As manufacturers of smartphones and mobile devices strive to make their products increasingly portable, they repeatedly come up against the constraints of existing battery technology. However, Xiaodong Li, a professor at the University of South
Carolina (USC) believes that we will soon be able to employ the clothes
we wear to help overcome such challenges and to this end, Li has
transformed T-shirt material into an energy storage medium which could
one day be used to power portable devices. Read More
The Sounder is an iPad and iPhone
4/S stand and natural amplifier which promises to double the volume of
the docked device. The Sounder contains no electronics or active
elements and each amplifier is hand made from reused wood, and each is
unique. The three versions of the Sounder which Sounder Industries
offers include a model made from timber which originates from the iconic
Coney Island Boardwalk. Read More 
Though its makers describe Desperate Debra as
"the world's first impacted fetal head simulator," it's perhaps simpler
to describe it as a practice dummy for caesarean sections carried out
due to the baby's head having become wedged in the mother's pelvis: a
situation known as impaction. It's a potentially life-threatening
complication and one that is tricky to rectify. Manufacturer of medical
simulators Adam,Rouilly has come up with Desperate Debra so that
surgeons may practice the procedure. Read More
Despite numerous other format developments, Compact Flash
has remained the memory card of choice for many of today's photography
professionals. It's reliable, rugged and a good size for quick swap
overs during shoots. CF is also a good deal faster than other media
trying to break into the pro market. The addition of UltraDMA Mode 7 in
Revision 6.0 took the format's maximum read/write speed up to 167 MBps
but Sony has now managed to nudge ahead with the launch of its faster
XQD S Series memory cards. Read More
Numbers are yet to be crunched and the data analysis goes on, but one thing appears to be certain: scientists at CERN have discovered a new boson, and it's probably the Higgs particle,
the missing particle of the Standard Model which is thought to lend all
matter its mass. Both the ATLAS and CMS experiments at CERN observe a
new particle with mass between 125 and 126 GeV, comfortably within the
band of possible Higgs masses previously identified. Read More
With many of us spending more and more time
indoors, it can be a struggle to get the amount of sunlight our bodies
crave. Modern heat-insulating, sun-protection glazing doesn’t help, as
it reflects a noticeable percentage of the incident sunlight in the part
of the spectrum that governs our hormonal balance. Researchers at the
Fraunhofer Institute for Silicate Research (ISC) have developed a
coating for windows that lets in more light, in particular those
wavelengths of light that have a beneficial effect on our sense of
well-being. Read More
With sprinting events at the elite level decided
by fractions of a second, athletes are always on the lookout for
anything that can provide even the smallest advantage over their rivals.
We recently looked at Nike’s Pro TurboSpeed suit
that is claimed to cut down a runner’s wind resistance by using golf
ball-like dimples, but footwear plays an equally, if not more, important
role in an athlete’s performance. Now French engineer and designer Luc
Fusaro has employed 3D printing technology
to create lightweight sprint shoes that are customized for individual
athletes that could prove the difference between winning and losing.
Read More
The Ford Motor Company recently invited Gizmag to
attend its Go Further With Ford 2012 conference on technological
trends, which took place last Tuesday through Thursday in Detroit. One
of the presentations that we took in looked at the automaker’s MyFord Touch
system, and where that technology may be heading. Among other things,
the Ford engineers want the system to be able to automatically ascertain
how mentally-taxed the driver is, so it can determine if it should
deliver notifications to them, or just shut up and let them drive. Read More
Valve has gained a reputation over the years not
just for consistently putting out great games, but also for the slick
trailers and promo videos that go along with them. But now the developer
is turning the tables and handing over its own video-making tools to
fans free of charge. With the Source Filmmaker, gamers will be able to
direct, animate, and record their own videos as if they were shooting on
location inside a video game. Read More
It's July, which means the London
2012 Summer Games are less than a month away. For the average world
citizen, that means simply clearing a little time in his or her schedule
to cheer on their country. For BMW and Serie Architects, it means
overseeing the finishing touches on a massive pavilion that includes an
integrated waterfall. Read More
Bacteria such as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus
(MRSA) can not only cause potentially lethal infections, but they are
also unaffected by commonly-available antibiotics. Even when it comes to
bacteria that can be more easily controlled, we are still constantly
being warned about the danger of them becoming antibiotic-resistant.
