John Cooper Works unveils its take on the 4x4 MINI Countryman

When MINI Cooper came out with its Mini Countryman in 2010, it looked like what it was – a 4x4 crossover for people who like MINIs, but occasionally need to drive through a field or live on steep, icy hills. This year, MINI’sJohn Cooper Works sub-brand comes out with its version of the Countryman that takes the bucolic MINI and gives it a heavy dose of racetrack style and technology... Continue Reading John Cooper Works unveils its take on the 4x4 MINI Countryman

2013 Toyota Avalon sheds 110 pounds

With U.S. mileage standards set to rise to 54.5 miles per gallon by 2025, Carmakers are working flat out to make their vehicles burn as little fuel as possible. One approach is to develop new drivetrains based on hybrid orall-electric technology, but regardless of the platform, weight reduction remains very much a part of the equation. Toyota is pointing to its 2013 Avalon as an example of its progress on this front, having designed the mid-size sedan with 110 pounds (49.89 kg) less weight than the 2012 model... Continue Reading 2013 Toyota Avalon sheds 110 pounds

2014 Honda Accord PHEV features electric-only mode

Scheduled to go on sale in early 2013, the new Honda Accord Plug-in Hybrid (PHEV) sedan represents Honda's first two-motor hybrid system. It has the ability to travel up to 15 miles (24 km) on electrics only and boasts a total driving range of more than 500 miles (800 km). .. Continue Reading 2014 Honda Accord PHEV features electric-only mode

Solar-powered oven makes fresh water

Sometimes the simplest ideas are the best. Concerned about the lack of fresh water in the developing world, designer Gabriele Diamanti wanted a solution to desalinate water that was available to households rather than relying on giant centralized plants. He also wanted it to be something inexpensive that could be made by local craftsman. The result is a ceramic solar still called the Eliodomestico that operates like an “upside-down coffee percolator”... Continue Reading Solar-powered oven makes fresh water

AutoTram Extra Grand carries 256 people

Love them or hate them, bendy buses are impressive. You see one coming around a corner looking like an ordinary bus, then comes the articulated bit and then more bus. Now the unveiling in Dresden, Germany of the AutoTram Extra Grand raises the bar with a bendy bus that’s more like a bendy train. With three sections, measuring over 30 meters (100 ft) long and a passenger capacity of 256, it’s the world’s longest bus... Continue Reading AutoTram Extra Grand carries 256 people

World’s largest self-powered land vehicle gets an overhaul

NASA’s giant crawler transporter that carried the Apollo missions and the Space Shuttles to the launch pad is getting an upgrade. In service since the mid-1960s, the 5.5 million pound (2.49 million kg) vehicle is receiving new engines and other improvements that will allow it to carry the future Space Launch System (SLS) rockets due to enter service in 2017... Continue Reading World’s largest self-powered land vehicle gets an overhaul

Kia Quoris: Loaded with luxury and ready for export

Kia has announced that its Quoris luxury sedan is going on sale outside of South Korea later this year. The rear-wheel drive Quoris, known as the Kia K9 in Korea, is the company’s latest move to tempt upmarket consumers into the showrooms with a combination of high-tech gadgetry, opulent trimmings and a dash of GT styling... Continue Reading Kia Quoris: Loaded with luxury and ready for export

LED lantern runs on saltwater

Every now and again, a rumor crops up that someone has invented a motor car that runs on water. Sadly, that still remains a rumor, but Green House Co Ltd of Japan will soon be marketing an LED lantern that runs on saltwater... Continue Reading LED lantern runs on saltwater

Spinach protein boosts efficiency of “biohybrid” solar cells

Popeye gets his strength from downing a can of spinach and what works for him also works for solar panels. Researchers at Vanderbilt University led by David Cliffel and Kane Jennings have come up with a way to dope silicon with a protein found in spinach to create a more efficient "biohybrid" solar cell that produces substantially more electrical current than previous efforts and may one day lead to cheaper, more efficient solar panels... Continue Reading Spinach protein boosts efficiency of “biohybrid” solar cells

Curiosity flexes its arm

On Wednesday, NASA’s unmanned Mars rover Curiosity passed another milestone. Having traversed 358 feet (109 m), the 4X4-sized, nuclear-powered explorer is one-quarter of the way from Bradbury landing to it’s first major destination, Glenelg. Now that Curiosity’s mobility system has had the bugs shaken out of it, it’s the arm’s turn to take center stage. Curiosity will spend the next six to ten days testing its 7-foot (2.1 m) arm and the set of tools that make up its “hand.”.. Continue Reading Curiosity flexes its arm

