North Carolina-based ShopBot Tools has launched a
Kickstarter campaign to bring its Handibot prototype to market.
Handibot is a CNC machine which, being computer-controlled, can be used
to cut materials to size and shape with very high accuracy. Unlike most
CNC machines, Handibot is portable, the idea being that you take it to
your materials rather than your materials to it. And in that spirit,
Handibot can be controlled by a smartphone or tablet rather than
full-blown computer (if there's a distinction these days), and users
will pay to download individual designs and functions in the form of
apps. Read More
Most people would probably agree that air travel
still has plenty of room for improvement, particularly when it comes to
actually checking in and getting on the plane. For its part, British
Airways is now taking steps to speed up the whole process on its end and
is even testing a digital alternative to the traditional paper luggage
tag. The airline recently produced an electronic luggage tag that
travelers can update themselves with a smartphone and re-use over and
over. Read More
Launching more than one satellite at a time is
common practice these days, but what about packing thousands of
satellites into a rocket and shooting them at the Moon? As part of a
Kickstarter campaign, Pocket Spacecraft is offering the public the
chance to send small disc satellites into space. These will then either
flutter back to Earth from orbit or impact on the lunar surface. Based
in Bristol, UK, Pocket Spacecraft plans to create thousands of tiny
customized “Scout” satellites to be launched in a cubesat as a way of
promoting low cost, mass space exploration. Read More
Voice commands via programs like Ford’s Sync are so 2010. A newly-released app called "GlassTesla" uses the interactive capabilities of Google Glass to connect wirelessly with Tesla's Model S.
Once connected, owners have a variety of Glass activated commands at
their beck and call and information in front of their eyeballs. Read More
What is a PC? When you're reviewing the Microsoft
Surface Pro, asking yourself that question is practically obligatory.
After all, when the device launched nearly five months ago, Windows 8
was still new, and the idea of a tablet that's every bit as
productivity-oriented as a high-end laptop was still a novelty. But
today, I don't think there's any question. Devices like the Surface Pro
are not only the future of the Windows PC, they're already delivering
some exciting possibilities in the present. Is this a cruise worth
departing on now? Or is it better to give them a few years to better
flesh themselves out? Let Gizmag lend a hand, as we review the Microsoft
Surface Pro. Read More
In addition to fuel efficiency, one of the key
battlegrounds in the current auto-tech wars is in-vehicle telematics and
infotainment. Automakers are tripping all over each other to safely and
functionally integrate connected features like Internet radio, social
networking and Web browsing into their dashboards. BMW recently outlined
its own strategy, announcing a number of key upgrades to its
ConnectedDrive suite that will start hitting vehicles for the 2014 model
year. Read More
The only thing worse than breaking a bone is
waiting for it to heal. During the healing process itself, wearing a
fiberglass and plaster cast can be a stinky, itchy endeavor that is
uncomfortable and inconvenient; all for an injury that is completely
internal. Enter Jake Evill's Cortex concept. Beyond having an awesome
last name, Jake Evill, a media design graduate of the Victoria
University of Wellington in New Zealand, has managed to modernize the
ancient concept of a splint using 3D printing technology. Read More
Along with their writhing tentacles,
octopi and squid sport another interesting feature – they swim not by
swishing a tail, but by expelling a jet of water. This allows them to
move very quickly and quietly. Scientists from Germany’s Fraunhofer
Institute for Manufacturing Engineering and Automation have now copied
this system, in a propulsion system that could ultimately find use in
boats, recreational watercraft, or submarines. Read More
Powered exoskeletons
show great promise both for augmenting the abilities of able-bodied
users, and for rehabilitating the disabled. That said, they also tend to
be hard-bodied contraptions that don’t look particularly comfortable
(or light) to wear. Researchers at Harvard University’s Wyss Institute
recently demonstrated what they hope will be a more user-friendly
alternative – a “soft exosuit.” Read More
The Ford Motor Company recently
tested its experimental “Electronic Brake Light” system, as part of the
4-year Safe Intelligent Mobility - Testfield Germany (simTD) joint
industry research project. The technology causes a dashboard light to
illuminate in your car, when a vehicle in front of you applies its
brakes. Read More
North Carolina-based ShopBot Tools has launched a
Kickstarter campaign to bring its Handibot prototype to market.
