We've seen our fair share of portable device docks here at Gizmag, from the acoustic to the power-hungry
and everything in between. Most of those capable of charging the docked
device as well as amplify its audio tend to have been designed for use
with an iDevice, which is not much use to the 14 million U.S. Kindle Fire
users. Rallying to the cause, Grace Digital has launched the FireDock -
one of the first speaker docks crafted specifically for Amazon's Kindle
Fire 7-inch tablet and featuring full-range stereo speakers, a Class D
digital amp and an additional auxiliary input for an optional secondary
audio source. Read More
Ferrari CEO Amedeo Felisa appears to
have suggested that hybrid technology is ready for commercial rollout.
But he hasn't stopped there, hinting at a future in which both hybrid
Ferraris and six-cylinder Ferraris may be the rule. Read More 
Gizmag is celebrating its 10th birthday! Over the
past decade we've published over 17,000 articles, covered a huge array
of events around the globe and fostered a loyal worldwide audience
willing to become part of the discussion surrounding the thing that
fascinates us most - new technology. To mark our 10th birthday milestone
we're taking a stroll through the archives to revisit some of the
biggest hits and most popular themes in our history. Read More
When we first spied Sandia National Laboratories' Precision Urban Hopper Robot
back in 2009 it employed combustion-driven pistons to propel it into
the air and allow it to clear obstacles. In the same year Sandia handed
development of the jumping robot over to Boston Dynamics, the company
behind robots including PETMAN, BigDog and CHEETAH. Now known as Sand Flea, Boston Dynamics has released new video of the robot showcasing an updated jumping mechanism. Read More
In an effort to provide a more accurate
alternative to conventional cell culture and animal models, researchers
at the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard
University have developed a microdevice that mimics the structure,
physiology, and mechanics of the human intestine. The so-called
“gut-on-a-chip” could help provide new insights into intestinal
disorders and be used to evaluate the safety and efficacy of potential
treatments. Read More
The thunderous punch of a bass drum is the
time-honored foundation on which all of rock 'n' roll is built. That
thud that hits you in the chest and moves your whole body … it taps into
a deep and primal place in our subconscious. But while the crowd is
enjoying the power of the bass drum amplified through huge sub-woofers,
the poor drummer himself is usually hearing a poxy, paper-thin, bassless
pop from a tiny onstage foldback speaker. Trying desperately to feel
the bass, they often turn the onstage monitors up to ear-splitting
volumes, but you just can't get that kind of low end out of small
speakers. Enter the BC2 (formerly known as the BumChum) from Britain's
Porter and Davies - a simple two-part system that takes the bass drum
signal and literally shakes the drummer's butt with it through a
vibrating stool. Read More
Thanks to research currently being conducted at
the U.S. Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory, our
unwanted plastic bags may one day be recycled into carbon fiber. Not
only that, but the properties of the fibers themselves could be
fine-tuned, allowing different types of carbon fiber to be created for
specific applications. Read More
Savage Rivale is in the process of building its anomalous Roadyacht GTS,
a four-door, four-seat convertible supercar. Not only is the layout of
the car a bit unconventional, but the Netherlands-based company gives us
a new take on the retractable hardtop. Read More
Between the years 1956 and 1965,
Willys (and subsequently Kaiser Jeep) built a vehicle called the Jeep
Forward Control. Its cab-over design allowed it to have a full-length
cargo bed, while keeping its overall length to a minimum – this made it
more maneuverable than would otherwise be possible. Jeep and Mopar have
now teamed up to revisit the Forward Control, in the form of the Jeep
Mighty FC concept. Read More 
After a somewhat unsuccessful and rather
expensive attempt at warming a greenhouse, electrical engineer Dr Craig
Hollabaugh rigged up a system that keeps the winter chill away by
warming the roots of his plants. The WarmDirt system has already helped
his plants survive the coldest of Colorado's cold months, and is now
getting ready to provide warmth to seedlings during the expected April
freeze. This past season's survivors were all flowers but next winter,
