Despite numerous attempts throughout the years, smell-o-vision has failed to take off on the big or small
screens. Japanese company Chaku Perfume Co. Ltd. is hoping to have
better luck on the even smaller screen with its Chat Perf attachment for
iPhone that allows messages or email notifications to be accompanied by
a signature smell. Read More
If you're in the market for a 3D printer, there
are plenty of qualities to weigh. Price, ease of use, size, and print
resolution are all factors that could influence the types of objects
you're able to create. If you want a printer that fits on your desk and
can print objects the size of a basketball though, you may want to
consider the latest model from Aleph Objects, Inc. The LulzBot TAZ 3D
printer boasts an open source hardware approach in design and claims to
have the largest print volume for desktop printers in its price range.
Read More
According to a joint World Health
Organization/UNICEF report issued this week, an estimated 768 million
people relied on unimproved drinking-water sources in 2011, with 185
million of these relying on surface water to meet their daily
drinking-water needs. WHO and UNICEF have set a 2030 target for everyone
to have access to a safe drinking-water supply and new water-purifying
“nanoscavengers” developed by researchers at Stanford University could
help achieve this goal. Read More
Robot bartenders
aren’t new, but they tend to be more drink vending machine than cool
mixologist. To inject a little panache, researchers at the MIT Senseable
City Lab in collaboration with Coca-Cola and Bacardi Rum have developed
Makr Shakr – a robot drink-mixing system that made its debut at the
Google I/O annual developer conference in San Francisco on Wednesday as
the world’s first crowd-controlled robotic bar. Read More
Gmail lets you send all kinds of files as
attachments. And Google Wallet lets you pay for just about anything. Why
not combine the two? That could have been the thinking by someone at
Google, as the search giant is set to launch a payment system that’s the
love child of Gmail and Google Wallet. Read More
Cats may love batting at tantilizingly-dangled kitty toys, but most of us can’t dangle those toys for our felines all day long – not even by remote control. The Solar Chaser was designed to pick up the slack, using an integrated solar panel to power its toy-bobbing arm. Read More 
Gravitational lenses, which are massive galaxies
or galaxy clusters that act as a magnifying glass by bending light
passing them, are one of the Universe's golden gifts to astronomers. To
help unlock the mysteries that might lie behind these untapped celestial
resources, Zooniverse, a program of the Citizens Science Alliance, has
begun the Space Warps project. It allows citizen scientists to put their
skills at pattern/image recognition to use, toward finding these
fugitive gravitational lenses. Read More
Apple isn’t Google’s biggest fan.
Steve Jobs believed that Android was a stolen product, and Apple’s lawsuits against Samsung
(and others) are an expression of that feeling of being wronged. So it
shouldn’t be too big of a surprise that Apple chose today – the kickoff
of Google I/O – to announce a major milestone. We’re talking 50 billion downloads of App Store apps. Read More 
No matter what sort of wondrous implantable
medical devices are created, they’re not going to do anyone much good if
the recipient's body simply rejects them. With that in mind, scientists
at the University of Washington have developed a synthetic biomaterial
that they claim is “exceptional” at keeping implanted materials from
being attacked by the immune system. Read More
Cats may love batting at tantilizingly-dangled kitty toys, but most of us can’t dangle those toys for our felines all day long – not even by remote control. The Solar Chaser was designed to pick up the slack, using an integrated solar panel to power its toy-bobbing arm. Read More
Apple isn’t Google’s biggest fan.
Steve Jobs believed that Android was a stolen product, and Apple’s lawsuits against Samsung
(and others) are an expression of that feeling of being wronged. So it
shouldn’t be too big of a surprise that Apple chose today – the kickoff
of Google I/O – to announce a major milestone. We’re talking 50 billion downloads of App Store apps. Read More
GoPro HERO actioncams are proving to
be pretty popular with mountain bikers, although not everyone wants to
wear one of the cameras on their helmet or chest. Riders can always
mount it on their handlebars, although now Paul Components is offering
an alternative – a GoPro mount that replaces the handlebar stem cap.
Read More
Despite numerous attempts throughout the years, smell-o-vision has failed to take off on the big or small
screens. Japanese company Chaku Perfume Co. Ltd. is hoping to have
better luck on the even smaller screen with its Chat Perf attachment for
iPhone that allows messages or email notifications to be accompanied by
a signature smell. Read More
If you're in the market for a 3D printer, there
are plenty of qualities to weigh. Price, ease of use, size, and print
resolution are all factors that could influence the types of objects
you're able to create. If you want a printer that fits on your desk and
can print objects the size of a basketball though, you may want to
consider the latest model from Aleph Objects, Inc. The LulzBot TAZ 3D
printer boasts an open source hardware approach in design and claims to
have the largest print volume for desktop printers in its price range.