Now, however, researchers have discovered a new antiobiotic-free method
of killing bacteria including MRSA ... and it’s based on semiconductor technology. Read More
The Villa d’Este on the shores of Lake Como
in Italy is a most beautiful and exclusive place. Each year it hosts
the Concorso d'Eleganza Villa d'Este to celebrate the skills and
craftsmanship of the motor industry’s best "carrozzeria" - coachbuilders
in English - and a mouth-watering display of classic handmade motor cars
is the result. BMW regularly sponsors the event and shows off a vintage
car from its collection. This year, however, they pulled off something
completely unexpected, a spectacular brand new, one-off, handmade
vehicle made in collaboration with Milan’s Zagato workshop. Read More
While there was certainly plenty of action on the track
at last weekend's Goodwood Festival of Speed, that was far from the
only automotive eye-candy on hand. Attractions off the tarmac included a
display of Alain Prost's Formula 1 drives, a beautiful collection of luxury automobiles
celebrating the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II, exhibitions from
almost every major auto manufacturer, action sports demonstrations,
rally cars, motorcycles, racers from yesteryear ... and of course, a
smorgasbord of supercars. Read More
Lowering the body’s core temperature
has been shown to decrease the likelihood of neurological damage in the
event of oxygen deprivation. In a process known as “therapeutic
hypothermia,” hospital medical staff
will routinely administer chilled water blankets or insert cold drip
catheters, in order to protect patients who have just experienced a
cardiac arrest or stroke. What can be done, however, when someone has a
heart attack far from a hospital? Well, in the near future, bystanders
may be able to suit them up with a cooling vest – possibly saving them
from permanent brain injury. Read More
Pizza. An oven-baked flat, round bread covered by
a combination of tomato sauce, cheese, and other toppings. Despite this
rather clinical description, pizza is arguably the most scrumptious
item in the ever-widening field of junk foods ... but must pizza be a
junk food? Two people, appropriately named Maclean and Lean of Glasgow, Scotland had an idea for making it healthier. Read More
For a great number of people, the idea of being
able to use a patient’s own cells to create lab-grown replacement organs
is very appealing. Already, researchers have had success growing urethras (which are essentially hollow tubes), and miniature human livers.
Before large, solid, three-dimensional organs can be grown, however,
scientists must figure out a reliable way of incorporating blood vessels
into them – if the lab-grown organs simply take the form of a block of
cells, the cells on the inside won’t be able to receive any nutrients,
and will die. Now, a team from the University of Pennsylvania and MIT
has devised a way of building such vessels, using sugar. Read More
The gentle orange glow of a Nixie display tube
has held a special place in the hearts of DIY device builders for as
long as I can remember but they seem to be undergoing something of a
mainstream revival of late. Many are used as clock displays (as
evidenced by our recent coverage of the Ramos alarm clock and ThinkGeek’s DIY Nixie Tube Desk Clock
kit), due to the most common tube featuring a stack of numerical
cathodes. Some display scientific symbols, of course, and its these
Nixie tubes that have been used in the creation of the gorgeous chess
board you see above. Developer Tony Adams (otherwise known as Lasermad)
has received such a positive response to his design that he's decided to
sell a limited number as self-build kits. Read More
Tech startup Neurovigil announced last April that
Stephen Hawking was testing the potential of its iBrain device to allow
the astrophysicist to communicate through brainwaves alone. Next week
Professor Hawking and iBrain inventor, Dr Philip Low from Stanford
University, present their findings at the Francis Crick Memorial
Conference in Cambridge, England. In anticipation, Gizmag spoke to Dr
Low about the potential applications of the iBrain. Read More
The Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, through
its Light Technology Institute, this month will initiate new research on
printable organic solar cells. The four-year project aims at increasing
the efficiency of such cells to more than 10 percent. These promising,
cheaper solar cells can be manufactured using existing techniques such
as screen printing and continuous roll-to-roll processes. So far,
however, low efficiency rates have stood between these cells and the
market. Read More
A series of striking illuminated
animated mosaics projected onto Buckingham Palace has broken the
Guinness World Record for the most artists working on an art
installation. Read More 
Bicycling can really be a pain in the legs. Your lower limbs pump endlessly to power the bike wheels
over miles upon miles of terrain. Meanwhile, your arms just hang there
doing little to nothing. The Raxibo Hand-Tret-Velo system evens things
out, putting both your arms and legs to work toward cycling forward.
