Experiments for NASA space missions have shown that small amounts of edible meat can be created in a lab. But the technology that could grow chicken nuggets without the chicken, on a large scale, may not be just a science fiction fantasy. In a recent paper in the Tissue Engineering journal, a team of scientists has proposed two new techniques of tissue engineering that may one day lead to affordable production of in vitro - lab grown - meat for human consumption. It is the first peer-reviewed discussion of the prospects for industrial production of cultured meat. "There would be a lot of benefits from cultured meat," says University of Maryland doctoral student Jason Matheny, who studies agricultural economics and public health. "For one thing, you could control the nutrients. For example, most meats are high in the fatty acid Omega 6, which can cause high cholesterol and other health problems. With in vitro meat, you could replace that with Omega 3, which is a healthy fat. Read More
Nokia's N90, has been awarded the European Media Phone of the Year 2005-2006 by the European Imaging and Sound Association (EISA), the largest editorial multimedia organization in Europe. The award is an endorsement of the Nokia N90's industry-leading feature set, which makes it one of the most high performance devices in the marketplace. Commenting on the award, EISA praised the Nokia N90 as a 'true best-of-breed multimedia phone, stuffed full of advanced photo, video audio and messaging features'. EISA also highlighted the Nokia N90's Carl Zeiss optics which 'endows it with serious photographic ability, including capturing and editing 2 megapixel digital photos and MPEG 4 352x288 resolution video.' Read More
A BMW powered by hydrogen small enough to race around a lounge room has been built by technology students in Germany. The revved up racer is an authentic replica of the hydrogen-powered BMW that set nine speed records last year, including exceeding speeds of 300 km/h. The full size racer used a modified V12 6.0-litre engine borrowed from the $335,600 BMW 760Li. It was powered solely by hydrogen, just like the 1/8th scale model built by students at the Ingolstadt University of Applied Sciences. The scale model makes do with a slightly smaller engine of just 11.5 cc. Like the BMW H2R V12 racer, the scale model emits only water vapour from its tailpipe, making it entirely suitable for racing around the house. It has a top speed of 80 km/h. Read More
Sometimes when we cover a story, we suddenly find out how much we don’t know (lots). Three days ago we wrote about all the (clever but) weird keyboards we’d written about recently when we covered Logitech’s G15 Keyboard, listing no less than nine different, interesting keyboards that help solve some of the many problems associated with a device that was designed 137 years ago. Yes folks, the keyboard you’re slaving over is a dinosaur masquerading as high tech and it’s no wonder that everyone thinks they can build a better one, because they probably can. Indeed, in the short space of three days, we’ve had half a dozen readers write to us saying, “hey, you should write about this cool keyboard.” Well, we’ve fudged it slightly by bundling the new lot all together, but if you follow this link you’ll see a new keyboard replacement for controlling model trains, a vertical ergonomic keyboard with rear vision mirrors (so you can see the keys) and a bunch of different programmable key pads that can be used for almost any set of tasks you can think of. Read More
A decade ago, during an evening of substance abuse, several people who subsequently became some of the principals of this fine journal came up with an idea. Extrapolating upon the growing penetration of digital cameras and the internet, we were into a second bottle of Jack Daniels by the time we’d hatched the idea for a global network we christened “bozos with cameras.” The idea was that as digital cameras became ubiquitous almost every newsworthy event would be captured by an amateur photographer and hence there was an opening for a global syndication agency to represent the non-professional with a scoop – the man in the street who happened to be in the right place at the right time with their camera (they didn’t have camera phones back then but it is the camera phone that has created the ubiquity) to catch a newsworthy event. Virtually everybody now has a mobile phone, and virtually every mobile phone now comes with a camera. This means that somebody, somewhere is in a position to photograph just about anything that happens on the planet. Well, the third bottle of JD ensured we didn’t do anything the next day and the rest is (a lack of) history. Now, such an agency has been created - a photographic agency that represents people who have still or moving images of newsworthy events, making sure the right newspapers/TV networks see their photo and ensuring that they get a good deal. Bloody good idea, heh what! Read More
