Driverless cars and the end of distracted driving: Infographic

driverless-car-infographic-big

In 2009, auto accidents caused by distracted driving left over 5,000 people killed, and 450,000 injured. With smartphone use growing rapidly, along with new developments like Facebook integration with your car’s dashboard, the number of distracted driving accidents, it would seem, has nowhere to go but up.

Continue reading… “Driverless cars and the end of distracted driving: Infographic”

New “pop-up” technique spawns robotic insects

mini robot 120215155309-large

The Harvard Monolithic Bee (or “Mobee”) pops up within an assembly scaffold,
which performs more than 20 origami assembly folds.

A new technique inspired by elegant pop-up books and origami will soon allow clones of robotic insects to be mass-produced by the sheet.

Devised by engineers at Harvard, the ingenious layering and folding process enables the rapid fabrication of not just microrobots, but a broad range of electromechanical devices…

Continue reading… “New “pop-up” technique spawns robotic insects”

World’s tiniest lizards discovered in Madagascar

lizard

Miniature chameleon

This little chameleon is one of four miniature lizards identified in Madagascar, adding to our growing list of amazingly teeny animals. The one on the match in this picture is a juvenile, but even the adults max out at 30 millimeters. They’re the smallest lizards in the world, and some of the smallest vertebrates found to date. (Pics)

Continue reading… “World’s tiniest lizards discovered in Madagascar”

Facebook has a reputation problem: poll

Facebook is used by nearly 850 million people each month and roughly 480 million people use it every day. With a user rate like that and an upcoming $75 to $100 billion initial public offering, one might think Facebook is not only a highly visible company, but also one of Corporate America’s most reputable.

Continue reading… “Facebook has a reputation problem: poll”

Scientist pushes 3D printing boundaries with 3D camera & printer that doesn’t require software

3d-photography

Balaji Tammabattula’s invention allows anyone to duplicate any item, simply by photographing it.

Following the recent development of 3D printing technology, one Indian Computer Scientist has taken the revolution one step further.

Continue reading… “Scientist pushes 3D printing boundaries with 3D camera & printer that doesn’t require software”

MySpace signs up 1 million new users in a month

myspace

Chris Vanderhook, left, and Tim Vanderhook, right, at Myspace headquarters in Beverly Hills.

It may be too soon to tell if MySpace can become culturally relevant again.  But, Tim and Chris Vanderhook, the two young investors who bought the faded social networking site from News Corp. in June 2011 now have some semi-solid reason to hope.

Continue reading… “MySpace signs up 1 million new users in a month”

Stem cells can reverse heart attack damage

stem_cells

A ground-breaking study that may change how heart attacks are treated.

When a person has a heart attack a piece of muscle in a person’s heart dies from lack of blood flow , it scars over and is lost.  But a team of researchers from the Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute in Los Angeles has proven that those muscles may not necessarily be gone forever.

Continue reading… “Stem cells can reverse heart attack damage”

First manned flight of an electric multicopter

MultiCopter

E-volo Multicopter

Last October, near Karlsruhe, Germany, Thomas Senkel completed the first manned flight of an electric multicopter, flying it 10 feet off the ground for 90 seconds. Senkel, a physicist and paraglider pilot who helped found the company E-volo to build the craft, invented it after seeing a YouTube video of a German hobbyist’s remote-controlled hexacopter in action. (Video)

Continue reading… “First manned flight of an electric multicopter”