Gizmag Team
McLaren has announced a raft of upgrades to its already formidable MP4-12C supercar. A 25 hp increase in power that gives the 12C’s 3.8-litre twin turbo V8 engine a maximum output of 616 hp (625 PS) leads the list of enhancements which will come online later this year. Read More
Audi has taken pole position for the Le Man 24 Hour race with its new R18 e-tron quattro, with André Lotterer beating last year’s best time by nearly two seconds. Audi qualified second and sixth with the Audi R18 ultra and first and fourth with the two R18 e-tron quattros. Toyota's TS030 hybrids managed third and fifth to set up an interesting battle of with hybrids filling four of the top five grid placings. The race runs for 24 hours this weekend and you can monitor the tussle in a variety of ways. Read More
Northrop Grumman has announced that it will collaborate with Canadian aerospace and defence company L-3 MAS to send a variant of the Global Hawk Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) into Arctic skies. Read More
Toyota Motorsport is hoping for a spectacular few months in the middle of 2012, most notably with the race debut for the TS030 HYBRID in the Le Mans 24 hour and now for an EV assault on Pikes Peak. Not content with challenging the all-conquering Audi Team Joest with its hybrid 3400 cc V8 and supercapacitor energy storage system, the company has unveiled a new development of its TMG EV P001 car (which set a very respectable EV lap record at the Nürburgring Nordschleife in 2011) dubbed the P002 with which it will compete in the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb in Colorado on July 8. Read More
While fingerprint-reading security peripherals aren't exactly the new kids on the block, the latest offering from AuthenTec has two distinct things going for it - its compact size and its US$10 launch price. The Eikon mini is Mac and PC compatible, has a built-in USB connector and when plugged in, measures just 0.6 x 0.75 x by 0.5 inches (15 x 19 x 13 mm). Read More
The annual Cholmondeley Pageant of Power in the U.K. never fails to deliver something special and this year that exotic ingredient is a 1910 Edison-Puton Monowheel. Capable of being ogled by engineers for hundreds of hours at a time, the Monowheel was built in Paris in 1910, and bears testimony to human folly at its most ingenious. Read More
Researchers at Oregon State University have discovered a new type of blue pigment that could help boost the energy efficiency of buildings. Discovered unexpectedly three years ago, the "cool blue" pigment has unusually high infrared heat reflectivity which it is hoped can be channeled into commercial products in the near future. Read More
Primate study provides positive sign for the safety of nanomedicine
Nanomedicine is a hugely promising field, but while remarkable new treatments and diagnostic tests are being developed, questions remain about the long term effects of nanoparticles on our bodies. Adding to our understanding of these issues, researchers have now reported that the use of quantum dots - tiny luminescent crystals that can be used to monitor disease at a cellular level - appears to be safe in primates over a one-year period. Read More
Yet another world auction record fell during the week when a 1991 Aston Martin DB4GT Zagato Sanction II Coupé was sold for GBP1.23 million (US$1.93). One of just four cars built 30 years after the first batch, the car was previously owned by singer Phil Collins' manager Tony Smith and had just 4,748 miles on the odometer. Read More
The fascinating lead-up to the Le Mans 24 Hour race in three week's time is a technological smorgasbord as usual, with new technologies being used to gain infinitesimal increments of seconds per lap in the hope that it will lead to a winning margin over 350+ laps and 24 hours. A new addition to the dominant Audi R18 cars for this year's race will be an AMOLED digital rear view mirror - how can a better rear view mirror make you go faster? Read More
