Wrist Device Makes Controlling Gadgets a Snap

Microsoft's Kinect technology lets gamers kick a virtual soccer ball or ride a digital skateboard using natural movements rather than a controller. Yet it can detect and interpret only full-body motion—it is relatively clueless about interpreting the movements of smaller body parts such as fingers. Now Microsoft researchers are developing a wrist-worn sensor to control video games—along with mobile phones, tablets, computers and TVs—with a flick of the wrist or snap of the fingers.

Like Spider-Man's web shooters, the aptly named Digits straps to the inside of the wrist. To track hand movement, it uses aninfrared (IR) camera, laser, light-emitting diode (LED) and an inertial measurementunit. The laser projects an IR line across the inside of the hand, intersecting the fingers and thumb as they bend inwards and marking the distance. As the hand closes, the laser intersects the fingers nearer to the palm and records those measurements as well.

By triangulating the positions of the camera, laser and different points on the hand that the laser hits, the device can reconstruct a virtual hand that mimics movement of the hand wearing the Digits device, to within 0.1 millimeter. This virtual hand would appear onscreen when the wearer is using it with a mobile phone or some other device
A Digits wearer could control different features on mobile devices—for instance, switching mp3 files by mimicking the turning of a dial, adjusting volume by moving a hand up or down to manipulate an invisible slider, or answering phone calls via a thumbs-up gesture—without even removing those devices from a pocket or handbag.

The researchers' goal is to reach a level of fidelity that captures the full dexterity of the human hand, enabling fine-grained interactions with electrical devices down to the individual finger, says David Kim, a researcher in Microsoft Research's Sensors and Devices Group.* Kim, also a member of the Digital Interaction Group at Newcastle University's Culture Lab, and several colleagues presented the Digits research last week at the ACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology in Cambridge, Mass.

"This is body-worn and could be taken anywhere," Kim says. "So you could be interacting in your physical world—working, cooking or reading—and then spontaneously interact with virtual content whenever you want to."

The researchers began working on Digits in January, building a working version by the following month that could perform the basic functions and a more complete model in April. They attribute their ability to turn out a prototype so quickly to their experience working on other natural user interface projects including KinectFusionand Holodesk.

Although the prototype is too big and bulky to wear all the time, the researchers say it is possible to shrink Digits to watch size. The main challenge to miniaturizing the 125-gram device to the size of a wristwatch is using smaller components—the Web camera housing, the laser and the LED. The researchers made the housing for the latest prototype using a 3-D printer, which means creating a new one could be done quickly and cheaply. Miniaturizing the other components would depend on finding a smaller laser and LED out on the market. The researchers are also considering the possibility of a pop-up version of the device that rests flat on the wrist when not in use. This would likely require the development of more customized components.

Also, the researchers have to expand the scope of hand movements that Digits can capture. "Right now we can't cover the entire range of movement," Kim acknowledges. "If you straighten your fingers and stretch them too far backward the laser would not illuminate your fingertips, which means the infrared camera would not be able to see them. One work-around for this would be to have a second set of components on the back of the wrist to cover the whole range of finger movement." In the prototype, one finger also can occlude other fingers, blocking the view for the laser and camera, says Otmar Hilliges, also a researcher in Microsoft Research's Sensors and Devices Group.*

It is also unclear whether Digits functions properly in direct sunlight, or if sunlight would interfere with the IR laser—Microsoft has yet to test this scenario. Given how often smart phones and other gadgets are used in the light of day and the technology's other limitations, it may be a while before hand signals are the de facto move for controlling wireless gadgets.

A Digits wearer could control different features on mobile devices—for instance, switching mp3 files by mimicking the turning of a dial, adjusting volume by moving a hand up or down to manipulate an invisible slider, or answering phone calls via a thumbs-up gesture—without even removing those devices from a pocket or handbag.

The researchers' goal is to reach a level of fidelity that captures the full dexterity of the human hand, enabling fine-grained interactions with electrical devices down to the individual finger, says David Kim, a researcher in Microsoft Research's Sensors and Devices Group.* Kim, also a member of the Digital Interaction Group at Newcastle University's Culture Lab, and several colleagues presented the Digits research last week at the ACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology in Cambridge, Mass.

