At first glance this looks like any other
ordinary watch on the market, but on closer inspection you find a clever
design that stores data via a MicroSD memory card hidden in the strap.
The Card Reader Watch has a stainless steel bezel, back cover, and
buckle along with a flat USB adapter so that you can connect it straight
to a computer to get at your well traveled data. Read More
Lamborghini's extraordinary new V12 powertrain
By Mike Hanlon
November 15, 2010
Lamborghini's high-revving V12 engines have been
at the heart of the brand since 1964, powering dreamcars such the Miura,
Espada, Countach, Diablo and Murciélago. Its next 6.5 litre V12
powerplant is brutally powerful (700 bhp) but raw numbers alone do not
do it justice. The 48 valves are electronically actuated while the
sophisticated engine, thermal and oil circulation management systems
ensure engine health under extreme conditions. You can bet the farm this
masterpiece will win Engine of the Year and the new seven-speed
“emotional” ISR (Independent Shifting Rod), robotized, servo-actuated
transmission is equally as impressive, further illustrating an
all-encompassing innovation process. Read More
Even with all the developments taking place in the areas of alternative energy such as solar and wind power, nuclear fusion
still remains the holy grail of clean electricity generation. However,
after decades of worldwide research costing billions of dollars, the
goal of achieving “net-gain,” where more energy is produced than is
required to trigger the fusion chain reaction, still remains elusive.
Now researchers at Sandia Labs are claiming a breakthrough that could
see break-even fusion reactions in as little as two to three years. Read More
Marshall Major and Minor Headphones: The details
By Paul Ridden
November 15, 2010
The details of Marshall's first foray into the
headphones market have finally appeared. Two flavors have been created,
the over-the-head cans called the Major and some earphones named Minor.
The headband of the Major phones have Jim Marshall's signature scrawled
underneath and is covered in the same vinyl used for the company's
iconic amplifiers. The Minor earphones have a snug-fit design and come
with a Marshall cable clip to leave jealous onlookers in no doubt as to
their pedigree. Read More
Nissan will show a new car at the Los Angeles
Motor Show later this week, which takes unique attributes from at least
three different segments to create a vehicle seemingly purpose built for
Southern California. Set to go on sale in early 2011, the Murano
CrossCabriolet 2011 is an all-wheel drive crossover convertible which
Nissan says has plenty of room for four adults, plus enough space for
golf bags and luggage, even with the top down. Read More
Following a request from NASA, Goodyear last year developed an airless tire
designed to transport large, long-range vehicles across the surface of
celestial bodies such as the moon or Mars. The tire, constructed out of
800 load bearing springs, is designed to carry much heavier vehicles (up
to 10 times) over much greater distances (up to 100 times) than the
wire mesh tire that Goodyear helped develop for the Apollo Lunar Roving
Vehicle (LRV). The Spring Tire has now been recognized with a so-called
“Oscar of Innovation” at the 44th Annual R&D 100 Awards in Orlando,
Florida. Read More
The battle for your TV - Internet set-top device market heats up
By Grant Banks
November 14, 2010
The latest player in the Internet-to-your-TV
world is the Boxee Box by D-Link. This set-top device is likely to put
up a fair fight in the face of some big name competition including Apple TV, Sony Internet TV (armed with Google TV) and Logitech Revue (also running Google TV). Read More
Boeing has opened a new aircraft production
facility near Boeing Field in Seattle where mission systems will be
installed and tests will be carried out on Boeing’s new P-8.
The aircraft, which is based on Boeing’s Next-Generation 737 commercial
airplane, is intended for anti-submarine warfare, anti-surface warfare,
intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance roles. The P-8 aircraft
will be assembled in Renton, Washington and, following final assembly,
will make a short flight to the new facility to be given their finishing
touches. Read More
Watch even one episode of the various CSI
shows or any of its imitators, and you’re likely to see a crime scene
investigator whip out their bottle of luminol. The chemical product is
commonly used for detecting invisible residual blood, as it glows when
combined with an oxidizing agent and exposed to the iron in hemoglobin.
