Darren Quick

With the notable exception of the Wii Balance Board introduced with Wii Fit in 2007, balance and wobble boards generally aren’t the most technological pieces of equipment. Dr Jonathan Williams, a physiotherapy lecturer at Bournemouth University in the U.K. has added sensors and wireless technology to the humble wobbleboard to objectively measure improvements in patients’ balance.  Read More

The European Commission has announced two Future and Emerging Technologies (FET) Flagships that could each receive funding of a staggering one billion euro (US$1.3 billion) over a period of ten years. The “Graphene Flagship” and the “Human Brain Project” are large-scale, science-driven research initiatives designed to “fuel revolutionary discoveries” and provide major benefits for European society – hopefully creating new jobs and providing economic growth along the way.  Read More

Various compressed air-powered vehicles – of both the two- and four-wheeled variety – have graced our pages over the years, but with a few exceptions, such as Volvo’s Air Motion Concept, major automotive manufacturers have generally shied away from such technology. PSA Peugeot Citroen is bucking this trend with its “Hybrid Air” powertrain that addresses the limited range of compressed air energy storage technology by combining it with a gasoline powered internal combustion engine (ICE). The company plans to have Hybrid Air powered vehicles on the road by 2016.  Read More

Researchers at the University of Buffalo have created spherical silicon nanoparticles they claim could lead to hydrogen generation on demand becoming a “just add water” affair. When the particles are combined with water, they rapidly form hydrogen and silicic acid, a nontoxic byproduct, in a reaction that requires no light, heat or electricity. In experiments, the hydrogen produced was shown to be relatively pure by successfully being used to power a small fan via a small fuel cell.  Read More

American tuning house Hennessey Performance Engineering is crowing after its own production car, the Hennessey Venom GT, set a new Guinness World Record for the world’s fastest accelerating production car. To claim the record, the vehicle completed two runs in opposite directions within one hour of each other that averaged out to a time of 13.63 seconds to go from 0-300 km/h (186.4 mph).  Read More

The traffic sign assistance system currently offered in Mercedes-Benz’s S- and E-Class models uses a camera mounted on the inside of the front windscreen to identify speed restriction signs. This speed restriction information is relayed to the navigation system and displayed in the instrument cluster and in the map view to help prevent drivers exceeding the speed limit. Mercedes has now updated the system to also recognize no-overtaking zones and no-entry signs so as to prevent drivers from accidentally traveling in the wrong direction.  Read More

By relying on a chemical reaction rather than combustion, fuel cells like the Bloom Energy Server are a more environmentally friendly source of electricity than fossil fuel burning power plants – they’re also easier to fit on a residential or commercial block. Unfortunately, their price is still prohibitively expensive for most people. But things are slowly improving as evidenced by Panasonic’s latest “Ene-Farm” home fuel cell, which was jointly developed with Tokyo Gas. Later this year, the unit will be sold in Japan by Tokyo Gas for 1,995,000 yen (approx. US$22,320).  Read More