Columbia researchers find graphene can't cope with stress
December 6, 2010
Graphene,
a one-atom-thick layer of carbon, is considered the strongest material
known to mankind. It has found countless applications in the field of
nanotechnology, including the manufacturing of
stronger-than-steel-by-a-hundredfold nanotubes. However, Assistant
Professor Chris Marianetti at Columbia University has exposed a
fundamental structural weakness of graphene that leads to its possible
mechanical failure under strain, and could change the way we use this
and other materials to build nanotech devices. Read More
World record efficiency for organic based photovoltaic solar cells
By Darren Quick
December 5, 2010
While they offer much lower efficiencies than
inorganic photovoltaic cells, organic solar cells are cheaper to produce
and are lightweight and flexible. This makes them suitable for a wider
range of applications than rigid solar cells, including clothing and bags. Konarka has been producing its organic based photovoltaic (OPV) solar cells under the name of Power Plastic
for a number of years now and the National Energy Renewable Laboratory
(NREL) has just announced that Konarka’s latest organic based
photovoltaic (OPV) solar cells have demonstrated a record breaking 8.3
percent efficiency. Read More
Proverbial Wallets to keep your digital spending in check
By Darren Quick
December 5, 2010
The widespread adoption of credit and debit cards
means, for many people, the cashless society is already a reality.
However, this means the simple system of checking how much cash you’ve
got in your wallet before making a purchase is no longer an accurate
reflection of your finances, making it all too easy to succumb to
temptation and overextend yourself financially. The Proverbial Wallet
project at MIT is looking at “un-abstracting virtual assets” with
wallets that provide tactile feedback that reflects a person’s current
financial state. Read More
ASUS is about to let loose a stylish new
powerhouse laptop which boasts a 10 hour battery life, ditches the
ultra-low-power processors in favor of 35 W varieties and features
Nvidia graphics with Optimus technology. The new addition to the
company's U series
manages to keep its impressive internals cool with dual heatpipe
technology that also keeps the palm rest area nice and chilled too. Read More
Research into capacitors for use in hybrid vehicles, EVs,
computer power supplies and pacemakers has been given a boost in the
order of US$2.25 million. Professor Gerhard Welsch, who began patenting
his designs for capacitors a decade ago, will use the grant to complete
development of a small, light, powerful and reliable capacitor that
promises a 10-fold or higher increase in energy density over current
models. Read More
Despite many of us willingly letting the online
world have regular glimpses into our so-called private lives through
social media portals, most would cry foul if such information was
collected without our consent or knowledge. Researchers have just
completed a study of scripting code contained within the documents used
to display web pages in browsers and found evidence of something called
history sniffing. This is where website owners gain access to browser
history to track your progress around the web. Read More
UNDERABOVE dual lens camera concept snaps the best of both worlds
By Darren Quick
December 5, 2010
Waterproof cameras or underwater housings
are great for capturing action above or below the waterline, but what
if you want to capture both at the same time to provide a greater
context for your underwater shots? That’s where the UNDERABOVE concept
comes in. It’s a dual-lens buoy-style camera that bobs on the surface of
the water positioning one wide-angle lens above the waterline and one
lens below to let aquatic shutterbugs the best of both worlds. Read More
As we demand more and more of our smartphones, the up time between charges suffers. Case in point – the iPhone.
Chargers come in all shapes and sizes but few offer to power up the
batteries using air, or more precisely – wind. Dutch designer Tjeerd
Veenhoven has crafted just such a charger where his favored Apple device
slides into the soft rubber outer skin and fan blades capture energy
from the wind, which tops up the battery. Read More
Carry more than one USB drive around? Got one
storage device for business and another for personal files? Life's
natural divide is work and play so here's a dongle that can facilitate
that split – the Split Stick. Read More
Phonesuit, the company behind the MiLi Pro
iPhone/iPod projector, has been added its charging range with the Primo
Power Core. When fully charged, it stores enough energy to charge some
mobile devices a number of times before it needs a top-up itself. It's
compatible with just about any portable electronic gadget and benefits
from automatic Amp switching technology that makes sure an attached
device is charged at the fastest rates. Read More
Cameras that can shoot 3D images are nothing new,
but they don't really capture three dimensional moments at all - they
actually record images in stereoscopic format, using two 2D images to
create the illusion of depth. These photos and videos certainly offer a
departure from their conventional two dimensional counterparts, but if
you shift your view point, the picture remains the same. Researchers
from Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) hope to change all
that with the development of a strange-looking camera that snaps 360
degrees of simultaneous images and then reconstructs the images in 3D.