Read More
According to a joint World Health
Organization/UNICEF report issued this week, an estimated 768 million
people relied on unimproved drinking-water sources in 2011, with 185
million of these relying on surface water to meet their daily
drinking-water needs. WHO and UNICEF have set a 2030 target for everyone
to have access to a safe drinking-water supply and new water-purifying
“nanoscavengers” developed by researchers at Stanford University could
help achieve this goal. Read More
Robot bartenders
aren’t new, but they tend to be more drink vending machine than cool
mixologist. To inject a little panache, researchers at the MIT Senseable
City Lab in collaboration with Coca-Cola and Bacardi Rum have developed
Makr Shakr – a robot drink-mixing system that made its debut at the
Google I/O annual developer conference in San Francisco on Wednesday as
the world’s first crowd-controlled robotic bar. Read More
Gmail lets you send all kinds of files as
attachments. And Google Wallet lets you pay for just about anything. Why
not combine the two? That could have been the thinking by someone at
Google, as the search giant is set to launch a payment system that’s the
love child of Gmail and Google Wallet. Read More
Cats may love batting at tantilizingly-dangled kitty toys, but most of us can’t dangle those toys for our felines all day long – not even by remote control. The Solar Chaser was designed to pick up the slack, using an integrated solar panel to power its toy-bobbing arm. Read More
Gravitational lenses, which are massive galaxies
or galaxy clusters that act as a magnifying glass by bending light
passing them, are one of the Universe's golden gifts to astronomers. To
help unlock the mysteries that might lie behind these untapped celestial
resources, Zooniverse, a program of the Citizens Science Alliance, has
begun the Space Warps project. It allows citizen scientists to put their
skills at pattern/image recognition to use, toward finding these
fugitive gravitational lenses. Read More
Apple isn’t Google’s biggest fan.
Steve Jobs believed that Android was a stolen product, and Apple’s lawsuits against Samsung
(and others) are an expression of that feeling of being wronged. So it
shouldn’t be too big of a surprise that Apple chose today – the kickoff
of Google I/O – to announce a major milestone. We’re talking 50 billion downloads of App Store apps. Read More
No matter what sort of wondrous implantable
medical devices are created, they’re not going to do anyone much good if
the recipient's body simply rejects them. With that in mind, scientists
at the University of Washington have developed a synthetic biomaterial
that they claim is “exceptional” at keeping implanted materials from
being attacked by the immune system. Read More
Although there are already plenty of
good bicycle fenders out there, some people don’t like the way they
rattle around, while others think that they detract from the looks of
the bike. One option is to use something like the QuickFix,
which is a fold-flat rear mudguard that attaches to the frame in
seconds. The Plume, however, takes a different approach – it’s a
mudguard that recoils like a metal tape measure when not in use. Read More
In the future, there will be no excuse for
becoming the next Aron Ralston. Within the past few months alone, we've
seen survival watches, tablet computers
and satellite phones built specifically for adventure use. Add to that
the latest BMW, which isn't a car but a collaborative mobile phone
project with mobile company Adaia. The phone will offer both business
and adventure modes and will include advanced emergency communications
capabilities. Read More
Although there are already plenty of
good bicycle fenders out there, some people don’t like the way they
rattle around, while others think that they detract from the looks of
the bike. One option is to use something like the QuickFix,
which is a fold-flat rear mudguard that attaches to the frame in
seconds. The Plume, however, takes a different approach – it’s a
mudguard that recoils like a metal tape measure when not in use. Read More
Whether it’s through parents’ forgetfulness,
ignorance or just plain not caring, it does sometimes happen ... small
children die from heatstroke after being left unattended in a hot parked
car. According to a 2012 study conducted by the US National Highway
Traffic Safety Administration, an average of 38 such deaths occur in the
United States alone each year. While various systems
have been developed to help keep this from happening, three engineering
undergrads from Baltimore’s Johns Hopkins University have taken a
unique approach. They’ve converted a Microsoft Kinect into a
child-in-the-hot-car detector. Read More
Like an army, science needs the high ground. This
is true when it comes to oil exploration and especially so in the
rugged landscape of Norway. The Virtual Outcrop Geology (VOG) group at
the Norwegian Centre for integrated petroleum research (CIPR) is working
to capture this vantage point in a distinctly 21st century way, by
using UAVs to seek out oil by helping geologists build 3D models of the
terrain. Read More
Scheduled to sell for less than half the price of
the current cheapest car in America, the Elio is a 3-wheeled "car" that
hopes to shake up the automotive world. It eschews the trendy electric
