Japan team creates world's first "crab computer"
By David Szondy
April 15, 2012
Wouldn't your latest generation tablet be way
cooler if it ran on live crabs? Thanks to Yukio-Pegio Gunji and his team
at Japan’s Kobe University, the era of crab computing is upon us ...
well, sort of. The scientists have exploited the natural behavior of
soldier crabs to design and build logic gates - the most basic
components of an analogue computer. They may not be as compact as more
conventional computers, but crab computers are certainly much more fun
to watch. Read More
Scientists at Stanford University’s School of
Medicine have created nanoparticles that are able to precisely highlight
brain tumors. Because the nanoparticles can be imaged in three
different ways, they can be used to delineate the boundaries of tumors
before and during brain surgery to ease the complete removal of tumors.
The scientists have already used the nanoparticles to remove brain
tumors from mice with unprecedented accuracy and hope the technique
could be used on humans in the future. Read More
Legendary French automaker Citroen began
resurrecting its venerable DS series a few years ago - the original line
debuted in the 1950s, had a two-decade-long run, and was once voted
"the most beautiful car of all time" - and is now introducing three more
new takes on the DS into China, one of the largest and fastest-growing
markets ever. The second coming of the DS began in 2009 with the DS3 and
has since been followed by the DS4 and DS5. Now, three more models in
the line will be launched later this year, and Citroen will be marking
the event by unveiling its Numéro 9 concept at the Beijing Motor Show
later this month. Read More
U.S. researchers are developing a promising new
approach to the targeting of individual cancer cells. The technique uses
light-harvesting nanoparticles to convert laser energy into “plasmonic
nanobubbles,” enabling drugs to be injected directly into the cancer
cells through small holes created in the surface. Researchers claim that
the delivery of chemotherapy drugs in this way is up to 30 times more
effective on cancer cells than traditional drug treatments and requires
less than one-tenth the clinical dose. Read More
When Feadship Royal Dutch shipyards rolls, or
rather, floats out one of their multi-million dollar superyachts, it
does so with a lot of fanfare. Just last month, we covered the unveiling
of their innovative Qi
(Chi) concept vessel and now the megayacht builder has introduced its
latest real-world effort, the 257-foot (78.50m) luxury motoryacht Hampshire II, which left the drydock at the company's Kaag, Netherlands, facility a few days ago. Read More
Mercedes Benz won its first Formula One Grand
Prix for 57 years in China today, completing the successful comeback
many thought it could not achieve. Winning driver Nico Rosberg took pole
position for the race ahead of teammate and seven time champion Michael
Schumacher, before driving a calculated race to put the Silver Arrow
back in the winners circle. Read More
You could easily go to a rock gym to try climbing
or throw on a pair of boots and hike a local trail, but you'd need to
invest a little more time and planning to try caving. You could commit
to joining a caving club or pay for a guided tour, but options for just
going out and giving it a go are quite limited. CaveSim is a unique
innovation that lets prospective cavers get a taste for the sport by
providing a virtual indoor cave environment. The device includes
electronic sensors for video-game-like scoring features, allowing for
tracking your personal score and competing against others. Read More
Swedish automotive icon Volvo is
celebrating its 85th birthday and will reenact driving the first
mass-produced Volvo ÖV4 off the production line and through the company
gates in Göteborg. Volvo heroically focused on the safety of the
occupants of its cars long before other manufacturers decided it was
fashionable, pioneering many of the features (such as the three-point
seat belt) we find in the cars of today. Read More 
Canon has just brought 4K video recording to the
world of digital SLR cameras in the shape of the EOS 1D C. Developed to
support the broadcast quality TV, motion picture high-resolution
production industries, the new EOS family member is based on the core
specs of the EOS 1D X (which has just been confirmed for a June 2012 release), with some features from last year's C300 cinema camera thrown in for good measure. Read More
Engineered cells seek out and kill HIV in living organisms
By Ben Coxworth
April 13, 2012
Although there is currently no cure for HIV, the body does already contain cells that fight the virus – the problem is, there just aren’t enough of them to completely get rid of it. In 2009,
scientists at UCLA performed a proof-of-concept experiment, in which
they were able to grow these CD8 cytotoxic T lymphocytes (better known
as infection-fighting “T cells”) from genetically engineered human stem
cells. Now, in a subsequent study, they have demonstrated that these
engineered cells can seek out and kill HIV-infected cells in a living
organism. Read More
Although winter is currently coming
to an end in the Northern Hemisphere, a certain cold-related problem
with capacitive touchscreen devices still persists – you can’t use them
if you’re wearing gloves or mittens. According to Washington, DC-based
inventor Alice Ning, however, her TapCaps will allow you to do so, while
wearing any pair of gloves. Read More
Welcome news, finally, for the Raspberry Pi-watchers
out there. Having previously predicted a March launch, the Raspberry Pi
Foundation has finally announced that batches of the US$25 Linux
computer are finally being delivered to customers. Read More
For Jeep Wrangler owners who enjoy
driving their all-terrain vehicles with the top down, there is an
obvious downside when the weather turns bad – replacing the top quickly.
