Thursday 31 December 2015

Potential delay for first test flight of India's spaceplane demonstrator

Artist's concept of the RLV-TD spaceplane

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) may have to delay the first test flight of its experimental Reusable Launch Vehicle-Technology Demonstrator (RLV-TD) spaceplane. The unmanned sub-orbital spacecraft, which is similar in design to the US Air Force's X-37B, was scheduled to be launched in February, but technical difficulties may put back the flight to the first week of April.

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Section: Space

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Automist Smartscan puts a targeted fire-fighting mist jet in the wall

The Automist wall unit delivers a fire-extinguishing water mist at a rate of 5.6 liters (1.5 ...

With regular ceiling-mounted sprinkler systems, the whole room gets soaked when fire is detected – even if the flames themselves are just in one part of the room. London-based tech firm Plumis, however, is out to change that. The sprinklers for its Automist Smartscan system are located in the walls, and they only target areas where fire is present. As a result, the system reportedly uses 90 percent less water, causing much less water damage while offering the same fire-fighting performance as ceiling systems.

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Section: Around The Home

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Velomobile fans could soon have a real Ego

The Ego velomobile should hit Kickstarter within the next couple of months

Early next year, the Pedalist, e-fox, Elf and Tripod could all be in for some competition. That's when Illinois-based inventor Eliel Rojas plans on launching a Kickstarter campaign to fund production of his human/electric hybrid vehicle, the Ego Urban Transporter. Like those other models, it's what's known as a velomobile – a pedal-powered tricycle enclosed within an aerodynamic shell. Also like them, it's a velomobile that stands about as tall as a car. Its rider, however, stays pretty laid-back.

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Section: Urban Transport

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Oculus Touch controllers for Rift now expected to launch in mid/late 2016

Oculus Touch controllers on display at Oculus Connect 2 last September

We already knew that Oculus' Touch controllers, which give you hands inside virtual worlds, wouldn't be shipping alongside the Rift in Q1, but today the Facebook-owned company announced a delay in the ship date for the wireless accessories.

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Section: Wearable Electronics

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Panasonic's stretchy resin film may find use in wearable electronics and more

The new film remains conductive and undamaged, even when stretched to more than twice its usual ...

Before flexible electronic devices can become commonplace, there needs to be a practical way of manufacturing reliable stretchable circuitry. While some solutions are already in development, Panasonic recently announced one of its own – a soft, flexible polymer resin film combined with transparent electrodes and a conductive paste.

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Section: Wearable Electronics

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Chasing comets, Pluto fly-by and Falcon landing: A year in space, 2015

A look back at the space technology and exploration highlights of 2015

From commercial space to space lettuce, 2015 was a bumper year for exploring the Solar System and beyond. To get the low down on the high ground, Gizmag looks back on the highlights of space exploration and technology over the past twelve months.

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Section: Space

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Clip-on device gives unplugged electric guitar a sound boost

No wires, no batteries, no headphones - the DelSonix SD28 clip-on sound booster

Noodling away on an unplugged electric guitar is a great way to practice chops any time, day or night. But the raw sound can be a bit disappointing, lacking body and volume. DelSonix says that its clip-on guitar speaker can give a solid body electric a 10 dB sonic boost, which can be directed straight at the player.

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Section: Music

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Capsules made from seaweed could replace insulin injections

The new pancreatic islet cryopreservation method could help type 1 diabetes patients be less dependent on ...

People with type 1 diabetes have to live with daily injections of insulin. As research progresses in this field, scientists are looking into new methods that can free, or at least partially free, patients from regular doses. One such method is pancreatic islet transplantation, something that researchers at Okinawa Institute of Technology and Science Graduate University (OIST) claim they have improved.

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Section: Health and Wellbeing

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Samsung pulls three devices out of experimental research lab for CES

rink is a hand-motion controller for mobile VR devices

Samsung is set to give CES attendees a little glimpse into its research division next week, unveiling for the first time a set of projects underway in its secretive Creative Lab (C-Lab). With the curtain to be pulled back on a weight-managing belt, a VR controller and an ambitiously discrete audio device, Samsung will be looking to gauge the potential for some of its more promising, yet experimental ideas for near-future technologies.

