New Discoveries – Page 50

Breakthrough Thinking, DIY, Great New Product, Green Friendly, New Discoveries

Electronic gardening kit

October 6, 2011

A whole new way to garden.

If there ever was a product that best demonstrated our increasing disconnect with nature, this one may be it. Click & Grow is an electronic gardening set that includes a soil-less pot, plant ‘cartridges’ and yep, even batteries. The premise is that people are either too busy or too much of a brownthumb to grow their own plants, so why not let some gadget do all the hard work?

Developed by an Estonian entrepreneur, Click & Grow is the result of a meshing of hydroponics and aeroponics, all reduced to a series of sensors, processors and software, which surround the seeds in the disposable cartridge…

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Analysis, Breakthrough Thinking, Historical Perspectives, New Discoveries, New Viewpoints, Science & Technology News

The billion dollar ALMA observatory can spot a golf ball from 15 Kilometers

October 4, 2011

ALMA

The windswept, sunburned Chajnantor plateau in Chile rises 16,500 feet above sea level and has some of the driest air on Earth. That makes it the perfect location for the world’s biggest, most sensitive, and most complex ground-based telescope…

Continue reading… “The billion dollar ALMA observatory can spot a golf ball from 15 Kilometers”

Analysis, Breakthrough Thinking, Crazy Stuff, Human Behavior, New Discoveries, New Inventions, New Viewpoints

Researchers design locks that can be opened with certain hand gestures

October 4, 2011

Hand gestures have a whole new meaning.

Researchers from Taiwan have developed a machine that reads people’s hand gestures and thereby permits them to open doors by waving a few fingers:

“In the future, you won’t have to worry about losing or forgetting your keys,” said Tsai Yao-pin, who teaches at the Technology and Science Institute of Northern Taiwan…

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Analysis, Business, Crazy Stuff, Historical Perspectives, Latest Trend, New Discoveries

When foreclosure isn’t the end of the nightmare

October 3, 2011

Foreclosure may not be enough any more.

An underwater homeowner decides to walk away from his house, which then goes into foreclosure. The bank takes the house and then sells it. End of story, right?

Maybe not. Some banks are suing “strategic defaulters” for the amount of money they lost!

Joseph Reilly lost his vacation home here last year when he was out of work and stopped paying his mortgage. The bank took the house and sold it. Mr. Reilly thought that was the end of it.

In June, he learned otherwise…

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Analysis, Breakthrough Thinking, Ecological Products, Green Friendly, Health & Fitness, New Discoveries, New Inventions

Self-cleaning cloth keeps your shirts bacteria-free with pure sunlight power

October 3, 2011

Self cleaning cloth.

This is laundry science at work. Researchers at the University of California at Davis have developed a compound that blends into cotton clothes and, when exposed to sunlight, destroys bacteria and toxins.

The compound is known as 2-anthraquinone carboxylic acid, or 2-AQC, and can be incorporated into cotton threads without the risk of washing off. After an hour’s exposure to our yellow sun, the super compound produces reactive oxygen species, such as hydroxyl radicals and hydrogen peroxide, that break down nasties like E. coli and dangerous pesticides…

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Breakthrough Thinking, Education, Historical Perspectives, Human Behavior, New Discoveries

Single dose of ‘Magic Mushrooms’ hallucinogen may create lasting personality change, study suggests

September 30, 2011

New value found in psilocybin activities.

A single high dose of the hallucinogen psilocybin, the active ingredient in so-called “magic mushrooms,” was enough to bring about a measurable personality change lasting at least a year in nearly 60 percent of the 51 participants in a new study, according to the Johns Hopkins researchers who conducted it…

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Analysis, Breakthrough Thinking, Entertainment, Latest News, New Discoveries, New Inventions, Science & Technology News

Energy storage membrane set to revolutionize rechargeable batteries

September 30, 2011

This simple looking membrane could change the industry.

If you want a rechargeable battery in a power-hungry device today, the only real choice is a lithium-ion battery. They are heavy, quite large depending on how much charge you need, and volatile. They also have a high cost and limited life span.

A replacement for lithium-ion has long been sought after, and recently there have been some breakthroughs such as the jelly-like polymer battery. However, researchers at the National University of Singapore may have come up with the best solution yet in the form of an new energy storage membrane…

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Analysis, Brain, Historical Perspectives, Human Behavior, Latest News, New Discoveries, People Making a Difference

Easily embarrassed? Study finds people will trust you more

September 29, 2011

Embarrassment can have an advantage.

If tripping in public or mistaking an overweight woman for a mother-to-be leaves you red-faced, don’t feel bad. A new study from the University of California, Berkeley, suggests that people who are easily embarrassed are also more trustworthy, and more generous…

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Breakthrough Thinking, Crazy Stuff, Historical Perspectives, Hot Issues, Latest News, New Discoveries

Wi-Fi signals may be used to track your movement inside your house

September 28, 2011

Is Wi-Fi the new spy eye?

Neal Patwari of the University of Utah discovered that breathing affects Wi-Fi signal strength. Chest expansion during a breath bends the wireless signals and they lose some power. This slight drop can be measured and used to calculate your breathing rate.

Measuring someone’s breathing rate is helpful, but the use of this technology as a spy tool is where things get interesting…

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Breakthrough Thinking, Latest News, Medical Breakthrough, New Discoveries

Coffee drinking linked to less depression in women

September 28, 2011

Drinking that depression away.

For many women, the mood-elevating effects of a cup of coffee may be more than fleeting. A new study shows that women who regularly drink coffee – the fully caffeinated kind – have a 20 percent lower risk of depression than nondrinkers. Decaf, soft drinks, chocolate, tea and other sources of caffeine did not offer the same protection against depression, possibly because of their lower levels of caffeine…

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Art, Breakthrough Thinking, Crazy Stuff, Education, Entertainment, Historical Perspectives, Humor, New Discoveries

The Visible Barbie Project

September 28, 2011

Did you ever wonder?

The Visible Barbie Project is part of the Foundation for Unnatural Research’s long-range plan for advancing the state of human knowlege of things that no normal person would ever think to wonder about.

The project began with the acquisition of a suitable marked-down subject at a nearby toy store and ended approximately six hours later, not including the time required to pick out the bits of hair that got stuck in the bandsaw.

The cause of the subject’s markdown was unknown, but we didn’t care; all that mattered was that the gross physical anatomy of the body was intact…

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Analysis, Architecture, Art, Award Winner, New Discoveries, New Viewpoints, Recycling

Reused tires make a squid-like playground for refugee children

September 25, 2011

When Go Play! announced a competition to design an innovative playground for 1,000 refugee children along the border of Thailand and Burma, Dutch designer AnneMarie van Splunter thought of old car tires. To be specific, she thought of a playground made entirely out of reused tires on a bamboo frame, made in the shape of a tree with expanding roots…

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