If you have a green thumb, then you probably
don’t think it’s all that difficult to plant and tend a vegetable
garden. That said, there are many people who would like to grow their
own veggies, but are intimidated by things like watering, weeding,
choosing the correct plants, along with getting the spacing and
planting-depth of the seeds right. It’s for these aspiring gardeners
that San Francisco-based company Earth Starter has created the
Nourishmat. Read More
Common sense tells us that a new iPad isn't far away. With last November's 4th-generation model being little more than a minor spec-bump, we're going on 16 months since the last significant update to the 9.7-inch iPad. Previous rumors
have given us a pretty clear idea of what the next model will look
like, and now we may also have a clearer idea of when Apple will
announce it. Read More
In what they're calling a breakthrough discovery,
UCL researchers studying the properties of titanium dioxide catalysts,
which are widely used in self-cleaning products and materials, claim to
have challenged the accepted view of how mixed-phase samples of the
material actually behave. Read More
In recent years Japan has erected life-sized
statues of giant robots like Tetsujin-28 go (Gigantor) and a Gundam
mobile suit, but statues can't defend the island nation from kaiju
attack. Perhaps that is why Sagawa Electronics is bridging the gap
between fantasy and reality with a working robotic exoskeleton it calls
the Power Jacket MK3 that mimics your every move. And it says it will
produce up to five of them for about US$123,000 apiece. Read More
Back in June, SpaceX's Grasshopper
reusable VTOL rocket was flown to an altitude of 325 meters (1,066
feet) before landing on its original launch pad. The video of the flight
(taken by a hexacopter drone hovering at 325 meters) has now been made
available. The purpose of the flight was to test Grasshopper's full
navigation sensor suite with the F9-R closed loop control flight
algorithms to improve the precision of its landings. Grasshopper is
designed to develop and test the technologies needed to return a
reusable rocket from space missions. (There is no word on whether the
cowboy mannequin was carried along by Grasshopper on this flight.) Read More
If you're lucky enough to own a swimming pool,
you already know they offer a great opportunity to relax, exercise, and
perhaps throw the occasional pool party, too. However, the
recently-completed Bangkok-based YAK01 house by architecture firm AAd
goes further than this, by making use of a pool for passive cooling.
Read More
Stamping sheet metal is an efficient form of
manufacturing, capable of cranking hundreds or thousands of items an
hour. The annoying thing is that making new stamping dies is a long,
costly process. This is bad enough when it comes to retooling a factory,
but creating prototypes for new products can leave designers waiting
weeks. The Ford Research and Innovation Center in Dearborn, Michigan has
taken a page from the 3D printing handbook and is developing a new way
of forming sheet metal that allows designers to create prototypes in
hours instead of weeks. Read More
Data storage and preservation are no longer
restricted to the needs of individual users, or even of companies or
governments large and small. Instead they are the only remaining
approach to preserving the history associated with the evolution of the
digital age, and possibly the post-human era to follow. A research team
headed by Prof. Min Gu of Swinburne University of Technology has
developed a new data storage method that may be of considerable use for
such civilization-sized concerns by putting a petabyte of information on
a DVD-sized polymer disk. Read More
As the Raspberry Pi Foundation (RPF) has worked
to make computing more accessible, it has helped pioneer new ways of
using technology. We've seen the versatile, board-based Raspberry Pi enabling everything from robotic bartenders to doggie treat dispensers.
The latest project featuring the Pi comes from Matthew Epler, whose
Pi-powered Kinogarph digitizes old film stock at a fraction of the cost
of conventional off-the-shelf systems. Read More
If you see what looks like a hamster ball rolling
around a cornfield, it doesn’t mean that someone’s pet is incredibly
lost. It may be an experimental robot developed by the Robotics and
Cybernetics Research Group at the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid
(UPM) called Rosphere. The spherical robot can propel itself over uneven
ground and may one day be rolling up for work in fields to monitor and
tend crops. Read More
After over six months exploring the
Glenelg area of Gale Crater on Mars, NASA’s Curiosity rover is on the
move. The nuclear-powered robot began a months-long drive on July 4,
which will take it to Mount Sharp to fulfill the major part of its its
two-year mission to seek out areas where life could have, or still
could, exist on the Red Planet. Read More
According to a study conducted for Which?
