Arduino
has made quite a name for itself over the past several years, with its
single-board microcontrollers making their way into a wide variety of
DIY electronic devices. Given that many of those devices have been robots, the company has now taken the next logical step forward – it’s released its first-ever complete robot. Read More
Top 10 milestones of Curiosity's first year on Mars
By David Szondy
August 6, 2013
Today, NASA paid tribute to its Curiosity rover,
which has completed its first year exploring the planet Mars. On August
6, 2012 (August 5, PDT), the unmanned explorer landed on the Red Planet
as the start of a two-year mission to seek out areas where life might
have once, or could still exist. To commemorate this event, the space
agency broadcast reminiscences by Curiosity team members from NASA's Jet
Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California. What follows is
our own look at the top 10 milestones of Curiosity’s first year. Read More
Take a pleasure cruise up the Harlem
River this month and you surely won't miss the 24-ft diameter Harvest
Dome 2.0 which floats on the waters near Spuyten Duyvil Creek at the
north tip of Manhattan, New York. Built to draw eyes to the city's
watercourses, the dome is built from 450 discarded and broken umbrellas
support by a floating ring made from 128 2-liter drinks bottles. Read More 
Researchers at the University of Toronto say they
can improve the energy of efficiency buildings by fitting window panes
with tiny channels of water. The scientists says that these channels,
inspired by vascular systems in nature such as the network of blood
vessels in the human body, can provide 7º to 9º C of cooling in the
summer, and reduce heat loss during winter. Read More
Petroleum-based plastic may be fantastic, but due
to the durability that makes the material so popular it may take
hundreds of years to break down. Plastic made from renewable biomass,
known as bioplastic, is a biodegradable alternative to fossil fuel
versions. A company called Metabolix, based in Cambridge (MA), has been
working on a technology to genetically engineer plants such as
switchgrass to create a biodegradable polymer that can be extracted
directly from the plant. Read More
The smartwatch market is barely in its infancy,
but it's already feeling a bit crowded. With crowdfunding success
stories like the Pebble and the Agent rubbing shoulders with juggernauts like Apple, Google, and Microsoft,
a new smartwatch has to bring something truly innovative to the table
in order to stand out. PH Technical Labs seems prepared to do just that
with the HOT Watch, which has a directional speaker and microphone
embedded in the wrist, allowing the wearer to answer phone calls just by
cupping their hand to their ear. Read More
For most air travelers, turbulence provides
nothing more serious than the odd moment of extreme panic, but it costs
airlines hundreds of millions of dollars each year in injury
compensation and aircraft damage. There are various different types of
turbulence, but the most dangerous, because it is invisible and
extremely difficult to detect, is clear-air turbulence (CAT). A new CAT
detection technology that could help pilots choose a smoother route is
now being tested as part of a European joint project called DELICAT
(Demonstration of LIDAR based CAT detection). Read More
Often called the love hormone, oxytocin has shown
the ability to enhance social bonding, decrease anxiety and encourage
an overall feeling of satisfaction with life. A new study out of
Northwestern University, however, finds that this ancient hormone has a
dark side, and is capable of strengthening unpleasant memories, fear,
and anxiety. This Jeckyll and Hyde behavior results from the fact that
oxytocin has a general strengthening effect on social memories, without
regard to their polarity. Read More
Brendan O'Connor is an unabashed hacker who has
worked for DARPA and taught at the US military's cybersecurity school.