Handibot is a CNC machine which, being computer-controlled, can be used
to cut materials to size and shape with very high accuracy. Unlike most
CNC machines, Handibot is portable, the idea being that you take it to
your materials rather than your materials to it. And in that spirit,
Handibot can be controlled by a smartphone or tablet rather than
full-blown computer (if there's a distinction these days), and users
will pay to download individual designs and functions in the form of
apps. Read More
Most people would probably agree that air travel
still has plenty of room for improvement, particularly when it comes to
actually checking in and getting on the plane. For its part, British
Airways is now taking steps to speed up the whole process on its end and
is even testing a digital alternative to the traditional paper luggage
tag. The airline recently produced an electronic luggage tag that
travelers can update themselves with a smartphone and re-use over and
over. Read More
Launching more than one satellite at a time is
common practice these days, but what about packing thousands of
satellites into a rocket and shooting them at the Moon? As part of a
Kickstarter campaign, Pocket Spacecraft is offering the public the
chance to send small disc satellites into space. These will then either
flutter back to Earth from orbit or impact on the lunar surface. Based
in Bristol, UK, Pocket Spacecraft plans to create thousands of tiny
customized “Scout” satellites to be launched in a cubesat as a way of
promoting low cost, mass space exploration. Read More
Voice commands via programs like Ford’s Sync are so 2010. A newly-released app called "GlassTesla" uses the interactive capabilities of Google Glass to connect wirelessly with Tesla's Model S.
Once connected, owners have a variety of Glass activated commands at
their beck and call and information in front of their eyeballs. Read More
What is a PC? When you're reviewing the Microsoft
Surface Pro, asking yourself that question is practically obligatory.
After all, when the device launched nearly five months ago, Windows 8
was still new, and the idea of a tablet that's every bit as
productivity-oriented as a high-end laptop was still a novelty. But
today, I don't think there's any question. Devices like the Surface Pro
are not only the future of the Windows PC, they're already delivering
some exciting possibilities in the present. Is this a cruise worth
departing on now? Or is it better to give them a few years to better
flesh themselves out? Let Gizmag lend a hand, as we review the Microsoft
Surface Pro. Read More
In addition to fuel efficiency, one of the key
battlegrounds in the current auto-tech wars is in-vehicle telematics and
infotainment. Automakers are tripping all over each other to safely and
functionally integrate connected features like Internet radio, social
networking and Web browsing into their dashboards. BMW recently outlined
its own strategy, announcing a number of key upgrades to its
ConnectedDrive suite that will start hitting vehicles for the 2014 model
year. Read More
The only thing worse than breaking a bone is
waiting for it to heal. During the healing process itself, wearing a
fiberglass and plaster cast can be a stinky, itchy endeavor that is
uncomfortable and inconvenient; all for an injury that is completely
internal. Enter Jake Evill's Cortex concept. Beyond having an awesome
last name, Jake Evill, a media design graduate of the Victoria
University of Wellington in New Zealand, has managed to modernize the
ancient concept of a splint using 3D printing technology. Read More
Along with their writhing tentacles,
octopi and squid sport another interesting feature – they swim not by
swishing a tail, but by expelling a jet of water. This allows them to
move very quickly and quietly. Scientists from Germany’s Fraunhofer
Institute for Manufacturing Engineering and Automation have now copied
this system, in a propulsion system that could ultimately find use in
boats, recreational watercraft, or submarines. Read More
Powered exoskeletons