Rugged Ridge's solution to this potentially time-consuming operation is
the PowerTop - a hydraulic soft-top that can be raised or lowered with
the push of a button. Read More
Mercedes-Benz has released further details of its new Citan
ahead of its first public appearance at the IAA Commercial Vehicle Show
in Hanover in September. Designed to "round out" the company's delivery
van range by providing an urban-oriented alternative to the Sprinter
and the Vito, the Citan will offer a choice of three lengths and three
turbodiesel engine variants. Read More
Boeing made headlines last June, when its new 747-8 Freighter crossed the Atlantic Ocean running partially on biofuel. Yesterday, one of the company's 787 Dreamliners set a similar milestone – it crossed the Pacific
Ocean using a biofuel mix. It was not only the first time that such
fuel has been used in a 787, but also marked the first biofuel-powered
aircraft crossing of the Pacific. Read More
While most folks find the speakers
on their iPads adequate, they can be difficult to hear clearly in noisy
environments or when they're several feet away. Recently, we covered an
accessory that amplifies
the iPhone4 by about 13 decibels. Now, to help the third-generation
iPad (and the earlier iPad2) be all that it can be, Evan Clabots and his
team at Brooklyn's Nonlinear Studio have come up with a similar clip-on
solution that simply and effectively boosts output - the Amplifiear.
Read More
Chateau D'eau by Belgian design
studio Bham is a novel piece of architectural adaptation, renovating a
piece of World War II-era infrastructure into a very modern and
desirable family home. Read More
In response to the skyrocketing
prices of rare earth metals, Honda, in partnership with the Japan Metals
& Chemicals Co., Ltd., has established a world first
mass-production process at a recycling plant to recycle this precious
resource from Honda vehicles. Read More
If you're an avid Apple fan with a
bankroll akin to that of the late Steve Jobs, we've found an item on
eBay that you might want to add to your watch list. A merchant in
British Columbia is selling what they claim to be a rare prototype of
the original Macintosh 128k computer based around a proprietary floppy
disk drive Apple developed but later scrapped. The opening bid on the
system, which comes with the original keyboard, mouse and cords but
doesn't boot, is $99,995.00. Read More
While it can be nice to listen to motivating
music while riding your bike, riding on the streets while wearing
earbuds is ... well, crazy. In many places, it’s also illegal. One
option is to wear non-sealing earHero
earphones, which are claimed to allow both outside noise and music into
the user’s ear canal. Another, however, is to attach some Otus
Mini-Speakers to your helmet. Read More
We’ve already seen the 3D printing technology
that promises to turn a household desk into a mini manufacturing plant
used by the Smithsonian Institution
to produce replicas of key models for display and traveling
exhibitions. Now a 3D printing process is being used to help restore
ancient artifacts from China’s Forbidden City. Read More
Although winter is currently coming
to an end in the Northern Hemisphere, a certain cold-related problem
with capacitive touchscreen devices still persists – you can’t use them
if you’re wearing gloves or mittens. According to Washington, DC-based
inventor Alice Ning, however, her TapCaps will allow you to do so, while
wearing any pair of gloves. Read More Hornet velomobile comes with power boost included
By Ben Coxworth
April 16, 2012
If you take a recumbent tricycle and enclose it in an aerodynamic fuselage, what you end up with is known as a velomobile.
