By now, we’re all fairly used to electronic
devices such as smartphones, which can act as a mobile phone, computer,
camera and navigation unit all at once. These devices, while
multi-functional, still use different hard-wired electrical circuits for
their different functions. Thanks to research being carried out at
Chicago’s Northwestern University, however, all those functions may one
day be able to utilize the same physical piece of electronic
material – the electrical current would simply be “steered” through it
differently, depending on what was needed. This means that a single
section of the material could act as a resistor, rectifier, diode or
transistor, as instructed by a computer. Read More
Onedof turntable spins your vinyl for a cool $150,000
By Paul Ridden
October 19, 2011
Colorado aerospace engineer Aleks Bakman has
created a vinyl-loving-audiophile-pleasing precision turntable that
benefits from virtually resonance-free operation. The utterly gorgeous
One Degree of Freedom (Onedof) system features a massive sound-dampening
platter that is suspended on a specially-developed self-centering
bearing in a non-resonant liquid suspension, that's claimed to eliminate
the kind of shift or wobble common to all cylindrical bearings. There
is, however, a very high price to pay for keeping the signal free of
pleasure-spoiling audio distortions - the Onedof turntable is priced at
an eye-popping US$150,000. Read More
When people are looking into buying an electric
vehicle, they typically ask questions like “What sort of range does it
get?”, “How big is its battery?” or “How long does it take to charge?”.
They don't usually ask “How many guns does it have?”. In the case of T3 Motion’s
new T3 Non-Lethal Response Vehicle (NLRV), however, that would be a
legitimate inquiry. The three-wheeled stand-up EV is designed for police
use in riots or violent protests, and it in fact has two semi-automatic launchers, capable of shooting non-lethal ammo at a rate of 700 rounds per minute. Read More
The Motorola RAZR is back, only this time it's a
smartphone – and a very slim one, at that. Motorola Mobility and Verizon
Wireless unveiled the new 7.1 mm-thick DROID RAZR yesterday, with the
promise that it should be in stores early next month. Not only is the
device said to be the skinniest smartphone in existence, but it is
reportedly also the first to be able to stream video from Netflix at HD
resolution. Read More
Another Brough Superior motorcycle has moved into the top 10 most valuable motorcycles sold at auction
when the 1929 SS100 commonly known as ‘Moby Dick’ sold for GBP 210,500
(US$333,210). The auction result continues the trend of Brough Superiors
becoming the most valuable brand in the world, with four of the 10 most
valuable motorcycles now coming from the famous (and recently
resurrected) brand name. Interestingly, yet another Brough Superior
SS100 will front the auctioneer on November 16 (est. GBP165,000-185,000)
and it will almost certainly become the eighth Brough Superior in the
top 20, and the eleventh of this group to have been sold by Bonhams.
Read More
Had Shakespeare been born several centuries
later, he might have said "All the world's an interface," especially if
he'd had a chance to play with the recently-developed, wearable
OmniTouch system. While interactive interface projectors
are far from new, this innovative concept design utilizes a different
approach that promises to turn just about any solid surface into a
touch-sensitive input device. Books, tables, walls, hands and other body
parts, it's all fair game. Read More
Samsung Galaxy Nexus due November, Android 4.0 onboard
By Pawel Piejko
October 19, 2011
Google and Samsung have announced the world's
first smartphone running Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) - the Samsung
Galaxy Nexus, a.k.a. Nexus Prime. Featuring a lineup of Google software
upgrades such as Face Unlock and NFC-based Android Beam, the Samsung
Galaxy Nexus has a slightly curved 4.65-inch Super AMOLED screen working
in 720p (1280x720) resolution, a 1.2GHz dual-core CPU, 1GB of RAM and
LTE support (depending on the region). Read More
Brooklyn based inventor Jamie O'Shea has created
the Vertical Bed, which is exactly that - a "bed" that will allow you to
sleep vertically. Whilst the awkward contraption doesn't look as comfy
as what we might imagine a bed to be, it does logistically allow a
