#The flying machine that was inspired by a jellyfish Flying robotic jellyfish. Leif Ristroph, an applied mathematician at New york University, wanted to build the##simplest possible##flying machine.#
#Ristroph glued together several tubes of carbon fiber to build this: a sphere with four wings attached to it that propels it as a jellyfish swims.
Video)##The flyer is only about eight centimeters in diameter##small enough to fit in the palm of your hand
##and its mass is only about two grams, the equivalent of two paper clips. Half of the mass is the motor, a commercially available component about the size of the vibrator in a phone.
There s no battery on board. For the time being, the flying jellyfish is tethered to a power cord. What s most remarkable about the device,
though, is that even though it has absolutely no circuitry and no sensors, it manages to keep itself upright in the air.
That s apparently a physical property of the arrangement of the wings that Ristroph says he can t fully explain
but he hopes it will allow his prototype to evolve into a new generation of very small and inexpensive drones.
##which have four helicopter rotors. The machines can catch a ball and perform other autonomous feats of balance and coordination.
Flying machines modeled on insects typically require a computer on board or fins of some kind to maintain their stability,
miniature drone. Of course, any practically useful version of the jellyfish would have to carry a small battery and a navigation system##right now,
all the navigation controls are manual ##but Ristroph is optimistic those problems could be solved. A more difficult problem is explaining the machine s stability in the air.
He isn t particularly excited about the possibility of a version of his jellyfish being used by the military,
and he isn t comfortable with the Obama administration s use of drones. But, he said,
##Having good drones could, overall, save lives also. I know it s a big, thorny issue.##
and he s hoping other researchers will help him figure out why it works. Via Washington post Share Thissubscribedel. icio. usfacebookredditstumbleupontechnorati swfobject. embedswf (http://www. youtube. com/v/tadbcnpsah0&
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#Scientists create electrode that lets you taste virtual food on your tongue The same research team is also working on a digital lollipop.
In Sword Art Online, an anime series, gamers take part in a#virtual world#that is teeming with danger,
not only interact with food in a virtual environment, but also actually#taste#it? Scientists at the National University of Singapore have developed a new electrode that could be the first step in making that happen.
Video)##This electrode, when placed directly on the tongue, can mimic all four taste sensations present there:
sweet, salty, bitter and sour. It works by producing signals that change in temperature and electrical current after touching the tip of the tongue.
A semiconductor controls the process, allowing the electrode to heat and cool quickly. It s also completely safe,
albeit a little clunky##researchers hope to make it more comfortable in the near future. In addition to gaming applications, such a device could also allow you to taste dishes on a cooking show.
Imagine watching Rachel Ray and being able to test her pasta primavera before preparing it yourself.
The electrode could even be used to simulate sugary treats for people with diabetes. In fact this same research team is also working on a digital lollipop:
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#Project Ara: Motorola And 3d Systems will 3d-print modular cell phones 3d printed modular cell phone.
Motorola announced last month a plan for a modular smartphone.##Project Ara will be a simple way for users to individualize their phones,
swapping out parts like the battery and camera until users have#a phone that s#just for them.
They plan on doing that with 3-D printing.####The company has inked a deal#with 3d Systems, a global 3-D printing manufacturing company,
to help produce parts of the phone. Assuming the projectstill officially in developmenttakes off, 3d Systems would be#a##multi-year###production partner, making smartphone##enclosures and modules##for the Google-owned phone company.
There s#reason to be skeptical#of modular phone technology, but Project Ara does get a pedigree boost#from former DARPA director and now-Google exec Regina Dugan,
and having the weight of a big tech company behind it doesn t hurt. Motorola says they ll be releasing more details on the project in the coming months.
Photo credit: Engadget Via Pop Sci Share Thissubscribedel. icio. usfacebookredditstumbleupontechnorat i
#Heat from subways to warm homes in London London s subway will be supplying green energy to warm up more homes around the borough.
A new project announced by the#Islington council will redirect the heat from a Northern Line of London s subway to vent to homes across the city,
giving homeowners a new way to get through the cold season. The project will deliver cheap heating to 500 homes around the area.