The vehicles are significantly faster than bicycles on the flats and
downhills, plus they offer more weather protection, but they do
tend to be heavy – this can make hill-climbing quite an ordeal. Some
manufacturers compensate for this limitation by offering electric assist
motors as optional extras, although these just add even more weight,
along with boosting what is already often a pretty high price tag.
Toronto-based BlueVelo, however, has taken an interesting approach with
its new Hornet velomobile. It was designed around its electric assist motor, which is included in the vehicle’s relatively low price. Read More
There has been quite a bit of pre-announcement
discussion about what kind of features might be added to Panasonic's
latest member of its LUMIX G Series of Micro Four Thirds digital
cameras. As it transpired, the new LUMIX DMC-GF5 interchangeable lens
camera was not the marked improvement on last year's GF3
that we'd hoped it would be. That said, it has been given a new sensor
and rehashed imaging engine, an improved user interface with the
opportunity to automatically optimize settings based on images snapped
by professional photographers, and it will be available with a power
zoom kit lens. Read More
After a period when financial crisis threatened
the very existence of Chrysler’s SRT performance brand, the company came
back to the New York Motor Show with a fitting flagship, the brand-new
Dodge... sorry - SRT Viper and Viper GTS. The original Viper was an
outrageous and unsubtle statement of muscle-car intent that
unfortunately was unable to hide its uncouth truck-based roots. A loud
and powerful beast that featured a comically small cockpit, no
particular interest in going around corners and the torsional stiffness
of a blancmange. The statement of intent remains but this seventh
incarnation is a much-refined beast. Read More
Thailand's Songkran Festival has been going for
hundreds of years. It is a Buddhist festival and part of the New Year
celebrations, but as the Buddhist calendar has given way to the
Gregorian calendar of the rest of the world, the most prominent aspect
has become the throwing of water. For three days each year (April 13, 14
& 15), the country engages in one giant water-fight. If your inner
child needs some nurturing, this is the place to get it. Read More
The Midget Bushtrekka from Kamp-Rite is a really
rather handy-looking tow-along tent-cum-bicycle trailer for extended
cycling trips. And as large as it is - 56 pounds (25.4 kg) in weight
packing in 180 liters (48 US gallons) of storage - Kamp-Rite does not
intend that the Bushtrekka be confined to sedate cycle paths. Rather, it
sounds as though Bushtrekka is designed for fairly serious off-roading.
But is it up to the job? Read More
We bet you can remember your first bike. We also
bet it looked nothing like the Spherovelo - a sphere-based ride-on for
children as young as one year old. Makers Early Rider, from
Henley-on-Thames, UK, say the Spherovelo has been designed to improve
your little one's balance and motor skills, making it the perfect
pre-cursor to a "normal" balance bike. Read More
In an effort to find cheaper alternatives for the
exploration of Mars following recent budget cuts, earlier this year
NASA established the Mars Program Planning Group (MPPG). To seek out the
best and brightest ideas for a reformulated Mars exploration program,
the group is calling on the public to submit ideas and concepts that
will help inform new strategies for exploration of the Red Planet. Read More
Braven Bluetooth speakers double as phone charger
By Gizmag Team
April 17, 2012
BRAVEN is looking to stand-out from the Bluetooth speaker
crowd with a new line that offers the versatility of integrated phone
charging plus speakerphone and daisy chaining functionality. The BRAVEN
SIX Series comes in three flavors - two aluminum models and a ruggedized
unit - which boast between 12 and 20 hours charging time. Read More
After three years in development, Flow (or
strictly speaking ~Flow, with a leading tilde), a floating musical
watermill has opened to visitors at Newcastle Quayside in England's
North East. Actually a tide mill, Flow's waterwheel powers a variety of
handcrafted electroacoustic instruments. The sound of the instruments
changes dynamically according to the conditions of the river itself. In a
sense, the river is playing the mill. Read More
Welcome news, finally, for the Raspberry Pi-watchers
out there. Having previously predicted a March launch, the Raspberry Pi
Foundation has finally announced that batches of the US$25 Linux
computer are finally being delivered to customers. Read More
Last Sunday, attendees of the 2012 Coachella
music festival were shocked when infamous rapper, Tupac Shakur, took the
stage in the form of a hologram to give a live performance - quite a
feat, considering the man has been dead for over 15 years. Fans gawked
and cheered as the incredibly realistic-looking hologram moved around
the stage, called out to the audience, and even performed a song
alongside his old friend, Snoop Dogg, before disappearing in a burst of
light. The impressive show has already caught the imaginations of many
music lovers, and it's all thanks to the work of AV Concepts and effects
studio, Digital Domain, who worked together to bring the deceased
rapper back to life. Read More
For Jeep Wrangler owners who enjoy
driving their all-terrain vehicles with the top down, there is an
obvious downside when the weather turns bad – replacing the top quickly.