Read More
Ontario's Green Sun Rising has launched a Solar Bench that provides some welcome relief from the heat of the sun for mobile device users, while also offering to keep batteries topped up via flexible solar panels installed on the roof. Read More 
Driving at night
in falling rain or snow can be treacherous, but not just because the
asphalt is slippery – visibility is also greatly reduced, as the
driver’s view of the road ahead is obscured by brightly headlight-lit
raindrops or snowflakes. In the future, however, that may not be so much
of a problem. A team led by Carnegie Mellon University’s Prof.
Srinivasa Narasimhan has developed an experimental headlight system that
renders most foreground precipitation virtually invisible, while still
adequately illuminating the road beyond. Read More
A month from now, the Mars Science Laboratory (Curiosity) rover is set to touch down on the surface of the Red Planet
and begin its mission to learn more about the possible existence of
life - past or present. Curiosity will attempt to touch down using a
complex and unusual landing sequence unlike any other used for previous
Mars rovers ... here's how the plan will unfold. Read More
Unplugged is an office work station
of the future concept that envisions powering your electronic devices
via energy collected off the human body. The prototype was created by
Swedish designer Eddi Törnberg as part of his final year thesis at
Beckmans College of Design, in Stockholm, and you will be pleased to
know that it doesn’t mean you'd be required to pedal away while you
work. In fact all you would have to do is move about your office as
normal, sit in your chair and let the heat of your body do the rest.
Read More
The GameDock is a new accessory in
the works for iPhone and iPad that converts your mobile device into a
retro game console, complete with controller support for two players and
video output for big screen gameplay. The controller is similar to the
original Nintendo Gamepad and features a single directional pad and two
action buttons in a comfortable and well tested layout. Read More 
Del Popolo’s is a traveling pizza
truck located in San Francisco, that features an impressive wood-fired
pizza oven. The mobile restaurant has been constructed from a recycled
shipping container which has been completely remodeled to include a
modern kitchen workspace and two large glass doors that open out to the
public. Read More 
Brazil’s Edra Equipamentos has developed an
eco-friendly ATM booth crafted from environmentally friendly raw
materials. Instead of conventional, oil-derived resins, the walls and
ceiling of the booth are built from a polymer derived from a combination
of recycled plastic, such as PET bottles, and renewable sources, such
as oilseed plants. A photovoltaic solar panel on the roof powers the
booth’s LED lighting at night, while during the day natural light floods
in through a clear “Solatube” system coated with a film from 3M that
blocks more than 80 percent of infrared rays to help keep the interior
cool. Read More
Researchers at Stanford University have created
an electrically conductive gel that feels and behaves like biological
tissues, but conducts electricity like a metal or semiconductor. The gel
can also be printed or sprayed as a liquid before being turned into a
gel. The researchers say this combination of characteristics gives the
gel enormous promise for developing new biological sensors and energy
storage devices. Read More
Currently, land-based tower wind turbines
are the dominant source of wind power, but they take up a lot of space
and generally need to be placed in high visibility areas, such as the
tops of hills or ridges. They are also located close to the ground,
where friction from the Earth’s surface slows the wind and increases its
turbulence, negatively affecting the efficiency of the turbines. NASA
engineers are looking at technologies that would help airborne wind
power systems, capable of generating much more power, get off the
ground. Read More
After a successful Kickstarter campaign, a protein snack
bar made from crickets is set for an August launch. Chapul claims its
bar is the first in the world to use the ubiquitous summer chirpers as a
source of protein. And they're not necessarily as gross as they sound.