magazine in 2010, the surface of the average mobile phone contains 18
times the amount of harmful bacteria as a flush lever in a mens’ public
toilet. Other studies have come up with other numbers, but the phone
always comes out the dirtier of the two. To that end, Corning is now
developing antimicrobial glass, which may be killing germs on your
phone’s display within two years. Read More
When ships sink, as well as the loss of property
(and very possibly life), there’s the danger of environmental damage. An
oil tanker breaking up is a disaster, but even a cargo ship going down
can mean oil leaking from fuel bunkers. Double Inverted Funnel for
Intervention on Shipwrecks (DIFIS) is an EU project coordinated by
Maritime Research Institute Netherlands (MARIN) that uses a passive
system to catch oil as it leaks out of a wreck on the ocean floor. Read More
Researchers at MIT, Harvard and the Vienna
University of Technology have developed a proof-of-concept optical
switch that can be controlled by a single photon and is the equivalent
of a transistor in an electronic circuit. The advance could improve
power consumption in standard computers and have important repercussions
for the development of an effective quantum computer. Read More
NASA scientists have unleashed a new robot on the
arctic terrain of Greenland to demonstrate that its ability to operate
with complete autonomy in one of Earth's harshest environments. Named GROVER,
which stands for both Greenland Rover and Goddard Remotely Operated
Vehicle for Exploration and Research, the polar robotic ranger carries
ground-penetrating radar for analysis of snow and ice, and an autonomous
control system. All of that is placed between two solar panels and two
snowmobile tracks. Read More
After over six months exploring the
Glenelg area of Gale Crater on Mars, NASA’s Curiosity rover is on the
move. The nuclear-powered robot began a months-long drive on July 4,
which will take it to Mount Sharp to fulfill the major part of its its
two-year mission to seek out areas where life could have, or still
could, exist on the Red Planet. Read More
A group of engineering students from the
University of Cambridge is hoping to become the first British team to
take home the World Solar Challenge
crown with a new solar car dubbed "Resolution." The vehicle, which the
team claims "rewrites the rulebook for green vehicles," features solar
panels that will move to track the sun as it makes the 3,000 km (1,864
mi) journey across the Australian outback from Darwin to Adelaide. Read More
When the i3 concept was unveiled alongside the i8 coupe concept back in 2011, it was the i8 that hogged the spotlight in commercials and Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol.
But BMW engineers were hard at work in Germany developing real world
production plans for the i3 and BMW is now set to put its first fully
electric vehicle into mass production by the end of 2013. But the wee
urban EV plays only a small part in BMW’s overall sustainability
program. Read More
Sous-vide is a French style of cooking that
involves using water to precisely heat food sealed in plastic bags, for
long periods of time – the resulting dishes are said to be very tender,
not to mention delicious. While it has previously been the exclusive
domain of top chefs in restaurant kitchens, recently devices such as the
SousVide Supreme Demi and the Nomiku have been developed for home users. The Codlo is another such gadget, although it lets you use your existing water-filled slow cooker or rice cooker. Read More
At the Frankfurt Motor Show in September,
UK-based General Motors subsidiary Vauxhall will reveal a concept that
it promises will be forward-looking and groundbreaking. The Monza
Concept will preview the future of the brand, including connectivity
that represents a "quantum leap in the development of infotainment
systems." Read More
According to a study conducted for Which?