CreepyDOL (Creepy Distributed Object Locator), his new personal tracking
system, allows a user to track, locate, and break into an individual's
smartphone. "For a few hundred dollars," he says, "I can track your
every movement, activity, and interaction, until I find whatever it
takes to blackmail you." Read More
If Professor Mark Post of Maastricht University
ever opens a burger bar, you might want to take a close look at the
prices before you order. On Monday, at a press conference in London, a burger
made by Post and his team was served that cost a cool €250,000 (about
US$330,000). The reason? The beef that went into making it never saw a
pasture and the people in the white coats who handed it to the chef
weren't butchers, but bioengineers. Read More
Architectural firm Perkins+Will has
designed a new research campus for the Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean
Sciences. Completed in December, 2012, at a cost of US$31 million, the
54-acre (22-hectare) plot overlooks the ocean in East Boothbay, Maine,
and has been awarded LEED Platinum status. Read More
Work has been completed on Christchurch's temporary Cardboard Cathedral designed by Japanese architect Shigeru Ban. Read More
Last November, we heard about Lehmann Aviation’s LA100,
a small and fully autonomous UAV designed to capture aerial images with
a user-supplied GoPro camera. Now the French company is offering two
new models that go farther and stay in the air longer. As with the
LA100, both of the new models are designed for use by people with little
or no remote piloting experience. Read More
Architectural firm Perkins+Will has
designed a new research campus for the Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean
Sciences. Completed in December, 2012, at a cost of US$31 million, the
54-acre (22-hectare) plot overlooks the ocean in East Boothbay, Maine,
and has been awarded LEED Platinum status. Read More
This year is shaping up to be a great one for Android phones. We've already seen several flagships that you could argue are among the best smartphones ever made. How does the Moto X,
Motorola's first phone created from start to finish under Google's
ownership, fit in with the pack? Let's compare its specs and features
with the HTC One, which we already know is one of the best smartphones of 2013. Read More
A team at the Harvard School of Engineering and
Applied Sciences (SEAS) has come up with a promising new way to create
3D images from a stationary camera or microscope with a single lens.
Rather than expensive hardware, the technique uses a mathematical model
to generate images with depth and could find use in a wide range of
applications, from creating more compelling microscopy imaging to a more
immersive experience in movie theaters. Read More
The cyber security convention DefCon and its
corporate counterpart, Black Hat, that are held annually in Las Vegas
present a unique tableau where the traditional (and traditionally
overstated) conflict between underground hacking culture and corporate
and government security professionals is suspended with the goal of
openness and education. If you enjoy and own technology and gadgets of
any kind, the conferences highlight a looming security crossroads that
affects every layperson. Gizmag takes a look at some of the more
important hacks from this year. Read More
Despite being constantly in the news, UAVs
haven’t been seen much in the skies of the US except in military
training areas or by law enforcement agencies. That’s beginning to
change, with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announcing that
is has issued operating permits for a pair of civilian unmanned aircraft
to a company based in Alaska. The two unmanned aircraft are the
AeroVironment Puma, which is a hand-launched, battery powered UAV that
uses an electro-optical and infrared video camera for surveillance, and
the other is the Boeing Insitu ScanEagle; a small, long-endurance craft
based on a fish-spotting design. Read More
When incorporating photographs of products into
catalogs or websites, it’s always helpful if those photos have a
digitally-transparent background. This means that a computer working
with the photo will allow the user to add in whatever background they
wish behind the product – or give it no background at all – instead of
being stuck with the background against which it was originally shot. In
the past, creating such an image has often required graphic artists to
manually cut the product out of the shot, using a program such as
Photoshop. Now, however, the StyleShoots system is able to create
product shots with transparent backgrounds within seconds, as the photos
are being taken. Read More
A solution for athletes that hike or run at
night, and get thirsty while doing so, the new GoMotion Synergy
Hydration LightVest offers a unique blend of LED lighting and storage.