"This is body-worn and could be taken anywhere," Kim says. "So you could be interacting in your physical world—working, cooking or reading—and then spontaneously interact with virtual content whenever you want to."

The researchers began working on Digits in January, building a working version by the following month that could perform the basic functions and a more complete model in April. They attribute their ability to turn out a prototype so quickly to their experience working on other natural user interface projects including KinectFusionand Holodesk.

Although the prototype is too big and bulky to wear all the time, the researchers say it is possible to shrink Digits to watch size. The main challenge to miniaturizing the 125-gram device to the size of a wristwatch is using smaller components—the Web camera housing, the laser and the LED. The researchers made the housing for the latest prototype using a 3-D printer, which means creating a new one could be done quickly and cheaply. Miniaturizing the other components would depend on finding a smaller laser and LED out on the market. The researchers are also considering the possibility of a pop-up version of the device that rests flat on the wrist when not in use. This would likely require the development of more customized components.

Also, the researchers have to expand the scope of hand movements that Digits can capture. "Right now we can't cover the entire range of movement," Kim acknowledges. "If you straighten your fingers and stretch them too far backward the laser would not illuminate your fingertips, which means the infrared camera would not be able to see them. One work-around for this would be to have a second set of components on the back of the wrist to cover the whole range of finger movement." In the prototype, one finger also can occlude other fingers, blocking the view for the laser and camera, says Otmar Hilliges, also a researcher in Microsoft Research's Sensors and Devices Group.*

It is also unclear whether Digits functions properly in direct sunlight, or if sunlight would interfere with the IR laser—Microsoft has yet to test this scenario. Given how often smart phones and other gadgets are used in the light of day and the technology's other limitations, it may be a while before hand signals are the de facto move for controlling wireless gadgets.

A Digits wearer could control different features on mobile devices—for instance, switching mp3 files by mimicking the turning of a dial, adjusting volume by moving a hand up or down to manipulate an invisible slider, or answering phone calls via a thumbs-up gesture—without even removing those devices from a pocket or handbag.

The researchers' goal is to reach a level of fidelity that captures the full dexterity of the human hand, enabling fine-grained interactions with electrical devices down to the individual finger, says David Kim, a researcher in Microsoft Research's Sensors and Devices Group.* Kim, also a member of the Digital Interaction Group at Newcastle University's Culture Lab, and several colleagues presented the Digits research last week at the ACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology in Cambridge, Mass.

"This is body-worn and could be taken anywhere," Kim says. "So you could be interacting in your physical world—working, cooking or reading—and then spontaneously interact with virtual content whenever you want to."

The researchers began working on Digits in January, building a working version by the following month that could perform the basic functions and a more complete model in April. They attribute their ability to turn out a prototype so quickly to their experience working on other natural user interface projects including KinectFusionand Holodesk.

Although the prototype is too big and bulky to wear all the time, the researchers say it is possible to shrink Digits to watch size. The main challenge to miniaturizing the 125-gram device to the size of a wristwatch is using smaller components—the Web camera housing, the laser and the LED. The researchers made the housing for the latest prototype using a 3-D printer, which means creating a new one could be done quickly and cheaply. Miniaturizing the other components would depend on finding a smaller laser and LED out on the market. The researchers are also considering the possibility of a pop-up version of the device that rests flat on the wrist when not in use. This would likely require the development of more customized components.

Also, the researchers have to expand the scope of hand movements that Digits can capture. "Right now we can't cover the entire range of movement," Kim acknowledges. "If you straighten your fingers and stretch them too far backward the laser would not illuminate your fingertips, which means the infrared camera would not be able to see them. One work-around for this would be to have a second set of components on the back of the wrist to cover the whole range of finger movement." In the prototype, one finger also can occlude other fingers, blocking the view for the laser and camera, says Otmar Hilliges, also a researcher in Microsoft Research's Sensors and Devices Group.*

It is also unclear whether Digits functions properly in direct sunlight, or if sunlight would interfere with the IR laser—Microsoft has yet to test this scenario. Given how often smart phones and other gadgets are used in the light of day and the technology's other limitations, it may be a while before hand signals are the de facto move for controlling wireless gadgets.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Tm2IuVfNEGk

                                         
                                                  To track hand movement, Digits uses an infrared (IR) camera, laser, LED and an inertial measurement unit. The laser projects an IR line across the inside of the hand. The laser projects an IR line across the inside of the hand, intersecting the fingers and thumb as they bend inwards and marking the distance.
                                