Read More
Scientists and MDs have a wide range of
technologies available for the imaging of live tissue, but each of these
comes with its own limitations - be it poor contrast, low resolution,
long response times or the viewing process damaging the tissue being
observed. A team of Harvard researchers has developed a new type of
optical biomedical imaging that promises to overcome these obstacles and
is so fast and high-resolution that it can capture live video of cells
and molecules. Read More
Electric rental cars are set to take to the
streets next year with both the Hertz and Enterprise Rent-A-Car
companies committing to adding electric vehicles
to their fleets. Next week (December 15) Hertz plans to begin its
ConnectByHertz car sharing program in New York City with the service
expanding to San Francisco, Washington D.C, Texas, London and China by
the end of 2011. Meanwhile Enterprise has announced that from January
2011 they will begin rolling out EV rentals in Phoenix, Tucson,
Knoxville, Nashville, San Diego, Los Angeles, Portland and Seattle,
although it is not clear how many vehicles will be available at each
location and from what date. Read More
The first virus to be discovered was the Tobacco mosaic virus
(TMV) back in 1898. It is a rigid, rod-shaped virus that, under an
electron microscope, looks like uncooked spaghetti. This widespread
virus devastates tobacco, tomatoes, peppers and other plants, but
engineers have managed to harness and exploit the self-replicating and
self-renewing characteristics of TMV to build tiny components for more
efficient lithium-ion batteries. Read More
If there's one place you don't want to be caught
wandering around right now, it's the demilitarized zone that separates
North and South Korea. Especially since South Korean military hardware
manufacturer DoDAMM used the recent Korea Robot World 2010 expo to
display its new Super aEgis 2, an automated gun turret that can detect
and lock onto human targets from kilometers away, day or night and in
any weather conditions, and deliver some heavy firepower. Read More
Graphene-based supercapacitor hits new energy storage high
By Grant Banks
December 7, 2010
A breakthrough in supercapacitor performance has
been achieved with the development of a device that can store as much
energy as a battery while recharging in seconds. The graphene-based
supercapacitor being developed in the U.S. by researchers at Nanotek
Instruments can store as much energy per unit mass as nickel metal
hydride batteries and could one day be used to help deliver almost
instant charging to recharge mobile phones, digital cameras or micro
electric vehicles. Read More
ReWalk robotic exoskeleton to go on sale in 2011
By Darren Quick
December 6, 2010
The wheel may be one of mankind’s greatest
inventions, but it’s an unfortunate fact of life for the
wheelchair-bound that much of the modern world is built for the upright –
from deli counter-tops and store shelves to stairs and escalators. When
Israeli entrepreneur Amit Goffer was left paralyzed after a car
accident in 1997 he set about creating “robotic trousers” to replace a
wheelchair. The fruits of his labor are now set to help others with his
ReWalk robotic exoskelton set to go on sale from the start of 2011. Read More
FTC calls for “Do Not Track” mechanism for Web browsers
December 6, 2010
Nearly all companies with a big Web presence, and
search engines in particular, are known for gathering the user's
browsing history and other personal information to improve on the
services they offer, such as by offering better targeted advertisements.
