Pilots need sharp eyes, but Raytheon is looking to their ears as well. The company has developed a new 3D Audio system for aircraft, that turns information into an audible three-dimensional picture. It helps pilots identify where threats are coming from, and keeps radio channels untangled. Read More
Last December, the team at Switzerland’s Solar Impulse announced that they were planning on flying their record-breaking HB-SIA solar-powered aircraft across the United States this spring. Today, the details of that project were revealed to the public. Read More
Minox has revealed the latest version of its miniaturized digital classic camera, the Minox DCC 14.0. The tiny camera – which is made to a scale of 1:3 and can fit in the palm of your hand – features a 14-megapixel sensor, a fixed lens and an optical viewfinder. But users shouldn't expect image quality to rival higher-end (and considerably larger) retro-shooters like theFujifilm X100S. Read More
Virginia Tech develops a better robotic jellyfish
By Ben Coxworth
March 28, 2013
Last year, a team of researchers from the Virginia Tech College of Engineering unveiled RoboJelly – a robotic jellyfish in development since 2009, that’s about the size of a man’s hand. While the squishy little robot is certainly an impressive feat of engineering, the same team has now created a bigger, better jellybot, known as Cyro. Read More
Controlling a computer with a mouse is so last decade. Products like theLeap Motion are on the forefront for using a 3D space to control a PC, and Microsoft's Kinect is bringing similar technology to the gaming world. Anew product called the DUO is entering the fray, but with the key difference being that it includes an open source SDK and is available as a DIY product for more adventurous users. Read More
LCC details bike-friendly Safer Urban Lorry design
By Paul Ridden
March 28, 2013
According to the London Cycling Campaign (LCC), though only five percent of all motor traffic in the UK's capital are lorries (trucks), they account for half of all cycling deaths in the Greater London area. Last November, the group launched its Safer Lorries, Safer Cycling campaign – which calls on councils to take a pledge that insists on cyclist-aware training for drivers and the use of the latest safety technology in all council-operated lorries and for all lorry contractors. Now LCC has released details of a lorry design overhaul that helps make cyclists more visible to drivers, while also lowering the chances of a rider being dragged underneath the wheels. Read More
The presence of the head of Ford Motor Company at the Bangkok Auto Show was no accident – the New York Motor Show was on at the same time. The Detroit of the East produced 2.45 million cars last year (up 68% on 2011), sold 1.43 million locally (up 80%), and became a global top 10 auto producer. It was already the world's second largest producer of trucks, behind only the United States. With just 18 vehicles per 100 population (America has 76), the Thai domestic market offers promise. The world's auto makers are focusing their quest for growth on Asia and Bangkok is now key to the Asian automotive market. Read More
Researchers at Georgia Institute of Technology and Purdue University have developed new solar cells based on natural substances derived from plants, including trees. The organic solar cells have an efficiency of 2.7 percent – a new high for cells on substrates derived from renewable raw materials – and can be easily recycled. Read More
"FORE!! Three - Two - One - Fire!" called Doug Frost, inventor of Rocketry Golf and Manager of the Rocketry Golf Organization. Then he launched his ball (on the nosecone of a model rocket) from the tee of the par-five 433-yard first hole at the Ridge Golf Club in Auburn, California. Not fazed by the uphill approach shot to the green, he placed his tee shot...err...launch... only 23 feet from the hole. Unfortunately, Doug isn't much of a regular golfer, and two-putted in for a birdie. Frost's rocketry golf replaces your golf clubs with a selection of rockets and a putter. The rockets are used to launch the ball onto the green, where the traditional putter comes back into play. Read More
Gastric bypass (GBP) surgery has become a popular procedure for the treatment of morbid obesity. While many assume it is the reduction of the functional volume of the stomach that helps people feel fuller while eating less that is the solely responsible for the patient’s weight loss, it has been known for several years that there are other contributing factors at work. New research provides further evidence of this and could allow patients to see some of the weight loss benefits of GBP surgery without undergoing the surgery itself. Read More
While much research is being done on capturing carbon dioxide emissionsat their source to reduce the amount expelled into the atmosphere, researchers at the University of Georgia’s Bioenergy Systems Research Institute have taken a different approach to tackle the problem. Taking a leaf out of the process used by plants to convert CO2 into something useful, they have uncovered a way to take CO2 from the atmosphere and transform it into useful industrial products, including, potentially, fuel. Read More
