The iOptik display system, consisting of modified
contact lenses and glasses, promises to revolutionize head-mounted
display-based augmented reality by allowing the wearer to focus on two
planes at the same time. Innovega, the company behind the project,
developed their ultra-small form-factor head-up display (HUD) setup in
frames of DARPA’s Soldier Centric Imaging via Computational Cameras
(SCENICC) program, and has now signed a contract with the agency to
deliver a prototype. Read More
Mercedes Benz is making quite a name
for itself in the Chinese market at present. Last week it won its first
Formula One race for half a century, and it did so in Shanghai. Next
week it shows the Style Coupé Concept at Auto China in Beijing. China
has 1.3 billion inhabitants, many of whom are getting wealthy quickly.
Though the penetration of cars into the Chinese population is only at
the same percentage as America was at during the first World War (about
1917 at this point), China's car market is already the world's largest.
Mercedes Benz is clearly targeting the growing middle class wealth with
this production-ready executive coupé. Read More
The argument that new technology
somehow tarnishes sport as a purely human endeavor has created
controversy in swimming
circles and the like. We average golfers, on the other hand, need all
the help we can get. Garmin's latest effort in getting you to the green
takes the functionality of its handheld golf GPS units and puts it on your wrist - the S3 touchscreen GPS golf watch. Read More
Assembly has been completed on the Near Infrared
Camera (NIRCam) that will be the primary imager on NASA’s James Webb
Space Telescope (JWST) and will also act as the telescope’s wavefront
sensor to allow for control of its primary mirror. NIRCam covers the
infrared wavelength range of 0.6 (the edge of visible) to 5 microns
(near infrared) and its focal plane assemblies (FPA) consist of 40
million pixels and are designed to operate at 35 degrees Kelvin
(-396°F/-238°C). Read More
Smart phones are techno wonders, and
they are also energy guzzlers, which is not a problem for people living
in the developed world. However, their high energy requirements has
stymied the adoption of mobile internet services in developing countries
where mobile internet can be a real lifeline. In Africa, for example,
few people can access the internet from a wired connection but 90
percent of the population lives in areas with mobile phone network
coverage. There’s one problem though. Access to the power grid in Africa
is limited. Read More
Nissan Deltawing development on track for Le Mans
By Mike Hanlon
April 18, 2012
Gizmag is essentially about new thought - new and
better ways of doing things. Hence the DeltaWing Project which we detailed previously,
is of greater fascination than most current auto racing projects
because the 1.6-liter Nissan DIG-T turbo-powered car is hugely
innovative. Racetrack testing is well underway and the car recently had
its first serious outing in the wet at the U.K.'s Snetterton circuit.
Read More
Smart has provided some more
information on the company’s first foray into transportation of the
two-wheeled, pedal-assist variety. With help from the likes of parent
company Daimler, the bike’s battery supplier, and GRACE, the
Berlin-based e-Bike manufacturer that helped in its design, the smart ebike was put through its paces in February in Majorca to test the bike ahead of its impending release. Read More
It's forty years since Kawasaki
astonished the motorcycling world by showing the 903cc Z1 superbike at
the 1972 Cologne Show. Some special activities are being planned for the
2012 Cologne Intermot show to commemorate the event. Read More
We've all seen ice cold glasses and bottles
dripping with condensation after cooling water vapor in the air, and
though grabbing water out of thin air
is not new, it took French inventor and Eolewater founder Marc Parent's
umpteenth emptying of his air conditioner's condensate to envision
harvesting atmospheric moisture on a commercial scale using wind
turbines. After years of designs and prototypes, his proof-of-concept
device, essentially a wind-powered refrigeration/condensation/filtration
unit, was put in operation in the dry desert air of Abu Dhabi last
October where it's been reliably extracting 130-200 gal (approx.
