Fuel cell cars
have come one step closer to practicality with researchers from
Indiana’s Purdue University announcing a new process for the generation
and storage of hydrogen. The process is called hydrothermolysis, and is a
combination of hydrolysis and thermolysis – the two prevalent methods
of hydrogen generation that some scientists consider impractical for use
in automobiles. The new process utilizes powdered ammonia borane, a
chemical that has one of the highest hydrogen yields of any solid
substance. Read More
Luke Skywalker/Steve Austin-like bionic hands
might seem like something straight out of... well, science fiction, but
they’re most definitely not. There are now actually several companies competing
to sell hands that can perform complex, independent-fingered tasks, and
that can even return a sense of touch to the amputee user. In the
recent past, we’ve told you about several of these devices, including
the iLimb, the SmartHand, and the CYBERHAND.
Recently, British company RSLSteeper officially threw its hat (or
glove?) into the ring, with the unveiling of its bebionic myo-electric
hand. Read More
A new member of the Xperia smartphone family has just been announced by Sony Ericsson.
The Xperia X8 is said to take the best features from the X10 and the
Mini's, but will be introduced at a wallet-friendly price point. Amongst
the Android-running smartphone's ease-of-use features are a one-touch
application launch menu, a combined social networking timeline, and a
camera with direct upload to Facebook. Read More
Toshiba has gone with the adage that two screens
are better than one with its new libretto W100 ultra mobile PC (UMPC).
Featuring dual 7-inch diagonal dual-touch LCD screens, the clamshell
form factor W100 opens up to provide the equivalent of a 10-inch wide
screen display that allows the desktop to be extended over both screens,
different applications to be displayed on either screen, or one screen
to be used for the virtual keyboard. The device can also be used as a
netbook in the horizontal orientation, or flipped on its side for
reading ebooks. Read More
We've seen UV sanitizing solutions for keyboards,
but what about your germ-ridden mobile phone? Violight, a company that
specializes in toothbrush sanitizers, is set to release what's billed as
the "first ever UV cell phone sanitizer." The process is simple – place
your smartphone, PDA, MP3 player, Blutooth headset or earbuds in, pop
the lid on and in five minutes you can keep rolling with a lot fewer
germs in tow. Read More
California is a state crippled by debt. The
situation is so desperate that it looks like California lawmakers are
now considering a license plate led recovery. A bill proposed by Senator
Curren D. Price Jr, D-Inglewood, gives the Department of Motor Vehicles
(DMV) the authority to investigate the emerging Digital Electronic
License Plate (DELP) technology that would enable rear license plates on
vehicles to become message boards to display advertising or other
images when the vehicle is stationary for periods longer than four
seconds, such as at a stop light or in a traffic jam. Read More
Riddle me this. What sounds like an elephant when
all alone, but sounds like a swarm of bees when numbers grow? The
answer, as any World Cup aficionado will tell you, is the vuvuzela. A
meter long plastic horn that has become synonymous with the 2011 World
Cup in South Africa and has had many fans reaching for the mute button
on their TV remote controls. The BBC has received so many complaints it
is looking at ways to minimize the noise of the so-called instrument.
Now researchers at the Centre for Digital Music (C4DM) at Queen Mary, University of London
have come up with a "devuvuzelator" that filters out the droning sounds
of vuvuzela for anyone watching the World Cup on a computer. Read More
Known to Gizmag readers for its outlandish timepieces,
Swiss watchmaker URWERK's latest offering – the UR-CC1 Black Cobra –
definitely falls into the “cool watch” category. Made from titanium and
gold treated with aluminum titane nitride to achieve the black
coloration, the Cobra shows the time via two linearly-progressing bars
that indicate the hour and minute, and a dual clockwork/numeric seconds
display. Read More
As the technology to support wearable electronics
advances, researchers are investigating new ways of making our clothing
more "intelligent" – from smart shirts for theater ushers to the development of clothing that can respond to the wearer’s emotive state.
