It has been estimated that over 8 billion US
gallons (30.3 billion liters) of used motor oil are produced every year
by the world’s cars and trucks. While some of that is re-refined into
new oil or burned in furnaces for heat, neither of those processes are
entirely environmentally-innocuous. In other cases, it is simply
discarded. Today, however, researchers from the University of Cambridge
announced the development of a process that uses microwaves to convert
waste oil into vehicle fuel. Read More
Coffee Joulies - just the way Goldilocks likes it
By Ben Coxworth
March 29, 2011
Unless you’re someone who drinks their coffee
fast, you likely face a bit of a conundrum when it comes to temperature
– either you start with it at the perfect temperature but end up with
it getting too cold, or you end up with it cooling down to the perfect
temperature by starting with it too hot. Two young entrepreneurs,
however, have created a product that they claim quickly cools your hot
coffee to the right temperature, but then holds it at that temperature
twice as long as it would stay there otherwise. Their product is called
Coffee Joulies. Read More
Mobile phones sporting photovoltaic panels are nothing new
but thanks to some lens wizardry, a French company recently showed off a
prototype phone where the touchscreen display itself housed the
solar-soaking cells. Similar to the lenticular optics which sends
slightly different images to each eye for glasses-free 3D viewing,
Wysips technology allows light to pass through a semi-cylindrical lens
onto thin strips of photovoltaic cells below, while also allowing the
surface underneath to show through. The developers say that many
surfaces could potentially become self-sufficient power producers. Read More
Checking the health of a baby inside the womb
using ultrasound has been going on for a good many years and can be a
useful tool for detecting problems early. A new concept from industrial
designer Melody Shiue proposes using the technology to enhance the bond
between parents and the growing fetus. PreVue would take advantage of
developments in e-textile research and advances in ultrasound technology
to offer mother and father a live window into the various stages of
their little treasure's development. Read More
Creepy as it may sound, for decades one of the
key ingredients in cattle feed was meat and bone meal (MBM), made from
by-products of – you guessed it – slaughtered cattle. Sheep, farmed
deer, elk and bison were also unknowingly eating their own kind. With
the onset of the Mad Cow Disease scare in 1997, the U.S. and other
countries banned the use of MBM-containing feeds, as it was believed
that the disease could spread via the ingestion of infected animals'
body parts. That ban has resulted in large quantities of MBM simply
ending up in landfills. Now, however, scientists are suggesting that it
could be used to make green(ish) plastics. Read More
Sea kayaks are quite possibly one of the finest
things ever created by mankind, but they can be rather difficult to load
onto the top of one’s car – this is particularly true for people who
are trying to do the job single-handed, or who have a tall vehicle.
Australia’s Steve Scott identified this problem as an opportunity, and
invented the StrongArm Kayak Loader. Read More
The latest in our series of video road tests is America's leading electric motorcycle: the Zero S, from California's Zero Motorcycles.
Seventy-five miles per hour and 60 miles between charges are the big
numbers here – but how does that translate to real life use? Also, since
electricity costs so much less than petrol, can an electric motorcycle
be viewed as an economical option? And what about the environment? When
the carbon cost of electricity generation is taken into account, how
green are electric vehicles? These questions and more, answered after
the jump! Read More
Volvo fits its EV’s with bio-ethanol powered heater
By Darren Quick
March 28, 2011
It's no secret that ambient temperature can have a significant impact on the performance of battery electric vehicles and temperature differences can therefore have a major impact in the range of said EVs. To combat this Volvo has equipped its C30 Electric (which started out as the Recharge Concept)
with three climate systems including a bio-ethanol powered heater and
put the vehicle through a barrage of tests in the rough winter
conditions found in the automaker's Swedish homeland. Read More
British car maker Aston Martin
is looking to leverage its luxury brand into the world of consumer
electronics by teaming up with Canadian mobile phone manufacturer
Mobiado to produce a line of high-end handsets to be launched in May of
this year. Until then, the company has provided a tantalizing peek at
possible future designs with the CPT002 Aston Martin Concept Phone that
takes the 'slab of glass' design of many current smartphones to the next
level. With a solid sapphire crystal capacitive touchscreen, the CPT002
is completely transparent. Read More
Leaves – the kind that grow on trees – create
energy from sunlight and water through the process of photosynthesis.
