Jun 30 2006 Transparent toaster concept
The idea is for the toaster to be transparent so you'll catch it if the toast is being burned or turning out too dark. It's not currently in production because they can't get the glass hot enough to actually cook toast, but the idea is fantastic. I can't even tell you how many times I've wished to be able to see my toast cooking. Oh wait, yes I can. Once. Right before typing this.
Jun 29 2006 Plen robot skateboards
Ever seen a robot skateboard? Yeah? Well screw you! Because here's another.one and I bet it does a better job than whatever one you saw. It does such a good job I'm not even sure it's real. It steers, it gets on, it gets off, it moves, it roller skates, it makes breakfast, it poops, it drives cars, and it makes sweet sweet love. Seriously though, check out the video. It will shock and amaze you.
Jun 29 2006 nPod portable NES player
It isn't the first portable NES player but it's probably the newest. And you can never get enough portable NES players. Imagine if they could combine its power with that of a Sega Genesis and Super Nintendo. The madness!
Jun 29 2006 RC Golf Incred-a-Ball
Suck at golf? Here's an RC golf ball that'll help you cheat your way to victory for only $24.13. It'd probably be impossible to actually use on a golf course, but I guess it'd be amusing the first few times you tried it out. Although it seems hard to drive an RC golf ball around without people noticing you've got a large RC remote in your hands. "Hey, that's not a golf club! Or is it? I'm old and I can't see very well."
And then when they see your golf ball doing tricks and loops they might get a little suspicious too. Also the fact that your golf ball says the RC Incred-a-Ball might give it away too.
Jun 29 2006 Mindstorm robot plays pong
This crazy bastard took his Legos Mindstorm kit and put together a robot that's capable of playing Pong. It has a webcam attached and is controlled through infrared with a laptop. Sometimes I wonder where I've failed in life that I'm not capable of doing something as cool as this. Dropping out of the 3rd grade might be a start.
Jun 28 2006 Tropical Island Hammock
Anybody can own one of those lame stand alone hammocks but it takes a real innovator to own one with fake palm trees attached. What better way to remind yourself your life sucks and you can't afford a real vacation by laying in this bad boy in your backyard and weeping the days away.
Jun 28 2006 Buffalo SD card with integrated USB
Buffalo will release a new SD card with integrated USB connector mid-July with a capacity of 256MB, 512MB, 1GB and 2GB. This eliminates the need of having to plug in your digital camera or use a card reader, since the card itself is the card reader. My mind is boggled!
Jun 26 2006 Turnover E-reader simulates a book
Timothy Yeow has designed what looks to be the best looking e-reader yet. The turnover e-reader works in the traditional aspects of turning the page and folding the corner in its flexible display. The screen that is rotated to the back refreshes the next page during the turning action, thereby stimulating a whole book or magazine with only two pages.
According to designer Timothy Yeoh, "Turnover is two pages with infinite possibilities - you can lose yourself in any number of worlds." Touch the on button for a few seconds to bring up the book select menu and use the scroll wheel to select the book or quickly skip to the desired page. Touchscreen capability lets you bend the corner to toggle bookmarks on or off, with a bookmark symbol on the page for easy reference when scrolling through.
It'll be interesting to see if they can adapt this for commercial use and test the market. The biggest problem with digital books is the ability to put it in a familiar format, and this does exactly that. One more shot after the jump.
Jun 26 2006 Pattern Clock forces users to wake up
Pattern Clock is an alarm clock that can't be turned off until the sleeper can repeat back a randomly generated pattern of flashing lights. The idea is genius and I'm pretty sure I'll need to get one, considering the earliest I've woken up in the past month is 3pm. How am I typing this now, you ask? In my sleep. Besides, I taped my regular alarm clock to my Simon Says toy and it just isn't the same.
Jun 26 2006 Healthmate makes infrared saunas
Healthmate has created a sauna that uses infrared technology which quickly heats a body directly without having to heat the air between such as with a traditional steam sauna. It claims its sauna's can burn up to 1000 calories in 30 minutes and provide excellent benefits for skin. Perfect for those of you who want to look anorexic as quicly as possible or just really like the idea of being heated with infrared radiaiton. It's like being hunted by the Predator, only with less swoosh sounds and being murdered.