So would it surprise you to learn that your humble underpants could
one day save your life? A new study has shown that printed sensors on
the elastic band of your underpants could monitor biomarkers in your
sweat and tears, make autonomous diagnoses and even administer
life-saving drugs. Read More
Phil Pauley, a London-based concept designer, has
unveiled his vision for Sub-Biosphere 2 - a self-sustainable underwater
habitat designed for aquanauts, tourism and oceanographic life sciences
as well as long-term human, plant and animal habitation. If this sounds
like a strangely familiar concept, it’s because Pauley’s system is
based on the successes of the US Biosphere 2 project – a man-made
closed-ecological system in Arizona that was used by researchers to
explore the possibility of sustainable living in a closely-monitored
environment. Read More
A team from the University of Maryland has
studied the decision-making processes of crayfish in an effort to better
understand the workings of the human brain. “Matching individual
neurons to the decision making processes in the human brain is simply
impractical for now,” explained psychologist Jens Herberholz, the
study’s senior author. “History has shown that findings made in the
invertebrate nervous systems often translate to more complex organisms."
Read More
What is it about the single-seater Sunseeker II that drew a steady stream of visitors to the solar-powered airplane on display at the Green Air Show
in Paris recently? Could it be the bluish flash of solar cells on its
huge wings, or the inviting open cockpit, or maybe even the teetering
propeller to the rear? Perhaps it's a delightful combination of gorgeous
form and emission-free function that turned all those heads. With a
two-pilot version coming soon, Gizmag took the opportunity to have a
closer look. Read More
If there’s a killer asteroid or comet hurtling
towards Earth it’s probably best to know about it sooner rather than
later. However, space is a big place and keeping our eyes out for these
little blighters is no mean feat even with a mighty automated telescope
to hand. Fortunately, astronomers in Hawaii have just announced they’ve
successfully managed to boot up the Pan-STARRS (Panoramic Survey
Telescope & Rapid Response System) telescope, also known as PS1.
Working from dusk-to-dawn every night Pan-STARRS is able to map
one-sixth of the sky each month, allowing astronomers to track every
moving object, calculate their orbits and identify any potential threats
to Earth. Read More
From the “so simple it’s a wonder no one has
thought of it before” file comes the self-standing Dews Toothbrush from
Ryan Harc. With its ability to stand upright, the design offers a simple
solution to the problem of where to put a toothbrush without running
the risk of covering it in an assortment of germs which will happily
make their way to the insides of your mouth next time you brush your
teeth. Read More
Here's a clever product that's being sold by Oishi & Associaties
in Japan. You know those sandwiches that you always wanted to stuff in
your toaster but couldn't because your mom told you the cheese would
drip and make a mess (or was as that just me?) The TOASTit bag is your
workaround, letting you throw all kinds of crazy foods into your toaster
without any concern for the mess afterwards. Read More
While electric motorbikes are creeping steadily into the marketplace, most of the ones we’ve seen here on Gizmag have been designed either as commuters, racers or for some weekend fun in the dirt. What we haven’t
seen so much are electrics made for haulin' – something motorcycles are
relied on heavily for in many parts of the world. How did you know I
was going to say “until now”? Read More
The Dyson Air Multiplier fan
released late last year has some new stablemates. The company's
expanded range includes a larger diameter table fan, a tower fan and a
pedestal model. None of the offerings in the range come cheap, but they
all include the distinctive bladeless design that Dyson says delivers
better airflow as well as making them safer for curious little fingers
and easier to clean than their bladed counterparts. Read More
Accessing the Internet while away from the home or office has never been easier. When there’s no Wi-Fi available users can jump on 3G
broadband to get their online fix. And that’s the way it has generally
been, with the two main mobile communications technologies acting as
complementary services. But with the advent of Wi-Fi based municipal
wireless networks some experts say there is a strong possibility that
Wi-Fi will compete with the 3G cell phone network in city areas and
perhaps even become a substitute. Read More
Tesla's Model S sedan is expected to hit the roads in 2012, expanding the company's target market beyond the boutique Roadster
with a vehicle that offers practical space and a range in the vicinity
of 300 miles. But what else is in the pipe? CEO Elon Musk has hinted at
the possibility of producing a number of models using a common platform –
these could include a crossover SUV, a van and a cabriolet. Read More
Solid state drives (SSD) have been around for