A preliminary report compiled by the Federal Trade Commission
(FTC) addressing the lack of transparency and user control over how
companies gather Internet browsing data from their users, proposes a "Do
Not Track" feature for Internet browsers that would allow users to opt
out completely and protect their privacy. Read More
Sublime or ridiculous? John Baltazar's Astrum
Meera concept car is probably a little bit of both. The beautifully
rendered four-seater design combines smooth lines and sporty, low-down
fatness with some very ambitious future-tech ideas such as wheels that
use magnetic levitation rather than bearings to improve smoothness of
ride and fuel efficiency. Read More
Scientists find natural photovoltaic cell in hornet, and copy it
By Ben Coxworth
December 6, 2010
It’s no big mystery why turtles and other
reptiles bask in the sun – being cold-blooded animals, they’re gathering
heat to warm their bodies, so they can be active. Recently, however,
scientists from Israel and the UK discovered that the Oriental hornet
has been putting a “high-tech” spin on that model... the outer layers of
its body work as a natural photovoltaic cell, converting sunlight to
electricity. The scientists then proceeded to create a cell of their
own, using the hornet as their inspiration. Read More
50th birthday of one of the iconic automobiles
By Mike Hanlon
December 8, 2010
It's the third best-selling car in history,
behind only the Volkswagen Beetle and Model T Ford, selling more than
eight million units in over 100 countries. It was manufactured or
assembled in 28 different countries over a third of a century before
finally ceasing production in 1994. In Spain, it was nicknamed "Cuatro
Latas", in the former Yugoslavia it was called "Katcra", in Tunisia it
was referred to as the "Monastir", in Zimbabwe it was known as the Noddy
Car, in Argentina it earned the nickname "El Correcaminos", in Finland
the "Tiparellu" and in Italy, the "Frog". Got it yet? Happy birthday to
the ... Read More
Since 2009, Mercedes Benz's luxury class models
have included an Active Night View Assist Plus feature that detects
pedestrians on the road and highlights them on the display on the
instrument cluster using infra-red light projectors. The company has now
taken the assistance system a step further with a new spotlight
function that specifically directs light on people on or near the road
so that both the driver and the pedestrian are alerted to the presence
of the approaching vehicle. Read More
It's been six years since Google announced its
plan to digitize vast collections of literary works and make them
available to view online. Now the search giant has launched a new
eBookstore in the U.S. where users are able to get hold of more than
three million digital titles, including the latest best sellers,
recommended reads and lots and lots of classics. Google eBooks are
compatible with numerous Internet-enabled devices and can also be read
online via a free browser-based portal. Read More
Dr. Douglas Engelbart
is perhaps best known as the inventor of the computer mouse, but when
he unveiled that device at a computer conference in 1968 he also
introduced additional technology that would profoundly affect
computer-human interaction as much as the mouse
has. During the "mother of all demos" at the Fall Joint Computer
Conference held at the Convention Center in San Francisco, Engelbart and
his team of researchers from the Augmentation Research Center at
Stanford Research Institute gave a live demonstration of hyperlinks,
remote collaboration software, on-screen windows, and even video
conferencing. Read More
Hybrid vehicles are becoming more and more
commonplace on our roads and now the world's first hydrogen powered
hybrid ferry is set to take to the water off New York. Following on from
the 2008 launch of the San Francisco Hornblower Hybrid that runs on a
combination of solar, wind and diesel power, the new 1,400-hp New York
Hornblower Hybrid adds another energy source to the mix with hydrogen
fuel cells to complement its clean Tier 2 diesel engines, solar panels
and wind turbines. Read More
Until now the only space vehicle capable of
returning to Earth - in a controlled manner anyway - was the Space
Shuttle. With that craft scheduled to be retired from service next year
the U.S. Air Force's Boeing X-37 program is focused on demonstrating a
next generation unmanned reusable spaceplane. On April 22 this year the
X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle (OTV) was launched from Cape Canaveral Air
Force Station in Florida. On December 3, after an experimental test
mission lasting over 220 days, the craft successfully de-orbited and
landed safely at Vandenberg Air Force Base, making it the United States'
first unmanned vehicle to return from space and land on its own. Read More
A new high performance fiber that is better at
absorbing energy without breaking than Kevlar has been created by the
U.S Department of Defence. While still under development, the material
could be used in bulletproof vests, parachutes, or in composite
materials for vehicles, airplanes and satellites in the future. The
fiber has been engineered from carbon nanotubes
spun into a yarn and held together using a polymer. The resultant
material is tough and strong while still remaining flexible. Read More
The sonic screwdriver has proven an indispensable
piece of equipment for Doctor Who when battling Daleks, Cybermen and
the Master. The fictional tool is capable of opening just about any lock
known to man - or alien - and can fix a damaged TARDIS in a matter of
seconds. Now engineers at Bristol University say a real-life version of
the sci-fi screwdriver could be created that would use sonic technology
to open locks and undo screws ... just don't expect to see one under the
Christmas tree this year. Read More
Researchers from the University of California,
Riverside, have some bad news for smokers looking to put a halt to the
filthy habit by using electronic quitting aids. After examining various
aspects of a handful of commercially-available electronic nicotine
delivery systems, the team concluded that so-called e-cigarettes
are unsafe and pose a health risk. They are now calling for such
devices to be withdrawn from sale pending a rigid safety evaluation.