Tesla Roadster

                                                                     

TECH SPECS

• Acceleration: zero to 60 in about 4 seconds
• Dimensions: 155.4 inches long, 73.7 inches wide, 44.4 inches tall with a 92.6-inch wheelbase
• Weight: 2,500 pounds (subject to change due to safety regulations)
• Top Speed: Over 130 mph
• Range: 250 miles EPA highway
• Battery Life: Useful battery life in excess of 100,000 miles

                                                           

                                                             

The heart of the Tesla Roadster is its 3-phase, 4-pole electricinduction motor, which weighs just 70 pounds. Tesla's claims and independent testing show that the Roadster can reach 60 mph in about four seconds and its speed will top out somewhere around 130 mph. But the Roadster's performance isn't just about speed and acceleration. The unique properties of an electric motor give it a huge advantage over a combustion engine in terms oftorque, force that tends to rotate or turn things, and power band, the range of operating speeds under which the engine operates efficiently. The Roadster can generate large amounts of torque even at very low RPM, and the motor can always turn out majorhorsepower. It can reach over 13,000 RPM, something very few large combustion engines can do. The Tesla Web site includes the following: "A favorite trick here at Tesla Motors is to invite a passenger along and ask him to turn on the radio. At the precise moment we ask, we accelerate. Our passenger simply can't sit forward enough to reach the dials" [ref].

That kind of motor response eliminates the need for a complicated transmission, so the Roadster has just three gears -- two forward gears and one reverse gear. Shifting is manual, but there's no clutch. That also means there's no stalling or "jerk" when you shift between gears.

The Tesla Roadster can go a lot faster than previous electric cars, but perhaps more importantly, it can go a lot farther. The Roadster's estimated range is 250 miles on a single charge, at least 100 miles more than General Motors' EV1, which could go almost 150 miles under optimal conditions.

Most of the hype surrounding the Roadster is about its status as an electric vehicle. But while earlier electric cars tended to be cramped and lacking in features, the Tesla Roadster looks and feels like a sports car. In addition to basics like heated seats, a stereo with CD player, ABS brakes and dual airbags, the Roadster has a few unique features:

• A unique PIN to start the car and prevent hot-wiring
• A Homelink transceiver you can program to control radio-frequency controlled devices such as your community gate and garage door
• A dock connector for your iPod
• Electrically-controlled door handles (there's no mechanical lock, which makes it more difficult to break into the car)

Since it's a convertible, the Roadster comes standard with a soft top. Options include a hard top as well as features like a full leather interior and a satellite navigation system.

World’s first 100 watt equivalent LED

Currently the brightest options for those looking to ditch their incandescent light bulbs in favor of the longer life and more energy efficient LED variety are those equivalent to 60 watt incandescent bulbs, such as the GeoBulb II. Things got a little brighter last month when California-based Switch Lighting announced its 75 watt-equivalent LED bulb and now the company has gone one better with the announcement of what it claims is the world's first 100 watt-equivalent LED bulb.

To solve the problem of LEDs projecting light in only one direction, Switch has mounted outward-facing LEDs on metal fingers. But the real key to the brighter bulb is the company's "City of Light" technology that allows for maximum brightness with fewer LEDs by creating a self-cooling environment inside the bulb. To draw heat away from the LEDs, the bulb dome is filled with a nontoxic liquid that flows out towards the surface of the bulb as it warms. The heat then dissipates evenly over the surface of the bulb and the liquid is then drawn back in to repeat the process.

Switch Lighting says all its LED bulbs offer incandescent quality light and the 100 watt-equivalent LED bulb is no exception. The bulbs are also dimmable and can be mounted in any direction. Additionally, in accordance with the Cradle to Cradle principals, all parts of the bulb can be reused, recycled or reclaimed.