Kia's new CUB concept unveiled at the Seoul Auto Show has been designed with the trendy urban demographic in mind. Measuring just 13 feet (3.96 m) long, theconcept vehicle still manages to provide space for four within its compact cabin. Read More
The New York Auto Show may be the big draw this week, but in Seoul, Korea another auto show is bringing out some very interesting concepts. The sexiest and most likely to be a superhero’s vehicle of choice is Hyundai’s HND-9 coupe. Read More
Facebook set to hijack Android on HTC's next phone
March 29, 2013
For the last couple of years, the “Facebook phone” has lived in a faraway land – along with the unicorn, the Yeti, and the Apple TV set. Though we’d still be skeptical of any reported Yeti sightings, your eyes won’t be deceiving you if you soon see the mythical Facebook phone. Read More
A manned Soyuz spacecraft set a record for traveling to the International Space Station (ISS), arriving six hours after launch instead of the usual two days. Soyuz 34 lifted off from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Friday, March 28 at 4:43 p.m. EDT (08:43 GMT) and docked with the ISS at 10: 28 PM EDT (03:28 GMT). It was able to catch up and match trajectories with the ISS in only four orbits using new techniques previously tested in ISS rendezvouses with Russian unmanned Progress cargo ships. Read More
GDC 2013 (Game Developers Conference) wraps up today after a week of presentations and late night parties. There have been some impressive tech demos shown, like Kojima Productions' FOX engine running Metal Gear Solid 5, but what really got people talking is Activision R&D's latest attempt at photorealistic characters. Check out the lifelike skin and eye shading in the uncanny video after the break. Read More
It's been over two years since the Great East Japan Earthquake and resulting tsunami hit the nation's northeastern coast, devastating the population and creating a nuclear incident at the Fukushima power plant. Despite concentrated efforts to repair the damage though, there are still areas that remain vacant and almost untouched since – but that doesn't mean you can't still explore these places yourself. Google Maps recently added the evacuated town of Namie-machi to Street View as part of a larger project to document the destruction and restoration of areas affected by the earthquake. Read More
When it comes to the diminutive robot kits you find at hobby stores, most have what can only be described as a primitive sense of balance. If, however, you happen to be an expert roboticist like Dr. Guero (aka Masahiko Yamaguchi), then it's surprising how much can be squeezed out of these pet projects with the right programming. His latest trick is to have his robot balance on a pair of nail-like stilts, which you can see it do after the break. Read More
Most of us will probably never make it to Mars, but the Curiosity Rover is there trying to give us the next best thing – tons of pictures. A diligent individual by the name of Andrew Bodrov has painstakingly stitched together 407 photos from Curiosity to create something that feels like Google's Street View, but with the Martian landscape as the subject. Read More
It’s so obvious when you think about it. The iPhone has a microphone, a computer that can process audio, and earphones – why not use it as hearing aid? That’s just what a group of scientists from the University of Essex have done, with their BioAid app. It has the potential to replace thousand-dollar hearing aids with a free download ... as long as users don’t mind keeping their phone close at hand. Read More
Thanks to the growing number of wireless speaker systems, those of us who have a good-sized digital music collection on our smartphones or tablets no longer have to concern ourselves with docking our device to hear our favorite tunes. Sony is aiming to make complicated wireless setup and fiddly pairing a thing of the past too, with the introduction of a streaming audio system with one-touch near field communication (NFC) connection. Read More
Following a solo expedition around Asia on a self-built bamboo bicycle, Sunny Chuah was inspired to create a range of bamboo bikes suitable for mass-production. Thus the company Bamboo bee was born, and now Chuah has turned to Kickstarter to help realize his ambitions, seeking toraise funds to buy equipment that will help lower production costs. Read More
We've seen plenty of video camera stabilizers, from ones aimed at steadying your wobbly smartphone footage to those which hold DSLRs. But while stabilizing rigs can be great at smoothing out your shakes, they're typically difficult to operate if you also want to change direction and pan while shooting. The Supraflux Video Camera Stabilizer aims to solve this problem by adding an electronic pan axis lock. Read More