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Section: Wearable Electronics

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Wednesday 30 December 2015

Standout science and technology in 2015

Advances in brain mapping were among the scientific highlights of 2015, making possible amazing images like ...

The blistering advance of technology we are experiencing in the 21st century is nothing short of mind-boggling, and the rate of change being exponential, 2015 was by definition the busiest year yet. So before the Gregorian calendar keels over into 2016, let's take a wander through some of the year's most significant, salutary and attention-grabbing examples of scientific achievement, technological innovation and human endeavor.

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Section: Science

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Vanderhall treads a unique path to weekend fun with three-wheel Laguna

Vanderhall is the new kid on the block, but the Laguna looks like a well thought-out ...

Until now, the Morgan Three Wheeler was the leading option for wealthy petrolheads willing to trade out-and-out laptimes for left-field fun, but Vanderhall is encroaching on the old British manufacturer's turf with its new Laguna.

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Section: Automotive

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LG looks to centralize communications between home appliances with SmartThinQ Hub

The Hub's speaker can stream music from internet radio service iHeartRadio or the user's smartphone or ...

If the launch of its Internet Refrigerator more than a decade ago didn't get the point across, then its steady stream of other smart fridges, washers and other appliances since certainly did. LG is a big believer in the connected home, and at CES next week it will showcase a new device targeted at those of a similar faith. Its SmartThinQ Hub is designed as a communication center for a home's smart appliances, while serving as a speaker and notification system at the same time.

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Section: Around The Home

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Ocean Cleanup project to test its first trash-catching barriers in Dutch waters

The first open water testing of the floating barriers designed to capture plastic waste is set ...

Scooping up all the plastic waste in the world's oceans would be a massive undertaking given that scientists estimate there's around 5 trillion pieces of it currently bobbing about in the water. But the Ocean Cleanup project believes it is up to the challenge and has today announced plans for the first real-world test of its rubbish collection barriers off the coast of The Netherlands.

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Section: Environment

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AirBar brings touch control to existing PCs

The AirBar mounts below the screen of a PC, via a magnetic strip

Having a touchscreen on your PC could certainly be handy at times, but perhaps not enough so to bother replacing your whole computer with a new one. Well, that's where Neonode's AirBar comes in. It's a slim module that magnetically attaches below the screen of an existing PC that's running Windows or Chrome, instantly providing it with touch functionality.

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Section: Computers

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Liquid crystal elastomers used to create "rubber lasers"

A liquid crystal elastomer emits a mechanically-tunable laser beam

We generally picture lasers as being encased within hard housings, much like most other electronics. Thanks to research being conducted at Kent State University and Japan's Kyoto Institute of Technology, however, we could soon see sensors or other devices that incorporate stretchable laser-emitting rubber.

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Section: Science

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Digital sundial blends 3D-printing tech with ancient ingenuity

The digital sundial displays the current time within its own shadow

You could certainly be forgiven for thinking that the term "digital sundial" is simply an example of an oxymoron, not unlike "jumbo shrimp" or "deafening silence." That hasn't stopped French Thingiverse member Mojoptix from building one, however. It contains no electronics or moving parts, yet it still shows the time from 10:00 to 16:00 in a changing numerical display – with a little help from the sun.

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Section: Good Thinking

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Top tune creation innovations of 2015

Gizmag's favorite instrument creations of 2015

Twenty fifteen has been a helluva year for instrument creation, bringing a torrent of new ways to make sweet, sweet music with a bang, pluck, tap or scrape. Choosing a handful of tasty tone-tastic highlights from the last 12 months has been tough, really tough. But after much ruminating, we've managed to stealthily avoid picking from a hat and have come up with a select bunch of monstrous melody-making favorites.

