The Engineer's top ten technologies of 2013

Trying to assess a technology’s potential impact is a difficult and risky game. The most astounding looking invention may find little takeup in the real world or encounter major operational inefficiencies, while something seemingly dull or conventional like an electronic component can gradually have a transformative effect on the world.

Bloodhound project links up with Norwegian rocket specialist

Norway’s NAMMO is to supply hybrid rocket technology to the BLOODHOUND Project, a supersonic vehicle designed to break the world land speed record.

Currently under construction in Bristol, the vehicle aims to break the land speed record with a top speed of Mach 1.4.

NAMMO rockets are currently used by the European Space Agency to separate the stages of Ariane 5. The company is also developing a new family of compact hybrid rockets at its test facility in Raufoss, Norway.

Microprinted liposomes as medical devices

Easily manufactured, low-cost artificial cells made using microprinting may could eventually serve as drug and gene delivery devices and in biomaterials, biotechnology and biosensing applications, claim Penn State University researchers.

Synchronising patient and beam movement boosts radiation dose to tumours

Moving patients around on a computer-controlled, rotating table could deliver high doses of radiotherapy to tumours more quickly than current methods, while sparing vulnerable organs.

Breath test for early detection of lung cancer

Researchers at Huddersfield University are working on a breathalyser device to detect early signs of lung cancer.

Designed to be administered by pharmacists, the test is claimed to have the potential to save many lives.

Why the Airports Commission ruled out almost everything

A Thames Estuary airport remains on the cards despite having many of the same problems as other proposals that have already been dismissed.

Trial aims to halt deviation from drug rehabilitation

British technology is to be at the forefront of a European project to help people break their addiction to opiates such as heroin.

The €1m project aims to develop improved patient management tools to assist with the delivery of more cost-effective and convenient opioid substitution treatment (OST) programmes.

Ultra-short-pulse laser becomes effective series-production tool

Ultra-short laser pulses provide a fast and precise way of processing a wide range of materials without excessive heat input. Scientists from Bosch, TRUMPF, Jena University and Fraunhofer IOF have turned the ultra-short-pulse laser into an effective series-production tool. For their collective effort they were awarded the German Future Prize 2013 on December 4.

Engineer designs mug to keep coffee temperature just right

Some people think that university researchers are so occupied with their laboratories that they've lost sight of the world outside the ivory tower of academia. I would refer those people to Logan Maxwell, a researcher at NC State who has developed a coffee mug that will keep your coffee hot – but not too hot – for hours at a time. And what could be more practical than that?

Agriculture the most promising market for drones

Idaho farmer Robert Blair isn't waiting around for federal aviation officials to work out rules for drones. He and a friend built their own, outfitting it with cameras and using it to monitor his 1,500 acres (600 hectares).


Under 10 pounds (4.5 kilograms) and 5 feet (1.5 meters) long nose to tail, the aircraft is the size of a turkey. Blair uses it to get a birds-eye view of his cows and fields of wheat, peas, barley and alfalfa.

Mind over matter

The population of the developed world is ageing. Across Europe the number of over 65s is expected to almost double in the next few decades, whilst here in the UK over 85s - the so-called “oldest old” - are expected to form five per cent of the population by 2030.

'Electrocaloric' material could lead to more efficient refrigerators

UK researchers are hoping to replace potentially dangerous chemicals in cooling systems with materials that change temperature when electricity is applied.

Micromirror technology for smartphones

With consumers using smartphones as a mobile entertainment centre, the ability to project photos and videos on any surface may soon become the norm.

Gaia: the cosmic camera that will chart a billion stars

Humanity has been looking at the stars since its earliest days, and some of the greatest leaps in science have come as a result of stargazing. Indeed, astronomy was at the heart of the origin of what we now know as the scientific method, with such names as Flamsteed, Newton, Halley, Wren and Boyle involved in producing what was then the most comprehensive star catalogue, listing the positions of 3,000 stars.

Unmanned combat aircraft makes first landing at sea

A drone designed for aircraft carrier operations has successfully landed on the deck of the USS George H.W. Bush, an event that marks a new milestone for unmanned combat air systems (UCAS).

Joining technique could improve design optimisation

A new method of creating an extremely strong bond between lightweight aluminium and ultra-high-strength steel could help car manufacturers optimise vehicle design.

Brainwave reader could improve safer driving system

New technology for reading brainwaves while monitoring eye movement could lead to improved systems for stopping drivers falling asleep at the wheel.

Metallic bubble wrap offers 'better protection for products'

Researchers at North Carolina State University have developed a new metallic bubble wrap that is lighter, stronger and more flexible than sheet metal and more heat- and chemical-resistant than plastic or other polymer-based bubble wraps.

Turning a router into an Arduino shield

[Dirk] had a problem: while he already had an Arduino with an Ethernet shield, he needed WiFi for an upcoming project. Running a Cat5 cable was out of the question, and a true Arduino WiFi shield is outrageously expensive. He did, however, have a WiFi router lying around, and decided it would make a perfect WiFi shield with just a little bit of cutting.

The router [Dirk] used was a TL-WR702N, a common router found in the parts bins of makers the world over. Inspiringly, the size of the router’s PCB was just larger than the space between the Arduino’s pin headers. Turning the router into a shield is simply a matter of scoring the edge of the board and gluing on a few pins for mechanical strength.

British teardrop shaped car to enter World Solar Challenge

An unusual new design for a solar-powered car has been unveiled by a group of Cambridge University students.

Most solar cars have a relatively flat, wide shape to maximise the surface area for solar panels, but the Cambridge team hoping to become the first British winners of the World Solar Challenge have instead opted for a more aerodynamic teardrop design fitted with panels that move to follow the sun.