500-800L) of clean, fresh water a day ever since. Read More
It’s April, which means that once again, the
National Association of Broadcasters trade show has taken over Las
Vegas. Amongst the various other film, video and photography-related
gizmos that have been unveiled this week is an interesting new product
from Manfrotto. Known as SYMPLA (for SYstem Moving PLatform), the
modular camera rigging system can be configured in seconds, without
tools, to accommodate a wide range of of DSLRs, camcorders and
accompanying lenses. Read More
Samsung has announced U.S. availability for new
versions of its Galaxy Tab Android tablet computer and two new portable
media players. Both Galaxy Tab 2 devices run on Google's Android 4.0
(Ice Cream Sandwich) operating platform with full access to Google Play
(formerly Android Market), are powered by a 1GHz dual-core processor,
have built-in GPS, and both front- and rear-facing cameras. The Galaxy
Players also run on Android, but it's the Gingerbread (2.3) flavor
instead of ICS. Read More
When the brain receives a traumatic
injury, irreversible damage occurs as the cells at the point of impact
die. Injured cells surrounding the area then release toxic substances,
which cause the brain to swell. This decreases blood flow within the
brain, leading to lower oxygen levels, which in turn leads to more cell
deaths. Recently, however, scientists from North Carolina’s Wake Forest
Baptist Medical Center have developed a new technique, that has greatly
reduced the secondary cell deaths in brain-injured lab rats. Read More
Enzymes are catalysts that boost chemical
reactions by lowering the activation energy required for the reactions
to occur. Added to detergents, they help break down the dirt into
smaller pieces that can be more easily removed with water. While
enzymatic detergents do work better than non-enzymatic ones, they are
also more expensive. But what if the enzymes could be reused? A recent
study by C.S. Pundir and Nidhi Chauhan, members of The American Chemical
Society, may lead to cheaper laundry days and less in the way of
valuable enzymes going down the drain. Read More
Not only are polystyrene fast food
containers usually not recyclable, but they also take eons to break down
in a landfill, can emit harmful compounds, and require petroleum to
create. Using paper is one alternative, but Hong Kong-based company
Innovasians is now offering another – 100% biodegradable containers made
from waste straw left over after wheat harvesting. Read More
Being lovers of style, comfort and technology, you've doubtless already decked your living room out with a multimedia sofa and a recliner with a built-in sound system. Perhaps you've even gone to the trouble of hiding your plasma TV behind a nice art print or surrounding it in a home-theater-like frame.
If you're now a tad underwhelmed by that functional, but otherwise
rather dull, coffee table, then we may have something to bring a smile
to your face. Furniture maker Charles Lushear has supersized the
brick-like controller from Nintendo's iconic 8-bit gaming system
launched in the mid-1980s, swapped the cold plastic for the elegance of
wood and positioned some mid 20th century legs underneath to make a
fully operational Nintendo Controller Coffee Table. Read More
Although it’s normal for infants to have some
disruptions in their breathing while sleeping, prolonged periods of
sleep apnea can cause their blood oxygen levels to fall dangerously low,
sometimes even resulting in death – this is a particular risk for
babies born prematurely. Usually, when an infant does stop breathing
while asleep, all that’s required to get them started again is a gentle
nudge or some other kind of disturbance. Unfortunately, however,
neonatal wards in developing nations are often understaffed, so nurses
might not notice a non-breathing infant until it’s too late. That’s why a
group of five bioengineering students from Houston’s Rice University
invented the Babalung Apnea Monitor. Read More
During Milan Design Week 2012,
Italian furniture maker Calligaris has introduced the use of liquid
wood, a composite biomaterial consisting of polymer and wood. Producing
its first range of chairs, liquid wood is 100% recyclable and produced
with raw materials that are easily available and renewable. Read More
Audi has purchased Ducati
Motorcycles. Not Volkswagen Group (Audi's parent) , but Audi, which is a
subsidiary of Volkswagen Group. It seems a very good fit. It's early
days and the announcement has just been made, but as a fan of
motorcycles in general and Ducati in particular, we'rew all running
around here like rats with a gold tooth in reaction to the announcement.
Audi has the enthusiast spirit in its DNA to appreciate the magic of
the Ducati Brand and empower it. It will ensure the resources are there
to enable the brand to prosper. The Supervisory Boards of AUDI AG and
Volkswagen AG approved the acquisition today in Hamburg. Hang in there
Valentino, the cavalry are coming. Read More
Described by its creator as "a secret treehouse
hiding in the woods of Whistler," in the Canadian province of British
Columbia, the HemLoft is, unlike many buildings that describe themselves
such, a treehouse in the truest sense: the entire weight of the
egg-shaped structure is supported by the tree around which it is built.