Switch Lighting's Chief Strategy Officer, Brett Sharenow says the company's 100 watt-equivalent A19 bulb produces 1700 lumens in neutral white, which is the same white color as halogen track lighting. Switch Lightbulbs will be available later this year and the company says it will also offer a warm white version of the 100W equivalent bulb in mid- to late-2012.

While no concrete pricing has been announced, Switch Lighting says its LED bulbs will cost much less than existing LED bulbs. A figure of US$20 to $25 for the company's 15.5 watt, 75 watt equivalent bulb is being bandied about, which would see the bulb paying for itself in about a year and is much lower than other LED replacement bulbs currently available.

UPDATE: Switch's 100W e LED bulb consumes 16W with an efficacy of 100 Lumens/Watt. Switch says it has an average lifetime of 20,000 hours and is dimmable from 20 to 100 percent.

New invention detects intermittent electrical faults

June 21, 2006 An intermittent fault is the most frustrating problem of all. Most of us who play with Gizmos have experienced it at least once, and some of us in specialist jobs have experienced it many times. One can only imagine the feelings of futility that technicians experience when trying to find an intermittent short circuit in the miles of wiring behind the panels of an aging commercial airliner – or the cost of tracking the potentially dangerous short circuit down. Now Sandia National Laboratories has invented a new rapid technique that may make it financially feasible for airlines to quickly diagnose and repair the hard-to-locate intermittent faults that have plagued the industry and cost millions of dollars in lost revenue due to aircraft downtime. Pulsed Arrested Spark Discharge (PASD) is expected to be on the market by September via licensee Astronics Advanced Electronic Systems, combined with that company’s other patented test methods under the name ArcSafe. Other possible uses eventually envisioned for PASD are as inexpensive tests for the wiring harnesses of passenger cars and new homes. Military tanks and the hard-to-reach wiring behind the steel bulkheads of submarines are also possible candidates.

The commercial product is about the size of a small suitcase. It can be plugged into aircraft-installed wire harnesses, 40 wires at a time, to check for the very small insulation breaks associated with intermittent faults. The challenge to engineers has been how to locate an intermittent wiring fault before — not after — it becomes a problem. Intermittent electrical short circuits in aging commercial airliners range from the trivial to the deadly. They can make cabin lights blink, air conditioning falter, or even cause fatal crashes, as with flights SwissAir 111 or TWA 800.

PASD’s trick is to make the short circuit manifest before it normally would and to do so on the ground so that technicians can fix it. To achieve this, the Sandia method sends a nanosecond pulse of electricity, fiercely propelled by a high voltage, along airplane wiring bundles. The tiny pulse is powerfully driven so that it can jump gaps in slightly frayed insulation but has so little energy that it is harmless.

The process resembles sending a brief trickle of water over a high waterfall. The fluid will certainly fall a long ways very fast, but the tiny amount arriving at the bottom isn’t enough to do damage.

Because the voltage is higher than that normally used in airplanes, the electrical pulse will jump like a rabbit from the smallest wiring insulation fault (which to ordinary instrumentation seems undamaged) either to the bulkhead or to another nearby damaged wire. That spark — like static electricity leaping from hand to doorknob — in effect lights up the invisibly damaged spot like a tracer bullet at night lights up a target. The amount of time it takes for the current to return to its source is analyzed by the automated test-set to tell within inches how far the break is from the test entry point.

“Rather than reacting to a problem, these systems can find a fault before it manifests into a catastrophic event,” says Sandia team leader Larry Schneider. “Rather than ripping apart the fuselage for access to a faulty harness that may run the length of the plane, airline mechanics will be able to use this new tool to efficiently locate and repair the intermittent fault.”

Sporadic short circuits occur where two exposed conductors, or a conductor and aircraft frame, make temporary contact during flight. Vibrations caused by turbulence may cause wires to touch, interrupting power to sensitive electronics and possibly damaging wires. These conditions are tricky to diagnose when the aircraft is stationary (on the ground) because the shorting wires often have shifted back to a non-shorted state. Sometimes these breaks can barely be seen by the naked eye because missing insulation may be the size of a pinhole, or nearly invisible like a fine cut from a razor blade. Traditional wire-test systems have great difficulty finding these faults.