LegoDuino for kid-friendly microcontrollers

[J. Benschop] is teaching his nine-year-old son electronics by giving him a few wires, LEDs, and batteries. Eventually, the son looked over at his dad’s workbench and wondered what the little bug-shaped rectangles did. Microcontrollers and embedded programming are just a bit too advanced for someone who hasn’t hit a double-digit age, but [J] figured he could still have his son experience the awesomeness of programming electronics by building a custom electronic Lego microcontroller system.

Architect imagines BT Tower as pollutant-scrubbing haven

File under Big Idea. Use a city building to trap pollutants, clean the air, and convert car emissions into biofuel? An architect has such a concept. The idea is to attach a special carbon fiber and steel structure to London's BT Tower, one of the city's tallest buildings. The structure could suck up pollutant particles like a vacuum cleaner. The process would involve "harnessing advancements of various particle-capturing technologies," according to a report in Dezeen, and this process would also involve extracting the carbon from fumes and using it to produce a sustainable biofuel.

"The project aims to show how hybridized new infrastructure can gather pollutants, store, digest, and harvest them to dilute minerals and biofuels, celebrating clean air process on the ground level," according to the architect, Chang-Yeob Lee. He is a Royal College of Art graduate. He calls his concept the Synth[e]tech[e]cology design. Lee created the concept as his diploma project. He was one of two winners of the Sheppard Robson Student Prize for Architecture.

The structure he has in mind is made out of carbon fiber filled with nanotubes. These tubes capture carbon dioxide and mix it with a catalyst. Steel rigging would be used to fix the structure to the tower. While the exterior of the tower would behave as a catalytic converter, a research facility in the interior would be at work exploring ways to increase air movement and maximize the structure's efficiency.

The artist impressions of the carbon fiber and steel rigging structure makes the building look like a special-effects stage prop in an action movie. Nonetheless, he is quite serious about the problem of air pollution, and how the idea might contribute toward alleviating the problem. It could be a marker for a way of thinking about how buildings can better serve the environment. Air pollution is a public health risk, and the BT Tower, he suggests, could be repurposed. It could be an eco-skyscraper that cuts the level of dirt particles and helps to reduce the level of respiratory illness in London. (The BT Tower, a communications tower in London, was previously known as the Post Office Tower.)

"Harnessing advancements of various particle-capturing technologies, this project envisions that air pollution as a valuable commodity in an age of depleting resources," said Lee. Commenting on his choice of the BT Tower as the project focus, he said it could serve "as a hybrid between a vertical oil field and laboratory for future resources scrubbed from the atmosphere."

World's largest wind farm officially opened

The world’s largest offshore wind farm, the London Array,  has been officially opened by the Prime Minister David Cameron.

The huge 100km2 installation - which is located in the outer Thames Estuary - features 175 Siemens 3.6MW turbines with a combined generating capacity of 630MW.  The facility is expected to produce enough electricity to power over half a million UK homes each year.


The site has been developed by a consortium made up of DONG Energy, Denmark’s biggest energy company, which has a 50 per cent share; E.On Renewables, which owns 30 per cent; and Masdar,  the Abu Dhabi state-owned renewable energy company, which owns 20 per cent of the facility.

Originally, Shell had a large share in the venture, but the Anglo-Dutch oil giant pulled out in 2008 throwing the future of the project into doubt until Masdar came on the scene.

Construction began in July 2009 when work started to build a new onshore substation on the north Kent coast. The first offshore foundation was installed in March 2011, and the final turbine was installed in December 2012. The facility began generating power for the grid in October 2012

Yahoo Buys Inbox Management Service Xobni

What will Yahoo buy next? The answer: inbox management tool Xobni.
For now, many of Xobni's products will remain available until at least July 2014, though the company is no longer accepting new purchases of premium products.
Xobni did not elaborate on how it will integrate with Yahoo, except to say that Yahoo "want[s] us to use our platform to make many Yahoo services better for you." The Xobni team (left) is currently moving from San Francisco to Yahoo's Sunnyvale headquarters.

"Did you ever meet someone who truly 'gets' you? That's how we feel about Yahoo," Xobni said in its statement. "The power within every Xobni product is that it responds to how you communicate. Every day you demonstrate who and what is important to you. That can benefit not just your inbox or smartphone, but the many services you use. Yahoo gets that."

Perfect wall-mounted tablet integration

There’s a building downtown built about ten years ago that has tablet-sized LCD screens next to the entrance of each large meeting room. They’re never on and we always wonder why they didn’t just use one of those things that holds a sheet of printer paper to label what’s happening in the meeting space? Now this is a similar idea but with much better execution. Instead of just displaying data the in-wall tablet mount makes your room interactive.

Building blocks to safer buildings

Precast or ready-made building structures offer a number of advantages when compared to more traditional construction techniques, in terms of time and cost savings. However, the vulnerability of joints and connections between assembled precast elements is widely recognised as a potential safety issue, especially in earthquake-prone areas.

Students capture the flight of birds on very high-speed video

Graduate student Eirik Ravnan works with a parrotlet that he is training to fly from perch to perch in order to be filmed by a high-speed camera. Credit: L.A. Cicero

Stanford mechanical engineering professor David Lentink and his students capture slow-motion video from the fastest wings in the bird world, with an eye toward building flying robots that take design cues from Mother Nature.

"The best way to prevent a small drone from spying on you in your office is to turn on the air-conditioning," said David Lentink, an assistant professor of mechanical engineering at Stanford. That little blast of air, he explained, creates enough turbulence to knock a hand-size UAV off balance, and possibly send it crashing to the floor.

A pigeon, on the other hand, can swoop down busy city streets, navigate around pedestrians, sign posts and other birds, keep its path in all sorts of windy conditions, and deftly land on the tiniest of hard-to-reach perches.

"Wouldn't it be remarkable if a robot could do that?" Lentink wondered.

If robots are to become a bigger presence in urban environments, they will need to.

In order to build a robot that can fly as nimbly as a bird, Lentink began looking to nature. Using an ultra-high-speed Phantom camera that can shoot upwards of 3,300 frames per second at full resolution, and an amazing 650,000 at a tiny resolution, Lentink can visualize the biomechanical wonders of bird flight on an incredibly fine scale.