For over a decade, scientists have been kicking around the idea of
creating an "artificial leaf." Such a device would use sunlight to split
water into hydrogen and oxygen, which could then be stored in a fuel
cell and used to create electricity. A functioning artificial leaf has
been created before, but was impractical due to the fact that it was
made from expensive materials, and was highly unstable. Now, however,
scientists are reporting that they have created a cost-effective, stable
artificial leaf. Read More
OUTDOORS
Last year Google announced plans to build and test ultra high-speed broadband networks
in a small number of trial locations across the U.S. that will deliver
Internet speeds of one gigabit per second (1 Gbps) via a
fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) service. After receiving submissions from
nearly 1,100 cities, the Internet giant has now revealed it will build
its first ultra high-speed network in Kansas City, Kansas. Read More
World's biggest touchscreen display unveiled at CeBIT
By Paul Ridden
March 30, 2011
For the last eight years, German presentations specialist Stereolize has been helping Microsoft
do its thing at CeBIT, and every year the company tries to top the
previous year's efforts. For this year's trade show, the company went
super-size – creating 234-inches of diagonal, interactive touchscreen
loveliness that towered above the Microsoft presenters and left
onlookers having to pick their jaws up off the floor. Read on, to see a
short video showing the huge display in action ... Read More
We’ve already heard about new types of packaging that use things such as sorbic acid and silver nanoparticles
to keep food fresh for longer, but this week scientists from Texas
A&M University announced the development of a “nano-brick” film that
utilizes yet another substance to achieve the same purpose. That
substance is montmorillonite clay, which is one of the ingredients used
to make bricks. The film is about 70 percent clay (with the rest of it
made from various polymer materials) and when its structure is viewed
through an electron microscope, it actually even looks like bricks and mortar. Read More
T-box concept to capture wind energy from trains
By Paul Ridden
March 30, 2011
As anyone living near railway tracks will tell
you, speeding trains generate quite a bit of wind as they whoosh past.
Industrial designers Qian Jiang and Alessandro Leonetti Luparini have
come up with a device that's installed between the sleepers on a track,
and as the train passes overhead, the wind drives a turbine to generate
electricity. The T-box devices could be placed along railway or subway
lines, and make good use of an otherwise wasted resource. Read More
Amazon has announced the U.S. launch of new cloud
storage and media playback services that allow users to securely store
and access files and music from any web-connected PC or Mac, or Android
phone or tablet. Amazon customers start with 5GB of free Cloud Drive
storage, with the added sweetener of an additional 20GB of space for
music files upon the purchase of an MP3 album from the online store.
Stored music can be played from a computer's web browser – whether
you're at work, at home or visiting friends or family. More online
storage is available via purchase plans. Read More
Student-designed Solarball creates drinkable water
By Ben Coxworth
March 30, 2011
When he set out on a trip to Cambodia in 2008,
Industrial Design student Jonathan Liow had no idea it was going to be a
life-changing experience. Upon seeing the poverty and poor living
conditions in that country, however, he decided that he wanted to build
things that could help people. After hearing about the need for cheap
and effective water purification in Africa, he proceeded to create the
Solarball for his graduate project at Australia's Monash University. The
ball is reportedly capable of producing 3 liters (about 3 quarts) of
drinkable water per day, using nothing but polluted water and sunlight.
Read More
A research team from Brazil has developed a new
form of plant fiber-based plastic that is claimed to be stronger,
lighter, and more eco-friendly than plastics currently in use. Team
leader Alcides Leão says that some of the so-called nano-cellulose
fibers can be almost as stiff as Kevlar, but that the plastic differs
from many in widespread use because the source material – such as
pineapple and banana – is completely renewable. The researchers say that
current production efforts are centered around the manufacture of
automotive plastics, but future development could see steel and aluminum
being replaced. Read More
After reaching orbit around Mercury on March 17, NASA’s
MESSENGER spacecraft has sent back its first image of our solar
system’s innermost planet. The historic image, which was captured at
5:20 am EDT (U.S.), is the first ever captured from a spacecraft in
orbit and is dominated by the rayed crater named Debussy. The bottom
portion of the image also shows a region of Mercury’s surface near the
planet’s south pole that had not previously been seen by spacecraft.