some time. Unlike other data storage devices, however, their cost per GB
seems reluctant to drop quickly enough to make sense economically not
just to consumers, but to enterprises as well. Using a recently patented
technology, the Israeli startup Anobit has announced an SSD series that
makes a huge step toward making SSDs a tangibly faster and more
affordable solution for the enterprise world. Read More
Fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions are
huge priorities in the aviation industry – passenger airliners chew
through amazing quantities of fuel. Take the Boeing 747, which guzzles
somewhere around a gallon of jet fuel per second – it's clear that a
percentile improvement in fuel consumption can make a huge difference to
costs at the end of a long-haul flight. That's why the Minix wing tip
deserves close scrutiny. It replaces the tilted winglets at the tip of
an aircraft wing, can be retrofitted to any airplane, and smooths out
the wing-tip vortex, reducing the aircraft's wing drag. Minix claims the
design is five times more effective than a regular winglet and can save
as much as 6% on an aircraft's energy costs. For a commercial Boeing
747, that equates to a saving of around 600,000 gallons of fuel per
year, per aircraft. Food for thought. Read More
No one believing your tales of gnarly moves
pulled on some off-piste run? Can’t convince your friends you nailed a
Spock 540 One Handed when no one was looking? Now you can prove it (or
get a harsh dose of reality) with the ShadowBox – a "personal 3D sports
recorder" that attaches to your extreme sporting implement of choice and
uses GPS and G-Force data to record a "ride path" of all your extreme
sporting moves. Ride data can be viewed immediately on the device or
uploaded to a PC or Mac to analyze all your extreme sporting moves in 3D
detail. Read More
Earlier this year we reported on an announcement
from Vizio that would see 1080p “wireless HD” integrated into its new range of LCDs,
and we’ve now got some information on the set-top boxes that will offer
a similar array of support. Three new Blu-ray players have been
announced, with the VBR210 and VBR220 utilizing 802.11n single-band
2.4GHz wireless and the more powerful VBR231 upgrading this to dual-band
for improved reliability, making it the first dual-band Blu-ray player.
Read More
When one thinks of magnetic levitation, or maglev, one generally thinks of insanely fast floating trains or possibly even levitating cans and bottles.
Well, scientists are reporting the development of a new use for the
technology as an inexpensive sensor for analyzing food, water and other
beverages. Read More
Rechargeable batteries and fuel cells
are seen as the two contenders to serve as a power source for the next
generation of environmentally friendly vehicles. A significant barrier
to achieving greater efficiency in the latter is the slow rate of oxygen
production from the cathode, which limits the power output of the
device. Now an unexpected find by MIT researchers regarding the behavior
of incredibly thin sheets of material could lead to major improvements .
Read More
Nintendo has done very well out of its innovative
motion controllers but maintaining its spot at the top of the console
sales charts was always going to be an uphill battle once rivals caught
up (or overtook) with their own brand of fully-interactive gaming. Project Natal seemed a little ambitious when it was first demonstrated last year, but 12 months and a rebranding later, Kinect appears to be ready for pre-order and most importantly, we have a price. Read More
With FIFA President, Sepp Blatter, defending the
rights of South African fans to blow their horns at World Cup matches,
TV viewers have turned to technology to tone down the incessant buzzing
that accompanies the on field action of World Cup TV coverage. In what
is sure to be music to the ears of many of the users of Elgato’s EyeTV
software, the company has announced a free update that features a
Vuvuzela Filter. Read More
Having placed third in the prestigious DARPA Urban Challenge in 2007, engineering students from Virginia Tech have returned to the forefront of autonomous vehicle
development by designing and building four GUSS (Ground Unmanned
Support Surrogate) vehicles. Able to carry 1800 lbs and designed to
resupply and evacuate troops in the field as well as reduce the load
carried by them, the vehicles are due to make their debut at the
impending 2010 Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC)war games in Hawaii. Read More
Compost filter socks are mesh tubes filled with
composted bark and wood chips. Besides making lovely wedding gifts, they
are also used at construction sites to limit the amount of silt in
water runoff. What was previously unknown, however, was their
effectiveness at reducing sediment, herbicides and nutrients in runoff
from agricultural fields. Two soil scientists from the United States
Department of Agriculture (USDA) have completed a two-year study,
measuring just how good a job the socks did when placed in grassed
waterways alongside fields. Their conclusion: the socks rock... sort of.