Anna's hummingbirds, often spotted darting from flower to flower on the Stanford campus, beat their wings about 50 times per second, nothing but a green blur to human eyes.

"Our camera shoots 100 times faster than humans' vision refresh rate," Lentink said. "We can spread a single wing beat across 40 frames, and see incredible things."

First flight

Every time Lentink's students take the camera into the field, they have the potential to make a groundbreaking discovery. Thousands of birds have never been filmed with a high-speed camera, their secret flight mechanics never exposed.

Students Andreas Peña Doll and Rivers Ingersoll filmed hummingbirds performing a never-before-seen "shaking" behavior: As the bird dived off a branch, it wiggled and twisted its body along its spine, the same way a wet dog would try to dry off. At 55 times per second, hummingbirds have the fastest body shake among vertebrates on the planet – almost twice as fast as a mouse.

The shake lasted only a fraction of a second, and would never have been seen without the aid of the high-speed video.

"We're actually in a position where we can quantitatively analyze this video, and some of the results are the first results of their kind," said Ingersoll, an engineering graduate student who specializes in hummingbird flight. "It is kind of cool to know that potentially other researchers in the future will look at the data we've got in this class and [it will] help them with their research."

Though Lentink's lab has amassed hours of short clips of bird flight, it's difficult to frame up a perfect shot in the wild, so his students supplement this footage with carefully orchestrated laboratory-based experiments.

"In the field, you can observe social interactions near other birds, how they fly through the wind or through clutter," Lentink said. "This is very valuable. But the conditions aren't always ideal for examining discrete motions."

Eirik Ravnan, a mechanical engineering graduate student, trains small birds called parrotlets to fly from perch to perch, or to fly through narrow passageways. In exchange for their flight displays, the birds receive their favorite seeds as a reward.

Repeating and videotaping these actions in controlled conditions, he said, makes it possible to look more carefully at, for example, exactly how a bird tilts its wings to slow itself when landing, or how birds corner. The lab just acquired an advanced flow measurement system that can help elucidate how the birds manipulate the airflow with their wings during such maneuvers.

"I've never even had a pet," Ravnan said. "But working with birds and investigating their flight mechanics and thinking about how to apply those abilities to robots has been a really interesting way to apply my studies in fluid dynamics."

A better bird 'bot

Search-and-rescue is one of the more attractive applications for robotic planes, particularly scanning a wide urban area for survivors after a natural disaster. The unpredictable environment will demand robots that can better deal with changing conditions.

Mini-copters and planes often stall at steep angles, or when they get caught in a gust of wind. They have difficulty avoiding other airborne objects, and fly clumsily near buildings.

Lentink and his students have already begun applying the lessons they've learned from birds to various robotic designs.

"Hummingbirds are amazing at hovering, but it's not a very efficient form of flight," said Waylon Chen, a graduate student in Lentink's lab. "A swift flies a lot, so it has a very efficient wing platform, but its legs are too short to land. As we lay out the goal of our robotic design, we can pick and choose which natural mechanisms will be useful, and incorporate only those."

This summer Lentink is making his camera and students available to local birders. (To apply, fill out this questionnaire. Email questions to birderquestionnaire@gmail.com)

"We'd like to pair the camera with some bird enthusiasts who might know the natural history of these birds better than us," Lentink said. "We want to give people outside of Stanford the magical experience of using this camera, and hopefully learn something more about birds in the process."

DIP switch adjusted voltage regulator

It couldn’t be simpler but you have to admit that a small adjustable portable power supply like this one will be really handy.

The main part of the PSU is an LM317 linear voltage regulator which we’re already familiar with. The output voltage is adjustable based on a voltage divider between two of the pins. The set of eight DIP switches allows you to tweak that voltage divider. Switch number one connects the 9-volt battery connector to the regulator, serving as a power switch. Each of the other seven switches adjusts the output voltage by 1.5 volts. The output of the regulator connects to your target device using alligator clips which are not in frame above.

[Jason] says he takes this with him when thrift store hunting for cheap electronics. It can mimic most combinations of Alkaline cells letting you power up electronic toys to ensure they work. But we would find it equally useful for getting that early prototype away from the bench supply for testing before finalizing a dedicated portable supply.

Doped diamond coating could enhance electronics

A new method for creating thin films of diamonds may allow manufacturers to enhance future electronics.

In industrial settings, diamonds are particularly valued for their hardness, optical clarity, smoothness, and resistance to chemicals, radiation and electrical fields.

Research team proposes mathematical model that examines multiple walking patterns and movements in adults older than 65

A Pitt research team is working toward building a better tracking device to make earlier predictions regarding diseases like Parkinson's. They tested their approach on older adults using a motion-analysis system that studied 39 joint regions.

Designing a cleaner future

A slum on the outskirts of Accra, Ghana, received major media attention in 2010 and 2011 when the outside world realized where computers go to die. In an area called Agbogbloshie, impoverished residents were burning broken electronic parts, discarded and dumped by wealthier nations, to extract the metal components. Crouched around bonfires, they inhaled toxic smoke and unwittingly leached heavy metals into a nearby river, just to eke out a living.

Neutrons help create colour-changing fingerprint technique

Researchers developing a way to identify fingerprints that would be otherwise unusable have made a breakthrough using neutron scattering.

Tread carefully around the green shoots of recovery

Talk of “green shoots” never fails to remind me of the wonderful Hal Ashby movie “Being There”, in which an illiterate gardener played by Peter Sellers ends up advising the US president on economic policy.  

This week’s news that the UK’s economy may be experiencing the first signs of spring brought Ashby’s forgotten classic to mind once again. Although one would hope that our economic policy isn’t being formed by a vagrant knocked down during one of George Osborne’s late night  “burger runs”.