person to sleep in a standing position ... and no, we're not sure why
either. Read More
YouTube and Lenovo have joined forces to launch a
global initiative that challenges youngsters to design a science
experiment which can be performed in space. Two winning entries chosen
by a panel of scientists, astronauts and educators - including A Brief History of Time
author professor Stephen Hawking - will have their experiments
conducted by astronauts aboard the International Space Station and live
streamed on YouTube for the world to see. Read More
Drama-filled 2011 World Solar Challenge continues
By Darren Quick
October 18, 2011
Four days into the 2011 World Solar Challenge and
things have proven even more challenging than usual for the
participants. Teams have had to contend with huge road-hogging trucks,
cars catching alight and bushfires that saw the race route closed by
police, leaving the top three teams cooling their heels at an
unscheduled stop at the end of day two while both the vehicles and the
participants recharged their batteries. Read More
When you were a kid, perhaps you and your friends
played with flashlights, chasing each other’s light spots across the
wall – if you were born within the past 20 years, just substitute the
term “laser pointers” for “flashlights.” In either case ... wouldn’t it
have been neat if those spots of light came to life when they met, and
fought with each other? That’s the type of thing that’s now possible
with the prototype SidebySide system, developed by Disney Research,
Pittsburgh, and Carnegie Mellon University. It enables animated images
from two separate handheld projectors to interact with each other on the
any surface. Read More
Circular tower proposed for Taichung City, Taiwan
October 20, 2011
Chicago-based STL Architects is hoping to impact
the identity of Taichung City with its impressive Taiwan Tower concept.
The designs have been submitted as part of the Taiwan Tower competition,
where architects have been challenged to design a monument that would
enhance the urban culture for Taichung citizens. STL's dramatic design
would create a monument in the center of the city in the form of a
circular tower. Read More
The world's deepest subterranean hotel room
October 20, 2011
Deep within the dark tunnels and cavity shafts of
an old Swedish silver mine, guests can sleep in the world's deepest
hotel suite. The Sala Silvermine is located in Sala (120 km/75 miles
from Stockholm) and is believed to date back to the Middle Ages. For a
long period of time the mine was Sweden's largest source of silver, and
is now home to an underground hotel room, dining experience, museum,
live theater and numerous exploration activities. Read More
Had the wicked Queen from Snow White
access to a Cybertecture Mirror, she would have had much more to think
about than who was the fairest in the land. Described as a reflective
window into a digital life, this internet-connected, intelligent mirror
can augment your reflected image with weather and news, check for
messages or social network feeds, let you watch a TV program, give you
information on your state of health and can even act as a personal
exercise coach. Read More
Honda has confirmed that the Crosstourer concept
shown at the 2010 EICMA show in Milan will go into mass production. The
Crosstourer uses the V4 engine from the VFR1200F, plus long travel
suspension, a more upright riding position plus the option of a Dual
Clutch Transmission. Clearly Honda is aiming the Crosstourer at the
adventure marketplace currently dominated by BMW's R1200GS and populated
by the likes of Yamaha's XT1200Z Super Tenere, Ducati's Multistrada, Triumph's Tiger and Suzuki's V-Strom. Just where the bike is positioned in the road-dirt mix with its 1200cc V4 engine is hard to determine just yet. Read More
The Shannon Solo Dumper is an easy-to-operate,
remote-control, four-wheel-drive, high-tipper-dumper with a carrying
capacity of 500 kg (1100 pounds) and remote-control-range of 100 metres
from the operator. Apart from doing a lot of work at cheap rates,
reducing many two person jobs to single person tasks, it significantly
reduces operating risks where there is a risk to the person operating a
traditional drive-on dumper: demolition sites, sites where there is a
threat of falling debris, with a gradient, confined spaces, narrow
access, busy highways, contaminated land, unstable ground, ad infinitum.
