eMembrane
Some of today’s best models of all-season tires can be disappointing, but you’ll be particularly impressed by the eMembrane Tire. In many parts of the world, it’s frustrating to change over your wheels twice a year, but this system can alter shape instantly and without effort.
Continue reading… “eMembrane – shape-shifting car tires”
Pedal power can be a viable means of urban transportation. Velomobiles and pedal cars like the Twike 4XP exist to show us this. Companies like Scuderie Campari, meanwhile, exist to make pedal power dreams utterly, totally, and almost inconceivably sexy. This is the SC-1 ultra-luxe pedal car concept for adults, and it is gorgeous.
Continue reading… “SC-1 Biposto – a two-seater designed velomobile”
Combining technical devices with organisms have a fascinating potential.
Recent developments in technology such as medical implants, complex interfaces between brain and machine or remotely controlled insects, that combine machines and organisms have great potentials, but also give rise to major ethical concerns. In their review entitled “Chemie der Cyborgs – zur Verknüpfung technischer Systeme mit Lebewesen” (The Chemistry of Cyborgs – Interfacing Technical Devices with Organisms), KIT scientists discuss the state of the art of research, opportunities, and risks.
Continue reading… “Era of cyborgs has begun”
Agricultural engineers measuring the reflectance of sunlight from cotton plants.
Agricultural engineers, computer programmers, financial analysts and radiation therapists are just a few of the many occupations that earn a median hourly salary of $35, or about $70,000 per year.If a paycheck like that sounds desirable to you, consider any of the following 14 jobs.
Continue reading… “14 occupations that pay $35 an hour”
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The world’s tallest waterslide will be opening in the summer of 2014 in Kansas City. The Verrückt is taller than Niagra Falls and sounds absolutely unreal.
Continue reading… “Kansas City’s Verrückt is the world’s tallest waterslide”
The startup, Amprius is working on a new type of long-lasting lithium-ion batteries for laptops and electric vehicles. The company has started to sell its batteries for use in portable electronics. Amprius recently raised $30 million in venture capital to develop its next-generation batteries, which use high-energy silicon electrodes. The company says the batteries will store about 50 percent more energy than the battery cells in today’s electric vehicles.
Continue reading… “Amprius raises $30 million to develop high-energy silicon batteries”
Futurist Thomas Frey: Who are you as an individual?
As part of a family, you are measured by your domestic life and the relatives closest to you. As a prospective employee, you are evaluated by your skills, talents, and knowledge. As part of a community, you are gauged by the kind of relationships you build and maintain. As an athlete you are assessed by your physical strengths, your reaction times, and your determination.
Continue reading… “The Quantified Self, the Great College Killer”
Nanoport’s magnetic links will let people attach two phones together for a single larger screen.
Nano Magnetics, a magnetic toy maker, announced a technology Tuesday called Nanoport. The Nanoport is designed to let people link small phone displays into a single larger one, snap phones onto car dashboards, and easily link them to other devices.
Continue reading… “Nanoport lets you connect and and charge your devices with magnets”
PulseWallet
A machine called PulseWallet scanns the veins in your hand and charges your credit card to pay for things. PulseWallet, or palm scanners like it, might soon call your local Starbucks home and provide one more way to pay for your Pumpkin Spice Latte.
Continue reading… “PulseWallet lets you pay for things by scanning your veins”
The Pengheng Space Capsules Hotel in Shenzhen, China.
Would you like to travel to space but the cost of a Virgin Galactic flight falls outside of your budget? You might want to consider a trip to China instead.
Continue reading… “Chinese space-themed hotel run by robots”
Curved displays by Sony at CES 2014.
Venture Beat tried to cover all of the 2 million square feet of exhibit space at the 2014 International CES. They saw only a portion of the tens of thousands products on display at the huge tech trade show. They saw fads like 3D glasses for TVs fade away. And it was interesting to see how “phablets,” or phones with huge, tablet-like screens, have caught on in places like Asia even though we’ve ridiculed them in the past.
Continue reading… “Top 10 trends at CES: Venture Beat”
Novel energy storage materials flow from the white containers into a fuel-cell like device in the foreground, where they generate electricity.
It would be great if utilities would be able to store the power that wind farms generate at night when no one wants and then be able to use it when the demand is high during the day. But conventional battery technology is so expensive that it only makes economic sense to store a few minutes of electricity, enough to smooth out a few fluctuations from gusts of wind.
By delving into the futuring techniques of Futurist Thomas Frey, you’ll embark on an enlightening journey.
Learn More about this exciting program.