the setup will be used for growing veggies. Read More
A consortium of German research
groups has created a new sandwich-type material that they claim offers
strength similar to that of steel or aluminum, yet is significantly
lighter and less expensive. It consists of a honeycomb-structured paper
core, with glass fiber-reinforced layers of polyurethane on the
outsides. To give an idea of how tough it is, it’s about to be tested on
the diesel engine housing of a train. Read More
There was a time, back in the days
of film cameras, when the only ways of getting underwater photos were to
buy an expensive waterproof SLR, an expensive waterproof housing for a
regular SLR, or a cheap disposable waterproof camera that took horrible
shots. Now, all you have to do is buy a housing like the TAT7 iPhone
Scuba Case, and start snapping high-res pics – assuming you’ve got the
phone to go with it. Read More
Conventional earphones can become a
liability you are out and about on city streets by limiting your ability
to hear approaching vehicles or other potential hazards. That’s where
the earHero comes into play. It’s an earphone system designed not to
block the ear canal so that users are still be able to hear what’s going
on around them. Read More
SolarFocus picked up the Innovation Award at CES 2012 for its SolarKindle
e-Reader cover that features a built-in solar panel, integrated battery
and LED reading lamp. The company has announced it is now shipping the
device for both Kindle Touch and Kindle 4. Read More
“That could apply to anybody”
is a commonly-heard complaint about the fortunes in fortune cookies.
Well, imagine how much fun it might be if you could make fortune cookies
yourself, with your own custom-written fortunes inside. That’s the idea
behind Sunbeam’s Fortune Cookie Maker. Read More
Ice cream and avalanches are two subjects that
usually only fit together in a child's dreams, but Nestle is now looking
at how research on one could help in making the other. The food company
recently teamed up with an avalanche research center in Switzerland to
study how ice crystals grow within ice cream as it sits in the freezer.
Typically these crystals dilute the flavor of the ice cream while also
making it harder to scoop and eat. By using the center's equipment and
research with their own products, Nestle hopes to develop a method for
slowing the ice growth and produce a creamy dessert that will retain its
taste and texture much longer. Read More
With airborne radioactivity from Fukushima's
still-critical damaged reactors circling the globe and more likely on
the way from the mass incineration of earthquake debris, individuals are
certainly justified in wanting to shield themselves from the fallout,
especially when it shows up in their food and drink. Now, to address
concerns about nuclear contamination in juice, milk and even water,
a team of researchers led by Allen Apblett from Oklahoma State
University (OSU) has announced development of a capsule that, when
dropped in liquid, can easily and effectively remove numerous
radioactive substances and thus prevent the consumer from ingesting
them. Read More
A consortium of German research
groups has created a new sandwich-type material that they claim offers
strength similar to that of steel or aluminum, yet is significantly
lighter and less expensive. It consists of a honeycomb-structured paper
core, with glass fiber-reinforced layers of polyurethane on the
outsides. To give an idea of how tough it is, it’s about to be tested on
the diesel engine housing of a train. Read More App would allow humans to communicate with bonobos
By Ben Coxworth
March 29, 2012
The seven bonobos living at the Bonobo Hope Great
Ape Trust Sanctuary in Des Moines, Iowa, are a pretty smart bunch of
apes. Among other things, they have a vocabulary of about 400 words –
they don’t speak those words, but instead associate the meanings of
them with symbols known as lexigrams. Using large wall-mounted
touchscreen displays, they are able to communicate with humans by
touching the appropriate lexigrams on those displays. Now, the sanctuary
wants to develop an app that could be used on mobile versions of the
wall screens, so tablet-wielding bonobos could communicate from wherever
they happen to be. Read More
Ubi-Camera uses your fingers as its viewfinder
March 29, 2012
Framing a shot with one's hands is almost as big a
part of photography as having your subject say "cheese," but a camera
and its viewfinder have always been a part of the equation, too ...