To overcome myriad problems initially besetting the promising technique, the National Nuclear Security Administration and the U.S. Navy supported the research, followed by the Federal Aviation Administration, to the tune of about $2 million. It took two years for Astronics to adapt it to its suite of tools, which were developed over four years of research to locate wire breaches with the potential for electrical shorting.

Says Astronics team leader Mike Ballas, “We really value PASD technology. We licensed it, turned it into a practical portable test unit targeted for the aviation industry to find intermittent faults, and we believe it’s the best way now to do the job. It’s a nice complement to our patented technology.”

Says Robert Pappas, Federal Aviation Agency project manager for aging aircraft research and the first to recognize the value of Sandia’s original research proposal in 1998, “It would have been unfortunate if PASD had been developed and then remained stuck in a lab. Integration of the technique [with those of Astronics’ ArcSafe] is a real success story.”

There’ll be problems, just the same, in getting the method accepted, says Mike Walz, current FAA overseer of the project. For one thing, he says, “What PASD looks like is an electrostatic discharge [ESD] — something aircraft manufacturers work hard to keep out of their wiring system.”

One researcher responds with humor, “[In that respect,] PASD is a little like homeopathy: Uncontrolled ESD can kill you, but a little bit can help cure you.” In electronics, at least, the theory seems to work.

Astronics welcomed the addition of PASD because of other problems involving the varying resistance of wires over long distances, called electrical impedance, particularly in the branched wiring systems prevalent in aircraft. This was a problem for earlier versions of ArcSafe, which used a DC current to detect breaks. Varying impedance meant it was difficult to accurately locate an intermittent fault, since electrical return signals were inconsistent, especially on complex wire geometries. Still, the DC method is most effective for identifying ordinary faults and Astronics retained it for quick fault screening.

To enhance its fault-locating ability, Astronics developed a method that allows the PASD pulse to ride upon the DC current like a rider on a horse. The DC current provides support for the high-voltage pulse, which then can be effective even a hundred feet from its starting point in accurately locating critical breaches in wire insulators, even those occurring on branched wire-harnesses. The distance to a fault is computable, regardless of changes in impedance produced by the wiring as it reacts to the PASD pulse at various voltage levels.

“Wiring insulation grown defective over time can cause malfunctions or even fires, but is devilishly hard to spot and even harder [once spotted,] to [exactly] locate,” says Schneider. “Other methods have faltered when confronted with the varying impedances of bundles of wires, or the difficulty of providing the exact location of the defect as wiring bundles branch into other bundles. This nondestructive, inexpensive method not only detects cracking or pinholes but also is able to pinpoint the defect’s precise location to facilitate wire replacement.”

The actual location of the defect may require checking out over several possible branches, since the same distance-to-short may exist along several paths, but the problem is minor compared with the alternative.

The hybridized system is an improvement because of its greater robustness on complex systems.

The technique probably would be best used to check those wiring subsystems that are known problem areas, says Larry. To check all the wiring in a plane might take several days.

PASD relies on a Sandia specialty called pulsed power, developed over decades of research. Usually the public thinks of this research — if it thinks of it at all — in terms of Sandia’s massive Z machine, which sends great bursts of electrical current down conduits as big around as a horse’s girth. But the PASD device in its experimental state was only the size of a small refrigerator.

A House that Walks

A new prototype house walked around the campus of the Wysing Arts Centre in Cambridgeshire, England.

The eco-friendly house is powered by solar cells and minature windmills, and comes with a kitchen, a composting toilet, a system for collecting rain water, one bed, a wood stove for CO2 neutral heating, a rear opening that forms a stairway entrance, and six legs.

A collaborative effort between MIT and the Danish design collective N55, the house walks about five kilometers an hour similar to the walking speed of a human.

The legs reguire a software algorithm to calculate the movement and position of the legs to provide stability over varying terrain.

The house can turn, move forward or backwards, or change height as required and can be programmed with GPS waypoints for travelling to destinations.