The chest-mounted light is designed to provide a more comfortable beam
than the headlamp, while the greater pack offers space for water and
more. Read More
Arguably the world’s most famous painting, da
Vinci's Mona Lisa has now been copied onto the world’s smallest canvas
at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Associate Professor Jennifer
Curtis' "Mini Lisa" is one-third the width of a human hair, with details
as small as one-eighth of a micron. Mini Lisa demonstrates the
flexibility of a new nanolithography technique that can vary the surface
concentration of molecules on very small portions of a substrate. Read More
Smartphone users on the lookout for
battery-powered wireless chargers, Bluetooth music players, and funky
smart lights that bop to the beat will likely have to settle for a small
collection of separates. There are devices that tick a couple of boxes,
such as the Black Diamond III or TDK's Wireless Charging Speaker,
but good luck finding one unit that does it all. If Justin Kaufman's
new crowdfunding endeavor is successful, however, your quest might well
be an easier one. The upper surface of his Glowdeck Bluetooth speaker
system can charge the battery of any Qi-compatible device placed upon it
using its own powerful battery or via a wall outlet, while the lights
at the bottom flash to notify users of incoming calls or texts, or sync
to the music being thrown out of the front-facing speakers. Read More
Canon announces Wi-Fi-enabled Vixia mini camcorder
By Ben Coxworth
August 7, 2013
Although Canon’s line of Vixia camcorders has
been quite popular for some time now, not everyone wants to cart around a
full-sized video camera – even a relatively small consumer model. For
those folks, Canon has now introduced the Vixia mini compact personal
camcorder. It still shoots 1080p HD video like its larger siblings, but
also offers features such as multiple shooting modes and Wi-Fi
connectivity. Read More
When it comes to commercial aquaculture, a lot of
people have some legitimate concerns – fish farms can introduce
antibiotics, anti-algal chemicals and concentrated fish waste into the
ocean; escaped fish can upset the local ecological balance; and wild
fish still need to be caught in large numbers, as a food source for some
species of farmed fish. While there have been recent efforts to address the first two concerns,
the fish-in-the-fish-food problem is now being taken on in two
different research projects. These are aimed at replacing the fish
content in fish feed with more sustainable ingredients. Read More
Philips has announced a new range of color-change
LED products designed to coexist peacefully with its chameleonesque
iPhone-controlled hue light bulb.
The Friends of hue range is open to independent product developers, but
is being ushered in with two new Philips creations, LivingColors Bloom
and LightStrips. Read More
Work has been completed on Christchurch's temporary Cardboard Cathedral designed by Japanese architect Shigeru Ban. Read More
In the Western world, we tend to take for granted
some pretty basic amenities, like reliable electricity. For people
living in those corners of the globe where electricity can be scarce,
WeWi Telecommunications, Inc. has developed the SOL, a rugged laptop
that doesn't rely on a power socket to stay charged. The Ubuntu
Linux-powered computer is instead equipped with a detachable solar
panel, which the developers claim will provide up to 10 hours of battery
life after just two hours in the sun. Read More
High speed full-frame continuous shooting is one
of the key pillars of photography, especially where action is concerned.
It is a core technology of professional DSLRs enhancing their ability
to capture decisive moments in challenging environments. In what looks
like a groundbreaking development for iPhone photography, the developer
of the latest version of SnappyCam Pro claims that it can produce
high-quality 8 MP images shooting at 20 full-sensor pictures/sec on your
iPhone 5 and significant speed improvements on older models and other
iOS devices. Can it? Read More
Early August always brings with it the promise of
a spectacular show in the form of the Perseid meteor shower. This
shower, which peaks August 11-13, is one of the most reliable and active
meteor displays throughout the year. A new NASA study also shows that
more Perseid meteors are fireballs (averaging over 100 per year) than in
any other meteor shower. Read More
Remember the time you had a glass of your
US$1,300 bottle of Chateau Latour Pauillac 2005, only to find that it
had gone vinegary in the fridge when you went back for another a week
later? We've all been there. Coravin, LLC of Burlington, Massachusetts
makes having a glass from the dustier end of the wine rack a bit less
expensive with its Coravin 1000 Wine Access System, which allows you to
pour a glass out of a bottle without having to finish the lot, watching
it go off, or even removing the cork. Read More
Broccoli is one of those foods we’re told to eat
as youngsters because it’s good for us. Unfortunately, researchers at
the University of Illinois (U of I) found some of that goodness, namely
the vegetable’s cancer-protective benefits, doesn’t survive the process
its subjected to before reaching the freezers at supermarkets.
