When Action Comics #1 (1938) sold for US$6 million dollars last week, it was just over 14 years since the humble comic book first smashed through the $1.0 million barrier at auction on 23 February 2010. No comic had previously sold for more than $350,000, but Action Comics #1 was … | Continue reading
We've now spent several months with the latest wire-free Landroid robo-mower, and we've found it a mix of confusing, educational, satisfying and highly entertaining. Oddly enough, the one thing the Vision seems to need... is a bit more vision. Continue Reading Category: Around Th … | Continue reading
Blinking keeps our eyes moist – but we actually blink way more often than we need to if that was the only reason. Scientists at the University of Rochester have now found that the involuntary action plays a bigger role than we thought, helping us process visual information. Conti … | Continue reading
If you thought the Hypershell was a weird one-and-done style of product, it's time for a rethink. There are more AI-driven outdoor exoskeletons on the way, designed to help amateur adventurers go farther faster with less effort. Continue Reading Category: Outdoors, Lifestyle Tags … | Continue reading
Warp drives are among the more plausible of science fiction concepts, at least from a mathematical perspective. Now, Applied Physics, a multidisciplinary group of international scientists and engineers, has launched Warp Factory, open-source software that anyone can use to design … | Continue reading
Future Moon bases may be a bit tidier thanks to an electric shield that protects equipment from destructive lunar dust. NASA's Electrodynamic Dust Shield (EDS) technology promises to tame the destructive dust that clings to equipment. Continue Reading Category: Space, Science Tag … | Continue reading
We've looked at several rugged, expanding camping trailers from Australia's Offline Campers over the years, and now the builder is preparing a flagship. Still built tough enough for anything the Outback can throw at it, the new Solitaire carries over the Domino's jaw-like expanda … | Continue reading
A newly discovered ant has been aptly named after the creepiest of all Harry Potter villains, Lord Voldemort. Like the lord, the ant is pale, slender, and it lives in the dark – unlike Mr. Voldemort, however, the ant did not give young Harry his lightning-bolt forehead scar. Cont … | Continue reading
A new underwater robot can swim through the water with fins, and walk or crawl along the bottom when necessary. These capabilities could really give it a leg up – pun fully intended – at outperforming its traditional thruster-powered counterparts. Continue Reading Category: Robot … | Continue reading
In the city of Munich, Germany, a groundbreaking architectural endeavour is transforming communal living. Crafted by German architectural firm Peter Haimerl Architektur, the Clusterwohnen Wabenhaus – affectionately known as the Honeycomb House – emerges as a symbol of efficiency … | Continue reading
Many of the gadgets we use every day have a limited shelf life, and often end up as e-waste before their time. The Dutch company that launched a repairable, upgradeable, sustainable smartphone has now taken the challenge to true wireless earphones. Continue Reading Category: Wear … | Continue reading
Despite its modest length of just 26 ft (almost 8 m), the Mi Casita tiny house has a space-saving interior boasting the kind of features usually found in a much larger model, including a bathroom with a tub and a downstairs bedroom. Continue Reading Category: Tiny Houses, Lifesty … | Continue reading
China's CATL – the world's largest EV battery producer – has launched TENER, which is described as the "world's first mass-producible energy storage system with zero degradation in the first five years of use." Continue Reading Category: Energy, Science Tags: CATL, Battery Techno … | Continue reading
Fractals are a fascinating type of pattern for mathematics nerds, with their repeating, artificial-looking structures. Now, scientists have discovered the first known fractal protein – and it seems to be an evolutionary accident. Continue Reading Category: Biology, Science Tags: … | Continue reading
A big-thinking Slovenian startup has created the world's first smart security camera that doesn't just spy on your visitors, but will actively open fire on potential intruders with paintball pellets – or even tear gas rounds – with "ultra high precision." What could possibly go w … | Continue reading
Researchers have tracked muscle contractions in a bird's vocal tract, and reconstructed the song it was silently singing in its sleep. The resulting audio is a very specific call, allowing the team to figure out what the bird's dream was about. Continue Reading Category: Biology, … | Continue reading
