Join Phase 2.0 Three-wheeled concept vehicle
Nothing like a good concept vehicle to brighten your Tuesday, isn’t there?
This particular one is the Phase 2.0, and it puts the driver inside a huge wheel, which is a design that I have seen before, in both science fiction films and concept vehicles.
What makes this one different is that it has two other wheels that not only balance it out, but they can move to both front and rear wheel situations.
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Deflexion silicone armor grows hard on impact
This next device is known as Deflexion, but it has nothing to do with a game played with lasers that we reported on a while back.
No, Dow Corning created this Deflexion, which is a material made from silicon that has been polymerized into a flexible silicone sheets. The idea is to create some kind of armor that can shift around like clothing in a breathable fashion.
However, if something hard impacts it like a bullet, then all the molecules gang up around that area and instant turn rock solid. They would disperse and absorb the impact, like a bullet-proof vest. I suppose that a bullet proof vest is what you could use this for, but there might be other applications like cases for mobile phones, for instance.
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Nanoparticles can illuminate certain trees
And in other news, NASA has finally found life on other planets. Judging from our high-resolution photos, we can see that they have similar buildings and automobiles, but their trees glow red at night.
Seriously, this is Earth. Specifically, it is Taiwan’s National Cheng Kung University, and it was recently discovered that adding gold nanoparticles to the leaves of this tree, known as Bacopa caroliniana, will cause the chlorophyll to glow red.
Dr. Ye-Hsun Su believes that his recent discovery could do a lot to help the environment. After all, a lot of streetlights at night lead to a huge electricity bill. If it is cheaper to coat some trees with a substance to make them glow at night, then we can reduce our nightly illumination bill by a substantial fraction.
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Eco-city is solar-powered, holds one hundred thousand
Lately, I have been covering a lot of hands-on reviews of real products before the holidays, and it has been a while since I have covered a cool concept design that I probably will never see in my lifetime.
Then again, this domed city is called Eco-city 2020, and I’m not certain that is a realistic deadline for this project. That would give them only a decade to complete it.
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E-Tomb – Dead goes digital
I hate talking about dying, I spend more time than I think is right, wondering about my mortality. In fact my husband and I debate over whether we need a nice luxurious vault, or a quick and easy cremation, and up until now, cremation was for me. I just couldn’t think of a single reason to be stuck in the cold, wet ground.
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University of Arizona working on Holographic Telecommuting
Apparently, someone really wants an age of holographic telecommuting. So that when we want to talk with someone on the phone or webcam, we will see an actual life-sized hologram of the person that we are talking to, like in Star Wars.
I’m seen some attempts at creating this effect, such as will.i.am’s coverage of the 2008 election on CNN, plus this other glass-projection at the International Stationery and Office Products Fair in Tokyo, Japan.
Some researchers at the University of Arizona are very intent on creating holographic videos in real-time, and recording one’s holographic “telepresence” is as difficult as you might think.
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Urbee, the 3D printed car
This is Urbee, not to be confused with Herbie, a sentient Volkswagen from Walt Disney.
Urbee could easily be as unique as the Love Bug, as it is the only car ever to have its frame, including the glass, made from a 3D printer. I don’t know about the engine or the other inner workings.
The two-seat car was made by 3D printing Stratasys and engineering company Kor Ecoogic. Urbee is most certainly not ready for mass-production as yet, but it certainly looks like it was made for the future. You know, that really cool future that we see in movies.
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Shoot this light out with the Bang!lamp
When it comes turning an appliance off from a distance, you could use some Universal remote, or even the Clapper. Or you could use this Bang! lamp.
The lamp can be turned off with a special gun-shaped remote. All you need to do is point it at the lamp and pull the trigger. Not only does this “kill the light”, but the lamp shade will do a tilt thing, like it was hit with a bullet.
Of course, you might not want to leave this lying around when someone who is pro-gun control comes around. Of course, it is a plain white gun, and I don’t know how many real plain white pistols are out there.
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