Home owners looking to embrace solar but
concerned about the effect slabs of solar panels will have on the look
of their house may soon have an option that blends the old with the new.
California-based company Solar3D has announced it is conducting a study
to explore the potential for integrating its solar cells directly into
roof tiles. While conventional solar cells aren’t really suitable for
roof tiles due to their fixed orientation, Solar3D believes its 3D solar
cell technology could make such a product feasible. Read More
When you think of wireless charging, the
JuiceTank iPhone case probably isn't what springs to mind. The new
smartphone case from phone accessory maker, Dedicated, features a
collapsible electrical plug on the back that fits into any North
American wall socket. Connecting the JuiceTank case to a phone not only
gives it solid protection without much bulk, but also ensures you'll
always have a "cordless" charger with you. Read More
Despite solid state drives
increasing in capacity in recent years, the humble platter-based
3.5-inch hard drive still reigns supreme as the data storage device to
beat in terms of bits for your buck. But if traditional drives are going
to meet user’s ever-increasing data storage demands they will need to
improve on the maximum 620 gigabits per square inch storage densities
currently possible in platter based 3.5-inch drives. That’s just what
Seagate has demonstrated with new technology that has achieved a
milestone storage density of 1 terabit per square inch. Read More
Daring Austrian base-jumper and skydiver Felix
Baumgartner is aiming to break a record that has stood for almost 52
years. In fact he is aiming to break four long established records,
starting with world's highest manned balloon flight (120,000 feet or
36,576 meters) highest skydive (currently 102,000 feet ) and the longest
freefall, which may well see him break the sound barrier as he plummets
for nearly 23 miles (37 km) towards Earth. Last week Baumgartner jumped
from 71,581 feet in the first manned flight test by the Red Bull Stratos project, but to reach its ultimate goal the team must beat Joe Kittinger's record for the highest freefall set in August, 1960. Read More
While there have been – and continue to be – numerous studies examining the effects of radiation from mobile phones
on users, Yale School of Medicine researchers have looked at the
possible effects on fetuses of mobile phone use by pregnant mothers.
According to the study, mobile phone radiation exposure in the womb can
affect the brain development of offspring and potentially lead to
behavioral disorders such as hyperactivity. Read More
When you're learning how to use a
complex device, there’s nothing like getting some hands on play time.
When it comes to CT (Computed Tomography) scanners, however, it’s often
difficult to find a time when they’re not being used on patients. That’s
why two biophysics professors at Canada’s Western University invented
the DeskCAT. It’s a miniature CT scanner that’s small enough to sit on a
desk, so it can be used in medical school classrooms. Read More 
More than six years ago, Subaru and Toyota
entered into a cooperative agreement. In 2009, that relationship bore
its first concept - the Toyota FT-86. Both automakers showed the
production versions of their respective sports coupes last year, and
Subaru has officially kicked off production on the models. In about two
more months, car buyers will be able to get their hands on them. Read More
People like their smartphones and,
well, they also tend to like their babies – so, it shouldn’t come as a
big surprise that we’re seeing an increasing number of baby monitors
that transmit live video to parents’ phones. Recent examples have
included the Smart Baby Monitor and BabyPing.
The iDevice-based iBaby is the latest such system, although it’s
notable in that instead of just offering a locked-off shot, the camera
can be remotely panned and tilted. Read More 
For the predicted hydrogen economy to become a
reality, fuel cells must become more efficient and cost effective.