magazine in 2010, the surface of the average mobile phone contains 18
times the amount of harmful bacteria as a flush lever in a mens’ public
toilet. Other studies have come up with other numbers, but the phone
always comes out the dirtier of the two. To that end, Corning is now
developing antimicrobial glass, which may be killing germs on your
phone’s display within two years. Read More
While many high-end modern cars are now coming
with a sophisticated Head-Up-Display (HUD) built in, owners of older (or
cheaper) models are stuck with a dedicated navigation device or cradled
smartphone blurting out directions and pointing the way. If you're
feeling adventurous, you may be able to shoe-horn a retrofit kit into
your old jalopy, or you could take the plunge and stump up for a new
car, but navigation veteran Garmin has another option. Its new
pocket-sized, portable HUD wirelessly connects to a smartphone running a
navigation app, and throws directions and useful information onto the
inside of the windshield. Read More
After over six months exploring the
Glenelg area of Gale Crater on Mars, NASA’s Curiosity rover is on the
move. The nuclear-powered robot began a months-long drive on July 4,
which will take it to Mount Sharp to fulfill the major part of its its
two-year mission to seek out areas where life could have, or still
could, exist on the Red Planet. Read More
According to a study conducted for Which?
magazine in 2010, the surface of the average mobile phone contains 18
times the amount of harmful bacteria as a flush lever in a mens’ public
toilet. Other studies have come up with other numbers, but the phone
always comes out the dirtier of the two. To that end, Corning is now
developing antimicrobial glass, which may be killing germs on your
phone’s display within two years. Read More
When ships sink, as well as the loss of property
(and very possibly life), there’s the danger of environmental damage. An
oil tanker breaking up is a disaster, but even a cargo ship going down
can mean oil leaking from fuel bunkers. Double Inverted Funnel for
Intervention on Shipwrecks (DIFIS) is an EU project coordinated by
Maritime Research Institute Netherlands (MARIN) that uses a passive
system to catch oil as it leaks out of a wreck on the ocean floor. Read More
Researchers at MIT, Harvard and the Vienna
University of Technology have developed a proof-of-concept optical
switch that can be controlled by a single photon and is the equivalent
of a transistor in an electronic circuit. The advance could improve
power consumption in standard computers and have important repercussions
for the development of an effective quantum computer. Read More
NASA scientists have unleashed a new robot on the
arctic terrain of Greenland to demonstrate that its ability to operate
with complete autonomy in one of Earth's harshest environments. Named GROVER,
which stands for both Greenland Rover and Goddard Remotely Operated
Vehicle for Exploration and Research, the polar robotic ranger carries
ground-penetrating radar for analysis of snow and ice, and an autonomous
control system. All of that is placed between two solar panels and two
snowmobile tracks. Read More
After over six months exploring the
Glenelg area of Gale Crater on Mars, NASA’s Curiosity rover is on the
move. The nuclear-powered robot began a months-long drive on July 4,
which will take it to Mount Sharp to fulfill the major part of its its
two-year mission to seek out areas where life could have, or still
could, exist on the Red Planet. Read More
A group of engineering students from the
University of Cambridge is hoping to become the first British team to
take home the World Solar Challenge
crown with a new solar car dubbed "Resolution." The vehicle, which the
team claims "rewrites the rulebook for green vehicles," features solar
panels that will move to track the sun as it makes the 3,000 km (1,864
mi) journey across the Australian outback from Darwin to Adelaide. Read More
When the i3 concept was unveiled alongside the i8 coupe concept back in 2011, it was the i8 that hogged the spotlight in commercials and Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol.
But BMW engineers were hard at work in Germany developing real world
production plans for the i3 and BMW is now set to put its first fully
electric vehicle into mass production by the end of 2013. But the wee
urban EV plays only a small part in BMW’s overall sustainability
program. Read More
Sous-vide is a French style of cooking that
involves using water to precisely heat food sealed in plastic bags, for
long periods of time – the resulting dishes are said to be very tender,
not to mention delicious. While it has previously been the exclusive
domain of top chefs in restaurant kitchens, recently devices such as the
SousVide Supreme Demi and the Nomiku have been developed for home users. The Codlo is another such gadget, although it lets you use your existing water-filled slow cooker or rice cooker. Read More
At the Frankfurt Motor Show in September,
UK-based General Motors subsidiary Vauxhall will reveal a concept that
it promises will be forward-looking and groundbreaking. The Monza
Concept will preview the future of the brand, including connectivity
that represents a "quantum leap in the development of infotainment
systems." Read More
According to a study conducted for Which?
