IMPLUX: Omni-directional, vertical axis wind turbine for urban environments

IMPLUX: Omni-directional, vertical axis wind turbine for urban environments: "When most people think of wind power they think of large-scale wind farms with fields of huge three-bladed horizontal axis turbines. With such farms requiring lots of room they are generally unsuitable for placement in or even near large cities."

Renault opens online reservations for Twizy all-electric two-seater

Renault opens online reservations for Twizy all-electric two-seater: "Renault is now taking online reservations for its Twizy two-seater all-electric micro car ahead of its launch in Europe later this year. The announcement made at the Barcelona Motor Show relates to two models – the Twizy 45, which is equipped with a five-horsepower (4 kW) electric motor, and the Twizy, which is equipped with a 17 hp (13 kW) motor and comes in Urban or Technic trims. However, the purchase prices for all variants, which start at EUR6,990 for the Twizy 45, don't include the battery, which will be leased from the company for a monthly fee"

Jetman flies across Grand Canyon

Jetman flies across Grand Canyon: "Yves Rossy, the former Swiss jet fighter pilot better known as Jetman, flew over the Grand Canyon last Saturday (May 7th) using his wearable jet-propelled wing. It was the first time he has flown with the device in North America, having previously used it to cross the English Channel, perform an aerial loop, fly in formation with stunt planes, and to unsuccessfully attempt traversing a stretch of the Atlantic Ocean between Morocco and Spain."

The Radiopool Thereglyph: a poor man's Theremin made from a talking dinosaur game

The Radiopool Thereglyph: a poor man's Theremin made from a talking dinosaur game: "Ever since a chance encounter with the new soundscape produced by a short-circuited toy amplifier in the 1960s, Reed Ghazala has been randomly exploring audio generation in compromised electronic devices such as talking games and toys. He has written a book on the subject, teaches others to bend circuits, and has created experimental instruments for many well-known artists including Tom Waits and Peter Gabriel. His latest work started life as an educational dinosaur game – which was broken apart, rewired and rebuilt, and then introduced to a plasma globe to become the Radiopool Thereglyph."

Bee venom used to create ultra-sensitive explosives sensor

Bee venom used to create ultra-sensitive explosives sensor: "Not only do bees play a vital role in agriculture by pollinating plants, but it now turns out that they may help keep us from getting blown up. Researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have shown that bombolitins, which are protein fragments found in bee venom, can be used to detect single molecules of nitro-aromatic explosives such as TNT."

Boeing Phantom Ray unmanned aircraft begins flight testing

Boeing Phantom Ray unmanned aircraft begins flight testing: "Boeing has successfully kicked-off its test flight program for the Phantom Ray unmanned airborne system (UAS). The fighter-sized technology demonstrator reached an altitude of 7,500 feet and a speed of 178 knots in its first flight on April 27 in the skies above NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base, California. A second successful test flight followed on May 5."

Mobile phones in developing nations could charge up using dirt

Mobile phones in developing nations could charge up using dirt: "There's no doubt that residents of developing nations can benefit hugely from having mobile phones. This particularly applies to the field of medicine, as the phones allow people living in remote areas to contact health care practitioners, or to use health care apps. Given how unreliable the electrical grid can be in such countries, however, keeping those phones charged can be a challenge."

Pesticide exposure linked to lower IQ in children

Pesticide exposure linked to lower IQ in children: "The results of three recent studies have found that children exposed to organophosphates (OPs) in the womb have a lower IQ at seven years than those that have not. Indoor use of two OPs (chlorpyrifos and diazinon) known to be neurotoxicants have been phased out over the past decade because of health risks, however they are still approved for use in agricultural pesticides and are widely used on food crops. Increasingly scientists are finding that prenatal exposure to pesticides may lead to later health impacts."

Continental forward braking system to get stereo vision

Continental forward braking system to get stereo vision: "More and more, we're hearing about vehicle safety systems that use video cameras to identify hazards. Like us humans, automotive supplier Continental's recently announced ContiGuard forward-looking braking system has two eyes, in the form of two high-resolution CMOS cameras, and a suite of electronics that enables it to analyze the difference in perspective between the left and right views – similar to the parallax shift which our brains also use to create spatial vision when processing images."