When NASA returns to the Moon, its astronauts will enjoy tooling around in a pressurized camper van courtesy of JAXA and Toyota. The two-person vehicle is part of a US/Japan agreement that includes putting the first Japanese astronauts on the Moon. Continue Reading Category: Spac … | Continue reading
The geography of the education world appears to be changing. Continue Reading Category: Good Thinking, Lifestyle Tags: QS World University Rankings, MIT, Harvard, University of Cambridge, University of Oxford, Princeton University | Continue reading
Bringing the fight straight at the Pössl Campsters and Crosscamp Lites of the world, Slovenian RV shop Adria Mobil has introduced an ultra-adaptable mini-camper of its own. And it's done its homework to develop something that leaves its unique fingerprints on the market. The all- … | Continue reading
Apple TV+ has clearly decided to invest in top-shelf science fiction as a defining pillar of its offering – and overall, it's put together an impressive slate. Some shows have been outright successes, and where others have missed, there's at least been a refreshingly grand artist … | Continue reading
By hopping like a person on a pogo stick, a modified aerial drone can operate for almost an hour as opposed to several minutes if it simply flew. Descendants of the aircraft could one day find use in applications such as wildlife monitoring, crop inspection or search and rescue. … | Continue reading
Two new technologies allow a single pair of glasses to track eye movements and read the wearer's facial expressions, respectively. The systems use sonar instead of cameras, for better battery life and increased user privacy. Continue Reading Category: Wearables, Technology Tags: … | Continue reading
Earlier this month, we featured a Whale Design propeller that looked to nature for improved efficiency. Switzerland's ABB Marine has also been inspired by "the dynamic motions of a whale's tail" for its multi-blade Dynafin propulsion concept. Continue Reading Category: Marine, Tr … | Continue reading
If you’ve ever caught the flu, you’ve more than likely been infected with the Influenza A virus (IAV). Compared to the Influenza B virus, infection with the A type often produces more severe symptoms. But, while many of us have experienced the fever and chills, headache and muscl … | Continue reading
NASA is gearing up to launch an advanced solar sail spacecraft later this month. Using a new boom made of lightweight polymer composites, the Advanced Composite Solar Sail System is scheduled to lift off on April 24. Continue Reading Category: Space, Science Tags: NASA, Solar Sai … | Continue reading
Obstructive sleep apnea can cause or contribute to high blood pressure, so a new study examined which sleep apnea treatments – a CPAP machine or a mouthguard that keeps the airways open – was more effective at lowering blood pressure. Continue Reading Category: Medical, Science T … | Continue reading
After a couple of hell-raising concept iterations, Alpine's hydrogen combustion fire-and-ice Alpenglow super-racer is finally prepped and revved to take the track. It'll make its dynamic debut next month at the Spa-Francorchamps 6 Hours endurance event in Belgium, running its hyd … | Continue reading
The James Brand loves itself a slim, clean pocket tool, and its latest release very much follows the rule. The new Warrick is part bit cache, part torque-boosting multi-driver. Its slim, flat form makes it easy to slide into the smallest of pockets and comfortable to carry, bring … | Continue reading
If you sometimes want an electric boost while skateboarding, but don't want an electric skateboard, then you might like REM. It's essentially a handheld "power stick" that works completely independent of the user's board. Continue Reading Category: Urban Transport, Transport Tags … | Continue reading
A three-legged robot could one day be hopping across the surface of asteroids, searching for valuable minerals. Known as the SpaceHopper, the bot was recently put to the test on a micro-gravity aircraft flight. Continue Reading Category: Robotics, Technology Tags: ETH Zurich, loc … | Continue reading
Toyota has unveiled the new sixth-generation 4Runner sport utility in three formats: a standard model, a hybrid model, and a trail-ready overlanding model. Not everyone is a fan, however. Continue Reading Category: Automotive, Transport Tags: Toyota, SUV, Hybrid | Continue reading
We've seen a number of pedal-assist bikes over the years that ride a fine line between ebike and low-powered moto. The latest from California's Juiced Bikes is an absolute beast, and marks the company's entry into the folding bike space. Continue Reading Category: Bicycles, Trans … | Continue reading