Jun 26 2006 Egokast belt mounted video player
Egokast is a ridiculous new video player that plays videos from the belt buckle. So basically it's completely useless. You can't watch it yourself, and it's only good for showing other people stuff you wish you could see but can't. Or to punish other people for being able to see what you can't. If I had this thing it'd just be a continuous loop between Goatse, Tub Girl, and Lemon Party. At least then there'd be an explanation for why people always run screaming away from me.
Jun 23 2006 Swiss Knife Seating Unit
This playful Swiss Army-inspired seating landscape is cut, to fold, like a knife. The Swiss knife seating unit is product design done on the scale of furniture, reinterpreted everybody's favorite airplane-banned carry-on as seating that can be open (360 degrees) or closed. The design goal is to allow you to minimize your furnishings, maybe you can get away with just one piece that you unfold for parties.
Throw some blades and screwdrivers in there and you've got yourself a contender for sweetest sofa of the century.
Jun 22 2006 iTunes backlight visualizer plugin
iSpazz is a plugin for a MacBook Pro/PowerBook that controls the backlight on the keyboard. Check out the video to see them coordinating the blinking with some music. Perfect for all you weirdos out there who've always wished your keyboards would flash uncontrollably.
Jun 22 2006 PlayEngine makes Bamboo electronics
Not content with your boring old monitor, keyboard, and mouse? Well upgrade to some bamboo versions. PlayEngine has developed "100% stylish and environmentally friendly" computer peripherals which look pretty cool, but would probably be a bad idea if you happen to own a Panda bear. And really, who doesn't own a Panda bear. You'd be surprised at how much they love living in my bathtub.
Jun 21 2006 New emergency landing patent is crazy
An inventor from Bangkok is trying to patent an emergency landing system for aircrafts which throws it into a horizontal spin. The current procedure for crash landings is to make a controlled belly flop so as to avoid nearby buildings and distribute force across the body. The new idea, however, is to fit planes with explosive charges so when a crash is inevitable the charges will go off and blow off one of the wings from the fuselage, causing the plane to enter a horizontal spin. The idea is for the spinning motion to mimic a helicopter blade and produce lift while the centrifugal force keeps the plane level.
It sounds good in theory, but a plane spinning at a rate fast enough to produce lift seems like it'd kill all the passengers inside anyways. Or at least mash them up against the windows real good.
Jun 21 2006 Dell computer explodes during conference
If you happen to own a Dell laptop try to make sure it doesn't explode, because that's exactly what happened at a conference in Japan. No explanation has been given yet, just some witnesses who say the thing suddenly burst into flames and produced "several more explosions for more than five minutes."
This exact same thing happened to me and the laptop I built using firecrackers and lighter fluid. And I was so convinced booting up with a match would've worked.
Jun 21 2006 BumpTop 3D Desktop Prototype
BumpTop is a 3D desktop prototype which tries to bring the tools used in real life to keep a desktop organized into the computer desktop. It allows for stacking and grouping and other variations on stacking and grouping, which sounds and looks pretty neat, but the whole thing just feels awkward and clumsy to me. My real desktop is a mess and it's the 2D world that's keeping my computer one from following its path.
Jun 20 2006 Back to the Future 2015 Nike Shoes
Some guy is selling a prop replica of Marty's 2015 Nike shoes from Back to the Future on eBay. The current bid is $405, which is a bit high considering it's just a replica. Although if Nike had any business sense at all they'd just mass produce these and start shipping them out to stores tomorrow. I'm pretty sure there's not a man alive who could resist a shoe that looks like it could launch you into space.
Jun 20 2006 Extortr helps you extort
Somebody needs to get on this and make it a reality. I've been itching to blackmail and it's about time Web 2.0 helped me achieve my needs.
Jun 20 2006 Rare rainbow spotted over Idaho
A rare rainbow known as a circumhorizontal arc was spotted over Idaho on June 3rd. The arc isn't a traditional rainbow, but rather caused by light passing through wispy, high-altitude cirrus clouds, and only occurs when the sun is very high in the sky - more than 58 degrees above the horizon. Additionally, the hexagonal ice crystals that make up the cirrus clouds must be shaped like thick plates with their faces parallel to the ground, so that light enters through the vertical face of the ice crystal and leaves from the bottom face; refracting the way light passing through a prism does.