World's Fastest Motor

A new motor developed by researchers at ETH Zurich's Department of Power Electronics and marketed by the Swiss company, Celeroton, can spin in excess of 1 million revolutions per minute.

As a comparison, collapsed stars spin at 60,000 rpms, a blender at about 30,000 and high performance engines at around 10,000 rpms.

The matchbook-sized motor has a titatnium shell, ultra-thin wiring and a trade secret iron formulated cylinder. The need for smaller electronic devices requires smaller holes, which means smaller, faster, more efficient drills.

New Solar Technology

How It Works

Trees, shrubs and plants use an inherent structural design to expose their leaves to sunlight for photosynthesis.How well they do this determines their survival, especially in forested areas that are densely populated with competing vegetation.Aiden utilized the information on how plants are structurally designed to create his new solar technology.

This information originates from 1202, when the Italian mathematician Fibonacci published a book entitled "Liber Abaci" that introduced to Western mathematicians a numerical sequence that originated in India.

The numerical sequence is: 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13 and so on.
The first two numbers are 0 and 1, and each successive number is the sum of the previous two numbers.

Therefore, 0 + 1 is 1, 1 + 1 is 2, 1 + 2 is 3, 2 + 3 is 5, 3 + 5 is 8, 5 + 8 is 13 and so on.
This sequence is known as the Fibonacci numbers.In botany, phyllotaxis is the structured pattern that leaves follow to arrange themselves on a plant.

In many species of plants and trees, this arrangement coincides with the Fibonacci number sequence.
For example, in this graphic of a plant, the leaves are numbered "1" to "13".

Using a string, if we begin at leaf "1" and rotated the string clockwise around the stem to each leaf until we arrive at a leaf that was directly above "1", we would have made 3 complete rotations and would have met 5 leaves.

The Fionnaci numbers are 3, 5 or expressed as the ratio 3/5 beginning from the bottom leaf. In other words 3 clockwise rotations for 5 leaves.
If we continue rotating our string upwards, we would make 5 rotations to meet 8 leaves to get to 13. The Fionnaci numbers are 5, 8, 13. This leaf arrangement creates the maximum exposure to sunlight.

Approximately 90 percent of plants are designed this way, however the patterns can begin at different ratios.
For example: an elm tree begins at 1/2 (1 rotation for 2 branches), a beech is 1/3, an oak, cherry, or apple is 2/5, and a popular, pear or willow tree is 3/8.

New Solar Technology

Since the angle of the Sun's rays are not fixed, particularly during the changes in seasons, the use of fixed flat solar panels for homes is inefficient.Some residential solar systems are designed to move and track the Sun but these systems substantially increase the cost of solar energy because they are expensive and require maintenance.
Using the 2/5 number pattern for the oak tree, Aiden designed a solar tree using an array of solar panels as leaves. He also made a flat solar panel with the same type and number of photovoltaic cells used in his solar tree.
This allowed him to compare the effectiveness of both solar power kits.
The solar tree design produced 20% more electricity than the flat solar panel.
It also captured 2.5 more hours of sunlight during the day, but when the Sun was on the horizon, the solar tree produced 50% more electricity and captured 50% more hours of sunlight than the flat solar panel.
Aiden's solar tree design won him the 2011 Young Naturalist Award from the American Museum of Natural History.
Aiden is currently perfecting his new solar technology by studying the Fionnaci number arrangements of various trees at different latitudes.
He has a patent pending for his invention, and we look forward to the possibility that our streets and yards will be landscaped with his new solar technology trees.

Wind Turbines

The Bahrain World Trade Center is the first skyscraper to have wind turbines integrated into the structure of the building.

Three large wind turbines are suspended between two office towers. The towers are aerodynamically tapered to funnel wind and draw air into the turbines.

This airfoil tapering allows the wind to enter the turbines at a perpendicular angle and increases air speed as much as 30 percent in each of the 95 ft wide turbine rotors.

The turbines supply about 15 percent of the electricity used by the skyscraper - approximately the same amount of electricity used by 300 homes.

