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Stunning Rice Crop Art In Japan - Photos
144 days ago | Comment
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MIT helicopter flies through a house using laser guidance
145 days ago | Comment
Little battery powered electric helicopters are lots of fun, but they tend to crash into stuff without an expert hand on the controller. One solution is to make a helicopter that can guide itself using GPS, but this doesn't work too well indoors where there are no useful GPS signals.
Boosting their ultra tech-nerd credentials to the highest level possible, the Robust Robotics Group at MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) built this quad rotor heli that uses a laser sensor to draw a map of obstacles and room boundaries, allowing it to fly safely without human input.
Why do I get the impression that the US military would love to talk with these guys?
MIT TechTV, via MAKE Online
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Stunning photo: Earth and Jupiter in the same shot | DVICE
147 days ago | Comment
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BBC NEWS | Science & Environment | LHC gets colder than deep space
145 days ago | Comment
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After 50 years, the Army gets a new parachute
148 days ago | Comment
America's army has used the same round T-10 parachute since the 1950s, but since then soldiers have been carrying heavier loads and demanded more out of their drops. The answer? The new T-11 chute, which features a larger, squared canopy capable of delivering heavier gear at a slower rate of descent.
The T-11 is 28% larger and falls 49% slower, allowing it to carry more without sending troops crashing into the ground. It also features an improved harness that allows for more integration with modern equipment and an upgraded sleeve deployment system that "creates more space between parachutes as they deploy and inflate," which should cut down on things getting tangled up in midair, and collisions.
Soldiers from the 75th Ranger Regiment already took the T-11 for a spin. Click Continue to see what they had to say about it.
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Forwarding Is the New Networking - Tom Davenport - HarvardBusiness.org
153 days ago | Comment
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AT&T is going to allow VoIP over 3G on the iPhone
156 days ago | Comment
Well, geez. First Flash applications, now VoIP? The iPhone is having a pretty good day!
According to AT&T;, the telecoms giant has "taken the steps necessary so that Apple can enable VoIP applications on iPhone to run on AT&T;'s wireless network." That means Apple's baby will soon be able to host voice-over-IP apps such as Skype.
It's certainly a surprising move — VoIP calls, traditionally, are unlimited and free — though it does make one wonder. Will VoIP apps look the same as they do on the computer? Only time will tell, but I'm betting AT&T; isn't about to bleed business over this. Check out the company's full statement after the jump.
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Yet another shower with colored lights for some reason
156 days ago | Comment
Apparently, rich people love showering in water colored by light. That's the only explanation I can come up with for the existence of so many gimmicky showers with built-in light shows. The latest is the iB Rubinetterie.
This fancy shower head lets you choose how much water you want coming out at once, from a gentle spray to a heavy downpour. And, of course, you can control the wide range of colors to make the shower more… well, I don't know, really. Luxurious? Let's just go with colorful.
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Wells Fargo's credit card squeeze - How the World Works - Salon.com
154 days ago | Comment
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Self-stabilizing gyrowheel makes training wheels obsolete
157 days ago | Comment
The gyrowheel would make it so that anyone learning to ride a bike — or just keep any ol' bike upright — wouldn't need training wheels to keep from falling over. The gyrowheel replaces the front wheel and contains a battery-powered, spinning disk inside of it, which in turn generates a gyroscopic precessional force and helps stabilize the bike. It should keep a bike upright in the face of wobbles, and the folks at Gyrobike claim that it teaches better riding practices, besides.
A 12" version of the gyrowheel is due out in December, with a 16" version landing next spring.
Check out a video on how the gyrowheel works after the jump.
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Alien effects: Lighting a candle in space
155 days ago | Comment
When you're floating around in the International Space Station, you're constantly reminded that you're having a literally out-of-this-world experience. Case in point: this is what it looks like when you light a candle in microgravity.
Because of the lack of gravity, the air's density is the same in all directions, so that means the heat disperses evenly, making the flame all the same color. Wow.
Via TechEBlog
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CEATEC: KDDI updates mobile phone fuel cell prototype | DVICE
154 days ago | Comment
