If there’s one thing that sports fans love to
debate, it’s coaching strategies. “Why didn’t he keep more players back
to play defense?” “How come he had him pass instead of run with it?” “He should never have let that
guy bat when the bases were loaded!” Such discussions could seemingly
go on forever, as it’s impossible to definitively say what the right
course of action would have been... or maybe not. Artificial
intelligence researchers at Spain’s Universidad Carlos III de Madrid
(UC3M) are developing technology that could analyze a team’s
performance, then objectively determine the best plays for specific
situations. Read More
It’s summer in the Northern Hemisphere, which
means it’s perfect weather for heading to the beach or packing a picnic
basket and making for the countryside. Unfortunately, it also brings to
the fore a problem that has plagued mankind for centuries. How to keep
one’s watermelons cool on those long, hot days? Thankfully, the Japanese
have turned their considerable technological prowess to developing a
solution and here it is – a portable watermelon cooler called the
Marugoto Tamachan. Read More
If your PC is more than a few months old, it's unlikely that you have USB 3.0. An alternative way to get the benefits of the up to 4.8Gbps speeds on offer is to add a USB 3.0 adapter
to your existing machine and TRENDnet has now entered this sector by
offering a 2 port Express Card Module (TU3-H2EC) for laptops and a 2
port PCI-Express adaptor (TU3-H2PIE) for desktops. Read More
In April scientists at the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) put out a call seeking designs for a tactical flying car
under its Transformer (TX) program. One of the first to respond is AVX
Aircraft Company – its AVX Aircraft that can be manually driven on the
ground like an SUV and also boasts Vertical Takeoff and Landing (VTOL)
capability. Read More
One of the main problems with cancer cells is
that the body's immune system generally doesn’t recognize them as
enemies. By using a crippled HIV-like virus as a vehicle to arm
lymphocytes with T-cell receptors, researchers have been able to
genetically engineer a well-armed battalion of tumor-seeking immune
system cells. By also inserting a reporter gene, which glows “hot”
during positron emission tomography (PET) scanning, the researchers were
able to watch in real time as these "special forces" traveled
throughout the body to locate and attack dangerous melanomas. Read More
In April this year, the Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA) announced the final specifications for the new multi-layer recordable Blu-ray Disc format
which can more than double the storage capacity of existing 50GB dual
layer discs. The new BDXL format supports rewritable discs of up to
100GB and 128GB for write-once recordable discs. Looks like Sharp gets
to claim bragging rights as the first company to release both media and
hardware that supports the new standard – two new BDXL compatible AQUOS
Blu-ray Disc recorders, as well as 100GB write-once BDXL format media to
the Japanese market this month. Read More
Looking to put a cap on the negative press that
threatened to derail the wider international launch of the iPhone 4,
Apple has announced it will give all new and existing iPhone 4 owners a
free bumper case to solve the much-hyped “death-grip” problem. And if
you've already shelled out for a case, Apple will reimburse you. Read More
Japan camera-maker Cerevo has started a 24-hour
live Ustream feed from Akihabara, in cooperation with a company in the
area, Aisan Electronic. Recently Cerevo has been capitalizing on the
growing popularity of Ustream live-streaming in Japan since Softbank's
investment in the web service. By creating their 'networked camera', the
Cerevo Camera Live, which is especially tailored for live-streaming,
the company rides the coattails of a public increasingly interested in
broadcasting on the web. Read More
Toyota’s recently announced relationship with Tesla
looks set to bear offspring already, as the two companies have signed
an agreement to initiate the development of an electric version of the
RAV4. In keeping with Toyota’s previously stated aim of selling EVs in
America by 2012, prototypes will be made combining the Toyota RAV4 model
with a Tesla electric powertrain. The first prototype has been built
and is already undergoing testing by Tesla with the intention of
delivering a fleet of prototypes to Toyota for evaluation this year.