It will not only be saving consumers money, but also the environment from 500 tons of CO2 EMISSIONS.##
##This is the first known project of its kind. Spearheading a green initiative#to harness secondary heat, Boris Johnson,
Mayor of London, believes in making use of##waste heat arising as a byproduct of industrial
and commercial activities##and##the heat that exists naturally within the environment (air, ground water).###The project is made possible by Islington s Bunhil Heat and Power network,
which has provided already green energy for 700 homes in the borough. The London Underground vent from a Northern Line station will supply most of the heat,
but a supplementary supply from an electrical substation owned by UK Power Networks will also be captured.
Martin Wilcox in a statement shared: If it is successful there could be potential to replicate this
and increase access to low carbon, low cost energy in other parts of the capital because we have dotted electricity substations throughout London
which keep the lights on for millions of homes and businesses. With a start-up budget of#2. 7m granted by the Islington Council
and meeting his goal to reduce CO2 EMISSIONS by 60 percent. If all goes well, this heat-recycling project could account for 25 percent of London s energy by 2025.
This London project is part of the larger European union CELSIUS project which aims to improve the efficiency
and performance of district heating systems by capturing waste heat and turning it into useable energy.
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#Scientists develop new liquid metal that will let you print circuits on paper, T-shirts, or even leaves Soon we could be able to print circuits as well as 3-D products in the comfort of our homes.
Three scientists in China have found a#way#to create a metal that s liquid at room temperatures,
can be printed as if it was ink in ordinary, everyday desktop printers, and will adhere to surfaces as diverse and supple as rubber, paper, cotton T-shirts,
or a leaf off an oak tree.####Need an RFID T-shirt? A smart magazine? The possibilities appear to be endless,
as the same material can also be adapted to make a##transparent conductive film,##in other words a see-through electronic circuit,
that could be printed on glass or transparent plastic. The key innovation, MIT Technologyreview#says, is the alloy of gallium and indium that the scientists discovered.
It s printable at room temperature, while many other printable circuit inks require high temperatures##up to 400 degrees Celsius,
or 752 degrees Fahrenheit##which has obvious challenges when you want to print on perishable and delicate surfaces such as paper.
Printing a circuit successfully is great but not so much when your substrate burns away. The liquid gallium alloy doesn t naturally adhere to surfaces well,
##Different from the former direct writing technology where large surface tension and poor adhesion between the liquid metal and the substrate often impede the flexible printing process,
the liquid metal here no longer needs to be oxidized pre to guarantee its applicability on target substrates,##Qin Zhang, Yunxia Gao,
and Jing Liu,#the three scientists, write. The technology behind this innovation is##cheap and simple,
#Recharging electric vehicles on the move Researchers have designed this proof-of-concept wireless charger for moving electric vehicles. A problem with electric vehicles is providing power
while the vehicles are moving. One way to extend the range of electric vehicles may be to provide power wirelessly through coils placed under the surface of a road.
But charging moving vehicles with high-power wireless chargers below them is complex.####Researchers at North carolina State university have developed a method to deliver power to moving vehicles using simple electronic components, rather than the expensive power electronics or complex sensors previously employed.
The system uses a specialized receiver that induces a burst of power only when a vehicle passes over a wireless transmitter.
Initial models indicate that placing charging coils in 10 percent of a roadway would extend the driving range of an EV from about 60 miles to 300 miles,
says#Srdjan Lukic, an assistant professor of electrical engineering at NCSU. Wireless charging through magnetic induction##the same type typically used for electric toothbrushes##is being pursued by a number of companies for consumer electronics and electric vehicles.
Such chargers work by sending current through a coil, which produces a magnetic field. When a car with its own coil is placed above the transmitter,
the magnetic field induces a flow of power that charges the batteries. Stationary inductive chargers for electric vehicles typically use sensors to ensure that the receiver coils on the vehicle are aligned above wireless charging pads correctly.
The NCSU researchers system operates without position sensors in an attempt to simplify the design
and make it more efficient. When there are no vehicles, the transmitter coil gives off a weak field.
