Archive for the 'Technology' Category
Earth Critters Hitch Ride to Martian Moon and Back
• April, 2009Earth Critters Hitch Ride to Martian Moon and Back Irene Klotz No one knows if there is life on Mars, but if all goes well with a Russian science mission later this year, there will be life on the Martian moon Phobos — for a short time anyway. An assortment of critters and microbes are scheduled to make a round-trip journey to Phobos as passengers aboard a Russian spacecraft, scheduled to launch in October. The mission, called Phobos-Grunt, aims to return samples of the Martian…
Researchers find safer way to make stem cells
• April, 2009Researchers find safer way to make stem cells By Ben Hirschler Sun Mar 1, 2009 Researchers said on Sunday they had found a safer way to transform ordinary skin cells into powerful stem cells in a move that could eventually remove the need to use human embryos. It is the first time that scientists have turned skin cells into induced pluripotent stem cells or iPS cells — which look and act like embryonic stem cells — without having to use viruses in the process. The…
Here’s the “AIRpod” car on… Air
• April, 2009Here’s the “AIRpod” car on… Air La Cinyc AIRPod is the culmination of MDI studies on pollution and urban mobility. This concept will be the first to leave the production line in spring 2009. MDI will respond to an invitation to tender of the city of Paris, “Autolib’”, and is already the subject of applications for various municipalities. With small size, a tiny price, zero pollution, fun and futuristic design, AIRPod mark a turning point in the range of urban vehicles while renewing the idea…
Wheelchair Arm Controlled by Thought Alone
• April, 2009Wheelchair Arm Controlled by Thought Alone Eric Bland Feb. 27, 2009 A wheelchair-mounted robotic arm controlled by thought alone has been created by scientists at the University of South Florida. The device could give people with amytrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) or full body paralysis the ability to perform simple day to day functions that would otherwise be impossible. “We aren’t reading people’s thoughts,” said Redwan Alqasemi, a scientist at the University of South Florida who, along with Rajiv Dubey and Emanuel Donchin of USF, helped…
Now ‘Big Brother’ targets Facebook
• April, 2009Now ‘Big Brother’ targets Facebook Wednesday, 25 March 2009 Minister wants government database to monitor social networking sites Millions of Britons who use social networking sites such as Facebook could soon have their every move monitored by the Government and saved on a “Big Brother” database. Ministers faced a civil liberties outcry last night over the plans, with accusations of excessive snooping on the private lives of law-abiding citizens. The idea to police MySpace, Bebo and Facebook comes on top of plans to store information…
Mission One EV sport bike explodes out of stealth at 150 MPH!
• March, 2009Mission One EV sport bike explodes out of stealth at 150 MPH! .::. <<video>>
Foiljet MR1 hydrofoil: the motocross bike for water
• March, 2009Foiljet MR1 hydrofoil: the motocross bike for water February 10, 2009 The Foiljet MR1 is a new personal watercraft concept that takes the best features of a motocross bike and jetski, throws in two hydrofoils plus a silent, energy efficient electric motor to create what would have to be a surefire recipe for outrageous fun. The design looks something like a motocross bike, but instead of wheels there are beams with small hydrofoil wings mounted at the ends that can be raised or lowered. The…
Solar power plant goes hybrid
• March, 2009Solar power plant goes hybrid An Israeli company wants to prove it doesn’t need constant sunshine for a solar power plant to make non-stop electricity to power off-grid communities.
Satellite debris watched closely
• March, 2009Satellite debris watched closely Marcia Dunn ASSOCIATED PRESS Thursday, February 12, 2009 CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Scientists are keeping a close eye on orbital debris created when two communications satellites — one American, the other Russian — smashed into each other hundreds of miles above the Earth. NASA said it will take weeks to determine the full magnitude of the unprecedented crash and whether any other satellites or even the Hubble Space Telescope are threatened. The collision, which occurred nearly 500 miles over Siberia…
Cloaking device may make cell phone static vanish
• March, 2009Cloaking device may make cell phone static vanish By Julie Steenhuysen A new light-bending material has brought scientists one step closer to creating a cloaking device that could hide objects from sight. Beyond possible military applications, it also might have a very practical use by making mobile communications clearer, they said on Thursday. “Cloaking technology could be used to make obstacles that impede communications signals ‘disappear,’” said David Smith of Duke University in North Carolina, who worked on the study published in the journal Science.…
Odd Planet Reaches Searing 1,200 Degrees
• February, 2009Odd Planet Reaches Searing 1,200 Degrees Seth Borenstein, Associated Press Astronomers have found a planet with a galactic case of hot flashes. In just six hours, this planet four times the size of Jupiter heats up by more than 1,200 degrees, according to a study published in Thursday’s issue of the journal Nature. “It’s the first observation of changing weather” on a planet outside our solar system, said study author Gregory Laughlin, an astronomy professor at the University of California at Santa Cruz. He used…
Toyota to launch pure electric car in U.S. by 2012
• February, 2009Toyota to launch pure electric car in U.S. by 2012 By Chang-Ran Kim, Asia autos correspondent DETROIT (Reuters) – Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T) said it would launch an all-electric car for city commuting by 2012 in the United States as part of its plan to speed up the introduction of green cars as its global sales falter. The FT-EV concept made its debut at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit Sunday, where the world’s top automaker is also unveiling two new gasoline-electric hybrid…
Google quietly declares email war on Yahoo
• February, 2009Google quietly declares email war on Yahoo By Jennifer Martinez and David Lawsky Many people have sent an email while angry, exhausted, inebriated or just by mistake that they later regretted. Now, Google has a way to help protect you (and others) from such a faux pas. As part of its quest to attract users to its Gmail service, the Internet search company has introduced dozens of features, including one that, after a certain time, makes a user solve a math problem before sending an…