New and Emerging Technology News part 90 ~ NEW GEN TECH LIFE : new generation technology news

Tuesday 28 January 2014

New and Emerging Technology News part 90

Researchers have found that electric fields can manipulate a magnetically polarized curren...
Using flexible organic semiconductors, researchers at Queen Mary, University of London and the University of Fribourg have made a discovery that could lead to the simultaneous storing and processing of data on the same computer chip, bringing a dramatic improvement in power efficiency and reduced weight of electronic devices.  Read More
Scanning electron micrograph of HIV-1 budding (in green) from cultured lymphocyte
An HIV-infected man who received stem cell treatment for leukemia from a donor with natural resistance to HIV infection appears to have been cured of HIV, according to a report on the NAM aidsmap website. The treatment, which was carried out in 2007, opens the possibility of a cure for HIV infection through the use of genetically engineered stem cells.  Read More
Eva Hakkanson shows us the KillaCycle, the world's fastest electric motorcycle
Definitely one of the crowd favorites at last week’s Future of Electric Vehicles conference was the presentation by Eva Hakkanson and Bill Dube. The highly-entertaining couple, who design and build electric racing motorcycles out of their home garage, have set some impressive records with their KillaCycle drag bike – it currently holds the title of World’s Fastest Electric Motorcycle, and is also the world’s fastest EV of any kind. The bike was on display at the conference, so we asked Eva to give us the nickel tour.  Read More
Sony's PlayStation Move Sharp Shooter Attachment
With the plethora of Wii-mote add-on attachments available it comes as no surprise to see Sony’s PlayStation Move controller is set to get the same treatment. It also comes as no surprise that one of the first add-ons for the device was the Move Shooting Attachment aimed at titles like Time Crisis: Razing Storm and The Shoot. Now the company has gone one better with its new PlayStation Move Sharp Shooter Attachment which will hit store shelves alongside the much anticipated Killzone 3 in February.  Read More
The SMSS can carry more than half a ton of warfighters' supplies, and autonomously follow ...
Lockheed Martin’s (LM) Squad Mission Support System (SMSS) has passed a final round of tests at Fort Riley, Kansas, before scheduled deployment to Afghanistan in 2011. The system, which turns a six-wheeled amphibious ATV into a robotic packhorse and charging station, has been subjected to a variety of simulated warzone environments in both remote controlled and fully autonomous modes.  Read More
The Dustball robotic vacuum cleaner would roll around public spaces, like airports and tra...
We do like our robotic vacuum cleaners here at Gizmag, but most of those that we have featured so far have, for good reason, followed a similar short and squat design. Dutch designer Dave Hakkens has opted to turn his back on this familiar shape and the household cleaner environment in which such a device might be found, in favor of a fairly large, industrial-strength ball for cleaning up public spaces.  Read More
Researchers have discovered a new form of micro-organism munching away at the hull of the ...
Misfortune continues to take a bite out of the world's most famous ocean liner – literally. Twenty-five years after the RMS Titanic's ocean grave was discovered a few hundred miles off the coast of Newfoundland, researchers have identified a new bacteria feeding on the great ship's hulk. The scientists believe that the new micro-organism may work with a complex variety of bacteria, which inhabit a microscopic world inside porous mounds of rusty stalactites called rusticles, to break down metal into a fine powder.  Read More
The MixAmp 5.8 system allows gamers to attach just about any set of wired headphones to a ...
Being wired for sound to a games console can be a somewhat restricting experience, especially if you're trying to release your inner rock star with games like Rock Band 3. Astro Gaming has taken its pro-gaming MixAmp audio technology and made it both wireless and home-friendly. Users of the MixAmp 5.8 system can plug in just about any pair of wired headphones to the wireless receiver and benefit from 7.1-channel Dolby Surround Sound and a virtually interference-free wireless connection to the transmitter.  Read More
The 8pen app for Android touch phones offers a faster and more natural text input app for ...
A faster and more natural text input app for small devices, which mimics handwriting and eliminates typos. Sounds good? That is what the 8pen app for Android touch phones offers.  Read More
World championship replica - just US$13,000
It’s not often that you can purchase a millimeter perfect replica of the current world championship-winning racing motorcycle, but that’s exactly what Husqvarna is offering with its commemorative replica of Antoine Meo’s 2010 Enduro class TE250 E1 mount. Everything is claimed to be identical to the bike which took all before it this year, right down to the Kayaba fork internals, offset-adjustable CNC triple clamps, titanium exhaust and the various exotic metals and carbon fibre knick nacks, not to mention the graphics. Connoisseurs and collectors had best be quick – production of the limited 100 machine run began last week and the price seems ridiculously cheap for what you get. It will vary with exchange rates depending on where you live, but roughly US$13K plus on road will get your butt on that anti-slip Dalla Valle seat.  Read More

