Bigger, badder, and bolder appears to be the
driving mandate behind the latest performance trickery from the extreme
artists at Brabus. Taking the already aggressive Mercedes-Benz GL 63 AMG
SUV, Brabus has transformed the biggest of the Benz into a 611
horsepowered behemoth called the B63 620 Widestar. Read More
Aircraft windows have always been a
sticking point in the bid to go faster, cheaper and safer. As well as
creating drag, the additional structural support and parts required for
windows add weight to the plane. Spike Aerospace is set to overcome
these problems by doing away with cabin windows altogether in its S-512
jet, and replacing them with video screens embedded in the interior
walls. Read More
TroyTec modular recumbent packs multiple bikes into one package
By C.C. Weiss
February 20, 2014
Revolution speed bikes from Munich's TroyTec
bring modular, F1-inspired design to the world of recumbent racing and
touring. At the heart of the line lies a carbon monocoque frame that
provides the basis for easy transformation between four primary
configurations. Riders can pedal up high, down low, and on rigid wheels
or full suspension, depending upon the demands of the road immediately
ahead. Read More
Cambridge scientists uncover the sticky secrets of stick insects
By Grant Banks
February 19, 2014
Could studying the slow moving stick insect help
Olympic sprinter Usain Bolt cover 100 meters faster? Researchers at
Cambridge believe it could. It's all to do with sticky toes versus hairy
toes. Read More
Q -Warrior brings head-up displays to the battlefield
By David Szondy
February 19, 2014
"Great battles are won with artillery" – Napoleon Bonaparte. In the 21st century, he’d probably change that to information.
The trick is to get that information to soldiers on the front line
quickly and in a manner that won’t distract them from the job at hand.
To this end, BAE Systems’ Electronic Systems has developed the Q-Warrior
– a head-up display for foot soldiers that’s designed to provide a
full-color, high resolution 3D display of the battlefield situation and
assets. Read More
It took a heavyweight like Google
to bring the notion of head-mounted devices to the mainstream, but
other developers are also testing the waters and pushing the boundaries
of what's possible to achieve in the smart glasses
space. Exhibit A is K-Glass, a wearable, hands-free display developed
by researchers at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology
(KAIST). Read More
Wondering where your local supermarket keeps its
whole wheat flour? Soon, an app on your smartphone may be able to guide
you to it – with a little help from the store's overhead LED lights, and
technology developed by Philips. Read More
In order to better understand and protect wild
stocks of salmon, it's necessary to track their whereabouts using
implanted acoustic tags. Needless to say, the longer that those tags are
able to transmit a signal, the greater the amount of data that can be
gathered. Scientists at Washington state's Pacific Northwest National
Laboratory (PNNL) are helping make that happen, by developing batteries
that have both a smaller size and higher energy density than
conventional fish tag batteries. Read More
Stretchable optical circuits could find use in robot skin and more
By Ben Coxworth
February 19, 2014
If flexible electronic devices are ever going to
become practical for real-world use, the circuitry incorporated into
them will have to be tough and resilient. We're already seeing progress
in that direction, including electrical wires
that can still carry a current while being stretched. However, what if
the application calls for the use of fiber optics? Well, scientists from
Belgium may have that covered, too. They've created optical circuits
utilizing what they believe are the world's first stretchable optical
interconnections. Read More
Kepler demonstrates that it can still detect planets
By David Szondy
February 19, 2014
Last year, it looked as though the Kepler space
probe had nothing to look forward to but the scrap heap. After the
failure of two of its reaction wheels, the unmanned spacecraft was
incapable of maintaining the precision pointing needed to hunt planets
beyond the Solar System. Now, however, NASA’s Kepler team has
demonstrated that space telescope can still detect exoplanets thanks the K2 mission concept maneuver. Read More
Nokia Treasure Tag keeps you from leaving things behind
By Dave Parrack
February 19, 2014
There probably isn't one person reading this who
hasn't, at some point, erred and accidentally left something valuable