But when a vehicle with a receiver passes by electronics in the receiver trigger a strong magnetic field
and an accompanying flow of power, says Lukic. Precisely controlling when the roadway coils produce a magnetic field is important for safety reasons;
if the field misses the car s receiving coils, it could attach to parts of the car
or attract stray objects.####Somehow we have to channel or contain the magnetic field produced by the transmitter to always be right below the receiver.
We cannot just beam out a strong field into the environment, ##he says. Some designs have a series of coils that are energized always,
but that approach is not energy-efficient, Lukic says. In a stationary induction charger, the power receiver is made with a simple coil.
The NCSU device is sophisticated more. It uses capacitors and inductors to manipulate the power transfer
and magnetic field, says Lukic. The coupling between transmitter and receiver could be done with power electronics
but such a system would be more expensive than the NCSU device, he says. The researchers have made a low-power prototype
and intend to reach a rate of 50 kilowatts, which is equivalent to direct-current fast chargers,
which work more efficiently than conventional alternating-current chargers. Commercial interest in wireless charging systems for moving vehicles is growing.
Qualcomm is working on a##dynamic##charging system that builds off its current stationary#wireless EV charger.
The University of Utah has tested a wireless charging infrastructure for city buses and has spun out a company called Wireless Advanced Vehicle Electrification#to build commercial products.
With the Utah system a bus could charge from coils placed under the road surface where passengers load or at traffic lights.
Dynamic wireless power transfer could also be used for robots. The techniques that the NCSU researchers used for dynamic EV charging have already been applied in some consumer electronics,
says Katie Hall, the chief technology officer of Witricity, a company that makes wireless charging equipment.
But the electronic tooling used for small electronics, such as switches, isn t readily available for high-power applications.##
##That kind of technology doesn t seamlessly scale to kilowatts or hundreds of kilowatts, ##she says.
The Oak ridge National Laboratory is also working on ways to automatically match the wireless power transmitter
and receiver, says Omer Onar, a researcher who works on wireless vehicle charging there. The new work addresses only one of the barriers of the dynamic charging,
he says:####Most of the commercial barriers are associated with cost and infrastructure.####Via Technology Review Share Thissubscribedel. icio. usfacebookredditstumbleupontechnorat s
#The death of coal in America Train carrying coal to a power plant. The Great Energy Shift is happening in spurts
and is starting in places like Arizona and Mississippi instead of coming from legislation in Washington. Last week two two utilities faced decisions on whether to fight the future or embrace it.##
##In a sign that the future will unfold in unexpected twists and turns, it was the coal-dependent Tennessee Valley Authority#that made a bold move,
while in sun-blasted Arizona the state s big utility tried to short-circuit a solar boom.
The government-owned TVA serves some 9 million people in the heart of coal mining country in the southeastern United states,
running a fleet of coal fired power plants that have long been the source of cheap electricity. But yesterday, the TVA board of directors voted to shutter eight of those power plants
taking 3, 000 megawatts of carbon-intensive electricity off the grid in the face of intense opposition from coal miners and politicians decrying##Obama s war on coal.##
###That s the equivalent electricity production of three huge nuclear power plants.####These were difficult recommendations to make as they directly impact our employees and communities,
##TVA chief executive Bill Johnson said in a statement.####TVA must respond immediately to challenging trends in lower power demand, a slow economy, uncertainty in commodity pricing,
and tougher environmental requirements, particularly on air emissions.####In other words, TVA was bowing to reality. Federal emissions regulations make retrofitting aging coal plants prohibitively expensive
while pending rules means it s unlikely any new coal fired power stations will be built in the years ahead.
So the TVA directors voted to transform the utility into a power provider that will obtain a majority of its electricity from carbon-free sources.
The TVA has not yet set a schedule for the retirement of the coal fired power plants but under the plan approved yesterday,
coal will provide 20 percent of the utility s electricity in the future, down from 38 percent today.
Nuclear power plants will generate 40 percent of electricity while natural gas will supply another 20 percent. The remaining 20 percent will be supplied by renewable sources,
including hydropower, and energy efficiency measures. Meanwhile, in Arizona yesterday, the state s utility regulator turned back a request by Arizona Public service (APS) to#impose steep new fees on homeowners who install solar panels#on their roofs.