Read More
By now, everyone should know that using your mobile phone while driving
is dangerous. Yet, when hitting the road the chances are you’ll still
see someone holding a phone to their ear while behind the wheel.
Researchers in India are aiming to take away the ability for drivers to
chat on the phone altogether by developing a system that blocks the a
driver's mobile phone signal, while not affecting the phones of other passengers in the vehicle. Read More
In celebration of the two hundred and thirty sixth anniversary of the signing of the United States Declaration of Independence
from British rule, Masten Space Systems has performed a record-setting
flight of their vertical takeoff, vertical landing (VTVL) Xaero
suborbital rocket at the Mohave Air and Space Port. Unlike the rockets
designed specifically for the NASA Lunar Lander challenge, the Xaero is
the only VTVL rocket intended to carry payloads into suborbital
trajectories. The test flight saw the Xaero propelled to an altitude of
444 meters (1,457 feet), before returning to Earth and making a perfect
landing on its jets. However, the test flight took place on July 3 -
after all, who wants to work on the fourth? Read More
Windows 8 represents a big change for Microsoft’s industry leading
OS. It breaks from tradition by doing away with the long serving Start
button and replacing it with a tile-based and touch-friendly Metro UI.
While this move has widely polarized opinion, especially in the
enterprise sector, it does represent a major trend across the industry,
with mobile-tablet operating systems becoming more and more closely related to their laptop and desktop counterparts. This trend is personified by Microsoft’s in-house tablet, the Surface Pro. Read More
To increase stealth and evade predators, the moth
has evolved a remarkable eye that, rather than reflecting light,
absorbs it almost completely. Engineers have mimicked its nanostructure
in the past to design better solar panel coatings and antireflective surfaces,
and are now using the same principle to design a thin film that will
absorb radiation from X-ray machines more effectively, exposing patients
to a significantly lower risk while obtaining higher quality imaging.
Read More
Every now and then, we here at Gizmag like to
take a look at how the other half (or one percent) live. And why not?
It's nice to occasionally fantasize about say, waking up in a private, underwater hotel room, to be chauffeured in a Mercedes-Benz to a weekend getaway on your own personal floating island.
But does that fantasy involve personalized, gold-plated cleaning
appliances? If it didn't before, it sure can now with GoVacuum's GV62711
vacuum cleaner and it's US$1 million price tag. Read More
This past January, the Lola-Drayson B12/69EV
was unveiled to the public. Created by Drayson Racing Technologies and
the Lola Cars group, it promised to be the fastest electric-powered
racing car in the world. Well, it looks like it’s on its way to
fulfilling that promise, as it set a speed record this week at the
Goodwood Festival of Speed. Read More 
So you're looking dapper in your snappy business
suit as you head out into the afternoon sun to walk a few blocks to your
next meeting but by the time you arrive you're a good deal less fresh
than when you set off just moments before. Your expensive new super
white cotton shirt is stuck to your back and something nasty is taking
to the air around you. This is precisely the kind of scenario that the
Apollo shirt from Ministry of Supply was designed to combat. The
wrinkle-free dress shirt makes use of NASA technology to help regulate
body temperature, while also neutralizing pit-pong and adapting to the
movement of the wearer. Read More
Sensory substitution devices work by converting
one type of sensory input into another – examples would be systems such
as CASBLiP and EYE 21,
which allow the blind to “see” by assigning sounds to images. Now, a
team of researchers at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem have created a
similar wearable device, known as EyeMusic. It “employs pleasant
musical scales to convey visual information,” and could one day help the
visually impaired more easily perform tasks that the rest of us take
for granted. Read More
The United States celebrated its
independence yesterday, and one state turned to a unique tactic for
fighting the drunk driving that unfortunately goes hand in hand with
major holidays. The Michigan Office
of Highway Safety Planning has teamed up with the Michigan Licensed
Beverage Association toward putting talking urinal cakes into
restaurants and bars throughout several counties in the state. The
electronic sanitary discs provide an on-the-spot reminder not to drive
after drinking, using both written and motion-activated audio messages.