“What the hell is a phablet?” There’s a good chance you’ve either heard this phrase or uttered it yourself. And for good reason: “phablet” may be one of the silliest words in the English language. But it appears this portmanteau of the words phone and tablet is here to stay. Scratch that: Samsung’s hot-selling Galaxy Note – the only significant product in the category – is here to stay. Is it the real deal, or just a flash in the pan? Read on, as we review the Samsung Galaxy Note II. Read More
Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Solid State Physics (IAF) have developed a lightweight, compact radar that can “see” through non-transparent materials and whiteout snow conditions. The compact radar operates at frequencies of 75 to 110 GHz in the millimeter range W-band of the radio spectrum. Radars at this frequency can not only identify small objects up to three kilometers (1.8 miles) away, but they can also penetrate all manner of non-transparent, dielectric, and non-metallic materials, such as clothing, plastic surfaces, paper, wood, snow and fog. Read More
Canada-based robotics company Clearpath Robotics has unveiled the aptly-named Grizzly Robot Utility Vehicle: an unmanned four wheel drive robotic platform that promises to tackle the most demanding agricultural, mining, and defense tasks you can throw at it, whatever the terrain. Read More
Silver is a remarkable medium for artistic expression. It takes well to engraving, sculpting, casting, and fine detail while also having sufficient strength (especially in alloys) to insure the durability of art objects formed from this metal. Unfortunately, silver tarnishes when exposed to moist air, and removing layers of tarnish can damage the fine detail of artistic treasures. A new method for preventing the ravages of silver tarnish is now being developed by researchers in Maryland. Read More
Subaru’s latest WRX concept shown at the New York Auto Show this past week was needless to say, light on specifics, but heavy on the visuals. Those visuals though, reveal a design that as a whole is significantly lower, sleeker and more confident in its brashness than its predecessors. Read More
At this week's New York Auto Show, Chevrolet rolled out its restyled 2014 Camaro line with the highlight being the return of the Camaro Z/28. The four-passenger, front-engine, rear-drive coupé is billed as the “most track-capable offering in Camaro’s history” and the ”most significant redesign since the introduction of the fifth-generation Camaro as a concept car in 2006.” Read More
Drugstore chain giant Walgreens has announced its intention to build what the company believes will be the first net zero retail store in the United States. Once open for business, engineers anticipate that the combination of solar panels, wind turbines, geothermal technology, energy-efficient building materials, LED lighting and ultra-high-efficiency refrigeration will allow the new store to produce energy equal to or greater than it consumes. Read More
If you’ve watched much in the way of higher-end mountain biking or snowboarding videos, chances are that you’ve seen shots obtained using a cable cam. Essentially, a cable cam is a small video camera mounted on a gondola-like shuttle that rolls along an elevated cable suspended parallel to the path of the action. The result is smooth, high-angle tracking shots, that look almost as if they were shot using a low-flying helicopter. Oregon-based entrepreneur Nick Braun now hopes that his LineCam system can make such shots possible for a wider variety of action film-makers. Read More
Localized dimming is a feature found in many televisions these days, but what about a display capable of producing localized smells? That’s exactly what a team from the Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology in Japan has created. The “smelling screen” that was recently presented at the IEEE Virtual Reality 2013 conference in Orlando, Florida can produce odors that appear to emanate from specific areas of the screen. Read More
This month, the University of Helsinki and the European Space Agency (ESA) will test a new space tether that has less chance of snapping under the stresses of operating in orbit. Installed aboard Estonia’s ESTCube-1 cubesat, the new tether is scheduled to be launched with ESA’s Proba-V satellite atop a Vega rocket as part of an experiment in developing an electric solar sail. Read More
Concussions should be tended to a soon as possible after they occur, but it’s often difficult to tell whether or not one has actually been sustained, without taking the person to a hospital. That’s why scientists at Indiana’s University of Notre Dame have developed a tablet-based test that detects concussions on the spot, by analyzing the voice. Read More
It's a fact of the digital age that parents will worry about what their children get up to online. While some try to address this by teaching their kids how to behave safely online, others will simply place a family computer in a shared room and lurk behind young users watching what they do. The MiiPC is an Android-powered PC for children which allows parents to monitor and control what they are doing via a parental control mobile app. Read More