Read More
HondaJet achieves maximum speed in flight testing
By Gizmag Team
March 29, 2011
Honda's first light business jet has exceeded its projected top speed just three months on from its maiden flight. Michimasa Fujino first sketched the HondaJet
with its distinctive over-the-wing engine-mount design in 1997. Almost
15 years later the journey towards production is almost complete with
the latest milestone seeing the 5-seater aircraft hit 425 KTAS (that's
"knots true airspeed") or 489 mph at 30,000 ft – topping the 420 KTAS
maximum cruising speed projected for the production model. Read More
When a new technology comes on the scene it often
sparks a format war. It's logical that the big players will push their
proprietary technology as the market standard so they can recoup some of
the money they've spent on R & D. It happened with Beta and VHS, HD-DVD and Blu-ray and more recently with active-shutter glasses for 3D TVs. Now Panasonic has teamed up with XPAND, the company behind a line of Universal 3D glasses,
to create a new "universal standard" for 3D active-shutter glasses
called M-3DI. But although there are a few companies on board, a number
of big players are yet to sign up. Read More
It seems to be one of those “well-known facts”
that petting an animal can lower a person’s blood pressure – and yes,
we’re assuming that the animal isn’t a piranha. Unfortunately, many
people are unable to own a pet, or they at least have to spend their
stressful workday away from their cuddly critter. A new system called
iPet Companion, however, lets users play with real, live cats – in real
time – via the internet. Read More
While many of us may think that retail
salespeople are already doing quite enough to sell us their wares, the
folks over at the Recom Group obviously believe that face-to-face sales
still has some untapped potential. That's why they've developed the
Video Name Tag, a 2.8-inch OLED screen that displays still and/or video
advertising, that salespeople wear like a traditional name tag. Now, why
they're trying to sell you one product, you can get the goods on
another by staring at their chest. Read More
The clicking sound we hear when we press a mouse
button is part of the device's switching mechanism, that has also become
a kind of audible comfort cushion for computer users. However, Dutch
component manufacturer Nexus believes that in these days of notebook
trackpads and tablet touchscreens, we no longer need the audible
confirmation that a requested action has been performed – we can see it
onscreen. The company has now discovered some silent switching
technology and installed into a couple of its input peripherals, so that
they operate without so much as a squeak. Read More
Californian SSD
manufacturer Foremay has announced a new addition to its OC177 storage
family. Despite being smaller than a U.S. quarter coin, the company's
first disk-on-chip (DOC) solution will be available in capacities up to
64GB, supporting both standard IDE or SATA host interface, in addition
to complying with ATA-7 specifications. The new DOC drive is mounted
directly onto a motherboard which, the company says, negates the need
for a separate storage drive while offering devices some rugged
credentials. Read More
Two undergraduate students from Toronto’s Ryerson
University have created a prosthetic arm that is controlled by its
wearer’s brain signals, and powered by compressed air. Not only is the
Artificial Muscle-Operated (AMO) Arm said to offer a greater range of
movement than traditional prostheses, but it also doesn’t require the
amputee to undergo invasive surgery, is easy to learn to use, and it is relatively inexpensive to make. Read More
The Guillemot Corporation brand Hercules has
announced a couple of new 10-inch eCAFÉ netbooks – one less than an inch
thick and the other promising at least 13 hours of "real use" battery
life. Both feature a low-power processor, run a custom operating system
and benefit from solid state storage. They also sport a display which
folds into the body, and all physical connectivity options are placed at
the sides. Read More
Like it or loathe it, fuzz distortion effects
units have been an integral part of rock music ever since a Maestro FZ-1
Fuzz-Tone made a guest appearance on Satisfaction by the
Rolling Stones. Early fuzz boxes had rather limited scope for shaping
tone, but that's something the new Photon Fuzz from Fea Labs certainly
doesn't appear to suffer from. The unit gets its name from an active
component in the circuit which uses infrared light to control the fuzz
distortion element, and features its own octave stage, high, mid and low
band EQ controls and internal DIP switch tone tweaking possibilities.
Read More
When it comes to display technologies nothing
says "cool" like a transparent display. While we've seen a number of
prototypes, such as TDK's flexible OLED display, pop up at trade shows in the last couple of years, Samsung has announced it has already started mass production of a 22-inch transparent LCD
panel. Because they rely on ambient light instead of the usual back
lighting, the transparent panels consume 90 percent less electricity
than conventional LCD panels. But despite the fact the new panels are
starting to roll off the Samsung production lines, it will probably
still be a while before transparent panels make it onto our desktops.