So the next time you see a rainbow curse it for being a failure and not being as special as a circumhorizontal arc. And then express disappointment at how much it sucks at sports.
Jun 20 2006 2008 Olympic stadium looks like a vagina
I'm not saying it does. But I'm also not saying it doesnt. Because it does. And I just said it.
Jun 19 2006 Norway builds doomsday vault
Norway has started construction on a doomdsay vault carved into a frozen mountainside on a secluded Arctic island to house 3 million of the world's crop seeds in case catastrophe strikes and certain crops are obliterated. The seeds, packaged in foil, would be stored at such cold temperatures that they could last thousands of years, acting as a Noah's Ark of food crops. The vault will cost $4.8 million and Norway is footing the bill for the entire thing.
It's a good idea but maybe they should consider building a similar vault for humans. And by humans I mean me. Because when that meteor strikes and everybody on Earth is vaporized, they're gonna need somebody to eat all 3 million of those preserved crops. And I'm feeling pretty hungry.
Jun 19 2006 Interactive Transit Advertisment
This clip is of an interactive advertisment planted in a busy subway (SMRT/SBS Transit) station. It's basically a projector showing ads on the floor with interaction with the people walking by.
The future of advertising? This is a video of Interactive ads that manipulate when people interact with them. The video goes through a few different ads and shows different possibilities, including a ripple effect when people step on the orange juice and others where people can kick and move objects. It's a neat technology and a shame it's being used for advertising. I've said it before and I'll say it again: porn!
Jun 19 2006 USB Teddy is the greatest USB drive ever
This is the best USB drive in the world. Hands down. I wouldn't even care if the maximum capacity was 2MB and it caught on fire every time it was plugged in.
Jun 16 2006 Jet engines to cool computers
Hewlett-Packard is adapting jet engines from radio-controlled jets to help cool their servers. It's a good idea and a wonder why nobody has thought of it yet. Imagine the difference between a propeller and a jet engine, and the amount of hot air they could potentially move. I'm just hoping something goes wrong and we hear about computers suddenly taking off from all over the world. Because I don't think my life is going to be complete until I read about a man being attacked by his own computer after it took off from his living room.
Jun 16 2006 Light delight makes your faucet cool
Equa System has put together an LED system for your faucet called the Light Delight, which turns your boring old faucet into something a little less boring than a boring old faucet. The idea is simple and a little bit pointless, but I welcome anything that makes my life a little more bearable. Besides, the water looks like a blow torch so you'd be scared to wash your hands for fear you'd burn yourself, but it's just water so you wouldn't burn yourself. What are you, stupid or something? It's water!
Jun 15 2006 Liquid armor is here
Researchers at University of Delaware have developed a form of liquid armor which can protect the entire body as opposed to just the chest like current kevlar vests. The liquid - called shear thickening fluid is actually a mixture of hard nanoparticles and nonevaporating liquid. It flows normally under low-energy conditions, but when agitated or hit with an impact it stiffens and behaves like a solid. This temporary stiffening occurs less than a millisecond after impact, and is caused by the nanoparticles forming tiny clusters inside the fluid.
You can check out some pictures and video of the armor here. It's a good idea, but who knows how effective it'll be under actual circumstances. The video has an example of the armor under testing and - although the bullet doesn't puncture it - if there was a person behind there they'd be in serious need of medical attention.
Jun 15 2006 Japanese Rube Goldberg Contest
This absolutely amazing Rube Goldberg device goes through 6 minutes of gadgetry before making a bowl of ramen. And even if it didn't make ramen - which it does - it would still be the most amazing Rube Goldberg device I've seen. The fact somebody actually put it together makes me sad that I've wasted my life not building huge machines to make ramen.
Jun 15 2006 Wii remote comparison
Destructoid has a good comparison of the changes being made to the Wii remote since it's announcement and final release. The changes are subtle, and look to be just minor cosmetic modifications. Too bad they didn't take my advice and add a "penis insertion" modification to it. Because if there's one thing my XBox 360 controller is missing it's a place to insert my penis. Oh God, I didn't actually type that did I?
One more comparison shot after the jump.
