Just when you thought ice cube-creation technology had peaked, a team of engineering students from San Jose State University has come up an ice maker that has zero carbon footprint. It’s more than an eco-party trick - consider it an electricity-free alternative to refrigeration and air conditioning, which is critical if you happen to be somewhere off of the electrical grid, like in the developing world or in a disaster zone.
In the city named after its river, the Moscow powers that be are dealing with a rapidly rising number of vehicles that is currently near four million. The figure keeps rising against the one million parking spaces that are now available, constantly aggravating the situation. According to news sources, 600,000 of these parking spaces are in parking lots and the rest (400,000) are in various garage complexes. Authorities are desperate to accommodate these vehicles and have developed a new way of making lemonade from lemons: namely, using the Moscow River area for the development of floating car parks.
Quantum cryptography seems to be the latest technology that might help in protecting people’s information. The technique depends on Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle, which states that it is impossible to measure at the subatomic level without altering it. So, when a QC system sends a message in 0 and 1 format, and if someone tries to eavesdrop, the message structure changes and the recipient can detect the tampering. The message, which is sent in the form of a photon beam, doesn’t encode the message but only contains the key for the actual message, and the recipient later uses the key, which is shared by the sender to encode the message.
Underground restaurants have found their niche. Stringing together the farm-to-table movement and a bloggy kind of interactivity, they have gained a following among food lovers, mostly in their 20s and 30s, who have an opinion on local versus organic, prefer intimate and casual to grand and ceremonial, and are open to meeting people and building connections in new ways.
Before they ship PCs to retailers like Best Buy, computer makers load them up with lots of free software. For $30, Best Buy will get rid of it for you. That simple cleanup service is threatening the precarious economics of the personal computer industry.
What happens if you take a Nokia phone and an iPhone, mix them together, and then top it off projector? Well, you would probably end up with this dual band smartphone. Dual Band multimedia cellphone with interactive touchscreen, WAP, bluetooth, and big 1800mAh battery for extra long talk time and phone usage between charges.
For those seeking absolute minimalist style, this sink with patented ‘Horizontal Integrated Siphon’ technology from Axolute will revolutionise your bathroom design. The stunning polished stainless sink features the HIS system, which replaces the traditional drain pipe usually visible underneath basins.
German short movie, nominated for the Academy Award in 2003. Das Rad, The Wheel. Second video after the jump.
Want to pep up your love life? Well, then all you need to do is plan “vacation sex” with your partner, for it can do wonders for your heart, mind, and soul, according to a new research. Sex on a holiday allows you to get away from pressures, distractions, worries and responsibilities - basically, any of those libido-killers that affect your love life most days of the year, reports The Daily Telegraph.
The Times reports on the problems of adding wind farms to the power grid. Because of the grid’s old design, it can’t handle the various spikes that wind farms sometimes have, and there’s no efficient way to currently move massive amounts of that power from one section of the country to the other. Further complicating things is the fact that under current laws, power grid regulation is a state matter, and the Federal government has comparatively little authority over it right now.
Archaeologists have unearthed a well-preserved 1,300-year-old female mummy in a residential area of the Peruvian capital.
Giving up meat could drastically reduce your carbon footprint, with meat-eaters’ diets responsible for almost twice the emissions of those of vegetarians, a German study said on Tuesday.
If fire extinguishers were more like Bazookas, I think more people would volunteer for the job. Fire AND shooting stuff? Hell yeah! Shooting fires out? Even better. This concept is modeled on a light-weight gun design and is loaded with CO2 cartridges with a laser guidance system, so you can hit the target in an emergency.
Scientists in Israel are taking digital photographs of the Dead Sea Scrolls with the aim of making the 2,000-year-old documents available to the public and researchers on the Internet.
Wouldn’t it be nice if we could shop for clothes without constantly having to try them on in the fitting room? The vision could soon become a reality thanks to the “virtual mirror” presented by Fraunhofer researchers at the IFA consumer electronics show in Berlin from August 29 to September 3. This mirror-like display enables shoppers to see themselves wearing different items of clothing without having to undo a single button.
“Make the Difference Network” is an online resource for connecting donors with non-profits. Started by famed actress Jessica Biel, the site has been designed to draw attention to some of the lesser known causes. The DaVinci Institute and its plans for the Museum of Future Inventions is now testing the waters on the site to see how best to inspire donors with a museum about the future, a museum where every exhibit talks about the big things that still need to be accomplished.
Children of migrant workers will have the same education opportunities as their urban counterparts before the end of this year, the China Ministry of Education (MOE) said Tuesday. “The central government will allocate funds to local education departments sufficient to cover extra education expenses in accordance with the number of migrant children they accept,” the ministry said on its website.
It all started when 11 extras dressed in Nazi army uniforms tumbled out of a World War II-era truck in Berlin during the filming of Tom Cruise’s movie “Valkyrie.” Now, the actors are suing United Studios for $11 million.
An Indian factory that will make the world’s cheapest cars has been besieged by 30,000 protesters, who say it was built on land taken illegally from farmers. Is the October launch date for the $2,500 car in jeopardy?
Here at the Impact Lab, we love concept vehicles - not because we somehow think they’ll ever make it to market, but because we’re impressed by the innovative thinking behind them. Take the Peugeot 888, which looks like a very slick two-seater - but much more when you dig a little deeper. It turns out this solar-electric super-car is capable of a unique feat of imaginative engineering: it can shrink!
This funny ten minute clip is from the famous 1950s game show “What’s My Line,” It’s quite surreal, and we don’t use the word surreal loosely: the special guest is Salvador Dali. Second video after the jump.
The dirty secret of clean energy is that while generating it is getting easier, moving it to market is not. The grid today, according to experts, is a system conceived 100 years ago to let utilities prop each other up, reducing blackouts and sharing power in small regions. It resembles a network of streets, avenues and country roads.
As music lovers mobbed an outdoor stage, vying for views of Radiohead, Beck and other rockers, Keith McPhail enjoyed a prime view of the show from a couch in an internet “living room”.
In 2008, solar power seems to be the hot topic for alternative fuel use. Solar powered products are already coming down in price so that the average consumer can take it home and use it, but now scientist are turning to the moon as well as the sun for power. Could the moon fuel our future?
Imagine a table that responds to your touch, gestures, and other objects placed on it. Imagine EyeBoard-the intuitive touch table! The next best thing in touch technology, the EyeBoard is user-activated and offers unmatched point-of-sale opportunities.
