gizmag Emerging Technology Magazine

The remarkable first race for wind-powered vehicles

Sun, 07 Sep 2008 21:48:49 +1000

September 7, 2008 Over 2000 years ago, the Frisians who first settled the Netherlands began to build the first dykes to hold back the water in the Netherlands. Having battled adversity from the elements since AD/CE (Anno Domini/Common Era) year numbering began has created the type of proactive mindset required for survival on a planet with finite resources and some large scale challenges. It has enabled the Netherlands to embrace sustainable technologies and business practices far more readily than other countries. In recent times the Dutch have conducted the first Hydrogen Fuel Cell Racing event, the first solar boat race and a fortnight ago the Dutch town of Den Helder held the “Aeolus Race”, the first for wind-powered vehicles. The winning Ventomobile from Stuttgart University was the clear winner, running at an amazing 64% of wind speed directly into the wind...

Related Articles:

Liquid Image offers hands-free underwater image capture

Mon, 08 Sep 2008 00:08:53 +1000

The Liquid Image Underwater Digital Camera Mask is a unique two-in-one mask and camera solution that allows you to take hands-free photographs and video underwater. Suitable for use in the pool or the sea, the camera mask could ensure you never miss that magical underwater moment. Taking photographs or video is so simple; you line up your shot using the crosshair marks on the mask and push the capture button. ..

Tags: camera, DS, LCD, LED, Underwater, USB, Video

Related Articles:

New study identifies mechanism linking stress to physical illness and premature aging

Sun, 07 Sep 2008 02:02:28 +1000

September 6, 2008 Stress is a function of our primal origins. When the body is under stress, it boosts production of cortisol to support the 'fight or flight' response we all have at the heart of our operating system. If the hormone remains elevated in the bloodstream for long periods of time, though, it wears down the immune system. Every cell contains a tiny clock called a telomere, which shortens each time the cell divides. Short telomeres are linked to a range of human diseases, including HIV, osteoporosis, heart disease and aging. Previous studies have shown that an enzyme within the cell, called telomerase, keeps immune cells young by preserving their telomere length and ability to continue dividing. UCLA scientists have found that the stress hormone cortisol suppresses immune cells' ability to activate their telomerase. This may explain why the cells of persons under chronic stress have shorter telomeres...

Tags: Stress, UCLA

Related Articles:

TAG Heuer’s MERIDIIST mobile communication instrument

Sun, 07 Sep 2008 01:43:07 +1000

September 6, 2008 TAG Heuer is best known for its exclusive watches and involvement in time-keeping and sponsorship of elite sporting events, so it’s a logical step for the company to move into the mobile telephone area now that a lot of people are dispensing with their wristwatch and monitoring the hour of day with their phone. The result is the MERIDIIST, a communication instrument that is the culmination of all the company’s experience and “the complete modern expression of everything for which TAG Heuer stands”. Apart from top-shelf everything, a stunning visual impact, master craftsmanship, remarkable battery life and superb acoustics, it’s just like any other mobile phone. Oh, except for the dual display screens and the TAG Heuer switch, which allow for discreet checking of the time and call management in meetings, and then there’s the …..

Related Articles:

IQinVision's IQeye 4 offers cost-effective 2-megapixel IP Video

Sun, 07 Sep 2008 01:37:54 +1000

September 6, 2008 IqinVision specialises in high-performance network cameras, smart IP cameras, and network video recording systems, and the range-topper in its new IQeye 4 series of IP video cameras is both simple and ever-so-powerful with 2-megapixel resolution. Whatsmore, it sends power, video and camera management over a single network cable making it ideal as a cost-effective solution that can integrate seamlessly with all leading network video recording systems and video analytics systems...

Tags: Iqeye, Network, Video, Video Camera

Related Articles:

The first Kitahaus relocatable living and office pods

Sat, 06 Sep 2008 19:41:29 +1000

September 6, 2006 As technology evolves, our ability to create remarkable, sustainable temporary living and working environments has grown considerably, as can be evidenced by Gizmag stories on relocatable structures such as the off-the-grid home, the Sphere House, the Nackros Villa, the Free Spirit Sphere, the LoftCube and the first mobile hotel room. Two years ago we wrote about the KitaHaus Pod which is designed as a stand-alone accommodation or temporary office and can also be interlinked to create unique temporary or permanent living and working environments. The KitaHaus legs are adjustable so it can be situated in almost any site including normally unusable sloped and wooded areas. The first built Kitahaus pods are currently going into Elleray Prep School in Windermere, UK as three classrooms and the designer is now seeking JV partners wishing to create eco-tourism resorts...