Researchers from the University of Central Florida (UCF) claim to have
addressed both these problems by creating a sandwich-like structure that
allows more abundant materials to be used as catalysts in hydrogen fuel
cells. Read More
With the space shuttle program now officially
over, the United States needs a new reusable vehicle for getting
supplies to and from the International Space Station. NASA is
considering the Dragon spacecraft, designed by California-based SpaceX
Exploration Technologies, to take over that role. The Dragon’s scheduled
late March/early April test flight to the ISS will be unmanned,
utilizing a cargo configuration of the spacecraft. Last Friday, however,
SpaceX released photographs of an engineering model of of its planned
seven-passenger crew cabin, complete with a crew that included real live
astronauts. Read More
In April of 2010, we told you about Los Angeles-based electric vehicle manufacturer CODA,
which hoped to have its EVs in the driveways of Californians by the end
of that year. Well, it may have taken a little longer than planned, but
the company is now at a point that various other start-ups in its
industry have never reached – it’s delivering cars to its first
costumers. Read More
Mountain bikers, hikers and other
adventurers wishing to record their outings on video now have another
camcorder at their disposal – Sony’s Bloggie Sport HD. It’s a ruggedized
(yes, that’s a word) version of the company’s existing Bloggie camera, and continues with the line’s smartphone-like form, which includes a 2.7-inch touchscreen display. Read More
Ayrton Senna is one of the greatest
F1 drivers of all time and his premature 1994 death created a scarcity
which is driving memorabilia prices skyward. Earlier this year an
ex-Senna helmet fetched US$100,000 at auction and now the car he drove
in his debut season is to go to auction - the same car in which Senna
drove his way into legend at the wet 1984 Monaco GP. Read More
The intriguingly named Anti Bottle
just got updated. The new Element is purpose built large for the
thirstiest customers and features a couple of updates from the original
Anti Bottle models. It is the largest Anti Bottle yet, coming in 0.7
liter (24 oz) and one liter (34 oz) sizes, with a wide mouth "SuperCap"
to deliver that extra fluid to your body more quickly. It also gets a
stronger attachment clip designed to better hold on to your backpack
during intense workouts. Read More
"Human Birdwings" creator Jarno
Smeets and his Android-powered, mechanically-assisted flying machine are
creating a stir again. Gizmag originally reported on Smeets' effort to
fly like a bird when he posted a video of his first test flight, in
which he appeared to hang in the air a few feet off the ground for a
second or two. In the video of his latest attempt, he's shown soaring
around in the air, and a lively debate over the validity of the video is
already heating up. Read More
PhatBlox hardware is designed to
give longboarders a new level of control and adjustability on their
board. It's also designed to give heavier riders the support that they
need. The hardware installs around the trucks and lets boarders make
adjustments that fine-tune their ride for the dynamics of the day. Read More
NASA has announced it will use a modular,
unmanned flight research vehicle being built by Lockheed Martin for the
Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) to test enabling technologies for
new kinds of lightweight, energy-efficient, flexible aircraft. The small
aircraft, dubbed the X-56A, will be used to explore ways to suppress
vibrations and alleviate the load on flexible aircraft from wind gusts
and atmospheric turbulence. Read More
You gotta feel sorry for drummers in rock bands.
While the guitarists and singers get to run all over the stage, they’re
just stuck in the back, sitting on their stool. Well, Canadian inventor
Charlie Rose set out to change that. The result is Boingy Boingy – a
drum set suspended in mid-air by car springs, that lurches around like a
mechanical bull as it’s being played ... as can be seen in the video at
the end of the article, it’s definitely entertaining. Read More
The stock ticker was invented around 150 years
ago and was still in use as recently as the late 1960s, when computers
and television caused its obsolescence. It kept traders up to speed on
the latest prices in readable text on a thin strip of paper and, by
necessity, messages were very short. These days, many of us receive
short news updates via Twitter on a computer or smartphone screen. Adam
Vaughan's Twittertape Machine elegantly brings those two worlds together
in a device that connects to his Twitter account via Ethernet, checks
for updates twice every minute, and prints out a hard copy of any new
Tweets without the need for printer ink. Read More
In April of 2010, we told you about Los Angeles-based electric vehicle manufacturer CODA,
which hoped to have its EVs in the driveways of Californians by the end
of that year. Well, it may have taken a little longer than planned, but
the company is now at a point that various other start-ups in its
industry have never reached – it’s delivering cars to its first
costumers. Read More
At the risk of showing my age, I can remember the excitement when Pong
first made its way from the arcade machine onto our TV screens. By
today's standards of course, Atari's first game development is very
primitive indeed, but back then it was something of a revolution. Now,
the company is hoping to attract a new generation of fans to its
legendary game by inviting mobile game developers to come up with a
modern take on the wonderfully addictive table tennis classic. The
winner of its Pong Indie Developer Challenge will receive a cash prize
and a share of the game's profit. Read More
The Ecogroomer is a new grooming solution for ski
slopes that aims to cut fuel consumption and costs. The system consists
of augmentative grooming units that make standard groomers more
efficient than ever before. Read More
It's been said that nothing exceeds like excess,
and Hublot's unique diamond-crusted Big Bang watch certainly fits the
bill. The company claims that the watch is the most "precious" timepiece
it's ever created in its 32-year history (Hublot, which means porthole in French, was founded by Carlo Crocco in 1980). Indeed, if there's a more expensive watch in existence, we have yet to see it. Read More
Researchers at the University of Sheffield have
created what sounds impossible - even nonsensical: an experimental
electron microscope without lenses that not only works, but is orders of
magnitude more powerful than current models. By means of a new form of
mathematical analysis, scientists can take the meaningless patterns of
dots and circles created by the lens-less microscope and create images
that are of high resolution and contrast and, potentially, up to 100
times greater magnification. Read More
For people who wouldn’t otherwise ride a bike, or
who don’t want to arrive at work all hot and sweaty, electric-assist
bicycles are a neat idea. Commonly referred to as pedelecs (for
“pedal-electric”), they use an electric motor to augment the rider’s own
body strength while pedaling, yet that motor can usually be switched
off when they don’t need it. The only problem with that setup ... even
when the motor isn’t being used, it and its battery are still there,
weighing the bike down. For his prototype Velocity pedelec, however,
Taiwanese designer Larry Chen came up with a creative solution – an
easily-removable motor/battery unit. It was enough to win him a gold
award at the latest International Bicycle Design Competition in Taiwan.
