For everything from family to computers…
Clearing the muck from an oil spill is tough enough without having to worry about collateral damage, but designer Hsu Sean is looking to create a Roomba-like Bio-Cleaner drone that degrades oil while keeping animals out of harm’s way.
An overview on Yanko Design shows how, after a spill, several of the drones could be dropped from helicopters above the ocean and into the water, where they could maneuver into a formation around the spill and use stored oil-hungry bacteria to clean house. An acoustic wave device installed in each drone would keep fish and other wildlife away from the danger/cleanup zone. If completed, the drones would also act autonomously while on a mission, staying powered by using ocean waves and hopefully not coordinating an autonomous paratrooping pseudo-Roomba uprising.
It may be just a wish-upon-a-star dream that we’ll ever see one of these in action, but it’s at least good to see oil spills given a creative solution (read: probably impossible robot-based solution; incidentally, it’s not the first time we’ve seen one of those). The drones are still in the concept phase right now, and there’s no telling exactly when Hsu Sean’s design will be manufactured, if ever. A lot of it – like the specifics of the bacteria and the water-based engine – seems destined to wind up mired in concept limbo.
The closest thing you’ll ever get might be throwing your Roomba into the ocean from a helicopter, which probably isn’t going to do all that much for the environment but could at least keep a few dolphins from needing to sweep the house this week.
[via TreeHugger]
from Popular Science – New Technology, Science News, The Future Now
The menu of low-cost mini-computer options expands.
Ars Technica and others report on a cool miniature Android computer that can plug directly into your TV. The whole thing is housed in a 3.5-inch plastic case, weighs in at 200 grams, and measures roughly the size of a USB thumb drive (a tiny bit bigger, actually.) It’s being sold by Chinese retailers, and you can get yourself one online for the low price of $74 (or 5% off, if you order 5 or more).
Ryan Young saw a pregnant woman being kicked by her boyfriend. He leaped out from behind the meat counter and intervened. Safeway suspended him, citing a zero-tolerance policy for workplace violence. But after the union took up his cause and people boycotted the store, Safeway reinstated Young, calling his action “commendable.”
from Morning Edition
For the price of a cheap date you could pick up Via’s new APC all-in-one computer. It’s about the size of a smartphone and about as powerful. It comes with Android 2.3 pre-installed, so it could make a decent media streamer or Android development platform. It comes without a case, but conforms to the mini-ITX and MicroATX formats. They’re taking pre-orders and expect to ship in July. [via geek.com]
from MAKE
Eric Schmidt has said that Google will make cash available through its investment into Teach First to buy Raspberry Pi and Arduino units for British schoolchildren. He was at the UK’s Science Museum to talk about Mountain View’s partnership with the charity, which puts top university graduates into schools to teach disadvantaged kids. The Android-maker wrote a cheque to fund over 100 places on the scheme, aiming to get bright computer scientists to reintroduce engineering principles to pupils. Mr. Schmidt hoped that with the right support, kits like the Raspberry Pi would do for this generation what the BBC Micro did three decades ago.
from Engadget
Bandwidth is a precious commodity on military vessels. Ships in the US Navy fleet are generating more data, but the pipe it’s getting pumped through isn’t getting any larger. What’s more, with limited connectivity options on the table, the sea-faring military wing is missing out on all the smartphone and app store fun. Rather than turn green with envy, or turning their dress whites is for camouflage cargo pants, the Navy is beefing up its mobile tech arsenal, beginning with the U.S.S. Kearsarge, U.S.S. San Antonio and U.S.S. Whidbey Island. The ships will serve as test beds for a nautical LTE system, with a range of about 25 miles. The 4G network will serve as a localized platform for wirelessly feeding data to sailors, as well as a way for the enlisted to connect to the outside world. On the backend, the Marines are working on a new satellite broadband service that should be able to provide ships with 300 megabits of shared bandwidth. Satellite internet and off-grid LTE might induce yawns in some, but they’re certainly a major part of modernizing our fighting forces. For more info, check out the source link.
from Engadget
