On Friday May 17, the US Navy's X-47B Unmanned Combat Air System Demonstrator took another historic step as it conducted its first touch-and-go landings on the nuclear aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush off the coast of Virginia. This maneuver is a critical achievement in the Navy’s program to develop an autonomous, unmanned, jet-powered combat aircraft capable for operating from a carrier. Read More
If you’ve ever owned an Xbox, you’re probably familiar with one of the most annoying payment systems known to humankind: Microsoft Points. They’re great for Microsoft’s bottom line, and nothing but a hassle for customers. Well, the folks at Redmond may finally be ready for change – as the dreaded points are reportedly on their way out. Yet, not far away – at that other Seattle-area tech company – Amazon just launched a similar payment scheme for its Kindle Fire ecosystem. Read More
Samsung first unveiled its 4K UHD television line in the form of a massive 85-inch model at CES this year, but the company did promise that it would expand to both larger and smaller models. Now, the company has officially announced that it will be bringing 55- and 65-inch models to market in June. Read More
"Imagine opening a hatch in a submarine under water. The water will flow into the submarine with enormous force. It is precisely this energy potential we want to utilize." This is how German engineer Rainer Schramm describes his idea for storing energy under the sea. By using surplus energy to pump water out of a tank at the seabed, the water is simply let back in again when there's an energy shortfall, driving turbines as it rushes in. The deeper the tank, the more power is generated. Read More
Apple usually keeps a pretty steady stream of product announcements coming. But right now we’re in the middle of the longest Apple product drought in recent memory (pushing seven months). So it’s natural that we’ll start hearing rumors about the next wave of products about to enter the pipeline. That’s just what happened today, with news of Apple’s suppliers gearing up for production of a new iPad. Read More
When it comes to drying those delicate and expensive bras, there are generally two options – risking damage in a conventional dryer, or waiting hours while they hang dry. Ricasol aims to create a quick and safe third option with its Bra Dryer 2.0. Read More
With eight days of his already successful Kickstarter campaign still remaining, John O'Nolan has cited the uncertainty surrounding Yahoo's newly-announced US$1.1 billion purchase of Tumblr as a reason to back his open source, non-profit blogging platform, Ghost. Read More
Eighty Danish Lego devotees got together on May 10 and 11 to help one Henrik Ludvigsen with his plan to build the world's longest plastic toy train track. Read More
Not too long ago, Amanda Ghassaei from Instructables caught our attention when she constructed several playable records with a 3D printer. By sending raw audio data through a custom script, she was able to automatically generate 3D designs for a printer to follow – albeit with crude results. Recently, Ghassaei programmed a new code that let her substitute the 3D printer for a laser cutter to carve functional records from wood and other materials. Read More
While companies like Google, BMW, Audi and Volkswagen pour millions into developing self-driving car technology with expensive components, 19-year-old Romanian high school student Ionut Budisteanu has designed an autonomous vehicle system that would cost just US$4,000. Budisteanu’s design took out the Gordon E. Moore Award in the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair to pocket him a sweet $75,000. Read More