Envisioned as a huge boulder rising out of an artificial sand dune, ZJA's Silt is now complete. The extraordinary building draws inspiration from the Belgian coastal landscape, and is designed to withstand a severe beating from nature, even in the face of rising seas and extreme … | Continue reading
An expedition to underwater mountains off the coast of Chile has led to the discovery of 160 species not known to live in the region, at least 50 of which are new to science. The information will inform marine protection strategies for important biodiverse regions situated in int … | Continue reading
Elon Musk is doubling down on his commitment to the colonization of Mars. In an address at SpaceX's Starbase facility at Boca Chica, Texas, he gave an update on how the advances in the company's Starship rocket and plummeting launch costs could one day see thousands of ships at a … | Continue reading
IM motors has decided that semi solid-state batteries are ready for prime time. In an omen of what Western automakers will need to contend with, it's now launched a futuristic luxury coupe with a next-gen battery pack and crab-walking capability. Continue Reading Category: Automo … | Continue reading
Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) researchers have developed H2O – Human2HumanOid – a reinforcement learning-based framework that allows a full-sized humanoid robot to be teleoperated by a human in real-time using only an RGB camera. Which begs the question: will manual labor soon … | Continue reading
Northrop Grumman introduces its first completed prototype Manta Ray Uncrewed Underwater Vehicle (UUV) that it is developing for DARPA. The extra-large submarine glider is designed to carry out long-range undersea missions without human assistance. Continue Reading Category: Milit … | Continue reading
A tiny, towable nugget ready to explore the natural world behind a passenger car, ATV or snowmobile, the versatile Genimax HR is an affordable tent-top camper built for four seasons of adventure hunting. The pint-sized base-camp-in-a-box unfurls into a small but capable living sp … | Continue reading
Pens, flashlights and pry bars are all useful, and the BoltLite modular multi-tool packs all three into a waterproof titanium body. It can be carried as one solid unit or pulled into pieces as the situation dictates. Continue Reading Category: Outdoors, Lifestyle Tags: Multitools … | Continue reading
Unlike most other ROVs, the Luna is designed specifically for underwater filmmaking. It records video at a maximum resolution of 8K/30fps and can descend as deep as 1,000 m (3,281 ft) – so all you giant squids out there, get ready for your close-up. Continue Reading Category: Mar … | Continue reading
In the textbooks, they’ll tell you that branding can profoundly impact consumer perception, foster customer loyalty and ultimately benefit the bottom line. I watched a real time demonstration of those marketing fundamentals play out at the release of the “Hello Kitty” Lumin at th … | Continue reading
Two years after entering the utility ebike space with the T1 Cargo, Fiido has added a longtail model to its gear-hauling family. The T2 ships with a 68-mile UL-certified battery, front squish and chunky fat tires, and offers pedal-assist up to 28 mph. Continue Reading Category: B … | Continue reading
Three-row utility buyers haven’t had a lot of non-truck options, especially from Toyota. Now that three-row fever is satiated with the new Toyota Grand Highlander, which debuts for the 2024 model year. Continue Reading Category: Automotive, Transport Tags: Toyota, Crossover, SUV, … | Continue reading
Magnetic levitation is used to float everything from lightbulbs to trains, with varying levels of success, but usually it requires a power source. Now, scientists in Japan have developed a way to make a floating platform that requires no external power, out of regular old graphit … | Continue reading
Dietary fiber is known to reduce blood pressure, but there’ve been no guides on how much you need to eat to reap the rewards – until now. A new study confirmed that dietary fiber lowered blood pressure independently of medication and quantified how much of it would lower high blo … | Continue reading
Professor Peter Higgs has died aged 94. The theoretical physicist was best known for his prediction of a key elementary particle, the Higgs boson, which earned him the 2013 Nobel Prize in Physics soon after its discovery. Continue Reading Category: Physics, Science Tags: Higgs bo … | Continue reading
NASA engineers have narrowed down the problem with the Voyager 1 deep space probe to a single faulty chip. It may now be possible to work around the corrupted memory and return the 47-year old interstellar spacecraft to an operational condition. Continue Reading Category: Space, … | Continue reading