Thankfully, the researchers followed up their initial research and found
a simple way to preserve broccoli’s cancer-fighting properties. Read More
Work has been completed on Christchurch's temporary Cardboard Cathedral designed by Japanese architect Shigeru Ban. Read More
Canon announces Wi-Fi-enabled Vixia mini camcorder
By Ben Coxworth
August 7, 2013
Although Canon’s line of Vixia camcorders has
been quite popular for some time now, not everyone wants to cart around a
full-sized video camera – even a relatively small consumer model. For
those folks, Canon has now introduced the Vixia mini compact personal
camcorder. It still shoots 1080p HD video like its larger siblings, but
also offers features such as multiple shooting modes and Wi-Fi
connectivity. Read More
When it comes to commercial aquaculture, a lot of
people have some legitimate concerns – fish farms can introduce
antibiotics, anti-algal chemicals and concentrated fish waste into the
ocean; escaped fish can upset the local ecological balance; and wild
fish still need to be caught in large numbers, as a food source for some
species of farmed fish. While there have been recent efforts to address the first two concerns,
the fish-in-the-fish-food problem is now being taken on in two
different research projects. These are aimed at replacing the fish
content in fish feed with more sustainable ingredients. Read More
Philips has announced a new range of color-change
LED products designed to coexist peacefully with its chameleonesque
iPhone-controlled hue light bulb.
The Friends of hue range is open to independent product developers, but
is being ushered in with two new Philips creations, LivingColors Bloom
and LightStrips. Read More
Work has been completed on Christchurch's temporary Cardboard Cathedral designed by Japanese architect Shigeru Ban. Read More
In the Western world, we tend to take for granted
some pretty basic amenities, like reliable electricity. For people
living in those corners of the globe where electricity can be scarce,
WeWi Telecommunications, Inc. has developed the SOL, a rugged laptop
that doesn't rely on a power socket to stay charged. The Ubuntu
Linux-powered computer is instead equipped with a detachable solar
panel, which the developers claim will provide up to 10 hours of battery
life after just two hours in the sun. Read More
High speed full-frame continuous shooting is one
of the key pillars of photography, especially where action is concerned.
It is a core technology of professional DSLRs enhancing their ability
to capture decisive moments in challenging environments. In what looks
like a groundbreaking development for iPhone photography, the developer
of the latest version of SnappyCam Pro claims that it can produce
high-quality 8 MP images shooting at 20 full-sensor pictures/sec on your
iPhone 5 and significant speed improvements on older models and other
iOS devices. Can it? Read More
Early August always brings with it the promise of
a spectacular show in the form of the Perseid meteor shower. This
shower, which peaks August 11-13, is one of the most reliable and active
meteor displays throughout the year. A new NASA study also shows that
more Perseid meteors are fireballs (averaging over 100 per year) than in
any other meteor shower. Read More
Remember the time you had a glass of your
US$1,300 bottle of Chateau Latour Pauillac 2005, only to find that it
had gone vinegary in the fridge when you went back for another a week
later? We've all been there. Coravin, LLC of Burlington, Massachusetts
makes having a glass from the dustier end of the wine rack a bit less
expensive with its Coravin 1000 Wine Access System, which allows you to
pour a glass out of a bottle without having to finish the lot, watching
it go off, or even removing the cork. Read More
Broccoli is one of those foods we’re told to eat
as youngsters because it’s good for us. Unfortunately, researchers at
the University of Illinois (U of I) found some of that goodness, namely
the vegetable’s cancer-protective benefits, doesn’t survive the process
its subjected to before reaching the freezers at supermarkets.