until now, that is. A team at Japan's Institute of Advanced Media Arts
and Sciences (IAMAS) in Ogaki are working on an innovative prototype
fingertip "Ubi-Camera" (Ubi is Latin for where) that
lets the user's fingers set the frame – a development that could
literally make composing shots, well, a snap. At the very least, it'll
give new meaning to the term "digital" photography when (and if) it hits
market. Read More
Slovakian mechanical engineer Braňo Mereš has
created some pretty nifty one-off bicycle frames over the past several
years. Some of his construction materials have included riveted-together
strips of titanium, a woven bamboo fiber/epoxy resin composite, and
carbon fiber rods. With his latest creation, the X-9 Nighthawk, he has
taken yet another approach – the frame is made from sandwich panels that
have an aramid core and carbon fiber skins. Read More
Sometimes you don't have to reinvent the wheel;
you just have to add a more functional inflation valve or lightweight
spoke. That's the direction that TrekPak takes in redesigning the
photography backpack. The start-up uses a new, simple type of hardware
to make organizing your camera gear fast, easy and secure. Read More
Whether you're speeding down the slopes, on a
biking epic through the woods or riding the rapids in a kayak, having to
wait until you get to a laptop to share your recorded adventures with
friends and family is nothing short of inconvenient. The ION AIR PRO HD
Sports Video Camera is said to be one of the first actioncams capable of
recording full HD video and sharing it in real time on social
networking sites. The camera does this by wirelessly connecting with a
smartphone or tablet running the company's free-to-download app,
although users will need to buy an extra bit of kit to make all this
possible. Read More
Tree Pod dining could easily become one of the
most novel ways to enjoy a romantic dinner or a long lazy lunch among
the tree tops ... and that’s exactly what guests at the Six Senses’
Soneva Kiri will be doing. Located on the remote Thai island of Kood,
Soneva Kiri is a luxury holiday destination set amid the lush tropical
rainforests off the south-east coast of the Gulf of Siam. While the
resort offers guests an array of dining experiences and resort
activities, we just love the look of the tree pod dining. Read More
After its successful inaugural Paris-to-Brussels flight last year, the Solar Impulse
solar-powered aircraft will attempt to fly all the way to Morocco in
May or June of this year, a journey almost ten times the distance, and
its furthest flight and as a close as it has yet come to a trial run of
its round-the-world flight planned for 2014. Read More
The problem with campers is that you need a good
tow vehicle with hitch to travel with them. If you have a smaller, less
powerful car or lack a hitch, you'll need to spend money on a better car
or hitch installation before you can even consider a camper. The Swiss
Roombox levels the playing field, allowing even small car owners to
enjoy many of the conveniences of a camping trailer. The device is a
removable module that turns the average car into a mini-motor home. Read More
If the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey
taught us anything, it’s that computers know when we’re telling a lie.
While that may not actually be the case for most computers in real life,
it could be if they’re running a program created by scientists
from the University at Buffalo. Building on a previous psychological
study, the team produced software that allowed a computer to assess a
speaker’s eye movements, to determine whether or not they were telling
the truth in a prerecorded conversation. It turns out that the computer
was able to correctly able to spot their lies with 82.5% accuracy.
According to the researchers, a trained human interrogator only manages a
success rate of about 65%. Read More
There was a time, back in the days
of film cameras, when the only ways of getting underwater photos were to
buy an expensive waterproof SLR, an expensive waterproof housing for a
regular SLR, or a cheap disposable waterproof camera that took horrible
shots. Now, all you have to do is buy a housing like the TAT7 iPhone
Scuba Case, and start snapping high-res pics – assuming you’ve got the
phone to go with it. Read More
Most bicycle couriers and hardcore urbanites will
tell you – if you’re going to be leaving your bike locked up in a
public place, ride something cheap and crappy that thieves won’t be
interested in. The problem is, many bicycle commuters are very “into”
bikes, and thus own fancy machines that they don’t want to leave at home
five days a week. While there are a number of locking systems that
might or might not keep these peoples’ bikes from being stolen,
enterprising thieves armed with nothing more than a set of hex wrenches
can still remove some of the more valuable components from those bikes. The new infiniti3D system, however, is designed to stop such parts-pilfering thieves in their tracks. Read More
Taking inspiration from a toy, a team of
researchers at MIT have developed a new engineering structure that is
mechanically unstable, yet collapses in a way that is predictable and
reversible. The structure, formed out of a single piece of rubber-like
material, is fabricated so that it collapses in harmony to form a
smaller structure that can then be expanded into the original shape.
