[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pxQQV-XukRc&hd=1[/youtube]
Marty McFly’s self-lacing Nike trainers from Back to The Future Part 2 were the envy of 1980s school boys. Now versions of the famous futuristic sneakers are being made available to buy.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AAtkoje4-eM[/youtube]
The disappearing car door is labelled a “revolutionary concept in car technology” by its creators Jatech. The disappearing car door is a spin on the convention car door employed in nearly all automobiles today. Instead of the outward swinging hinged doors we are all familiar with, they have developed a door that retracts down into the body of the vehicle. To see exactly what I’m talking about, check it out on their website. Jatech have fitted the disappearing doors to Lincoln sedans, but can do custom fittings to customer’s vehicles of choice.
Continue reading… “The revolutionary “Disappearing Car Door””
Google Takeout, the recently launched “data liberation” service that lets you export files, photos and data from Google services like Picasa and Buzz, now includes support for Google Voice.
With the update, users of Google’s Internet-telephony service Google Voice are able to export call history, voicemail messages, greetings, call recordings, phone numbers and text messages…
Continue reading… “Google now lets you export Google Voice data”
MIT researchers tested the ‘sensing skin’ by attaching it to the underside of a concrete beam, then applying enough force to cause tiny cracks to form in the beam under one patch of the skin.
The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), in 2009, assigned a grade of “D” to the overall quality of infrastructure in the United States, saying that ongoing evaluation and maintenance of structures was necessary to improve that grade. Since then, federal stimulus funds have made it possible for communities to repair some infrastructure, but high-tech, affordable methods for continual monitoring remain in their infancy. Instead, most evaluation of bridges, dams, schools and other structures is still done by visual inspection, which is slow, expensive, cumbersome and in some cases, dangerous.
Continue reading… “‘Sensing skin’ for concrete would detect tiny cracks”
Illac Diaz, of non-profit My Shelter Foundation, brought the simple, cheap and innovative technology to the Philippines.
The slums in Manila are being transformed by a new twist on recycling. Plastic bottles are now being viewed as a cheap and sustainable way to light homes instead of trash.
Continue reading… “Solar Bottle Bulb – a cheap and sustainable way to light homes”
Art, efficiency and water recycling.
Hyeona Yang and Joshua Noble, two students at the Copenhagen Institute of Interaction Design, built the “Raincatch.” It’s a suit that collects rainwater and filters it into drinking water…
Continue reading… “Raincoat turns rain into drinking water”
Opera TV Store offers a new option in the market.
Opera continues to show why it’s the little browser company that could, unveiling an HTML5 platform for bringing web browsing and apps to televisions and set top boxes at IFA 2011.
Though it’s not the household name Firefox and Google Chrome are when it comes to desktop browsers, Opera has a long history of big-time integration deals. It’s the only web browser for the Nintendo Wii and DS, and it was picked by Ford for in-dash browsing back in 2009.
With the Opera TV Store, the company is offering television and set-top box manufacturers an easy-to-integrate solution for delivering web apps and standards-compliant browsing to their customers. The system’s dashboard and speed dial pages are built using standard web code and displayed using the Opera browser engine…
Continue reading… “Opera TV Store brings HTML5-powered web apps, browsing to TVs and set top boxes”
It sounds like the answer to parents who are worried about lending their car to their precious teenage children.
Continue reading… “Ford’s MyKey electronic system will teenager-proof your car”
According to Marc Abrahams, the founder of the Ig Nobel Prize and the Annals of Improbable Research, some Korean businessmen own special suits that emit a pleasant aroma when rubbed. These suits allow the owners to remain fresh after very long days at work and play. Here’s Abrahams demonstrating the effectiveness of his peppermint-scented suit to a test subject.
Continue reading… “Scratch & Sniff business suit”
All clicked up.
The Japanese design firm nendo and the electronics company Elecom came up with this innovative mouse design. The Kandenchi has three buttons and a scroll wheel. It connects to a computer through a wireless hookup…
Continue reading… “Cylindrical Mouse”
PodPonics
PodPonics is new hope for urban agriculture. The startup, based in Atlanta, is pursuing a new kind of recycling. They are transforming old shipping containers into miniature hydroponic farms that can be used to grow food anywhere. Matt Liotta started PodPonics in 2010 and it is already supplying about 200 pounds of leafy greens a week using six converted containers. About one acre’s worth of produce can be produced in each “pod” which is in only 320 square feet. PodPonics crops use 90% less water than traditional farms, no pesticides, less fertilizer, and go from harvest to your plate in just a matter of hours! (Pics)
Continue reading… “PodPonics – shipping containers transformed into miniature hydroponic farms”
Kinze Manufacturing’s autonomous row crop technology.
Kinze Manufacturing hopes to do for tractors what Roomba has done for vacuum cleaners.
Continue reading… “Kinze Manufacturing develops ‘autonomous’ tractor”
By delving into the futuring techniques of Futurist Thomas Frey, you’ll embark on an enlightening journey.
Learn More about this exciting program.