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Anne Hanrahan
- Ground-breaking research finds way to convert CO2 into clean-burning biofuel (11,302 Views)
- The watch of many faces (4,652 Views)
- Sparking up the Razor Scooter (3,884 Views)
- Cooking's silver lining: the roll-up stove-top (2,938 Views)
- Rosetta Stone: taking language learning to the public (2,926 Views)
All Articles by Anne Hanrahan
New touch-free faucets use capacitive sensors to boost reliability
02:05 April 24, 2009 PDT
Automatic faucets are a good idea, they're convenient, hygienic and big water savers, but many of us who've encountered these "smart taps" in public washrooms would be familiar with the inordinate amount of hand-waving that's sometimes required to actually make them work. Fontaine believes it has the answer with its new line of Sensa Field automatic faucets. Rather than relying on motion activated Infrared sensors which have a tendency to cut out mid-rinse, these taps utilize a capacitive omni-directional sensing zone around the spout which the company says guarantees activation the first time. Read More
AquaHub conserves H2O in the garden
21:03 April 22, 2009 PDT
With water conservation becoming an increasingly urgent priority in many parts of the world, we're always on the lookout for something that saves on H2O. Described as a "power strip + surge protector for watering outdoors", the AquaHub is a water management tool that connects to a standard garden hose, branching out into six regulated irrigation outlets to pinpoint and cater for the specific needs of different areas within the garden, saving time as well as water. Read More
Rosetta Stone: taking language learning to the public
22:28 April 20, 2009 PDT
The Rosetta Stone is a famous ancient Egyptian artifact discovered in 1799 that helped linguists unlock the secrets of Egyptian hieroglyphics. It's therefore an apt name for the company which has developed products designed to teach millions of people worldwide the secret of learning languages using interactive, computer based technology. Already laying claim to the title of the world's largest language software company, Rosetta Stone has now taken the plunge and gone public, the first company of its type to do so. Read More
Ground-breaking research finds way to convert CO2 into clean-burning biofuel
22:23 April 19, 2009 PDT
Scientists at the Singapore-based Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (IBN) have made an unprecedented breakthrough in transforming carbon dioxide, a common greenhouse gas, into methanol, a widely used form of industrial feedstock and clean-burning biofuel. Using "organocatalysts", researchers activated carbon dioxide in a mild and non-toxic process to produce the more useful chemical compound. Read More
Motorola's pocket-sized personal shopping assistant honored
16:01 April 16, 2009 PDT
Motorola's MC17 "shopping assistant" computer has impressed international design judges, picking up three prestigious product design gongs. Gizmag was also impressed by the company's pocket-sized computer, which can scan items, check pricing, locate complimentary items, access personal promotions and create gift and wish lists, when we wrote about it back in 2007. The company won the International Design Excellence award (IDEA), iF Product Design award and Good Design award. Read More
The USB card reader with a twist or two
19:33 April 15, 2009 PDT
The clever folk at Brando have come up with a card reader reminiscent of Rubik's Cube. Okay, the USB 270° x 270 Cubic Card Reader doesn't offer the color or mind-addling challenge, but it does twist. And it's something novel to sit next to your computer. Read More
Cooking's silver lining: the roll-up stove-top
19:05 April 8, 2009 PDT
Cooking might be a chore or a pleasure, depending on your culinary proficiency. But what's out of your hands is how much room you have to prepare your culinary feast. If there's barely elbow room to stir your pots and pans, then this funky looking roll-up stove-top from Italian designer Maurizio Maiorana - called the Cooka – might be just the extra hand you need. The design resembles a yellow table mat and is made from a non-toxic, liquid silicone rubber that can be rolled up and easily stored once you've finished cooking with it. Read More
New climate model predicts almost ice-free Arctic Ocean in just 30 years
02:15 April 8, 2009 PDT
According to new research the Arctic Ocean may be ice free in the summer months much faster than previously estimated. Research based on earlier climatic models suggested that this would not occur until the end of the century, but new models suggest that the Arctic might lose most of its ice cover in as little as 30 years - three times more rapid than previous studies have indicated. If this was to occur, the amount of the arctic covered by ice at the end of the summer could be down to around 1 million square kilometers (390 000 square miles) compared with the currently coverage of 4.6 million square kilometers (1.8 million square miles). Read More
Sparking up the Razor Scooter
00:56 April 8, 2009 PDT
Razor - the company perhaps best known for the Ripstik - has added a little spark to its Razor A Kick Scooter - literally. The latest incarnation of the lightweight scooter features a "Spark Bar" mechanism attached to the rear wheel - just stomp on the bar to light it up! Read More
The watch of many faces
06:07 April 7, 2009 PDT
While we've seen our share of obscure and unusual watch designs, we're always on the lookout for the next innovation that might catch on in the world of wrist worn timepieces. This example may not prove to be the next Swatch, but the customizable OLED "UNI watch" concept by Takemura Ori definitely caught our eye. Read More
Fish oils fed to flatulent cows could reduce greenhouse gas emissions
02:18 April 6, 2009 PDT
Omega fatty acids in fish oils have many documented benefits to humans including the reduction of cholesterol, but what of the benefits to animals and the environment in general? While assisting the heart and circulatory system in animals and improving the meat quality in cattle, it is also, according to researchers at the University College Dublin beneficial in reducing methane levels from flatulence when added to the diet of cattle, meaning it's also good for the environment. Read More
Ortovox Grizzly multifunctional avalanche shovel
00:17 April 1, 2009 PDT
A shovel for snow that shovels snow. Nothing too out of the ordinary there, but look a little closer and the cleverness of this multifunctional design becomes apparent. Designed for both avalanche rescue and more mundane tasks on the mountain like digging out beleaguered motorists, the ORTOVOX Grizzly sports a large, sharp aluminum blade designed to shift compact snow quickly, but the clever bit is the folding mechanism that transforms the shovel into a pick when fixed at a right angle, or collapses fully for convenient transportation. Read More
LoJoBall: the lounging lovechild of bean bag and pouf
04:36 March 31, 2009 PDT
Not sure about you, but I never found the traditional bean bag the most appealing of items, always having to re-adjust myself to stay comfortable and still have my drink within reaching distance. Gizmag has recently looked at some of the latter day improvements that seek to redefine these polystyrene ball filled sacks into a comfortable alternative to furniture, and the LoJoBall -a sphere like creation that is a cross between a bean bag and a pouf - is another that fits the bill. Read More
Green-thumbed robots: the future of sustainable precision agriculture?
19:10 March 26, 2009 PDT
When consuming your five a day of fruit and vegetables, have you ever stopped to consider the back breaking labor and significant resources involved in their production? According to Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratories (CSAIL), the robotic, computerized answer to minimizing these factors could be just around the corner. Students at the laboratory have undertaken a project that utilizes robots to take the thinking and manual labor out of producing specialty crops such as fruit and vegetables. Read More
Drinkwell Hydro-Go portable water bowl for pets
18:00 March 12, 2009 PDT
Anyone who has ever embarked upon a road trip with their four-legged friend will appreciate this clever, simple invention. Drinkwell Hydro-Go is a two-in-one canteen and drink bowl designed to cut down on mess and water wastage. The integrated bowl is connected to the top of the bottle neck, flip out the bowl and pour water through the connecting funnel and you have a simple solution to re-hydrating your pet on the go without having to share your own water supply. Read More
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- November 21, 2009 @ 03:30 UTC