This structure opens up new potentials in everything from architecture
to micro-medical applications. Read More
Yamaha Thailand showed an interesting concept
bike in Bangkok earlier this week. It's a scooter, but it has been
ruggedized, given higher quality and longer travel suspension, extra
luggage facility with provision for much more, and a vastly strengthened
frame. Thailand's floods led to calls for a scooter with greater
off-road capability, and Yamaha has delivered something that just might
catch on. Most of the world's scooter sales are in countries where
unmade roads make up a significant proportion of the road network and
road conditions are the speed limit. The base scooter used in the TTX
Adventure is the new Yamaha TTX 115i, a scooter with a fuel injected
115cc motor with a sporting bent. Read More
NUIverse: The killer app of an $8,000 tablet?
March 30, 2012
Could this be the killer app for ultra-spec
tablets? Microsoft Surface researcher David Brown is working on a
marvelous space app that shows off not only the multi-touch power of
Microsoft Surface, but also the computational grunt of the Samsung SUR40
on which it runs - not to mention the majesty of the solar system we
live in and the Universe beyond. Read More
While electric vehicles
have come a long way in the past decade, they still have many
disadvantages when compared to internal combustion engine-driven
vehicles. The lithium-ion batteries that power electric vehicles have a
much lower energy storage density when compared to liquid fuel, they
take longer to “refuel,” and they lack the supporting infrastructure
that has built up around conventional vehicles over the past century.
Now researchers at the UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and
Applied Science have developed a process that could allow liquid fuel to
be produced using solar generated electricity. Read More
Roughly two and a half million Americans suffer a
heart attack or a stroke each year. About 20% of these - half a million
people - die in the aftermath. The proximate cause for both heart
attack and stroke is a blood clot in the wrong place - a blood clot that
could be prevented or minimized by anti-clot therapy IF physicians knew
that an attack or stroke was expected shortly. New findings from a
research study led by Scripps Translational Science Institute (STSI) has
identified a new blood test which has the promise of predicting heart
attack or stroke weeks prior to their occurrence. Read More
By definition racing vehicles are these days
developed within the confines of a formula to ensure a level of close
competition. The formulas are changed every season or so but
developments tend to be incremental rather than revolutionary. One
experimental project that has been running outside of any formula and
hopes to truly change the face of racing is the Delta Wing project
designed by US-based Brit’ Ben Bowlby and supported by motorsport
legends Don Panoz and Dan Gurney. Now the project has attracted a
suitably hi-tech powerplant, some serious sponsorship, and its first
race. Read More
Researchers at MIT and the University of
Pittsburgh have successfully resuscitated non-oscillating
Belousov-Zhabotinsky (BZ) gel by exerting a mechanical stimulus: a
process akin to the resuscitation of a human heart. By exhibiting a
chemical response to a mechanical stimulus (a rare feat for non-living
matter), it's claimed the material could lead to the development of
artificial skin that would enable robots to feel. Read More
In the beginning, there was the thermonuclear
bomb - mankind had harnessed the energy of the Sun. Confident
predictions abounded that fusion reactors would be providing power "too
cheap to meter" within ten years. Sixty years later many observers are
beginning to wonder if billions of dollars of effort has been lost in
digging out dry wells. Now a new simulation study carried out at Sandia
National Laboratories in Albuquerque, New Mexico, suggests that
magnetized inertial fusion (MIF) experiments could be retrofitted to
existing pulsed-power facilities to obtain fusion break-even. Read More
Researchers at the École Polytechnique Fédérale
de Lausanne (EPFL) have created a prototype mini motor designed to
extend the capabilities of the new breed of small satellite. The motor
weighs roughly 200 grams (7 oz) – including the fuel and control
electronics - and could be used to change the orbit of small satellites,
or even propel them to more far flung destinations that would usually
require larger, more expensive spacecraft. Read More
If you’ve ever wondered what it would be like to
drive an American muscle car with enough horsepower to move a small
continent, then Shelby American may have the answer. At the New York
International Auto Show on April 5th, Carroll Shelby and his team will
present their most powerful car to date - the 952 bhp Shelby 1000. And
if that's not enough grunt, there’s a track version with over 1,100 bhp.