show great promise both for augmenting the abilities of able-bodied
users, and for rehabilitating the disabled. That said, they also tend to
be hard-bodied contraptions that don’t look particularly comfortable
(or light) to wear. Researchers at Harvard University’s Wyss Institute
recently demonstrated what they hope will be a more user-friendly
alternative – a “soft exosuit.” Read More
The Ford Motor Company recently
tested its experimental “Electronic Brake Light” system, as part of the
4-year Safe Intelligent Mobility - Testfield Germany (simTD) joint
industry research project. The technology causes a dashboard light to
illuminate in your car, when a vehicle in front of you applies its
brakes. Read More
On June 18, the NASA Asteroid Grand Challenge was
announced to a flood of media inattention. This was probably to be
expected, as NASA actually said very little about it. Maybe so as to not
attract the ire of forces in the US Congress that are trying to shut
down the largest portion of this Grand Challenge; namely the capture and
relocation of a seven-meter (23 ft) asteroid to a stable lunar orbit
for study and as a practice site for asteroid exploration and
exploitation. We've dug up the formal Request for Information (RFI)
associated with the Grand Challenge, which gives a better idea of where
NASA wants to put its money. Read More
Here’s something that they don’t tell you in the
TV cop shows: although fingerprints may be present at a crime scene,
only about 10 percent of the prints found are of good enough quality for
use in court. A group of scientists are working on boosting that
percentage, however, through the use of a color-changing film. Read More
In space, no one can hear you scream, but you can
hear an air leak. In old science fiction movies, air leaks on
spaceships and stations reveal themselves as convenient holes to slap a
patch on, but on the complex International Space Station (ISS), it isn't
that simple. NASA is working on a new system for detecting the
ultrasonic noise of an air leak quickly before it turns into a dangerous
race against time. Read More
We've been hearing rumors of the Moto X smartphone since late last year. It was originally described as Google's superphone that would do battle with the iPhone and Galaxy S
series. Imaginations quickly ran wild, envisioning what Google could do
to change the game. Well, we're now getting a clearer picture of that,
and it might not be quite what we originally expected. Read More
Not long ago, Buffalo State University music
professor Tomás Henriques set out to develop a digital accordion. While
that in itself would have been newsworthy, what he ended up creating
could ultimately have a lot more significance. Known as the Sonik
Spring, Henriques’ device may find use not only in the field of music,
but also as a means of physical rehabilitation. Read More
Two big trends that have stormed the bicycle
industry over the past few years are pedal-assisted electric drivetrains
and fat tires. These two trends converge in Defiant Bicycles' Big Easy.
Unlike other electric bikes that stop at the edge of the street, the
Big Easy keeps rolling over some of the toughest, most sluggish terrain
on Earth – everything from hot sand to cold, mushy snow. Read More
Panasonic has announced a big and colorful music
system that can deliver 2,300 watts of crystal clear RMS oomph. The
SC-MAX650 Extra-Large Audio System certainly lives up to its name,
featuring huge 4-way floor-standing speakers with a prism color light
show that moves and swirls in time with the music, and a rather chunky
main unit built around full digital amplification in a tri-amp
configuration. Read More
The use of shipping containers in residential builds
is quite popular nowadays, and with good reason: there are untold
numbers of the waterproof and durable metal boxes available, so why not
put a few to good use? With this in mind, the latest such dwelling to
grab our attention is Casa Oruga, or Caterpillar House, by Chilean
architect Sebastián Irarrázaval, which also features passive cooling.