powertrain for a small gas system, but thanks to its small, light,
aerodynamic design, it promises to keep drivers away from the gas pumps
for as long as possible. Read More
Most cloud storage solutions like Dropbox and
Google Drive give users storage space at a premium, but the actual data
is stored in a data center in some remote location. A new product called
Space Monkey aims to take the storage out of the data center and put it
back in the hands of the user. This allows it to offer more data than
traditional cloud storage solutions for a much lower price. Read More
Given the low costs and extensive applications
that could be possible with flexible paper circuit boards, we've seen
many ideas for their production, from printing with silver ink to embedding chips
within paper. Now, however, scientists have developed an elegant method
for selectively changing the very nature of the paper itself into
conductive graphite. Unlike polymer-based flexible circuits, these paper
circuits are, ironically, able to withstand the high temperatures
generally used in the production of electronics. Read More
Fifty years ago, a young, ambitious Italian
farmboy by the name of Ferruccio Lamborghini decided his talent for
mechanical enhancement, engineering and marketing would be better served
designing high-performance automobiles. Since 1963 Lamborghini has seen
its share of bad relationships and financial hardship, but has still
managed to create some of the most extreme and immediately recognizable
vehicles on the road today. Here's a look back at the Raging Bull's
major achievements as the company celebrates its 50th anniversary. Read More
The architectural designs of Tom Wiscombe are
overtly futuristic, to the point that were you to drop his concepts into
the depictions of the London and San Francisco of the year 2259 in Star Trek Into Darkness,
they wouldn't look out of place. His Lo Monaco House almost resembles a
futuristic shuttle on a launchpad, yet the influences for this design
are entirely removed from the realm of space fantasy – according to
Wiscombe himself, that is. Read More
NASA’s first asteroid sample return mission took a
step closer to reality on Wednesday, as the OSIRIS-REx project was
cleared for development and testing. Scheduled to launch in 2016, the
mission passed a series of detailed project assessments and now goes on
to the development phase. The Origins-Spectral Interpretation Resource
Identification Security REgolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) is intended to
rendezvous with the asteroid Bennu (1999 RQ36) in 2018, carry out an
extensive survey, and return a 2-ounce (60 gm) sample of its surface to
Earth in 2023. Read More
Because moths need to use every little bit of
light available in order to see in the dark, their eyes are highly
non-reflective. This quality has been copied in a film that can be applied to solar cells,
which helps keep sunlight from being reflecting off of them before it
can be utilized. Now, a new moth eye-inspired film may further help
solar cells become more efficient. Read More
GoPro HERO actioncams are proving to
be pretty popular with mountain bikers, although not everyone wants to
wear one of the cameras on their helmet or chest. Riders can always
mount it on their handlebars, although now Paul Components is offering
an alternative – a GoPro mount that replaces the handlebar stem cap.
Read More
There are already a wide variety of renewable
energy systems that harness the power of the wind, along with some that
generate power via the flow of ocean currents. According to Japanese
engineering firm MODEC (Mitsui Ocean Development & Engineering Co.),
however, its soon-to-be-tested SKWID system will be the first one to do
both. Read More
Photographers using the Nikon 1 system will soon
have another option when it comes to shooting portraits with a shallow
depth-of-field, after Nikon announced the release of the 1 NIKKOR 32mm
f/1.2 lens. The new lens also boasts a string of enthusiast-friendly
firsts for the 1 NIKKOR line-up, including Nano Crystal Coat, Silent
Wave Motor and a manual focus ring. Read More
UK architectural firm Blue Forest, which has a background in the design and construction of luxury treehouses
and lodges, has revealed its plans to build a large nest-like treehouse
in the Eden Project’s Humid Tropics Biome. Located in Cornwall, UK, the
Eden Project
is the world’s largest conservatory, and the planned Biodiversity Nest
will sit high amidst its treetops as part of a new Rainforest Canopy
Walk. Read More
There's nothing quite like an auction room to
bring the past into sharp focus. Where collectors and bargain hunters
might once have had to trudge wearily from showroom to showroom for a
pre-sale peek, the interweb now makes it possible to have a virtual look
at items of interest before making a bid. An online auction later this
month offers students of technology the opportunity to snag some
bleeding edge gadgetry from what old blokes like me might refer to as
the good old days, though many of the hundreds of lots up for sale go
back much, much further. Gizmag takes a quick look through the antique
innovation window and picks out a few favorites. Read More
It's seventy years to the day since No. 617
Squadron of the Royal Air Force returned from Operation Chastise, in
which specially designed bouncing bombs were dropped in an attack on the