According to one of the key measures of business and economic conditions - Markit’s Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) - the UK’s manufacturing sector enjoyed something of a surge in June,  growing at its fastest rate in more than two years.

Anything above 50 indicates growth, and the PMI rose to 52.5 from an upwardly revised 51.5 in May. Analysts have put the growth down to a surge in orders both home and abroad, and in particular healthy exports to economies beyond the Eurozone. PMI data also suggests that the construction and service sectors are enjoying a period of accelerated growth.

These positive indicators are reinforced by the results of the British Chamber of Commerce’s (BCC) quarterly economic survey, which points to strong export balances and growing business confidence.

The EEF’s chief economist Lee Hopley welcomed the latest indicators as a cause for “cautious optimism”, and called on the UK to continue to look to build on its exports outside the non-EU markets.  Meanwhile, BCC director general John Longworth described it as a “crucial moment”  but warned that government needs to keep its “feet on the gas” to avoid choking off any burgeoning recovery.

This call was reiterated by CBI director general John Cridland who in a speech to business leaders in London this week said that economic growth depends upon the UK’s medium sized businesses having access to finance.

Cridland called on the government to make sure it treads carefully in its efforts to regulate and stabilise the banking system. ‘Choking off supply to shore up recovery will only hold back the very firms that should be driving growth’ he said.

Economists have also sounded a note of caution over weakening activity in the Chinese economy, which they fear could impact the UK’s recovery.

‘While good news is always welcome, manufacturers should not get carried away as we have seen short-lived recoveries before, said Carl Williamson, manufacturing sector lead at Lloyds Bank Commercial Banking. ‘The sector’s future health will be determined by continued global economic performance, notably in the Far East, as well as with our primary trading partners on the Continent.’

Is it too early to talk about green shoots? Certainly not. But as we’ve seen before green shoots are fragile, they’re easy to starve or trample. Government and business must now work hard to ensure the optimum conditions for growth and give these green shoots space to grow. In the words of Peter Sellers’ illiterate gardener, ‘as long as the roots are not severed, all is well. And all will be well in the garden.’

Eye in the sky monitors pollution levels

Leicester scientists have installed pollution-detecting technology in a plane to map air quality around the city.

Leicester University physicists used their air quality measuring spectrometer to produce “heatmap” style images of pollution levels in Leicester as part of the Airborne Air Quality Mapper (AAQM) project.

Windows 8 Tops 5 Percent

Microsoft ended last week's Build developer conference on a high note — increased Windows 8 market share.

The operating system topped 5 percent market share in June, according to stats from Net Applications, finally eclipsing Microsoft's Vista OS. Still, Windows 7 and Windows XP still rule, with 44.37 percent and 37.17 percent of the market, respectively.

Skype Overhauls Android App, Hits 100M Installs

Skype today celebrated a milestone 100 million Android app installations with the launch of a revamped app for Google's mobile OS.

With Android 4.0, Skype wanted an app "that makes your interactions easier and puts conversations first," the company said in a blog post.

Raspberry Pi automates your tomato farm

Check out the tomato plants [Devon] grew using a monitoring system he built himself. It’s based around a Raspberry Pi. As far as grow controllers go it falls a bit short of full automation. That’s because the only thing it can actuate is the black water line seen hovering above the plants. But [Devon's] work on monitoring and collecting sensor data should make it easy to add features in the future.

Briefcase mill

Take the machine shop with you; that’s the mantra which drove [Ryan] to build this CNC mill in a briefcase. That album will give you a taste of the final product. But you’ll want to dig through two pages of his forum thread starting with this post in order to behold the build process.

Robots inspect cables

The bearer cables and tethers of bridges, elevators, and cable cars are exposed to high levels of stress. For this reason, their functional reliability must be monitored on a regular basis. A new robot recognizes fissures before they pose a danger.

Using RFID for fiber composites

Antennas that are capable of transmitting radio waves turn components into intelligent objects. Researchers have now found a way to embed these antennas in fiber composites. As a result, the technology also works with carbon and glass fibers.

To embed RFID tags in fiber composites, ultra-thin antennas are needed (right: UHF, left: HF transponder). Credit: Fraunhofer IIS


It is barely visible to the naked eye: the work pieces in the production hall look normal. But the first impression is deceiving. The airplane components are "intelligent" and can communicate with the skilled workers in their vicinity. Not only can they tell them what they are, they can also provide information on who has worked on them as well as on the next work step. A radio frequency identification chip (RFID) transmits the information. It measures just a few square millimeters and transmits details about the component quickly, efficiently, and consistently to a receiver via radio waves. Until now, only a handful of companies use the technology for documentation purposes in production processes. Most often, RFID is used for access control purposes, or to record time, for instance on employee smart cards.

How well an RFID transponder works depends mainly on the material that surrounds it. The material can have a negative influence on the transponder antenna's range, as well as on the quality of data transmission. Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits IIS in Nuremburg have now developed an RFID transponder whose antenna works reliably on fiber composites as well. Components such as glass or carbon fibers are both lightweight and robust, and are thus used increasingly in airplane and vehicle production. However, these fibers have a particularly strong influence on frequencies. Until now, their exact behavior with regard to RFID has not been well known on the wireless system, and this is why production steps are still documented with a pencil and paper.

Carbon fibers compromise the performance of RFID chips

"We took a close look at the frequencies relevant to RFID technology: 125 kHz (LF: low frequency), 13.56 MHz (HF: high frequency), and 868 MHz (UHF: ultra high frequency). We measured the extent to which glass and carbon fibers affect the reliability of the trans- ponder," says Tobias Dräger, an engineer, in describing the work of the IIS team. The result: while LF, HF, and UHF work well with glass fibers, they showed weaknesses with carbon fibers. The high frequencies in particular compromised the performance of the RFID chip significantly. "Carbon fibers are, similarly to metal, conductive. As a result, they dampen radio signals considerably– especially at 868 MHz," says Dräger's colleague Dr. Iker Mayordomo.

