A company in Japan called Recruit Co Ltd. is using a unique system to lure people into the restaurants and cafes in the underground mall of the Tokyo Station. Developed by NTT Communications Corp. the system emits appetizing aromas that correspond to a video advertisement being shown on a 42-inch LCD display. The idea is [...]

 
This stained glass representation of the electromagnetic spectrum may be seen at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. The dangly yellow part represents that band of the spectra which makes people think that non-ionizing radiation gives you cancer.

 
Instead of using water alone, the Xeros washing machine uses a new formula: plastic chips, friction and solvent. Confused? Don’t be; the machine is simple to understand and use.

Young men with nuts of steel.

Unicycling – a sport long relegated to clowns and weirdos – have gone hardcore: a small but growing cadre of unicyclists have “ruggidized” (is that a word? It is now!) the whimsical device and created the new sport of Mountain Unicycling or Muni. Video after the jump.

Brilliant idea!
The Waterboard is an interactive installation by Mike Burton giving the user a chance to play with water without getting wet. By drawing lines on the whiteboard, the water will follow a different course. Abstract life forms may appear in basins and where the water is stagnant it will become turbid. Video after [...]

A Delicate Blend of Nature and Consumerism

Krispy Kreme, the glazed doughnut people, have come up with the perfect ideal solution to those “stuck in the office all day” types of situations by having the feeling of fresh grass under your feet.

 
Can you really put a price tag on a good night’s sleep? I simply can’t. Check out the Cosmovoïde Bed, where you can hover on the brink of falling into a deep healing sleep, before awakening relaxed and refreshed, with optimal physical and psychic potential.
 

 
Scientists in Japan have gained a better understanding how influenza viruses replicate, possibly opening the way for the development of drugs to hamper their reproduction.

Parking assist: This prototype of the San Francisco parking network’s Web interface will let drivers find available parking spots. 
This fall, San Francisco will implement the largest mesh network for monitoring parking to date. Around 6,000 wireless sensors from the San Francisco company Streetline will be fixed alongside as many parking spots, monitoring both parking availability [...]

 
 Dinosaur Eel
An extraordinary fish that inhabits muddy pools in West Africa and whose lineage can be traced back 96 million years could be the model for light, bomb-proof body armour for the soldiers of the future.

Four giant panda cubs have been born within just 14 hours in China, giving a rare boost to the population of the endangered species, state media said Sunday. (Pics)

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DelFly Micro demonstration
The smallest flapping wing plane with camera in the world. Developed at the TU Delft in the Netherlands.  Second video after the jump.

 
 Is this a picture of what the future of plug-in vehicle charging might look?
There are 54 million garages for the 247 million registered cars in the US, meaning that the majority of cars are parked overnight in parking structures, parking lots or curbside. As a result, most potential plug-in vehicle consumers do not have an [...]

Using tilt motions, the player moves a character through rooms
LevelHead is a spatial memory game by Julian Oliver that uses a hand-held solid-plastic cube as its only interface. On-screen it appears each face of the cube contains a little room, each of which are logically connected by doors.

Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke would prefer to avoid another emergency
Banks struggling to recover from multibillion-dollar losses on real estate are curtailing loans to American businesses, depriving even healthy companies of money for expansion and hiring.
Two vital forms of credit used by companies — commercial and industrial loans from banks, and short-term “commercial paper” not backed [...]