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.

16 core computer made of ATMegas

Your desktop has two, four, or even eight cores, but when’s the last time you’ve seen a multicore homebrew computer? [Jack] did just that, constructing the DUO Mega, a 16 core computer out of a handful of ATMega microcontrollers.

Spherical robot used to navigate uneven ground

Spanish researchers have designed a spherical robot that can navigate uneven ground in order to monitor farming techniques.

Photo-stitching method creates distortion-free 3D panoramas

Disney’s research organisation has developed a way to create high-resolution 3D panoramic images from several smaller photos without distortion.

Science and engineering set for boost from Queen and country

It’s set to be a good week for science and engineering as the announcement of the next government spending review looms.

On Wednesday and Thursday, the Treasury will lay out government spending plans for 2015/16 that, despite substantial cuts to most department’s budgets, are expected to include billions of pounds worth of capital investment in transport, internet infrastructure and scientific research.

Doctor Performs First Google Glass-Equipped Surgery

We've seen Google Glass in the shower; we've seen Google Glass at Disneyland; we've even seen Google 

Glass pop the question.

Now, it's time for a little Google Gross.

FTC Regulators Investigating Google's Waze Acquisition

When it Wazes, it pours.

Google confirmed to the Wall Street Journal today that the company has been contacted by the Federal Trade Commission for an official antitrust review of Google's $1.1 billion acquisition of Waze, announced earlier this month.

Kinect full body scanner

Why let the TSA have all the fun when it comes to full body scanning? Not only can you get a digital model of yourself, but you can print it out to scale.

Outputting text on a paper tape machine

Back before the days of 8 inch floppy disks, storing computer programs was much more primitive than even a stack of punch cards. The earliest general purpose computers used paper tape, a strip of paper with punched holes designating a 0 or a 1.

UBC Engineers Create Vehicle that Travels from Vancouver to Halifax on a Gallon of Gas

A team of engineering students from The University of British Columbia has built a vehicle so efficient that it could travel from Vancouver to Halifax on a gallon of gasoline.

Wetlev 2 water jet pack marginally less lethal than prior version

You’ve got to admit the thought of tooling around the lake on your own personal water jetpack is a seductive proposition. This is the second summer in which [Toby Gardner] has been trying to work out the kinks on his build. Last year he got out of the water, but the jetpack was pretty hard to control. Over the winter he redesigned the nozzles of the water jets and they seem to be doing quite a bit better.

Facebook Bug Exposes Contact Info for 6M Users

Facebook on Friday revealed that a bug inadvertently exposed the contact information of 6 million of its users via the social network's download your information (DYI) tool.

Google Ordered to Delete Collected U.K. Street View Data

Officials in the U.K. have ordered Google to delete all of the data it accidentally collected via its Street View cars.

The country's Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) said today that Google has just over a month to delete the information or face a more severe punishment.

3D scanning by calculating the focus of each pixel

We understand the concept used to create a 3D scan of his face, but the particulars are a bit beyond our own experience. He is not using a dark room and laser line to capture slices which can be reassembled later. Nope, this approach uses pictures taken with several different focal lengths.

The idea is to process the photos using luminance. It looks at a pixel and it’s neighbors, subtracting the luminance and summing the absolute values to estimate how well that pixel is in focus. Apparently if you do this with the entire image, and a set of other images taken from the same vantage point with different focal lengths, you end up with a depth map of pixels.

What we find most interesting about this is the resulting pixels retain their original color values. So after removing the cruft you get a 3D scan that is still in full color.

3D scanner with remarkable resolution

Modeling simple objects in 3D can take some time. Modeling complex items… well you can get your college degree in that sort of thing. This method side-steps the artistic skill necessary to make the real virtual by using a laser and camera to map a three-dimensional object.

[Alessandro Grossi] is breaking the rules by using a 100mW laser for the project. He thinks that the Italian government prohibits anything over 5mW, but also mentions that the lens used to turn the laser dot into a vertical line drops the power dramatically. The beefy diode does still pay off, providing an incredibly intense line of light on the subject being mapped. The high-end DSLR camera mounted on the same arm as the laser captures a detailed image, which can be processed to dump everything other than the laser line itself. Because the two are mounted on different axes, the image provides plenty of perspective.  That translates to the 3D coordinates used in the captured model shown in the inlaid image.

We’ve seen 3D scanners that move the subject; they usually rotate it to map every side. This method only captures one side, but the stepper motor moves in such small increments that the final resolution is astounding. See for yourself in the video after the break.

Researchers invent cleaner way to produce concrete

Canadian Light Source (CLS) user Mark MacDonald is helping build better communities one concrete block at a time.

Building a synth on a breadboard

Building an analog synth is a challenge, but with the [Tymkrs] protosynth, it’s easier than ever. It’s a 25-key keyboard attached to a stack of solderless breadboards to make analog synth prototyping a snap.