But thanks to their relatively large range of up to 15 meters, UHF frequencies are very well suited to applications in logistics and production. In the past, if RFID was used with incompatible materials such as metals, a very expensive transponder was required to reach this level of performance. "The antennas and transponders required make these customized systems very large. At the same time, integrating them into fiber composites is difficult," says Dräger in discussing the initial situation. Together with partners from the aviation industry and research, his team has successfully developed a trans-ponder that can operate reliably within conducting components, which are also subject to physical stress. The scientists have designed an ultra-thin antenna that can be embedded in materials underneath a protective glass fiber layer. Together with Schreiner LogiData, a manufacturer of RFID transponders, IIS has already developed the first test series.

According to Eurostat, the statistics office of the European Union, about six percent of German companies were using RFID in 2011. In Europe, the figure was four percent. Maximilian Roth, an engineer and RFID expert at the Center for Intelligent Objects ZIO of the IIS in Nuremberg, is convinced that this is about to change. "New applications in the area of fiber composites, which is booming, will further increase the relevance of RFID for industry. There are currently a number of other pilot projects underway in the market that are conducting major tests for the use of RFID in logistics, traffic, and production." Fraunhofer IIS is already working on its next project in parallel, the EU-sponsored "SmartFiber" initiative. Researchers working on the project are using RFID technology to transmit energy and data to sensors that are embedded in fiber materials. This makes it possible, for instance, to monitor the entire structure of wind turbines.

New technology means improved safety for radiation workers

The University of Reading has played a leading role in the development of new technology that will reduce health risks for those working in jobs where there is a danger of radiation exposure.

How Much Is Your Gmail Account Worth?

Many people don't realize just how valuable their email account is. Now, thanks to researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago, a nifty tool called Cloudsweeper calculates how much your account would be worth, if cyber-criminals ever managed to get control.

Whenever someone's email gets hacked, whether through a phishing attack, malware, guessing passwords, or plain brute-force, a common complaint goes something like this: "Why did I get hacked? There is nothing interesting in my account." The thing is, the criminals aren't looking for exciting gossip buried within your correspondence or looking at the pictures you've emailed people. They are looking for valuable data, such as passwords to other accounts.

Your email account is quite frequently used for password resets. If someone gets control of your account, that person can search through the saved messages and figure out what other sites use the email address for account recovery. Access to your online banking account, login credentials for Facebook and Twitter, and details for iTunes and Amazon accounts are all accessible via your email account. I know many people who treat their email accounts as secret storage, frequently emailing private keys and password reminders to themselves.

My Gmail Is Worth $15Enter Cloudsweeper, a project from researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago. The tool scans all the messages in your account to figure out what other services use the address to send password reset emails, or to login to the service. The tool also tracks services that sent the actual password when the user clicked on the "forgot password" link. The tool assigns a dollar figure to the data pieces found to determine how much the account is worth in the underground market.

I ran one of my Gmail accounts through Cloudsweeper, and it determined my account would be worth approximately $15.30 to bad guys. I was surprised, because I use this account purely for accessing Google services and don't use it to sign up for third-party services (I keep a separate account for that) or for regular correspondence (a different account for that). I'd forgotten that I did use this account for one of Twitter accounts, as well as my Kindle account on Amazon. According to the tool, my Amazon.com account was worth approximately $15 to the criminals and Twitter was worth $0.30.

There were some false positives, as a result of the fact that I long ago used this account for my PayPal account. I've since then changed the email address associated with PayPal, but since I still had some of their emails archived, CloudSweeper flagged the service as a potential risk. I asked a friend to scan his account, and Facebook popped up (worth $5) on his list of risks, except he doesn't have an account on that social network. The alert seems to have been fooled by various Facebook friend requests he received in the past that he never deleted.

How Much Are You At Risk?Cloudsweeper uses prices for account types and data collected from various sellers across multiple underground forums to calculate how much the information in the user's email account is worth, said Chris Kanich, assistant professor at UIC's computer science department and principal organizer of the project. It uses OAuth, so you just have to be logged in to the account when you run the "audit" from the project's page. No passwords are stored, and you can just revoke permissions at the end so the tool no longer has any visibility into your account.

If nothing else, this tool is great for spring cleaning, to wipe out some of the old emails that you don't need to keep anymore. Close accounts you aren't using, or at least make sure your information has been removed. And once you realize just how valuable your account is, perhaps you will consider setting up two-factor authentication to protect yourself?

Reverse engineering a wireless protocol

Like all good tinkerers, [Andrew] decided to figure out how his wireless security system worked. Yes, it’s an exercise in reverse engineering, and one of the best we’ve seen to date.

Rapid-readout bacteria test can detect antibiotic resistance

Researchers at EPFL have built a matchbox-sized device claimed to test for the presence of bacteria in minutes instead of up to several weeks.

Dimming LED bulbs designed to replace halogen lamps

Halogen bulbs put out a lot of focused light but they do it at the expense of burning up a lot of Watts and generating a lot of heat. The cost for an LED replacement like the one seen disassembled above has come down quite a bit. This drove [Jonathan Foote] to purchase several units and he just couldn’t resist tearing them apart to try out a couple of hacks.

Send an Arduino to the moon for $300

We’ve seen Kickstarter campaigns to put a single satellite into space and one to launch your own personalized postage-stamp sized satellite into low Earth orbit. This time, though, you can break the bonds of Earth and send your own Arduino compatible satellite on a collision course with the moon. The project is called Pocket Spacecraft, and exactly as its name implies, it allows you to send a small, flat, 8 cm diameter spacecraft to the surface of the moon.

'Blowing' a slope into place

Research scientists have developed a new method for stabilising areas with difficult soil mechanics. The concept is based on blowing expanded clay (Leca) spheres into enormous "sausage skins" made from geotextiles.

