Vindskip ship concept uses the hull as a sail

Vindskip ship concept uses the hull as a sail: "With its Vindskip (or Windship), the Norwegian designers at Lade AS have come up with an intriguing concept for a partly wind-powered "hybrid" merchant ship.

No, Gizmag hasn't quite forgotten maritime history, and Lade AS is not proposing a return to the Age of Sail – not quite, anyway. Instead, the concept envisages using a specially-shaped hull to harness the power of the wind."

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Optical computing gets a lift on butterfly wings

Optical computing gets a lift on butterfly wings: "Researchers from Australia's Swinburne University and Germany's Friedrich-Alexander Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg have developed artificial crystals with unique optical properties that could lead to advances in quantum computing and telecommunications. Their inspiration? The glorious green wings of the Callophyrs Rubi butterfly"

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Review: i-H2GO hydrogen-powered remote-control car

Review: i-H2GO hydrogen-powered remote-control car: "At the end of last month, Horizon Fuel Cell Technologies began shipments of its latest hydrogen fuel cell-powered remote-control toy car, the i-H2GO. Like its predecessor, the H2GO, it runs on hydrogen obtained from user-supplied water. The main thing that's new about the i-H2GO, however, is the fact that it is now controlled using a free app on the user's existing smartphone. I got my hands on an early production model, mainly just so that I could truthfully say "I've driven a fuel cell car"

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The best muscle cars and what they are worth

The best muscle cars and what they are worth: "Every boy, and a lot of girls growing up, have a dream car, or a special car that you think, one day your going to have one of those. You picture yourself driving down the road, you hear the noise of the engine, you know that you have the power to kick down the accelerator and it will throw you back into the seat, even if your already doing 80. Some boys outgrow the dream, some don't. The ones that don't, restore these amazing cars so the rest of us can still enjoy them."

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Plasmonic nanostructures could prove a boon to solar cell technology

Plasmonic nanostructures could prove a boon to solar cell technology: "Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania have found a way to harvest energy from sunlight more efficiently, with the help of so-called plasmonic nanostructures. The new findings suggest that plasmonic components can enhance and direct optical scattering, creating a mechanism that is more efficient than the photoexcitation that drives solar cells. The development could therefore provide a real boost to solar cell efficiency and lead to faster optical communication."

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GoSun: Portable solar oven cooks food in as little as 10 minutes

GoSun: Portable solar oven cooks food in as little as 10 minutes: "The recently unveiled GoSun Stove is a portable, tube-shaped solar oven that's billed as being powerful enough to cook a full meal, even on cloudy days. Much like the Solar Kettle, this solar cooker uses parabolic mirrors to concentrate sunlight onto a glass cylinder and cook the contents inside. But while the Solar Kettle was built for heating up beverages and boiled eggs, the GoSun Stove sports a slightly larger set of mirrors and a stainless steel tray for food, allowing it to act as a portable convection oven for baking, frying, boiling, and more."

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Where'd that building go? Korea to get 'invisible' skyscraper | Crave - CNET

Where'd that building go? Korea to get 'invisible' skyscraper | Crave - CNET: "If you're among those eagerly awaiting a working invisibility cloak, get ready to be jealous. A South Korean skyscraper may get one before we humble (and highly visible) humans do."

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First Ford Mustang sold to public still belongs to original owner

First Ford Mustang sold to public still belongs to original owner: "After Gail Wise graduated from college, she needed a car to get to her first job. So she went to a Ford dealership in Chicago on April 15, 1964, and drove home with a brand-new light-blue Mustang convertible — the first Mustang ever sold to the public. The car wasn’t even officially on the market until two days later when Ford president Lee Iacocca unveiled the Mustang at the World's Fair in New York. "

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Enfojer lets you develop photographic prints straight from your smartphone

Enfojer lets you develop photographic prints straight from your smartphone: "Here's a fun little toy that might be of interest to playful photography enthusiasts and tinkerers. The Enjofer, described as a "portable smartphone photographic enlarger," is a stand that lets you create good quality black and white photographic prints directly from your smartphone, though you'll need your own darkroom set up to do it."

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Aviator and Afterburner bike lights are literally guaranteed to thwart thieves

Aviator and Afterburner bike lights are literally guaranteed to thwart thieves: "Life would certainly be simpler for bicycle commuters if they could just leave their lights on their bikes all the time, but – in most cases – doing so could likely result in the lights being stolen while the bike was parked on the street. MIT grad Slava Menn addressed this problem last year, by helping to create the revolver-like Defender theft-resistant headlight. Now, he's working on a similarly street-proof headlight and tail light, that are sleeker than the Defender but just as hard to steal – or wreck."

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Porsche 918 Spyder plug-in hybrid drive debuts in Frankfurt

Porsche 918 Spyder plug-in hybrid drive debuts in Frankfurt: "Porsche has debuted the long-awaited production model of its 918 Spyder at the 2013 Frankfurt Motor Show (IAA). Billed as the "genetic blueprint for the Porsche sports car of the future," the plug-in hybrid super sports car is designed to strike a balance between performance and efficiency, boasting acceleration of 0 to 100 km/h (0 to 62 mph) in 2.8 seconds and a top speed of 211 mph despite miserly fuel consumption estimated at 3 liters per 100 km (0.8 gallons per 62 miles)."

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The Next Space Shuttle: Hybrid Engines Make Runway-To-Orbit Missions A Reality | Popular Science

The Next Space Shuttle: Hybrid Engines Make Runway-To-Orbit Missions A Reality | Popular Science: "A disembodied jet engine, attached to a hulking air vent, sits in an outdoor test facility at the Culham Science Center in Oxfordshire, England. When the engine screams to life, columns of steam billow from the vent, giving the impression of an industrial smokestack. Engineer Alan Bond sees something more futuristic. “We’re looking at a revolution in transportation,” he says. For Bond, the engine represents the beginning of the world’s first fully reusable spaceship, a new kind of craft that promises to do what no space-faring vehicle ever has: offer reliable, affordable, and regular round-trip access to low Earth orbit."

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