Arduino-controlled power-inverter

If you’ve got a few solar panels lying around, or even if you want some 120/230 V AC power from a few 12 Volt batteries, you’ll need a power inverter. Sure, you can drop on down to any big box store and pick one of these up, or you can be like Michael and build your own.

Giving a crank flashlight a super capacitor overhaul

Caleb was given a tiny LED flashlight which has a crank used to charge it. Unfortunately it wasn’t holding a charge, and constant cranking didn’t work very well either. He cracked it open to find a single lithium button cell. Instead of using a drop-in replacement he soldered in his own super capacitor.

Progressive traffic signal systems save time and fuel

Progressive traffic signal systems outside of cities reduce journey times and fuel consumption up to 20 percent. A driver information system informs about the signaling ahead. Credit: Andreas Haslbeck / Technische Universitaet Muenchen

How smart technology could change public transit

Canada Research Chair Joseph Chow aims to make transportation systems work more seamlessly, sustainably and cost-effectively. Credit: Bernard Leung

A microphone that listens with light

The technology that makes the microphone so sensitive is based on a combination of two optical phenomena; interference and diffraction. Credit: SINTEF

Mathematical algorithms cut train delays

Commuters are already seeing a reduction in delays and waiting times thanks to new software able to adapt railway schedules in real time following unforeseen disruptions.

The 3-D printing revolution

David Saint John, a doctoral candidate in Penn State's College of Engineering, working with a 3-D printer constructed by engineering students. The printers can create 3-D solid objects from digital models. Credit: Patrick Mansell

Networked cars make traffic safer and more efficient

Vehicles and infrastructures exchanging information with one another and notifying drivers about dangers and traffic situations make traffic safer and more efficient. This has been proven by one of the biggest field tests ever conducted on 'car-to-x communication', as it is known. Companies, research institutes and public institutions tested the jointly developed simTD system using 500 test drivers in moving traffic.

Nissan unveils “world’s fastest” electric racer

A speed of 300km/h or 186mph Electric Racing car has been unveiled by engineers at Nissan. This machine is capable of doing this such speed, unbelievable car that exist this is created by Nissan.

Frozen Synapse Brings Intense Strategy to Android

This app is good for people who love strategy and critical thinking, it will enjoy you a lot.

Strategy games need to be approached delicately on a touchscreen device, but these titles can work out extremely well. Frozen Synapse is a turn-based strategy game that has just arrived on Android after winning fans on the desktop and iOS. This detail-oriented title will test your planning and critical thinking skills from the very beginning.

Yahoo Officially Completes Tumblr Acquisition

What new in yahoo and tumblr and what it is all about? 

Yahoo's acquisition of Tumblr is a done deal.

In a Thursday Tumblr post, Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer announced that the Web giant has officially completed its acquisition of Tumblr. The news comes one month after Yahoo first announced plans to purchase the popular blogging platform for $1.1 billion.

Giving digital calipers Bluetooth

[Fede]‘s wife uses a pair of digital calipers to take measurements of fruits, leaves, and stems as part of her field research. Usually this means taking a measurement and writing it down in a log book. All things must be digitized, so [Fede] came up with a way to wirelessly log data off a pair of cheap Chinese calipers with a custom-made Bluetooth circuit.

Solar powered hovercraft

It looks a little bit like an octocopter, but this solar-powered hovercraft is distinctly different from its free-flying brethren. It depends mostly on ground effect for operation and to get it just a bit into the air you need a pretty large reflective rig nearby.

Google: Pompous Interview Brainteasers Are Pointless

If you've ever been in consideration for a job at Google, you might have been asked a really, really annoying interview question.

Something like: How many times a day do a clock's hands overlap? Or, how many resumes does Google receive each year for software engineering? Basically, something that nobody would know off the top of their head, or that doesn't even pertain to the job. 

Martian technology could aid environmental monitoring

Technology designed to measure water vapour on Mars is being brought down to Earth for monitoring volcanoes, industrial gases and even crops.

Interactive Map Visualizes the Smartphone Wars

As consumers, we are constantly bombarded with data about the most popular smartphone platforms. Who's on top this week: Apple or Google? When will Blackberry rejoin the party?

Build your own Apps

A 3 DIY Application Builders for a non-programmer. This will help you to create an apps and easy to use, it have good GUI, simple to use and of course it is free.

Hands On: Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom, Mini

The new Galaxy S 4 family is complete - or so says Samsung. We've already seen several carrier models of the Samsung Galaxy S 4. Now Samsung is showing off the Galaxy S4 Mini, Active, and Zoom, and we got hands-on time with two of them this afternoon. The Zoom (left) is weird and fascinating, but it probably won't sell many units. The Mini is mundane, but will likely be a best seller.

Digital Model to put Human Brain under the Microscope

Scientists have imaged the anatomy of an entire human brain at unprecedented resolution, which they hope could be a major tool for neuroscience.

WHY IT MATTERS
More detailed models of the human brain will help researchers explore both normal function and disease.

Making connections: The protuberances on this 3-D model of a neuron are “pre-synaptic terminals” –points where the cell will form connections with other neurons.