Low-power Wi-Fi signal tracks movement—even behind walls

The comic-book hero Superman uses his X-ray vision to spot bad guys lurking behind walls and other objects. Now we could all have X-ray vision, thanks to researchers at MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory.

A Google Gaming Console? It's Madness!

Bubbling up in today's news stream is a report that Google wants to get into the game console business and that Apple may too.

Google Loaning Out Street View Trekker Gear to Boost Maps

Over the years, the global reception to Google's Street View mapping project has been met with varying degrees of enthusiasm, ranging from clever photo-bombing participation to legal tussles in parts of Europe over privacy concerns. Now the company has decided to ratchet up the intensity of its Street View mapping project by opening up usage of its innovative Street View Trekker backpack device to third-party companies and organizations.

Wireless Witch: New MacBook Air Wi-Fi Issues? Try These 5 Solutions

There have been grumblings throughout the Apple customer community about the new Macbook Air $1,099.00 at Apple Store and Wi-Fi connection drops. Speculation looms—is this a wide-spread issue or with a particular batch from the factory? A problem inherent in OS X or just the operating system's networking stack? How will Apple handle the complaints?

Google's Blogger Cracking Down On Adult Ads

Starting this weekend, Google will be cracking down on Blogger users who start blogs in order to monetize adult content.

Car stereo AUX input taps into CD ribbon cable

[Gezepi] wanted to add an auxiliary input to the stereo in his 1994 Camry. At first look there wasn’t an easy way to patch into the system. But a bit of probing with an oscilloscope and figured out that he could inject audio through the CD ribbon cable shown above. The CD reader is a self-contained unit that receives commands through the cable, and passes analog stereo audio back to the receiver portion of the head unit. We’re not sure how he figured out which pins to tap into, but it may have been as easy as probing with some headphones while a CD is playing.

Shetland gears up for fresh oil boom

Shetland - Britain’s rocky sub-arctic outpost - is, according to the office of national statistics, “the happiest place in the UK”. And visiting the island this week, it was easy to see how it has earned that distinction.

Zinc-based transparent coating could cut cost of solar cells

Researchers at Oxford University have won a materials science prize to develop a high-technology coating with the potential to reduce the manufacturing costs of new-generation solar photovoltaic cells.

Korean team develops antibacterial silver coating

South Korean researchers have developed a technique that can be used to coat glass with a layer of antibacterial silver ions.

According to the team from Yonsei Univeristy in Seoul the process can be used to prevent the growth of pathogenic bacteria including E.coli, Salmonella, and Campylobacter and could be used to coat and protect medical equipment.

Angry Birds Trilogy Flying Into Wii, Wii U Aug. 13

Good news, Wii and Wii U users. The Angry Birds Trilogy is flying into both Nintendo systems on Aug. 13.

Fake BlackBerry Messaging App Tricks 100,000 Android Users

For many years, BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) was one of the main selling points of RIM’s platform. It could even be said the messaging service kept the company afloat through some bad times. The recently renamed company announced earlier this year that BBM would be coming to iOS and Android in 2013. People were definitely excited, and that always brings out the bad guys. A fake BlackBerry Messenger Android app on Google Play recently garnered over 100,000 downloads.

The app looked more legitimate than most phony listings. The uploader was clever enough to choose the developer name “RIM.” While the company changed its name to BlackBerry, plenty of users don’t know that. So the name, icon, and screenshots looked right, and it jived with recent news. The developers also used fake reviews to make the app look more real. It’s not hard to see why it was downloaded by so many people so quickly.

The app itself is a devious little advertising platform. Upon opening, users were greeted with a bizarre notice that the app would start working on June 27th. Using a sketchy ad network, the app altered some settings under the guise of a user agreement popup. The app changed browser homepages, added a bookmark, and placed a link icon on the home screen. Yes, Android apps can do all those things on their own if they have the right permissions. Most users simply don’t check the permissions before downloading.

The app did not exist on the store for long—Google did kill the app and ban the related developer account (this was against virtually every rule in the developer agreement). However, the venture was probably still profitable for the perpetrators.

This is the other side of the coin when it comes to Google’s open application marketplace. Legitimate developers deal with fewer headaches making and updating apps, and users get more choice. Google does run some automated checks on apps, but it’s only looking for malware, not fake apps packed full of ads. You have to be a little more skeptical on Android.

Blackberry hasn’t offered an official launch date for BBM on Android or iOS. Rest assured, though, you’ll know when it happens.

The trials of repairing a MacBook

As a favor to a friend, [Phil] traded a unibody MacBook logic board for one with a broken headphone jack, a busted keyboard controller, and a nonfunctional fan. Not one to let bad hardware go to waste, he set off to repair this now-broken laptop by scavenging parts wherever he could. The whole thing ended up working, and became a very impressive display of soldering skill in the process.

Smart software monitors student emotions

Research from North Carolina State University shows that software which tracks facial expressions can accurately assess the emotions of students engaged in interactive online learning and predict the effectiveness of online tutoring sessions.

New dispatch system could save money for trucking industry, make life easier for drivers

Engineers at Oregon State University are studying a new approach to organize and route truck transportation that could save millions of dollars, improve the quality of life for thousands of truck drivers and make freight transportation far more efficient.

Team creates highly portable imaging system

A hand-held calculator that was X-rayed by Los Alamos National Laboratory researchers using the MiniMAX camera, a lightweight, portable X-ray machine that could revolution imaging of closed containers. Credit: Los Alamos National Laboratory

Los Alamos National Laboratory and Tribogenics, the pioneer of innovative X-ray solutions, have partnered to create a unique, lightweight, compact, low-cost X-ray system that uses the MiniMAX (Miniature, Mobile, Agile, X-ray) camera to provide real-time inspection of sealed containers and facilities. The innovative technology will be featured at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) International Conference on Nuclear Security: Enhancing Global Efforts, July 1-5, in Vienna, Austria.