behind somewhere. Whether it was a set of keys, a handbag, wallet or
smartphone, such forgetfulness would have caused considerable
inconvenience. The Nokia Treasure Tag is designed to keep such lapses to
a minimum. Read More
Aircraft windows have always been a
sticking point in the bid to go faster, cheaper and safer. As well as
creating drag, the additional structural support and parts required for
windows add weight to the plane. Spike Aerospace is set to overcome
these problems by doing away with cabin windows altogether in its S-512
jet, and replacing them with video screens embedded in the interior
walls. Read More 
MIT researchers have developed a new technique
that can be used to accurately predict the annual yield of a
photovoltaic solar array located anywhere on the planet, taking into
account local climate, panel orientation, and obstructions from nearby
buildings. As a proof of concept, the scientists have mapped out the
17,000 rooftops of Cambridge, Massachusetts and created a user-friendly
web interface that residents can use to look up their homes and get an
accurate projection of the cost and return on investment of placing a PV
panel over their heads. Read More
Finding hangars to house an aircraft with a wingspan greater than a Boeing 787 Dreamliner
is no easy task when planning a round-the-world journey. That’s why the
Solar Impulse team designed an inflatable mobile hangar to be used on
the Solar Impulse’s planned 2015 circumnavigation of the globe. After a
storm damaged the hangar that was to host the solar-powered aircraft at
Lambert-St. Louis International Airport, the team was forced to deploy
the structure for the first time to keep the 2013 Across America mission on schedule. Read More
Like many US railway stations, New York’s Penn
Station is a shadow of its former self. With redevelopment of the
station hindered by its location under Madison Square Garden, the
Municipal Art Society (MAS) of New York hopes to relocate the gardens
and rebuild the station for the 21st century. Last week, the MAS
announced four possible designs for Penn Station and Madison Square
Garden as part of its Design Challenge aimed at replacing or remodelling
the current structure. Read More
Although it may be surprising to hear that being in the hospital can make
a person sick, it definitely does happen. In the United States, about
one in every 20 people admitted to a hospital will end up with a
healthcare acquired infection, or HAI. Of those people, approximately
100,000 die from such infections annually. One of the keys to reducing
the occurrence of HAIs is to get healthcare workers to wash their hands
frequently and thoroughly – which is just what the intelligentM bracelet
is designed to do. Read More
Cannon Security Products' has taken a
stealthy new approach to securing valuables in the home with the
RadioVault, a fingerprint activated safe that's hidden inside a fully
functional iPod dock. Read More 
Last week, the US Food and Drug Administration
granted clearance to a new device that could be of considerable aid to
stroke victims or people with partial spinal cord injuries. Created by
Dr. Paul Cordo of the Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) in
collaboration with OHSU spinoff company AMES, the "AMES device"
reportedly helps the brain get paralyzed muscles moving again. Read More
Whether you believe BMW's claim of creating a new
category of "sports activity vehicles" or not (we choose not), the BMW
X5 has been quite a success story since launching in 1999. After selling
some 1.3 million X5 models, BMW is ready to cut ribbon on the third
generation of the SUV. The new X5 is only marginally removed from its
predecessor in terms of looks and design, but it does boast some clear
advantages, including the latest technological accoutrements. Read More
Data from NASA's Swift satellite has been used to
create the highest-ever resolution images of our two nearest galaxies,
the Magellanic Clouds. The detailed ultraviolet light surveys measure
160 and 55 megapixels, and cumulatively show some 1.25 million
ultraviolet sources. Read More
When you think of an electric bus, you probably
either picture a vehicle that has to stay constantly connected to
overhead trolley cables, or that attempts to run its entire route on one
charge of its onboard batteries. In Geneva, however, they’re trying
something else – a system in which an electric bus takes 15 seconds to
receive an energy boost at selected stops. Read More
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