Read More
iPhone imitator Meizu to rebound with M9 and M9II on Android
By Rick Martin
December 7, 2010
Chinese manufacturer Meizu, which had to halt
production of the (in)famous M8 iPhone clone back in October, isn't
giving up the fight to become China's favorite homegrown smartphone. The
company's CEO J Wong has indicated that he hopes the M8's successor,
the M9, will be out by Christmas. The phone is reportedly now available for pre-order at retail stores in China. Read More
An off-the-shelf camera from Axis Communications
has set the world record for the highest wireless network camera
delivering high quality images to Earth. The PTZ (pan/tilt/zoom) dome
network camera was sent into the atmosphere to a height of 35 km (21. 7
miles) from the Esrange Space Center, north of Sweden, as part of the
BEXUS 11 program. Read More
Jawbone, a company better known for its Bluetooth headsets, has now released a Bluetooth
speaker system that makes use of two powerful acoustic drivers and
ultra-small speakers that work in concert with an innovative moving-wall
passive bass radiator and airtight enclosure. The company says this is
the first time this technology has been seen in a personal speaker
system and delivers more punch than you'd expect from such a small unit.
Read More
Fujitsu Laboratories today announced a two-in-one
energy harvesting device that can convert both light and heat into
electricity. With no electrical wiring or batteries to replace, Fujitsu
says that this sort of device can be manufactured from organic materials
keeping costs to a minimum. Read More
San Diego residents can feel particularly warm
and fuzzy this festive season as their Purdy Farm Christmas trees have
been lovingly trimmed and lit up via solar power. In what is believed to
be a world first, Stellar Solar's Mobile Solar Station has been
contracted to power the Purdy Farm Christmas tree lots in Del Mar,
Carlsbad, and San Diego. The Mobile Solar Station is being used to power
the compact fluorescent lights (CFL) on the lot perimeter and the
electric chain saws used to trim customer's trees. Read More
Hot on the heels of a call for a user-controlled tracking prevention mechanism
from the FTC comes news that Microsoft is introducing a new privacy
feature to the next version of its browser - Internet Explorer 9. The
Tracking Protection tool is aimed at helping netizens take control of
online tracking from within the browser. Read More
The world's most watched sporting series, Formula
One, is set to announce a new greener formula later this week, which
will take effect in 2013. The rule changes are expected to see the
introduction of 1.6 liter turbo engines with more powerful energy
recovery systems, reduced maximum rpm (from 18,000 rpm to 10,000 rpm)
and fuel (flow and capacity) restrictions, and can be expected to
further the sport's objective of encouraging R&D relevant to road
cars. While the targeted 30% initial improvement in gas mileage will
only improve the current obscenely wasteful 3 mpg to 4 mpg (approx 70
liters/100 km) in 2013, it will enroll the brightest automotive
technicians on the planet in a quest for greater efficiency from our
automobiles and that's a wonderful outcome. Read More
In what could be the first step towards same-sex
couples having their own genetic children, reproductive scientists have
produced male and female mice from two fathers using stem cell
technology. The achievement of two-father offspring in a species of
mammal could also be a step toward preserving endangered species,
improving livestock breeds, and advancing human assisted reproductive
technology (ART). Read More
The latest test of Horizon Energy System's AEROPAK fuel cell power system
has seen it fitted aboard an Elbit Systems Skylark I-LE UAS (Unmanned
Aircraft System) and put through its paces. Although the AEROPAK has
been put to the test in other UAS aircraft,
the official test flight recently carried out in Israel marked the
first time a fully operational system using the AEROPAK - including
take-off and recovery with an operational payload integrated onboard -
has been tested. Read More
Japanese company Takayanagi is taking orders for its first one person electric vehicle,
the Miluira. Due to be shipped in March 2011, the retro-styled
all-electric car has a range of only 35 km on a full charge, a maximum
speed of 37 mph (60km/h) and a rather lengthy recharge time of 12 hours.
Read More
A technique helping stroke victims regain their
mobility has won the 2010 Danish Research Result of the Year award and
is now attracting attention from investors keen to see the research move
from the lab and into rehabilitation centers. Professor Ole Kaeseler
Andersen of the Center for Sensory-Motor Interaction at Aalborg
University, Denmark, has developed method that uses the nervous system's
natural reflex reaction to pain to aid stroke patient rehabilitation.
