Author: Gabrielle Taylor
Flock: saxophones, computers, and audience participation
A performance of Flock involves four saxophones and an audience of sixty to eighty people, but unlike a typical concert, the two groups can mingle freely. Computer monitors watch the people and transmit performance instructions to the musicians, and…
Iris recognizing mouse trumps Mythbusted fingertip scanners?
Considering the Mythbusters completely defeated a high-tech fingerprint lock, the security-conscious may prefer the Iris recognizing mouse. You look in the lens mounted on the side, and it authorizes based on whether it likes what it sees. At £160,…
Squirrel: a portable pollution monitor
Why wait for the government to install fixed-location pollution monitors, when through the twin miracles of mobiles and GPS it's possible to have air quality analyzed on the fly? Such is the plan associated with the Squirrel, a mobile…
Astronaut Glove Competition rewards low-cost cleverness
Peter Homer won $200,000 in the Astronaut Glove Competition, despite knowing nothing about glove-making at the start of the two-day competition. NASA wanted a glove that was lighter-weight, stronger and more durable than the one in current use, as…
New supernova from star 150 times the size of the sun
Supernovae usually occur when a star runs out of energy and collapses in on itself, but scientists have just spotted a monstrous star explosion that instead blasted all its energy outward. The result has lasted over 70 days, with…
Nanoparticle clothes to keep you healthy
Clothing designed by Olivia Ong for this year's Cornell Design League fashion show wasn't just hip or chic, it also destroyed smog and VOC particles. The fabric is impregnated with nanoparticles that not only give the garment futuristic health…
Plezo PMG-250 plays tunes and games
Given I slogged through a recent savage bout of flu with the lovingkindness of Nethack, the Plezo PMG-250 is particularly appealing, with its built-in old-school game emulation. It runs retro-chic fun from the Sega MegaDrive, Nintendo NES and GameBoy…
Noise cancelling technology for windows
For once, vibrations are causing less noise. Thilo Bein, head of the business unit for energy, environment and health at Fraunhofer Institute for Structural Durability and System Reliability LBF, has a German team working with treating glass with small…
From the size of that projector, you're very happy to see me
So it turns out stealing a Toshiba multimedia projector by stuffing it down the front of your trousers is not as difficult as you might think. All it requires is you keep going, no matter how compressed your genitals…
Desktop Factory 3D printer brings rapid prototyping to YOU!
In rapid prototyping, you design a real-world object in 3D software, and then use a 3D printer to "print" it into existence. By you, I mean you, since Desktop Factory 3D printers are aimed at home use. Can't find…