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Section: Music

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As Oculus announces a second bundled game, some speculation on Rift pricing

Two top-tier VR games will be bundled with the Rift: Lucky's Tale (left) and Eve: Valkyrie

A few decades ago, the Nintendos and Segas of the world used to bundle a flagship title with their gaming consoles: be it Super Mario Bros. or Sonic the Hedgehog. That doesn't happen with today's systems, apart from special edition bundles – which often cost around US$50 more than buying the system by itself. With VR, though, Oculus is going one-up on those old-school game consoles, bundling not just one but two highly-anticipated games with the Oculus Rift. When we add this together with some other recent clues, we think this could mean roughly a $500-600 price tag for the Rift.

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Section: Wearable Electronics

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Hands on with the world's smallest 4K action camera

There's still some niggles to iron out before the simply gorgeous Mokacam goes into production

The Mokacam is claimed to be the world's smallest 4K action camera. It's also currently the only one to feature hot-swappable magnetic batteries and a rotating removable view and control screen. Already fully funded on Indiegogo, Gizmag got to play with an early prototype. Here are our impressions.

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Section: Digital Cameras

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Derby the dog's upgraded 3D-printed prostheses has him walking tall

Derby's new prostheses raise him up to his proper height

You might remember Derby, a dog who was born with a congenital deformity but last year received a 3D-printed prostheses that enabled him to run for the first time. Well, its onward and upward for Derby and his carers, who have now crafted an upgraded set of custom prosthetics allowing him to walk proudly with a straight back and even sit like a healthy dog.

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Section: 3D Printing

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8 forward-thinking vehicles to propel us into 2016

We look at some of the vehicles that could play a role in getting people around ...

The continued minituarization of electronics, advances in materials technology, a growing emphasis on clean, sustainable modes of transport and imaginative thinkers with out-of-the-box ideas have converged to give us some truly audacious vehicle designs over the past 12 months. Some are certainly more practical than others, but from personal tricopters to amphibious motorcycles this new breed of personal mobility solutions offers a tantalizing glimpse into how we might be getting from A to B in the future. As we head into a new year with new possibilities, let's take a look at some that could have a role to play in shaping the future of transport.

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Section: Urban Transport

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Tuesday 29 December 2015

DARPA gives Northrop Grumman nod to develop unmanned VTOL flying wing for small US Navy ships

Artist's concept of a full-scale demonstrator system of a medium-altitude, long-endurance unmanned air system (UAS) designed ...

DARPA has revealed more details of the Tactically Exploited Reconnaissance Node (Tern) program that aims to turn smaller US Navy ships into miniature aircraft carriers for Unmanned Air Vehicles (UAV). Phase 3 of program to develop a tail-sitting flying wing designed to take off and land vertically from destroyers and other small ships was awarded to Northrop Grumman, which will build a full-scale demonstrator for sea trials.

.. Continue Reading DARPA gives Northrop Grumman nod to develop unmanned VTOL flying wing for small US Navy ships

Section: Aircraft

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BMW to present AirTouch gesture-controlled interface at CES

BMW has released this teaser image of the AirTouch gesture control system it will showcase at ...

When the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) opens on January 6 in Las Vegas, Nevada, BMW will be showcasing a Vision Car featuring a new gesture-controlled interface called AirTouch – no touchscreen or control knob required.

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Section: Automotive

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Nadine the eerie social robot looks and feels like humans do

NTU says that some private companies have shown interest in its newly unveiled robots

Machines that can read and respond to human emotions like the fast-selling Pepper, and spooky lifelike models that look much like we do have bridged the gap between robots and humans, for better or for worse. By combining these two approaches scientists at Singapore's Nanyang Technological University have taken another step in this direction, taking the wraps off a creepy new humanoid named Nadine who has her own personality and is designed to play the role of social companion or personal assistant.

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Section: Robotics

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myFC readies for launch of world's smallest fuel cell charger

The JAQ is intended for use anywhere

If you need to power up your smartphone but are nowhere near an AC outlet … well, that's why Sweden's SiGNa Chemistry and myFC developed the PowerTrekk fuel cell/battery. While it's a handy device for off-grid device-charging, it's not exactly the type of thing that you'd just slip into a purse or pocket. myFC's new JAQ, however, is exactly that. It's being billed as the world's smallest fuel cell charger.

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Section: Electronics

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