It does, however, have some drawbacks – luminol is potentially toxic, it
sometimes dilutes blood evidence to the point that DNA can’t be
detected, it can smear blood spatter patterns, and it sometimes provides
false positives. Now, researchers from the University of South Carolina
have developed a blood-detecting camera that reportedly does none of
those things. Read More
Floods are an inevitable part of life and the
standard line of defense is the humble sandbag. While having
applications in emergency relief, engineering and military environments,
their design has remained relatively unchanged since the 18th Century.
That is until now. Read More
Dale Vince, founder of British green power
company Ecotricity, decided two years ago that he wanted to create a
flashy, fun, fast automobile, that ran on nothing but electricity
created by his company's own wind turbines. Vince and his team proceeded
to buy and gut a used Lotus Exige, outfitted it with two electric
motors, and after 18 months ended up with the Nemesis – a one-of-a-kind
170 mph green machine that reportedly eats V12 Ferraris for breakfast.
Read More
China’s first home-grown large passenger jet unveiled
By Darren Quick
November 16, 2010
The large commercial jet market dominated by Boeing and Airbus
is set to get some more competition with the Commercial Aircraft
Corporation of China (COMAC) unveiling China’s first home-grown large
passenger jet. The C919 made its debut at the Zhuhai air show in the
southern province of Guandong in the form of a 1:1 display prototype of
the aircraft’s cockpit and cabin front. Read More
Source London gives access to 1,300 EV charging stations for £100 per year
By Ben Coxworth
November 16, 2010
London mayor Boris Johnson has announced the
Spring (Q2) 2011 launch of the Source London electric vehicle program.
For a GBP100 (US$159) annual membership fee, participants will have
access to over 1,300 public EV charging points located across the city.
Once all those stations are up and running, which should be by 2013,
London will have twice as many charging points as petrol stations. It’s a
big step forward in an even larger scheme, which would see a network of
Source charging points in cities across the UK. Read More
Researchers from Germany’s Max Planck Institute
of Quantum Optics (MPQ) and the Swiss Ecole Polytechnique Federale de
Lausanne (EPFL) have created a microresonator that produces vibrations
from laser light. The device also uses one laser beam to control the
intensity of another, thus making it essentially an optical transistor.
The technology could have big implications in fields such as
telecommunications. Read More
MXB Shocker motocrossboard – the off-road electric skateboard
By Darren Quick
November 15, 2010
Skateboards have definitely come a long way since
Marty McFly ripped the crate from a kid’s home made scooter and grabbed
onto a passing car to escape Biff in 1955. In recent times we’ve seen
the humble skateboard evolve through the addition of a motor in such
vehicles as the Tami Rhino and Wheelman BUSHPIG.
The most recent example to join the ranks is the MXB Shocker
Motocrossboard from Performance Concepts – an electric-powered cross
between a snowboard and a dirtbike that has an average range of 18
miles, recharges in two hours and – with some tweaking – can hit 35 mph.
Read More
Tired of waiting for your computer to boot up?
Within five to seven years, you may no longer have to. That’s the
estimated amount of time it will take to bring Racetrack Memory
to market. Racetrack is a proposed new shock-proof system that is said
to be 100,000 times faster than current hard drives, while also being
300 times more energy-efficient. Although it incorporates cutting-edge
nanotechnology, it’s based on the same principles as the humble VHS
videotape. Read More
Much to the chagrin of those of us in the
Northern Hemisphere, winter is once again on its way. For many of us,
this means a return to icy roads, sidewalks, power lines and even
airplane wings. Traditionally, the main methods of getting rid of this
ice – or at least, keeping it under control – involve the use of salt
and/or de-icing chemicals. Both of these are labor-intensive,
environmentally-unfriendly, plus the salt kills grass and causes cars to
rust. Now, however, researchers from Harvard University are developing
nanostructured materials that could keep ice from ever forming on
surfaces in the first place. Read More
There’s no doubt that the discovery of graphene
is one sweet breakthrough. The remarkable material offers everything
from faster, cooler electronics and cheaper lithium-ion batteries to faster DNA sequencing and single-atom transistors.
