Would you wear a shirt for 100 days without washing it?

A good wool shirt is awesome, but would you wear one for 100 days straight without washing it? Kickstarter startup Wool & Prince claims that you can do exactly that with its buttondown shirts, which it handed out to 15 “wear testers” who wore them while engaging in such activities as backpacking in the Andes and dancing in "Tropical" NYC clubs. According to the makers, the shirts not only proved durable, but still looked – and smelled – fresh after over three months of straight wear... Continue Reading Would you wear a shirt for 100 days without washing it?

Section: Good Thinking

Tags: Clothing, Kickstarter, Shirt, Wool

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Smartphone satellites beam down pictures from space

When most people send images from their smartphones, they tend to be of what the photographer is having for dinner or someone doing something very silly in the pub [or cats – Ed]. NASA has raised the bar for phone snaps out of the atmosphere by using smartphones installed in "nanosatellites" in low Earth orbit to send back images of the Earth. The three satellites, called Alexander, Graham and Bell, flew in space between April 21 and 27 as part of a mission to show how satellites could be built cheaper using off-the-shelf components... Continue Reading Smartphone satellites beam down pictures from space

Section: Space

Tags: NASA, Photography, Smartphones, Spacecraft

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Waverider makes hypersonic history

It was fourth time lucky for Boeing’s X-51A Waverider, as it blasted into the history books on Monday. The fourth test of the hypersonic drone achieved the longest scramjet-powered hypersonic flight yet, hitting a top speed of Mach 5.1. Dropped from a B-52H bomber out of Edwards Air Force Base in California, the unmanned craft flew at top speed for three and a half minutes before it made a controlled dive into the Pacific Ocean after six minutes of flight... Continue Reading Waverider makes hypersonic history

Section: Aircraft

Tags: Aircraft, Boeing, Hypersonic, Research

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NASA wants public to send haikus to Mars

Haikus to Mars may sound like the title of a 1950s sci-fi B movie, but that’s what NASA is asking for. The space agency is inviting the public to submit haikus to be recorded on a DVD that will be carried by the unmanned Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN) spacecraft, which is scheduled to launch in November. .. Continue Reading NASA wants public to send haikus to Mars

Section: Space

Tags: Art, Mars, MAVEN, NASA, Spacecraft, Writing

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Ford's eWheelDrive has designs on the urban car of the future

It's predicted that by the year 2050 there will be 9.3 billion people on Earth and 6.4 billion of them will be living in cities. There could also be four times as many cars on the roads as today, leading to an incredible degree of urban congestion and gridlock. That’s the impetus behind Ford and technology partner Schaeffler’s eWheelDrive electric research car, that moves the motor to the wheel hubs... Continue Reading Ford's eWheelDrive has designs on the urban car of the future

Section: Automotive

Tags: Automotive, Cars, Electric Vehicles, Ford, Schaeffler

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IBM creates world's smallest movie using individual atoms

Anyone who’s tried their hand at stop animation will know it’s an incredibly time consuming and delicate job. But spare a thought for scientists at IBM Almaden in California who have produced the world’s smallest stop animation movie by using a scanning tunneling microscope to move individual atoms. Rather than competing with Aardman or Pixar for a slice of the international box office, the film is intended to make the public aware of new technology that could increase computer memories far beyond what is possible today... Continue Reading IBM creates world's smallest movie using individual atoms

Section: Science

Tags: Animation, Atoms, Data Storage, IBM, Movies, World's Smallest

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CERN recreating the world's first website

To old fogeys like me, it seems like only yesterday that the coolest way to go online was to dial up the AP wire service bulletin board on a 300-baud modem, but it was actually two decades ago that the web as we know it burst onto our world. On Tuesday, it was 20 years ago that the World Wide Web went public, when CERN made the technology behind it available on a royalty-free basis. To mark the occasion, the organization announced that it is recreating the world's very first website for posterity. .. Continue Reading CERN recreating the world's first website

Section: Computers

Tags: CERN, History, Internet

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Northrop Grumman's CUTLASS UGV ready to tackle hazardous situations

The arrest of one of the Boston Marathon bombing suspects was carried out, in part, with the help of a remote controlled robot.