magazine in 2010, the surface of the average mobile phone contains 18
times the amount of harmful bacteria as a flush lever in a mens’ public
toilet. Other studies have come up with other numbers, but the phone
always comes out the dirtier of the two. To that end, Corning is now
developing antimicrobial glass, which may be killing germs on your
phone’s display within two years. Read More
While many high-end modern cars are now coming
with a sophisticated Head-Up-Display (HUD) built in, owners of older (or
cheaper) models are stuck with a dedicated navigation device or cradled
smartphone blurting out directions and pointing the way. If you're
feeling adventurous, you may be able to shoe-horn a retrofit kit into
your old jalopy, or you could take the plunge and stump up for a new
car, but navigation veteran Garmin has another option. Its new
pocket-sized, portable HUD wirelessly connects to a smartphone running a
navigation app, and throws directions and useful information onto the
inside of the windshield. Read More
One of the advantages of map apps
over traditional paper maps is the fact that with an app, the user can
zoom in on one area of a map – no having to spread a whole paper map out
just to look at one part of the city. British product designer Anne
Stauche decided to level the playing field a little, with her map2
zoomable paper map. Read More
Using gold nanoparticles on top of a PVC
substrate, researchers at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology
have built a new type of cheap, flexible sensor that simultaneously
detects pressure, humidity and temperature with surprising accuracy. The
sensor could be used to monitor cracks in bridges, create a better
artificial skin to benefit amputees, or even to give robots that special
"human touch." Read More
It's a no-brainer that Amazon will announce new Kindle Fires
later this year. The company unveiled new tablets at around the same
time the last two years, so we'd be shocked not to see an upgraded
lineup at around the same time in 2013. A new report, however, claims to
shed some light on the details of those upcoming Kindle Fire tablets.
Read More
One of the advantages of map apps
over traditional paper maps is the fact that with an app, the user can
zoom in on one area of a map – no having to spread a whole paper map out
just to look at one part of the city. British product designer Anne
Stauche decided to level the playing field a little, with her map2
zoomable paper map. Read More
If, like me, you've always felt that your books,
record collection and years' of otherwise accumulated matter was lacking
flight capability, you might be interested in Jasper van Loenen's Drone
It Yourself project which turns more or less anything into a quadrotor
drone with addition of a few motors and a control unit. Read More
Further evidence that the list of things yet to
be 3D printed is shrinking by the minute, Léo Marius has come up with a
3D printable SLR camera. Named OpenReflex, the camera includes a mirror
viewfinder and a mechanical shutter release button. By using custom ring
mounts, Marius says that more or less any lens can be attached. Read More
Gizmag sends out its heartfelt congratulations to
Alex Holland, winner of this year's coveted Shed of the Year award for
his solar-powered nautically-themed shed built almost entirely from
salvaged materials. The crowning glory is a 14-ft boat which has been
left whole and inverted to form the roof. A 20-W solar panel powers the
creature comforts inside. Read More
A quick flick through most digital photo albums
will reveal that there's usually one person missing from the majority of
snapshots. Designer Chin-Wei Liao's recently crafted a concept that
makes it possible for the photographer to get in the frame, too. The Duo
breaks apart into two cameras to take a picture from different angles
at the same time. Read More
The project does not exactly reinvent the wheel,
but it sets out to improve on a device that is almost as old. The
traditional walking cane is undergoing a design revolution that draws
inspiration from the latest developments in ergonomics and even
aerospace engineering. Isowalk, currently fundraising on Indiegogo, is a
new design aimed at taking the walking cane to a new level of
sophistication, besides making it more user-friendly and safer. Its
designer also wants to enable it with wireless technology and create
different models for different needs. Read More
Wimoto has turned to crowdfunfing website
Indiegogo to finance the first run of its range of small sensors
designed to work remotely with mobile devices and computers. Sensors
which monitor weather, soil conditions (for the green fingered) and
water levels are available for under US$40 each, and are due to hit
doormats this September. Read More
CubeSats are one of the wonders of our day. They
allow projects with small budgets and smaller equipment to access low
