Wednesday, December 7, 2016

New Atlas


 
New Atlas' Mike Hanlon recently spent several nights in the villages of the remote hill tribes of northern Laos. The villages are entirely self-sustaining, generate their own electricity, and life has changed very little in thousands of years.   Read more
​Ever since Henri Becquerel noticed that certain minerals blurred photograph plates, radiation has fascinated and frightened the public. To clear away the fog in the cloud chamber, New Atlas looks at the truth about radiation in our everyday lives.   Read more
What if you could infuse fighter pilot display technology into your real-world cycling experience? Israeli defense contractor Elbit Systems created Everysight Raptor smart glasses to do just that. The company is now seeking "Test Pilots" to provide feedback during their final stage of development.  Read more
Is it possible for a volume car maker to develop a desirable luxury car? Many have tried over the years, but few have succeeded in convincing brand-sensitive buyers that their latest car is truly a match for the likes of Mercedes. Opel thinks it can buck the trend with its new Insignia Grand Sport.   Read more
​The bathroom is one of the last bastions of privacy, where we can belt out a tune in the shower, soak in the tub, or primp and preen ourselves without judgement. To help your friends and family make the most of that precious personal time, we’ve rounded up some of the best bathroom gift ideas.  Read more
Participants in a study have successfully played through a video game without ever actually looking at it. They were guided through virtual mazes via direct brain stimulation, which could lead to sensory prosthetics to help visually-impaired people navigate or provide a new way to interact with VR.   Read more
The chuck used by Apollo 15 Mission Commander David Scott that was part of the Apollo Lunar Surface Drill is up for auction at RR Auction, where it's expected to fetch US$50,000.​   Read more
​Night vision goggles help the human eye see in the dark, but the devices are bulky, requiring several layers of lenses and plenty of power. But thanks to research from ANU, a new type of nanocrystal could grant night vision powers to a standard pair of specs, without adding any weight.​   Read more
​John Deere has released a video of an all-electric concept tractor in the lead-up to the SIMA Agribusiness show in France, pointing the way toward a zero-emissions tractor product in the future.   Read more
​The 500th and last LaFerrari has sold for a staggering $7 million at auction, with the proceeds going towards aiding the victims of the recent earthquakes in central Italy​.  Read more
Wind instruments can take almost any form. Weirdly-shaped instruments are more difficult to design, however, which is where a new computer program called Printone comes in.​   Read more
​Forget apples. According to a recent study, eating a handful of nuts a day keeps heart disease, cancer, stroke and premature death away.   Read more
There are many reasons to work on core strength, but there’s only one way to get it: hard work. The Stealth core trainer (currently on Kickstarter) wants to help you smile through your training by turning planks into a full-body arcade game.   Read more
​Some lucky enthusiast will walk away from an upcoming Bonhams auction and be able to drive away with a street legal Formula 1 race car built to meet UK regulations.   Read more
​​For almost a decade, scientist Todd Dawson has studied the giant sequoia trees of California's Whitaker Forest. But as the region suffers through a record-breaking drought, Dawson and his team are now getting some much needed help, by way of sensor-equipped drones   Read more
​Although portable record players have been around for decades, they're generally still not small enough to just be thrown in a bag – after all, they do have to accommodate a spinning LP. The RokBlok, however, doesn't "house" the record at all. Instead, it drives around its surface in circles.  Read more
Caesarean sections have helped overcome many a life-threatening childbirth since becoming more commonplace in the 1950s, but what of their influence on human evolution?   Read more
Google will run entirely on renewable energy next year, it says. The tech giant says it plans to buy enough wind and solar electricity to power all of its operations, including data centers and offices, as well as invest in the creation of new renewable energy sources.   Read more
​​NASA has released images showing Saturn’s enormous hexagonal north polar jet stream. The jet stream is large enough to swallow two Earth-sized planets laid either side of the dark, central polar storm.   Read more
Zaha Hadid's new mathematics gallery opens at the London Science Museum tomorrow. Containing over 100 pieces from the museum's voluminous science, technology, mathematics, and engineering collections, the exhibition highlights how mathematics has shaped the world.   Read more
​If you're struggling to find a gift for that friend who loves their geek toys, or even if you just want to treat yourself with a fun, little pop-culture toy, then you've come to the right place. Here is our run-down of the best stocking-stuffers for your inner geek.   Read more
Honda's NeuV is being promoted as "harnessing the power of artificial intelligence, robotics, and big data to transform the mobility experience​." There's also a robotic motorcycle. Let's hope Honda has a credible new angle because tech journalists are a lot more critical than the automotive press.​   Read more
General Motors has announced AeroVironment's​ EVSE-RS wall unit​ as the home charger for the upcoming all-electric, promising a charge around five times faster than the regular wall plug.  Read more
​​NASA’s Cassini spacecraft has completed the first of 20 close-proximity passes of Saturn’s outermost rings. The pass, which took place on Dec. 4 at 8:09 a.m. EST saw the probe fly just 6,800 miles (11,000 km) from the center of Saturn’s F ring.   Read more
More and more people are cutting the cable cord and looking to alternative TV and movie viewing methods. Netflix and Hulu are cool, but only one service offers all the perks of both cable and web-based streaming--while simultaneously dwarfing any other library. That's SelectTV, where you can access over 300,000 TV episodes, 200,000 movies, 50,000 radio stations, and 5,000 live channels all from the same, simple browser interface. There are many reasons to cut the cord, but none are as convincing as SelectTV.   Read more
 

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