Read More
Teaser shots have appeared on Citroen's Facebook page
for a new as-yet-unnamed vehicle. The French giant has successfully
reprized its successful DS name into a whole series - so far we have the
DS3, DS4 and DS5. Back in 2010, Citroen created a special car just
for the Shanghai World Fair - the Metropolis Concept appeared nowhere
else. The Metropolis Concept looks a lot like the teaser pics
(comparisons inside) and it's our bet that it will become the DS6
sometime later this year - probably at the Paris Motor Show in
September. Read More
Smith Electric Vehicles has announced the start
of production of a new electric walk-in delivery van developed in
collaboration with Indiana-based Utilimaster. Incorporating Smith's
proprietary drive and control, battery management and remote system
monitoring technologies, the zero-emission Newton Step Van is said to
offer a range of around 100 miles (160 km) on a single charge of its
Lithium-ion batteries. The first company to deploy the new vehicle in
the U.S. will be FedEx Express, the world's largest express
transportation company. Read More
Mountain bikers, hikers and other
adventurers wishing to record their outings on video now have another
camcorder at their disposal – Sony’s Bloggie Sport HD. It’s a ruggedized
(yes, that’s a word) version of the company’s existing Bloggie camera, and continues with the line’s smartphone-like form, which includes a 2.7-inch touchscreen display. Read More
While it’s generally accepted that memories are
stored somewhere, somehow in our brains, the exact process has never
been entirely understood. Strengthened synaptic connections between
neurons definitely have something to do with it, although the synaptic
membranes involved are constantly degrading and being replaced – this
seems to be somewhat at odds with the fact that some memories can last
for a person’s lifetime. Now, a team of scientists believe that they may
have figured out what’s going on. Their findings could have huge
implications for the treatment of diseases such as Alzheimer's. Read More
The Scrubba - the world's smallest washing machine
By Mike Hanlon
March 21, 2012
The Scrubba wash bag is a portable pocket-sized
washing machine weighing 180 g (6.34 oz). The idea for the Scrubba came
when inventor Ashley Newland was preparing to climb Mt Kilimanjaro. "I
realized that I would only be able to take a few changes of clothing and
would have to wash them regularly. While waterproof bags can be used to
soak clothing, they really aren’t very efficient. It was then that I
had the revelation that washboards have been around for centuries and
they work!" Ashley has now incorporated a flexible washboard into a
sealable bag, and hopes to change the way travelers wash their clothes.
Read More
Ayrton Senna is one of the greatest
F1 drivers of all time and his premature 1994 death created a scarcity
which is driving memorabilia prices skyward. Earlier this year an
ex-Senna helmet fetched US$100,000 at auction and now the car he drove
in his debut season is to go to auction - the same car in which Senna
drove his way into legend at the wet 1984 Monaco GP. Read More
Researchers have created a silicone submarinal
robot that gets about by mimicking the motion of a jellyfish. The robot
is powered by heat-producing reactions catalyzed by its surface, and
using hydrogen and oxygen present in the water as fuel. It's claimed
that that the Robojelly, so named by its Virginia Tech creators, could
run indefinitely, effectively drawing energy from the water in which it
swims. Read More
German gaming peripheral specialist ROCCAT
Studios has developed a new system which leverages smartphone technology
to enhance the experience of PC gaming. As well as being able to use a
smartphone to store and activate gameplay buttons, Power-Grid technology
also allows users to wirelessly control PC settings from the mobile
device, display vital system performance data and keep in touch with the
real world - all while staying fully absorbed in the game. Read More
From the soaring heights of Denali (Mount
McKinley) to surreal slot canyons chiseled below the earth's surface,
the National Park System comprises some of the most stunning,
superlative lands in the United States. To explore all of them would
take an incredible amount of time and resources, but the new Nature
Valley Trail View website is making it a little easier. Read More
Fans of the classic 1982 science fiction movie Blade Runner
will remember the ESPER machine that allows Deckard to zoom in and see
around corners in a two-dimensional photograph. While such technology is
still some way off, researchers in MIT’s Media Lab have developed a
system using a femtosecond laser that can reproduce low-resolution 3D
images of objects that lie outside a camera’s line of sight. Read More
The intriguingly named Anti Bottle
just got updated. The new Element is purpose built large for the
thirstiest customers and features a couple of updates from the original
Anti Bottle models. It is the largest Anti Bottle yet, coming in 0.7
liter (24 oz) and one liter (34 oz) sizes, with a wide mouth "SuperCap"
to deliver that extra fluid to your body more quickly. It also gets a
stronger attachment clip designed to better hold on to your backpack
during intense workouts. Read More
In the last two years, UK coatings specialist
Zircotec has helped 10 of the 12 Formula One teams to protect their
composite diffusers from exhaust gasses via the use of ceramic coatings.