Thankfully, the researchers followed up their initial research and found
a simple way to preserve broccoli’s cancer-fighting properties. Read More
Duggan Morris Architects has joined
forces with British arts organization, UP Projects to launch this year’s
"Floating Cinema," which will be gracing the waterways of East London
until the end of September. For the project, Duggan Morris created an
award winning design that converted a barge into a floating cinema. Read More
A team of researchers from the Fluid
Interfaces Group at MIT Media Lab has created a truly useful bit of DIY
technology in the form of Glassified – a modified ruler that does far
more than just allow you to draw straight lines. Read More
For the past 23 years, the International Aerial
Robotics Competition has challenged college teams with missions
requiring complex autonomous robotic behaviors that are often beyond the
capabilities of even the most sophisticated military robots. This
year's competition, which was held in China and the United States over
the past week, saw the team from Tsinghua University in Beijing
successfully complete the current mission – an elaborate espionage
operation known as Mission Six that was first proposed in 2010. Read More
Radio has come a long way since Marconi bashed a
telegraph key and radar is a miracle compared to when it was just a
squiggle on a cathode tube, but despite a century of advances, they’re
still prone to the same problems as the first pioneers encountered. For
five days in July, the Office of Naval Research’s (ONR) Research Vessel
(R/V) Knorr made a survey in the waters off Virginia Beach, Virginia
using ScanEagle
UAVs to study the effect of oceanic and atmospheric changes on radar
and radio waves with the aim of producing more secure military
communications and improve the ability of radar to detect hostile craft.
Read More
The high-end of the smartphone market
isn't an easy fortress to penetrate. LG has made some solid phones
through the years, including the fraternal twins known as the Nexus 4
and Optimus G. But the company isn't usually mentioned in the same
breath as Samsung or Apple. Will any amount of hardware or software
features be able to change that? Let's try to find out, as we compare
the new LG G2 to the Samsung Galaxy S4. Read More
Duggan Morris Architects has joined
forces with British arts organization, UP Projects to launch this year’s
"Floating Cinema," which will be gracing the waterways of East London
until the end of September. For the project, Duggan Morris created an
award winning design that converted a barge into a floating cinema. Read More
Motorola's first phone designed and brought to market since becoming a wholly owned part of Google, the Moto X,
is finally here. I've had one in my hands for almost a week now since
snagging a loaner to review for Gizmag at Motorola's press event in New
York City. It's traveled with me from the Big Apple back to the American
Southwest and on a short road trip through Colorado's southern Rockies
in that time, and as I've grown more familiar with what it can do across
such varied geography, I can comfortably say that although the Moto X
might not be a revolution, it is quite an impressive step forward. Read More
Coming to grips with Windows 8.1: Tips and tricks
August 7, 2013
When Windows 8 was released last October it
didn't receive a lot of fanfare. But this year Microsoft is making
several changes to the operating system with version 8.1 and a lot of
them are for the better. While it's not a complete overhaul, there are
some subtle changes that should make it easier for new users to learn
and use. Here's a look at some tips and tricks for using new features in
Windows 8.1. Read More
Vibram Smart Concept Sole gives footwear headlights
By C.C. Weiss
August 7, 2013
Vibram recently exhibited its Smart Concept Sole
to give some insight as to the company's ideas for the future of sneaker
technology. Along with a remote controlled LED lighting system that
allows the soles to illuminate the ground ahead, Vibram anticipates the
soles in future footwear to be embedded with sensors to warn the wearer
of invisible environmental hazards. Read More
For the last three years, a small research team
at McGill University has been working with a choreographer, a composer,
dancers and musicians on a project named Instrumented Bodies. Three
groups of sensor-packed, internally-lit digital music controllers that
attach to a dancer's costume have been developed, each capable of
wirelessly triggering synthesized music as the performer moves around
the stage. Sounds are produced by tapping or stroking transparent Ribs
or Visors, or by twisting, turning or moving Spines. Though work on the
project continues, the instruments have already been used in a
performance piece called Les Gestes which toured Canada and Europe during March and April. Read More
Venous ulcers
are nasty things, often found on the lower extremities of elderly or
inactive people. They occur when high blood pressure causes the skin
adjacent to the affected veins to break down, leaving open wounds that
take months or even years to heal. Standard treatments include
compression bandages, infection control and standard wound dressings,
although these approaches don’t work in all cases. Now, however,
scientists are getting good results using band-aid-like patches that
emit ultrasound into the ulcers. Read More
A team of researchers from the Fluid
Interfaces Group at MIT Media Lab has created a truly useful bit of DIY
technology in the form of Glassified – a modified ruler that does far
more than just allow you to draw straight lines. Read More 
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