Our Hemi-engined gadget article got a lot of response, including a company that really does make V8 snowblowers and this remarkable contraption – the “Frontgating Griller.” This amazing lean, mean, no-stick grilling machine will feed a family of 40 heated by your truck's own engine block. Specially designed grooves channel brat juices and burger grease into the bumper trough for easy cleanup or you can convert your engine to biodiesel and reuse all that succulent fat to fuel your reformed eco-unfriendly gas-guzzler. BTW – the gun at right is a 9mm semi-automatic-styled universal remote control and sneakers are boombox sneakers. Read all about them here. Read More
The creators of the world’s first personal Heads Up displays have just created a powerful new feature – radar detection display. The SportVue MC2 alerts motorcycle riders of the presence of radar in a personal helmet-mounted display. Using radar detectors on a motorcycle is difficult because of increased road, traffic and wind noise. And it’s hard to mount a detector so the rider can see the display. The MC2 offers this plus MUCH more, particularly when hooked to a datalogger such as the compatible Veypor unit. Indeed, it's hard to argue against the MC2 not offering a degree of safety for motorcycle racing too - and it'd be handy to know your laps times as you're doing them so you know what's working on the stopwatch. It'd be more than handy to know how close the guy behind is and who it is too. For road riders, we've been mightily impressed with this idea since we first wrote about it. The addition of radar is an absolute no brainer for the sports motorcyclist and the addition of the datalogger is a godsend for the thinking sports motorcyclist. Read More
New Zealand super maxi 'Alfa Romeo' has the potential to shatter race records around the world, predicts owner and skipper, Neville Crichton, having spent two weeks testing the new super maxi prior to the Hahn Premium Race Week at Hamilton Island (20-27 August 2005). After the Whitsundays regatta, the first major record in the sights of Neville Crichton is the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race mark of 1 day 19 hours 48 minutes 02 seconds for the 628 nautical mile race in the Tasman Sea. "Given a relatively constant breeze of 15 knots with slightly sprung sheets the new boat will average 22 knots and we can sail the course in 1 day and 5 hours," he says with confidence. Read More
One of the greatest challenges in life is to create a coffee at home which is as good as the best coffee you can buy in your favourite coffee shop. It's a complex equation involving obtaining the right equipment, refining the technique and obtaining the freshest and best quality coffee. There's a definite affinity between computers, high-performance people and coffee - we're not sure what the common elements are but high clock speeds seems to be part of the equation and there are few technology environments where caffeine is not the staple diet. Which sort of accounts for why coffee is one of the largest cost-centres for this humble magazine - all press briefings are over coffee, we have our meetings over coffee, and we drink coffee in our spare time, sometimes so often that the entire staff can levitate by 4pm in the afternoon on a busy day. So the news that Nespresso has unveiled a new compact coffee system was significant for us. Now while Nespresso is clearly related to Nescafe, the concept behind it is at the other end of the connoisseur scale, as we have previously explained. Indeed, Nespresso is so focused on nurturing the brand’s upmarket pedigree, it has opened dozens of coffee boutiques in the world’s cultural centres selling just Nespresso-produced coffee. Read More
Internet audio/radio is evolving quickly. There are now more than 5000 online radio stations listed at RadioDirectory, 8000 at RadioTower and 10,000 at Radio-Locator. Compared to the dozen or so “traditional” local radio stations we have access to, there’s every reason to believe you’ll find an audio stream on the internet that’s infinitely more in line with you tastes. Which is why we think the release this week of affordable software offering DVR-like capabilities for web radio is significant. Photo, video, and audio software company MAGIX, has announced Webradio Recorder, which lets consumers record multiple radio shows and music, automatically name tracks, and burn them onto CD or DVD. The array of powerful DVR-like functions even let you listen to earlier parts of the same radio show that you are in the process of recording. Read More