Tags: Construction, Kitahaus

Related Articles:

Limited Edition MotoGP-inspired Suzuki GSX-R1000

Sat, 06 Sep 2008 19:14:03 +1000

September 5, 2008 Suzuki has had a relatively lean run in MotoGP since the four-stroke era began but since the 800cc limit was introduced, the Suzuki GSV-R has been slowly pegging back the frontrunners and is reliably at the front of the front of the rest, after Messrs Rossi, Stoner, Pedrosa and Lorenzo have decided the podium order. To celebrate this newfound competitiveness, the company has launched a Limited Edition MotoGP-inspired Suzuki GSX-R1000. ..

Related Articles:

Honda offers Motion Adaptive Electric Power Steering (EPS)

Sat, 06 Sep 2008 18:04:19 +1000

Honda’s new Legend, which went on sale in Japan yesterday, features a new technology which has been dubbed “Motion Adaptive Electric Power Steering” (EPS). It’s a new driving stability technology which initiates steering inputs that prompt the driver to steer in the correct direction during cornering and in slippery road conditions. Motion Adaptive EPS is also planned for implementation on other models such as the new Odyssey and the new Accord series, both scheduled for release in Japan in the near future...

Tags: Honda

Related Articles:

3-D complex document visualization

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 17:42:59 +1000

September 5, 2008 Xerox has been responsible for some of the most important innovations of our time and graphic artists the world over will almost certainly count this one as equal to any that have come before. Preparing detailed brochures and flyers with special folds can be an incredibly exacting, time-consuming and costly process. The company’s latest is a new technology that uses 3-D software to view the entire layout of a piece before it goes to print. Aimed at eliminating one of the most costly bottlenecks in printing, the new technology will speed document preparation and approval – a process that costs six dollars for every one dollar spent on the print job itself, according to InfoTrends. With Xerox’s 3-D visualization software, users can see what prints will look like – texture, gloss, folds, binding and all – before any ink or toner is put to paper...

Tags: 3D, Print, Visualization, Xerox

Related Articles:

New Boxer Diesel Forester And Impreza

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 17:20:02 +1000

September 5, 2008 We’d been looking at pictures and static displays of Subaru’s horizontally-opposed diesel engine for several years before seeing it in the Legacy and Outback earlier this year. The engine is exceptionally compact, very light and has a low centre-of-gravity which benefits handling agility and makes best use of the all-wheel drive system. Throw in gobs of torque (the 2.0 litre version produces 258 lb ft at 1,800 rpm), class-leading fuel economy and emissions and the refinement, smoothness and sharp throttle-response it has already displayed and it makes the coming Forester Boxer Diesel which goes on sale in later this month and the Impreza Boxer Diesel (January 2009) very enticing indeed. The Forester will be unveiled in Paris next week...

Related Articles:

Game Console Online Content set to boom

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 13:58:56 +1000

It’s a wireless world we are living in, and the next decade will see countless changes in the way we access, consume and pay for what we want. Further evidence of this arrived today in the form of Parks Associates’ forecast revenue streams for online content and services for Internet-connected game consoles. The research company expects the three game console manufacturers (Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo) to be generating over US$8 billion in global revenue by 2013. The anticipated increase in revenue is expected to come from digital video distribution, downloadable games and content, virtual worlds and avatar-based microtransactions, multiplayer gaming services, and dynamic in-game advertising...

Tags: gaming, Microsoft, Nintendo, Sony

Related Articles:

The spell-binding Citroen Hypnos Concept

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 10:41:24 +1000

With the 2008 Paris Motor Show just a few weeks away, the world’s oldest automotive industry is getting set to strut its stuff on home ground. Not surprisingly, the French like to save the best for the Paris Show and this year, Citroën is unveiling the Hypnos. An elegant cross-over vehicle, Hypnos draws on a range of creative technologies to deliver performance and environmental efficiency, combined with subtle but powerful motoring sensations. Powerful, flowing and expressive, the exterior styling identifies the car as one to rouse the emotions. If you’re wondering about the image, that’s the interior – pretty amazing heh what?..