Read More
Until now, an eye test has meant a trip to the
optometrist for most people. NETRA, from MIT's Media Lab, is set to
change that. Combined with a modern mobile phone, the US$2 device allows
eye glass prescriptions to be produced simply and quickly in any
location. Preliminary testing has shown that it can achieve results
comparable to the standard aberrometer test and clinical trials are due
to begin shortly. Initially targeting parts of Africa and Asia, the
company responsible for manufacture, PerfectSight, is expecting the
product to be a boon for the developing world, where the sophisticated
equipment currently required for eyesight tests has been cost
prohibitive. Read More
Ever thought of dumping the mortgage and living
in the car? Well, it could soon be a more attractive proposition if the
LTE Connected Car Concept is anything to go by. The prototype vehicle
brings together ideas and technology from a range of companies to boast
first-of-its-kind services and functionality including on-demand
entertainment, infotainment, diagnostics, navigation and other mobile
services made possible by connecting a vehicle to always-on, ultra-fast
4G/Long Term Evolution (LTE) networks. Read More
A particularly troubling aspect of enterprise
computer deployment is the need for end user machines to remain switched
on day and night. Fully on mind you, not in low power sleep mode.
Computer scientists from the University of California, San Diego have
developed a software solution which allows PCs to remain on the network
even when placed in sleep mode at the end of a working day. The software
creates a virtual representation of the computer on the server to
handle many of the common overnight tasks, only waking up the physical
machine at pre-programmed commands or when it encounters something that
it can't deal with itself. Read More
Volkswagen's 1.4-liter TSI Twincharger
has taken out the International Engine of the Year Award for the second
year running. The engine, which punches above its weight via the use of
a combined turbocharger and supercharger, is only the third to take out
the overall award in consecutive years (BMW in 05-06 with its 5-litre
V10 and again in 07-08 with its 3-litre twin turbo). Other winners in
the 2010 Awards included Fiat with its 1.4-liter MultiAir Turbo engine
(New Engine of the Year), Toyota with the 1.8-liter
electric-motor-boosted hybrid from the Prius (Green Engine of the Year)
and Mercedes-AMG with its 6.2-liter V8 engine (Best Performance Engine
and Above 4-liter title). BMW also featured prominently picking up four
gongs. Read More
Although we’ve seen sunlight to electricity conversion efficiencies of over 40 percent
with multi-junction solar cells in lab environments, most mass-produced
cells can only boast a conversion rate of around 15 percent. Now
SunPower Corp., a Silicon Valley-based manufacturer of high-efficiency
solar cells, solar panels and solar power systems, has claimed a new
world record solar cell efficiency of 24.2 percent. Read More
Utilizing human lung and blood vessel cells,
researchers have created a device mounted on a microchip that mimics a
living, breathing human lung. About the size of a rubber eraser, the
device was developed by a team from the Wyss Institute for Biologically
Inspired Engineering at Harvard University, Harvard Medical School and
Children's Hospital Boston. Because it’s translucent, researchers can
watch the processes taking place inside of it – kind of difficult to do
with an actual lung. It will be used for testing the respiratory effects
of environmental toxins, aerosolized therapeutics and new drugs. Using
conventional models, such tests can cost over US$2 million. Read More
I know parents who refuse to buy cheap, plastic
toys for their children. They prefer products that are natural,
eco-friendly and non-toxic. The Hut-Hut Kids rocking stool is all that
and then some – it’s a solid-wood rocking horse made from FSC-certified
wood and it’s not only functional, it stands alone as a beautifully
designed piece of furniture. Read More
OK, so first of all, how can a fabric possibly get thicker
when stretched? Doesn’t that go against the laws of physics? Not, it
turns out, when that material is auxetic. Cat skin and shin bones also
apparently possess this quality. The University of Exteter, in
collaboration with their spin-off company Auxetix Ltd, have developed an
auxetic blast-proof curtain. If a bomb were to go off near such a
curtain, the pressure wave would stretch the fabric outwards, thus
thickening it and making it better able to hold back flying glass and
other debris. The curtain is intended to be fitted over windows of
buildings that are terrorist targets, or that are subject to events such
as hurricanes. Read More
One definition of the word frustrating is
realizing you don’t have the right cord for the right job when you need
it most - whether it be for an iPod, iPhone or one of the multitude of mobile devices that connect via USB.
