Loz Blain

The Ducati team set itself a very ambitious goal when it went about re-imagining its least popular model, the Multistrada adventure bike. The aim was to make the 2010 Multistrada a much more flexible bike than anything before it, offering proper sportsbike performance, true long-range touring abilities, easy commuting and a genuine ability to get offroad and play in the dirt. Starting with the monstrous v-twin from the 1198 superbike, the design team has pulled together and integrated a huge range of cutting-edge technologies to get there. In fact, with its traction control, variable engine maps and electronically adjustable Ohlins suspension, there's a good argument to say that it'll be the most technologically advanced motorcycle in production next year. Oh, and it'll be much, much lighter and much, much more powerful than anything else in the adventure bike world. Forget everything you know about Multistradas, this bike is going to be an absolute animal.  Read More

As we wrote in last week's article about the ECOS Harbinger, one of the best things about electric vehicles is that they're much simpler in many ways than a petrol vehicle to build. Freed from the necessities of fuel tanks, airboxes, cooling systems, exhausts and the bulky combustion motor itself, designers are going to be able to start with a pretty blank sheet when it comes to designing tomorrow's electric motorcycles. Take the Voltra, a design study by Aussie student Dan Anderson - with its low-slung, bulldog looks, a seat unit that looks like it's floating on air, detachable dash and an engine-mounted swingarm pivot. It's a filthy sexy bike - and yet unlike anything we've seen before; a blue-sky reinvention of the motorcycle based on the new rules the electric age is going to bring in.  Read More

An Italian doctor has been getting dramatic results with a new type of treatment for Multiple Sclerosis, or MS, which affects up to 2.5 million people worldwide. In an initial study, Dr. Paolo Zamboni took 65 patients with relapsing-remitting MS, performed a simple operation to unblock restricted bloodflow out of the brain - and two years after the surgery, 73% of the patients had no symptoms. Dr. Zamboni's thinking could turn the current understanding of MS on its head, and offer many sufferers a complete cure.  Read More

Building electric cars will come with its own set of challenges - but then, in other ways things are going to get a whole lot easier. With plenty of battery technology available pretty much off-the-shelf, and electric motors being incredibly simple compared with their combustion counterparts, there's not a lot stopping small, independent operators from building fun electrics and getting them to market as soon as they're approved for sale. And such is the case with the ECOS Harbinger - which truly could foretell a bit of a small-business revolution in electric sportscars. US$89,995 will buy you a 120mph, 150-mile per charge, 6 second electric supercar with Lambo-style looks and scissor doors to boot. Nice!  Read More

The trouble with seasonal sports is that you've literally got to follow the seasons around the globe if you want to live your passion year-round. That, or let technology find a way to bring you your outdoor thrills indoors - like the Snowtunnel does. We've seen Dubai's lavish indoor ski slopes in the middle of the desert - now, this Aussie invention gives snowboarders the chance to cut a neverending icy edge for a fraction of the cost it takes to operate other indoor ski facilities. Sure, it'd be nothing like the feeling of dropping in, carving and jumping your way down a mountain slope, but the Snowtunnel looks like its own kind of fun.  Read More

One of the fun things we've got to look forward to as electric vehicles become more and more common is a changing of the relationship we have with our wheels. The XO2 electric scooter is a fine example - it'll behave fairly similarly to a regular electric scooter on the road, but when you get where you're going, instead of parking it on the sidewalk where it's exposed to rain, thieves and vandals, you can fold it up and bring it into your apartment or office, and plug it in to charge. We talk a lot about the coming population explosion here on Gizmag, with billions more people to be crammed into our urban centers in the next 50 years. Devices like these seem tailor-made for the type of living we're inevitably moving towards.  Read More

Does this fit under our 'emerging technology' tagline? It's hard to say. It's certainly emerging from somewhere. Ladies, if you find a g-string too restrictive, or you're fond of wearing paper-thin dresses and waging an eternal war against the visible panty line, you now have the option of wearing the above device, which is called the CString. While there's no 'string' actually involved, onlookers can certainly 'C' just about everything, including an awkward rear aspect that looks something like a pencil clenched between the wearer's buttocks. This is one of those occasions when we should *all* be glad that this isn't a Gizmag road test. There are further photos in the gallery, but we'd struggle to call them safe for work. You've been warned.  Read More

BMW released stunning images this week of a new concept motorcycle that nobody saw coming, featuring the resurgence of an engine configuration we all thought was long-dead. In recent years Triumph has stamped itself as the master of modern triples, and now BMW has made a clear statement of intent that it's bringing the inline six back to the bike world. The Concept 6 showcases a brand-new 1600cc engine that's four inches narrower than any previous production six, and produces truly prodigious power and torque throughout the rev range. And it's housed in a cafe racer body that has to go down as the sexiest motorcycle design BMW have ever produced. Sensational stuff... We can has production model plz?  Read More

We've dealt with plenty of amphibious vehicles here at Gizmag, and they've tended to fall into two camps - practical but unexciting, or cool but nonexistent - at least in a production sense. So the WaterCar Python comes as a bit of a surprise, looking for all the world like a pimped-out pickup truck, but offering blistering performance both on land and water. With the right engines built in, this hot rod can make mid 12s at the drag strip, hit 60mph in 4.5 seconds, and burn up the highway at well past 120mph - and it's capable of more than 60mph on the water as well - a true performance boat once the wheels are lifted out of the way. Crazy stuff!  Read More