Möhne, Sorpe and Eder Dams in Germany during World War II. Though the
bouncing bomb is without doubt the invention for which Barnes Wallis is
most renowned (thanks in no small part to its depiction in the film Dambusters)
Wallis' other work before, during, and after World War II was of great
importance, and in some cases, far ahead of its time. Gizmag spoke to
Dr. Andrew Nahum, Principal Curator of Technology at the Science Museum
where many of Wallis' papers are archived, about swing-wing aircraft,
earthquake bombs, improbable mathematics lessons, and the geodetic
Wellington Bomber. Read More
The phrase “the phones are running hot” has the
potential for a double meaning in the smartphone age, with increasingly
processor-intensive apps being used on mobile devices. Desktop computers
make use of water cooling to keep their CPUs from overheating, so why
can’t smartphones? Why not, indeed. NEC has done just that with the
Medias X N-06E, the world’s first water-cooled smartphone. Read More
When you’re shopping for a new smartphone,
sometimes there's one clear choice. Other times, there are so many
options you don't know where to start. But then there are those times
when it comes down to two. You know, a good old fashioned duel. Many smartphone shoppers are going through that now, with the Samsung Galaxy S4 and HTC One.
After spending several weeks with both phones, let’s revisit this
comparison – and see if we can help you with the big decision. Read More
Eighty Danish Lego devotees got
together on May 10 and 11 to help one Henrik Ludvigsen with his plan to
build the world's longest plastic toy train track. Read More
Combining a quick-release plate made
from aerospace grade aluminum and a sturdy flip-up accessory loop, the
Fusion Plate is designed to allow photographers to quickly and easily
switch between a shoulder strap and tripod. Read More
A naked flame may be dangerous in
the wrong hands but it can also be beautiful and calming, a giver of
heat and light, and the perfect mood setter for a quiet evening in.
Candles offer an easy and relatively safe way of experiencing a
continuous naked flame, it's just a shame you have to light them and
extinguish them, and that they cannot be dimmed as you would an electric
light bulb. Or perhaps they can. Read More
With eight days of his already successful
Kickstarter campaign still remaining, John O'Nolan has cited the
uncertainty surrounding Yahoo's newly-announced US$1.1 billion purchase
of Tumblr as a reason to back his open source, non-profit blogging
platform, Ghost. Read More
Eighty Danish Lego devotees got
together on May 10 and 11 to help one Henrik Ludvigsen with his plan to
build the world's longest plastic toy train track. Read More
Not too long ago, Amanda Ghassaei from Instructables caught our attention when she constructed several playable records
with a 3D printer. By sending raw audio data through a custom script,
she was able to automatically generate 3D designs for a printer to
follow – albeit with crude results. Recently, Ghassaei programmed a new
code that let her substitute the 3D printer for a laser cutter to carve
functional records from wood and other materials. Read More
While companies like Google, BMW, Audi and Volkswagen
pour millions into developing self-driving car technology with
expensive components, 19-year-old Romanian high school student Ionut
Budisteanu has designed an autonomous vehicle system that would cost
just US$4,000. Budisteanu’s design took out the Gordon E. Moore Award in
the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair to pocket him a
sweet $75,000. Read More
In the late 1950’s Aston Martin was on top of its
game thanks to fantastic machinery in the form of the race bred DBR1.
In 1959 the DBR1 won both the 24 Hours of LeMans and the Nürburgring
1000. Fifty years later, as part of its ongoing 100th year Anniversary
celebrations, Aston Martin has brought back elements of the legendary
DBR1 in its latest concept vehicle – the CC100 Speedster Concept. Read More
If you thought 5G wireless
was fast at one Gbit/s, how does 40 Gbit/s sound? That's the new
wireless data transmission record set by a team of engineers in Germany
using integrated solid state mm-wave transceivers. This data
transmission rate was demonstrated over a distance of 1 km (0.6 miles)
and it is hoped that such links could be used to close gaps between
optical networks in rural areas at a fraction of the cost of installing
optical fiber. Read More
Recently the media has been saturated with
overly-hyped reports that NASA's Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS) may
have detected dark matter. These claims may have some justification if
the word "may" is shouted, but they rest on a number of really major
assumptions and guesses, some of which are on weak and shifting soil. So
just what was seen in the experiment, and what are the possible
explanations? Read More
Combining a quick-release plate made
from aerospace grade aluminum and a sturdy flip-up accessory loop, the
Fusion Plate is designed to allow photographers to quickly and easily
switch between a shoulder strap and tripod. Read More
A naked flame may be dangerous in
the wrong hands but it can also be beautiful and calming, a giver of
heat and light, and the perfect mood setter for a quiet evening in.