"Cost and portability are the major barriers to expanding the use of X-ray imaging," said Scott Watson of Los Alamos's Nuclear Engineering and Nonproliferation Division. "We designed MiniMAX to demonstrate that such a system will open up new applications in security inspection, field medicine, specimen radiography and industrial inspection."
Los Alamos has developed MiniMAX as an alternative to the large, expensive and fixed facilities presently required for security inspections using X-ray imaging. The complete MiniMAX portable radiography system weighs less than five pounds, compared to much larger and heavier systems currently available.

Los Alamos Physicists demonstrated MiniMAX using a conventional X-ray source, a radioisotopic source, and a prototype source from Tribogenics operating at 90 keV. The Los Alamos team used the Tribogenics source to produce an X-ray image of a hand-held calculator.

"We were delighted when Los Alamos approached us to explore a partnership," said Carlos Camara, Chief Scientist at Tribogenics. "This is exactly the type of breakthrough, portable application we envision for our disruptive X-ray technology."

$500 Recon Jet, Google Glass for Athletes, Available for Pre-Order

Recon Instruments today made its Recon Jet high-tech sunglasses available for pre-order for a limited-time price of $499.

Atari 2600 has a Raspberry Pi hiding under the hood

Seriously, the drawer pull on this Atari 2600 is not stock. Don’t they know this voids the warranty? The thing is, you won’t actually find any of the original internals anyway. When building this portable emulator housed in a 2600 case [Linear Nova] was careful to ensure that everything could be restored to its original condition (except for two hinges mounted on the back) sometime down the road.

Iron nanocatalyst marks green chemistry breakthrough

A new iron nanoparticle catalyst promises to improve the efficiency of hydrogenation, claim researchers in Japan and Canada.

Cleaner, safer and cheaper than traditional rare metal-based catalysts, the new, more environmentally friendly technique is said to mark a breakthrough for the emerging field of green chemistry.

Liquid catalyst aids fuel cell endurance

A patented liquid catalyst developed by ACAL Energy has enabled a PEM hydrogen fuel cell to reach 10,000 hours runtime on an automotive industry durability test without significant signs of degradation.

Quantum gas studies could improve precise measurement

Mathematicians and physicists at Newcastle and Durham universities are using the principles of quantum science to harness the properties of ultracold atoms for precise measurements.

Man Who Found (and Sold) Lost iPhone 4 Prototype Talks to Reddit

A few years ago, an Apple employee famously lost an unreleased iPhone 4 in a California bar, and a 21-year-old man named Brian Hogan found that device and sold it to Gizmodo. Hogan has been out of the spotlight since then, but he resurfaced on Reddit last night to answer questions about the incident.

Samsung Unveils LTE-Advanced Version of Galaxy S4

Samsung on Wednesday unveiled an LTE-Advanced version of its Galaxy S 4 flagship smartphone, which will connect to networks that provide double the speed of today's 4G LTE networks, the company said.

Ford tests high-tech 'brake light' that warns other drivers even from afar

Ford Motor Company participated in a special test of a high-tech early warning "brake light" that can warn drivers following behind even if they are around a bend or behind other traffic.

Google Adds Malware, Phishing Stats to Transparency Report

Google is boosting its online transparency reports by adding details about sources of malware and phishing attacks.

Prototyping a Maglev train using LEGO

Serious research using not-so-serious equipment? We don’t know about that. What’s wrong with using LEGO as a research platform for a Maglev? This team has been doing so for quite some time and with great results.

Solder trick to make your own surface mount breakout boards

We think you’re really going to enjoy this trick for making surface mount breakout boards. It’s common to use magnet wire to connect individual pins of a surface mount part to breadboard friendly protoboard with pin headers. What’s new here (at least to us) is that [Raul] solders one wire to both pins directly across from one another.

Speed demons put engineering in the driving seat

The need for speed is a paradoxical obsession; after all, going fast doesn’t necessarily do us any good. I’m typing this awkwardly with broken bones in my hand after taking a tumble while out for a run last weekend; if I’d been going a bit slower I might have got away with bruises. But a trio of projects in the news this week highlight the very different goals of speed records.

Robotic carp dives on demand

A robot fish that mimics the movements of a carp has been developed by researchers from the National University of Singapore’s (NUS) Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering.

Remotely controlled roaches could search for survivors

North Carolina State University researchers are using video game technology to remotely control cockroaches on autopilot, with a computer steering the insects through a controlled environment.

Microsoft Offering Ad-Free, Filtered 'Bing for Schools'

Microsoft's Bing is going back to school with a new initiative aimed at teaching digital literacy skills. Starting later this year, Bing For Schools will provide to educational institutions ad-free search results, enhanced privacy protections, and the filtering of adult content, as well as enhanced specialized learning features.

What floats these boats? Concrete

Does concrete float? For the hundreds of civil engineering students at the annual National Concrete Canoe Competition, the answer is "yes."

Teams representing 23 schools vied last week to design, build and race canoes made of concrete. Some vessels were as long as 22 feet and weighed as much as 180 lbs. A wooden canoe of the same size weighs about 40 lbs.

Alicia Welling, manager of the California Polytechnic State University team, says the trick to making concrete float is to mix it with glass bubbles and other lightweight objects.

Desktop experiment kit improves engineering ed

Washington State University researchers joined forces with Armfield Ltd., a teaching equipment company, to launch a desktop learning module (DLM) that will improve engineering education.

iOS 7 Beta 2 Arrives With Updates, Version for iPad

The second beta of iOS 7 is now available to developers, and it provides a first look at the updated operating system on the iPad.

The second beta of iOS 7 is now available to developers, and it provides a first look at the updated operating system on the iPad.

Apple first unleashed iOS 7 to the developer community at its Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) on June 10, but the release was only accessible on the iPhone and iPod touch. Now, developers can take the revamped mobile OS for a spin on Apple's iPad, including the iPad mini.