Though welcome to visitors - the right sort of visitors, at least - one
first has to find it. And the ongoing story of the HemLoft's
ever-widening profile is as compelling as the story of its construction -
and it's a story with an uncertain ending. Read More
Salone Internazionale del Mobile has been
showcasing the latest in home-furnishing design from Italy and around
the globe since 1961. This week we were lucky enough to be in Milan to
preview the best the show has to offer and also meet with talented
graduates at the Salone Satellite - a parallel exhibition which brings
together the brightest young designers under 35. Stay tuned for more
details on some of the exciting new projects we encountered, but in the
meantime we hope this photo journal will give you a taste of the
fascinating designs gracing the Milan Fairgrounds this week. Read More
It’s fairly safe to say that almost no one
reading this article has ever or will ever operate a Mars rover. If a
project being spearheaded by two Polish space enthusiasts gets the
funding it needs, however, a lot of people may get to do the next-best
thing ... they could remotely operate an actual physical replica rover –
via the internet – located in a large room that’s been made up to look
like the surface of Mars. That’s the idea behind the Remote Mars Yard
project, or ReMY. Read More
When things like bridges or stadium roofs are
built, they’re designed to withstand not just the stress that they will
experience on a frequent basis, but also the maximum stress loads that
they’ll only be subjected to once in a while – these could take the form
of things like snowfalls or wind storms. This means that much of the
heavy, costly materials that the structures are made of will only
occasionally prove necessary. Researchers from the University of
Stuttgart, however, have come up with an alternative. They’ve designed a
lightweight structure that actively adapts to increased loads via
built-in hydraulics. Read More
Following in the footsteps of the Ciclotte
design, it looks like exercise equipment continues to get a makeover.
Moving away from clunky equipment that often folds away to stay
out-of-sight, two new pieces are designed to adorn a living room.
TECHNOGYM presented their latest range of exercise equipment during
Milan Design Week 2012, while LUNAR's striking Vela concept turns your
home workout bike into a work of art when not in use. Read More
Remember the Airborne Wind Turbine
covered by Gizmag towards the end of March? The creator of the
prototype, Altaeros Energies, has been in touch to show us a video of
the prototype in operation and we can confirm that a) it flies and b)
the turbine goes round. Read More
Researchers at Northwestern University have
developed a neuroprosthesis that restores complex movement in the
paralyzed hands of monkeys. By implanting a multi-electrode array
directly into the brain of the monkeys, they were able to detect the
signals that generate arm and hand movements. These signals were
deciphered by a computer and relayed to a functional electrical
stimulation (FES) device, bypassing the spinal cord to deliver an
electrical current to the paralyzed muscles. With a lag time of just 40
milliseconds, the system enabled voluntary and complex movement of a
paralyzed hand. Read More
Earlier this year at CES 2012, Siemens subsidiary Thermador unveiled its Freedom Induction Cooktop
that allows pots and pans of various sizes to be placed anywhere on its
surface instead of being constrained to fixed cooking zones. Now
Siemens has shown its own full-surface induction cooktop that provides
the same freedom of cookware placement. Read More
The Mercedes-Benz brand name holds up well in any
company, so it's not surprising that is being extended into other
luxury markets. This time last year we were writing about Mercedes' first luxury helicopter,
and the big news from the Milan Furniture Fair is that Mercedes-Benz
Style has presented a furniture collection and it will be sold worldwide
via exclusive furniture stores, showrooms and interior design stores
from October 2012. Read More
Brammo has released specs of its new Empulse R
electric motorcycle ahead of a scheduled launch event in Los Angeles on
May 8. Staking a claim as the fastest and longest range production
electric motorcycle in the world, the Empulse R boasts a top speed of
over 100 mph (160 km/h) and a range of up to 121 miles (195 km) for city
driving. Read More
Planetary Resources, a new player in
the commercial space industry, is backed by a host of tech and
aerospace luminaries with an integrated personal net worth on the far
side of US$30 billion. A press release from the company hints that it