Fastest production MINI to debut in Paris

More details of the two-seater MINI John Cooper Works GP have been released ahead of its official debut at the Paris Motor Show later this month. The "fastest MINI ever" hasn’t just been given a couple of aerodynamic aprons and some racing stripes. BMW has dropped in a turbocharged 1.6-litre four-cylinder engine that puts out 218 bhp (160 kW) to send this MINI from 0 to 100 km/h (62 mph) in 6.3 seconds and a top speed of 242 kph (150 mph). Read More

Light-activated skeletal muscle “blurs the boundary between nature and machines”

In Sir Arthur C. Clarke’s 1972 novel Rendezvous with Rama, the explorers of a seemingly deserted alien spaceship passing through our Solar System encounter a strange three-legged creature that turns out to be an organic robot. In the ‘70s, this seemed so incredible that it could only be the product of an alien civilization thousands of years ahead of us. In 2012, scientists at MIT and the University of Pennsylvania are proving otherwise by starting work on organic robots here on Earth. Using genetically engineered muscle tissue that responds to light, they are blurring the line between animal and machine at the cellular level... Continue ReadingLight-activated skeletal muscle “blurs the boundary between nature and machines”

Radio waves used to wirelessly power tiny heart implant

Implantable medical devices are becoming more common everyday. The problem is that no matter how sophisticated the devices are, most still depend on batteries for power. One solution to this is for the power source to remain outside the body and to beam the power to the device. However, that has its own difficulties because wireless power can’t penetrate very far through human tissue ... until now. .. Continue Reading Radio waves used to wirelessly power tiny heart implant

Boeing JDAM-ER munition completes first round of tests

Boeing has completed the first round of tests of the latest variant of its precision bomb kit, the Joint Direct Attack Munition-Extended Range (JDAM-ER). Developed in partnership with the Australian government, the winged bomb kit finished its first wind tunnel tests in the United States and is one step closer to production and entering service with the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF)... Continue Reading Boeing JDAM-ER munition completes first round of tests

Curved glasses make people drink lager faster

Are you getting blotto on lager more often than you should? If the University of Bristol’s School of Experimental Psychology is to be believed, then you can (try to) blame your glass. According to Dr. Angela Atwood, drinking out of a curved glass makes you drink lager faster. .. Continue Reading Curved glasses make people drink lager faster

New airline seats provide individual climate control

These days, jet air travel is less of a glamorous Don Draper adventure and often more of a tedious ordeal. The cabin air doesn’t help as passengers suffer sinus troubles and can’t stay warm or cool enough for comfort. At the ILA Berlin Air Show running September 11 - 16, the Fraunhofer Institute for Building Physics (IBP) of Valley, Germany will reveal to the public a new airline seat that provides air passengers with individual climate control that may make even travelling Coach a bit more pleasant... Continue Reading New airline seats provide individual climate control

Saturn and Titan in living color

It will soon be spring on Saturn ... and it will last for the next eight years or so. To celebrate the slow passing of the seasons of the giant ringed planet, NASA has released four real-color images sent back by the Cassinispace probe. The images not only show the seasonal changes, but also the mysterious vortex recently discovered at the south pole of Saturn’s largest moon, Titan... Continue Reading Saturn and Titan in living color

Boston subway to be used to test sensors in fake "bioweapons" attack

Over the next six months, the United States Department of Homeland Security’s Science and Technology Directorate is releasing a harmless bacteria into the underground train system as part of its “Detect to Protect” program. It’s purpose isn’t to frighten commuters, but to test sensors designed to detect biological weapon attacks... Continue Reading Boston subway to be used to test sensors in fake "bioweapons" attack

Scientists use light to alter properties of high temperature superconductors

When people have a difficult problem they often talk about “shining a light on it.” Creating and controlling high-temperature superconductors has been a problem for scientists and engineers for over two decades. Now, Yoram Dagan, a professor at Tel Aviv University's (TAU) Department of Physics and Center for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, has made a breakthrough in superconductors by literally shining a light on them. By doing this, he is able to control their properties. .. Continue Reading Scientists use light to alter properties of high temperature superconductors

3-D printing on the micrometer scale

Three-dimensional printers are popping up everywhere these days. Some are small enough to fit in a briefcaseand others are large enough to build print houses, but scientists at the Vienna University of Technology are going for the microscopic. Earlier this year, the university built a 3D printer that uses lasers to operate on a tiny small scale. Now they're refining the technique to enable precise placement a selected molecule in a three-dimensional material. This process, called “3D-photografting,” can potentially be used to create a “lab on a chip” or artificially grow living tissue... Continue Reading 3-D printing on the micrometer scale