Rugged Ridge's solution to this potentially time-consuming operation is
the PowerTop - a hydraulic soft-top that can be raised or lowered with
the push of a button. Read More
Last week we looked at the development of “hydrate-phobic”
surfaces that could assist in the containment of oil leaks in deep
water. Now, by adding boron to carbon while growing nanotubes,
researchers have developed a nanosponge with the ability to absorb oil
spilled in water. Remarkably, the material is able to achieve this feat
repeatedly and is also electrically conductive and can be manipulated
with magnets. Read More
Having grown up on the original Star Wars
trilogy, it is hard to describe the excitement I felt as I sat in a
darkened theater as a man in my 30’s and that familiar theme blasted out
signaling the start of the The Phantom Menace. Of course, it
was all downhill from there, but John Williams’ iconic score can still
raise the old heartbeat a notch or two. While not capable of pumping out
a version quite as stirring as that performed by the London Symphony
Orchestra, a team has constructed a barrel organ out of Lego that plays
the Star Wars theme. Read More
Matrox has updated its line of DualHead2Go
external multi-display adapters with the simultaneous release of the
DualHead2Go Digital SE and DualHead2Go Digital ME (Mac Edition). While
both the SE and ME let users connect up to two monitors, the SE model
features multi-GXM (Graphics eXpansion Module) support that allows two
adapters to be connected to a single system to provide a total of up to
four displays. Read More
Mercedes-Benz has released further details of its new Citan
ahead of its first public appearance at the IAA Commercial Vehicle Show
in Hanover in September. Designed to "round out" the company's delivery
van range by providing an urban-oriented alternative to the Sprinter
and the Vito, the Citan will offer a choice of three lengths and three
turbodiesel engine variants. Read More
When Seattle-based start-up, Zipwhip, wanted to
show off its new cloud texting platform, it needed a way to demonstrate
just how useful it could be. Most companies might talk data points, like
how fast its platform broadcasts or how its product offers a service no
one else does. Instead, Zipwhip got a little creative and built the
"Textspresso" coffee maker, a machine that accepts and brews specialty
coffee orders via text message so the beverage is ready once a person
arrives to pick it up. Read More
Nature (and its preservation) evidently played a
major role in the unusual design of the Friend House, an innovative
ecohotel situated on the banks of the Ukraine's Orel River, a tributary
of the Dnieper. Actually in development for a number of years, the
single story structure sits on 7.4 acres (3 hectares) of forested land
about 19 miles (30 km) from the large city of Dnipropetrovs'k.