will look to establish asteroid mining operations in space. Read More
Audi makes well-engineered
conservatively-designed vehicles. It is seen as the German luxury make
for those who don’t want the overt aggression of BMW or the extravagance
of Mercedes-Benz. The cars suit a great many people down to the ground
and the “soft-roader” Q5 and lately the compact Q3 have been very
successful. They are not cars for driving enthusiasts however - the Q3
was recently called “unremittingly dull” in a well respected UK auto
magazine (Evo) and every now and then Audi feels the need to prove that
it has a wilder side. For the upcoming Beijing Motor Show it was the
Q3’s turn for some conceptual wildness. Read More
Those of us who envy Superman for his X-ray
vision may soon get that ability - on our cell phones. Researchers at
the University of Texas at Dallas have reported a new approach to
harnessing the potential of the terahertz band in portable devices. Read More
Interorbital Systems (IOS), a rocket and
spacecraft construction company founded in 1996, has announced the age
of the Personal Satellite. For US$8,000, IOS provides the TubeSat
Personal Satellite (PS) Kit, complete with launch to low Earth orbit
(LEO). A TubeSat is a (very) low-cost alternative to the CubeSat - for
comparison, by the time you have assembled a CubeSat and had it placed
in orbit, your cost will be well north of US$100K. Read More
In recent years several luxury marques have added
their name and design sensibilities to another mode of transport: the
humble bicycle. Though these cross-bred beasts are far from humble.
We've already seen the likes of Porsche, BMW and McLaren add their expertise to bike manufacturing, and now Italian supercar producer Lamborghini has joined the burgeoning list. Read More
For a coffee table with attitude,
look no further than Adriano Designs' Intervallo by Teckell. If you like
the idea of having your coffee table do double-duty as a foosball
machine, the intervallo is for you. If you just want the most beautiful
foosball machine available, then might we suggest the limited edition,
crystal and aluminium Cristallino Gold LE, the gold-plated star of a
range of designer foosball machines that are exquisite office and den
amusements but not for the feint of wallet. Read More
The lineage of the e-bugster
electric vehicle goes all the way back to the noble aspirations of the
peoples' car, and Volkswagen's very name, so it is very fitting that the
E-Bugster looks likely to form the basis of a range of E-Bugster
electric vehicles. Appropriately being shown in the the only market that
has embraced electric mobility on any scale, we first saw the E-Bugster
as a coupé at Detroit in January, but this time in Beijing, the
hard-top has been removed, previewing a future Beetle Cabriolet Read More
LG and Sprint are using Earth Day
(April 22) to launch the green-credentialed LG Optimus Elite smartphone.
The successor to the LG Optimus S, the new handset features Android
2.3, a 3.5-inch capacitive touch-screen, 800 MHz processor, plus a 5 MP
rear-facing camera and camcorder with flash. Read More
Aeolus, a fascinating acoustic wind sculpture
made by prolific Bristol artist Luke Jerram, is as much a feast for the
ears as it is for the eyes. Named after the mythical Greek ruler of the
four winds and built in conjunction with the University of Southampton's
Institute of Sound and Vibration Research and the University of
Salford's Acoustics Research Center, the giant aeolian wind harp is
intended to inspire the public to learn more about the amazing things
that can happen when engineering, acoustics and aerodynamics are blended
together. Read More
Babies have a pretty charmed existence, they get
food whenever they want, they're pushed around in strollers which
resemble arm-chairs on wheels and enjoy relaxing stints in jacuzzis ...
wait, what? The MagicBath from Italian design firm BluBleu is a
specially designed baby bath featuring an air massage system for your
little one's derriere. Read More
A rare piece of space history will be up for
grabs when record-setting US astronaut Shannon Lucid’s spacesuit goes on
the block at Bonhams auction house in New York City on April 26. The
Russian-made Sokol KV-2 “Falcon” pressure suit was worn by Lucid while
training for her mission aboard the Russian Mir space station where she
set a new space endurance record. It is expected to fetch up to
US$50,000. Read More
Doesn’t anyone just use shipping containers for
shipping anymore? Lately, we’ve seen the tough, stackable,
easy-to-transport steel containers used for everything from a traveling restaurant to a mobile classroom to an off-grid house.
