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Jack Martin
Lead Me Not Into Temptation
By Jack Martin
03:05 September 24, 2008 PDT
Impulse control is becoming increasingly important on a personal and global scale for solving problems as diverse as obesity, smoking, compulsive shopping and even global warming. But if appealing to our intellect rarely works, what does? Psychologist Dr Max Sutherland looks at the issue and writes that rather than engage the mind in combat, take advantage of how it works. Don’t shop when you’re preoccupied or hungry, do good deeds after, but not before, shopping. And shop well in advance. Another fascinating article full of psychological tips to help control impulses and resist temptation. Read More
Volvo testing “birds-eye-view” awareness system for truck drivers
By Jack Martin
21:01 September 23, 2008 PDT
The concept of computer-synthesized bird’s eye view for drivers has been gaining a lot of ground with Japanese automotive manufacturers in recent times, with many concept cars emanating from Japan featuring the advantages of an at-a-glance situational awareness solution. Now Volvo has developed its own Overview Surveillance System (in conjunction with Toshiba), which gives drivers a view of the vehicle and its surroundings from above. It is designed primarily to support the driver in slow speed situations, such as when backing, parking or driving down narrow city streets. With the advanced driving assistance system installed, the driver can quickly grasp the situation for greater control and safety. Read More
Yves Rossy prepares for Cross-Channel flight – without a plane
By Jack Martin
02:37 September 22, 2008 PDT
Later this week FusionMan Yves Rossy will attempt the first solo jet-propelled flight across the English channel. Using a new single jet wing he unveiled in May, and which has already been tested over the distance (Rossy flew 35 kilometers in ten minutes during the test – an average 210 mph). The event will be broadcast live by National Geographic Channel in 165 countries and will also be streamed live online. Check out the image gallery – quite simply amazing. Good luck FusionMan! Read More
Durham Uni Smartdesk envisages the classroom of the future
By Jack Martin
09:00 September 18, 2008 PDT
A century ago, most school children sat on the floor, with tables and chairs following and eventually giving way to rudimentary desks. A century from now, one wonders how far we’ll have progressed in creating an environment most conducive to nurturing the minds of our most precious resource. Researchers at the Technology-Enhanced Learning Research Group (TEL) at Durham University in the United Kingdom are designing new learning environments using interactive multi-touch desks that look and act like a large version of an Apple iPhone. Read More
'The Yorkshire Aestel' – one of the original knowledge Gizmos to go under the hammer
By Jack Martin
07:50 September 18, 2008 PDT
'The Yorkshire Aestel' belongs to a small group of only seven known aestels; the most celebrated of which is the Alfred Jewel. An aestel is a pointer designed for the reading of manuscripts and most were commissioned by Alfred the Great, famous warrior king of England and one of history’s great champions of learning, justice and civilisation. King Alfred commissioned and sent aestels to all the bishops of his kingdom to accompany a copy of a translation of Pope Gregory I's Regula Pastoralis. Curiously, despite being one of the first man-made objects specifically designed to assist with furthering knowledge, this rare object is only expected to fetch between UKP10,000-15,000 when it goes to auction – perhaps this is a reflection on our modern values, perhaps the opportunity for a treasured possession of true meaning. A gold pointer steeped in history and the very roots of hand-written monastic scholarly endeavour , and dating from the late 9th Century is surely worth much more. Read More
Super Talent’s new US$420 128GB Solid State Drive offers 150 MB/sec
By Jack Martin
18:31 September 17, 2008 PDT
Solid State Drives just keep getting better and prices get ever more competitive and Super Talent Technology’s latest additions to its MasterDrive family will excite more than a few of our readers. The new SSDs employ a sophisticated new multi-channel SATA-II (3.0 Gbits per sec) controller, with the MasterDrive OX using MLC NAND Flash to transfer data at speeds up to 150 MB/sec sequential read and 100 MB/sec sequential write while the MasterDrive PX uses SLC NAND Flash to deliver a breath-taking 170 MB/sec sequential read and 130 MB/sec sequential write speeds. Read More
Motion Capture in MRI
By Jack Martin
05:12 September 17, 2008 PDT
We’ve seen a bit of innovative motion capture technology in recent times, furthering the notion that the technology can find some compelling application in the real world and is far more relevant than just computer games! MoCap technology is advancing rapidly and Measurand’s ShapeWrap III full body system, ShapeHand Data Glove, and ShapeAccelArray Geotechnical sensors have already found countless ways of enhancing understanding and interface design. Perhaps the company’s most innovative endeavour to date is its work with the medical community to aide in MRI research and analysis. The ShapeHand is a portable, lightweight motion capture system of flexible ribbons that captures hand and finger motion. The data captured by the ShapeHand system precisely simulates the hand movements of whoever is wearing it, and projects a computer generated 3D image of the hand (or hands) on a screen. By using plastic optical fiber laminated to an MRI compatible substrate on extended leads, the ShapeHand system can be fitted specifically for the MRI environment. Read More
Don’t sack the coach!
