pesky bugs then it’s hard to go past the Bug-A-Salt. The brainchild of Santa Monica-based artist Lorenzo Maggiore, the Bug-A-Salt is a pump action gun that takes out pests in a blast of non-toxic table salt.  Read More
Solar Impulse comes in the land in Payerne, marking the end of the first ever solar-powere...
The microneedles are a more efficient and less traumatic tool for delivering therapeutic d...
Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology and Atlanta's Emory University have developed microneedles less than a millimeter in length that can deliver drug molecules and particles to the region in the back of eye. The new technology provides an alternative to current methods which are either invasive, with drugs being injected into the center of the eye, or based on eyedrops, which are limited in their effectiveness.  Read More
The first EV to use the MECc range extender will be ECOmove's forthcoming QBEAK A collaborative project involving ECOmove, Insero E-Mobility and Serenergy is aiming to produce a fuel cell range extender for battery electric vehicles (BEVs) that should boost the distance between charges to at least 497 miles (800 km). The first vehicle to receive the new bio-methanol-based Modular Energy Carrier concept (MECc) cells will be the QBEAK car we featured yesterday.  Read More
'Tower House' converted water tower in London's North Kensington
Maybe its their height. Maybe it's because they're round. But clearly there's something about abandoned water towers that makes people want to transform them into residential accommodation. Tower House in West London's desirable North Kensington neighborhood (though admittedly, not the plushest part) appears to be the latest addition to an ever-growing set; a set that includes the converted World War II tower, Chateau D'eau.  Read More
Honda's new continuously variable transmission is coming to mid-sized cars Honda has long championed the continuously variable transmission (CVT) and while this has in the past been largely a technology suited to small cars and even scooters, the Japanese car giant is now thinking bigger.  Read More
Researchers have discovered that the chemical AAQ temporarily restores some sight in blind...
Researchers have discovered a chemical that makes cells in the retinas of blind mice sensitive to light, temporarily restoring some vision. They are working on an improved compound that they hope could one day be used to restore sight in human patients suffering from retinitis pigmentosa, the most common form of inherited blindness, and macular degeneration, the most common cause of acquired blindness in the developed world.  Read More
The Challenge4 team of Rainer Zietlow, Vlaimir Gagarin and Marius Biela on the banks of th...
This week, a team of three drivers will set out to tackle a 23,000 km (14,291 mile) drive from Melbourne, Australia to its sister city of St Petersburg in Russia. The Challenge4 crew will be attempting to set a world record time of 16 days by driving their Volkswagen Touareg TDI in five-hour shifts for 24 hours a day. Carrying enough provisions for the entire trip, the only time the vehicle will be at standstill will be when refueling or when being transported across water.  Read More
Zuri chose the bright-colored components as a contrast to the Urban Fixie's natural bamboo...
No matter how many bamboo bicycles we see - and we have seen a few - they continue to astound with their otherworldly looks. Zuri is a German operation that hand builds bicycles in Africa out of locally sourced bamboo. It's multi-hued bamboo-framed bikes are designed for both city commuting and mountain biking.  Read More
Russian media enterpreneur Dmitry Itskov is heading a project that will try and achieve hu...
Russian media magnate Dmitry Itskov is heading "Avatar," a tremendously ambitious and far-reaching multidisciplinary research project that aims to achieve immortality in humans within the next three decades. He plans to do it by housing human brains in progressively more disembodied vehicles, first transplanting them into robots and then, by the year 2045, by reverse-engineering the human brain and effectively "downloading" human consciousness onto a computer chip.  Read More
The Z-1 space suit has a rear entry hatch that can latch to a spaceship or rover, eliminat...
The current US space suit used by NASA is a dinosaur. Designed in 1992, it was only ever intended to be used by crews aboard the Space Shuttle and the International Space Station. That may have been good enough in the days of 14 kps modems, but with eyes turning increasingly toward missions to the Moon, Mars and the asteroids, space explorers need something better. That’s why NASA is designing its first new suit in twenty years. Developed by NASA’s Advanced Exploration Systems (AES), the Z-1 prototype space suit currently undergoing vacuum testing at the Johnson Space Center is a wearable laboratory of new technology. And it’s a hatchback.  Read More
The photoactive plastic panel is 70 percent transparent to visible light
A UCLA team has developed a new type of solar cell that is nearly 70 percent transparent to the naked eye. The plastic cells, which use infrared instead of visible light, are also more economical than other types of cells because they are made by an inexpensive polymer solution process and nanowire technology, potentially paving the way for cheaper solar windows.  Read More

