The 2008 European Inventors of the Year were awarded recently in Ljubljana, Slovenia. Even if you don’t recognize the names of the inventors, you will certainly know their inventions and the contributions those inventions have made to the world during the last 10 to 15 years.
Alien Communication Device or LED Hula Hoop (or Both)?
Here’s something that’s sure to draw crowds the next time you feel the need to draw attention to yourself. This dizzying show of colored light is produced by a rapidly spinning Hula Hoop, packed with LED lighting.
The University of Toronto in Canada has developed a pair of robotic grippers that can apply as little of 20 nanoNewtons of force on an object, using its three-millimeters-long arms to grab cells 10 micrometers across and transport them. What’s more, the gripper has sensors that allow it to know how hard it’s grabbing something and keep it from running into things - an important development for robotic grippers.
As US technology giants including Google place a multi-billion dollar bet on WiMAX, backers of the wireless data-streaming format say it will radically change mobile Internet use.
A WiMAX network of the kind to be deployed across the United States by a joint venture dubbed Clearwire may render cable or phone line Internet obsolete and set the stage for free Google mobile telephones supported by advertising.
Robert Woodhead combines the two things that we just can’t seem to ever get sick of seeing: Stuffing Mentos into Diet Coke bottles and the super-slow-mo action of Casio’s EX-F1 camera to create this stunningly beautiful video.
Woodhead compensated for the 1200fps’ paltry 336×96 frame size by stitching four different Mentos tests together, and the results are awesome. Globs, ribbons and rings of Coke that are impossible to track in real time come to life when seen in slow-motion. Sevond video after the jump.
Datamonitor forecasts that the number of social network users in Europe will more than double to 107.4 million in 2012, up from 41.7 million in 2007.
More Americans are researching furniture and appliances online than two years ago. A March 2008 PriceGrabber.com survey found that 81% of respondents turn to the Web for information on these items, while 53% claimed that the Internet was their first choice for home product research.
Want to persuade a woman? Do it in person instead of taking the online route, for a new study has revealed that the fair sex responds better in face-to-face encounters, while men can be easily swayed by an email.
Researchers have found that although internet has made negotiations faster and more convenient in some cases, women still tend to prefer social interaction to be truly convinced as they are more relationship-minded.
But, men generally prefer an email because it bypasses their competitive tendencies.
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A drug from a new class of weight-loss treatments disrupted wiring needed for brain development in young mice, American researchers said, raising concerns about using such medications in children.
Mark Bear and colleagues at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology studied the effects of a chemical that suppresses appetite by blocking cannabinoid receptors in the brain, the same brain mechanisms that make people hungry when they smoke marijuana.
Taisin has introduced a mold that seamlessly creates a perfect sphere, no chipping and shaving required. Simple place a chunk of ice into the metal press and, as it melts, the device will close around the ice forming a ball, which is then released by the flick of a switch.
Here’s a great gift for those family members who love to drink and cause problems.
Screw worm females go after bare flesh, laying 250-300 eggs in a host. When you feel that itch, whatever you do, don’t scratch it. The reason why they’re called screw worms is that the maggots will only burrow deeper, causing tissue damage and even death.
Once hatched, the maggots feed off the live flesh and fall down to the ground, where they pupate. The pupae reach adulthood 7 days later. They can then mate and lay over 4,000 eggs. They can also fly 125 miles, bringing their offspring and the plague inland.
Steampunk is a subculture that encapsulates the aesthetic expression of a time-traveling fantasy world, one that embraces music, film, design and now fashion, all inspired by the extravagantly inventive age of dirigibles and steam locomotives, brass diving bells and jar-shaped protosubmarines of the 19th century. (Pics)
Ashes to ashes… to diamond!
Our beloved pets… they provide us with warmth, companionship and unconditional love every day of their lives. When they inevitably pass on to their final reward, the hurt can be inconsolable. Wouldn’t it be nice if you could keep your dearly departed dog or cat with you… close to your heart and not just IN it?
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Data-backup mobile phone charger
Losing or having you mobile phone stolen without having the contacts and other important information it contains securely backed-up is a sure-fire way to give yourself one very big headache. Given the fact that some of us are a little lazy when it comes to this task, but all of us have to charge our phones, this innovation makes perfect sense.
If you’re looking for the tallest tower of LEGO in the world, here’s a picture of it right here. This monster was built in the Legoland Windsor theme park in the U.K. of 500,000 LEGO bricks, and stands just shy of 100 feet high.
Need a break from the working, walking, and standing required by the demanding and stressful life you lead?
Well, pack your bags for Houston because NASA wants to pay you $17,000 to stay in bed for 90 straight days.
The bed-rest experiment, to take place in the Human Test Subject Facility of Johnson Space Center, is designed to allow scientists to study some of the effects of microgravity on the human body. Continue Reading »
Venture capital (VC) firms invested $702 million in nanotechnology start-ups last year across 61 deals, slightly down from $738 million across 73 deals in 2006. But this VC spending is sharply out of sync with investment returns. Although application-oriented life-sciences companies have delivered the majority of VC returns in nanotech, VC firms consistently devote most of their funding to companies in other areas, according to a new report from Lux Research entitled “How Venture Capitalists Are Misplaying Nanotech.”
They are notorious for guiding exasperated motorists down footpaths, into ponds or to the wrong city entirely.
But the modern-day sat-nav is likely to pose far fewer problems for lost drivers than its 1927 forerunner.
The Plus Four Wristlet Route Indicator, which has gone on display at a National Trust house, is thought to be the first navigation device for motorists.
Large numbers of US Internet users joined online communities last year, and membership in such groups is now a mainstream activity.
Nearly half of US Internet users surveyed for the USC Annenberg School Center for the Digital Future’s “2008 Digital Future Project” report said they belonged to a hobby-oriented online community. A full 41% of respondents belonged to an online social community, and one-third belonged to an online professional community.
The iDeal automatic poker dealer gets rid of all your suspicions that the house is trying to cheat you. It uses infrared sensors, looking for bike reflectors mounted on stands, to determine how many players are at a table and ultrasonic detection to know how far to throw a card to them.
Scientists at UC San Diego, UC Santa Barbara and MIT have developed nanometer-sized “nanoworms” that can cruise through the bloodstream without significant interference from the body’s immune defense system and—like tiny anti-cancer missiles—home in on tumors.
If you’re like most people, your computer keyboard is probably either black, white or some shade in between. If you happen to have an older PC or Mac, maybe it’s a cigarette smoke-tinged beige. These handpainted USB keyboards couldn’t bend the rules more.
Available in several precisely detailed patterns ranging from flowers to swirlies, these dramatic keyboards will definitely bring new life to your drab desktop.
As a solution to the US Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO) difficulties in recruiting and retaining high caliber patent examiners and other critical personnel to move to the Washington, DC area, the agency has embraced a telework policy that it intends to grow over the coming years. The telework programs allow people to live and work in cities throughout the US and commute back to DC for meeting and training.
By 2011, more than 3,000 patent examiners will be teleworking.