IBM developing robot assistance for technicians

If you've ever tried typing while talking to technical support with the phone crammed between ear and shoulder, then you know the meaning of frustration. Now imagine doing that upside down inside an airplane wing while juggling wires, crimps and a schematic printout. For some field engineers, that sort of thing is an everyday occurrence, so IBM in collaboration with the University of Sheffield Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) in the UK is developing a mobile maintenance, repair and operations (MRO) prototype robot. It's a combination of a smartphone app and a camera/projector mounted on a robot arm, that allows supervisors and experts to have a more active presence on the job... Continue Reading IBM developing robot assistance for technicians

Section: Robotics

Tags: IBM, Remote Presence, Robots, Telepresence, University of Sheffield

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CERN recreating the world's first website

To old fogeys like me, it seems like only yesterday that the coolest way to go online was to dial up the AP wire service bulletin board on a 300-baud modem, but it was actually two decades ago that the web as we know it burst onto our world. On Tuesday, it was 20 years ago that the World Wide Web went public, when CERN made the technology behind it available on a royalty-free basis. To mark the occasion, the organization announced that it is recreating the world's very first website for posterity. .. Continue Reading CERN recreating the world's first website

Section: Computers

Tags: CERN, History, Internet

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Honda "Concept M" MPV heads for the Chinese market

Honda is determined to secure a slice of the growing Chinese motoring market with no less than three concept vehicles set to go into production in the near future. While details are scant, the company showcased its “Concept M” Multi-Purpose Vehicle (MPV) that is due to go on sale in China starting next year at Auto Shanghai 2013... Continue Reading Honda "Concept M" MPV heads for the Chinese market

Section: Automotive

Tags: Car, Concept Cars, Honda, Shanghai Auto Show 2013

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Alpha Dominche's Steampunk gives baristas total control

With baristas able to draw masterpieces in a macchiato, the days when going out for a coffee meant a cup of something scorched in an urn seem long gone. Unfortunately, if your tastes run more toward brewed coffee rather than a double decaf or skinny latte, you’re still likely to be pointed to a vacuum-flask at the end of the counter. Alpha Dominche’s Steampunk Coffee and Tea Brewer aims to redress the balance of power by asking the espresso machine to make room for a computerized coffee maker that gives baristas the power to replicate a wide variety of brewing methods... Continue Reading Alpha Dominche's Steampunk gives baristas total control

Section: Good Thinking

Tags: Alpha Dominche, Coffee, Modular

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Touch Bionics introduces app-controlled prosthetic hand

Whichever marketing genius came up with the Apple catchphrase, "There's an app for that," has a lot to answer for – or brag about. It's heard so often these days that it’s become a cliché. Touch Bionic’s i-limb ultra revolution robotic artificial hand gives yet another reason to repeat the phrase. It’s linked to a smartphone app, which allows for greater control of the hand, including the ability to program it for the wearer’s personal needs... Continue ReadingTouch Bionics introduces app-controlled prosthetic hand

Section: Medical

Tags: Apps, Bionic, Bluetooth, Hand, Prosthesis, Prosthetics, Robotic

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DARPA developing personal LWIR cameras to give soldiers heat vision

With their ability to pick out humans by their heat signatures, long-wave infrared (LWIR) thermal imaging cameras are a valuable asset for soldiers – and alien predators. Unfortunately, non-alien built ones are expensive and so large that they need to be mounted on vehicles. In an effort to make a LWIR camera cheap and small enough for an individual soldier to carry, DARPA is working on a five-micron camera that offers a reduced size without sacrificing performance... Continue Reading DARPA developing personal LWIR cameras to give soldiers heat vision

Section: Digital Cameras

Tags: Cameras, DARPA, Infrared, Prototype, Thermal Imaging

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Kepler discovers smallest habitable-zone Earth-like planets to date

NASA has announced that the Kepler space probe has discovered two planetary systems that include the smallest planets yet found that lie in the "habitable zone." The systems include three super-Earth size planets, with one of them being a habitable-zone exoplanet that is the closest in size to Earth yet discovered. .. Continue Reading Kepler discovers smallest habitable-zone Earth-like planet to date

Section: Space

Tags: Exoplanet, Habitable zone, Kepler Mission, NASA, Spacecraft, Super-Earth

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Hybrid solar system boosts natural gas powerplant efficiency by 20 percent