After more than a decade, the Jeep Liberty has announced its retirement and appointed its predecessor its successor. The new 2014 Jeep Cherokeetrades the hard-lined edge of the XJ for a more consumer-friendly small-crossover design. Jeep promises that it offers plenty of capability for those that want it but in a more refined, practical package than ever before. Read More
Firefighters can quite often find themselves in smoke-filled rooms, where it’s impossible to see more than a few inches in any direction. Not wanting those firefighters to run into walls, researchers at the University of Sheffield have created a prototype helmet that vibrates against the wearer’s forehead, letting them know the location of nearby obstacles. Read More
If current technology trends are any indication, it's possible that human lifeguards could be replaced by robots in the future. So far, we've seen aremote-controlled rescue buoy and a salamander-like bot that travels on both water and land, among many others. Rather than having to cut through rough water to get to folks in trouble like many search and rescue robot designs, an Iranian research center proposes a quadcopter called Pars that launches from a floating platform and drops life preservers precisely where they're needed. Read More
In spite of this year’s collection of distracting concepts at the 2013 New York Auto Show, there were in fact a few real world surprises. One that will actually see the light of day was Mercedes Benz’ new B-Class electric drive – the German manufacturer’s latest foray into the green market. Read More
Festo demonstrates BionicOpter dragonfly robot
By Paul Ridden
March 31, 2013
The dragonfly is quite the show off when it comes to flying. It can hover in mid-air, maneuver in all directions, and glide without so much as a beat of its wings. After succeeding in capturing the essence of a herring gull with the SmartBird, the folks over at German pneumatic and electric automation company Festo challenged themselves with the creation of a robotic addition to the dragonfly family – the BionicOpter. Read More
Starting this summer (Northern Hemisphere), the Japanese-market version of the Honda Fit/Jazz will be offered with the automaker’s new City-Brake Active System. It’s designed to minimize the chances of collisions at low speeds. Read More
If you’re heading out the door to buy a shiny new iPhone 5, you might want to consider holding off. According to a report from The Wall Street Journal, Apple will soon put the phone’s successor, the iPhone 5S, into production. It will supposedly launch sometime this (Northern Hemisphere) summer. Read More
With so many personal 3D printers hitting the market, it can be difficult to decide which one is right for you. Over the years we've seen plenty of attractive options, but few have matched the price-performance of the B9Creator, a Digital Light Processing (DLP) projector-based 3D printer that was created by Michael Joyce of South Dakota. After a successful crowd-funding campaign last year (where the original B9Creator was launched to the tune of more than US$500,000), he's back with an upgraded kit that irons out some of its issues. Read More
The term mad scientist gets thrown around quite a bit, but in the case of one Matt Denton it most certainly applies. His company, Micromagic Systems, has been working steadily over the past four years to design and build a walking robot that's big enough to carry a human passenger. The resulting beast is described as "the biggest, all-terrain operational hexapod robot in the world." Read More
Though not the first, GIGS.2.GO is perhaps the most tidy execution of a paper-based USB flash drives we've seen. Four sticks, or tabs, made from recycled, molded paper pulp can be torn from a credit-card sized pack. But are such sticks as "disposable" as they purport to be? Read More
Samsung took some flak when it launched its first phablet, the Galaxy Note. “A giant-sized phone with a stylus? HA!” ... then the device turned out to be quite good ... and then it sold millions of units. Who’s laughing now? So don’t blame us for keeping an open mind about the company’s rumored gigantophone, the Samsung Galaxy Mega. Read More
Veterinary students at The University of Edinburgh now have a life-sized model of a horse sink their teeth, or, rather, arms into. The "equine simulator" comes equipped with inflating latex intestines to familiarize students with the symptoms of colic, abdominal pain that can sometimes lead to death, depending on the cause. Read More
Computer display manufacturer EIZO today announced the release of a pair of Wi-Fi-enabled monitors, the DuraVision FDS1702N and DuraVision FDS1702NT, which can receive audio and pictures from a computer on the network. Read More
The BMW K1600GTL is a luxury mega-tourer. It falls into that category of bikes that has next to zero relevance to me at this point in my riding life cycle, as I've got no current plans to circumnavigate Australia or have a crack at the Saddlesore 1000. And yet I've actually been hanging out to get my hands on one of these things, because it features what I'd call the single coolest innovation I've seen on a motorcycle since I first put aside my prejudices and felt just how good the Piaggio MP3 tilting 3-wheeler is to ride. It's the second coolest thing I've thrown a leg over this week. Read More