Related Articles:

New stem cell tools to accelerate drug development

Thu, 04 Sep 2008 22:46:43 +1000

U.K. Scientists have designed, developed and tested new molecular tools for stem cell research to direct the formation of certain tissue types for use in drug development programmes. A collaborative team of scientists from Durham University and the North East England Stem Cell Institute (NESCI) has developed two synthetic molecules which can be used to coax stem cells to ‘differentiate’ - that is, transform into other forms of tissue. Their use could also help reduce the number of animals used in laboratory research...

Related Articles:

Experimental study of hallucinations as they occur

Thu, 04 Sep 2008 22:34:46 +1000

September 4, 2008 A hallucination is a perception in a conscious awake state, in the absence of external stimuli, that has qualities of real perception in that they are vivid, substantial, and located in external objective space. For most of us, hallucinations are a normal, fleeting, brain glitch; yet for a few they are persistent, distressing and associated with a range of psychiatric, neurological and eye conditions. In the September Issue of Cortex, Dominic H. ffytche at the Institute of Psychiatry in London reviews what we do know and moves the field forward, by introducing a new experimental approach to studying hallucinations as they occur...

Related Articles:

Happy tenth birthday to the smart fortwo

Thu, 04 Sep 2008 22:14:00 +1000

September 4, 2008 Ten years ago the smart fortwo was launched to a world market decidedly unsure about the highly unusual two-seater that was just two and a half metres in length. It could fit into less than half a parking space, took two people and their luggage quite comfortably and had impressively low fuel consumption and minimum carbon dioxide emissions. The degree of foresight in the design will be judged most kindly by history given the issues of global warming, road congestion, and the effect the laws of supply and demand have had on fuel pricing. Throw in the car’s safety and technical innovations and a design that combines functionality with joie de vivre and the smart fortwo deserves a warm round of applause on its automotive coming of age...

Tags: smart

Related Articles:

Project Veloce - 130 metre 40 knot Pentamaran Super Yacht

Thu, 04 Sep 2008 22:02:13 +1000

Now here’s one sure to make the shopping lists of the world’s richest marine enthusiasts. BMT Nigel Gee has announced a high-speed Pentamaran concept aimed at the large yacht market. Developed for high-speed applications, the patented Pentamaran hull form is a derivative of the stabilized monohull concept featuring a long slender central hull, hydrodynamically optimized without the constraints of needing to be stable as stability is provided by two pairs of outriggers or ‘sponsons’. Project Veloce is truly an innovative application of technology in the large yacht market and is based on a 130m platform capable of over 40 knots. The beam of 30m offers significantly more internal area than on an equivalently sized monohull leading to exceptional internal spaces with true flexibility in configuration of the layout. ..

Related Articles:

smart electric drive continues the ten year smart success story

Thu, 04 Sep 2008 21:40:39 +1000

September 4, 2008 In a carefully choreographed move, the one millionth smart fortwo rolled off the production line at the plant in Hambach, France to coincide exactly with the tenth birthday of the iconic ultr-compact. Quite appropriately, the millionth vehicle was a micro hybrid drive (mhd) in the passion equipment line. On the occasion of the production anniversary and the tenth birthday of the smart brand, Daimler presented the new smart electric drive. In Hambach Dr. Dieter Zetsche, President and CEO of Daimler AG and Head of Mercedes-Benz Cars said "The smart electric drive makes zero emission driving in an urban environment a reality."..

Tags: Electric, smart

Related Articles:

Why some men cheat – genetic link to relationship difficulties

Thu, 04 Sep 2008 21:02:54 +1000

September 4, 2008 Comedian Robin Williams once defined the key issue of fidelity as being that men had a brain and a penis and only enough blood to run one at a time. We all know some guys are faithful, and some are not, but until now, it all appeared random behaviour. Now new research suggests that men who carry a certain gene behave differently in relationship. The incidence of the gene has been statistically linked to the incidence of a marital or relational crisis in the past year ,how strongly the man felt he had bonded with his partner, and what their respective partners thought about their relationship. One wonders if perhaps one day we’ll see genetic screening for prospective partners?..

Tags: Genetics

Related Articles:

DVR now indispensable technology

Thu, 04 Sep 2008 20:53:53 +1000

September 3, 2008 Anyone who has ever owned a DVR will attest to the usefulness of the device, so we were interested to see the results of a new survey commissioned by global digital pay-TV technology solutions provider NDS. Though such surveys are often clearly contrived to generate obvious promotional fodder for the benefit of the commissioning company, the responses from the UK, US, Australia and Italy clearly demonstrate that the DVR has moved into the indispensable household technology category for those who have experienced it, and equally, that it improves family harmony. The vast majority of respondents would rather give up their landline phone, dishwasher, radio or MP3 player than their DVR due to how much it has improved their enjoyment of television...