Read More
New infrared camera delivers significantly better resolution
By Grant Banks
December 12, 2010
Researchers at Northwestern University have
developed a new infrared imaging system that delivers a 16-fold increase
in resolution over long wavelength infrared radiation (LWIR) cameras
currently used in industrial, security and nighttime surveillance
applications. Based on a type of semiconductor called a Type-II
InAs/GaSb superlattice, the IR camera is mercury-free, more robust,
cheaper to produce and can collect 78 percent of the light showing
temperature differences as small as 0.02° C. Read More
For many people, learning to play guitar is only
half the battle. Once you've mastered the basics and maybe even
developed your own style, you need a sound to set you apart from the
rest. There are numerous amp and effects pedal combinations that can
help in this regard, but swapping out the pickups on that cheap guitar
for better quality ones can add a whole new dimension to the way the
instrument sounds. Seymour Duncan has introduced a new system that not
only helps guitar technicians to swap out pickups in record time, but
also means that bedroom guitarists needn't become a skilled soldering
iron operator. All you need is a couple of screwdrivers, and maybe a
pair of tweezers. Read More
Tilt and tip-tastic: A hands-on review of the Q2 Internet Radio
By Paul Ridden
December 12, 2010
The Q2 Internet Radio
asks users to boil down the thousands of available online radio
stations and choose just four. This may appear to limit choice, but
actually reflects the fact that most of us only regularly listen to a
few stations anyway. The device also does away with display screens and
has only one button – an on/off switch. To change a station, you tip it
onto another of its sides. To increase volume, you raise the front of
the unit, and raise the back to lower it. I've been given the chance to
take one for a test run, so read on for my thoughts. Read More
On December 7, renewable energy advocate Tom Weis
concluded a 10-week ride across America in his pedal-powered hybrid
electric-assist “Rocket Trike." He collected opinions and signatures
from people on “Main Street, USA” in support of a 100 percent green
electricity grid by 2020 to present to key members of congress, the
President and First Lady. Read More
New research published in two studies suggests
that smoking may also affect another vital organ: the brain. In one
study, smoking was found to thin the brain cortex in an area suggested
to be linked to addiction, meaning long-term smokers could become more prone
to addiction the longer they continue to smoke. In the second,
successful quitters were found to enjoy the most happiness during
periods of abstinence, while a subsequent return to smoking was found to
depress mood, suggesting that perceived psychological dependence on
smoking as a mood enhancer is in fact quite the reverse. Read More
Workout at the office with the GymyGym exercise chair
By Paul Ridden
December 10, 2010
A relatively recent shift from manual labor to
office-type work has resulted in a large chunk of today's workforce
spending eight hours or more sitting at a desk or workstation. The
general health and fitness of a significant proportion of such a
workforce is bound to suffer as a result. Anyone wanting to fight
against this decline can of course opt for gym membership, but Adam
Ben-David thinks he has a better solution. The GymyGym ergonomic
exercise chair places a full body workout at your disposal without ever
having to leave your desk. Read More
Because battery technology hasn’t developed as
quickly as the electronic devices they power, a greater and greater
percentage of the volume of these devices is taken up by the batteries
needed to keep them running. Now a team of researchers working at the
Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies (CINT) is claiming to have
created the world’s smallest battery, and although the tiny battery
won’t be powering next year’s mobile phones, it has already provided
insights into how batteries work and should enable the development of
smaller and more efficient batteries in the future. Read More
SpaceX makes history with successful Dragon capsule mission
By Darren Quick
December 9, 2010
SpaceX, an American space transport company founded by Elon Musk (think PayPal and Tesla Motors),
has become the first commercial company in history to re-enter a
spacecraft from low-Earth orbit. The craft, a fully functioning uncrewed
Dragon capsule was launched on a Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral
Air Force Station on December 8 and parachuted back to Earth around
three hours later following maneuvers in orbit. Read More
Future of Electric Vehicles conference a buzzing success
By Ben Coxworth
December 9, 2010
This week saw the Future of Electric Vehicles USA
2010 conference take place in San Jose, California. Billed as “the
world's only event that covers all forms of electric vehicles – land,
water, and air,” it included a series of presentations on new
technologies, an exhibit hall, and master classes that featured trips to
nearby Silicon Valley tech development firms. Gizmag was one of the
main sponsors of the event, and we were there to learn more about what’s
happening in the world of EVs. Here’s a quick look at some of what we
took in. Read More
Physicists from the University of Toronto and
Rutgers University studying the effects of mixing two reactive chemicals
have discovered a new phenomena which mimics the explosion of a type of
supernova in miniature. The observation centers around two reactants
which create a self-sustaining vortex ring without any external forces
or additional catalysts. These kinds of reactions are occurring around
us all the time in the atmosphere and oceans as well as stars, but this
effect has never been seen and this new ability to study it will help
further our understanding of the evolution of the universe. Read More
Thanks for sharing this great content......... .. solar panels
ReplyDeleteNice post
ReplyDeleteTrak