Read More
Smartphone-enabled electronic door locks such as the Unikey, Lockitron and Goji do
have advantages over their traditional counterparts – digital “keys”
can be sent to multiple users’ phones, access to locked rooms can be
limited to specific dates and/or times for certain users, and keys
stored on lost phones can simply be deactivated. However, as with just
about any electronic version of a purely-mechanical device, they do
introduce one complicating factor: they require a power supply. The
Recordura lock, however, generates its own electricity when users push
on its handle. Read More
By rigging an Android smartphone as an
electromagnetic field indicator, interaction designers Luke Sturgeon and
Shamik Ray have visualized the fields around everyday electronics using
long-exposure photography and stop-motion animation. The results are
fascinating and beautiful. Read More
On June 18, the NASA Asteroid Grand Challenge was
announced to a flood of media inattention. This was probably to be
expected, as NASA actually said very little about it. Maybe so as to not
attract the ire of forces in the US Congress that are trying to shut
down the largest portion of this Grand Challenge; namely the capture and
relocation of a seven-meter (23 ft) asteroid to a stable lunar orbit
for study and as a practice site for asteroid exploration and
exploitation. We've dug up the formal Request for Information (RFI)
associated with the Grand Challenge, which gives a better idea of where
NASA wants to put its money. Read More
Here’s something that they don’t tell you in the
TV cop shows: although fingerprints may be present at a crime scene,
only about 10 percent of the prints found are of good enough quality for
use in court. A group of scientists are working on boosting that
percentage, however, through the use of a color-changing film. Read More
In space, no one can hear you scream, but you can
hear an air leak. In old science fiction movies, air leaks on
spaceships and stations reveal themselves as convenient holes to slap a
patch on, but on the complex International Space Station (ISS), it isn't
that simple. NASA is working on a new system for detecting the
ultrasonic noise of an air leak quickly before it turns into a dangerous
race against time. Read More
We've been hearing rumors of the Moto X smartphone since late last year. It was originally described as Google's superphone that would do battle with the iPhone and Galaxy S
series. Imaginations quickly ran wild, envisioning what Google could do
to change the game. Well, we're now getting a clearer picture of that,
and it might not be quite what we originally expected. Read More
Not long ago, Buffalo State University music
professor Tomás Henriques set out to develop a digital accordion. While
that in itself would have been newsworthy, what he ended up creating
could ultimately have a lot more significance. Known as the Sonik
Spring, Henriques’ device may find use not only in the field of music,
but also as a means of physical rehabilitation. Read More
Two big trends that have stormed the bicycle
industry over the past few years are pedal-assisted electric drivetrains
and fat tires. These two trends converge in Defiant Bicycles' Big Easy.
Unlike other electric bikes that stop at the edge of the street, the
Big Easy keeps rolling over some of the toughest, most sluggish terrain
on Earth – everything from hot sand to cold, mushy snow. Read More
Panasonic has announced a big and colorful music
system that can deliver 2,300 watts of crystal clear RMS oomph. The
SC-MAX650 Extra-Large Audio System certainly lives up to its name,
featuring huge 4-way floor-standing speakers with a prism color light
show that moves and swirls in time with the music, and a rather chunky
main unit built around full digital amplification in a tri-amp
configuration. Read More
The use of shipping containers in residential builds
is quite popular nowadays, and with good reason: there are untold
numbers of the waterproof and durable metal boxes available, so why not
put a few to good use? With this in mind, the latest such dwelling to
grab our attention is Casa Oruga, or Caterpillar House, by Chilean
architect Sebastián Irarrázaval, which also features passive cooling.
Read More
Smartphone-enabled electronic door locks such as the Unikey, Lockitron and Goji do
have advantages over their traditional counterparts – digital “keys”
can be sent to multiple users’ phones, access to locked rooms can be
limited to specific dates and/or times for certain users, and keys
stored on lost phones can simply be deactivated. However, as with just
about any electronic version of a purely-mechanical device, they do
introduce one complicating factor: they require a power supply. The
Recordura lock, however, generates its own electricity when users push
on its handle. Read More
By rigging an Android smartphone as an
electromagnetic field indicator, interaction designers Luke Sturgeon and
Shamik Ray have visualized the fields around everyday electronics using
long-exposure photography and stop-motion animation. The results are
fascinating and beautiful. Read More
Ever since moviegoers watched in awe as Marty McFly sped along on a hoverboard in Back To The Future Part II,
many of us have dreamed of having a real-life hoverboard of our own.
