If you always wanted to be an astronaut (or cosmonaut, I guess depending on your location) but never quite made the cut for NASA, there’s still a chance you could hang out in a space suit… if you’ve got cash, and lots of it. In April NASA announced that they would be, ahem, donating four […]
We Americans love us some polls. Go ahead, as me a multiple choice question about anything. Will there be a cure for cancer by 2050? World War III? A superior race of cyborg overlords? My answers are a) depends on which cancer you’re asking about, b) I do not know, c) Pfft. SHHYes! GOOD.is and […]
The Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) is a rover that will assess whether Mars ever was, or is still today, an environment able to support microbial life. In other words, its mission is to determine the planet’s “habitability.” Scheduled to launch in November or December of this year, the Curiosity rover should land on Mars in […]
Tech A dress covered in an armor of robotic pen nibs? I’m not gonna lie. I’d try it on, anyway. The Animated Pen Nib Dress is a project by Steven Tai and John Nussey–the 60s mod babydoll dress is plated with a field of 795 gold-colored pen nibs, mounted on tiny motors, which are animated […]
If you’re not familiar with piezoelectrics, it’s a good time to get current. (Here all week, folks.) Researchers at RMIT University and Australian National University have finally quantified the voltage output of piezoelectric nanofilms — thin film materials capable of converting pressure into electrical energy. The voltage output of up to 40 mV and current transients […]
Money might not buy you happiness or love, but it does mean you can put money into outlandish projects that won’t turn a profit. That may be why Amazon founder Jeff Bozos is helping finance a clock that’s designed to work for 10,000 years. Oh, and it’s in a cave. The clock was first conceived […]
A new company says it can build cameras where you don’t have to decide how to focus the image until after taking a shot. The basic principle of Lytro is remarkably simple: the camera is set up to capture all available data from the light that can be captured by the lens, rather than putting […]
For people who need to know the time and their blood alcohol level, this new watch concept from our friends at Tokyoflash can’t hit the market soon enough. The concept design features an asymmetrical case in stainless steel and a color-coded BAC results display. Just open the port, blow inside, and then call a cab. […]
Made during the OFFF Festival in Barcelona on June 8th 2011, Receipt racer is a game that uses different in and output devices, in this case a PS3 controller and a thermal receipt printer, to create a unique gaming experience. [Receipt Racer]
We still don’t have hoverboards or robot maids, but a collaborative effort between Samsung and the University of California San Diego may make sure we do still live at least partly in the future we imagined. Behold, geeks, I give you: Smell-o-Vision. Virtual smells have long eluded developers by being too difficult to control, impractical […]