Constructed exclusively of what its designers call "ecologically
harmless" materials - clay, reed, wood and stone - this eye-catching
edifice is also a contender for the World Architecture News (WAN) Awards
2012 Hotel of the Year. Read More
BMW’s 6 Series has always been its “golf club’
car. A louche boulevardier aiming to impress more than a 3 Series but
still with pretensions to sportiness. The range lost its way during the
Chris Bangle design era, turning into a large and ugly beast that
offended one’s eye and social sensibilities equally. The latest 6 is a
much improved creature and BMW clearly had faith enough to unleash a new
M variant after a couple of year’s hiatus. As you can see from the
pictures, BMW has gone all-in on the aggressive styling. Has the M6 gone
hardcore? Read More
The winding up of extension cords is something
that most of us probably don’t give a lot of thought to – we loop them
on the ground, spool them around our forearm, or perhaps use a
spring-activated or hand-cranked winder. If you’re someone who spends a
lot of time putting cords away, however, you might want to make the job
safer and easier. That’s where Great Stuff’s RoboReel comes in. It’s a
portable motorized cord winder, with some interesting features. Read More
Like a lot of other factors involved in mountain
biking, setting the air pressure of the tires is a matter of compromise.
Keep them too soft, and you can’t go as fast as you’d like on smooth
stretches of the trail – keep them too hard, and they’ll just bounce off
of roots and rocks instead of gripping them. As it stands, most bikers
go for a “Jack of all trades, master of none” setting, that allows for
some traction and some speed. The folks at ADAPTRAC, however, apparently
think that such a compromise shouldn’t have to be made. Their new
system allows riders to inflate or deflate their tires as conditions
dictate, while they’re riding. Read More
Reading for pleasure among today's youngsters
simply cannot compete with the temptations of readily available
immersive gaming, online networking and HD movie entertainment.
According to a report by the Every Child a Chance Trust, shortcomings in
child literacy are said to cost the taxpayer an estimated £2.5 billion
(nearly US$4 billion) per year in England alone. Ergo Electronics has
responded to the electronic reading needs of children by launching two
new color e-Reader solutions, an Android reading app and a parent/child
reading campaign at the London Book Fair, which runs from April 16 to 18
at the capital's Earls Court. Read More
Boeing made headlines last June, when its new 747-8 Freighter crossed the Atlantic Ocean running partially on biofuel. Yesterday, one of the company's 787 Dreamliners set a similar milestone – it crossed the Pacific
Ocean using a biofuel mix. It was not only the first time that such
fuel has been used in a 787, but also marked the first biofuel-powered
aircraft crossing of the Pacific. Read More
The term "run" in the heading is perhaps a little
generous, as the Rennholz trike can only actually go up to a top speed
of 15 mph (24 km/h) for about ten minutes before needing a battery swap.
Literally translated as Race Wood, it's by no means the only example of
a drill-powered vehicle but the gorgeous curves of its shaped wood
frame and familiar trike form factor make it much more of an eye-pleaser
than, say, the University of Louisiana's Cajun Crawler.
It was planned, designed and built by a team of product design students
from HAWK University of Applied Sciences and Arts at Hildesheim in
Germany for last year's Cordless Screwdriver Race and although it didn't
actually win, the design did take both the Jury and Public awards at
the race. Read More
Blackmagic Design, best known for its well
designed, keenly priced video peripherals and the DaVinci color-grading
software, has created quite a buzz at the 2012 National Association of
Broadcaster’s Show in Las Vegas. Like RED did five years ago, BMD seems
to have suddenly changed the game by announcing a new digital cinema
camera that breaks all the accepted conventions - including price. Read More
Early on the morning of September 4, 2010, a 7.1
magnitude earthquake struck the South Island of New Zealand causing
widespread damage. This was followed by a 6.3 magnitude quake on
February 22, 2011 that was much shallower and devastated the city of
Christchurch – NZ's second-largest city - resulting in the loss of 185
lives. Among a considerable number of building collapses was the
historic Anglican Cathedral, which sustained sufficient damage that it
had to be demolished. Work has now begun on a temporary cathedral,
intended to serve the needs of the community until sufficient funds are
acquired to build a permanent replacement. Oddly, the architects decided
to make the replacement of cardboard! Read More
While most folks find the speakers
on their iPads adequate, they can be difficult to hear clearly in noisy
environments or when they're several feet away. Recently, we covered an
accessory that amplifies
the iPhone4 by about 13 decibels. Now, to help the third-generation
iPad (and the earlier iPad2) be all that it can be, Evan Clabots and his
team at Brooklyn's Nonlinear Studio have come up with a similar clip-on
solution that simply and effectively boosts output - the Amplifiear.