The GBP12,750 (US$20,000) Dumper has been so well received that the
Solo Fire Hose (GBP19,500 - US$30,600), Solo Sprayer (GBP13,500 -
US$21,200) and Solo Mower (GBP17,950 - $28,200) have been added to the
range and a portable winch version will soon be added. Read More
Team Tokai has just reached the finish line in
Adelaide, Australia, to become the winner of the 2011 World Solar
Challenge. The victory makes it back-to-back wins for the Japanese team
which took out the previous event in 2009. Read More
If you're looking for a reason to buy an iPhone
3GS as opposed to an iPhone 4, besides the lower price, here's one: it's
technically possible that malware on an iPhone 4 – if that phone were
placed beside its user's computer keyboard – could be used to deduce
what the user was typing. Once that data was stored on the phone, it
could then be transmitted to another party. According to researchers at
the Georgia Institute of Technology, who were able to use one of the
phones for this purpose, any smartphone made within the past two years
should be capable of doing so. Read More
Instant fortresses modified for instant demolition
By David Szondy
October 19, 2011
The manufacturer of a quick-assemble system for
constructing military fortifications in the field has found a simple
solution to the problem of how to deny these fortifications to the enemy
once friendly forces have withdrawn. By making a simple modification to
the systems design, the dismantling of the fortresses becomes literally
as simple as pulling out a pin. Read More
Lytro light field camera unveiled, shipping 2012
By Ben Coxworth
October 19, 2011
So, you’re looking at that one photo you took,
and wishing that the flower in the foreground was in focus instead of
the person behind it? Well it’s no big deal, just go in and shift the
focus. Oh yeah, that’s right, you can’t ... but you will be able to
soon. California-based Lytro, Inc. announced today that its consumer light field camera
is now available for preorder, and should be shipping early next year.
It is the first camera of its kind made for the general public. Read More
SteriPEN Freedom offers USB-powered water purification
By Pawel Piejko
October 21, 2011
Water purifier manufacturer SteriPEN has updated
its lineup of portable products, with a UV-based unit called the
SteriPEN Freedom. Billed as the smallest, lightest and first
rechargeable UV water purifier on the market, it disinfects up to 16 oz
(0.5 L) of water in 48 seconds. Read More
Can you imagine the power of 50,000 steps a day?
Well, Laurence Kembell-Cook, the director of Pavegen Systems imagined it
and created Pavegen tiles - a low carbon solution that aims to bring kinetic energy harvesting
to the streets. Not surprisingly, the tile is receiving a great deal of
attention as a solution for power-hungry cities with a lot of walking
traffic. Read More
DNA is often referred to as the building block of
life. Now scientists from Imperial College London have demonstrated
that DNA (and bacteria) can be used to create the fundamental building
blocks of a computer - logic gates. Using DNA and harmless gut bacteria,
the scientists have built what they claim are the most advanced
biological logic gates ever created by scientists. The research could
lead to the development of a new generation of microscopic biological
computing devices that, amongst other things, could travel around the
body cleaning arteries and destroying cancers. Read More
MobileMinder app keeps an extra eye on children
By Bryan Clark
October 21, 2011
Realizing that the huge demand for parental
monitoring programs for computers could also apply to phones,
Dublin-based mobile web service company Associate Mobile has developed
MobileMinder - a smartphone application running on a secure and
encrypted network that allows parents to monitor their child's location,
contacts, call history, photos, and web use. Read More
A group of MIT researchers has developed a radar
that provides a video of what is happening behind a concrete wall. Just
like any other radar, the device emits radio waves that bounce off
objects and analyzes the return signal. Dr. Gregory Charvat and his
colleagues from MIT's Lincoln Laboratory estimate that penetrating an
8-inch thick concrete wall is possible from a maximum distance of
approximately 60 feet (18,3 m). The 99.9975 percent of the signal that
returns to the radar after bouncing off the wall is disregarded. The
remaining part that made it through the wall and back is amplified and
used to generate a real-time, 10.8 frames per second visualization of
the targets on the other side. Read More
Sports Tracker ships Bluetooth Heart Rate Monitor
By Bryan Clark
October 20, 2011
Sports Tracker is now shipping its Bluetooth
Heart Rate Monitor, a chest-worn unit that pairs with a smartphone app
for viewing stats in real-time as well as storing your data on the
company website or sharing it with others through social media. Read More
Fisker Automotive's Karma sedan PHEV finally on sale
By Darren Quick
October 20, 2011
Having unveiled the Fisker Karma at NAIAS 2008,
Fisker Automotive had originally intended to begin sales of the Plug-in
Hybrid Electric Vehicle (PHEV) in late 2009, but funding setbacks saw
the car’s launch date delayed several times.