Auto rickshaws, also known as tuk-tuks, three-wheelers or by numerous other names, are a common sight on the streets of many Asian cities. An evolution of the traditional pulled or cycle rickshaw, the gasoline-powered vehicles, which are used as taxis, are a major source of pollution in many Asian cities. Japan’s Terra Motors hopes to capitalize on efforts to cut tuk-tuk pollution with its new electric three-wheeler aimed at emerging Southeast Asia markets. Read More
Wind energy may be one of the more sustainable sources of poweravailable, but the spinning blades of conventional wind turbines require regular maintenance and have attracted criticism from bird lovers. That might explain why we've seen wind turbine prototypes that enclose the blades in a chamber or replace them entirely with a disc-like system. But researchers in the Netherlands set out to eliminate the need for amechanical component entirely and created the EWICON, a bladeless wind turbine with no moving parts that produces electricity using charged water droplets. Read More
Five years ago, it was easier for a company to sneak a revolutionary tech product onto the market. Today the whole world is nervously watching. Anything that looks like it could be the next big thing attracts a crowd of copycats. Take, for example, Google Glass. Unproven though it is (not to mention months away from release), Google’s search rival in China, Baidu, is reportedly prepping its own Glass competitor. Read More
Thrifty Samoans looking to take a trip may want to shed a few pounds before booking a flight with Samoan Air after the airline announced the implementation of a “pay as you weigh” system. Read More
Despite the Segway becoming a household name, personal mobility vehicles have so far failed to make it to the world’s sidewalks in any great numbers. Still, some intriguing concepts over the years from the likes ofToyota, Honda and GM suggest that the wheels of the personal mobility revolution are still turning – if slowly. Hyundai is now getting into the act with its “E4U” personal mobility vehicle concept that was spied at the Seoul Motor Show last week by Nikkei Tech-On. Read More
Audio files may seem to have put paid to CDs, but new technology shows that, like vinyl, the format still has a few tricks left in it. CDs do a pretty good job of reproducing music, but for many an audiophile the digital formatlacks “warmth” and often suffers from tiny, yet detectable, imperfections that can be as jarring as serving Gordon Ramsay ketchup with lobster. The Parasound CD 1 player strives to eliminate these imperfections by ditching the conventional CD player in favor of a CD-ROM drive that spins CDs at four times normal speed in order to find and eliminate imperfections before they reach the speakers. Read More
One of the things that many people like about the AR Drone is the fact that the user’s iPad doubles as the quadcopter’s control unit. While using a tablet as a controller does have its advantages, there is one drawback – because the iPad communicates with the drone via Wi-Fi, its range is quite limited. The designers of the Fighting Walrus Radio are attempting to remedy that situation, by allowing newer iPads, iPhones and iPod touches to communicate with unmanned aerial vehicles via longer-range radiofrequency. Read More
DOCKr offers six iPad accessories in one device
By Dave LeClair
April 2, 2013
The iPad is a great device, but it's the accessories that maximize its usefulness. Keyboards like Elecom's butterfly keyboard for iPad, and ultra-high capacity batteries are just a couple of examples. Now, a new product called the DOCKr looks to combine six different iPad accessories into one do-it-all device. Read More
Things like car-monitoring computers and 9-speed automatic transmissions are all very well and good, but sometimes it’s the simplest of innovations that are the most useful. If you’re tired of dropping your keys or other items down that stupid gap between the side of the seat cushion and the center console, then you might consider the Drop Stop to be such an item. Read More
Some drivers still refuse to wear seatbelts on the grounds that they "can get stuck in the car if it becomes submerged in water or catches on fire." For those people, there's now a new product called the GDC Hook Knife – it's designed to sit on a keychain, and can be used to remove a seatbelt in seconds. Read More
A new release by the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) might just provide a glimpse of the future of Apple's popular iPhone handset. The filing details an “electronic device with wrap around display” and includes a number interesting design features, paramount among which is its curved display and transparent housing. Read More
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