Presenting a simple yet effective solution to that particular problem
is the Scosche flipSYNC, a keychain USB and sync cable about the size of
a car alarm remote control. Read More
An international team of scientists has
successfully sequenced the genome of that most majestic of creatures,
the body louse. Like head lice, body lice attach themselves to human
hosts and live off their blood. Unlike head lice, however, body lice can
spread bacterial diseases. By understanding more about the creature,
the team hopes to develop better methods of controlling it. Read More
Overkill. The word's origins are military in
nature, describing a situation where one country has enough nuclear
weapons to destroy significantly more of another nation that it would
ever need to in order to win a war. But the term applies perfectly to
today's sportsbike market, where any numpty with a license and a check
book can waltz into a dealership and wobble out on a thoroughbred race
machine that can break the speed limit at mid-revs in first gear and
accelerate faster than any car on the road. Of course, for some people
that's just not enough, bless their souls – but to create a vehicle that
stands out from the pack in such a time of plenty, you have to take
things to the absolute extreme. And it's a long time since we saw
anything quite as extreme as the NCR M16, a bike that takes one of the
most expensive roadbikes ever built, throws almost all of it in the bin
and replaces it with the most exotic materials on the planet. Gentlemen,
start your drooling. Read More
Many women find it difficult to lie on their
stomach comfortably when their baby bump starts to expand - I have a
beach-loving friend who dug holes in the sand to pop her pregnant tummy
in. She would have loved the Holo – it’s an air mattress with a hole for
your expanding stomach and you can use it to get comfy in the pool, at
the beach, while watching television or when getting a well-deserved
massage. Brilliant! Read More
Despite the 10-15 knot winds cutting across the airfield at Le Bourget in Paris for the Green Air Show,
visitors were treated to the wonderful sight of the electric
Demoichelle in the air. The treasured creation of the Association for
Promotion of Flying Ladders (APEV) the electric monoplane looks as
though it was designed by the ghost of Alberto Santos-Dumont himself.
Read More
Whether it be high-tech automation or just clever design,
I love gadgets that make life in the kitchen easier. So you’ll
understand why I’m enamored with the Bowlboard – it’s a clever take on
the chopping board which will have you preparing food like a real
professional in no time. Read More
Lotus Engineering has announced plans to develop its Range Extender Engine for series production. First shown at the 2009 Frankfurt Motor Show, the Range Extender is a 1.2 liter, three-cylinder engine designed specifically for series hybrid vehicles. Read More
Hand a child an ice cream you'll generally be
rewarded with a beaming smile, but with this new interactive vending
machine, it's the smile that gets rewarded – with a free ice cream.
Created for Unilever, the world’s biggest ice cream manufacturer, the
first ever smile-activated ice cream vending machine combines
face-recognition technology to measure a person’s grin and take a photo
that can be uploaded to Facebook thanks to the machine’s built-in 3G
capability. Read More
Traditional electroencephalography (EEG) is
time-consuming to set up, must be administered by qualified
technologists and relies on reusable electrodes which can leave patients
vulnerable to infection. Massachusetts-based HydroDot is aiming to
solve these issues and significantly improve the clinical process with
StatNet – a flexible, single-use EEG headpiece that offers a simpler,
safer, faster and more accurate way to measure electrical activity in
the human brain. Read More
The classic nursery rhyme Three Blind Mice
might need to be rewritten thanks to researchers from the Friedrich
Miescher Institute (FMI) and the Institut de la Vision in Paris. Using
gene therapy, the scientists have have restored sight in mice by
repairing the function of cone photoreceptors made defective by a
genetic eye condition. Read More
When reporting on the BunBun
human-powered flashlight back in March, Gizmag's Rick Martin mused on
the potential for putting a similar charging mechanism into skipping
rope handles... which is just what Kyung Guk Lee has done with this
design concept. The e-rope lets you recharge your AA batteries while you
skip your way to better health. Read More
While Gizmag was at the Green Air Show
in Paris, designer Minh-Lôc Truong and high flyer Stéphane Rousson
showed us a new pedal-powered personal submarine they've been working
on. The streamlined carbon fiber Scubster is currently being built in
the south of France by Rousson and a team of University engineers to
designs supplied by Truong. The first test run of the 13.78 x 7.87 x
4.92 feet yellow submarine will hopefully take place by the end of June
in the Mediterranean waters off the coast of Nice. Read More
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