Sadly no such product exists, but that hasn't stopped someone from
dreaming of making it happen. To do so, they're asking for US$1 million
on crowdfunding platform Indiegogo. Read More
Legged robot kits aren't anything new, but unlike
its competition, the T8 octopod comes with a disturbingly realistic
3D-printed exoskeleton that is sure to make an unforgettable first
impression. Robugtix (a robotics company based in Hong Kong) is living
up to its name with the lifelike robot tarantula, and it can be yours
later this year for an introductory price of US$1,350. Read More
DSLRs can shoot amazing quality video. But their
autofocus is primarily designed for shooting stills and can result in
stuttering movie footage, which is why most filmmakers don't use it.
However, Canon thinks this could change with the launch of the EOS 70D.
The new AF system in the Wi-Fi-toting 20.2-megapixel DSLR is said to
offer much faster focusing during Live View, to the point that it can
shoot almost camcorder-rivaling video. Read More
Students from the Southern California Institute
of Architecture (SCI-Arc), and California Institute of Technology
(Caltech), have joined forces to produce a net-zero micro-home concept
for 2013's Solar Decathlon
competition. Dubbed "DALE," the futuristic dwelling is able to expand
in size, for those situations in which you don't want your micro-home to
be quite so micro. Read More
Ringtool from Reductivist might just
be the smallest multitool we've ever seen. The creator came up with the
idea because he wanted a tool small enough to carry with him on his
bicycle commute, but reasoned that it could be used by almost anyone.
Read More 
The Japanese spider crab is about to lose its
title as the world's largest crustacean thanks to a new robot developed
in South Korea. For the past two years researchers at the Korean
Institute of Ocean Science and Technology (KIOST) have been working on a
giant robot crab that is about the size and weight of a Smart car. This
summer it will help scientists explore wrecks below the sea, weathering
harsh tidal currents rushing over one and a half meters per second.
Read More
Traditional dress socks are not very gentle to
the feet, what with all the heat and sweat they can generate. But new
technology can provide new levels of comfort that were not possible
until now. From the makers of the high-tech Apollo Shirt, Ministry of
Supply once again evokes Greek mythology to launch another sartorial
innovation in the shape Atlas, high tech socks that come with a promise
of cool and comfortable feet. Read More
Gizmag took a trip to Gothenburg to see six
pieces of autonomous driving technology demonstrated by Volvo on
Tuesday. A self-parking car and a car that drives itself (albeit under
certain conditions) were among the tech on display, rounded out by new
detection systems for animals, pedestrians at night, road edges and
barriers, as well as a behind-the-scenes car-to-car communication
system. All are positioned as pieces of safety technology, Volvo's goal
being that no one will die or be seriously injured in a new Volvo come
2020. But it's also clear that Volvo is deadly serious about full
autonomy, and given that some of the tech Gizmag saw will be on the
market next year, a driverless future feels closer today than it did
when the week began. But it's a future that will take some getting used
to … Read More
For a two-dimensional material, graphene is
certainly punching above its weight in terms of potential applications.