With the first deliveries to fulfill early customer orders taking place
in late July this year, the wait is now finally over for U.S. retail
customers with the 2012 model year Karma sedan hitting showroom floors
after the vehicle received certification from the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) last week. Read More
Appealing though general-purpose humanoid robots
like C-3PO may be to many of us, real-life robots are usually most
effective when they're designed for one specific purpose. In some
situations, however, that purpose might not be known until the robot is
in the field - at a disaster site, for instance, an autonomous robot
might discover that it needs to squirm through debris, even though it
wasn't designed to do so. One attempted solution to this problem has
involved creating modular robots,
that can take themselves apart and then reconfigure themselves as
needed. Scientists from the University of Pennsylvania's Modular
Robotics Laboratory, however, are taking a slightly different approach.
They've created a robot that can build other purpose-specific robots, using electromechanical modules and self-hardening foam. Read More
UK-based chip manufacturer ARM has announced its
most energy efficient CPU for portable electronics, called the Cortex
A7, which will succeed the Cortex A8 CPU. The new arrival is designed to
work as a stand-alone CPU in entry-level devices, and requires twenty
percent the energy of its predecessor while offering twice the
performance. High-end smartphones and tablets will also utilize the A7
as an additional source of computing power for less demanding tasks,
with main processing provided by the upcoming ARM Cortex A15. Such a
combination is dubbed big.LITTLE Processing. Read More
Now that we’re moving towards automated orange-sorting and autonomous tractors,
what might be the next step in replacing human agricultural workers
with machines? Well, how about robotic strawberry pickers? That’s what
scientists from the UK’s National Physical Laboratory (NPL) say could be
on the way, thanks to a system that is able to identify ripe
strawberries in the field. Read More
Science fiction movies would have us believe that, in the future, pills (or possibly green wafers)
will meet all our nutritional needs, but Harvard professor David
Edwards sees things a little differently. Having already introduced the Le Whif
chocolate inhaler, Edwards has now turned his attention to the world's
most widely consumed psychoactive drug - caffeine. The AeroShot Pure
Energy delivers a fine powder containing vitamin B and 100 mg of
caffeine that dissolves instantly in the mouth. That's around the same
amount of caffeine found in one large cup of coffee ... without the
calories or coffee breath. Read More
Satellites are very expensive to put into orbit.
This is because the parts that they're built from are costly to make,
but also because it requires so much energy to lift their considerable
weight off the Earth's surface. It would then follow that satellites
would cost less if they could use salvaged parts, and if they were
lighter when lifting off from the launch pad. That's where DARPA's
proposed Phoenix program comes into play. It would see a purpose-built
spacecraft removing usable parts from the plethora of "dead" satellites
currently in orbit, then leaving those parts for attachment to
newly-arriving satellites. Read More
OCZ releases world's first terabyte 2.5-inch SSD
By Darren Quick
October 23, 2011
If you’re like me, you’re waiting for storage
capacities to increase and prices to decrease before ditching the
traditional platter-based hard drive and jumping on the SSD (solid-state
drive) train to take advantage of lower power consumption and faster
boot up and access times. Having already released the world’s first 3.5-inch 1 TB SSD
in 2009, OCZ has now removed the capacity hurdle for laptops with the
release of the world’s first 2.5-inch SSD that is available in
capacities up to 1 TB. Read More
Maglev trains have been in development since
before Luke Skywalker drove his first Land Speeder but, like personal
rocket packs, the idea of levitating transport is taking a while to
catch on. While this "quantum levitation" demonstration shown by the
superconductivity group at Tel Aviv University at the 2011 ASTC annual
conference in Baltimore doesn't mean we'll all be floating to work
anytime soon, it does remind us of the amazing potential of this kind of
technology. Read More
Canada's 4iiii Innovations has developed a Head
Up Display for athletes that can be mounted on virtually all glasses
thanks to included universal attachment points, so there's no need to
stop wearing your favorite pair of sport sunglasses. Sportiiiis -
pronounced "sport-eyes" - receives crucial performance data from any
paired monitoring device via ANT+ wireless technology, compares actual
performance with desired workout zone parameters and then feeds
real-time indicators back to the user via colored LED lights and audio
updates. Read More
BAE Systems to provide new helmet display for F-35 pilots
By David Szondy
October 21, 2011
When it enters service, the F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter
will lay claim to the title of the most advanced warplane in the world.