Read More
Kids love creating art almost as much as they
love getting out on their bikes, but with this approach choosing what to
do doesn't have to be an either/or decision. The Chalktrail is an
add-on which turns any bike or scooter into an artistic tool by holding a
stick of chalk which is pressed to the ground behind you as you ride,
leaving a colorful trail showing where you've been. Read More
For decades now, scientists have been monitoring
air pollution in order to better understand how atmospheric contaminants
affect our health. The gathered data can tell us the amount and type of
pollutants that are in the air, which can in turn sometimes be linked
to health problems in the area. What that data doesn’t tell us, however,
is the effect that different types of physical activities can have on
the amount of pollutants that are breathed in – if a smog warning is
issued, for instance, does that mean we shouldn’t go outside at all, or
just that we shouldn’t go jogging outside? A new personal exposure monitoring device, known as the MicroPEM, has been designed to answer such questions. Read More
Last November, Mercedes showed off its futuristic Aero Trailer
concept at a transport truck show in Belgium. While it certainly looked
quite sleek and efficient, it certainly wasn’t as eye-popping as the
full tractor/trailer combo that will be on display later this month in
Germany. Known as Innotruck, the bizarre vehicle is part of Technische
Universität München (Technical University Munich)’s Diesel Reloaded
project, which “aims to demonstrate how paradigm shifts in automotive,
energy, and information technologies can help to address major societal
trends and needs.” Read More
Chateau D'eau by Belgian design
studio Bham is a novel piece of architectural adaptation, renovating a
piece of World War II-era infrastructure into a very modern and
desirable family home. Read More
The Flash Dock from Pocket Demo is a DSLR hot
shoe device that physically connects your iPhone (or other smartphone)
to your DSLR camera, boosting the IQ of the latter by some margin. To
what end? With the right apps, a smartphone can be paired with a DSLR
for numerous purposes. Flash Dock plays no active part in the
functioning of any of these apps - and you don't need a Flash Dock to
make use of them - but by mounting your smartphone above the camera, the
idea is that it provides ready access at all times. Read More
Research into the growing emergence of
drug-resistant bacteria, could be greatly assisted by the discovery of
bacteria from deep within Lechuguilla Cave in New Mexico. The previously
unknown strains of bacteria, which have never before been exposed to
humans, were found to possess a naturally occurring resistance to
multiple types of antibiotics that doctors currently use to treat
patients. This means that new forms of bacteria may have been exposed to
undiscovered antibiotics which, in turn could be used against currently
untreatable infections in the future. Read More
In response to the skyrocketing
prices of rare earth metals, Honda, in partnership with the Japan Metals
& Chemicals Co., Ltd., has established a world first
mass-production process at a recycling plant to recycle this precious
resource from Honda vehicles. Read More This iPhone case can stop a .50 caliber bullet
April 17, 2012
When it comes to iPhone cases, people usually
want them to do two main things: protect their prized phone and be
comfortable to use (and possibly charge the phone like the JuiceTank or the Sandberg BatteryCase).
If you're willing to sacrifice comfort for more durability however,
Japanese company, Marudai Corp. has got the product for you. Its newest
case for the iPhone 4 is so heavily armored that the company claims it
can stop a direct hit from a .50 caliber bullet, while keeping your
smartphone intact. Read More
If you're an avid Apple fan with a
bankroll akin to that of the late Steve Jobs, we've found an item on
eBay that you might want to add to your watch list. A merchant in
British Columbia is selling what they claim to be a rare prototype of
the original Macintosh 128k computer based around a proprietary floppy
disk drive Apple developed but later scrapped. The opening bid on the
system, which comes with the original keyboard, mouse and cords but
doesn't boot, is $99,995.00. Read More
Many plastic items consist of both blow-molded
and injection-molded components that have been welded together. Not only
does this require multiple machines and production steps, but the parts
may also fail at the weld points. Spanish research center ASCAMM’s new
EBIT technology, however, combines the two plastic injection techniques
in one process, to efficiently create weld-free parts. Read More
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