To do so, it created a coating that allows composites to function in
temperatures above their melting point! This year, its engineers have
been busy on a new challenge, as debris from tires has been causing
build-up on aerodynamic surfaces which has been reducing down-force.
Read More
Late last year we ran a story on the mysterious Antikythera mechanism
- and Hublot's attempt to recreate it in wristwatch form. The article
went on to be one of the highest rating Gizmag stories of all time due
to its thoroughly remarkable subject and the fascinating adventure story
that brought this piece of ancient genius into the modern world. The
wristwatch version looked pretty snappy, too - and if you wanted to get
your hands on one, here's your chance! Only four have been built, with
three headed to various European museums, but the fourth is up for
auction. We doubt it will go cheap. Read More
EH Line calls its top-of-the-line Street Racer
the "Ferrari" of its electric bike range. The 250 kw e-bike has a
beautiful aluminum monocoque chassis and Bionx power sensing technology
which offers eight levels of rider support - from an additional 300% of
the muscle power the rider puts in, through to recharging the battery
and even simulating gradients during flat road training. It also has
Ferrari-class pricing which begins at EUR6,990 (US$9,250) ... and if
you're in any doubt as to how good an aluminum monocoque can look
painted in different ways, see the gallery. Read More
Sony has developed a power outlet that can
identify devices plugged into it, as well as individuals using the plug.
The company says such technology could allow the electricity usage of
individual devices to be monitored so non-essential devices could be
switched off remotely in the event of limited electricity supply, or for
the billing of customers charging their electric vehicles or mobile
devices in public places. Read More
Despite its square, bulky build, GoPro does very
well in the action cam market. So it's not all too surprising to see
another competitor cloning the GoPro's form factor in its own HD action
camera. The CamOne Infinity is more than just a GoPro knockoff, though -
it offers some serious features rolled up into a compact package,
including an interchangeable lens system. Read More
The Pirate Bay has announced that it may soon
take to the skies in its ongoing efforts to avoid the authorities.
Various governments and legal teams across the globe have had the
file-sharing website in their cross-hairs for several years now, which
has prompted the site in the past to relocate its main operations to a
secret location and to switch to only hosting magnet links for torrents.
Now the site is seriously considering sending out a fleet of drones
fitted with server stations that will hover several kilometers above
ground and broadcast through radio transmitters at all times, making it
even more difficult to shut down. Read More
The verdict is in: the new iPad has a brilliant
display. Unsurprisingly, quadrupling the number of pixels on a display
allows it to output crisper text and sharper images. Unfortunately, the
rest of the hardware (and content creators) might be playing catch up
for the next few years as Retina-caliber displays become cost effective
to produce in larger sizes. Read More
In November 2011, Swiss luxury watchmaker Hublot
announced a partnership with Ferrari that saw it become the official
timekeeper for the Italian marque. The agreement also included the
production of a “Ferrari Official Watch,” and that watch was revealed at
Baselworld earlier this month. The Big Bang Ferrari marks the first
evolution of Hublot’s Big Bang design – which can be seen in the US$5 million diamond-encrusted Big Bang - since it was launched in 2005 and features a new scratch-resistant “Magic Gold” material developed by Hublot. Read More
"Human Birdwings" creator Jarno
Smeets and his Android-powered, mechanically-assisted flying machine are
creating a stir again. Gizmag originally reported on Smeets' effort to
fly like a bird when he posted a video of his first test flight, in
which he appeared to hang in the air a few feet off the ground for a
second or two. In the video of his latest attempt, he's shown soaring
around in the air, and a lively debate over the validity of the video is
already heating up. Read More
Ask someone to picture a robotic roving vehicle,
and chances are they’ll think of something with wheels, like the Mars
Rover. If an alien civilization were sending a craft to explore Earth,
however, they might be better off using a boat – after all, the majority
of our planet’s surface is covered with water. Saturn’s largest moon,
Titan, similarly has a pretty wet surface, as it contains lakes of
liquid hydrocarbon. Wolfgang Fink, an engineer with the University of
Arizona, has designed an aquatic rover for exploring those lakes. Read More
Mercedes’ high performance AMG division has been busy in recent months, with the launch of the SL 63 AMG and announcement that its SLS AMG E-Cell Gullwing
has gotten a production nod. Now, with the weather warming up in the
northern hemisphere, AMG has unveiled its new roadster, the
Mercedes-Benz SL 65 AMG. Powered by a 6.0-liter V12 biturbo engine
developing a max output of 463 kW (630 hp) and max torque of 1,000 Nm,
the new SL 65 AMG boasts an electronically limited top speed of 250 km/h
(155 mph), a 0-100 km/h (62 mph) time of four seconds, and 0-200 km/h
(124 mph) time of 11.8 seconds. Read More
PhatBlox hardware is designed to
give longboarders a new level of control and adjustability on their
board. It's also designed to give heavier riders the support that they
need. The hardware installs around the trucks and lets boarders make
adjustments that fine-tune their ride for the dynamics of the day. Read More
What if you take the world's most iconic jock and
install the brains of some of the smartest tech nerds on the planet?
