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Reading the morning paper while behind the wheel of your car might sound like surefire recipe for disaster, but in the not-too-distant future it might just become a safer and more economical option than actually doing the driving yourself. That's the theory behind SARTRE (Safe Road Trains for the Environment) project – a synthesis of personal and public transport that will allow cars to be daisy-chained and automatically controlled by a lead vehicle in a process dubbed "platooning." The project has now made the leap from simulator to real roads in the first successful demonstration of the technology at the Volvo Proving Ground near Gothenburg, Sweden.  Read More

Retailers, hotels and real estate agents have been using aromas to entice us to part with our cash for years now and there have even been a few attempts to transmit smells via the internet and mobile phones. California-based company Scent Sciences is now looking to bring an olfactory dimension to computer games with its ScentScape personal digital scent delivery system.  Read More

Even with its potential for providing predictable and sustainable electricity generation with no visual impact, tidal power still accounts for only a fraction of a percent of the world’s total electricity generation. That is slowly changing though, with numerous tidal power plants being constructed or planned for coastlines around the world. India is the latest country to wade into the tidal power waters with the announcement of its first commercial scale tidal current power plant to be constructed in the Indian State of Gujarat.  Read More

When you look back 20 years to the era of brick-like mobile phones, film-based cameras and – scary as it is – no Facebook, it's easy to see how far technology has come. But how far will it go? In the final installment of our "on the go" series we've cast our minds two decades into the future to take a look at some of the most promising mobile technologies that are likely to reach maturity by the year 2031, delivering connectivity, convenience and portability on a science fiction scale.  Read More

If you thought that the Transcend Ski Goggles featuring head mounted display technology were special, then you're going to love what Recon Instruments currently has under development. The company sees its next generation iteration being capable of wirelessly connecting with smartphones and video cameras, of displaying detailed trail maps and of being able to locate and track friends and family on the slopes.  Read More

Researchers have created a new aerogel that boasts amazing strength and an incredibly large surface area. Nicknamed ‘frozen smoke’ due to its translucent appearance, aerogels are manufactured materials derived from a gel in which the liquid component of the gel has been replaced with a gas, resulting in a material renowned as the world’s lightest solid material. The new so-called “multiwalled carbon nanotube (MCNT) aerogel” could be used in sensors to detect pollutants and toxic substances, chemical reactors, and electronics components.  Read More

The Arab world has a new sporting superstar following the success of Qatar's Nasser Saleh Al Attiyah in winning the 2011 Dakar Rally – the longest and toughest motor race in the world. Al Attiyah headed a 1-2-3 finish for Volkswagen’s TDI diesel Touareg 3 race cars, while the usual suspects fought a tooth-and-nail battle on KTMs for the laurels – Depres and Coma battled throughout the event on times with Coma besting last year's winner at the end. In the truck section, Kamaz's Vladimir Chagin repeated last year's win while Red Bull sponsored the three major category winners for the third year in a row – we're not sure what that means but it's quite some feat.  Read More

Following on from a successful maiden flight under battery power in 2010, AeroVironment’s high altitude, long endurance (HALE) Global Observer unmanned aircraft has now taken to the skies using hydrogen-fueled propulsion. The aircraft reached an altitude of 5,000 feet during the four hour flight on January 11 at Edwards Air Force Base (EAFB) in California. Both the endurance and the altitude of the system will be expanded in further test flights in order to achieve the planned operational altitude of 55,000 to 65,000 feet.  Read More

Toyota celebrated 10 years in the U.S. for the Prius at the Detroit Auto Show 2011 this week, introducing three new additions to the eco-friendly range. In addition to the announcement of the Prius v which will be available in 2011 and Prius c Concept which is expected to go into production in 2012, the company also unveiled plans for Prius Plug-in Hybrid Vehicle (PHV) technology which will allow the next-gen hybrid vehicles from Toyota to be recharged using grid power. While the new Prius v offers a midsize hybrid-electric vehicle aimed at young families the Prius c Concept vehicle will fill the city compact niche when released.  Read More