Earth orbit (LEO) at achievable costs. Seeing greater potential for
these miniaturized modular satellites, Professor Benjamin Longmire of
the University of Michigan is heading a team to install a miniature
plasma thruster system into a 3U CubeSat, enabling the vehicle to leave
LEO and cruise much of the Solar System. Funding for the project is
being sought through Kickstarter. Read More
One of the advantages of map apps
over traditional paper maps is the fact that with an app, the user can
zoom in on one area of a map – no having to spread a whole paper map out
just to look at one part of the city. British product designer Anne
Stauche decided to level the playing field a little, with her map2
zoomable paper map. Read More
Using gold nanoparticles on top of a PVC
substrate, researchers at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology
have built a new type of cheap, flexible sensor that simultaneously
detects pressure, humidity and temperature with surprising accuracy. The
sensor could be used to monitor cracks in bridges, create a better
artificial skin to benefit amputees, or even to give robots that special
"human touch." Read More
It's a no-brainer that Amazon will announce new Kindle Fires
later this year. The company unveiled new tablets at around the same
time the last two years, so we'd be shocked not to see an upgraded
lineup at around the same time in 2013. A new report, however, claims to
shed some light on the details of those upcoming Kindle Fire tablets.
Read More
One of the advantages of map apps
over traditional paper maps is the fact that with an app, the user can
zoom in on one area of a map – no having to spread a whole paper map out
just to look at one part of the city. British product designer Anne
Stauche decided to level the playing field a little, with her map2
zoomable paper map. Read More
If, like me, you've always felt that your books,
record collection and years' of otherwise accumulated matter was lacking
flight capability, you might be interested in Jasper van Loenen's Drone
It Yourself project which turns more or less anything into a quadrotor
drone with addition of a few motors and a control unit. Read More
Further evidence that the list of things yet to
be 3D printed is shrinking by the minute, Léo Marius has come up with a
3D printable SLR camera. Named OpenReflex, the camera includes a mirror
viewfinder and a mechanical shutter release button. By using custom ring
mounts, Marius says that more or less any lens can be attached. Read More
Gizmag sends out its heartfelt congratulations to
Alex Holland, winner of this year's coveted Shed of the Year award for
his solar-powered nautically-themed shed built almost entirely from
salvaged materials. The crowning glory is a 14-ft boat which has been
left whole and inverted to form the roof. A 20-W solar panel powers the
creature comforts inside. Read More
A quick flick through most digital photo albums
will reveal that there's usually one person missing from the majority of
snapshots. Designer Chin-Wei Liao's recently crafted a concept that
makes it possible for the photographer to get in the frame, too. The Duo
breaks apart into two cameras to take a picture from different angles
at the same time. Read More
The project does not exactly reinvent the wheel,
but it sets out to improve on a device that is almost as old. The
traditional walking cane is undergoing a design revolution that draws
inspiration from the latest developments in ergonomics and even
aerospace engineering. Isowalk, currently fundraising on Indiegogo, is a
new design aimed at taking the walking cane to a new level of
sophistication, besides making it more user-friendly and safer. Its
designer also wants to enable it with wireless technology and create
different models for different needs. Read More
Wimoto has turned to crowdfunfing website
Indiegogo to finance the first run of its range of small sensors
designed to work remotely with mobile devices and computers. Sensors
which monitor weather, soil conditions (for the green fingered) and
water levels are available for under US$40 each, and are due to hit
doormats this September. Read More
CubeSats are one of the wonders of our day. They
allow projects with small budgets and smaller equipment to access low
Earth orbit (LEO) at achievable costs. Seeing greater potential for
these miniaturized modular satellites, Professor Benjamin Longmire of
the University of Michigan is heading a team to install a miniature
plasma thruster system into a 3U CubeSat, enabling the vehicle to leave
LEO and cruise much of the Solar System. Funding for the project is
being sought through Kickstarter. Read More
Several snake-like robots have been developed around the world, and while we keep hearing about their potential applications
few have managed to slither outside of their research labs. Earlier