Researchers at Rice University have made graphene even sweeter by
developing a way to make pristine sheets of the one-atom-thick form of
carbon from plain table sugar and other carbon-based substances. In
another plus, the one-step process takes place at temperatures low
enough to make the wonder material easy to manufacture. Read More
Read your kids a bedtime story without being there
November 15, 2010
The In Your Own Voice Storyteller lets children
enjoy a bedtime story with a familiar family voice – even if there's no
familiar family member around. A parent, older sibling or grandparent
records passages of a book onto a child friendly pen programmed with
specifically coded stickers that can be attached to the relevant pages
of a story book. All a child needs to do is place the pen over the
sticker on the book’s page and the recording will play. Read More
Laying down paving bricks is back-breaking, time-consuming work... or at least, it is if you do it the usual
way. Henk van Kuijk, director of Dutch industrial company Vanku,
evidently decided that squatting/kneeling and shoving the bricks into
place on the ground was just a little too slow, so he invented the Tiger
Stone paving machine. The road-wide device is fed loose bricks, and
lays them out onto the road as it slowly moves along. A quick going-over
with a tamper, and you’ve got an instant brick road. Read More
Imagine the embarrassment of a talented guitarist
losing out in a shredding battle with someone who can't play a note.
Since the launch of games like Rock Band, such things can and do happen.
Now there's a chance to level the playing field somewhat, with the
forthcoming release of a game controller that's also a genuine Fender
Squier Strat. Of course, as well as introducing a whole new level of
gameplay to virtual axe grinders, they can also benefit from learning to
play an actual instrument. Rock 'n' roll... Read More
Porsche’s 911 GT3 R Hybrid racing project uses
Williams Hybrid Power's KERS Flywheel technology (think of it as a
mechanical supercapacitor), to capture energy from regenerative braking
and then give it back as horsepower under acceleration. After showing
lots of promise in its early races, the hybrid has come home with a rush
in the closing stages of the season, winning its class and finishing
sixth outright in the final round of the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup.
Last night its true standing as a significant automotive innovation
shone through once more when it won Powertrain Innovation of the Year,
Vehicle Development of the Year and Design Engineer of the Year at the
Professional MotorSport World Expo in Koln, Germany. Read More
Now this is something that won't come along
again. It's the favorite guitar of Jimi Hendrix. Voted by everyone from Rolling Stone to Time
as the best guitar player ever, Hendrix favorite guitar was this
vintage Epiphone FT79 and was “used for almost everything he composed"
whilst he was in the United States. Given to a friend just before he
died, it was subsequently on numerous recordings and film soundtracks
including those by Dusty Springfield, Walker Brothers, Blue Mink, Paul
McCartney and on David Bowie’s Diamond Dogs. It's coming up for
auction, and is estimated to fetch GBP80,000-120,000, which seems
incredibly cheap for such a piece of musical history. Read More
Twenty-five years ago this month, Microsoft
released an extension to its Disk Operating System (DOS) that gave users
a graphical, mouse controlled environment with which to interface with
their computers. Bundled with the new setup were a few applications like
a drawing program, a simple word processor, an appointment calendar and
a clock. Each program could be launched in its own box - or window -
and tiled around the display screen. It wasn't a noted success but
marked the start of a technology snowball that sees Windows currently
being used on nearly 90 per cent of the world's computers. Read More
Oshkosh diesel-electric hybrid concept for Baja 1000 desert race
By Mike Hanlon
November 17, 2010
It has been an exciting year for hybrid power
train development in major racing series, with the teams deciding that
KERS will return to Formula One in 2011, the growing success of the
Porsche 911 GT3 R Hybrid in the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup and now the
news that Oshkosh Corporation will be fielding a 400 bhp hybrid
diesel-electric Light Concept Vehicle in the Baja 1000 desert race which
begins later this week in Mexico. Perhaps even more interesting than
the hybrid powertrain is its TAK-4 suspension which offers 20 inches of
independent wheel travel. Read More
With two thirds of the world population now
carrying a mobile phone, we are in the position for the first time to