Read More
Zephyr, QinetiQ’s solar-powered, high-altitude
long-endurance (HALE), Unmanned Air System (UAS) is currently in the air
and setting a landmark unmanned flight duration record by demonstrating
what is essentially perpetual flight. The official world record for the
longest unmanned flight is 30 hours 24 minutes set by Northrop
Grumman's RQ-4A Global Hawk in 2001. A previous smaller relative of the current Zephyr holds the unofficial record of 82 hours
but this time QinetiQ has FIA officials on hand and has been flying the
new 22.5m wingspan plane for the past week, and is closing on the 200
hour mark with another week (168 hours) planned. It needs to land safely
to claim the record, but the feat has already demonstrated that the era
of low-cost, persistent aerial surveillance has begun. Read More
There are a huge number of apps available for the
iPhone and iPod Touch which make the most of the sensitive touchscreen
display to mimic the playing of various musical instruments. Useful for
learning, rehearsing and for just showing off to your mates, such things
all suffer from the same problem - an awkward user experience. The
Fingerist from EVENNO could change all that by allowing players to place
an Apple smartphone or media player into the cradle of its
guitar-shaped body, strap it around their neck, and then blast out some
power chords using the built-in speaker. Read More
It's been a good while since Magnepan
International updated its audiophile-pleasing and critically-acclaimed
Magneplanar 1.6 speakers and the new model marks a technology departure
for the company. For over 40 years, Magnepan has used planar magnetic
drivers for the bass or lower midrange in its speakers but with the
Maggie 1.7's the company has switched all the speaker drivers to
something called quasi-ribbon technology. Read More
My name is Loz, and I have a problem with tool
lust. I find it very difficult to leave a hardware or auto shop without a
heat gun, or a ratcheting spanner set, or some new air tool on top of
the three bolts I went in there for. And while I've never had to screw a
wall together or install a deck - and I have no plans to start in the
immediate future - I'd still find it incredibly hard to resist one of
these things if I ever saw it in person. It's a belt-feed screwdriver. A
freakin' belt-feed screwdriver. Load it up with a strip of
screws, and you're ready to screw more things in quicker succession than
you'd ever have dreamed possible. Just watching the Quik Drive promo
video after the jump sent me into a shuddering toolgasm. Read More
As part of a project to create future body armor
offering soldiers greater ballistics protection and ease of movement,
scientists and engineers at BAE Systems have developed a liquid which
hardens when struck. The technology, dubbed “liquid armor” by its
developers, harnesses the unique properties of shear thickening or dilatant fluids
that "lock" together when subjected to a force and is designed to
enhance the existing energy absorbing properties of material structures
like Kevlar. Read More
Doctors have been using hypodermic needles for
more than 150 years – but syringe vaccinations could be just about to be
replaced by a simple patch you can stick on your arm with no medical
supervision. The microneedle patches
have an array of microscopic needles on them that penetrate the skin
just deep enough to dissolve and deliver a vaccine without causing any
pain. There's no sharp hazardous waste left over, they're no more
expensive than a syringe, and most importantly, tests on mice are
showing that microneedle vaccinations are significantly longer-lasting
than deeper injections delivered by syringe. Read More
It’s a sign of the times when the speed of
electrons moving through wires is seen as pedestrian, but that’s
increasingly the case as technology moves towards the new world of
optical communication and computing. Optical communication systems that
use the speed of light as the signal are still controlled and limited by
electrical signaling at the end. But physicists have now discovered a
way to use a gallium arsenide nanodevice as a signal processor at
“terahertz” speeds that could help end the bottleneck. Read More
Adventurous types in the digital age need storage that's as rugged and tough as they are. LaCie's
says that its appropriately-named XtremKey rugged flash memory will
provide the kind of industrial-strength protection that stands up to all
sorts of punishment. Resistant to pressure, water, high drops, and
extreme hot and cold the drive comes in capacity sizes up to 64GB. Read More
Apple has announced that its iPad
will be available in an additional nine countries from Friday, July 23.