Not a bad way to celebrate 50 years since the unveiling of the first
Shelby Cobra. Read More
Like most display manufacturers, LG has kept a finger in the flexible e-paper
pie. Now, however, the company has announced that its six-inch XGA
resolution Electronic Paper Display (EPD) is now in full production, and
should be in devices bound for Europe within the next month. Read More
While the quest for robotic grippers with a light, yet firm touch has led to innovative approaches, such as the universal jamming gripper,
it’s still hard to go past the four fingers and opposable thumb form
factor honed by millions of years of evolution. While the technology is
available to create a robotic hand that is both powerful and delicate,
cramming it inside a compact arm is still difficult. But European
researchers have done just that by using a novel string actuator to act
as an artificial tendon. Read More
Could tiny robots one day swim through our bodies
to detect disease? That's the vision of scientists in the U.K. and U.S.
who have turned to the sea lamprey for inspiration in an effort to
design a micro-robot capable of doing just that. While not the prettiest
of sea creatures, the jawless, blood-sucking lamprey finds itself the
subject of this biomimicry
project not only because of its ability to swim, but because of its
primitive nervous system, which researchers believe can be reproduced as
part of a micro, or even nano-scale robot. Read More
We’ve covered numerous projects seeking funding
through Kickstarter but none as ambitious as the project from Phoenix,
Arizona-based STAR (Space Transport and Recovery) Systems. Rather than
looking to get yet another iPhone case
off the ground, the STAR team is seeking funds to aid in development of
its Hermes spacecraft that would compete against the likes of Virgin Galactic and Space Adventures in carrying private passengers and payloads into space. Read More
Typically the terms "tight handling" and
"electric three-wheeler" are mutually exclusive, particularly when you
are talking about the "two-at-the-back, one-at the-front" designs.
Joining Adiva
and a number of other manufacturers we've looked at in recent times,
London-based electric bike manufacturer 50Cycles is looking to marry the
two by introducing tilting functionality
into the equation. The company's Veliac Three electric tricycle uses a
new lean mechanism designed to ease maneuvering around corners and
curves. Read More
It has been a tough couple of years for the
Japanese motor car industry, not least for Daihatsu. On top of natural
and man-made disasters, Japan’s oldest car manufacturer, now part-owned
by Toyota, has struggled to sell its super-compact “Kei” class vehicles
outside of the home market. The company clearly feels however that the
future will come to it, predicting demand for compact, zero-emission,
hybrid powered vehicles, and has been developing a unique fuel-cell
power source for just such a future since 2007. Leading the company's
typically cute concept car range is the FC ShoCase - a vehicle suitable
for the new fuel-cell. Read More
Ducati has released a series of photos of its revolutionary Panigale 1199
superbike without its clothes on, showing exactly how the bike is held
together in the absence of a traditional frame. But while the monocoque
chassis is pretty fascinating to look at in the flesh, what strikes us
most is just how incredibly compact the bike is - every component has
been squeezed into the tiniest possible space. In fact, you can't even
see clean through the bike at any point until you reach the rear hugger.