Jun 14 2006 Computer taught to recognize three dimensions
Researchers at Carnegie Mellon have developed a program to read 2D photographs and construct 3D models out of them. Using machine learning techniques, the researchers have taught computers how to spot the visual cues that differentiate between vertical surfaces and horizontal surfaces in photographs of outdoor scenes. They've even developed a program that allows the computer to automatically generate 3-D reconstructions of scenes based on a single image. Now all they need to do is develop the technology for porn and people will never have to leave the house again.
Jun 14 2006 Call of Duty 3 Wii screenshots
Treyarch, the developers of Call Of Duty 2: The Big Red One for the Gamecube, is developing Call of Duty 3 for the Nintendo Wii and these are the first screenshots of what they've got. They're scanned from an upcoming issue of EGM and are pretty poor quality, but it shows just how graphically unimpressive the game will be. Treyarch is trying to make it look as good as the PS3 or XBox 360, but their primary focus will be using the Wii controllers to change the gameplay from the other consoles. And even if it doesn't look remotely as good as the other consoles, the idea of using the Wii sticks to play a first person shooter excites me. I'll no longer have to pretend my fingers are guns and run around the house looking like an imbecile.
Jun 14 2006 Watch your iPod underwater
H2O Audio announced yesterday they've created a casing for the iPod so people can watch videos underwater. The housing costs $89.95 and is submersible up to 10 ft. I'm not entirely sure who the target demographic is for this, but I imagine anybody who can't go for a swim without bringing along a video iPod probably can't tear themselves away from the TV long enough to actually buy the damn thing.
Jun 13 2006 31 port USB hub
For all you people who were wondering if you'd ever be able to plug all 31 of your keyboards into your computer at once, some crazy bastards have put together a 31 port USB hub. It looks horribly experimental, but is perfect for any freaks out there who were born with 29 more arms than usual and happen to use all their peripherals at once.
Jun 13 2006 PS3 controller spelling mistake
The new controller for the PS3 being displayed at the Ginza showroom has the word "Select" misspelled as "Serect." It's almost as if they're aware of the ongoing Engrish jokes and are poking fun at themselves. Only they're not. Which makes it sad. And maybe a little bit racist. More shots after the jump.
Jun 12 2006 Goalies hate the new World Cup soccer ball
The World Cup is using a new a ball which is making things difficult for goalies because they behave more like baseballs than traditional soccer balls. The new Adidas Teamgeist football has 14 panels instead of the traditional 26 or 32 which means fewer seams. The fewer seams affect the trajectory of the balls when they're not spinning and make for unpredictable movements which goalies are having trouble dealing with.
I guess my plan of making a four sided soccer ball isn't going to be well received either. Mostly because it's just a triangle, and kicking it pretty much guarantees the player breaks or punctures their foot. But isn't that what soccer is really about? Breaking your foot on the ball?
Jun 12 2006 Bulletproof, waterproof, and fireproof USB drive arrives
Pretec Electronics Corp. has started shipping a USB drive called the i-Disk BulletProof which is bulletproof, waterproof and fireproof. Capacities range from 32 MB to 2 GB and is perfect for all the nerds out there who plan on entering warzones but need to make sure their stash of porn is safe. Which it never will be as long as I'm still alive.
And no, that's not a picture of the BulletProof USB drive. I'm pretty sure the actual BulletProof is just block of metal steel with a USB drive glued to the inside.
Jun 9 2006 New Batteries Charge Quicker, Last Longer
Researchers at MIT are developing a new type of battery that uses electrodes covered in millions of tiny nanotube filaments, creating a battery that can be charged in a matter of seconds rather than hours. Regular batteries use chemical reactions to produce energy, which is a convenient way to produce energy, but it wears away at the battery's capacity over time. The design of the new batteries prevents this problem, creating batteries that could possibly be recharged hundreds of thousands of times. This could cut down on waste from discarded batteries and reduce the need to have removable batteries in standard electronics. Without all the trash from discarded batteries, how will our nation's landfill owners and subway custodians make their money? I'm all for new technology, but will a better and cleaner tomorrow support dozens of illegitimate children? I doubt it.
