[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-Lg_kvLaAM[/youtube]
This YouTube video about the invention of a plastic-to-oil converting machine went viral and exceeded 3.7 million views. This shows that concern over “the plastic problem” is certainly not going away, despite encouraging bans on and decreases in the use of plastic shopping bags.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17j5QzF3kqE[/youtube]
There is the reason that even when a woman is in really great shape, wears a size 4, and is healthy, it is never good enough for them. All of our logic and intelligence have trouble combatting what we’ve seen as “perfect” day after day.
Continue reading… “Why we have ridiculous standards of beauty In just 37 Seconds”
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KpMTkr_aiYU[/youtube]
The world is a fascinating place up close. Through the lens of a microscope you can find details that you would otherwise never notice. But now you can. There is a simple method for building a digital microscope that uses your smartphone camera, focused by a laser-pointer lens.
Continue reading… “How to turn your smartphone into a digital microscope”
Even as smartphone sales slow down, mobile-centric social networks, mobile video companies, and location based services are well positioned to feel the biggest benefits from the massive shift in consumer media consumption and usage patterns. But how can companies truly capitalize on this consumer revolution and adapt to their mobile-centric customers?
Continue reading… “Massive growth in mobile media consumption in 2013”
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJ6BuHL0EiQ[/youtube]
The New York City–based “think/do tank,” Google Ideas, is run by the Internet search giant, Google, and they are launching several new technologies designed to highlight hacker attacks around the world and help people in repressive regimes access the Internet. The new products, announced this week at the Google Ideas Summit in New York City, represent the most substantial offerings delivered by the three-year-old Google policy unit and could be a major boon to activists and reformers in the world’s most closed and repressive societies.
In 2007, officials from Berkeley, California shut off the electricity to an artists space known as the Shipyard. That action, which forced the artists there to seek a new way to power their flamethrowers, is the origin story of a company that now produces what it says is the world’s only carbon-negative power source.
Continue reading… “Carbon-negative energy now a reality”
Aeromobil
Stefan Klein, a designer from the Slovak Republic, has announced the first flight of his Aeromobil Version 2.5, a flying car prototype he has been developing over the last 20 years. This vehicle is a strikingly beautiful design with folding wings and a propeller in the tail. But will its flight capabilities match its looks? (Photos and video)
Continue reading… “Aeromobil flying car prototype makes its first test flight”
BitLock
BitLock, a keyless bike lock, is a U-lock that can be opened electronically by an iPhone or Android app. With that electronic aspect comes other features, such as a GPS tracker and a fitness tracker that can record miles biked, calories burned, and CO2 emissions avoided. Whoever has admin-like status can grant or revoke access to the lock. Making things even simpler, it all connects via Bluetooth, so you don’t even need to have your phone out to open it: proximity works just as well.
Continue reading… “BitLock – a keyless bike lock connects to your phone via Bluetooth”
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1_mPe8Y0V4[/youtube]
Solar power is a great way to keep robots running indefinitely, in theory. And it’s absolutely possible to do it, provided your robot doesn’t need to do anything urgently, you have a ludicrously powerful light source, or your robot is very efficient and spends a lot of time in the sun. That last category has potential for solar powered micro air vehicles, including the University of Maryland’s Robo Raven, which has just gotten kitted out with solar panel wings.
Continue reading… “Robo Raven – the first solar-powered robotic bird”
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RJTl2oqaWPs[/youtube]
All of that electricity in a thunderstorm. All that lightning, all those kilojoules of power, just waiting to be harnessed, if only we knew how do it! Could we really harness the electricity from lightning?
Continue reading… “Will we ever be able to harness the power of lightning?”
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bPjatYDHJKo[/youtube]
The U.S. Army has just commissioned an Iron Man-like suit, called the Tactical Assault Light Operator Suit (TALOS) that will be strong enough to withstand a barrage of bullets.
Continue reading… “U.S. Army envisions Iron Man-like suit to protect troops”
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9poznjfOLA[/youtube]
MIT has had a number of off-the-wall discoveries, so it takes something truly unexpected to throw the researchers there for a loop. MIT researchers have recently discovered the self-healing properties of metal. If their discovery means what we think it means, we could just have witnessed to the birth of the T-1000.
Continue reading… “MIT researchers discover self-healing metal”