Already set to enable faster, stronger and foldable
electronic devices, researchers claim that the single layer lattice of
carbon atoms can also help keep electronic components up to 25 percent
cooler, giving it the potential to significantly extend the working life
of computers and other electronic devices. Read More
Most people never forget their smartphone when
they leave the house, but an accompanying set of earbuds can be a
different story. Unfortunately, even when people do remember to bring
them along, the cords tend to end up a twisted bundle at the bottom of
their pocket or bag. A pair of designers may have a simple solution
however with the TurtleCell iPhone case, which features retractable
earbuds so you always have a tangle-free set of headphones handy. Read More
If aesthetic concerns are keeping
you from buying some solar panels to stick on your roof, Stafier's
expansion into photovoltaics may be of interest. Read More
Carson Optical has released an
adaptor that straps a pair of binoculars to your iPhone as a makeshift
telephoto lens. Read More
Patrick Priebe, the German laser
weapons hobbyist who previously brought us such creations as the Iron Man Gauntlet and the Plasma Cutter, has gone and made something else. This time around, he’s built a proof-of-concept Laser Gatling Gun. Read More
Nike has launched an app to make
sustainability data more readily available to apparel makers. Called
Making, the app is targeted at designers to provide them with
information on the environmental implications of the materials they work
with. Read More
With their enigmatic new VŪHL 05, brothers Iker
and Guillermo Echeverria are threatening to stamp Mexico on the supercar
map. Unveiled to a select audience at England’s Royal Automobile Club,
the lightweight track-racer debuted a week earlier than predicted. Read More
If aesthetic concerns are keeping
you from buying some solar panels to stick on your roof, Stafier's
expansion into photovoltaics may be of interest. Read More
Carson Optical has released an
adaptor that straps a pair of binoculars to your iPhone as a makeshift
telephoto lens. Read More
Honda had already proved you could build a
so-called “everyday supercar” in the NSX. Fifteen years later, Audi set
off down the same route with its efforts resulting in the introduction
of the R8 in 2006. Leveraging its Lambo connection, the company dropped a
retuned Gallardo V10 into the R8 bodyshell for model year 2009. MY13
brought a model overhaul with the arrival of the faster, lighter R8 V10
plus, which we had the pleasure of putting through its paces. Read More
The important task of inspecting cables on
bridges, elevators, ski lifts and cable cars for signs of strain, wear
and corrosion is commonly carried out by a device that clasps around the
cable and exposes it to a magnetic field, looking for disruptions in
the field. The problem is that the diameter of the cables and their
jackets can vary considerably, limiting the use of such devices.
Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Nondestructive Testing have
come up with a one-size-fits-all approach in the form of a robot they’ve
dubbed the FluxCrawler. Read More
Douglas Engelbart,
the man who made point and click possible with his invention of the
mouse, has died aged 88. When he first demonstrated his invention to a
computer conference in San Francisco, California in 1968, it was
basically a wooden shell with two metal wheels for registering movement
along the X- and Y-axes. Ahead of its time, the mouse wasn’t popularized
until the release of the Apple Macintosh in 1984. Read More
Compared to human-powered watercraft such as
canoes or rowboats, kayaks are certainly fast, plus they’re easy to
paddle. Should you try to stand up and fish or scuba dive from one,
however, it’s quite likely to capsize. With that in mind,
California-based TrueRec has designed the DFP (Dive-Fish-Paddle)
sit-on-top kayak. It features spring-loaded pontoons that fold out to
the sides and lock in place for added stability when stopped, but that
otherwise stay tucked in and out of the way. Read More
Although various alternative technologies
are being developed, the large-scale desalination of seawater typically
involves forcing it through a membrane that allows the water to pass
through, but that traps the salt. These membranes can be costly, they
can get fouled, and powerful pumps are required to push the water
through. Now, however, scientists from the University of Texas at Austin
and Germany’s University of Marburg are taking another approach.
They’ve developed a chip that separates salt from water. Read More
Since first being presented at the 2009 Frankfurt Motor Show, Renault's Twizy has gone from concept to production model, and like many small young things, has also dreamed of becoming a firefighter and a F1 racer.
