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Who says wheelchairs have to be boring? A sweet new ride developed at Sweden’s Luleå University of Technology features a cutting edge navigational laser that lets the visually impaired venture out on their own. https://gizmodo.com/motorizing-a-manual-wheelchair-with-a-friggin-lawnmower-5795304 The laser-equipped wheelchair scans the environment as it moves forward and creates a 3D map of the surroundings. But wait,…
A single gene may alter the shape of your brain and determine your intelligence according to new research from the Yale School of Medicine. Genetic analysis of the brain of a Turkish patient revealed a startling discovery – the patient’s brain lacked the folds in the cerebral cortex that characterize most human brains (shown above…
Businesses are buying up iPads like crazy, but half of them don’t know what to do with the tablet devices once they hand them over to their employees. A survey revealed 68% percent of businesses like the idea of using a a tablet at work and the iPad is the preferred model. Less than half…
3D printers are typically behemoth-type machines that can spit out crazy things like houses, cars and titanium balls. The world’s smallest 3D printer is too puny to do any of that but it could be more useful than any other 3D printer. https://gizmodo.com/non-enclosed-3d-printer-can-build-houses-5492014 The 3D printer was built by engineers from the Vienna Institute of…
I’ve lost nearly as many wine glasses to the dishwasher’s fickle flow as I have to my own 2am clumsiness—and that’s saying something. But the clunkily named Tether Stemware Saver might just save me from those shards. The design—which includes a hollow rubber base that slides over a dishwasher post and a clip that attaches…
Bret Victor does cool stuff. He designed the first UI for the iPad. He created interactive graphics for Al Gore’s iOS book. And more to the point, he created a mind-popping personal website, which is how I know all that. Victor’s personal homepage, worrydream.com, is a remarkable example of the Web in action. Go ahead.…
Fonts. Kerning. Color. Words. By themselves each choice might sound like a chore, but Letterpress, a very short appreciation by Naomie Ross, celebrates the subtle beauty and craftsmanship of printing on an intimate scale. [Naomie Ross via NotCot]
Last week, Apa Sherpa made it to the summit of Mount Everest for a record-breaking 21st time. This “Super Sherpa”, who now lives in Utah, has climbed for the past several years with the Eco Everest Expedition, a team with a “leave no trace” outdoor ethic dedicated to cleaning up Everest. The group has brought…
Ninety six minutes. Eleven shocks by defibrillator. Two dozen rescuers pounding his chest in shifts to bring vital oxygen to his limp body. A helicopter, even. That’s what it took to revive 54-year old Howard Snitzer this month. Oh, and a little celebrated thing called a capnography machine that let everyone know that he was…
The New York Public Library has a stunning new app that lets you see a ton of essays, pictures, people, etc and information about the 1939-40 World’s Fair. It’s like a time traveling machine that brings you back to that era. The NYPL is opening up their legendary collection, this time dealing with the 1939-40…
It’s late, you’re hammered. And you’ve lost your house keys? Still got your phone somehow but looks like yet another drunken camping night on the front stoop. With the Lockitron, you could have at least passed out in the foyer. The Lockitron system by Apigy combines an electric deadbolt with a plug server connected via…
The BAE Systems Mk 38 is a giant gun made for obliterating things at sea. It not only packs massive firepower, but sophisticated optics—IR vision and laser aiming. All this, controlled indoors by a guy on a joystick. Is this the way war’s heading? The enormous use of drone strikes has already distanced soldiers from…
Samsung is getting into the LED lightbulb game. And they may have the manufacturing clout to drive the price of the bulbs down because they’re making all the parts in house. As the phase-out of power-hungry incandescent lighting begins to take effect in 2012, other technologies, like the more costly LED and CFLs will have…
The White House released their International Strategy for Cyberspace document, which lays out a general platform for all things internet, but it also addresses their stance on enemies hacking the U.S. and its allies: attack if necessary. From the document: “States have an inherent right to self-defense that may be triggered by certain aggressive acts…
We all know how David and Goliath ended (BOOM, HEADSHOT). But what happens when Apple takes on the little guy, mimicking (or worse) their software? History is mixed—sometimes David flourishes, sometimes David get stomped the hell out. The question is fresh on our minds with the news that the Apple trademark mill has ground out…
This is Real | Who needs PhotoShop when you can take shots like this? https://gizmodo.com/this-is-not-a-painting-5802712 153 Photos of Teeny Tiny Things https://gizmodo.com/153-photos-of-teeny-tiny-things-5802619 Macro photography never gets old. And the 153 entries to this week’s Shooting Challenge prove it. (They also prove that people loooveee taking photos of insects, eyeballs and flowers-not that there’s anything wrong…
Nokia’s got a new teaser trailer out for their shiny N9. And, like most Nokia hardware, it’s great looking! Except for what’s on the screen, which, as commenters are pointing out, appears to be Symbian. Ugh. Nokia: give us Windows. Symbian is a train wreck. MeeGo, nobody ever really cared about. Nokia: your future (and…
Streuth! Aussie Robots are Being Taught Their Very Own Spoken Language https://gizmodo.com/streuth-aussie-robots-are-being-taught-their-very-own-5802666 And I don’t just mean a particularly-bogan strain of Orrstrayan, either. Researchers at two Queensland universities are creating a robot lexicon for a new language spoken purely by the shiny metal-bummed ‘bots, which have been dubbed the Lingodroids. Makes sense. More » Cables Don’t…
This is insane driving: A woman hit the median of a freeway, went airborne with her car, had the car roll over four times until she was was ejected from her seat and thrown onto the roof. Somehow, she’s alive. Police say that alcohol was a factor in this crazy driving escapade which only left…
It’s been 150 years since Scottish Physicist James Clerk Maxwell showed off the world’s first color photograph at a Royal Institution lecture in London. His discovery is incredible but, technically, it shouldn’t have worked. Best known for formulating classical electromagnetic theory and demonstrating that electricity, magnetism and light are all permeutations of the electromagnetic field,…