Solar power holds the promise of clean, limitless energy, but it currently suffers from high costs and an inherent disadvantage of not working when the sun isn't shining. The Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory is taking a best-of-both-worlds approach by developing a hybrid solar/gas system that increases the efficiency and reduces the carbon footprint of natural gas power plants. .. Continue Reading Hybrid solar system boosts natural gas powerplant efficiency by 20 percent

Section: Science

Tags: Alternative Energy, Energy, PNNL, Solar Powered, Sunlight

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Proba-3 mission will call on satellites to fly in sub-millimeter precision

The European Space Agency (ESA) wants to bring the sort of precision normally associated with Swiss watch making to satellite navigation. When it launches in 2017, ESA’s Proba-3 mission will incorporate the first satellite pair capable of flying in formation to within a tolerance of a millimeter to one another. It's part of a demonstration technology that could one day be used to build space telescopes using formation-flying satellites as a “rigid structure” that would be impossibly large to achieve in a single spacecraft... Continue Reading Proba-3 mission will call on satellites to fly in sub-millimeter precision

Section: Space 

Tags: ESA, Satellite, Spacecraft 

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World's largest optical telescope gets construction approval

The world’s largest optical telescope got the go ahead last Friday when the Hawaiian Board of Land and Natural Resources (BLNR) granted a building and operating permit for the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) to be sited on a plateau of Mauna Kea on the island of Hawaii. The next-generation telescope, which uses a 30-meter (98 ft) segmented mirror promises to capture images from the near-ultraviolet to the mid-infrared wavelengths with unprecedented clarity. .. Continue Reading World's largest optical telescope gets construction approval

Section: Science

Tags: Astronomy, Telescope

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Scientists bioengineer functional, transplantable rat kidneys

About 100,000 people in the United States alone are on the list to receive a kidney transplant and 400,000 are kept alive by kidney dialysis machines. Unfortunately, there are only 18,000 kidneys available each year in the U.S. and those lucky enough to receive one face a lifetime of immunosuppressant drugs. To increase the supply and remove the risk of tissue rejection, a team of researchers led by Harald Ott of the Massachusetts General Hospital Center for Regenerative Medicine has built an experimental bioengineered kidney that not only produces urine, but has been successfully transplanted into a rat... Continue Reading Scientists bioengineer functional, transplantable rat kidneys

Section: Medical

Tags: kidney, Massachusetts General Hospital, Stem Cells

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Time Traveler watch uses landmarks to tell the time

World-time functions have been available on digital watches at the press of a stud for over 30 years, but for world weary travelers touching down in a new time zone sometimes even that might be too much effort. To fill this admittedly niche market, Mr. Jones Watches has come up with its Time Traveler watch, which allows you to see at a glance what time it is in 16 different time zones – provided you’re good at recognizing landmarks. .. Continue Reading Time Traveler watch uses landmarks to tell the time

Section: Wearable Electronics

Tags: Time, Travel, Watches

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Russian space enthusiasts may have found lost Soviet Mars lander

Russian space enthusiasts have pinpointed the resting place of what is believed to be the Soviet lander, Mars 3, which failed shortly after landing in 1971. Using images returned by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, a crowdsourcing effort has found what may be four components of the lander, its parachute and descent module... Continue Reading Russian space enthusiasts may have found lost Soviet Mars lander

Section: Space

Tags: Historic, Mars, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, NASA, Spacecraft

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AirRider hovercraft uses hybrid design

Even though hovercraft have been around for over half a century, they still have an air of the future about them. They’re used in everything from sports to oil exploration, yet they still leave a lot to be desired in terms of ride and stability. Hoverworks of Parry Sound, Ontario hopes to improve matters with its AirRider hovercraft, which uses a hybrid hull and skirt design that combines the best of conventional hovercraft technologies. .. Continue ReadingAirRider hovercraft uses hybrid design

Section: Marine

Tags: Hovercraft, Hybrid, Inflatable, Watercraft

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Boeing announces Phantom Phoenix family of small satellites