For its latest party trick, the French auto giant really means
business. The battery electric roofed quad bike has sacrificed its
passenger seat and had its rear end cut-out modified to make room for a
small amount of storage space. The result of this collaborative effort
from Renault's Tech and Sports divisions is the new Twizy Cargo. Read More
Patrick Priebe, the German laser
weapons hobbyist who previously brought us such creations as the Iron Man Gauntlet and the Plasma Cutter, has gone and made something else. This time around, he’s built a proof-of-concept Laser Gatling Gun. Read More
Solar Impulse
– the solar-powered airplane of Swiss pioneers Bertrand Piccard and
André Borschberg – has successfully landed at New York’s John F. Kennedy
International Airport. In so doing, it begins a new era in the history
of aviation: for the first time, a plane capable of flying day and night
powered exclusively by solar energy has crossed the USA from the west
to the east coasts, without using a single drop of fuel. Read More
The InnoTab 3 is the latest in the series of
child-friendly tablets from VTech. Designed to be a portable and
affordable introduction to tablet computing, it features a 4.3-inch
touchscreen, a 2-megapixel rotating camera and 2 GB of onboard memory.
As with many other kids tablets, the InnoTab 3 can also be used as an
eBook reader, MP3 music player, photo viewer and video player. Read More
Owning a piece of computer history can be
expensive and not much fun. You can buy a vintage MITS Altair 8800, one
of the world’s first successful desktop computers, on eBay, but a good
one will cost you over US$4,000. That’s why computer enthusiast Mike
Douglas developed the Altair 8800 Clone. It’s a modern, inexpensive,
functional reproduction of the historic Altair 8800 computer that uses
21st century technology to recreate a bit of computer history for
hobbyists and educators. Read More
Li-ion batteries may be ok for your smartphone,
but when it comes to large-scale energy storage, the priorities suddenly
shift from compactness and cycling performance (at which Li-ion
batteries excel) to low cost and environmental feasibility (in which
Li-ion batteries still have much room for improvement). A new "wood
battery" could allow the emerging sodium-ion battery technology to fit
the bill as a long-lasting, efficient and environmentally friendly
battery for large-scale energy storage. Read More
If you’re anything like me, you own a flashlight, a bike light, and
a videography light. While they all emit the same sort of white(ish)
LED light, their form factor can make it difficult to use one of them
for another’s purpose. Vancouver-based mechanical engineer Ronald Chan,
however, is hoping that his Function Flashlight will become the one and
only go-to portable light source for its owners. Read More
Barnacles may look nice and nautical on things
like rocks, but they’re a major problem for watercraft of all sorts. On
the hulls of ships, for example, they can drastically decrease the
vessel’s hydrodynamics, causing it to burn more fuel and emit more
emissions in order to maintain its cruising speed. The most common way
of keeping barnacles off those hulls involves the use of
environmentally-unfriendly paints. Now, however, a scientist from
Sweden’s University of Gothenburg has developed what could be a less
harmful alternative. Read More
Aaron Sebens and his class of fourth-graders from
the Central Park School for Children in Durham, North Carolina hit
Kickstarter back in March to try and raise enough money for their
classroom to go off-grid. A rather modest target of US$800 was smashed
within a day by the kindness of the international community and, at campaign end,
the kids found themselves with the handsome sum of $5,817 to spend on
the purchase and installation of a roof-mounted solar energy harvesting
system. A wind turbine was added to the shopping list, and just two
months later, the 208ers threw a huge "Flip the Switch" party to
celebrate leaving the grid. Sebens reports that the classroom has been
running on renewables ever since. Read More
If people can just exercise at home on stationary bikes,
why does anyone even bother going to spin classes? Well, for two main
reasons: they get guided through the workout by a fitness expert, and
(perhaps more importantly) they receive motivation by being part of a
group that’s sharing the same experience at the same time. Now, a New
York-based team is developing a product that combines the best of both
worlds. The Peleton Bike lets users ride in their own homes, while
taking part in a spin class that’s being streamed live to a built-in
Android tablet. Read More
It's that time of year again; the 2013 World Architecture Festival
(WAF) Awards shortlist has been announced. The event will feature over
300 projects, spread over 29 individual categories and three groups:
Completed Buildings, Landscape Projects, and Future Projects. Read More
Nike has launched an app to make
sustainability data more readily available to apparel makers. Called
Making, the app is targeted at designers to provide them with
information on the environmental implications of the materials they work
with. Read More 
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