Read More
Porsche has unveiled the top dog in its Gran Turismo line. The new Panamera
Turbo S raises the four-door sports car bar with a 4.8 liter, V8
biturbo charged engine that delivers 550 hp (410 kW) , which is 50 hp
(37 kW) more than the engine found in the Panamera Turbo. The Panamera
Turbo S also ups the torque from 700 to 750 Nm, while an overboost
function in “Sport” and “Sport Plus” mode sees the torque peak at 800
Nm. These improvements allow the car to go from a standing start to 100
km/h (62 mph) in 3.8 seconds, on its way to a top speed of 306 km/h (191
mph). Read More
In the aftermath of the earthquake and subsequent
tsunami that devastated Japan on March 11, 2011, the country faces a
massive cleanup and rebuilding effort that will take years. To assist in
the dangerous task of clearing hazardous debris that stretches for
hundreds of miles along Japan’s east coast, the North American arm of
global defense technology company QinetiQ has announced it will provide unmanned vehicle equipment and training to aid in the colossal undertaking. Read More
The fact that Solid State Drives (SSD) offer
significantly better performance over hard disk drives is now well
established. They're faster, require less power to run and – as they
contain no moving parts – offer a more rugged storage solution. At the
moment, though, HDD solutions are much cheaper and can store more data
on a single device ... but the gaps are closing. Intel has now upped the
available storage capacity on its new third generation SSD 320 Series
to a spacious 600GB, and has managed to lower the cost by 30 percent.
Read More
Just three years ago, a study conducted by the
University of Westminster, London, determined that the “hygenic” warm
air hand dryers commonly found in public washrooms actually left users
with more bacteria on their hands than if they’d simply used
paper towels. Now, it seems that the good name of hands-free
electronic-eye faucets is being similarly besmirched – researchers at
The Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore have discovered that water
coming from such faucets contains more Legionella bacteria than
that dispensed by conventional fixtures. Their theory is that the
high-tech faucets’ complex inner workings are to blame. Read More
Like many people, I once bought myself a digital
piano and had every intention of teaching myself to play. However, when
faced with a very steep learning curve and the prospect of spending
weeks or months learning to play a simple prelude, such thoughts were
soon put to bed and the instrument sat in the corner of the room
gathering dust. Had I been able to place a PianoMaestro learning system
on the keyboard, things could well have been different. PC software
translates standard MIDI files into musical notation onscreen, the
computer is attached by USB cable to a strip of lights, and that is
placed at the back of a full piano keyboard, letting you know which keys
need to be pressed when. The system is said to make the learning
process quicker and easier and, according to its creator, is just like
having your very own teacher with you all the time, but one who has
"infinite patience that does not charge by the hour." Read More
It's all very well and good that iPhones can give
you directions, let you surf the web, and do about a thousand other
things, but what if you want to get a close look at something really
tiny? Well, the phone can't help you with that on its own, but it can if
you equip it with the Mini Microscope for iPhone. Like the University
of California, Davis' more clinical CellScope,
it mounts over the lens of the phone's camera. Once in place, you can
use it to inspect your thumb, get to know the insects in your
neighborhood, or even to detect counterfeit currency. Read More
Nobody likes having pollen or dust allergies, nor
do they enjoy suffering through airborne viruses such as colds or the
flu. One approach to lessening the likelihood of being bothered by
either of these conditions is to wear a mouth and nose mask, but that
could get rather awkward and uncomfortable, plus it would make you look
kind of funny in some situations. If you’re OK with still looking a little
funny, however, you might be interested in slapping on a pair of First
Defense Nasal Screens – that’s right, we’re talking nostril filters.
Read More
While a number of car makers, including BMW, Mercedes-Benz and McLaren,
have sought to leverage their brand and technical knowledge to produce
vehicles of the two-wheeled, pedal-powered variety, they tend to opt for
the same high-tech, lightweight materials used in their cars, such as
carbon fiber and aluminum. Audi
has done the same thing in the past, but for its latest bicycle
offering Audi of America has taken a different tack by teaming up with
Renovo Bicycles to create the "duo" – a line of bikes that feature
monocoque frames made of hardwood. Read More
A team of radiologists and retired US Navy sonar
experts have used technology developed for submarines as the basis for a
new device which offers quick detection, diagnosis and monitoring of
stroke. Combined with a portable laptop based console, the head-worn
device enables different types of stroke and brain injury to be
discovered and located, differentiating normal blood flow from life
threatening conditions and delivering an initial diagnosis in under a
couple of minutes. Read More
While most of us know it is theoretically
possible for our movements to be tracked by detecting which tower our
mobile phone is connected too, it might come as a shock to see just how
much of a digital footprint we leave as we go about our daily lives.