Its pilots will have the most advanced helmets as well ... and there's
more to it than protecting the pilot's head against knocks.
Unfortunately, the gap between designing the helmet and building it has
proven wider than originally thought and issues such as poor image
quality are so severe that the F35's testing program faces serious
delays, so F-35 prime contractor Lockheed Martin brought in BAE Systems
to provide a substitute. Read More
New touchscreen tech recognizes different parts of the finger
By Ben Coxworth
October 21, 2011
Small touchscreen devices such smartphones
certainly have their attractions, but they also have one drawback –
there isn’t much room on their little screens for touch-sensitive
features. This means that users will sometimes instead have to go into
sub-menus, or make do with jabbing their fingers at tiny controls.
Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University’s Human-Computer Interaction
Institute, however, are working on an alternative. Their prototype
TapSense system can differentiate between screen taps from different
parts of the finger, and will perform different tasks accordingly. Read More
Lazer Stunt Chasers pursue a spot of light across your floor
By Ben Coxworth
October 21, 2011
If you have both a laser pointer and either a cat
or a dog in your home, you probably know how much fun it can be to
watch your critter chasing after the laser light point on the floor. If
you don’t have any pets, however, now there’s something else that will
chase a laser for you – a toy car. Thinkway Toys’ Lazer Stunt Chaser is a
remote-control vehicle that goes wherever its user shines its laser
light controller. Oh yeah, and its wheels light up, too. Read More
Crayola Trace and Draw case lets kids create art with an iPad 2
By Pawel Piejko
October 21, 2011
While a tablet can be a great toy for kids, it's best to give little Johnny the likes of a VINCI Tab or a LeapPad,
instead of your precious iPad 2. Otherwise, a kid-resistant tablet case
may prove useful. The Crayola Trace & Draw case not only protects
the iPad from children, but actually encourages toddlers to treat the
tablet as a coloring book or a drawing board. Read More
Proposed alarm clock would only wake users up once they were ready
By Ben Coxworth
October 21, 2011
Have you ever noticed how your alarm clock
sometimes wakes you up in a much more jarring fashion than usual? That’s
because on those occasions, you happen to be in one of the deeper
states of sleep when it goes off. Not only is it more difficult to wake
from these states, but people who do so also end up feeling less
rejuvenated by their time in the sack. Scientists in India, however,
think they may be on their way to designing an alarm clock that only
wakes you up when the time is right. Read More
New method may lead to improved detection of nuclear materials
October 24, 2011
Scientists at Northwestern University, Illinois,
have outlined a new method for detecting electromagnetic radiation at
the high energy end of the spectrum. The work could lead to the
development of a small, hand held device able to detect this "hard
radiation" and has implications for the detection of radioactive
materials which could potentially be employed in terrorist weapons, such as nuclear bombs or radiological dispersion devices, as well as materials employed in clandestine nuclear programs. Read More
Solar Ship: The hybrid airship with a low-carbon twist
By Darren Quick
October 24, 2011
In recent times there's been a resurgence of
interest in airships for military and commercial uses as evidenced by
Lockheed Martin's High Altitude Long Endurance-Demonstrator (HALE-D) and Hybrid Air Vehicles heavy-lift variant of Northrop Grumman's Long-Endurance Multi-Intelligence Vehicle
(LEMV). Like HAV's design, this concept from Canadian company Solar
Ship is a hybrid airship that relies on aerodynamics to help provide
lift, and like the HALE-D, it would have its top surface area covered in
solar cells to provide energy and minimize its carbon footprint. Read More
Cooper bicycles: Retro rides for the urban commuter
By Ben Coxworth
October 24, 2011
The Cooper name is probably best-known for its
revolutionary 1950s and 60s Formula 1 and Indy race cars, or for its
association with both the original and current versions of the Mini Cooper. Following in the tire treads of other high-performance auto brands (such as Porsche and BMW),
in recent times the British company has turned its hand to bicycles.