Huey the Chameleon - a lamp that changes colors to match its surroundings

Huey the Chameleon - a lamp that changes colors to match its surroundings: "Suppose you just love the sage green color of your new desk blotter, and think 'If only I could instantly make my whole office this color.' Well, now you can ... sort of. The designers over at ThinkGeek have created a gizmo called Huey the Color Copying Chameleon Lamp, that automatically 'reads' any color that it's placed upon, then glows in that color."

Lizard-inspired robot can swim through granular material

Lizard-inspired robot can swim through granular material: "When the sandfish lizard wishes to escape predators, it can actually dive beneath the surface of the sand, and then swim through it. Inspired by the sandfish, researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have created an undulating robot that can likewise swim through a granular medium. While that medium has so far consisted of quarter-inch plastic balls in a lab setting, the team hopes that their robot – or one of its descendants – could someday be used to tunnel through debris to rescue earthquake victims."

Lubricheck will let drivers know when their oil needs changing

Lubricheck will let drivers know when their oil needs changing: "Imagine if every time you bought a pair of socks, you automatically threw them out after six months, regardless of their condition. While you would certainly always have newer socks, you would also likely end up throwing away quite a few pairs that could have lasted a while longer."

Firebird intelligence gathering aircraft makes pilots an optional extra

Firebird intelligence gathering aircraft makes pilots an optional extra: "Although the use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) such as Global Hawk and Raven for military information gathering has increased sharply in the last decade due to the maturation and miniaturization of enabling technologies, conventional piloted aircraft can still be a better option depending on the mission at hand."

Thin-film flexible 'Paperphone' created

Thin-film flexible 'Paperphone' created: "Researchers from the Human Media Lab at Canada's Queen's University have created a fully-functioning floppy E-Ink smartphone, which they also refer to as a paper computer."

TV in a Card brings video to brochures and greetings cards

TV in a Card brings video to brochures and greetings cards: "It is said that a picture is worth a thousand words, and a moving picture worth even more. Now a company in the UK is enticing businesses to go beyond the confines of eye-catching text, colorful graphics and product photos with TV in a Card."

Intel's 3-D transistors to keep pace with Moore's Law

Intel's 3-D transistors to keep pace with Moore's Law: "NASA, the double-helix model, Elvis ... there's a long list of things that emerged during the 1950s which still resonate strongly in 2011, but none more so than the humble silicon transistor."

Veltop turns regular 'open top' bikes into convertibles

Veltop turns regular 'open top' bikes into convertibles: "You have to admire the people who commute by bike – regardless of the weather – although riding in the rain seems to involve a choice between getting soaked, or wearing a lot of rain gear and still getting a wet face."

The Chip Scale Atomic Clock makes atomic time-keeping portable

The Chip Scale Atomic Clock makes atomic time-keeping portable: "Atomic clocks are one of those things that most of us have probably always thought of as being big, ultra-expensive, and therefore only obtainable by well-funded research institutes."

Jaguar teams with Williams F1 to produce US$1.5 million C-X75 Hybrid Supercar

Jaguar teams with Williams F1 to produce US$1.5 million C-X75 Hybrid Supercar: "Jaguar's stunningly beautiful C-X75 hybrid concept 
that wowed Salon L'automobile last October in Paris, 
is to be produced in a limited edition of 250 vehicles with prices beginning at GBP700,000 (US$1.15 million) and running to GBP900,000 (US$1.5 million)."

Researchers simulate schizophrenia in a computer

Researchers simulate schizophrenia in a computer: "One of the theories regarding the cause of schizophrenia suggests that, due to an excessive release of dopamine, the brain remembers too many irrelevant things. Schizophrenics are then overwhelmed by the vast amounts of facts, thoughts and memories all crammed together in their heads, and start processing them into conclusions that aren't based in reality."

Farseeing inventor pioneered computer music

Farseeing inventor pioneered computer music: "Renowned computer generated music innovator Max Mathews has died at the age of 84. Back in 1957 Mathews wrote the program that enabled an IBM 704 mainframe computer to play a composition lasting 17 seconds – an achievement recognized as one of the first examples of digital synthesis of music on a computer."