As noted by 9to5Mac, iOS 7 beta 2 includes the return of Voice Memo, the option to select a male voice for Siri, an overhauled Reminders app, and a variety of other small tweaks. The blog also published a number of screen shots from the iPad version of iOS 7, which highlight the interfaces for Maps, Calendar, Email, iTunes Radio, and more.

Only those with an Apple developer account can access iOS 7 beta 2. Apple is scheduled to release iOS 7 this fall for iPhone 4 and up, iPad 2 and later, the iPad mini, and the fifth-generation iPod touch. If history is any indication, its release will also coincide with the launch of a new iPhone.

The update is "the biggest change to iOS since the iPhone," Apple CEO Tim Cook said at WWDC. In a demo video, design chief Jony Ive said iOS 7 is unobtrusive, completely new but also familiar.

Apple's iOS 7 adds "Control center," which - when swiping up from the bottom - provides quick access to features like airplane mode, brightness, camera, and flashlight. For more, check out PCMag's roundup of iOS 7's Most Exciting Features.

Leap Motion Opens Software to Developers Ahead of July Launch

Leap Motion's 3D motion controller is not scheduled to debut until July 22, but the company this week is rolling out the latest version of its software to the developer community so they can identify any last-minute problems.

Huawei's 7-Inch MediaPad 7 Vogue Tablet Makes Phone Calls

Huawei today unveiled a new, 7-inch tablet that can be used to make phone calls.

The Huawei MediaPad 7 Vogue includes "a built-in receiver for direct calling capabilities that remove the need for headphones," according to the company - if you don't feel silly holding a 7-inch tablet up to or in front of your face.

Apple Provides Details on In-App Purchase Settlement Collection

Apple is readying its checkbook to refund some 23 million people involved in a 2011 class-action suit against the company for the "unlawful exploitation" of children via in-app purchases.

Google Street View Maps First Skyscraper, Dubai's Burj-Khalifa

For years, the Google Street View team has captured the world's most interesting places and put the 360-degree imagery on Google Maps for the world to experience virtually. This has made touring the planet from your home as simple as a few clicks, but there are still a number of famous places even Google has not yet mapped.

Samsung Announces Dates, Prices for Galaxy Tab 3

Samsung today announced launch dates and prices for its Galaxy Tab 3 line of tablets, including the first Intel-powered Android tablet available in the United States.

5 Reasons You Should Upgrade to Windows 8

Windows 8 brings significant advantages to those who are upgrading existing PCs or purchasing new ones, thanks to features that better take advantage of the new OS's capabilities. The operating system offers improvements in performance, existing capabilities, and is cheaper. Finally, the world has had a chance to weigh in on it, and some solid improvements are just around the corner in Windows 8.1. For an in-depth look at the OS, read my review of Windows 8, but here are a few of features that make upgrading worthwhile.

Build a waterproof music controller on the cheap

Aaron wrote in to show off the waterproof music controller (translated) he just finished building. He uses it in the shower — which makes us wonder how long he’s spending in there. We could also see it being useful by the pool, on the beach, or anywhere else that you need a cheap and easy control system.

TI’s CC3000 WiFi chip gets a library

About six months ago, Texas Instruments released a simple, cheap, single-chip WiFi module. At $10 a piece in quantities of 1000, the CC3000 is a much better solution to the problem of an ‘Internet of Things’ than a $50 Arduino Ethernet modules, or even the $30 Electric Imp. All indications, especially the frequent out of stock status for the dev board on TI’s web site, show the CC3000 will be a popular chip, but until now we haven’t seen a CC3000 library for the Arduino or other microcontrollers.

Chris just solved that problem for us with a CC3000 WiFi library for the Arduino. He ported TI’s MSP430 CC3000 library to the Arduino, allowing even the bare-bones Arduino Uno to connect to a WiFi network with just a handful of parts. The code itself takes about 12k of Flash and 350 bytes of RAM, giving anyone using the CC3000 enough room left over to do some really interesting stuff. There’s even a slimmed down library that uses somewhere between 2k and 6k of Flash, making an ATtiny-powered web server a reality.

There are a few caveats in using the CC3000 with an Arduino; it’s a 3.3 Volt part, so you’ll need a level shifter or some resistors. Also, the chip draws about 250 mA when it’s being used, so you’ll need a beefy battery if you want your project to last an entire day of use.

Now that the library is out of the way, be on the lookout for a CC3000 breakout board.

Lots of seven segment displays with a single ATtiny

These days they’ve been replaced with character LCD displays or even brightly colored graphical displays, but if you’re trying to display data on one of your projects, there’s nothing like the classic red glow of a red seven segment display.

Cameron starts engine on drive for 100,000 new technicians

The prime minister has launched a scheme to increase the number of registered engineering technicians in the UK eightfold by 2018.

A 555 player piano

From simple buzzers to an Atari Punk Console, the simple 555 timer chip is the foundation of a whole lot of interesting lo-fi synth projects perfect for beginners. [Steven] put together a great tutorial for using the 555 timer in a rudimentary synth, and even went so far as to build a simple electronic player piano able to play a song from a sheet of paper with punched holes.

Adding RGB backlight to arcade buttons

These arcade buttons started out as illuminated buttons. But they were bulb-based which only allowed for one color. [Jon] and his friends at the Leeds Hackspace wanted to find a way to retro fit them with RGB LEDs, without changing the buttons themselves. The hack lets them replace the bulb with an addressable circuit board. The really interesting thing about it is that there is no separate interface for addressing. The communications happen on the voltage bus itself.

Raspberry Pi Bitcoin miner

Mining bitcoins is becoming a fool’s errand, but there’s always some new piece of hardware coming out that allows those hard-core miners to keep ahead of the curve. One such piece of hardware are new custom ASIC devices that are just as fast as an FPGA while being much less expensive. A lot of these ASIC devices come in interesting packages that look just like a large USB thumb drive. Of course this is the perfect opportunity to show off what the Raspberry Pi can do by mining Bitcoins at rates comparable to the best graphics used in mining today.