this year Carnegie Mellon University's Biorobotics Lab put its modular
snake robot's practicality to the test in an abandoned nuclear power
plant, where it provided clear, well-lit images from the inside of
pipes. Read More
Though an apparently madcap idea, the early involvement of engineers at Arup suggested that the +Pool concept,
to float a cross-shaped swimming pool in one of New York's rivers,
might just become a reality. Now its designers at Family and PlayLab
have launched a Kickstarter campaign to let backers buy pieces of the
pool a tile at a time. Read More
The recent rumor about a possible production version of the Pininfarina Sergio
concept got us thinking: What other wild, stylish, high-tech concept
cars are coming to market in the near future? Turns out, a lot. In fact,
2013-2014 may very well prove one of the best time periods in history
for for recent cutting-edge concept vehicles to make the leap from
concept to production. From electric and hybrid hypercars to reinvented
daily drivers, these concept cars will soon be all over our highways and
country roads. Read More
3D printing has started to involve everything from custom plastic casts to duck's feet.
Now, researchers at North Carolina State University have developed a 3D
printing technique that can create a variety of stable free-standing
structures from liquid metal at room temperature. Read More
It's no secret that Windows 8
hasn't exactly struck a chord with every desktop user. It makes sense,
though, that the dual-natured operating system would be much more at
home on dual-natured devices. You know, the kind that sit at the
intersection of the desktop and mobile, like the Lenovo Ideapad Yoga. Join Gizmag as we put the new 11-inch model, the Yoga 11S, through its paces. Read More
Flying coach may make one understand what life is
like for a battery hen, but not everyone who travels by air has it so
bad. If you have the ticket fare, from this September you’ll be able to
enjoy Singapore Airlines' next-generation First Class seats. These
“luxury islands” with living-room ambiance were designed by the BMW
Group DesignworksUSA and are being installed on the new Boeing 777-300ER
for selected flights between Singapore and London. Read More
So, let’s see. We’ve already got a suitcase with a built-in scooter, and a bike that can be carried in its own backpack, so that would leave ... a backpack with an integrated scooter? Anyhow, that’s just what the Glyde Gear’s Fly is. Read More
Though wireless speakers are certainly suggestive
of music enjoyment in glorious stereo without getting tangled up in
cables, the reality is often less than satisfactory. Take my trusty JBL
Jembe Wireless speakers, for instance. Although Bluetooth-enabled, the
two speakers are connected to each other by a cable, and there's yet
another for power. There are speakers like the Dash 7
which pack a battery to offer extended periods of cable-free use, but
such units house all of the speakers in one block. The TMI Stereo
Speakers from Too Much Innovation take the best bits of both systems for
what are claimed to be the only split wireless Bluetooth speakers
(shortly to be) available. Read More
Chances are that you wouldn’t use ordinary
plastic bubble wrap in a helmet, automobile body panel, airplane wing
edge or computer case. However, those are some of the applications that
are being suggested for a new type of bubble wrap – one that’s made from
metal. It’s reportedly lighter and stronger than regular sheet metal,
so don’t go expecting to pop it with your fingers. Read More
A recently-completed Munich-based commercial
property, dubbed NuOffice, is being hailed as the world's most
sustainable office building. Commissioned by Haupt Immobilien, and
created with the help of both European-funded research group DIRECTION
and the Fraunhofer Institute for Building Physics, NuOffice breezed
through LEED Platinum certification. It snagged the highest rating ever issued by the body for a building of its type. Read More
If all goes according to plan, in
two years The Netherlands will have the world’s largest nationwide
network of EV fast-charging stations. It was announced this week that by
2015, there should be over 200 such stations along Dutch highways,
leaving no resident farther than 50 km (31 miles) from a charge-up at
any time. Read More
Danish architectural firm Bjarke
Ingels Group (BIG) has announced it is planning to build a new tower
block in downtown Calgary, Canada. The Telus Sky Tower, which BIG
intends to have LEED Platinum certified, will feature a mixture of
residential, office, and retail spaces, spread over 750,000 sq ft
(70,000 sq m). Read More
The X-47B Unmanned Combat Air System (UCAS)
demonstrator put another page in the history books on Wednesday with its
first unmanned arrested-wire carrier landing. The drone flew 35 minutes
from Patuxent River Naval Air Station to the carrier USS George H.W.