While it might be reasonable to expect its creations to be
race-oriented, Cooper Bikes has instead decided to focus on speedy urban
commuters - all of them featuring gloriously retro Reynolds steel
frames. Read More
Doxie Go standalone portable scanner syncs with iOS devices
October 24, 2011
Apparent is updating its line of portable
scanners with the Doxie Go, a lightweight, standalone unit with enough
on board storage for up to 600 pages or 2400 photos and the ability to
scan directly to an external drive or sync scans to iPad and iPhone
without the need for a computer escort. Read More
Scientists enlist viruses to help build biomaterials
By Ben Coxworth
October 24, 2011
It’s one of those enduring mysteries of nature –
how can one biological substance end up becoming several different types
of material? One example is collagen, a fibrous protein that can be
made into body parts such as corneal tissue, cartilage, bone, and skin.
In an effort to better understand such processes, scientists at the
University of California at Berkeley decided to see if they could
manipulate another biological building block into forming itself into
different materials. They succeeded, using viruses known as M13 phages.
Read More
Remote-controlled unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs) have proven exceptionally useful in military applications,
but according to Swedish company Rotundus, they can be equally well
applied to civil security. Rolling through mud, sand, snow, or even
floating in the water, the Rotundus GroundBot spherically-shaped robot
is equipped with a pair of cameras, providing its remote operator with a
live video feed in 3D. Read More
Even though much ado has been made about the high
quality of the iPhone 4’s camera, when it comes down to it, it’s still a
point-and-shoot. As such, photos taken with it tend to have a fairly
deep depth-of-field – that’s nice for getting as many things in focus as
possible, but not great for getting those fuzzy-background
professional-looking portraits and artsy shots. One solution is to use
something like the iPhone SLR Mount,
which lets you use SLR lenses on your smartphone’s camera. A much less
costly alternative, however, is to use Reallusion’s Big Lens app. Read More
Microsoft HoloDesk lets users handle virtual 3D objects
By Paul Ridden
October 24, 2011
Does anyone remember the animated version of Star Trek
from the 1970s? The Emmy-Award-winning series was the very first outing
for the now familiar Holodeck, although it was called the recreation
room back then. Despite some landmark advances in holographic technology
in the years since - such as the University of Tokyo's Airborne Ultrasound Tactile Display
- nothing has come close to offering the kind of physical interactivity
with virtual objects in a 3D environment promised by the collective
imaginations of sci-fi writers of the past. While we're not at the
Holodeck level just yet, members of the Sensors and Devices group at
Microsoft Research have developed a new system called HoloDesk that
allows users to pick up, move and even shoot virtual 3D objects, plus
the system recognizes and responds to the presence of inanimate
real-world objects like a sheet of paper or an upturned cup. Read More
If you've been holding off on getting a GoPro HD HERO
actioncam ... well, you were right to wait. Today, the California-based
company announced the release of its HD HERO2 camera, which is claimed
to be "2X as Powerful in Every Way." More specifically, it has an
11-megapixel image sensor (as opposed to the regular camera's 5 mp),
along with a new processor that is said to be twice as fast, and a
redesigned lens that GoPro claims is both twice as sharp and
capable of a complete 170-degree field of view even in widescreen 1080p
mode. There's also good news for consumers who think the existing HD
HERO is all the camera they need. Read More
Manned version of X-37 space plane in the works?
By David Szondy
October 23, 2011
When the Space Shuttle Atlantis
touched down for the final time on July 21, 2011, it looked as if the
notion of a manned spacecraft capable of going into orbit and then
landing like a conventional airplane had been abandoned. The US
government appears to be in favor of returning to Apollo-style space capsules
with anything like the Shuttles being relegated to the private sector.
But at the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics' (AIAA)
recent Space 2011 conference, Arthur Grantz, chief engineer of Space and
Intelligence Systems' Experimental Systems Group at Boeing, delivered a
paper indicating that the U.S. Air Force and Boeing are already on the
way toward developing a manned Shuttle replacement based on the X-37B robot space plane. Read More
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