As anticipated, the Solar Impulse HB-SIA experimental solar-powered aircraft completed the first ever solar-powered intercontinental roundtrip journey between Europe and Africa today. The roughly 6,000 km (3,728 mile) trip commenced on May 24 and consisted of a total of eight legs averaging 800 km (497 miles) before reaching its conclusion with a landing back where it all began in Payerne, Switzerland at 8:30 pm on July 24, local time.  Read More

A batch of PongSats aboard one of JP Aerospace's High Racks
With the increasing availability of things like GPS tracking systems, we’re hearing more and more about regular people using weather balloons to launch items into the sky’s upper reaches - examples have included a video camera, a miniature airplane, and even spacesuit-wearing teddy bears. While such efforts might get you interested in sending something of your own into almost-outer-space, the hassle involved in getting hold of all the necessary equipment could likely keep you from actually doing it. If you can fit your cargo into a ping pong ball, however, the folks at JP Aerospace will send it up for you.  Read More
Air has launched in various cities around the US West Coast Many people enjoy having a few drinks after work or on the weekend. Only a subset of them actually enjoy the taste of whatever cocktail or malt beverage they're sipping on. Others would prefer to get the buzz and inhibition release without actually choking down liquor or beer. Whether it's that earthy pine-tree-in-a-bottle flavor of gin or the harsh burn of cheap whiskey, alcohol can be downright painful. Air, "the first water with alcohol," provides an alternative with a light flavor profile purported to be closer to club soda than beer or spirits.  Read More
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The F800EXR can be paired with iOS and Android phones or tablets via an app which allows t...
Cameras which make it easy to share photos via WiFi are nothing new. Kodak started the ball rolling back in 2005, and most recently we've seen the NX Series from Samsung and the Nikon D3200 consumer DSLR get in on the action. Fujifilm, however, is taking a slightly different approach with the launch of the new FinePix F800EXR - it shares images with iOS and Android phones or tablets via an app.  Read More
The Signal motorcycle helmet light (Photo: Quirky) Because of the increased visibility that they offer, “third brake lights” have become standard on automobiles. Now, it's possible to buy kits that let you add such lights to the back of motorcycle helmets, although they typically have to be installed permanently. The Signal helmet light, however, can simply be strapped on.  Read More
The Lista Office Mindport LO Touch Down unit
Lista Office has been awarded a prestigious Red Dot design award for its Mindport interior furnishing system. Designed to counteract the tedium and tyranny of the typical open-plan office cubicle system these colorful "pods" come in a range of designs for different office functions - providing an antidote to the massed ranks of identical work-stations. Lista Office also picked up an award for its “LO One” cabinet system.  Read More
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Visualization: Re-Barn converted tobacco barn
With its Re-Barn concept, architectural planning consultancy autotroph has come up with a strategy to preserve not just one building, but a whole family: the endangered tobacco barn of Southern Maryland. The Re-Barn idea would see tobacco burns renovated into family homes, while maintaining their potential to run a working farm.  Read More
Wei-Fu Chen examines the atomic structure of the platinum alternative electrocatalyst
Harnessing the power of hydrogen gas presents one of the most promising options available for obtaining a large-scale sustainable energy solution. However, there are numerous and significant challenges present in the production of pure hydrogen, one of the most prominent of which is the high costs associated with the use of rare and expensive chemical elements such as platinum. Accordingly, the team at the Brookhaven National Laboratory set out to create a catalyst with high activity and low costs, that could facilitate the production of hydrogen as a high-density, clean energy source.  Read More
Intense fire fights in a sand-swamped Dubai
If you were to listen to the critics of modern action shooters one of the most regular, and valid, criticisms of the genre is that these games have no moral compass. When you think of how some games become little more than glorified shooting galleries you might be inclined to agree. For example check our review of Max Payne 3 last month and you’ll see where we are coming from. Spec Ops: The Line takes this criticism to heart and makes sure you account for the impact you are having on those around you.  Read More
A system using Wi-Fi Direct technology being develop by GM has the potential to detect ped...
General Motors is working to expand upon its vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) and vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication systems that are being developed to allow information to be shared between vehicles and infrastructure to provide advance warning of potential road hazards, such as stalled vehicles, slippery roads, road works, intersections, stop signs and the like. The automaker is now looking to add pedestrians and cyclists to the mix so a car can detect them in low visibility conditions before the driver does.  Read More
The Defakto Detail one hand watch is simple, elegant, and understated As someone of a certain age, as a young child I was taught how to read the time using an analogue dial on a clock or watch. I suspect things are a little different now, with kids more used to digital displays on computers and smartphones. But I have some not-so-fond memories of trying to grasp the concept of the minute and second hands on an analogue display. How different my childhood could have been had someone, somewhere designed a watch with one hand rather than two.  Read More

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