Well, you get the Micro-Stang by West Coast Customs (WCC) and Microsoft.
The custom car is the epitome of old meets new, taking the timeless
looks of a 1967 Mustang and updating it with all kinds of cutting edge
technology that the average Mustang - whether from 1967 or 2012 - will
never have. Read More
Neurons, the nerve cells that send and receive
electrical signals within the body, are one of those things that most of
us probably don’t give a lot of thought to. Educational entrepreneurs
Timothy Marzullo and Gregory Gage, however, think about them a lot. They
think about them so much, in fact, that they’ve designed a gadget that
lets anyone listen to the neural electrical activity of bugs, and
conduct a series of interesting experiments. It’s called the SpikerBox,
and oh yeah – in order to use it, you have to take the leg off of a
cockroach. Read More
Women will sometimes sacrifice the comfort and
well-being of their feet, in order to wear fashionable shoes – it’s
reached the point of becoming a TV sit-com cliché. The European
ShopInstantShoe consortium, however, is looking to put an end to that
scenario. No, the group doesn’t want to ban fashionable shoes, but it
has been developing technology for making them more wearer-friendly. The
result is a system that could be installed in shoe stores, which would
allow women to get shoes custom-fitted to their feet, on the spot. Read More
Gamers and overclockers will already be familiar
with the performance and quiet operation benefits of liquid-cooling the
internal components of desktop computer systems. Power users these days
are not necessarily sitting in front of the beige base tower of old,
however – other formats like the All-in-One and laptops have benefited
from significant processing, memory and storage boosts in recent years.
We've already seen
liquid-cooling specialist Asetek squeeze its technology into a
2.28-inch thick All-in-One prototype, but now the company has developed a
slim liquid cooling system for notebooks that's said to improve
acoustic and thermal performance without increasing the form factor.
Read More
Scientists have succeeded in endowing graphene
with yet another useful property. Already, it is the thinnest, strongest
and stiffest material ever measured, while also proving to be an
excellent conductor of heat and electricity. These qualities have
allowed it to find use in everything from transistors to supercapacitors to anti-corrosion coatings.
Now, two materials engineers from Stanford University have used
computer models to show how it could also be turned into a piezoelectric
material – this means that it could generate electricity when
mechanically stressed, or change shape when subjected to an electric
current. Read More
One of the stars of the Palm Beach International
Boat Show which began today is the Italian Wider 42 footer, with Wider
being both an appropriate adjective and the master brand name. The Wider
works ingeniously in that you can activate mobile extensions either
side of the hull, double the deck area and give the boat complete
stability, all at the press of a button. Read More
Commodore USA unveils Amiga Mini, updated range
March 22, 2012
Commodore USA has unveiled its first
Amiga-branded personal computer. The Amiga mini borrows Mac Mini
stylings but packs a hefty punch into the compact package. An updated
range also accommodates the lower spec Commodore VIC mini. Updates to
the VIC-Slim keyboard-PC and C64x complete the new range. Read More
Within the Lusatian Lake District in Germany,
lies the unique Lausitz Geierswald Resort with its collection of
floating residences. Designed by the German architectural firm
Steeltec37, the floating village includes a collection of modular
buildings designed to offer sustainable living and lakeside luxury. Read More
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