German Green Party politician Malte Spitz and German newspaper Die Zeit
have provided a frightening insight into just how much information can
be gleaned from the digital breadcrumbs we drop every day by creating an
interactive map showing Spitz's movements and activities over a five
month period based on mobile phone data and information freely available
on the internet. Read More
With so many of our pictures, videos and
documents now stored in digital format, the prospect of precious data
disappearing forever in the misstep of a HDD read/write head or
infection from a nasty virus is even more catastrophic. About a week ago
it was proposed on social networking site Reddit that a World Back-up
Day would be a good idea to remind everyone of the importance of backing
up irreplaceable data. The date of March 31st was chosen and, although
that didn’t leave much time to spread the word, the idea quickly gained
traction. Read More
Kia added to its electric vehicle concept line-up
at the Seoul Motor Show today with the world premiere the Naimo
electric crossover utility. Designed as a five-door, four-seater urban
runabout, the Naimo is powered by an 80 kW electric motor which Kia says
produces maximum torque of 280 Nm and will deliver a top speed of 150
km/h, while the 27 kWh Lithium Ion Polymer battery promises a range of
around 125 miles (200 km) on a single charge. Read More
OUTDOORS
Youngsters who trek off into the back of beyond tend not to concern themselves too much with comfort.
As you get older though, and perhaps have kids in tow, you may find
that your camping needs undergo some modification. While some just opt
for a bigger tent, the solution for Richard Waters and his wife Alicia
originated in ancient Central Asia and has many names – such as Ger in
Mongolia, Kherga in Afghanistan, or Yurta in Russia. Known as a Yurt to
the English-speaking world, this round, lattice-framed portable dwelling
has now been given a new lease of life in the world of recreational
camping. Read More
It’s perhaps inevitable that as video gaming
technology advances, some of us may start to long for the simpler
nuts-and-bolts arcade games of our youth. Well, they never got much
nuttier and boltier than pinball, and the new Pinball Magic
“(app)cessory” allows you to transform your iPhone or iPod touch into a
digital version of just such a machine – complete with its own
functional iDevice-sized cabinet. Just fire it up, turn up the Buddy
Holly, Jefferson Airplane or Joan Jett, then pretend you’re back in the
days of broken curfews and wedgies. Read More
People who often find themselves undertaking
research in a library or museum could well encounter a text written in a
language different to their own. While online translation solutions are
now readily available, retyping the word, phrase or page onto a
smartphone using a virtual keyboard can quickly become a tiresome task.
The Quicktionary TS Premium from Wizcom Technologies allows the user to
scan the text into the device and a built-in word and phrase dictionary
offers up the translation on the included screen. The pen-like device
also has a built-in speaker to help those who want to learn how to
pronounce the scanned word or line of text. Read More
With General Motors last year announcing its intention to roll out Chevrolet
across Korea, this year’s Seoul Motor Show has seen the unveiling of a
slick hybrid roadster concept developed by the GM Advanced Design Studio
in Seoul to celebrate Chevrolet’s 100-year heritage and showcase future
design possibilities for the brand. The Mi-ray, which is apparently
Korean for ‘future’, is a small open top vehicle that boasts an
aerodynamic body that GM says is reminiscent of modern jet fighters.
Read More
“Flying wing” designs that offer reduced weight
and drag when compared to traditional “tube with wings and a tail”
designs are theoretically the most efficient aircraft configuration.
However, true flying wings are inherently unstable and difficult to
control. To aid in the design of future aircraft that utilize such a
design, researchers at the German Aerospace Center (DLR) have been
performing flight tests to study the flight characteristics of large
flying wing configurations using what has been dubbed a flying
“chameleon”. The DLR’s Advanced Technologies Testing Aircraft System
(ATTAS) research aircraft resembles a conventional small passenger
aircraft, but it has been fitted with special hardware and software to
give it the flight characteristics and performance of an entirely
different aircraft. Read More
The use of firearms for self-defense is a
divisive issue, with weapons, especially concealable ones, being easily
misappropriated for wrong-doing. While we’re reluctant to suggest adding
more guns to the equation, the newly developed single-shot Palm Pistol
does have some worthwhile qualities as a defensive weapon for
non-aggressors. Read More
Anyone who has taken a long haul flight will know
that getting some shut eye during the flight can be a bit of a
challenge at the best of times. Dealing with crying babies or restless
children is only compounded by being crammed into seats that become more
and more uncomfortable as the hours go by. Earlier this year we looked
at the efforts of a number of airlines to make future air travel a more comfortable experience, including Air New Zealand’s “cuddle class” which features an Economy Skycouch.
The new seat designs are now available in the airline’s new Boeing
777-300ER aircraft, with some of the first passengers to take advantage
those on the aircraft’s inaugural flight from Los Angeles to London.
Read More
Protecting computer systems from malicious attack
using complex software solutions is a constant, but necessary,
struggle. As threats become more sophisticated, the technology used to
fight them off can impact more and more on system performance. According
to researchers from North Carolina State University, programs that have
built-in safety features can be slowed down by as much as a 1,000
percent. To combat this issue they have developed technology that helps
such programs to run more efficiently without sacrificing effectiveness.
Read More
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