New Atlas

Gizmag is now New Atlas:  Why we changed our name WEARABLES Microsoft HoloLens dev kit review: A peephole into the future Reviewing HoloLens is like taking a trip to the future, coming home and then trying to describe it to your friends. Today’s version isn’t quite ready for prime time, and it may even be decades before AR headsets reach their full potential. But holy smokes, has Microsoft started something here.   Read more SPACE Interview: See NASA's asteroid-chasing satellite through the eyes of its principal investigator Soon, NASA will launch another of its "hit-an-impossibly-small-object-with-an-even-smaller-object" missions when the OSIRIS-REx satellite takes flight. New Atlas got a sneak peek at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida this weekend and got insight into the mission from its principal investigator.   Read more ARCHITECTURE Bowl-shaped stadium aimed at keeping soccer fans cool, naturally How do you keep tens of thousands of stadium-goers cool in a hot Middle Eastern country? One answer is to blast them with air-conditioning, but Perkins + Will recently unveiled an impressive-looking design for a sports stadium in Dubai that looks at greener ways of keeping cool.   Read more MUSIC Grooving in the right direction using motors driven backward ​After using an oscilloscope to confirm that stepper motors driven backward produced an alternating current, University of Maryland senior Josh Sheldon decided to turn the resulting waveforms into audible sounds. The result is the magical Stepper Organ, and the output is just a little bit eerie.   Read more ELECTRONICS Fungi put to work extracting lithium from discarded batteries Researchers are exploring the difficult task of reclaiming lithium from old discarded batteries. A new study has put three strains of fungi to work to extract these valuable materials from electronic waste, which could lead to a safer and greener battery recycling system.   Read more AUTOMOTIVE Oddball electric scooter makes it to production We come across a lot of out of the box ideas aiming to revolutionize the way we move. The BOXX scooter from 2012 fits the bill in more ways than one. Back then the team behind the wacky e-bike design was chasing preorders. In 2016, it's a production reality.   Read more AUTOMOTIVE Lamborghini bids Ferruccio a happy birthday with exquisite Centenario Roadster Celebrating milestones brings out the best in Lamborghini, encouraging it to make its work wilder and edgier. Earlier this year, the appropriately wild and edgy Centenario was launched to celebrate what would have been Ferruccio Lamborghini's 100th birthday. Now, it's getting a drop top cousin.   Read more ENVIRONMENT Edible milk-based packaging reduces food spoilage and plastic waste ​Wrapping food in plastic can reduce spoilage, but the packaging itself creates waste that can clog up landfills for years. Natural alternatives have been studied, and now scientists have used casein to create packaging which is degradable, edible and much better at preventing spoilage than plastic.   Read more AUTOMOTIVE Aston Martin gives Vanquish Zagato a topless partner in crime Making a modern car stand out at Monterey Car Week is difficult, but this year Aston Martin was up to the task. Based on the Vanquish Zagato launched at Lake Como earlier this year, the Vanquish Zagato Volante has lost its top and become even more stunning in the process.   Read more SPACE Van Allen probes capture how Earth’s radiation belts respond to giant solar storm A rare space weather event of the kind that could damage future satellite-dependent technology such as power grids and communications networks occurred at just the right moment on Mar, 17, 2015, according to a paper by NASA scientists published last week in the Journal of Geophysical Research.   Read more SCIENCE This iceman wouldn't be caught dead in any old leather Using DNA analysis, the clothing and accessories found with the frozen corpse of a Copper Age man in the Alps, a team of scientists led by University College Dublin shows that they were made up of at least five different species of domestic and wild animals.   Read more SPACE How to navigate deep space by pulsar Scientists are working on a way to replace radio-based space navigation with a cosmic GPS that uses pulsars to fix a spaceship within a radius of two kilometers (1.2 mi) at the distance from Earth to Neptune.   Read more TELECOMMUNICATIONS Turning Bluetooth into Wi-Fi puts implanted devices online University of Washington engineers have produced a unique method to communicate with low-power, electronic devices such as brain implants and smart contact lenses by converting Bluetooth signals into Wi-Fi.   Read more MEDICAL Ginger-derived nanoparticles attack the roots of inflammatory bowel disease Researchers have taken fresh ginger and converted it into a nanoparticle that exhibits real potential to treat inflammatory bowel disease, and might even help fight cancer, too. ​   Read more MOBILE TECHNOLOGY Samsung Galaxy Note 7 vs. OnePlus 3 Can the OnePlus 3 compete with the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 for less than half the starting price? Since OnePlus pulled out a few new tricks with this year's flagship and ditched their invite-only purchasing system, it's a more relevant question than ever. Here, we compare phones side-by-side.   Read more HEALTH & WELLBEING Machine learning algorithm taps satellite imagery to better map impoverished regions Stanford University researchers have come up with a method that could start to fill in some of the blanks when it comes to mapping global poverty, feeding satellite imagery into a machine learning algorithm to identify impoverished areas across the African continent.   Read more MEDICAL New test looks Parkinson's disease straight in the eye ​An ability to detect Parkinson's before it imparts irreparable damage on the brain would be a game changer when it comes to treatment. New research has raised the prospect of a low-cost eye test to catch the disease before it evolves into telltale symptoms like tremors and muscle stiffness.   Read more SPACE Does millennia-long hibernation await star system after brilliant nova explosion? A new study is shedding light on a type of binary star system theorized to transition into a state of hibernation lasting thousands of years following powerful nova explosion events.   Read more AUTOMOTIVE Volvo targets world records with 2,400-hp truck No-one likes getting stuck behind a slow-moving truck on the roads, but the likelihood of being held up by Volvo's "Iron Knight" truck is minimal. Based on a Volvo FH, it has been specially built to set new speed records, kicking out 2,400 hp and 6000 Nm of torque.   Read more SPECIAL PROMOTION FOR NEW ATLAS READERS Pay What You Want for the Complete Developer Bundle ($1,840 Value) Got a web, game, or app idea? The best way to get people using it is with an effective, engaging design. This bundle will teach you how to use the best tools to create an amazing app or game. Who knows, maybe a freelancing career is right around the corner?   Read more