This is mass centralisation and weight shaving taken to a whole new
level… Good luck trying to service the thing yourself! Read More
Conventional earphones can become a
liability you are out and about on city streets by limiting your ability
to hear approaching vehicles or other potential hazards. That’s where
the earHero comes into play. It’s an earphone system designed not to
block the ear canal so that users are still be able to hear what’s going
on around them. Read More
SolarFocus picked up the Innovation Award at CES 2012 for its SolarKindle
e-Reader cover that features a built-in solar panel, integrated battery
and LED reading lamp. The company has announced it is now shipping the
device for both Kindle Touch and Kindle 4. Read More
Apparently, OluKai Maliko is Hawaiian for funky,
hoof-like shoes. The term also carries a hint of innovation. Not only do
these shoes split your toes, they give you extra grip. Forget sticky
rubber and aggressive traction patterns, the Maliko brings a sole that's
lined with suction cups. Read More
With the PAL-V last appearing on our pages way back in 2004, you’d be forgiven for thinking that this is just another flying car
concept that never made it off the ground. But Dutch company PAL-V
Europe NV has been busy in the past seven years having finalized the
design concept in 2008 and testing a driving prototype in 2009. Now the
flying-driving prototype has been put through its paces with video of
the PAL-V’s recent successful maiden flight now released. Read More
According to Dr. James M. Tour, a synthetic
organic chemist at Houston’s Rice University, flash memory devices can
only be built smaller for another six to seven years – at that point,
they will reach a technological barrier. Already, however, Tour and his
colleagues have developed a new type of memory chip, which they believe
could replace flash in thumb drives, smartphones and computers. Not only
does their chip allow more data to be stored in a given space, but it
can also be folded like paper, withstand temperatures of up to 1,000ºF
(538ºC), and is transparent – this means that devices’ screens could
also serve as their memory. Read More
“That could apply to anybody”
is a commonly-heard complaint about the fortunes in fortune cookies.
Well, imagine how much fun it might be if you could make fortune cookies
yourself, with your own custom-written fortunes inside. That’s the idea
behind Sunbeam’s Fortune Cookie Maker. Read More
If Star Trek has taught us anything,
it's the importance of gathering as much information about the alien
planet you've just been beamed onto as quickly as possible. To that end,
the Science Officer on the away team would perform a quick scan of the
surroundings with a handheld, multifunctional sensing device called a
Tricorder. Fortunately, we now live in an age where the science fiction
of yesteryear is increasingly becoming the science fact of today, and
the once futuristic Tricorder is no exception. For his Tricorder
Project, Canada's Dr Peter Jansen has designed and built some
pocket-friendly devices housing a number of sensors which reveal the
secrets of the unseen world around us. Read More
When completed in 2024, the Square Kilometre
Array (SKA) will be the largest, most sensitive radio telescope ever
created. It will consist of 3,000 individual ground-based dish antennas,
linked to act as one big telescope – an arrangement known as an
interferometer. While their combined total surface area will be about
one square kilometer (0.39 sq mile), they will be spread out across a
geographical area approximately 3,000 kilometers (1,864 miles) in width.
They will be gathering about one exabyte of astronomical data per day,
which is twice the amount of data that is handled by the World Wide Web
on a daily basis. Today, IBM announced that it has partnered with ASTRON
(the Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy), in an effort to
develop computer systems that will be able read, analyze and store all
of that data, and do so in an energy-efficient manner. Read More
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center is an unlikely
entrant in the SIGGRAPH Computer Animation Festival. Its “Perpetual
World” animation may have failed to appeal to the judging committee of
the 2011 edition of the competition, but it sure succeeded in catching
our eye. The jaw-dropping animation visualizes the flow of surface ocean
currents around the world. The raw data regarding the currents from
June 2005 through to December 2007 has been turned into a work of art
reminiscent of van Gogh. Read More
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