All varieties of both the Wi-Fi and Wi-Fi + 3G models will hit Apple’s
retail stores and Apple Authorized Resellers in Austria, Belgium, Hong
Kong, Ireland, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand and
Singapore. Read More
Last week, Florida-based Enviro Voraxial
Technology (EVTN) announced that it has received a purchase order from
BP for an underwater version of its Voraxial 4000 Separator. Mounted on a
skimmer vessel, the machine takes oil-laden water from the sea and
spins it at high speed in a central cylindrical chamber. The resulting
centrifugal force pulls the water to the outer edges of the chamber,
leaving the oil in the middle. Once separated, that oil is then captured
and stored in onboard holding tanks, while the water flows back into
the ocean. BP wishes to try out their single 4000 on a trial basis, with
an eye towards using multiple machines for cleaning up the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. Read More
Just as an examination of the burrs of seeds that
kept sticking to his clothes led Swiss engineer, George de Mestral, to
develop Velcro, a search for an explanation as to why the ivy in his
backyard clung to this fence so tightly has led Mingjun Zhnag to a new
discovery. It seems that tiny particles secreted from ivy rootlets could
have applications for military technologies, medical adhesives, drug
delivery and, most recently, sun-block that could protect skin from UV
radiation at least four times better than the metal-based sunblocks
found on store shelves today. Read More
OCZ Technology has unveiled its fastest 4GB DDR3
RAM modules yet. Capable of reaching frequencies up to 2133MHz and CL
10-10-10-30 timing, OCZ’s new modules are available in 4GB, 8GB Dual
Channel and 12GB Triple Channel kits and feature a liquid cooling system
and aluminum fins for maximum heat dissipation. Due to the growth in
High Definition and High Quality media, OCZ says it has designed the
ultimate in memory technology to ensure that the bottle-neck in your
system will not be the memory modules. Read More
It’s down to the final eight in the Electrolux
Design Lab 2010 competition. Around 1,300 designers from all over the
globe entered the competition this year, with the brief being to create
space-saving home appliances that would be suited to life in the
heavily-populated urban environment expected by 2050. The finalists will
present their designs to a jury in London on the 23rd of September with
cash prizes and an opportunity of a six month paid internship at an
Electrolux global design center up for grabs. Will it be the virtual
kitchen helmet, the gel refrigerator or the portable ultrasonic
dishwasher that impresses the judges, or will it be one of the other
five fantastically futuristic designs? Read More
Virgin Galactic has taken another important step
to becoming the world’s first private commercial spaceline with its VSS
Enterprise spacecraft flying with a crew on board for the first time.
The craft formerly known as SpaceShipTwo remained attached to VMS Eve,
the jet-powered carrier aircraft from which the VSS Enterprise will
eventually be launched, for the duration of the flight to allow for
numerous combined vehicle systems tests to be conducted. Read More
You've had a party and your garbage bin is
overflowing but the regular collection is still several days away.
Imagine being able to make a call and have your rubbish collected at a
time that suits you. For 100 households in Peccioli, Italy it's a
reality. They are part of a two month trial of DustCart,
a robot that provides an on-demand garbage collection service - just
make a call and DustCart will soon arrive at your door to take away the
trash. Read More
If there are three claims that people in almost
every part of the world make about where they live, those claims are:
our weather is notoriously unpredictable, we are being taxed into the
Stone Age, and... the traffic here is worse than almost anywhere else.
Well, as part of its research and development of traffic management
systems, IBM decided to find out just which places do have the
worst traffic - or at least, which places have the residents who are
most negatively affected by it. The results: if you don’t like traffic,
don’t live in a fast-growing metropolis. Read More
This technology might not be fully appreciated by
readers located in earthquake-free locales, but if you've ever felt the
ground move beneath your feet you'll be pleased with this technology.
At Tokyo Big Sight last week Japanese company THK was demonstrating how
their linear motion systems could dampen the shock of an earthquake. One
of their systems, when placed underneath an object that you'd like to
protect, will absorb most of the shock of an earthquake. Read More
BAE Systems’ Multi-Operated All-Terrain Vehicle
(MOATV) is a semi-autonomous vehicle designed to reduce the burden on
ground troops. As well as being driven like an ordinary vehicle, the
MOATV can be tele-operated by a remote control or instructed to
semi-autonomously follow or go directly to a soldier operating a PDA.
The company says the technology on the MOATV, which includes collision
detection and avoidance systems that allow it to negotiate around
objects that lie in its path while operating autonomously, can be
applied to any vehicle. Read More
We’ve got cars, motorcycles and bicycles that are
electric, so why not hookah air pumps for diving? They make much less
noise than their gas and diesel-powered counterparts, they don’t stink
up their surroundings with toxic fumes, and they don’t emit carbon. Of
course, as is the case with many other e-things, the electricity that
powers them has to come from somewhere, and chances are that somewhere
isn’t a wind turbine or a solar panel. A new diving system from
Brownie’s Marine Group, however, has another ace up its sleeve - a
variable-speed compressor that automatically adjusts in accordance to
the diver’s demand for air, thus saving power and allowing for longer
and/or deeper dives when running off a battery. Read More
Scientists from Ohio State University (OSU) have
created a nanoparticle that can deliver DNA deeply enough into a cell to
allow genetic material to be activated. This is a key step in gene
therapy, the “reprogramming” of defective genes. Previously, scientists
have used deactivated viruses for this task, but have been limited by
the body’s immune system attacking those viruses. Nanoparticle delivery
is reportedly two-and-a-half to ten times more effective, because it
generates much less of an immune response. Read More
Microsoft has just announced the successor to the
storage-less Xbox 360 Arcade, the creatively-named Xbox 360 4GB, which
features 4GB of internal flash memory, built-in 802.11n WiFi and a
casual-friendly price of US$199.99. Read More
While much of the focus on renewable electricity
production focuses on green alternatives, a team of engineers at Oregon
State University is looking at ways to improve electricity production
from a “brown” source – namely sewage. The engineers found that using
new coatings on the anodes of microbial electrochemical cells they were
able to increase the electricity production from sewage about 20 times.
