Adam Williams
Synthetic materials set new world record for greatest amount of surface area
Researchers at Northwestern University, Illinois, have broken a world record in the creation of two synthetic materials, named NU-109 and NU-110, which have the greatest amount of surface areas of any material to date. To put this into perspective: if one were able to take a crystal of NU-110 the size of a grain of salt, and somehow unfold it, the surface area would cover a desktop. Additionally, the internal surface area of just one gram of the new material would cover one-and-a-half football fields. Read More
A new report drafted by Airbus as part of its “Smarter Skies” initiative sees the aircraft manufacturing company looking toward 2050 and beyond, in order to consider what can be done to meet the expected growth in future air travel sustainably. The ambitious plans put forward include assisted take-off, free-glide landings, and aircraft flying in formation. Read More
Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos took to the stage today in Santa Monica to reveal several new devices, including an all-new Kindle e-reader, dubbed the “Kindle Paperwhite." The e-reader sports several upgrades over other Kindle models, such as a new built-in illumination system, capacitive touchscreen and significantly improved screen resolution. Read More
Nokia has added two new cellphones to its Lumia range: the budget-friendly Lumia 820 and flagship Lumia 920 – the latter handset boasting enough new features that, on paper at least, looks like it could be one of the most exciting Windows phones to be unveiled thus far. Read More
The latest design from the coffers of Japanese watchmaker TokyoFlash, the Kisai Zone LCD watch continues the company's quest to re-invent the timepiece for the post-smartphone generation by replacing boring old analog mechanisms with unabashedly geeky ways to tell the time. Read More
WWII veteran creates bird-friendly wind turbine
World War II veteran Raymond Green, an 89 year old resident of Jackson, California, has created a working prototype of a "bladeless" wind turbine which is bird and bat-friendly, and very quiet in operation. Though still in development at present, Green intends his design to be produced in various sizes, from smaller personal versions to much larger turbines which could be implemented in wind farms. Read More
Researchers based at Zhejiang University in China have produced a system for controlling a quad-rotor unmanned aerial vehicle with the mind. Dubbed "Flying Buddy 2", the system uses a standard, commercially-available Electroencephalogram (EEG) headset, a computer and a Parrot AR Drone. The computer processes the data received from the EEG and converts it into control commands which are beamed to the drone via a Wi-Fi connection. Read More
Appearing at IFA, Panasonic has unveiled a brand new refrigerator which the company states is the first-ever A+++rated two-door refrigerator – making it the most energy-efficient two-door fridge, worldwide. Named the NR-B55VE1, it consumes 262 kWh/year of electricity, which by our reckoning amounts to a mean power consumption of 30 W. Gizmag was on hand to take a look. Read More
Not to be overshadowed amongst the cameras, tablets and “phablets” unveiled at this year’s IFA, German audio technology vendor Sennheiser has stepped up to the plate and unveiled three new earphone designs: the CX 890i, CX 985 and MX 985. The CX 890i headset sports a glass-like finish and metal detailing in a clear bid to catch the eye of audiophiles who like their music hardware on the minimalist side, while the CX 985 and MX 985 feature a less unusual but still rather striking metal alloy finish. Read More
Taking the stage at IFA 2012, South Korean technology giant Samsung has announced the successor to its stylus-equipped, supersized Galaxy Note, the Galaxy Note II. Due for release this October, Samsung is billing the Galaxy Note II as the “most powerful smartphone in the marketplace.” Besides upgraded specs, the substantial “phablet” as Samsung is now categorizing it, features a new and improved S Pen stylus, reduced bezel and slightly larger screen size - up from 5.3 to 5.5 inches. Read More