It s a battle being fought elsewhere in the country as utilities grapple with an existential threat to their century-old business model.
As more customers generate their own electricity utilities face declining revenues while still retaining responsibility for paying for the transmission system.
In Arizona, for instance, there were 900 solar arrays installed on Arizona residential rooftops in January 2009. By June of this year, that number had grown to 18,000 with 500 more photovoltaic systems being installed each month.
Under a regulatory scheme known as net metering, homeowners receive a credit for the solar electricity they send to the grid that is used to pay for the power they use
when the sun isn t shining. In Arizona, that credit is calculated at retail rates and APS argued that penalized homeowners who don t go solar as the utility will be forced to raise their rates to pay for the transmission system
##As a result of net metering, residential customers with rooftop solar do not pay for most of the electric service they use,
##APS lawyers wrote in a petition to the Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC), the state agency that regulates utilities.##
##Those costs are paid then by other customers##through higher rates##who can t install or don t want rooftop solar.
The shifting of costs is unfair. It is also growing with every solar installation, and needs to be addressed now before it becomes to large to fix with a balanced solution.##
##APS s solution? Charge solar homeowners an extra $50 to $100 a month. Solar advocates countered that the utility offered no proof that the solar boom was resulting in higher rates for other homeowners.
In fact, they argued, the expansion of solar capacity meant the utility saved money by not having to build additional power plants and transmission lines.
APS and its supporters spent hundreds of thousands of dollar on an advertising campaign but yesterday the ACC rejected the utility s request,
handing it a largely symbolic victory when it approved the imposition of fees that will result in a $3 to $5 monthly surcharge for homeowners who install solar in the future.
Still that didn t sit well with the solar industry.####Unfortunately, the utility exploited this debate
and then used it as an opportunity to stymie competition, stick it to consumers and bolster its bottom line,##Rhone Resch, chief executive of the Solar energy Industries Association,
a trade group, said in a statement.####No one should be surprised. This is what monopolies do.####Photo credit:
Watts up with that? Via The Atlantic Share Thissubscribedel. icio. usfacebookredditstumbleupontechnorat T
#Mini Metal Maker: A $1000 3d printer that prints metal http://www. vimeo. com/78961565 The Mini Metal Maker prints 3d objects from digital files directly in precious metal clay, rather than in plastic.#
#Once these clay objects air-dry, they are fired in a kiln to produce beautiful solid metal objects of high purity and precision.
Using metal clay essentially replaces the entire wax-casting or lost-wax process ordinarily needed to do this.
The Mini Metal Maker will add new capability for the DIY inventor or artist by making fabrication in metal easy and direct.
It will be a boon for anyone interested in creating their own gears, miniature mechanisms, or printing detailed jewelry or metal ornaments.
The Mini Metal Maker is built around the concept of using the minimum number of parts
reducing the cost to produce and also eliminating many chances for error during assembly.####The Mini-Metal Maker They have raised about $7500 out of $10,
000 to improve the precision from 500 microns to 200 microns. We aim to raise $10,
000 for materials to refine and package our technology into a producible product.#####In order to achieve the reliability
and price point needed to make this good invention a great product, we need to finish our research and development.
Funds will go toward the following activities:**Refine the metal clay recipe for each of five different clay types:##
##Copper, Bronze, Steel, Silver & Gold.**Refine our high-pressure extruder design. We currently have a reliable extrusion trace at around 0. 5mm
but believe this can be reduced to 200 microns.**Add a second print head for use with additional metal clays or support material.*
*Optimize the integrated motor carriage design so that it can be printed easily on low cost printers such as the Makerbot and Reprap.*
*Refine custom firmware for the printer to further optimize printing for clay.**Create the Mini Metal Forge software environment in order to foster a good user experience, particularly for the nontechnical craftsperson.*
*Work with industrial partners to tool up for production of the machine with injection molding.
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#Elementary school students in Finland to learn coding Teaching programming is part of an effort to encourage the development of tech skills at an early age.
In the near future, elementary school students in Finland could be adding coding and programming to their nightly homework routine.