Read More
In what is fast becoming a bit of a trend for ASUS,
the company has leaked the first images of a new in-development monster
graphics card called MARS 2. The card will feature dual-Fermi graphics
processors, potential triple monitor stereoscopic capabilities and will
no doubt require some delicate power supply calculations before it even
gets near to a motherboard. Read More
We’ve covered a few different research efforts
looking to develop “invisibility cloak” technology on Gizmag, including 3D metamaterials that negatively refract visible and near-infrared light and U-shaped “nano-rings” that
manipulate light. The latest news sure to get Harry Potter fans excited
comes out of Michigan Technical University where Elena Semouchkina, an
associate professor of electrical and computer engineering, has found
ways to use magnetic resonance to capture rays of visible light and
route them around objects, rendering them invisible to the human eye.
Read More
There’s no doubting Ferrari
has a legion of fans, but are their numbers great enough to justify the
existence of a Ferrari theme park? Looks like we’ll get an answer with
the world’s first such park, Ferrari World Abu Dhabi, set to open its
doors this October. Although, with the more than 20 rides and
attractions including a spaceshot tower that launches riders 62m (203
ft) into the air and the world’s fastest roller coaster that propels
thrill-seekers to speeds of 240 km/h (149mph) in just five seconds, the
park is sure to appeal to those whose allegiance lies with other
supercar marques. Read More
Many readers would be familiar with the
electrical blackouts that occur in the summer months resulting from the
extra load placed on electricity supplies by air conditioners. A new
“smart” metal being developed by researchers at the University of
Maryland (UM) could help cool homes and refrigerate food 175 percent
more efficiently than current technology, not only giving strained
electricity networks a bit of relief, but also drastically cutting
summer electricity bills and greenhouse gas emissions. Read More
If you’re like me, the idea of clothes shopping –
let alone having to try on multiple sizes of shirts in a tiny dressing
room – is downright tedious and a waste of my precious time. So you’ll
understand my interest in the Fits.me virtual fitting room. It’s an
online changing room where you simply enter your sizing statistics and a
robotic mannequin models how various sizes will look on your torso –
all from the comfort of your own home. Read More
Most airplane landings are less than graceful.
The aircraft slowly maneuvers into an approach pattern, begins a long
descent, and then slams on the brakes as soon as it touches down, which
barely seems to barely bring it to a rest a mile later. Birds, however,
can switch from barreling forward at full speed to lightly touching down
on a target as narrow as a telephone wire. MIT researchers have now
given a foam glider this same ability using a new control system that
could have important implications for robotic planes, greatly improving
their maneuverability and potentially allowing them to recharge their
batteries simply by alighting on power lines. Read More
Sharp has announced that its Next-generation XMDF
(ever-eXtending Mobile Document Format) standard will be a digital
platform for e-book distribution with compatible reader devices to be
launched as well, possibly within the year. While the XMDF format has
been in use for years already, primarily within Japan, this new 'Next
generation' prefix does make the format notable as a competitor in the
ebook space. Previously just for text and still images, the refreshed
XMDF standard now supports video and audio display as well. Read More
Roland has given key models in its home digital
piano family a more authentic, natural sound and feel. Four instruments
now benefit from the company's updated SuperNATURAL Piano sound engine
for improved velocity response, note decay and key-range behavior as
well as more realistic ivory and ebony keys. Read More
To most Gizmag readers, mosquitoes are at most a
pesky nuisance - for others of course, particularly in more tropical
areas, they're a genuine killer, spreading all sorts of diseases as they
feed on the blood of their victims. Either way, the mosquito female's
habit of biting humans puts mozzies high on the list of most hated
insects - so many will appreciate this study from Kansas State
University, in which researchers have successfully used nanoparticles
impregnated with gene-silencing dsRNA to specifically target particular
genes in mosquito larvae. A small supply of these nanoparticles, added
to a still water breeding ground, can kill mozzie larvae as they grow,
or at the least, render them much more susceptible to insecticides… And
the process is fascinating. Read More
For most of us, holidaying in the sun means
dusting off the trusty old camera and snapping some memorable moments
around the pool or bar. But if your ancient photographic box is starting
to become an embarrassment then a flurry of Lumix
releases from Panasonic might be just what you need. There's a rugged
model, a couple with touchscreen displays, a couple ultra-wide angle
lenses and some capable of full high definition video too. All are
storage-friendly SDXC card compatible and include a host of automated
settings to help get the best from any situation. Read More
The UK team behind the BLOODHOUND Project
announced a number of significant milestones this week on the way to
their goal of setting a new world land speed record. The biggest – or at
least the longest – was the unveiling of a 1:1 scale replica of the car
that the team believes will smash the current land speed record of 763
mph (just under 1,228 km/h) set in 1997. Read More
If an octopus’s garden in the shade is where you
like to be then this two-person submarine could be just the ticket.