Jun 8 2006 Nanoparticles Give Robots Precise Sense of Touch
Researchers at the University of Nebraska have developed a new film that can give robots a sense of touch similar to a human's in sensitivity. The film is constructed from layers of metal and semiconducting nanoparticles which are sandwiched by two layers of electrodes. When the film touches a surface, the pressure squeezes the particles together, which changes the current of the film and produces a small amount of light that can be detected by a camera. Prior to the development of this film, most tactile sensors could only achieve a mere fragment of the sensitivity of the average human finger tip. The creators of this film hope that it can be applied to minimal access surgery and advanced robotics. It warms my heart to know that the robot nannies of the future will be able employ exacting touch as they pick up babies by their soft, malleable heads and place them safely away in the specially-designed drawers and cabinets the future babies call home.
Jun 8 2006 3D Display Technology Revealed, Hypnotizes Elderly
The Society for Information Display conference is currently taking place in San Francisco. The conference showcases the latest display technology that is just starting to surface in companies and laboratories worldwide. Among the crop of new display technologies are the various new breeds of 3D technology that companies are hoping will take off. Unfortunately, all of the 3D technology requires the viewer to stand a certain distance and keep the monitor in a particular position for the 3D effect to work. Examples include Toshiba's prototype 3D display that requires the viewer to watch from an obtrusive 30-degree angle and Philips' 3D LCD monitor that forces the viewer to remain exactly four meters away. So, if you're anxious to get the full 3D Howie Mandel experience (and who isn't?), you should probably focus your efforts on sneaking into Deal or No Deal; true 3D technology is still years away.
Jun 7 2006 Inflatable Space Hotel Prototype Delayed
Bigelow Aerospace is attempting to create the premiere destination for space tourism with an inflatable space hotel that will be hopefully be placed in low-Earth orbit. The hotel is based off of an abandoned NASA design for an inflatable space station, and it is expected to provide 330 cubic meters of living space for its guests. In preparation for the actual launch of the hotel, the company has scheduled the launching of three smaller, prototype inflatable spacecrafts that will ensure that the hotel will function properly in microgravity. Unfortunately, the launch of the first inflatable prototype has been delayed by the Russian spaceport that's scheduled to launch it. We will have to wait a month to see if these mysterious delays continue. When they finally do get things in order, I just hope that the company askes its guests to take off their shoes before the the enter the hotel, because much like a moon bounce at a child's birthday party, no one will want to go in if an unidentified adult male has already accidentally torn a hole in it. Also, it's important not to hit a clown with a beer bottle; he's just trying entertain the kids and earn a few dollars. I guess that advice doesn't really apply to this situation. Although, if it were a space clown, it definitely would.
Jun 7 2006 China Controls the Sky Above
China has vowed to alter the weather when the 2008 Olympics take place in Beijing, preventing rain and other precipitation that would cause unwanted delays in the games. For decades, China's Weather Modification Office has been tasked with bringing rain to the different parts of the country, especially Beijing, where rainfall helps wash away thick pollution and dust storms. The office uses a technique known as "cloud seeding," where shells of chemicals like silver iodide are fired into the sky to attract water droplets that will form clouds and eventually fall as raindrops. For the upcoming Olympics, they plan to use variations of the cloud seeding technique to dissolve clouds rather than make them rain. The plan requires climate experts to scrutinize satellite images and airplanes to "sample" clouds to see which approach they will take. This technique seems useful, but can they create a hailstorm of donuts? What about something as simple as making a cloud that rains Hawaiian Punch? I don't think so. Until the day comes when I can get a dozen pop tarts by holding a basket out my window on a rainy day, this technology will continue to function far below its potential.
Jun 7 2006 Korean Unmanned Vehicle and Robot Dog Soldier Plans
The Korean Agency for Defense Development has announced an update to their fleet of unmanned vehicles and future robot soldier plans. The XAV models that they first released last year have been updated to achieve higher speeds (up to 45 kilometers an hour) and equipped with 5.56-millimeter machine guns. The vehicles will function in both surveillance and front line missions and are part of a military robot project to reduce human losses at war. The agency also announced that they are developing "dog-like robot soldiers," called "gyeonma," that will eventually replace human soldiers. The robots are equipped with eight legs and are scheduled for borderline guard duties by 2012. Wait, how can a robot be "dog-like" and have eight legs? Do all dogs in Korea have eight legs? Do they also shoot webs? Are these dogs actually giant spiders? If so, why not just get them to patrol the borders? Nothing is more frightening to smugglers and illegal immigrants than giant army spiders.
