The Austrian KTM eGnition is definitely one of the more interesting bicycles that we spied at last week's Eurobike show in Germany. It has the frame and components of a freeride mountain bike, but with a 1,000-watt Clean Mobile electric motor that delivers extra power when the rider is pedaling. The fact that the electric assist is only available when pedaling was a key factor in the design of the eGnition, as KTM wanted it to be clearly different than an electric motorbike. The folks who run Eurobike obviously approved, as it received their Design Award for this year’s event. Read More

You may have just read our take on the KTM eGnition freeride bike that was on display at this year’s Eurobike, but it wasn’t the only electric mountain bike in attendance. German bike-maker Conway also used the event to premiere its burly-looking E-Rider. Its motor can generate up to 2,000 watts, which definitely separates it from the commuting ebikes, while its weight is somewhere under 20 kilograms (44 lbs.) – not bad for something with a motor and a battery. Read More

It’s no secret that as gas prices soar and battery technology evolves, electric bikes are fast becoming the next big two-wheeled thing. That trend is clearly evidenced by the strong showing ebikes are making at this year’s Eurobike trade show, currently taking place in Friedrichshafen, Germany. Over the next several days, we’ll be showing you a few examples that we’ve spotted at the show, but to start things off... well, let’s kick out the jams and go with the “Oh come on, you can’t be serious” ebike. It called the BlackTrail, and with a top speed of 100 km/h (62 mph), it’s officially the world’s fastest electric bicycle – and probably the most awesome-looking, to boot. Read More

Before we go any further, let’s get this out of the way right up front – nothing is ever going to stop cars from running into things. Until drivers are taken out of the equation completely, accidents will always happen. Nonetheless, Dutch tech company Mobileye has declared that with the release of its new C2-270 collision warning system, “an end to motor vehicle collisions [is] now in sight.” This system warns drivers of dangerously-close cars, alerts them when drifting out of their lane and includes a Pedestrian Collision Warning component. Read More

One fateful day back in 1984, I read an article in Popular Science entitled “Pedal-power slingshot.” It was about a vehicle called the Cyclodyne, which was a recumbent human-powered tricycle enclosed in a full polyester-and-epoxy streamlined shell. The writer claimed that he had easily got the thing up to 30 mph (48 km/h), and that it was designed to reach 53 mph (85 km/h) on flat ground. Good Lord, how I wanted one. Its US$3,800 price tag ensured that it would never happen, but that didn’t stop me from obsessing. That article was my introduction to the world of velomobiles, which can pretty much be defined as aerodynamically-shelled recumbent tricycles. The Cyclodyne is now long gone, and has been replaced in my yearnings by what is probably the sexiest velomobile currently available for purchase, the Beyss Go-One. This August, I had my first-ever chance to see a Go-One up close and personal, and talked to its owner about the fantasy versus reality of owning and using such a vehicle. What he had to say was definitely eye-opening. Read More

Researchers at the University of Michigan are developing laser systems for protecting military helicopters from heat-seeking missiles. The lasers wouldn’t shoot down the missiles, but would instead jam their sensors, essentially blinding them. This isn’t the first time that laser systems have been used for this purpose, but the creators of this system claim that it is better suited to helicopters than anything that has come before. Read More

In Japan and much of Europe, the Soladey toothbrush is nothing new. It was invented 20 years ago, and is currently used by over 16 million people – you may now pause to make a joke about 16 million people all using the same toothbrush. Just recently, however, it has become available in the U.K., U.S. and Canada. What makes it special is the fact that it uses nothing but light and water to clean your teeth. Read More

Micro Air Vehicles (MAVs) are in development at various research institutes and aerospace firms worldwide, with an eye toward someday being used in applications such as search and rescue operations, environmental monitoring, or exploration of hazardous environments... or spying, as seems to be the case with all things micro. Like insects, many of these MAVs fly by flapping a set of wings, so they need to be designed to cope with crosswinds or potential wing damage. Engineers at Harvard University have created a tiny automobile-style differential, to keep the two wings generating the same amount of torque. The device is literally one one-millionth the size of what you’d find in your car. Read More

They’re known as smart materials, memory materials or shape memory alloys, but it all boils down to the same thing: materials that hold one shape, but then take on another at a certain temperature. Such substances have been around for decades, but now researchers at Canada’s University of Waterloo have taken them to a new level. Using a patent-pending process, they can embed multiple shape memories in one object – in other words, while memory materials can presently take on only two shapes, going from one to the other at just one temperature, using the new process they could take on several shapes at several temperatures. The Multiple Memory Material Technology (MMMT) is said to work with virtually any memory material. Read More