Author: Gabrielle Taylor
Bloggers "crossed the line" in posting HD-DVD breaking code, sez industry
Over 700,000 pages have now published the HD DVD key which exploded on digg.com last week, and unsurprisingly, the AACS group controlling HD DVD encryption is rousing its legal muscle. AACS chair Michael Ayres also reminded the public that…
Artificial snot for electronic noses
Scientists at my alma mater, Leicester, and their fellows over at Warwick, have created artificial snot for electronic noses. The faux-mucus improves sensitivity of the faux-nose by a huge factor, allowing them to pick out a wider range of…
5 inventions that shouldn't have been made
Pull up a Monday morning cuppa and save your energy – the project you're working on might be one of those which shouldn't have been made. My personal fave is the USB-powered barbeque, since it reminds me of the…
Solar thermal power plant
Harnessing the power of six hundred high-tech mirrors, with thousands more mirrors en route to installation, a new solar thermal plant outside Seville shows the way to the ultimate clean power source. Light is focused on a 40 storey…
Alien voice changer must not be used to make threatening phone calls!
The Voice Changer allows you to mimic — no, I'm sorry, you ARE an Alien when you speak into the Omnitrix-shaped Electronic Voice Changer. It has Greymatter, Heatblast, and Fourarms as pre-sets, and also allows you to "create wild…
Zap-X electric car recharges in as little as ten minutes
While I understand that new electric cars must look like conventional ones to give new buyers a soothing sense that they are getting a car that will function as well as any other (and not some freakazoid chunk of…
LawnBott even puts itself away after the mow
With the proliferation of lawn-mowing robots, why should you even leave your house? Sit inside, tell the (for example) LawnBott to go out and manicure your green for you, and it even puts itself away after its done clipping….
Sinking clock freezes at 3/4 (of) time
Whether you want a sleeker version of Dali’s melted clocks or just to represent your loathing of alarms, the Sinking Clock is sure to make you look at time differently. This striking revisit of the usual black-and-red LED timepiece comes from Normal Design, reiterating some old saw about normalcy being even more relative than time is. [GT]
Android Geminoid 'breathes' and has 'real hair'
Geminoid is an android that breathes, using compressed air, and responds to physical contact such as being poked. He’s been created as a robot double, to allow his human counterpart, Japanese scientist Dr. Hiroshi Ishiguro (shown), to (for example) give remote presentations or lectures. Video after the jump, and more video from the BBC below. [GT]
Plasma Lift lets you hide your love away
Shows like How Not to Decorate constantly bemoan the way the telly takes centre stage in parlours, and embed them in giant armoires that require you to get up and open the cupboard doors before you can use your remote. Now the armoire itself has a remote, with the Auton Motorized Systems Plasma Lift. Your entire plasma screen fits nicely in as pretty a box as you like, and you just jam a button with your grimy thumb every time you want living colour to spice up your space. No price given, but you can request a quote. [GT]