One problem with satellites is that they’re either one-offs or part of a constellation of a single, costly design. Both can be expensive and neither lends itself to getting a specialized satellite into orbit quickly and on a budget. Boeing’s answer to this is a kit car class of a small satellites called Phantom Phoenix that are relatively easy to customize and economical to launch. .. Continue Reading Boeing announces Phantom Phoenix family of small satellites

Section: Space

Tags: Boeing, Satellite

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U.S. Navy to deploy Laser Weapon System on warship

The U.S. Navy took a step farther away from John Paul Jones and closer to James T. Kirk as it announced that a solid-state laser weapon will be deployed on a U.S. Navy ship in fiscal year 2014. The announcement that the Laser Weapon System (LaWS) will deployed on board USS Ponce (AFSB[I] 15) two years ahead of schedule was made on Monday at the Sea-Air-Space exposition, National Harbor, Maryland. The deployment is the latest in a line of recent recent high-energy laser demonstrations carried out by the Office of Naval Research (ONR) and Naval Sea Systems Command... Continue Reading U.S. Navy to deploy Laser Weapon System on warship

Section: Military

Tags: Laser, Laser weapon, US Navy

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Margaret Thatcher and soft-serve ice cream

As if restoring Britain's pride, crushing the unions, saving the Falklands and helping defeat Communism wasn't enough.

Researchers developing fusion rocket to slash travel time of Mars missions

Traveling through deep space is a hazardous undertaking and choosing the right engine can mean the difference between a fast, successful mission and a slow one with mounting dangers of radiation sickness, equipment failures and personal conflicts. A team of researchers from the University of Washington (UW) and Redmond, Washington-based MSNW are aiming to expand the options by developing a new fusion drive rocket engine that promises to make possible a manned spacecraft that could reach Mars and return to Earth in months rather than years... Continue Reading Researchers developing fusion rocket to slash travel time of Mars missions

Section: Space

Tags: Fusion, Mars, Prototype, Rocket, Space Travel, University of Washington

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Margaret Thatcher (1925 - 2013)

Her claim as Britain's greatest prime minister is surpassed only by Churchill's.

Sleep well, Ma'am.

MIT researchers study electro-hydrodynamic thrust

Imagine an aircraft that is silent, invisible to infrared detectors, has zero emissions and can hover in an eerie manner that helicopters can’t. Now imagine it coming from technology currently used to suck dust out of living room air. That’s what a team of researchers at MIT are doing. They've conducted a study that indicates that ionic thrusters, currently a science fair curiosity, might one day take to the skies... Continue Reading MIT researchers study electro-hydrodynamic thrust

Section: Aircraft

Tags: Aviation, ion engine, MIT, Research

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Bracelet uses social network to protect civil rights activists

Fighting for human rights is a noble undertaking, but it’s also extremely dangerous in places where that fight isn't about simply arguing over abstractions. Aware of the very real possibility of campaigners being beaten, kidnapped or murdered, Civil Rights Defenders in Stockholm has launched the Natalia Project. Named after Natalia Estemirova, a human rights activist who was abducted and murdered in Chechnya in 2009, it’s based on an electronic bracelet that sends a pre-programmed text alarm if activated or forcibly removed. .. Continue Reading Bracelet uses social network to protect civil rights activists

Section: Good Thinking

Tags: Alarm, Bracelet, Security

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Boeing completes final certification test of new 787 battery system

On Friday, Boeing completed the final certification test required by the United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for approval of the company’s lithium-ion battery modifications for the 787 Dreamliner aircraft. The test flight was made using a Boeing-owned production airplane built for LOT Polish Airlines with the company reporting that the test was “straightforward and the flight was uneventful.” .. Continue Reading Boeing completes final certification test of new 787 battery system

Section: Aircraft

Tags: 787, Aircraft, Aviation, Battery, Boeing, Lithium-ion

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2014 Honda Odyssey has a built-in vacuum

If you’re like me and have kids and dogs, then a day out can leave the car looking as if the interior was marched through by a battalion of crisp-munching soldiers. To help deal with this everyday reality and eliminate the need to hunt down a hand vac, Honda has installed a built-in vacuum system into its 2014 Odyssey Touring Elite. Unveiled at the 2013 New York International Auto Show (NYIAS), it's the latest iteration of Honda’s eight-passenger van... Continue Reading 2014 Honda Odyssey has a built-in vacuum

