Extending battery life is a walk in the park

University of Wisconsin researchers have come up with a way of converting human motion into energy to power a smartphone. But they say a commercial model is years away. While the principle of using kinetic energy from a person walking to power a device has been explored in the past, Tom Krupenkin and Ashley Taylor […]



The Mercedes-Benz Buggy

Is that what a Mercedes buggy looks like? Well, close: actually that’s the Mercedes-Benz F-Cell Roadster concept car. It’s a hydrogen electric fuel-cell powered, joystick controlled, bicycle-wheeled buggy. [Source]

iPhone to Carry Earthquake Warnings

< Apple is adding earthquake notification for Japanese users of the iPhone. But the alerts aren’t in an app: instead they are built into the operating system itself. The iOS5 feature was uncovered by 9to5Mac, which was sent a screenshot of the Japanese edition. It connects the device to an early warning system launched in […]



Teenager Uses Fibonacci Sequence to Improve Solar Panels

How can we make solar panels work up to 50% better? Thirteen-year-old teenager named Aidan Dwyer discovered how trees use math in order to maximize photosynthesis, and thought that it could well be applied towards solar panels: On a bleak winter hiking trip to the Catskill Mountains, the 7th-grader from New York noticed a pattern […]

Scientific American’s Top 10 Cities for Technology

Seattle is the best city for technology, according to a statistical analysis by Scientific American. The cities are researched for their technology opportunities then scored and ranked in three categories. Though Seattle came out on top overall, other major metro areas fared well in all categories, too. Top 10 Most Tech-Friendly Seattle San Francisco Bay […]

Awesome: LEGO 3D Milling Machine [Video]

Arthur Sacek built this kick-ass three axis milling machine using only LEGO and a drill bit. The reveal is especially great, since the machine leaves most of the floral foam shavings intact and the sculpture is only uncovered after clearing away the debris. According to Sacek’s YouTube channel, this model was developed for ZOOM Education for […]

Flying Communications Before The Invention of Headphones

We take headphones for granted, but back in the days of the World War I flying aces (Red Baron, anyone?) there were no such thing. So how did flying student and instructor communicate over the noise of the airplane’s motor? With this contraption invented at the British flying school at Gosport, England: … device whereby […]

Free Online AI Course Draws 70,000 Student Hopefuls

Introduction to Artificial Intelligence (AI 101), a course offered through a partnership with the Stanford School of Engineering for free online from October 10 through December 16, has received more than 70,000 pre-registration sign-ups. Participants will be allowed to register in late summer, according to ai-class.com. The instructors, Sebastian Thrun and Peter Norvig are rockstars […]