Read More 
French consumer electronics
company ARCHOS has just detailed the first in a series of budget
Android tablets. The new Elements range will include 7- and 8-inch
models but the first out of the starting blocks is the ARCHOS 97 carbon
which, as the name might indicate, features a 9.7-inch display. The
screen supports up to five simultaneous touch points and features
In-Plane Switching (IPS) technology for wide viewing angles. Read More
You can't always predict a downpour,
or (if you're anything like us) remember your umbrella, and as such
we've all been soaked while walking around a city. But designer Mikhail
Belyaev doesn't think that forgetting to check the weather forecast
before heading out should result in you getting wet. That's why he
created Lampbrella, a lamp post with its own rain-sensing umbrella. Read More 
Any parent knows that irrespective of what
engaging and exciting toys you buy for your children, they will always
be more interested in your mobile phone or tablet computer. It's an inescapable fact of modern day parenting. With this in mind, toy firm Little Tikes has revealed a range of iPhone-friendly toys which can connect with your iOS devices. Read More
The inclusion of a floating lamp, bed or just about any appropriately-sized household object
in a room is almost certain to be received with open-mouthed wonder and
demand closer inspection from the curious minds of young and old alike.
Add the wireless transfer of power into the mix and you're guaranteed
to have a winner. Such is the case with 18 year-old Chris Rieger's
LevLight. It's not exactly huge, doesn't break any new ground in a technical sense and is more functional than flashy. Nevertheless, the floating LED is quite the visual feast. Read More
A team of researchers at Griffith University
has managed to stretch the capabilities of microscopy to its ultimate
limit. Culminating a five-years effort, the scientists have obtained a digital image
of the shadow cast by a single atom, in a development that might soon
lead to important advances in scientific observations ranging from the
very big to the very small. Read More
Timbuk2, a manufacturer of bags and
packs of all shapes and sizes, has announced a new line of packs with
gadget-charging capabilities. The San Francisco-based company has teamed
up with Joey Energy to deliver the Power Commute messenger bag and
Power Q backpack, which include Joey's T1 power supply. Read More 
Spectators turned out in the hundreds to witness
the light show that marked the climax of the inauguration of Europe's
tallest building, the 309.6-m (1016-ft) Shard in London. A dozen
emerald-green laser beams emanated from the Shard to pick out iconic
landmarks including the London Eye, St. Paul's Cathedral and Tower
Bridge. The tower's 95 floors were lit up with color-changing lighting,
and 30 search lights flared outwards and upwards from surrounding
buildings. Read More
The trickling of rumors suggesting an iPad Mini
is in the works has grown to become a raging torrent, with mainstream
sources now seriously reporting on Apple's plans for a smaller iPad.
Previously, websites such as Digitimes have been the source of such rumors, but with The Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg now on board there seems less and less room for doubt such a device is on its way. Read More
That EXIT Architects describes the redeveloped
Palencia Civic Center as a rehabilitation rather than a refurbishment is
apt considering the 19th century building was originally a prison.
Somehow, refurbishment is too small a word for such a radical change of
use, implying a mere lick of paint here and a scrubbed-down banister or
two. No. EXIT quite literally tore the roof off the place. Read More
Situated in an undisclosed location near Tzfat,
northern Israel, is a government-approved medical marijuana plantation
founded in 2004 by a retired biology teacher. Named Tikun Olam, the
plantation has created a new cannabis strain which contains very low
traces of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the main constituent in cannabis
responsible for making people feel "stoned". By virtually eliminating
THC in the new strain, Tikun Olam can now offer the drug's medicinal
benefits to those patients who wish to keep a clear head. Read More
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