Section: Automotive

Tags: Cleaning, Honda, Vacuum, Van

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Detroit Electric unveils "fastest pure-electric production car on the market"

High-performance electric cars have been around for some years now, but despite the fact that Detroit and the electric car go back a long way, no all-electric supercars have been built in the Motor City. That is, until now. After giving us a bit of a tease last month, Detroit Electric has taken the wraps off its Limited-edition SP.01. According to its maker, the SP.01 is not only the “first pure electric sports car” to come out of Detroit, but it's also reportedly the fastest, and the first to be fully integrated with a smartphone... Continue Reading Detroit Electric unveils "fastest pure-electric production car on the market"

Section: Automotive
Tags: Detroit Electric, Electric Vehicles, World's Fastest

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Austria sends manned mission to Mars ... in Morocco

Of all the nations who might get to Mars first, Austria doesn’t loom large. Yet the Austrian Space Forum (OEWF) has sent a manned mission to the Red Planet – or at least, to an Earth-bound version of “Mars” located in the northern Sahara near Erfoud, Morocco. During February OEWF conducted a series of experiments and simulation tests with the aim of gaining a better understanding of how to execute a manned mars mission and develop technology for making it a reality... Continue Reading Austria sends manned mission to Mars ... in Morocco

Section: Space

Tags: Communications, Mars, OeWF, Simulator, Space Travel

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Parasound CD 1 CD player uses multiple readings to reduce errors

Audio files may seem to have put paid to CDs, but new technology shows that, like vinyl, the format still has a few tricks left in it. CDs do a pretty good job of reproducing music, but for many an audiophile the digital format lacks “warmth” and often suffers from tiny, yet detectable, imperfections that can be as jarring as serving Gordon Ramsay ketchup with lobster. The Parasound CD 1 player strives to eliminate these imperfections by ditching the conventional CD player in favor of a CD-ROM drive that spins CDs at four times normal speed in order to find and eliminate imperfections before they reach the speakers... Continue Reading Parasound CD 1 CD player uses multiple readings to reduce errors

Section: Home Entertainment

Tags: Audio, Audiophile, CD Player, Computer

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irock!

ESA develops "snap-proof" space tether

This month, the University of Helsinki and the European Space Agency (ESA) will test a new space tether that has less chance of snapping under the stresses of operating in orbit. Installed aboard Estonia’s ESTCube-1 cubesat, the new tether is scheduled to launched with ESA’s Proba-V satellite atop a Vega rocket as part of an experiment in developing an electric solar sail... Continue Reading ESA develops "snap-proof" space tether

Section: Space

Tags: CubeSat, ESA, Satellite, Solar Sail, Spacecraft, University of Helsinki

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Fraunhofer develops modular, compact radar for rescuers and industry

Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Solid State Physics (IAF) have developed a lightweight, compact radar that can “see” through non-transparent materials and whiteout snow conditions. The compact radar operates at frequencies of 75 to 110 GHz in the millimeter range W-band of the radio spectrum. Radars at this frequency can not only identify small objects up to three kilometers (1.8 miles) away, but they can also penetrate all manner of non-transparent, dielectric, and non-metallic materials, such as clothing, plastic surfaces, paper, wood, snow and fog... Continue Reading Fraunhofer develops modular, compact radar for rescuers and industry

Section: Science

Tags: Compact, Fraunhofer, Radar

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Chevy surprises New York with return of the Camaro Z/28

At this week's New York Auto Show, Chevrolet rolled out its restyled 2014 Camaro line with the highlight being the return of the Camaro Z/28. The four-passenger, front-engine, rear-drive coupé is billed as the “most track-capable offering in Camaro’s history” and the ”most significant redesign since the introduction of the fifth-generation Camaro as a concept car in 2006.” .. Continue Reading Chevy surprises New York with return of the Camaro Z/28

Section: Automotive

Tags: 2013 New York Auto Show, Camaro, Chevrolet

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Muscle car meets computer mouse
Chevy shows off a preview of what's to come at SEMA

