Kyle Sherer

A solution for those who want to preserve old film and slides without the need for archive boxes and frequent dusting, the Wolverine F2D Scanner can convert 35mm film negatives and slides into 5-megapixel digital images without using a computer and each pic takes just five seconds to scan. Read More

When Mitch Altman created the TV-B-Gone he envisioned a simple, keychain-mounted device that could surreptitiously switch off the annoyingly loud TVs in public places. But he was pleasantly surprised to find out that electronics enthusiasts had turned his invention into a hat, incorporated it into a mobile phone, modified it into a long-range “sniper” model, and tweaked it to provide more power output. These innovations led him to make the device open source, allowing anyone to build or hack their own model. Read More

Is this Megatron's love-child? The MechRC is a programmable, remote controlled robot with 17 independently controllable servos (points of articulation), each capable of up to 180 degrees of movement. This provides the bot with an extremely wide range of actions – and the database of 100 pre-programmed motions and sound can be expanded by using the included software to create new manoeuvres. Read More

"If only I had known, I should have become a watchmaker” – attributed to Albert Einstein after the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. One law of science that has forever remained unchanged is the law of unintended consequences. When an idea is born its full range of repercussions is completely unpredictable, and the history of technology is a littered with fascinating examples of how one breakthrough can spawn something totally unexpected. In the hands of others, some do lead to tragedy, but more often than not we profit from technology's unexpected boons. Gizmag's Kyle Sherer follows some of these strange tangents to discover how an 18th century chess playing machine, French duck faeces, and a 60s movie called “Sex Kittens Go to College” are linked to the development of the computer, automobile, telephone and even space exploration. Read More

MSI has released BIOS update 1.09 for the Wind, allowing users to overclock the notebook by up to 24%, which increases performance by roughly 30%. The update retains the features of the 1.08 version, but provides added functionality and fixes some sleep and hibernation glitches. Read More

SpaceX, the company behind the Falcon series of launch vehicles and the Dragon space capsule, is developing a new free-flying, reusable, commercial craft. To be known as DragonLab, it will transport pressurized and unpressurized payloads to and from space, and will launch aboard a Falcon 9 vehicle. Read More

California’s Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation has agreed to test remote-controlled, 1.2-pound surveillance robots in hostile prison situations. After pulling an activation pin, the hardy robots can be thrown into place, or fired from a tear-gas launcher. Read More

Air New Zealand, Boeing, Rolls-Royce and UOP aim to power one of four engines on a Boeing 747-400 on Jatropha-based fuel. The first test flight using the environmentally sustainable oil is scheduled to take place in Auckland in December after fuel testing is completed. Read More

Available from January 2009, Belkin’s FlyWire wirelessly delivers uncompressed 1080p True Cinema HD content from Blu-ray players, receivers, video-game consoles, and set-top boxes to HDTVs and projectors. FlyWire operates in the open 5GHz band, and intelligently manages its own connection, adjusting frequency and power to avoid interference. Read More