By Jack Martin
03:55 September 17, 2008 PDT
It’s a global remedy to a common problem – when your team isn’t performing, sack the coach. It happens across all sporting genres, and … it doesn’t work. That’s the conclusion of a study from Mid Sweden University about hiring and firing coaches in the Swedish Elite Series ice-hockey league during the period 1975/76-2005/06. The findings are also generally applicable.as the study confirms the situation is roughly the same in all major team sports, including soccer. Read More
Logitech introduces Omnidirectional PC Speakers
By Jack Martin
05:46 September 16, 2008 PDT
Logitech is proclaiming a significant step for itself in the evolution of the PC speaker. Logitech Z-5 omnidirectional stereo speakers use omnidirectional acoustics that create a substantially wider sweet spot – an especially helpful feature if you often move your laptop around your home or office. An innovative speaker technology previously found only in expensive home-theater systems, omnidirectional acoustics on the Logitech Z-5 speakers use forward- and backward-firing drivers to transmit sound evenly in all directions, and they’re available for both religions - PC or Mac at US$100 a pair. Read More
The Dearden Supercharged Vincent Black Lightning
By Jack Martin
05:42 September 16, 2008 PDT
One of those very rare motorcycles which comes along once in a lifetime will go under the Bonhams’ hammer at sale at the Classic Motorcycle Mechanics Show on October 19 October – it will be the only supercharged Vincent Black Lightning ever made. Built to break the world speed record, the machine is in totally original condition and is expected to break records of a different kind by selling for US$400,000-600,000. Read More
Porsche Panamera Gran Turismo makes its first appearance
By Jack Martin
05:37 September 16, 2008 PDT
Porsche began the public roll-out of its new luxury four-door “without the portliness” Panamera today with an image of the front end and a clever web site designed to capture the names of potential customers. The Panamera Online Magazine is offering a wide range of information about the latest member of the Porsche family, including videos of disguised prototypes on test drives. This is accompanied at the same time by an elaborate mailing campaign directly addressing potential customers. Read More
Bang & Olufsen BeoSound DBS
By Jack Martin
05:31 September 16, 2008 PDT
Aston Martin and Bang & Olufsen have collaborated to produce the BeoSound DBS audio system – it’s one of the most expensive audio systems on the planet, mainly because you have to purchase an Aston Martin DBS to get your hands on one. The system is seamlessly integrated into the DBS’s bespoke interior, providing the driver with an unrivalled audio experience. Consisting of 13 individual speakers and Bang & Olufsen’s unique Digital Signal Processing system, the system transforms the DBS into an acoustically sophisticated venue, capable of conveying subtle and striking musical dynamics from every source. Read More
The Peugeot PROLOGUE hybrid
By Jack Martin
05:29 September 16, 2008 PDT
It’s Paris Auto Show time again and not surprisingly, we’re seeing a rash of new announcements of concept cars and new production models. In a radical departure from the normal full disclosure of details, Peugeot has been quite circumspect in the information it has released about the PROLOGUE Concept due for a full unveiling in Paris. The 147kW (200 bhp) PROLOGUE, according to the press release “proposes an innovative combination of ideas at a number of different levels: its architecture, its style, its interior ambience, its modularity, its original high-tech equipment and also its new generation hybrid technology.” Read More
Two new recreational submarines – the luxury CQ2 and Personal Tour CQ3 submersibles
By Jack Martin
02:30 September 15, 2008 PDT
The submarine was invented several hundred years before the automobile, but it’s not surprising that it is taking a little longer to reach ubiquitous recreational usage. A bent fender is small change indeed compared to the inconvenience of Decompression Sickness, asphyxiation or perhaps being crushed to death. The risk of such perils had to be comprehensively mitigated before recreational submarines could safely come to market and the Dutch U-Boat Worx was the first to get it all right with the C-Quester one-seater CQ1 and two-seater CQ2. Now the company is set to launch a completely revamped CQ2 aimed at the SuperYacht Market and a two-, three- and four-seater CQ3 (pictured) aimed at the tourism industry. Read More
Rossi becomes the most successful motorcycle rider in history
By Jack Martin
22:11 September 14, 2008 PDT
