Tuesday, December 13, 2016

New Atlas


 
Tiny House Scotland recently completed its first model, the NestHouse. Sporting a Scandinavian-style design and a focus on energy-efficiency, the movable – but non-towable – tiny home starts at £17,000 (US$21,500) for the smallest and most basic unfurnished model.   Read more
The Apple vs Android debate. We're not here to take a side. We're here to let you pick yours. To that end we'll be giving one lucky winner $2k in credit to purchase whatever they want in either Apple or Android products. Best of luck.   Read more
When the Oculus Rift​ launched this March, one of our favorite qualities was its built-in audio. While Oculus' new earphones add a tinge of complexity, they make up for it with enhanced audio presence.   Read more
By tracking deviations in the Earth's magnetic field as it passes through the ocean, scientists say it is possible to gauge the temperature changes in the sea, helping to fill in important detail about how our planet is responding to global warming.   Read more
A recent breakthrough suggests it might be possible to create lonsdaleite, an ultra-hard diamond formed during meteorite crashes, without the need for earth-shaking impacts or scorching temperatures.​​   Read more
The Paris-Dakar Rally is one of the toughest tests in motorsport, pitting cars against blazing heat and sand dunes. Reaching the finish is impressive and cars that have completed the race are treated with a certain reverence. At Nissan, that has led to a full rebuild of the Patrol Fanta Limon.   Read more
Using extra-sensitive optical detectors built into a soft prosthetic hand, researchers at Cornell University have demonstrated a prototype that is able to tell by touch whether fruit is ripe, or to modify the pressure exerted on a material simply in response to the way it feels.   Read more
Amateur mechanics have long used sawdust to clean up oil spills in their garages. Now, scientists are looking to see if this low-tech solution can be adapted to protect the Arctic in case of an oil spill in its icy waters.   Read more
CRISPR-Cas9 has the potential to radically change how disease is treated. Now, scientists have edited the editor, adding a new engineered enzyme to CRISPR that can prevent the target DNA from repairing itself and cancelling out the desired changes.  Read more
Like goodies from a "?" box in Super Mario, details are slowly being revealed about Nintendo's theme park venture with Universal Studios. The two companies have now announced some general ideas about what we can expect to experience when Super Nintendo World arrives by 2020.  Read more
Last month's November supermoon was the closest look we'll get at our nearest neighbour until 2034. But the show isn't over yet. Wednesday's supermoon will be just 1 percent smaller, a difference that will be impossible to distinguish by the naked eye.  Read more
With the One S1, Segway appears to be targeting even more niche markets with a single-wheel design that, although self-balancing, the company warns "is not for everyone" and takes some skill to ride.  Read more
​Over the past 12 months we've witnessed an explosion of AI generated art from machines composing pop music to writing film screenplays. Here is a run-down of some of the most interesting, and amusing, developments in computer generated creativity.   Read more
​Shopping for frequent flyers can be difficult: Due to sheer necessity, they likely already have everything they need to navigate the inherent challenges of air travel. Here’s a selection of innovative gifts and gadgets that should surprise and please even the most well-equipped of travelers.  Read more
It's entirely possibly that winds are blowing clouds made of rubies and sapphires on the blazing "hot Jupiter" planet HAT-P-7b​ over 1,000 light years away. ​   Read more
​If you run a business that ships a lot of items, then you no doubt want the shipping process to be as efficient as possible … which is why Belgian start-up Fit Things created Slimbox. It's a machine that builds boxes on the spot, based on measurements of the goods.   Read more
Scientists tracking the wellbeing of reindeers in the Arctic have uncovered a concerning trend, with warming temperatures in the region literally freezing access to food and leading to a 12 percent decrease in average body weight over just 16 years.   Read more
Quick – you're on a team of men about to enter a competition. Your team can either listen to "Thunderstruck" by AC/DC or "Andante from Sonata for Two Pianos" by Mozart during the contest. Which do you choose? A new lighthearted study has the answer.   Read more
We have seen numerous takes on microneedle technology, but researchers in Sweden believe they have come with a design to top them all, with a patch that combines soft and hard materials for better performance and comfort. ​   Read more
For all kinds of reasons, 2016 is going to stick in the memory for a long, long time. In the midst of everything else that happened, we saw some fantastic apps for iOS and Android appear – and these are our favorites from the last 12 months, each worthy of a slot on your phone or tablet.  Read more
More than three months after Apple announced them, the company's wireless AirPods are finally available to order.   Read more
A residential tower in the city of St. Louis, Missouri, will have an unusual design reminiscent of an animal's layered scales. Stacked tiers of four floors each will fan outwards as they rise up the One Hundred building, with the aim of giving residents better views and improving energy performance.   Read more
The first offshore wind farm in the US has begun generating electricity about 3 miles off the coast of Block Island, Rhode Island. The facility has a capacity of 30 MW and is expected to produce around 125,000 MWh of electricity annually.   Read more
Make sure your personal data and Internet activity are never exposed with the extremely reliable VPN trusted by over a million users. PureVPN’s self-managed VPN network has a wider reach (550+ servers nodes in 141 countries) and allows more simultaneous device connections (five) than pretty much any other VPN out there.   Read more
 

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