Jack Martin

The America’s Cup has been run and won, and will return to America where it has resided for the vast majority of its century and a half history. Larry Ellison’s Team BMW Oracle trimaran trounced the Swiss Alinghi team’s Catamaran as two of the most technologically advanced boats on water fought out a one-sided event.  Read More

There’s an old maxim in racing, and it goes along the lines of “when the flag drops, the bulls**t stops” and after more three years of legal action and posturing between the teams' billionaire principals, Larry Ellison and Ernesto Bertarelli, it was a much awaited start in many ways that mercifully kicked off the America’s Cup yesterday. Just 40 nautical miles (nm) later, the whole event seems all but over, as BMW Oracle was clearly faster downwind and particularly so upwind in comparison to the defending champ Alinghi V in conditions which were expected to favor the Swiss team. The racing was compelling and very spectacular, but in the best of three series, with the second race scheduled for Sunday …  Read More

Formula One will be quite different in 2010 thanks to a number of changes to the rules. The Kinetic Energy Recovery System is gone, front tires will be narrower (from 270mm to 245mm) and most significantly, there will be no refueling during races which will mean fuel tanks will need to be roughly three times larger than 2009. The changes have bred a different size and shape of car, as was evidenced over the last two days when we saw the first of the serious contender’s cars – the 2010 McLaren MP4-25 of Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton and the Ferrari F10 of Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso. Demonstrating the drawing power of the Prancing Horse, Ferrari attracted an audience of three million unique visitors to its web site for the launch. The season gets underway tomorrow when …  Read More

The result of a design collaboration between Bentley’s Styling Studio and the high-end Swiss ski manufacturer zai, only 250 numbered sets of these limited edition handmade black skis will be made. Zaiìra®, the novel composite material used in the skis, was originally created for use in the latest generation of aircraft. It contains carbon fibres that are used on the skis’ top layer, in combination with natural rubber in the central part, as well as a carbon fabric in composition with chrome steel in the torsion part and long carbon fibre Reinforced Thermoplastic Composites (LFRTP). This combination of technology and performance give maximum performance with minimum weight as well as the ability to lie firmly and reliably in the snow, whatever its condition.  Read More

Engineers at the University of Michigan have developed a strip of paper infused with carbon nanotubes that can quickly and inexpensively detect a toxin produced by algae in drinking water. The paper strips perform 28 times faster than the complicated method most commonly used today to detect microcystin-LR, a chemical compound produced by the blue-green algae (cyanobacteria) commonly found on nutrient-rich waters. Microcystin-LR is among the leading causes of biological water pollution and is believed to be the culprit of many mass poisonings going back to early human history.  Read More

One of the world’s most accomplished automotive designers, Lee Noble, is to once more start his own company, and plans to produce an ultra light weight mid-engined V8 Grand Tourer supercar. Two images were released today and that's one of them at right. Noble's track record is good as it gets, having penned a string of the world’s best-handling and fastest accelerating supercars including the Ultima GTR, Ascari Ecosse and Noble M12, but in announcing his new company, to be known as Fenix, Noble has promised a 1200 kg 638 bhp car with a 0-100mph time of under seven seconds and a price tag under USD125,000. The car will target serious track day drivers, while also being completely usable on the public road.  Read More

Precision gaming manufacturer Razer is moving into the console peripheral business with the release a US$50 (EUR45) Onza high-end gaming controller and US$130 (EUR110) Chimaera headset for the Xbox 360®. The Onza will feature Hyperesponse™ buttons, analog sticks with customizable tension, a programmable multi-function button (MFB) and wired connectivity for “virtually lag free gameplay.” The Chimaera is equipped with a 5.1 Channel Virtual Surround sound system, a Daisy-Chain cable system and a circumaural design.  Read More

Now here's one of those ideas that leaps out at you with its commercial potential. Climbing offers extreme exercise with a nuclear fun factor and teaches fundamental coordination skills but it can be dangerous and scary with the heights involved, and besides, a climbing wall requires a serious commitment to locate and build. The computer-controlled ClimbStation is like an intelligent vertical treadmill for climbers, so it provides real climbing without the need for a safety harness because you never got more than a metre off the ground. ClimbStation hydraulically tilts between +15 degrees and minus 39 degrees, the holds are interchangeable, and the most significant thing about the ClimbStation is that it can be transported with a normal car trailer, making it an ideal relocatable owner-operator or amusement attraction.  Read More

Computer peripherals giant Logitech recently shipped its billionth mouse, quite some feat given there are only 6.7 billion humans and a billion PCs on the planet. The mouse, in conjunction with the dastardly QWERTY keyboard, has become the cornerstone of the Computer Human Interface. The milestone comes within days of the fortieth anniversary of the first public demonstration of the computer mouse. On December 9, 1968, Douglas C. Engelbart gave a live public demonstration of the online system, NLS, which included the first mouse. The accompanying image is of the great grandaddy of the thing you’ve probably got in your hand as you read this.  Read More