enable a new form of broadcasting. Alcatel-Lucent has announced a new
Broadcast Message Center (BMC) which enables targeted government text
alerts to be sent to mobile users based on their location – from a city
block to nationwide. The flexibility and scalability of the BMC will
save lives in the event of a gas leak, chemical spillage or natural
disaster, as it leverages cell broadcast technology to bypass the
network congestion that invariably hampers emergencies. The BMC will
also be deployed as a commercial broadcast solution, enabling
enterprises to communicate with a mobile workforce, or service providers
to offer opt-in subscriber services that generate new sources of
revenue. Read More
Earlier this year we took a look at the development of self-healing concrete
that repairs its own cracks using a built-in healing agent. While this
kind of technology holds promise for construction in the future, it’s
not so useful for the vast amounts of existing concrete in need of
replacement or repair. UK researchers have come up with a solution to
this problem that uses bacteria to produce a special "glue" to knit
together cracks in existing concrete structures. Read More
500 Hz remote eye tracker watches what you watch
By Alan Brandon
November 16, 2010
SensoMotoric Instruments (SMI) of Germany has
launched its latest gaze and eye tracking system called the RED500. Eye
tracking is a key research technique for many types of scientific,
marketing, and design studies. Billed as the world’s first
high-performance and high-speed remote eye tracker, the RED500 features a
“scientific grade” 500 Hz sampling rate, binocular tracking, and a
portable all-in-one design. Read More
Instead of relying on the iPhone’s
microphone or extra hardware to measure a user’s heart rate like most
other heart rate apps, Antimodular Inc.’s Pulse Phone does so by using
the iPhone’s built-in camera. When the user places their finger over the
iPhone camera, the app detects the changes in the intensity of light
passing through the finger, which changes as blood pulses through the
veins. Read More
MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus
Aureus) is one of the most prevalent and difficult to eradicate
superbugs in hospitals, having become resistant to multiple antibiotics.
A less well known bacterium Clostridium difficile (C diff), is also
antibiotic resistant and on the increase. Infection prevention
procedures used to address one superbug will not work for others, and
traditional decontamination methods can be harmful to staff and
patients. This new lighting system that kills bacterial pathogens but is
harmless to humans may help beat this potentially deadly threat in our
hospitals. The technology decontaminates the air and exposed surfaces by
bathing them in a narrow spectrum of visible-light wavelengths, known
as HINS-light. Read More
Lamborghini's new Gallardo LP 570-4 Spyder Performante
By Gizmag Team
November 18, 2010
Lamborghini has released details of a new high
performance version of the Gallardo. The new Gallardo LP 570-4 Spyder
Performante is a remarkable 65 kilograms lighter than the LP 560-4
Spyder thanks to liberal lashings of carbon fiber. As Gallardo
aficionados will already have gathered from the model’s nomenclature, an
extra 10 bhp has been squeezed from the V10 engine, pushing the top
speed past 200 mph. Read More
You may remember that Internet Explorer did quite well in the early rounds
of conformity-testing for the next version of the web document creation
language – HTML5. The very observant amongst you may also have noticed
some subtle changes to the test suite page implemented as a result of
the publicity generated by the initial results. A notice has now
appeared advising visitors that the test suite is still very much in
development and the crowning of any interoperability winners is somewhat
premature. Read More
Honda's Fit EV Concept and midsize plug-in hybrid platform
By Mike Hanlon
November 17, 2010
Honda slipped two more pieces of the Honda Electric Mobility Network into place at the LA Auto Show
yesterday, revealing a Fit EV Concept and details of the plug-in hybrid
platform, both of which forecast vehicles that will hit showrooms in
2012. The Fit EV and plug-in platform are impressive, but the evolution
of Honda's Electric Mobility Network is looking increasingly like a
killer proposition for consumers. Read More
By measuring the differences between emitted sound pulses and their echoes sonar
is able to detect and identify targets such as reefs, wrecks,
submarines and fish shoals. However, standard sonar has limitations in
shallow water because bubble clouds, which result from breaking waves or
other causes, can scatter sound and clutter the sonar image. Inspired
by the exceptional sonar capabilities of dolphins, scientists have now