Italian Valentino Rossi wrote himself into the history books yesterday when he took his 69th victory in the premier class of motorcycle racing and almost certainly won himself an eighth world title. His victory took him past the 68 MotoGP wins of countryman Giacomo Agostini (pictured with Rossi) and gives him a credible hold on the title of the greatest motorcycle road racer in history. Though he is already credited with being the youngest rider to have won championships in all three classes (MotoGP, 250 and 125), Rossi has effectively won in four, soon five classes as he conquered both the brutal 500cc two strokes and the smoother, more controllable four-stroke 1000cc machines which replaced them in 2002. He is now within a few points of also having won a championship on the new 800cc machines which suit the high cornering speeds of 250cc riders, as witnessed by the number of riders (Pedrosa, Stoner, Dovizioso, Elias, De Angelis etc) who became immediately competitive in the switch to the premier class – very few riders were able to make the switch to 500cc two-strokes and become immediately competitive. Rossi is also an accomplished Rally driver and briefly contemplated a career with Ferrari in F1. Congratulations to the Doctor and his mentor Jeremy Burgess. Read More
Peugeot’s Kinetic Energy Recovery System
By Jack Martin
04:39 September 14, 2008 PDT
The quest for ever more efficient use of the energy gleaned from the internal combustion engine will see F1 using a kinetic energy recovery system from 2009, but it appears the innovative forces of motorsport competition may also extend to the Le Mans Racing Series. Peugeot Sport will use the final round of the 2008 Le Mans Series at Silverstone to unveil a 908 HDi FAP equipped with hybrid power featuring a kinetic energy recovery system. Currently, every racing car in the world wastes most of the energy it has used in reaching maximum speed down the straight when that energy is dissipated in the form of heat via the brakes. Peugeot’s HY technology enables a proportion of the kinetic energy produced under braking to be either recovered or stored. Read More
The autovolantor Flying Car
By Jack Martin
11:11 September 9, 2008 PDT
Moller International has announced that it has designed a hybrid flying car. The two-seater autovolantor is fashioned in the shape of a Ferrari 599 GTB with wings and is claimed to be capable of lifting off vertically from a traffic jam and flying at up to 150 mph for a short distance (about 15 minutes). The autovolantor is designed to function on the road very much like a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) using one of its eight Rotapower engines to generate enough electrical power to drive for up to 40 miles. Read More
Leaf new medium format camera range tops out at 56 mpx
By Jack Martin
09:32 September 9, 2008 PDT
Leaf has announced an entirely new family of medium format cameras and camera backs for professional photographers. In addition to offering remarkable image quality with up to 56 megapixel resolution, the new line-up delivers many new features. These include a 56 millimeter wide ‘True Wide Frame’ sensor, Leaf Verto internal sensor rotation for easily changing orientation and Leaf SensorFlex technology which lets photographers pre-select image size and capture speed. One interesting feature of the new range is the Leaf Capture Remote for iPhone app which turns wireless devices, such as the iPhone or iPod Touch, into remote image viewers. While you are shooting tethered using Leaf Capture software, a client or creative director can view images from any Wi-Fi network. Read More
Specific brainwave patterns occur prior to a “Eureka Moment”
By Jack Martin
08:53 September 9, 2008 PDT
“Eureka” (Greek for "I have found it") is an exclamation used as an interjection to proclaim an epiphanic discovery. Famously pronounced in the bathtub by Archimedes when he suddenly understood that the volume of irregular objects could be calculated with precision through the displacement of water, a previously intractable problem. Real-world problems come in two broad types: those requiring sequential reasoning and those requiring transformative reasoning: a break from past thinking followed by an insight. It is this moment, where a problem solver makes a quantum leap of understanding with no conscious forewarning, that we term the “Eureka moment.” A new university study in which brainwaves of humans were measured as they attempted to solve puzzles that call for intuitive strategies and novel insight has found an array of specific brainwave patterns occur several (up to 8) seconds before the participant is consciously aware of an insight. Read More
Fraunhofer develops technology for the bonded aircraft
By Jack Martin
05:44 September 9, 2008 PDT