Jun 6 2006 Robot Worms for Stomach and Intestines
The most terrifying thing a doctor can tell you at your next colonoscopy is about to change from "I found something suspicious" to "I'd like to do further exploration with this segmented robot potato." A team of scientists from Italy, Germany, Greece and the UK are developing a robot designed to crawl through the intestines and stomach by mimicking the wriggling movements of an undersea worm. The team has already created a few prototypes (see videos here and here), and they are currently working on a robot with a camera and a light to capture video as it travels. Unfortunately (fortunately?) the robot is going to need years of testing because, as one researcher put it, "if something this complicated goes wrong, it could be very hard to get out." I don't know why they don't just add a drilling device to the front of the robot. That way, if something goes wrong, the robot could just drill its way to freedom and safety.
Jun 6 2006 Laser-Based Mini Projectors
Laser manufacturer Novalux is working towards creating colored lasers that could be used in tiny, laser-based projectors for handheld devices like cell phones, MP3 players, and PDAs. These laser-based projectors could produce bright and clear images the size of laptop screens in well-lit areas and projections of up to 10 feet in darkness. The projectors also won't require focusing because of the laser technology. If this technology takes off, people could watch movies projected onto the backs of airplane seats, subway walls, and even fast food restaurant tables. I'm excited that this technology has the potential to revolutionize handheld gadgets, I just don't think it's a good idea to project your business all over the place. If the person next to me on a plane can easily see that I'm watching just a 30 second looped sequence of David Hasselhoff running on the beach, he's probably not going to tell me when the dinner cart comes by.
Jun 5 2006 DARPA's Scent-Based Identification Technology
It's been a week and a half since we got word of the last whacky DARPA project, and I was beginning to get a little worried. It seems that DARPA is funding a "Unique Signature Detection Program" that will identify terrorists based on scents they secrete in their "sweat, tears, urine, and other bodily fluids." This program is based off of animals that use scent to identify one another and a previous project by the USDA that employed wasps to sniff out narcotics, explosives, and corpses. The technology is far from implementation; researchers aren't quite sure that unique smells exist for each person, and they aren't sure if simple things like shampoo selection would change that smell. I guess if you want to be safe, you should probably stop showering now and, if possible, start rolling around in your next-door neighbor's clothes. If they ask questions, just tell them that DARPA is finally funding your clothes-swimming technology project.
Jun 5 2006 Technology Scrambles People on Video Feeds
EMITALL Surveillance in Montreux, Switzerland has developed a surveillance system that automatically scrambles people on the feed to protect them from unwarranted monitoring. The system can be implemented on top of a normal video surveillance feed, and it uses a particular algorithm to scramble the people on the video feed, so only authorities in possession of the encryption key can identify the people on-screen. This system even uses different keys to scramble different people's identities, so authorities can reveal the identity of certain individuals on the feed while leaving the other bystanders anonymous. If only this technology was pocketable, so you could easily scramble yourself on any security feed. Maybe then they would finally let me back into the Victoria's Secret.
Jun 5 2006 Korea Telecom's 2007 Robot Lineup
At the Smart Home Network Show 2006, Korea Telecom presented four robot helpers that are slated to take the place of their less electronic human counterparts in the near future. Of the robots presented, three are for home use (the Roboid/Cubo, the Nettoro, and the previously-mentioned Jupiter) and one is for public use (pictured). The Jupiter model has the most functions of the three home robots, including facial recognition and the ability to connect with external devices, but it is also the most expensive. The Nettoro is a low-end home robot helper, featuring cleaning abilities and the ability to deliver news, traffic, and weather from its face screen. The Roboid is the smallest of the three, it has no color screen, and it does not appear to do much. Unfortunately, the article does not have any information on the pictured robot, but I can tell you that the robot does have arms. I know that for sure. You could assume that this model is just a tour guide for public places, but I know better. It's obviously Korea Telecom's attempt to create an unbeatable arm wrestling robot. I just hope to God that Sylvester Stallone has been practicing.
