The Ray If you want to see what the highway of the future might look like, then you only need to drive down to Georgia. On an 18-mile segment of Interstate 85 — stretching from the city of LaGrange to the Alabama border, 67 miles from Atlanta — a consortium of government agencies, global companies, […]
Emerging Tech
U.S. Navy wants to ‘weaponize slime’ to stop enemy ships
Whether it’s autonomous ships with no crew or ultra-strong underwater glue inspired by mussels, the U.S. Navy has some pretty intriguing research projects. Their latest? Weaponized slime, capable of being fired at enemy vessels to stop them in their tracks. The synthetic slime is being created by a team of researchers at Utah State University, […]
Smelly shoes? Panasonic’s deodorizer kit promises to waste the whiff
Panasonic If your sneakers reek after a run in the park, how do you get rid of the whiff? Throwing them in the freezer for 24 hours apparently kills off the odor-causing bacteria, but maybe you’re worried about trying to cook them as a midnight snack at the end of a boozy night out. So […]
Materials scientists have found a way to make graphene twice as tough
Graphene, a single layer of graphite with the atoms arranged in a honeycomb-like hexagonal pattern, is one of the theoretically toughest materials in the known universe. Not content with that billing, however, materials scientists from Rice University in Houston, Texas, have found a way to make it more than twice as tough — courtesy of […]
There’s a new use for the failed Google Glass: Helping kids with autism
For all intents and purposes, Google Glass has joined the ranks of the LaserDisc or Nintendo Power Glove among the once-promising gadgets which failed to catch on with consumers. After we had written them off as old news, however, Google’s ill-fated smart glasses may have finally found their ideal use case: Helping kids with autism […]
Caltech trains drones to autonomously ‘herd’ flocks of birds. Here’s why
[embedded content] Birds can cause a surprising amount of headaches for airplanes. Perhaps the most famous recent example of this was the 2009 “Miracle on the Hudson” incident, when pilots were forced to land on the Hudson River after U.S. Airways flight 1549 was struck by a flock of geese after takeoff. Engineers at the […]
Widespread internet access is causing mass sleep deprivation, study suggests
We’re familiar with a lot of the arguments about why high-speed internet is among the greatest inventions in human history. But the internet can be bad for you, too — and, no, we’re not just talking about the howling post-apocalyptic wasteland that is the YouTube comments section. In a new study, funded by the European […]
Walmart’s new grocery robots aim to speed up your shopping experience
[embedded content] In the very near future, the person who picks out your online Walmart grocery pickup order may not be, well, a person at all. That’s due to the fact that the retail giant recently announced that it has teamed up with Massachusetts-based Alert Innovation to adopt a special custom version of Alert’s Alphabot […]
The best 3D printers you can buy for under $1,000 right now
Let’s face it: while we may say we put more emphasis on value over price, most of us will look at the price first anyway. That’s no different with 3D printers, although up until recently the idea of “cheap” in this market was still well north of $ 1,000 – likely not your definition of […]
Watch YouBionic’s 3D-printed robotic hand make freakishly lifelike movement
[embedded content] We’ve been covering the work of bionic prosthesis company YouBionic for some time now. As with any continuously iterating gadget or device, it has been fascinating to watch the concept evolve from a rough-hewn early prototype to what increasingly looks like a solid, well-engineered finished product. Well, maybe not quite “finished” yet — […]
Could Snap save the internet from fake news? Here’s the company’s secret weapon
Vagelis Papalexakis UC Riverside When Snapchat was first pitched as part of a Stanford mechanical engineering class, the course’s horrified teaching assistant openly wondered if the app’s creators had built a sexting app. Less than a decade later, Snapchat could help solve one of the biggest problems currently facing tech: stopping the spread of “fake […]
Here’s everything you need to know about SpaceX Starlink
Unless you’ve been living in a technological black hole for the last few years, you’ve probably heard of Elon Musk, and read stories about his ambitious ideas and startups. Between sexy electric cars, “hyperloop” transit systems, reusable rockets, and Mars colonies; there’s certainly no shortage of things to look forward to from the guy. In […]
The Best DJI Spark Accessories
While most of DJI’s drone lineup is aimed at more experienced pilots, the DJI Spark is aimed squarely at amateurs and first-time fliers. But what happens after you’ve gotten the hang of your Spark and want more? Don’t go shopping for a bigger and badder drone just yet. A fairly vibrant third-party accessory and modification […]
Spacesuit-inspired streetwear collection celebrates NASA’s 60th birthday
Previous Next Some kids dream of being astronauts. Others dream of styling them. For streetwear designer Heron Preston, that latter dream has finally come true. Sort of. After contacting NASA five years ago, offering to design their future spacesuits, Preston managed to swing a collaboration with the agency, releasing a new line of outerwear to […]
Scientists pinpoint exoplanets where life could bloom like here on Earth
A few decades ago, the search for extraterrestrial life was a fringe science. (Remember Jodie Foster’s eccentric and ostracized character in Contact?) Today, it’s captured the interest and imagination of astronomers and laymen alike. If and when we do discover alien life, there is a good chance it will have taken hold on an exoplanet […]