An aircraft is held together by hundreds of thousands of rivets. Fully automatic machines install rivet holes and rivets with precision in numerous materials. A new hybrid technology combines this mechanical joining technique with adhesive bonding. The lighter an aircraft is, the less fuel it consumes. Given the need to cut carbon dioxide emissions, this is a key aspect of materials research. Aircraft manufacturers are therefore pinning their hopes on particularly lightweight construction materials. These include not only lightweight metals, but also fiber composite plastics, particularly carbon-fiber reinforced plastics (CFRPs). Whenever two CFRP components have to be joined together, this has so far been accomplished primarily by riveting. Read More
Mitsubishi to switch to diesel for Dakar 2009
By Jack Martin
04:58 September 9, 2008 PDT
The once poor cousin of the gas-burning internal combustion engine, the diesel, is slowly but surely invading the world of motorsport. In recent years the all-conquering Audi team led the diesel assault on sports car racing and diesel now dominates these events. Now Mitsubishi will enter a new, turbodiesel 'Racing Lancer' in next year's relocated-to-South-America Dakar Rally. The new car has an aeronautic steel multi-tubular frame, honeycomb body floor and carbon fiber body powered by a 280PS 3-liter V6 diesel engine producing a prodigious 650Nm peak torque. The engine uses an innovative two-stage turbocharger with both a small and large diameter turbine, one on each side of engine, employed according to engine revolution and load. Read More
VW Golf BlueMotion concept car delivers 74 mpg
By Jack Martin
04:26 September 9, 2008 PDT
Volkswagen has taken the wraps off a Golf BlueMotion concept car capable of a combined 74.3 mpg while emitting just 99 g/km of CO2. The concept is powered by a highly-efficient and refined 1.6-litre TDI common rail diesel engine developing 105 PS and 184 lbs ft of torque at 2,000 rpm. Despite the focus on economy the Golf BlueMotion concept can reach 62 mph from rest in a respectable 11.3 seconds before going on to a top speed of 117 mph. Read More
Economic slowdown improves commute times
By Jack Martin
20:54 September 8, 2008 PDT
As we learn to monitor and analyze what really happens out there, some complex and quite fascinating relationships are beginning to come to light. An example of this came when the latest Trafficmaster/RAC Foundation Journey Time Index was published in the U.K. It seems that high fuel prices, the credit crunch and the economic slowdown have resulted in decreasing traffic congestion, with jams down 12 per cent compared to 2007. It also found that the average speed on Britain's motorways has slowed from 63.3 mph to 62.2 mph as motorists aim to conserve fuel, and despite slowing speeds, journey times have improved by 0.3%. Read More
Mazda’s Smart Idle Stop System uses Direct Injection Engine Technology
By Jack Martin
20:12 September 8, 2008 PDT
The imperatives of better fuel economy and reduced emissions are breeding some fascinating developments of the good ol’ Internal Combustion Engine (ICE). One of the most logical ideas could have been invented by any schoolboy – turn off the engine when it isn’t being used. VW was the first to trial the idea and BMW, MINI, smart, Citroen and Peugeot have followed suit, all using electrical power to restart the engine, requiring beefed up starting systems to cope with ever-more-congested urban conditions (25% of European driving time is now spent at standstill). Now Mazda has come up with a better idea - restarting the engine through combustion. Mazda’s system initiates engine restart by injecting fuel directly into the cylinder while the engine is stopped, and igniting it to generate downward piston force. Read More
New study identifies mechanism linking stress to physical illness and premature aging
By Jack Martin
09:02 September 6, 2008 PDT
Stress is a function of our primal origins. When the body is under stress, it boosts production of cortisol to support the 'fight or flight' response we all have at the heart of our operating system. If the hormone remains elevated in the bloodstream for long periods of time, though, it wears down the immune system. Every cell contains a tiny clock called a telomere, which shortens each time the cell divides. Short telomeres are linked to a range of human diseases, including HIV, osteoporosis, heart disease and aging. Previous studies have shown that an enzyme within the cell, called telomerase, keeps immune cells young by preserving their telomere length and ability to continue dividing. UCLA scientists have found that the stress hormone cortisol suppresses immune cells' ability to activate their telomerase. This may explain why the cells of persons under chronic stress have shorter telomeres. Read More
Sam Munro
- November 26, 2009 @ 08:08 UTC