Now, British company Snoozebox has come up with yet another clever use
for them – a modular, scalable portable hotel system made up of multiple
tiered containers, that can be set up anywhere within 48 hours. Read More
An international design competition has been won
by architectural firm Henning Larson in collaboration with the Van den
Berg Groep to create a unique entrance building at Emmen Zoo in the
Netherlands. The theater and zoo entrance incorporates a number of
innovative features within its passive solar design including floating
walls that allow the spaces within it to be reconfigured according to
their required use. Read More
Chinese carmaker Chery has shown an
interesting new concept named the Ant at the Auto China Show in Beijing
today. The Ant appears aimed directly at utilizing the intelligent
infrastructure proposed by General Motors China in its EN-V concept.
Read More
You could be excused for having
missed the birth of a new class of automobile - the super SUV. Eterniti
coined the term for its 620 hp supercar based on the Porsche Cayenne, but in short order a number of other contenders with massive horsepower have emerged. The 600hp Lamborghini Urus,
Maserati Kubang and Bentley EXP 9 have emerged. The Bentley EXP 9 gets
three-quarters of a Bugatti Veyron engine in the form of a twin-turbo
6.0 liter W12 (with 800 Nm of torque) while the Kubang is odds-on to
contain a Ferrari 450 bhp V8. Read More
Although the 21st Century has seen the dawn of 3D
printers, the discovery of new Earth-like planets and seen the rise of
the convenient smart phone, approximately 1.5 billion people around the
globe remain without access to a stable or safe source of light.
Commonly in some of the world's poorest regions, kerosene lanterns are
the standard form of night time lighting, which leads to the possibility
of fires, explosions, asphyxiation and toxic fumes. Safe and renewable
solar lighting presents an obvious solution to this problem and the
NOMAD solar lamp has been created for just that. Read More
Scholars, priests, historians, and followers of the da Vinci Files
can now look toward the Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana (the Vatican
library) with anticipation. In a five-year joint project with the
Bodleian Libraries of the University of Oxford, the Vatican Library will
work to digitize and post online some 1.5 million pages from Greek
manuscripts, 15th-century printed books (incunabula), Hebrew manuscripts
and early printed books. Read More
While the overall efficiency of conventional silicon solar cells has continued to improve
in recent years, the technology faces a natural theoretical limit at
around 33%. This is because the laws of physics prevent the cells from
absorbing photons below a certain energy level, meaning that this
low-energy light cannot be converted into electricity is simply lost.
Now researchers have found a way join two energy-poor red photons to
form a single energy-rich yellow photon, allowing the harvesting of this
part of the spectrum currently unused by single p-n junction
crystalline silicon solar cells, and potentially enabling a
record-breaking efficiency of 40%. Read More
Fingerprint recognition
has long been used to protect sensitive data on USB drives - here’s
another approach. This 8GB USB storage device uses voice recognition
software to detect a password spoken by the user. Read More
When looking for a practical daily driver,
Lamborghini probably isn’t the first name that springs to mind. But the
company is looking to change all that with the Urus concept car it
unveiled at the 2012 Beijing Motor Show. Intended to usher in a whole
new product line and capitalize on the continuing popularity of SUVs,
the Urus retains the aerodynamic lines for which the company is renowned
while aiming to deliver the practicality of a family car Read More
Diet of buckyballs nearly doubles rat lifespan
By Brian Dodson
April 22, 2012
Sometimes I (almost) envy mice, rats, and yeast -
it seems that almost any aging research we carry out on them doubles
their lifespan and returns semi-senescent (say, a human equivalent of
about 60 years of age - not thinking of anyone in particular, of course)
to youthful vigor. It now appears that dramatic anti-aging results are
associated with dietary ingestion of buckyballs, more properly known as
C-60 fullerene. Read More
Boutique luxury carmaker Eterniti
Motors is a London-based manufacturer of prestige performance
automobiles. The company's first offering is named the Eterniti Artemis
- a remanufactured Porsche Cayenne that will compete against the new
SUVs from Bentley, Lamborghini and Maserati in the luxury SUV segment.
The engineering prototype went on display today at the Auto China 2012
international motor show in Beijing. Read More
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