Tags: DVR

Related Articles:

Mazda Kiyora urban compact concept car Paris debut

Thu, 04 Sep 2008 20:47:30 +1000

September 4, 2008 Mazda will unveil the next vehicle in its long-term technology development vision, "Sustainable Zoom-Zoom" concept car series at the 2008 Paris International Motor Show next week – the Mazda Kiyora is a lightweight, next generation, urban compact concept car. Kiyora's aerodynamic Nagare design and next-generation four-cylinder direct-injection engine contribute to excellent fuel economy and low CO2 emissions...

Tags: Concept Cars, Mazda

Related Articles:

Grundig's latest top model LCD - the Vision 9

Thu, 04 Sep 2008 17:15:18 +1000

Due to hit stores in September, the key feature of Grundig's new Vision 9 range is its integrated sound projector - an array of 16 cone speakers located in a sound bar beneath the screen combined with two rear facing sub-woofers in the back of the housing. The system replicates the surround sound of 5.1 systems by activating the individual speakers with a small delay to produce directional packets of sound that are reflected off walls at different points around the room...

Tags: Audio, IFA 2008, LCD, TV

Related Articles:

Trident’s 200mph 100mpg Iceni biodiesel sports car nears production

Wed, 03 Sep 2008 00:19:31 +1000

September 2, 2008 British manufacturer Trident Performance Vehicles has produced a remarkable set of figures to go with its new Iceni two-seater sports car. It's a diesel sports car and will run any kind of biodiesel without any invalidating the warranty, adjusting the engine or affecting the performance. The car’s 6.6 litre turbo diesel V8 develops 550bhp@3800rpm and an arm-stretching 950lb/ft of torque at just 1800rpm, meaning it can be leisurely potter around short-changing at ballistic speeds. Not only does it get to 60 mph in under four seconds (a serious supercar time), it’ll do 200 mph, deliver 70 mpg at 70 mph, and if you treat the throttle very gently, it’ll deliver 100 mpg. At UKP75,000 it ain’t cheap, but it is special, and very exclusive...

Tags: Diesel, Trident

Related Articles:

Aston Martin to revive Lagonda Marque

Tue, 02 Sep 2008 23:35:24 +1000

September 03, 2008: Aston Martin CEO Dr Ulrich Bez has confirmed his intention to revive the Lagonda marque. The Lagonda name is one of the British automotive greats of the pre-WW2 period, founded in 1906 (by American Wilbur Gunn who named the company after a river near his home in Springfield, Ohio). The company was integrated into Aston Martin in 1947. Aston Martin will use the name to develop cars of “a different character than a sportscar, and therefore offer a perfect synergy” with the existing range. Lagonda will use a new and unique design language using “elements of DNA from the past” but the new marque will be “very future orientated” and offer “exclusive, luxurious and truly versatile products with high quality and usability.” The first concept will be shown during the marque’s 100th anniversary year (2009) and will be brought to market as early as 2012. ..

Tags: Aston Martin, Lagonda

Related Articles:

New fluorescence correlation spectroscopy technique offers real-time view of human chemical messenger system

Tue, 02 Sep 2008 21:49:44 +1000

September 2, 2008 One wonders sometimes just how far our understanding of life itself will extend within the next few decades. Earlier this week, U.K. researchers announced the development of a technology that enables the real-time viewing of microscopic activity within the body’s chemical messenger system. The researchers first created novel drug molecules which have “fluorescent labels” attached, then using fluorescence correlation spectroscopy, the molecules can be followed under a highly sensitive microscope as they bind to receptors, glowing all the while under a laser beam … all in real time at the single molecule level. Truly remarkable! ..

Related Articles:

Google takes on Microsoft and Mozilla with new Chrome browser - launching today!

Tue, 02 Sep 2008 20:50:23 +1000

September 2, 2008 Google-philes will be delighted to find out that the company has officially confirmed it's working on a completely new Web browser to compete with Internet Explorer and Firefox. Because Google Chrome is a completely new product, and not an incremental update of an existing piece of software, it is able to completely re-conceive the web browsing experience - and as a result, we can expect some very cool new features out of it. Oh, and Chrome will be completely open-source...

Tags: Google

Related Articles: