XDModo solar charger sticks to the inside of a window to soak up the sun

XDModo solar charger sticks to the inside of a window to soak up the sun: "I guess I'm lucky that I now live in a part of the world blessed with long sunny days that are perfect for juicing up the battery on my solar device charger. I do have to keep getting up and moving it, though, so that the panels don't fall into the shadows cast by furniture in the room or even the window frames themselves, thus reducing its efficiency."

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Liquid crystal antenna promises faster, cheaper tracking of satellites

Liquid crystal antenna promises faster, cheaper tracking of satellites: "Vehicles such as cars, ships and aircraft need to stay in stable contact with earth-orbiting satellites, in order for on-board functions like GPS, internet access and satellite television reception to work properly."

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Eurocopter plans next-generation X4 helicopter

Eurocopter plans next-generation X4 helicopter: "Eurocopter is set to build on the success of its X3 demonstrator with plans to introduce an advanced X4 helicopter into service in 2017. Designed to replace the AS365 and EC155 Dauphin medium twin helicopters, Eurocopter is keeping its cards close to its chest in regards to the X4 concept under development, but has said it will feature a radically different cockpit."

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Startram - maglev train to low earth orbit

Startram - maglev train to low earth orbit: "Getting into space is one of the harder tasks to be taken on by humanity. The present cost of inserting a kilogram (2.2 lb) of cargo by rocket into Low Earth Orbit (LEO) is about US$10,000. A manned launch to LEO costs about $100,000 per kilogram of passenger. But who says we have to reach orbit by means of rocket propulsion alone? Instead, imagine sitting back in a comfortable magnetic levitation (maglev) train and taking a train ride into orbit."

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Air Danshin creates airlift system to levitate houses during earthquakes

Air Danshin creates airlift system to levitate houses during earthquakes: "When you live in a country as seismically active as Japan, thinking about earthquakes (and tsumanis) probably occupies a good deal of your time. Inventor Shoichi Sakamoto took it a step further. He decided to do something about it and invented a technology, remarkably simple in concept, to protect homes from the devastating shaking - an airlift system capable of automatically raising and isolating the whole house until the temblor stops."

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Solar energy-harvesting “nanotrees” could produce hydrogen fuel on a mass scale

Solar energy-harvesting “nanotrees” could produce hydrogen fuel on a mass scale: "While hydrogen is considered a "clean" fuel because the only waste product it generates is water, the conventional way to produce it relies on electricity, which is usually produced through the burning of fossil fuels. Researchers at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD), have now developed a "3D branched nanowire array" that they claim could cheaply and cleanly deliver hydrogen fuel on a mass scale."

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Bioengineers develop smart, self-healing hydrogel

Bioengineers develop smart, self-healing hydrogel: "Velcro is pretty handy stuff, but imagine if there was a soft, stretchy material with the same qualities. Well, now there is. Scientists from the University of California, San Diego have created a self-healing hydrogel that binds together in seconds, essentially copying the Velcro process at a molecular level. The new material could potentially find use in medical sutures, targeted drug delivery, industrial sealants and self-healing plastics."

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Lamborghini Aventador J Speedster | CNET TV | Video Product Reviews, CNET Podcasts, Tech Shows, Live CNET Video

Lamborghini Aventador J Speedster | CNET TV | Video Product Reviews, CNET Podcasts, Tech Shows, Live CNET Video:

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Solar panel-equipped ski helmet uses sunlight to power its communications system

Solar panel-equipped ski helmet uses sunlight to power its communications system: "It looks like the skiers' communications systems from Buhel and Recon could soon be in for some solar-powered competition. Working with German tech company TEXSYS and the Technische Universität Berlin, researchers from the Fraunhofer Institute for Reliability and Microintegration have developed a communications module that can be integrated directly into a ski helmet."

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Emotion-detecting digital tutor boosts students' grades

Emotion-detecting digital tutor boosts students' grades: "As proposed by psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, "flow" is an ideal psychological state in which we are engaged enough by a task not to find it boring, and yet not so challenged by it that we get discouraged. When learning new subjects, however, students often end up falling at one end or the other of that scale."

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ASV hulls would dramatically improve ship efficiency by riding on a cushion of air

ASV hulls would dramatically improve ship efficiency by riding on a cushion of air: "A European project is developing new Air Support Vessel (ASV) hull designs that allow watercraft to ride on a cushion of air to greatly reduce friction between the hull and the water, resulting in more hull speed for less power than conventional designs."

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Faster SBU V3 Self Balancing Unicycle is ready to roll

Faster SBU V3 Self Balancing Unicycle is ready to roll: "Inner city congestion, rising parking charges, pedestrian-only zones and other measures to persuade folks to leave the car at home can seem a little at odds with the increasing pace of our busy working lives."

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