Following in#the footsteps of neighboring country Estonia, Alexander Stubb,#the Finnish Minister of European Affairs and Foreign Trade, says that teaching basic programming skills to young kids in the classroom
is on the country s radar.#####It would be a great idea to have coding as a voluntary
or otherwise subject in school, ##Stubb says.####Kids today are growing up as natives to technology,
and the sooner they get going, the better. It starts with games and familiarizing themselves with gadgets,
and coding is a big part of that.####This doesn t necessarily mean first-graders will be developing apps.
Rather, it s part of an effort to encourage the development of tech skills at an early age.##
##We have a strong education system and rank among the top countries in both primary and secondary education,
and we re always looking for new ways to innovate, ##Stubb says.####Bringing coding to students is something we are very aware of,
but it would probably take awhile to get it up and running.####NOTE:##It s never too late to become a coder.
Check out what s happening at Davinci Coders. Estonia rolled out a similar program for elementary school students in 2012, with 20 schools across the country testing a program called#Progetiiger.
The software teaches everything from basic logic to Java and C++ for older students. Finland is emerging as one of the hottest new startup hubs in the world,
especially when it comes to mobile gaming. Thanks to the success of#Rovio#and its#Angry Birds#empire,
as well as#newcomer Supercell###which has two of the most popular ios games:##Clash of Clans#and#Hay Day###Finland has attracted tech talent from all over Europe looking to set up shop in its capital city.
As#Nokia###once the hometown hero of the country, accounting for 4%of the Finnish GDP##began to shed workers over the years,
executives left the company to build startups of their own. This accelerated the growth of entrepreneurship across Finland,
long before#Nokia sold its mobile division to Microsoft#in September, and is encouraging venture capitalists from around the world to invest in the local talent.##
##With the success of Nokia in the 90s, it grew our confidence that we could really make it in the tech space,
##Stubb says.####But Nokia became too big for comfort, and as leaders moved out, the startup scene started to surface.
It s a fearless generation now, and one that is much smarter than that of the past.##
##The country is also embracing coding education at the university level via Aalto University s Appcampus program#outside Helsinki.
The mobile app accelerator program is funded by the school, along with Nokia and Microsoft, and is set up to spur app development for Windows phones.
Startups from various countries around the globe, as well as founders of all ages, are now working with Appcampus to secure funding
and become successful in the Windows phone app store.####Everyone knows that gaming is actually good for neurology and the brain,
##Stubb says.####Long gone are the days where parents tell you to stop. We re really excited about how the gaming community has taken off here
and you can expect more from Finland very soon.####Photo credit: The Guardian Via Mashable Share Thissubscribedel. icio. usfacebookredditstumbleupontechnorat d
#Coin: High-tech card could replace everything in your wallet What if you could carry a single credit card device in your wallet that would digitally store up to eight credit, debit, membership,
and gift cards and lets you switch between them with just a push of a button?
Companies like Apple and Google have tried to give us digital wallets, but nothing has caught really on.
It looks like a normal credit card at first glance, but Coin is much smarter than your average piece of plastic.
A small display and a fancy magnetic strip let you choose from a range of your cards and memberships before paying.
A Square-like card reader attachment that ships with Coin plugs into your iphone s headphone jack.
Coin communicates with your iphone using low energy Bluetooth and securely stores the data on the card.
and the small display shows you what you have selected with a nickname, the last four digits of the card,
and it supposedly just works. I say##supposedly ##because Coin is still being finished. Preorders are part of a crowdfunding#campaign to raise 50k
The Coin s battery life is said to last two years, which is about the normal expiration date for credit/debit cards anyway.
There are tons of questions to still be answered about Coin, especially when it comes to security.
One cool feature that was highlighted in the above video is that Coin checks in over Bluetooth with your iphone.
So when your phone and Coin card get separated a push notification is sent to your phone letting you know you let your Coin behind.
Coin looks like it could be for normal people what Square is for merchants. We ll see.
The price will double to $100 once preorders start shipping in the summer. Via Cult of Mac Share Thissubscribedel. icio. usfacebookredditstumbleupontechnorati swfobject. embedswf (http://www. youtube. com/v/w9sx34sweg0&
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