Category: Cool

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From Popular Science – New Technology, Science News, The Future Now: Your Very Own Cleaner, Faster Plane, Now on Kickstarter

Synergy Aircraft John McGinnis

The Synergy aircraft, propelled by a fan in back and buoyed by a boxy tail, promises to be cheaper, safer, quieter, and vastly more efficient than a jet airplane. The hitch is that it doesn’t quite exist yet, but it’s nearly halfway to its goal on Kickstarter, so now is your chance to invest.

The shape is not unlike the jets of the future we looked at in our May issue, but the technology is very different. A quarter-scale flying prototype was unveiled a year ago, demonstrating the unique “induced drag reduction” method developed by inventor John McGinnis.

I’m very curious to see the full-size prototype in action.

from Popular Science – New Technology, Science News, The Future Now

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From Engadget: FCC wants to set aside wireless spectrum for medical body area devices, our hearts are literally aflutter

Smartphone brain scanner

The FCC has been making a big push towards freeing up the airwaves for medical uses, and it just took one of its biggest steps on that front by proposing to clear space for wireless body area networks. Agency officials want to let devices operate in the 2.36GHz to 2.4GHz space so that patients can stay at home or at least move freely, instead of being fenced in at the hospital or tethered to a bed by wires. Devices would still need the FDA’s green light, but they could both let patients go home sooner as well as open the door wider for preventative care. Voting on the proposal takes place May 24, which leaves our tech-minded hearts beating faster — and if the proposal takes effect, we’ll know just how much faster.

 

from Engadget

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From the blind cook: watch me on “masterchef” season 3, premiering june 4 & 5

Christine is a good friend of mine… well, at least I think so.  :P  She is going to be my very first friend to be on major TV time!!  So yes, I’m plugging her in!  Watch it!

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I’ve been MIA for a while. But not to fear–I had good reason. I promise. During my hiatus, I was cooking my ass off to impress Gordon Ramsay, Graham Elliot, and Joe Bastianich. That’s right, I was cooking for my life to get on season three of the summer hit show “MasterChef” on FOX. After open casting calls in several cities across the U.S., I made it past tens of thousands of contestant hopefuls to land a slot in the top 100 to cook for the three notable judges. Did I impress them enough to get a white apron? Tune in to find out: “MasterChef” season 3 premieres June 4 and 5 on FOX at 9/8 Central. See what craziness ensues! In the meantime, here’s a promo commercial. And yes, that’s yours truly smack dab in the middle of it already crying like a buffoon. Hah!

 

 

from the blind cook

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From Engadget: Mind-operated robot arm helps paralyzed woman have her cup o’ joe

braingate2-mind-controlled-robot-arm

Researchers at the Braingate2 consortium have made a breakthrough that allows people with spinal cord or stroke injuries to control robotic limbs with their minds. The original project allowed subjects with motor cortex-implanted chips to move cursors on a screen with their minds, but they can now command DEKA and DLR mechanical arms to grasp foam balls and sip coffee. Researchers noted that dropped objects and missed drinks were frequent, but improved brain sensors and more practice by subjects should help. To see the power of the mind move perhaps not mountains, but good ol’ java, jump to the video below.

 

from Engadget

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From Technology Review RSS Feeds: Engine Could Boost Fuel Economy by Half

Delphi says its diesel-like engine runs cleanly on gasoline.

Delphi, a major parts supplier to automakers, is developing an engine technology that could improve the fuel economy of gas-powered cars by 50 percent, potentially rivaling the performance of hybrid vehicles while costing less. A test engine based on the technology is similar in some ways to a highly efficient diesel engine, but runs on gasoline.




from Technology Review RSS Feeds

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From Engadget: Laser-toting MAV can find its way in tight spaces, might eventually hunt you down

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A perpetual weakness of MAVs (micro air vehicles) is their frequent need for hand-holding in anything other than a wide-open or very controlled space. If they’re not using GPS or motion sensors to find their locations, they can’t turn on a dime the way a human pilot would. Adam Bry, Abraham Bachrash and Nicholas Roy from MIT’s CSAIL group haven’t overcome every problem just yet, but they may have taken combat drones and other pilotless aircraft a big step forward by giving them the tools needed to fly quickly when positioning isn’t an option. Uniting a laser rangefinder with an existing 3D map of the environment — still ‘cheating,’ but less dependent — lets the prototype flyer find the distance to nearby obstacles and steer clear even at speeds that would scare any mere mortal MAV. Ideally, future designs that can create their own maps will be completely independent of humans, making us think that MIT’s references to “aggressive” autonomous flight are really cues to start hiding under the bed.

 

from Engadget