Production

If you fell in love with the De Lorean in the Back to the Future movie series, the good news is that in 2013, you'll be able to buy a real one again. It won't have a flux capacitor, won't time-travel and it'll still be a thirty year-old design (albeit styled by Giugiaro and structurally redesigned by Colin Chapman of Lotus fame after De Lorean himself screwed up the first design), but it will have a 200+ bhp electric motor (the original had an asthmatic V6 producing 130 bhp) and those awesome gull-wing doors and it'll be … errr ... really cool. No, really! It won't be called the DMC-12 any more either, because the 12 stood for its new price at launch - US$12,000. The new one will cost you between US$90,000 and US$100,000. Read More

I've been a registered owner of Sonic Charge's µTonic (pronounced MicroTonic) drum/percussion synthesizer for years - but a new online tool from Sonic Charge called Patternarium is likely to make it one of my most used plugins when I'm looking for some inspiration in the studio. They're calling it a "giant collaborative patch randomizer," and my explanation of that won't fit in this summary. Read More

He may look like he stepped straight out of Second Life, but he isn’t here to kid around. Santos is a computer-generated auto worker who will perform various tasks on a virtual Ford assembly line, showing real-world researchers how those tasks affect his body. The avatar was originally developed for the US Department of Defense at the University of Iowa as part of the Virtual Soldier Research program where he was used to determine the physical strain that soldiers would experience in a variety of situations. Hmm... auto worker, soldier, university education, muscular, exotic name... perhaps he did just step out of Second Life. Read More

Korg has been a big player in the democratization of music production in recent years, with the mini Kaoss Pad effects device, the Kaossilator phrase synthesizer and the incredibly affordable nanoSeries USB MIDI controllers finding their way into the kit bags of countless budding rockstars (and many actual rockstars). Its latest noise maker is the monotron, a dead simple analog synthesizer featuring a ribbon controller (essentially a touch panel instead of keys, which is incredibly "playable" even for amateurs) and the same filter used in the classic MS-10 and MS-20 analog synthesizers which are still some of the most sought-after vintage synths on the planet. Read More

If you’ve ever worked on a major film project, you’ll know just how complex all phases of the production can be - scripts and schedules get faxed and/or emailed back and forth, a bazillion phone calls and messages are made and left, and then whenever anything goes wrong (which is usually about once every 15 minutes) everything needs to be rejigged, and everyone needs to be notified of the changes. If only there were some way of posting that information where all the cast and crew could see it, people could make changes to it, and then everyone would be made aware of those changes. Gee, anything come to mind? Yes, it’s a new application for our friend, The Internet. scenechronize is its name, and it promises to save filmmakers a ton of confusion, frustration, time, money and paper. Read More

Last year when we did an extensive feature on Ducati’s motogp carbon fibre semi-monocoque frame, we lauded its groundbreaking technology. Now it seems the Italian powerhouse is so pleased with its handiwork that the semi-monocoque design looks set to replace Ducati’s trademark trellis frame on its road bikes in the future too. Read More

Ferdinand Porsche developed the world’s first hybrid car in 1900 and showed the car, the Lohner Mixte, to the public at the Paris Auto Show of 1901. Hence, it is entirely appropriate that Porsche should introduce the hybrid drive to production-based GT racing. One hundred and nine years after that Paris debut, the Porsche 911 GT3 R with hybrid drive will debut at the Geneva Motor Show. Remarkably, the two 60 kW electric motors on the front axle drive are not supplied their energy by conventional chemical batteries, but by an electrical flywheel power generator originally developed the AT&T Williams F1 team.
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German company Asphaltfighters' latest creation has the most outrageous set of raw numbers we’ve seen for a production motorcycle. The 999cc Stormbringer has 220hp and an extra 60 ponies kick in over 180kmh for a 280bhp total. It’ll run "more than 198mph", hits 62mph in 2.9 seconds, 124mph in 6.5 seconds, and 186mph in 13.9 seconds. It comes standard with a HELD riding suit and kevlar/carbon X-Lite helmet, and the riding position and suspension are all tailored for the purchaser. The machine has the full array of cutting edge technology such 10 stage traction control, heads up display, rear-view camera, programmable speed limiter and, considering what it offers, a remarkably reasonable price tag of EUR 57,500 (USD86,000). Read More

Four years ago, a paper from the Tissue Engineering journal outlined techniques that would allow large-scale meat production in a lab. Scientists now confirm that they have managed to grow a form of meat in a laboratory for the first time. Described as “a soggy form of pork”, the initial result doesn't sound all that appetizing, but it's a development that could have significant impact on the future of global food production. Read More