Bush (CVN 77) off the coast of Virginia, where is landed at about 145
knots (167 mph, 268 km/h) with an arresting wire catching its tail hook
and bringing it to a stop in 350 ft (107 m). Read More
Here's one trend that's showing no signs of slowing down. The global PC market, which had already been in decline
for four straight quarters, has now dropped for a fifth consecutive
quarter. Will the bleeding stop? Or are we permanently shifting to an
iPad-centric world of computing? Read More
When it comes to consumer/prosumer video camera
stabilizing rigs, they fall into two main camps. You get the cheaper,
purely-manual models like the Steadicam Smoothee, or more expensive, motorized units like the MōVI M10.
Another product may soon be added to the latter group, in the form of
Montana film-maker Jesse Spaulding’s creation, The Ghost. Read More
If all goes according to plan, in
two years The Netherlands will have the world’s largest nationwide
network of EV fast-charging stations. It was announced this week that by
2015, there should be over 200 such stations along Dutch highways,
leaving no resident farther than 50 km (31 miles) from a charge-up at
any time. Read More
For a number of years now, police forces around
the world have enlisted officers to pose as kids in online chat rooms,
in an attempt to draw out pedophiles and track them down. Researchers at
Spain’s University of Deusto are now hoping to free those cops up for
other duties, and to catch more offenders, via a chatbot that they’ve
created. Its name is Negobot, and it plays the part of a 14 year-old
girl. Read More
We've looked at a surplus of electric bicycle designs
over the years, and while we'd be hard-pressed to call any particular
design "usual" in this diverse category, a common feature shared by many
is a frame-integrated battery pack. German manufacturer Electrolyte
dismisses that common element, integrating the battery, motor and
controller of its pedelec bikes into a single fork shaft assembly. Read More
The rain-soaked streets of Glasgow have provided
the unlikely backdrop for the development of the PV-packing OnBeat Solar
Headphones. As the sun beats down on these on-ear cans, custom-molded
polycrystalline silicon photovoltaics on the headband and side hinges
harvest its energy to charge up powerful batteries within the housing. A
charging cable connected to the USB port on the right cup can be
plugged into your smartphone or digital music player, topping up your
device while you listen to some cool tunes. Read More
The Space Shuttle may be gone, but one part of it
is still going strong. The Canadian-built Canadarm robotic arm first
flew on the Shuttle in 1981 and its successor, Canadarm2, is still
working on the International Space Station (ISS) helping with
experiments, supporting space-walking astronauts, and aiding unmanned
cargo ships to dock. Not content to rest on its laurels, the Canadian
Space Agency (CSA) is working on the Next Generation Canadarm (NGC).
More flexible and compact than its predecessor, it’s part of a new
5-part system designed to fulfill the need for robotic arms to help with
satellite repair and refueling. Read More
Danish architectural firm Bjarke
Ingels Group (BIG) has announced it is planning to build a new tower
block in downtown Calgary, Canada. The Telus Sky Tower, which BIG
intends to have LEED Platinum certified, will feature a mixture of
residential, office, and retail spaces, spread over 750,000 sq ft
(70,000 sq m). Read More
An Israeli startup called HeadSense has developed
a pair of earbuds which it claims can monitor pressure inside the human
skull. It hopes its product could negate invasive alternatives, which
involve drilling a hole in the skull (a process known as trepanning) and
inserting a catheter to monitor intracranial pressure (ICP). Read More
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