developed a new underwater device that can outperform standard sonar and
detect objects through bubble clouds. Read More
If you spend a lot of time behind the wheel of
your car, then having a properly adjusted seat is of the utmost
importance – not only does it maximize safety and driving skills, but it
also minimizes back, shoulder and neck strain. With over a dozen
adjustments available on some vehicles’ seats, however, it’s sometimes
difficult to figure out the optimum combination of settings. Automotive
parts designer Faurecia has what it is toting as the solution to this
problem, in the form of its new smartphone-based SmartFit system. Read More
It's understandable that U.S. auto makers are
nervous about the prospect of having to sell luxury cars that are
diminutive in size, as public perception has not yet caught up with the
reality of urban congestion and the energy crisis. It's even more of a
problem when your name is Cadillac, a brand that is synonymous with
acres of bonnet, aircraft-sized motors and enough interior room for an
entourage. So it's not surprising that Cadillac's Urban Luxury Concept
is a technological tour de force, with every creature comfort
imaginable, or that the press release reads like an apology. Read More
Bioengineers achieve holy trinity of stem cell culture
By Ben Coxworth
November 17, 2010
Stem cells,
which have the ability to become various other types of cells, are at
the heart of the burgeoning field of regenerative medicine – if a
patient’s stem cells could be raised outside of their body, and their
growth dictated, they could ultimately be used to grow replacement body
parts that wouldn’t be rejected. It’s challenging, however, to create
sufficient growing conditions in a petri dish. In order for stem cells
to grow and differentiate within the body, they rely on chemical,
mechanical and electrical cues. Although chemical cues have been
combined with mechanical or electrical cues in lab settings, no one has so far been able to combine all three... at least, not until now. Read More
Solar-powered air-conditioning for vehicles developed
By Darren Quick
November 17, 2010
The more environmentally conscious among us still
driving gasoline-powered cars often feel a pang of guilt as we turn on
the air-conditioning on a hot day, knowing that we’ve just significantly
reduced the fuel efficiency of the vehicle and sent more greenhouse
gases into the atmosphere. While solar-powered AC systems – even portable ones
– are nothing new, there’s been a problem getting their size down to a
point that would allow them to cool a vehicle. While cars may have to
wait a bit longer, truck drivers look like being spoiled for choice with
another solar-powered AC system joining the i-Cool Solar system we looked at earlier this month. Read More
Take some light bending metamaterials, incorporate them into flexible fabric and you have yourself an invisibility cloak. That's the theory anyway, and it doesn't stop at hiding objects. Building on the optical invisibility research
of Professor Sir John Pendry, researchers from Imperial College,
London, have now proposed that similar metamaterials could be used to
conceal entire events – get ready for the "Spacetime cloak". Read More
The sales of traditional sedans have taken a hit
in recent years due to the popularity of crossover SUVs, but that hasn’t
stopped Nissan coming up with a new sedan concept in the form of the
Nissan Ellure Concept hybrid vehicle. The company says the car, which
will debut at the 2010 LA Auto Show, isn’t intended as a preview of any
upcoming production model, but is rather a confirmation that the sedan
still has some life left in it yet and will remain a core part of
Nissan’s product portfolio. Read More
'Chess Terminator' robot takes on former champ Kramnik in blitz match
By Rick Martin
November 19, 2010
For almost as long as we've had computers, humans
have been trying to make ones that play chess. The most famous
chess-playing computer of course is IBM's Deep Blue, which in 1997
defeated the then World Champion Garry Kasparov. But as powerful as Deep
Blue was, it didn't actually move the chess pieces on its own. Perhaps
that's a trivial task in comparison to beating the best chess player of
all-time, but still I was pleased to discover this recent video of a
chess robot that more closely fits the true definition of a chess
automaton. Read More
Replacing petro-chemical-based plastics with plant-based alternatives
is a growing area of research. One popular form of plant-derived
plastic is Poly(lactic) acid, or PLA, a type of biodegradable plastic
that is currently used to make bottles, bags and is woven into fibers to
make clothes in place of polyester. Although PLA has similar mechanical