Candles offer an easy and relatively safe way of experiencing a
continuous naked flame, it's just a shame you have to light them and
extinguish them, and that they cannot be dimmed as you would an electric
light bulb. Or perhaps they can. Read More
Before there was a Porsche Panamera plug-in, there was the 918 Spyder plug-in hybrid. And while the Panamera S E-Hybrid
might make it to market first, the 918 is on the way, too. This week,
Porsche revealed new details about the race-inspired track rocket, which
serves as its most advanced, expensive sports car ever. Read More
When it comes to drying those
delicate and expensive bras, there are generally two options – risking
damage in a conventional dryer, or waiting hours while they hang dry.
Ricasol aims to create a quick and safe third option with its Bra Dryer
2.0. Read More
While Peavey regularly releases electric guitars, like the excellent AT-200
for example, it's perhaps best known for its amplifiers. Five years
after unleashing its Vypyr line of modeling amps, the company debuted
three new additions at NAMM earlier this year. The first to sport a
variable instrument input technology that allows them to be used for
bass, acoustic or electric guitars, the Vypyr VIP amps are now shipping.
Read More
Leap Motion
is on its way. With the clock ticking down to the PC gesture
controller’s July 22 launch, Leap has a brand new teaser video that
showcases the device’s interaction with Windows. If you'd forgotten how
exciting Leap was when we first got the chance to play with it, this might be enough to get your blood pumping again. Read More
If you go camping down in the wild woods, the
chances of happening upon a conveniently-placed power outlet for blowing
up your mattress with an electric air pump are pretty remote. Unless
you have a hand or foot pump in your backpack, you'll have to wrap your
lips around a tiny valve that likely has a history of being dragged
through all sorts of unmentionable nastiness, and then spend the next
long while taking deep breaths and blowing. Ryan Frayne's Windcatcher
system inflates in just a few seconds with a valve that never touches
your mouth. Read More
High-end smartphones
sure are fun. But the smartphone market is inching closer to saturation
in the countries that care the most about the high-end. That will leave
much of the market’s future growth coming from emerging countries where
the focus isn't necessarily on the latest announcement from Apple, Samsung, or HTC. Nokia is already a big player in these markets, but it’s hoping to take the next step with its new Asha 501 smartphone. Read More
On Friday May 17, the US Navy's X-47B Unmanned
Combat Air System Demonstrator took another historic step as it
conducted its first touch-and-go landings on the nuclear aircraft
carrier USS George H.W. Bush off the coast of Virginia. This maneuver is
a critical achievement in the Navy’s program to develop an autonomous,
unmanned, jet-powered combat aircraft capable for operating from a
carrier. Read More
If you’ve ever owned an Xbox,
you’re probably familiar with one of the most annoying payment systems
known to humankind: Microsoft Points. They’re great for Microsoft’s
bottom line, and nothing but a hassle for customers. Well, the folks at
Redmond may finally be ready for change – as the dreaded points are
reportedly on their way out. Yet, not far away – at that other Seattle-area tech company – Amazon just launched a similar payment scheme for its Kindle Fire ecosystem. Read More
Samsung first unveiled its 4K UHD television line
in the form of a massive 85-inch model at CES this year, but the
company did promise that it would expand to both larger and smaller
models. Now, the company has officially announced that it will be
bringing 55- and 65-inch models to market in June. Read More
"Imagine opening a hatch in a submarine under
water. The water will flow into the submarine with enormous force. It is
precisely this energy potential we want to utilize." This is how German
engineer Rainer Schramm describes his idea for storing energy under the
sea. By using surplus energy to pump water out of a tank at the seabed,
the water is simply let back in again when there's an energy shortfall,
driving turbines as it rushes in. The deeper the tank, the more power
is generated. Read More
Apple usually keeps a pretty steady stream of product announcements
coming. But right now we’re in the middle of the longest Apple product
drought in recent memory (pushing seven months). So it’s natural that
we’ll start hearing rumors about the next wave of products about to
enter the pipeline. That’s just what happened today, with news of
Apple’s suppliers gearing up for production of a new iPad. Read More
When it comes to drying those
delicate and expensive bras, there are generally two options – risking
damage in a conventional dryer, or waiting hours while they hang dry.
Ricasol aims to create a quick and safe third option with its Bra Dryer
2.0. Read More 
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