One of two existing Deep Flight Super Falcon submarines, on display at Future of Electric ...
One thing was very clear at the recent Future of Electric Vehicles conference in San Jose – innovative design and development of electric vehicles is not restricted to the automotive sector. The case-in-point is the Deep Flight Super Falcon submersible. The two-occupant underwater vehicle was designed and manufactured by Hawkes Ocean Technologies, and is one of only two in the world. Like most of the other Hawkes vehicles, the Super Falcon is more like an underwater airplane than a submarine, soaring through the water column instead of rising and sinking. Company founder and Chief Technical Officer Graham Hawkes was a presenter at the conference, and showed us just how his submarine is able to “fly” underwater.  Read More
The flagship GR10 in-ear headphones from Grado Labs are said to set a new benchmark in son...
Over the last fifty years or so, a family-owned company in New York has built up quite a reputation for creating hand-crafted, audiophile-pleasing equipment. The latest addition to the Grado Labs family has just been announced, a new flagship in-ear headphone that's said to set a new benchmark in sonic performance.  Read More

Jeffrey Kaffee is the first customer in the U.S. to take delivery of a Chevrolet Volt (Ima...
It’s been a big week in the world of mass-produced electric vehicles. Hot on the heels of Nissan delivering the first of its LEAF all-electric vehicles to a customer in California last Saturday, a retired airline pilot by the name of Jeffrey Kaffee has become the first customer in the U.S. to take delivery of a Chevrolet Volt. Although the Volt he received wasn’t actually the first available for sale, with that particular vehicle going to the winner of an online charity auction, which closed on Tuesday with a winning bid of US$225,000.  Read More
Prof. Jan Baeyens with plastic for the fluidized bed reactor (Photo: University of Warwick...
This Christmas, chances are you’ll save the plastic film and blister packs that your presents come encased in and send it all off for recycling. According to scientists from the University of Warwick, however, only about 12 percent of plastic sent to depots actually gets recycled. Because of problems such as glued-on paper labels, or different types of plastic being combined in one product, the rest of it goes to the landfill or is burnt as fuel. Those same scientists have now devised a system that could recycle 100 percent of household plastic.  Read More
Artist concept of the two Voyager spacecraft as they approach interstellar space (Image cr...
The Voyager 1 spacecraft launched by NASA on September 5, 1977 continues to add to its impressive list of accomplishments. Its “Grand Tour" through the Solar System has seen it become the first probe to provide detailed images of the moons of Jupiter and Saturn and earn the title of most distant human-made object in the cosmos. After a 33-year journey, Voyager 1 has now crossed into an area at the edge of our Solar System where there is no outward motion of solar wind.  Read More
The working prototypes of John Zimmerman's recoil panel and hack saws
Using a hand saw is nobody’s idea of a good time, but one inventor is trying to at least make it a little easier. John Zimmerman, a software developer by trade, has created what he calls the Recoil Saw. Essentially, it’s just a saw – various types of saws, actually – with one or more spring-loaded impact bars attached to the blade. At the end of each stroke, the spring compresses as the bar hits the material being sawed, then releases that energy back into the following return stroke. The idea is that users can pretty much just bounce their way through cutting jobs, as opposed to having to purposefully stop and start between every stroke. Zimmerman, who admits he’s probably not the most unbiased tester, said that he has found it cuts twice as fast as a regular saw.  Read More
On the set of Turbulence (Photo: Tel Aviv University)
Those of us who grew up in the 70s or 80s may remember the Choose Your Own Adventure books. Instead of reading the book straight through, from cover to cover, at the bottom of each page you were presented with a choice like, “If you decide to open the treasure chest, turn to page 24 / If you decide to go farther into the cave, turn to page 32.” Interactive movies follow the same model, except the viewer’s choices result in seeing different scenes instead of reading different pages. While such films have been around since the invention of video disc players, a new one from Israel uniquely incorporates today’s technology.  Read More
The World Wide Fund for Nature has teamed up with German advertising agency Jung von Matt ...
The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) says that an area of forest the size of Greece is cleared every year and that a significant proportion of that wood is pulped to make paper. In an effort to curb the needless printing of documents, the German branch of the organization has teamed up with Jung von Matt to introduce a new PDF-like digital file format that actually prevents a user from sending documents to the printer.  Read More
Holographic ZScape Prints enable natural (no glasses!) 3D viewing and collaboration (Image...
It wasn't so long ago when those wanting to visualize the landscape around them would have to use a topographic map and a fair bit of imagination. Nowadays we are spoilt by the immersive opportunities offered by the likes of Google Earth, or even GPS technology, but there's nothing quite like a holographic image for recreating a 3D representation of the surrounding terrain on a 2D surface. While the digital holographic prints produced by Zebra Imaging are not exactly as pocket-friendly as maps, they are quite simply stunning.  Read More