Jet Man

Inventor and former Swiss Air Force fighter pilot, Yves Rossy, jumped from a plane over Calais, France and flew 200 mph crossing the English Channel in 13 minutes before landing in Dover, England.

Earlier this year he unfolded the wings on his back and flew 186 mph (300 kilometers) above the Swiss Alps.

Using four small jet engines attached to his carbon wings, he climbed at 200 ft per minute before executing a series of stunts for a crowd of reporters watching from a mountain top.

The spectacular demonstration was the first public revelation of his latest invention, which he spent five years developing.

"It is absolute freedom" says Rossy.

The inventor says his 120 lb Jetman suit will eventually be available to the public but it's still a few years away.

The flight over the English Channel was his second public demonstration. He is planning his next flight through the Grand Canyon.

Update: Yves Rossy has completed his flight over the Grand Canyon. He jumped out of a helicopter at 2,440 metres (8,000 feet) and soared over the Canyon at 330 km (205 mph) for eight minutes before deploying his parachute.

"My first flight in the US is sure to be one of the most memorable experiences in my life, not only for the sheer beauty of the Grand Canyon but the honor to fly in sacred Native American lands," said Rossy.

Youtube Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=n4CX-8Eo_6I

Gyro Technology

This wild new motorcycle, invented by 19-year-old Ben J. Poss Gulak, is among the latest inventions to capture attention.

Debuting at the National Motorcycle Show in Toronto, the "Uno" uses gyro technology for balance and acceleration.

It's a battery charged machine that accelerates by leaning forward and slowing down by leaning backwards.

The Uno weighs approximately 129 pounds (58 kg.) and has a top speed of 25 mph (40 klms).

Update: Since featuring Ben's invention, he has continued to develop and progress with his innovative product.

He won second place in the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair, and first prize in Popular Science's Invention Awards. Ben also appeared on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno and on the popular invention television show "Dragon's Den" where he received 1.25 million dollars from investors.

        Gulak continues to develop and commercialize his invention while studying engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The latest prototype, known as the Uno 3, can automatically transform itself from a uno-dicycle into a conventional looking motorcycle, which allows for greater acceleration, speed and stability.

         Ben shares this advice for inventors, "When you have an idea, it's easy to get discouraged. There are so many people who will tell you that you're wasting your time. The biggest thing is to not let people get you down. If you really believe in something - keep going after it because there is always a way and you can make your dreams come true."

youtube link:http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=x2DgwY5QQBk

The Square

Jack Dorsey, the co-inventor of Twitter, is promoting his latest invention called the Square.

The square is a small plug-in attachment to your mobile phone that allows you to receive credit card payments.

The idea originated from Dorsey's friend Jim McKelvey who was unable to sell some glass work to a customer because he couldn't accept a particular card being used.

Accepting credit card payments for something you're selling isn't always easy, especially if you are mobile like a tradesman, delivery service or a vendor at a trade show.

This latest invention uses a small scanner that plugs into the audio input jack on a mobile device.

It reads information on a credit card when it is swiped. The information is not stored on the device but is encrypted and sent over secure channels to banks.

It basically makes any mobile phone a cash register for accepting card payments.

As a payer, you receive a receipt via email that can be instantly accessed securely online. You can also use a text message to authorize payment in real time.

Retailers can create a payer account for their customers which accelerates the payment process.

For example, a cardholder can assign a photo to their card so their photo will appear on the phone for visual identity confirmation. Mobile devices with touch screens will also allow you to sign for goods.

There are no contracts, monthly fees, or hidden costs to accept card payments using Square and it is expected the plug-in attachment will also be free of charge.

A penny from every transaction will also be given to a cause of your choice.

As with Twitter, it's anticipated that Dorsey will direct the company based upon feedback from users.

Square Inc. has offices in San Francisco, Saint Louis and New York and is currently beta testing the invention with retailers in the United States. 

Cool Idea: Fan-Free Technology Could Put a Chill on Hot Laptops

       Anyone who has worked on a laptop resting on their thighs for more than a few minutes has probably wondered whether there is a better way to keep it from overheating than with tiny internal fans. (The bad news: the problem will be aggravated as faster, and thereby hotter processors are crammed into ever-shrinking electronics.)