A new resource will allow scientists to explore the anatomy of a single brain in three dimensions at far greater detail than before, a possibility its creators hope will guide the quest to map brain activity in humans. The resource, dubbed the BigBrain, was created as part of the European Human Brain Project and is freely available online for scientists to use.

The researchers behind the BigBrain, led by Katrin Amunts at the Research Centre Jülich and the Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf in Germany, imaged the brain of a healthy deceased 65-year-old woman using MRI and then embedded the brain in paraffin wax and cut it into 7,400 slices, each just 20 micrometers thick. Each slice was mounted on a slide and digitally imaged using a flatbed scanner.

Alan Evans, a professor at the Montreal Neurological Institute at McGill University in Montreal, Canada, and senior author of a paper that reports the results in the journal Science, says his team then took on “the technical challenge of trying to stitch together 7,500 sheets of Saran wrap” into a three-dimensional object using digital image processing. Many slices had small rips, tears, and distortions, so the team manually edited the images to fix major signs of damage and then used an automated program for minor fixes. Guided by previously taken MRI images and relationships between neighboring sections, they then aligned the sections to create a continuous 3-D object representing about a terabyte of data.

Sliced up: Researchers used a tool called a microtome to cut a brain into slices 20 micrometers thick.

Evans says that existing three-dimensional atlases of human brain anatomy are usually limited by the resolution of MRI images—about a millimeter. The BigBrain atlas, in contrast, makes it possible to zoom in to about 20 micrometers in each dimension. That’s not enough to analyze individual brain cells, but it makes it possible to distinguish how layers of cells are organized in the brain.

Joshua Sanes, a neuroscientist at Harvard University, says the project represents one step toward realizing neuroscientists’ aspiration of looking at the human brain “with the sort of cellular resolution [with which] we can look at mouse or fly brains.” But while the atlas is a technical achievement that gives an unprecedented view of an entire brain’s anatomy, it can’t answer questions about brain activity or function, or about the connections between brain cells. The atlas also represents only a single brain, so it doesn’t capture variability between brains.

But Evans says it can be an important resource for future research. One of the larger goals of several brain initiatives worldwide—including the European project and the nascent BRAIN Initiative in the U.S. (see “The Brain Activity Map”)—is to integrate different kinds of data about brain structure and function, he says, and to create computational models of the brain to study processes such as childhood development or neurological diseases. Evans says such work depends on having a clear picture of the brain’s anatomy as a reference, and the BigBrain can serve as a platform on which other information can be mapped. “It’s the mother ship,” he says.

The researchers plan to lead studies integrating the BigBrain with other kinds of data, examining questions such as how genes are expressed and how neurotransmitters are distributed across the brain. They hope to repeat this work in other brains to start to look at how their structures vary.

5 Coolest Technologies Invented by High Schoolers

Last week Intel hosted their International Science and Engineering Fair in Phoenix. There, 1,600 students from around the world were invited to present their award-winning projects and compete for over $4 million in awards and scholarships. Here are some of the coolest new technologies invented by these stellar high schoolers.

A Robot with sense

Robots don’t have feelings. The Cartesian, assembly, and palletizing bots that have replaced the human workers of yesteryear don’t need to sense a thing to do their jobs.

Building a blink based input device

Fans of the AMC show Breaking Bad will remember the Original Gangsta [Hector Salamanca]. When first introduced to the story he communicates by ringing a bell. But after being moved to a nursing home

Microsoft is Under Pressure, Xbox drops One DRM Restrictions

After enduring some pretty scathing backlash from gamers, Microsoft on Wednesday reversed course and announced that the Xbox One will not require an Internet connection to play games.

Civil engineers call for more coherent transport strategy

Political infighting, lack of investment and an absence of clear, strategic thinking is undermining transport’s potential contribution to economic growth, says a new report.

MBDA reveals future rapid response missile concept

A new concept in missiles that can rapidly navigate busy airspace without using GPS or revealing their origin has been unveiled.

Royal Navy looks to US example for first spy drones

The Royal Navy’s first spy drones are to take off following a 46,350,000 US Dollar or £30m deal for the Boeing Scan Eagle popular with the US military since 2005.

Google Asks FISA Court to Allow Publication of Data Requests

Google this week filed a petition with the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, requesting that it be allowed to reveal how many requests for information it receives from the secretive court.

Mars mission on course as last big construction deal signed

Europe’s plans to send a satellite and rover to Mars are a step closer to fruition following the contract signing for the final construction phase.

Crystal oven temperature sensor reads 0.01F resolution

The high precision crystal oven worked by Scott Harden is made better, Scott continues his work on a high precision crystal oven . Being able to set a precise temperature depends on the ability to measure temperature with precision as well. That’s where this circuit comes in. It’s based around an LM335 linear temperature sensor.

The European Extremely Large Telescope

This is a planned ground-based extremely large telescope for the optical or near-infrared range, this telescope is constructed by the ESO (European Southern Observatory on top of a mountain in Cerro Armazones, Chile.