Tokyoflash Kisai RPM
Tokyoflash, known for advanced (read "way-out") watch designs, recently asked its followers to submit and vote on new designs – and the first batch has gone into production.  Read More
Feadship's concept Breate yacht
For the fifth year in a row, Netherlands-based Feadship – a co-op between two shipyards and the De Voogt Naval Architects maritime engineering company – has revealed a concept yacht to mark the opening of the Monaco Yacht Show. This year’s effort, called Breathe, has drawn inspiration from biomimicry, which imitates forms found in nature to solve manmade problems. However, Feadship has chosen an unexpected natural design to imitate for a boat – zebra stripes.  Read More
The THINK City EV
Oslo-based electric vehicle maker THINK has started production of the THINK City EV at its new plant in Elkhart, Indiana. The company hasn’t wasted anytime getting up to speed either, with the first 15 vehicles delivered to the State of Indiana for use in its government fleet this week. THINK aims to build 300 THINK City EVs at the facility by the end of the year, with plans to scale up production to build 2,500 vehicles for the American market in 2011.  Read More
Molten salt technology was demonstrated at the Solar Two project
One of the biggest problems with solar energy is that the sun doesn’t shine 24 hours a day. This means that unless users are only planning on using electricity when the sun is shining, some form of energy storage system is required. Since storing excess electricity in rechargeable batteries isn’t really practical for large-scale solar power plants, another storage system is needed. U.S. utility-scale solar project developer SolarReserve has now received approval for the first solar power plant in California that uses molten salt technology to store the sun’s thermal energy as heat so it can generate electricity when needed, at any time of the day or night.  Read More
The CAFE Foundation proposes the development of small, neighborhood airports, at which aut...
A little over a year ago, we told you about NASA’s Green Flight Challenge. The Space Agency is seeking designs for low-cost, quiet, short take-off personal aircraft, that require little if any fossil fuel. The winning design, to be decided next July, will win US$1.6 million in production funds. The competition is being run by NASA’s light-aircraft partner CAFE (Comparative Aircraft Flight Efficiency), which envisions the resulting Suburban Air Vehicles (SAVs) taking off and landing at small neighborhood “pocket airports.” At last week’s Future of Electric Vehicles conference, CAFE president Dr. Brien Seeley outlined just how those airports would work.  Read More
The World Wide Web Consortium has announced the development of a new mobile web applicatio...
Whether it's due to improvements in our smartphones or the rise of tablet computers, one thing's for sure - mobile Internet usage is on the rise. That's welcome news for the vast number of web developers looking to break into the applications market. Of course, making sure that a new application works correctly across the various mobile platforms can be a bit of a coding nightmare. Happily, help is at hand in the form of a new mobile web standard developed by the international community working to make the web accessible for all.  Read More
Seagate's Barracuda Green hard drives benefit from cool and quiet operation, SmartAlign te...
Seagate's eco-friendly Barracuda LP HDD has now got a brand new name and some new features, too. The Barracuda Green hard drives benefit from cool and quiet operation, and some technology that is said to deliver best-in-class performance while allowing for seamless integration into a system without the need for additional performance utilities. The low power storage solutions are also reported to be the industry's highest-performance eco-friendly 3.5-inch desktop drives.  Read More
E Mobile's two-in-one wireless router & smartphone combo is a welcome relief to mobile net...
Japan has long had a reputation for being on the cutting edge of technology and innovation, so one might expect that the country would be blanketed with open wireless for everyone. Therefore, many travelers are surprised to find that public WiFi is scarce, and that those who want mobile internet usually have to dish out for a for a monthly plan. E Mobile has been providing popular pocket WiFi solutions for some time, but the company's latest is an intriguing piece of hardware.  Read More
The SWIGZ electric superbike, going head to head against petrol-powered superbikes in less...
Chip Yates took a very American approach when he began building an electric superbike to race in the TTXGP and FIM ePower championships. He went for horsepower. One-hundred and ninety-six horsepower, to be precise, with a massive set of battery cells to keep the motor fed over a race distance. It was to be the most powerful bike on the grid. But both the TTXGP and the FIM released rule changes effectively disqualifying the SWIGZ bike from competition in 2011 - and rather than change the bike to fit the rules, Yates decided to pull out altogether - and take it racing against petrol-powered American superbikes in what is likely to be the first time electric and gasoline-powered motorcycles have gone head to head in an official race. But even with nearly 200 horsepower behind him, Yates has one heck of a tough job ahead of him.  Read More
On the Go: Top gear for business travelers
Business travel in the 21st Century is a whole new ball-game. With the advent of laptops, netbooks and even smaller form factor connected devices like tablets and smartphones, the task of taking your office on the road with you is getting easier, but there's still a compromise between the gear you need to maintain full productivity and the reality of wrestling your way through airport check-in queues. So what are the options? In the first of a three part series that will look at the best of what's new for the mobile technophile, here's our pick of essential accessories tailored to the needs of the mobile business traveler.  Read More

0 comments:

Post a Comment