properties to PETE polymer, it has significantly lower heat-resistance,
which limits its uses. Researchers are now developing a new chemical
catalyst to improve the properties of PLA, making it stronger and more
heat-resistant so it can be used for a wider range of applications. Read More
Those looking forward to quieter city streets as a
result of near-silent electric vehicles (EVs) and hybrids replacing
internal combustion engine vehicles on our roads may have to think
again. To ensure that cyclists and pedestrians, including the visually
impaired, are aware of stealthy oncoming vehicles, researchers have been
looking at different noises that can be applied to EVs. Toyota has also already announced plans to sell an onboard audio alert system
for its Prius but it looks like such systems are set to become more
widespread with the Infiniti M35h to be the world’s first hybrid to get
an audible pedestrian warning system as standard. Read More
Groasis Waterboxx lets trees grow up in unfriendly places
By Ben Coxworth
November 18, 2010
It’s not often that you hear about an invention
that was modeled after bird poop, but there’s a first time for
everything. In fact, this fecally-inspired device could ultimately be
responsible for reforesting billion of acres of parched land, and it just won Popular Science’s
Best Invention 2010 award. It’s called the Groasis Waterboxx, and it’s a
low-tech product that helps seeds or saplings grow into strong trees in
eroded, arid and rocky environments. Read More
There are tens of thousands of pieces of space
debris currently orbiting the Earth which pose a potential hazard to
satellites, the International Space Station and other space hardware.
Since the early 1960s, the existing Air Force Space Surveillance System,
also known as the VHF or Space Fence,
has been used to track orbital objects passing over America. Proposals
are now being taken for the next phase of a new Space Fence that will
better detect, report and track orbiting space junk as well as
commercial and military satellites. Read More
Dedicated sandbag filling tool five times faster than a shovel
By Ben Coxworth
November 18, 2010
With all the advances we hear about in fields
such as nanotechnology and electric vehicles, it’s easy to believe that
simpler technology has evolved as far as it can go – that there is
simply no way of improving things like the stapler, the dinner plate or
the garden hose. Well, that line of thinking was recently proven wrong
with the invention of a better type of sandbag. Now, as if to drive the point home, we hear about a better way of filling sandbags, and it’s a device called the GoBagger. Read More
When Toyota and Tesla announced a partnership earlier this year one of the stated aims was to collaborate on an electric version of the RAV4 – here it is. Unveiled at the Los Angeles Auto Show,
the RAV4 EV Demonstration Vehicle is based on the current combustion
engine model with modifications to the suspension and steering plus
minor styling changes like a new front bumper, grille and head lamps and
of course – the inclusion of an electric powertrain and Tesla supplied
battery pack. Toyota points out that there are many decisions yet to be
made before the final specs of the RAV4 EV – which is slated to go into
production in 2012 – are finalized. Read More
Antimatter trapped and studied for first time
By Ben Coxworth
November 18, 2010
An international collaboration of 15 research
institutions have produced and trapped antimatter atoms for the first
time ever. The feat was part of the ALPHA experiment, which is being
conducted at Switzerland’s CERN particle physics laboratory. It could be
a step towards answering one the biggest cosmological questions of all
time. Read More
Sony to develop new NXCAM HD camcorder with E-mount lens
By Paul Ridden
November 18, 2010
Sony is aiming to furnish professionals with a
new E-mount interchangeable lens camcorder by the middle of next year.
The company says that the NXCAM HD model is still under development, but
should sit at the entry level end of the professional camcorder market.
In addition to being compatible with the E-mount lens system, users
will also be able to attach A-mount and third party lenses via mount
adapters. Read More
Ultraportable 12.5-inch IdeaPad U260 laptop launched
By Paul Ridden
November 18, 2010
Lenovo has unveiled an elegant, ultra-portable addition to its IdeaPad
range. Along with the company's first 12.5-inch display, the 0.7-inch
(18 mm) thin IdeaPad U260 features leather-like trim surrounding the
keyboard and touchpad, a choice of ultra-low-voltage (ULV) processors to
help extend unplugged usage and Dolby surround-sound to complement high
definition movie capability. Read More
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