Capable of descending to a depth of 1,000 feet the Personal Submarine
gives you and a friend a chance to check out coral reefs, shipwrecks and
whatever other attractions can be found on the sea floor. Although,
with its rather steep asking price you’ll either really want to be beneath the sea, or have a really large chuck of spare change laying around. Read More
An advanced cooling technology being developed
for high-power electronics in military and automotive systems is capable
of handling roughly 10 times the heat generated by conventional
computer chips. The new type of cooling system can be used to prevent
overheating of devices called insulated gate bipolar transistors,
high-power switching transistors used in hybrid and electric vehicles.
The chips are required to drive electric motors, switching large amounts
of power from the battery pack to electrical coils needed to accelerate
a vehicle from zero to 60 mph in 10 seconds or less. Read More
Yesterday we looked at technology being developed to generate electricity from sewage
using bacteria. Today we’re looking at an innovative design that
generates electricity from the method used to carry this sewage away.
Invented by Tom Broadbent, an industrial design student at Leicester’s
De Montfort University (DMU), the HighDro Power harnesses the energy
from falling waste in the soil pipes of high-rise buildings and converts
it to electricity. Read More
A number of kinetic energy chargers have been hitting the market in recent years including the nPower PEG. Researchers have also been working to improve the technology, developing such devices as the Kinetic Energy Cell and a tiny generator
that derives electrical energy from the vibrations and movements that
occur within its environment. Now Brother Industries Ltd., a company
better known for its printers, has put the technology into a form factor
that should prove much more versatile – a battery. Its Vibration Energy
Cell batteries are deigned to replace AA or AAA batteries in some low
power devices that can then be powered with a shake. Read More
It may be called the Red Planet, but that doesn’t
mean you can’t use green technology to get there. Engineers at the
University of Hertfordshire are developing a miniature dual fuel rocket,
as a test model for technology that could one day result in a
full-scale carbon negative rocket capable of a return flight to
Mars. Their model’s motor will be powered by a mixture of carbon
dioxide and aluminum, turning the CO2 into carbon in the process - this
is the opposite of what is done by traditional rockets. Read More
You might not care how hard or easy it is to
image zebrafish larvae, but you should. Zebrafish larvae are among the
most commonly-used laboratory animals, useful for studies of human
diseases such as cancer, Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s, diabetes, and
amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Now, engineers from MIT have
developed a system that dramatically streamlines the zebrafish-imaging
process. Whereas traditional manual viewing takes about ten minutes per
fish, a new system developed by engineers at MIT can get the job done in
just 19 seconds. Read More
Scottish brewery BrewDog has reclaimed the world
record for the strongest beer in history with a 55% alcohol beer which
it has named “The End of History.” Only 11 bottles will be available,
and each bottle will come inside a stuffed animal – seven Stoats will be
available at GBP500 and four grey squirrels at GBP700, making it also
the most expensive beer in history. That's USD$1000 a bottle! Read More
A robot guided by 3-D ultrasound and artificial
intelligence has demonstrated it can locate lesions in simulated breast
and prostate tissue and take biopsies without human assistance. A team
of bioengineers at Duke University, North Carolina, 'souped up' an
existing robot arm with a purpose-built ultrasound system which acts as
the robot's 'eyes' by collecting data from its scan and locating its
target. An artificial intelligence program processes the real-time 3D
information from the ultrasound and gives the robot specific commands to
perform using a mechanical 'hand' that can manipulate the same biopsy
plunger device used by doctors. Read More
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