The Solar Impulse has broken its own record for the longest distance flight of a solar-powered aircraft following the second leg of its journey across the USA. Solar Impulse touched down in Texas at 1:08 a.m. local time after a flight of 18 hours 21 minutes having covered at least 868 miles. Read More
Plans are afoot to build an 800-m swimming pool in the Dotonbori Canal in Osaka, Japan, according to a report in the Japan Times on Wednesday. Read More
You might think strapping your smartphone to a firearm is the last thing you'd want to do with it, but what if it could provide helpful information while hunting or during target practice? That's just what inventor Jason Giddings and his new company, Inteliscope, LLC, decided to do when they combined guns with smart devices to launch the Inteliscope Tactical Rifle Adapter. Along with an iOS app, the adapter allows gun owners to mount their iPhone or iPod Touch to a firearm and use it as a sight with a heads-up display that shows real-time data on their surroundings. Read More
Australian architecture firm BVN Donovan Hill made an appearance at Melbourne’s recent Emergency Shelter Exhibition in order to demonstrate its new emergency shelter concept. Developed with the aim of providing comfortable surroundings for its occupants, the temporary structure resembles a 3D puzzle and is said to assemble much like an Ikea cupboard. Read More
McLaren is looking to make the wanting and the owning of a 12C even more enticing as part of its ongoing 50th anniversary celebrations. Featuring a tidy list of anniversary upgrades, the McLaren 50 12C and 12C Spider are available as part of a special one hundred car run. Read More
Earlier this year, we covered the 3Doodler, a pen that lets users sketch 3D objects with plastic filament, almost like a 3D printer. It's a fun little gadget, but what if someone made a device that offers similar freedom, except it built objects over 10 times larger? It might look something like the Mataerial 3D printer, which uses a robotic arm and quick-solidifying material to form rigid, free-flowing structures on almost any surface, even vertical ones. Read More
Serious burns can lead to infection and potentially fatal toxic shock syndrome (TSS). Once an infection sets in, it is vital to begin treatment quickly to avoid or minimize a transition to TSS. The problem is, removing dressings to check for infection can be painful, slow the healing process and increase the chance of scarring. A prototype dressing developed by chemists at the University of Bath in the UK alerts doctors to the first signs of infection by glowing under ultraviolet (UV) light. Read More
Radio plays can transport listeners to far away exotic settings but the BBC’s prototype Perceptive Radio aims to give listeners a more localized experience. Shown to the public recently at the Thinking Digital Conference in Gateshead, UK, the Perceptive Radio uses local data and onboard sensors to adjust itself and even alter the script of a radio play in real time to reflect local conditions. The goal is to make listening to the radio more like attending live theater. Read More
Developing a high-performance sports car is a project that takes many years inside a well-established auto company. It's exponentially more difficult when you're a small team pursuing one hot rod enthusiast's vision for the ultimate sports car. BXR Motors has been slowly but surely developing its Bailey Blade XTR sports car for the past half-decade, but things appear to be jumping into high gear now that the small start-up has secured the funding it needs to finish the 750-hp car. Read More
A certain Jedi Master, species unknown, once said, “size matters not.” But he obviously wasn’t referring to the latest Lego creation from the Lego group. Taking the title of the world’s largest Lego model is a 1:1 scale replica of an X-Wing made up of 5,335,200 Lego bricks and taking 32 Lego master builders 17,336 hours (around four months) to complete. Read More
