Gizmag

MARINE Gibbs high-speed amphibious motorcycles – ride straight into the lake and out again At the touch of a button Gibbs amphibious motorcycles convert to jet skis and switch to jet propulsion. The switch from road mode to water mode is done in less than 5 seconds.  read more MOBILE TECHNOLOGY Android 6.0 Marshmallow review: Google Now is more important than ever Version 6.0 of Android is rolling out to Nexus devices now, appearing on the brand new Nexus phones very soon, and other recent Android phones over the coming months. Read on for our impressions of Marshmallow – and the difference it's going to make in your mobile experience.  read more AUTOMOTIVE Hudway develops budget-friendly car HUD Head-up displays are becoming more common in high-end cars, but stand-alone units remain beyond the financial reach of many drivers. The crowdfunded Hudway Glass is a basic device that will take full advantage of your smartphone to give you a flexible HUD on a very modest budget.  read more SPACE Lunar detour could lighten the launch load for manned missions to Mars A new study out of MIT says that, although possibly a little out of the way, the Moon would make a worthwhile refueling pit stop for manned missions to Mars by reducing the mass of a launch from Earth by 68 percent.  read more SPACE Surprise asteroid to give Earth a Halloween flyby A huge asteroid discovered just weeks ago will pass by our planet on Halloween at a distance of about 1.3 times that of the Earth to the moon and traveling at over 126,000 km/h (78,293 mph)  read more DRONES Watchkeeper becomes first UAS to fly with commercial aircraft in UK civil airspace A world where unmanned aircraft soar alongside their manned counterparts mightn't be all that far away, with UK defence firm Thales recently flying its Watchkeeper drone in civil airspace for the first time.  read more MARINE Retrofittable unmanned system for navy boats takes to the water A new robotic system developed by ASV and BAE Systems can be retrofitted to the Rigid Inflatable Boats (RIB) to turn them into high-speed, autonomous, unmanned reconnaissance and surveillance platforms. read more MEDICAL Implantable LCD eye lenses may make glasses obsolete A new fully-adjustable synthetic eye lens from the University of Leeds, and made from liquid crystal, is designed to surgically replace long-sighted lenses in the human eye.  read more SPACE ESA's GomX-3 CubeSat goes online ESA has confirmed that its GomX-3 technology demonstration CubeSat is in good health and can begin its primary mission to test new radio technologies.  read more MILITARY Lockheed Martin completes 60 tests of laser turret for high-speed warplanes Last year, Lockheed Martin began testing a new tactical laser turret for future warplanes. Sixty test flights later, ​Lockheed says the 360° capability​ of the turret technology has been verified at near-supersonic speeds​, moving the technology a step closer to deployment on tactical aircraft​.  read more SMARTWATCHES Samsung Gear S2 vs. Huawei Watch In some ways Samsung's G​ear S2 soars to the highest of smartwatch heights, but it also sinks to some frustrating lows that prevent it from being our top recommendation. Let's see how it compares to one of our top choices, the Huawei Watch.  read more BICYCLES Compact Wheezy trailer snaps onto your bike and makes it electric Powered bike trailers like the compact Ridekick or cargo-hauling Brouhaha bring their own drive wheels and give your pedaling a little extra oomph. The new, UK-designed Wheezy is a compact, easy-to-use electric trailer option.   read more DRONES Battelle’s DroneDefender anti-drone beam gun grounds UAVs Billed as the first portable, accurate, rapid-to-use UAV counter-weapon, the DroneDefender is a rifle-like raygun device that uses a radio beam to jam drone control systems and stop them in midair.  read more MEDICAL Scientists create a pumping artificial heart – using foam ​Perhaps you sleep on a memory foam mattress. Well, in the future, a similar material could be used to create artificial body parts. Researchers at Cornell University recently used their new "elastomer foam" to build a functioning fluid pump that looks and works like a human heart.​  read more AUTOMOTIVE Mitsubishi to show high-tech Emirai 3 concept cars in Tokyo  Mitsubishi Electric Corporation will show two related forward-looking concept cars at the Tokyo Motor Show, the Emirai 3 xDas and the Emirai 3 xAuto. The former packs a high-tech, multi-screen cockpit, while the latter has a range of automated driving features.  read more AUTOMOTIVE Tesla's live Autopilot upgrades give the Model S parallel parking and lane changes with the push of a button Tesla announced on Wednesday that Autopilot is now live for Model S vehicles produced since late September of 2014. Traffic-aware cruise control, automated parallel parking, and lane change at a push of a button are some of the new features in the Model S.  read more HEALTH AND WELLBEING Helmet decal could reduce athletes' brain injuries Sports helmets usually receive impacts at an angle, with the resulting twisting of the head potentially causing brain injuries to the wearer. Now, scientists have developed something to help keep that from happening – a sticker.​  read more ELECTRONICS Powered by body heat, Lumen flashlight never needs batteries If you've ever switched on a flashlight only to experience a flood of frustrated disappointment, you might appreciate owning an "eternal flashlight." Lumen is designed to be powered by body heat, never needing batteries.​  read more ROBOTICS Algorithm minimizes impacts for falling robots A team of researchers from the Georgia Institute of Technology has developed an algorithm that teaches robots how to fall, allowing them to trip up with a little more grace, and cause themselves less damage when they do.   read more SPACE New study finds common link between young stars and black holes  A research project led by the University of Leicester in the United Kingdom has identified similarities in the readings from the discs surrounding black holes and young stars, even though the objects have wildly different properties.  read more