Jun 2 2006 Giant Crossbow to Fire Man from Earth
Inventor Brian Walker has developed possibly the world's largest crossbow with an intent to fire himself and a rocket-powered aircraft 20 miles into the sky. This project, awesomely referred to as RUSH or Rapid Up SuperHigh (awesome), uses a carbon fiber bowstring that is stretched 24 feet along the railing of the crossbow and a self-designed aircraft with a jet turbine that provides 1,350 pounds of thrust. The aircraft's descent back to Earth will be slowed by hydrogen peroxide rockets also on the craft. The flight is tentatively scheduled for this fall, but he first plans to test the crossbow with a giant fiberglass arrow. What a great idea. Before he can go down in history as the guy who fell to his death when his giant crossbow misfired, he'll be imprisoned for destroying an elementary school/orphanage/petting zoo with his giant fiberglass sky arrow. Terrific.
Jun 2 2006 Robots to Replace Soccer Players by 2050
The RoboCup is a international joint project with an ultimate goal of developing a team of "fully autonomous humanoid robots that can win against the human world champion team in soccer" by the year 2050. Until they succeed in this goal, they're holding technical conferences, programs, and annual RoboCup tournaments that involve teams of robots competing in soccer, dancing, and rescue challenges. I'm just happy that there's an "international joint project" to put an end to the scourge of human soccer players who are trying to support themselves and their familes. It's like they just don't know when to quit. Maybe when a giant Soccerbot starts rapidly firing flaming soccer balls in their direction, they'll settle down and become clerical workers or something. Jeeze.
Jun 2 2006 High-Tech Panda Suit For Rent
Japanese multimedia production company Buildup Co., Ltd. has announced that it will begin renting high-quality animatronic suits this month. The first suit they will rent is a panda suit that contains various technological features to help it achieve a more realistic look. The panda's face contains 14 remote control servo motors, which let the panda make facial expressions ranging from "pleasant smiles to angry grimaces" at the will of its controller. The suit contains a CCD camera system and a pair of video goggles for the person inside, removing the need for an unsightly peephole on the suit and increasing the range of vision for the wearer. The suit also comes equipped with a system that will set the suit on fire if it detects that it's being used for perverse sexual desires. Okay, it probably doesn't, but it should. Check the video to see it in action. With this suit you can finally add a panda to your backyard zoo without being arrested for gross negligence (again). Just make sure you alert your bow-hunting neighbor of your plans.
Read on for one more picture...
Jun 1 2006 NASA Employs Star Wars Droids
Star Wars enthusiasts are bound to enter a nerd frenzy today as NASA announced the deployment of a floating droid to the International Space Station. The robot is based on a floating battle droid from the first Star Wars movie, and it was developed by the Department of Defense, MIT, and NSA. The robot is the first droid of three that NASA plans to send the ISS, with hopes that the three will learn how to fly in formation as they navigate the corridors of the space station. If the robots succeed, they will lay the foundation for clusters of tiny satellites that work together to replace the larger, unwieldier satellites of the past. NASA has also mentioned that if these droids are successful, they plan to release a set of remastered droids, followed by special edition droids, followed by droids that are supposed to predate these droids, followed by a release of the original droids again for true fans, resulting in widespread confusion and massive box office earnings.
Read on for a close-up picture of the droid...
Jun 1 2006 Bridgestone's Two Color E-Paper
Bridgestone Tire has announced the world's thinest two color e-paper display, which measures only .29mm thick. Since the display is classified as e-paper, no power is required to leave an image on the screen once it has been displayed; power is only required to change the image. The display is also flexible and bendable thanks to a special ribbed structure developed by Bridgestone that prevents distortion of text and images. If this is where we are in e-paper technology, that Origami DVD player concept is way far off. In fact, it seems that most e-paper products are years from release. I guess this explains why my e-paper t-shirt concept that displays continuously rippling pectoral muscles was rejected by so many companies.
Jun 1 2006 Chocolate-Powered Fuel Cells
Microbiologists at the University of Birmingham in the UK have developed fuel cells that are powered by feeding chocolate factory waste to sugar-loving bacteria. In testing, Escherichia coli bacteria dismantled caramel and nougat waste, producing organic acids and a form of hydrogen. The hydrogen was localized and used to power a fuel cell, which drove a small electric fan. This technology has additional environmental benefits since the caramel and nougat waste usually ends up in landfills. That's right, landfills are full of caramel and nougat deliciousness. Write that on a candy wrapper and slide it under your unemployed roommate's bedroom door. Problem solved.