       The answer may lie in electro-hydrodynamic cooling, a technique where the air inside electronic devices is electrically charged so that heat disperses more efficiently.

    Both academic and commercial researchers are pursuing technology that enables electro-hydrodynamic cooling, which uses an electrode to create a high-intensity electrical field that ionizes (electrically charges) the air molecules around it in tandem with a second set of electrodes to attract those charged particles. As the ionized air molecules move from one electrode to the others, they carry with them a steady flow of air, much like a running brook carries leaves downstream.

     This may pave the way to quieter, lighter, smaller laptops, for example, that can utilize the latest microprocessors, which are superfast but also generate more heat than their predecessors, says Alex Mamishev, a professor of electrical and mechanical engineering at the University of Washington in Seattle who has since 1999 been developing an electrostatic fluid accelerator (EFA) that can provide fan-free cooling.

Mamishev's EFA technology has been tested by tech firm Tessera, Inc., in San Jose, Calif. "In the lab we've been able to show that we can remove the same amount of heat [as a fan does] using half as much power," says Craig Mitchell, senior vice president of Tessera's Interconnect, Components and Materials division. He says the company could by the beginning of next year start building prototype products that use the technology—which Tessera plans to dub Silent Air Cooling Technology (ACT)—although the company still has to work out some kinks, such as how to mass produce it.

        Electronics typically include a metal heat sink that collects heat generated by the operation of the device and a mechanical fan to blow hot air out through a vent. Tessera envisions Silent ACT as being both a heat sink and a way to dissipate heat. Mitchell says that Silent ACT could eventually also be used to cool computer servers, video game consoles, projectors and other devices.

        There are still many questions about the technology, Mamishev says. An initial concern was that devices using an EFA might produce excessive ozone, a compound that if inhaled can damage a person's respiratory system. This is a problem that retailer The Sharper Image ran into with its Ionic Breeze Quadra Silent Air Purifier, which Consumer Reports in 2003 claimed released potentially unhealthy levels of ozone. Sharper Image sued Consumer Reports for libel that year, but the case was dismissed in 2005. The negative publicity, combined with lagging sales of its high-end electronics, led the company to file for bankruptcy last year. (The company still sells some of its products through other retailers.)

Tessera says it has in the lab "demonstrated ozone levels substantially below [U.S. Environmental Protection Agency] guidelines," although the company would not elaborate on how it has done this.

Among other unanswered questions: the price tag of the technology–and how long the tiny electrodes needed to move the air will function before they become oxidized, contaminated or in some other way damaged.

Mamishev and his colleagues continue to develop the technology so it can remove larger quantities of heat without taking up additional space. He says he cannot elaborate more on his work, given the competitive environment emerging for the technology.

Purdue University's Cooling Technologies Research Center in West Lafayette, Ind., headed by mechanical engineer Suresh Garimella, for the past six years has also been developing technology to cool electronics without any moving parts. Researchers there have received funding for this work from the National Science Foundation,Semiconductor Research Corp. and, more recently, Intel, Garimella says. (The NSF created a video demonstrating the technology.) Two of Garimella's PhD students, Dan Schlitz and Vishal Singhal, set up Thorrn Micro Technologies, Inc., in Marietta, Ga., a few years ago to commercialize the technology (the company has since changed its name to Ventiva).

For the computer industry to continue to advance at the pace of Moore's Law—which states that processing technology, including hard disks, microprocessors and networks, will improve exponentially over time as the cost of the technology drops—it will need a way to control potentially damaging side effects such as heat. One way to do this, Mamishev says, is to develop newer, faster processors that are shaped like a cube, rather than flat like those produced now. (IBM and DARPA—the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency—are both working on this new technology.) Electrodes could then be built right into the cube to whisk away heat as it is generated.

Improved cooling technology will come to market too late to help the now infamous, yet unnamed, Swedish scientist whose genitals were badly burned in 2002, reportedly after keeping his laptop on his lap for an hour. Regardless of whether the story is true or an urban myth, it highlights a problem that is being addressed by some very real advances in ways to keep increasingly powerful gadgets cool.