Soyuz breaks speed record to ISS

A manned Soyuz spacecraft set a record for traveling to the International Space Station (ISS), arriving six hours after launch instead of the usual two days. Soyuz 34 lifted off from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Friday, March 28 at 4:43 p.m. EDT (08:43 GMT) and docked with the ISS at 10: 28 PM EDT (03:28 GMT). It was able to catch up and match trajectories with the ISS in only four orbits using new techniques previously tested in ISS rendezvouses with Russian unmanned Progress cargo ships... Continue Reading Soyuz breaks speed record to ISS

Section: Space

Tags: International Space Station, NASA, Roscosmos, Soyuz, Spacecraft

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Raytheon developing 3D hearing for pilots

Pilots need sharp eyes, but Raytheon is looking to their ears as well. The company has developed a new 3D Audio system for aircraft, that turns information into an audible three-dimensional picture. It helps pilots identify where threats are coming from, and keeps radio channels untangled... Continue Reading Raytheon developing 3D hearing for pilots

Section: Military

Tags: 3D, Aircraft, Display, Hearing, Raytheon, Wearable

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U.S. Army conducts parachute test jumps using latest IOTV body armor

If any soldier needs body armor, its a paratrooper making a parachute drop. Unfortunately, standard body armor is too inflexible for paratroopers to use without the risk of being injured upon landing, but the US Army’s Airborne and Special Operations Test Directorate hopes to rectify this, conducting test jumps with both the latest parachutes and body armor. .. Continue Reading U.S. Army conducts parachute test jumps using latest IOTV body armor

Section: Military

Tags: Armor, BAE Systems, US Army

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Weber Faster One – the world's fastest street-legal sports car?

Weber Sportcars promised to unseat the Bugatti Veyron as the world’s fastest street-legal sports car with its Bugatti Veyron as the world’s fastest street-legal sports car with its Faster One (F1) back in 2008. It seems the Swiss car maker still has the title in its sights, releasing the specifications for the latest iteration of its two-seater mid-engine sports car with the claim that it's the fastest street-legal sports car in the world... Continue Reading Weber Faster One – the world's fastest street-legal sports car?

Section: Automotive

Tags: Cars, Sports Cars, Supercars, Weber, World's Fastest

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Mitsubishi's Concept G4 makes global debut

Mitsubishi has pulled the wraps off its Concept G4 sedan at the 34th Bangkok International Motor Show. Billed by Mitsubishi as a “new compact eco car sedan,” it presents a mixture of weight savings and aerodynamic styling, which the company plans to roll out globally when the concept enters production. .. Continue Reading Mitsubishi's Concept G4 makes global debut

Section: Automotive

Tags: Bangkok International Motor Show, Concept Cars, Mitsubishi, Sedan

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Three across, five letters

Phys.org story:

Shrinking blob speeds traveling salesman on his way

Since when did headlines become crossword puzzle clues?

Aging B-52 bomber gets new Sniper pod upgrade

Last week, the United States Air Force’s 2nd Bomb Wing made its first live run with a newLockheed Martin Sniper pod installed on the wing of a B-52H Stratofortress. Taking off from Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana, the practice run introduces new combat abilities that will give the aging bomber better integration with ground forces and laser-guided bombs for precision strikes. .. Continue Reading Aging B-52 bomber gets new Sniper pod upgrade

Section: Military

Tags: Aircraft, Lockheed Martin, Sniper, US Air Force

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"You lookin' at me?" – Diff Displays system can tell

A team of scientists at the University of St. Andrews, Scotland has developed computer monitors that can detect when a person has stopped looking at them. At first glance, this may sound like some Orwellian micromanger’s dream, but its true purpose is to reduce distraction and increase productivity while taking the pressure off people whose jobs require staring at multiple displays for long periods... Continue Reading "You lookin' at me?" – Diff Displays system can tell

Section: Computers

Tags: Computer, Display, Monitor, University of St. Andrews

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Hotello concept packs a portable hotel room in a trunk

If you've ever been stuck in an airport due to weather, industrial action, or even a volcano, there comes a point where you've probably felt like giving up and building yourself a hotel room in the waiting area. That idea is no longer completely mad because designers Roberto De Luca and Antonio Scarponi, working for the Swiss firm daskonzep, have come up with a private space that folds up into a roller trunk... Continue Reading Hotello concept packs a portable hotel room in a trunk

Section: Good Thinking

Tags: Hotel, Portable, Privacy

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