Month: March 2017

toymail-talkies

Toymail Talkies – It’s Good to Talk … to the Animals

It may look like just another cuddly toy, but what you see here is actually a state-of-the-art communications system for the under-10s. Toymail made its name with cutesy devices for kids that sent and received voice messages to and from their parent’s smartphones; now its latest product comes as a stuffed toy, and youngsters cand …

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paper-airplane

Paper Plane Reloaded … PowerUp FPV

This assemble-it-yourself drone will give you a bird’s-eye view of what it’s like to fly. First build the plane, using the supplied templates or your own design. Next, put your Android or iOS phone into the Google Cardboard-certified VR headset. You can then control the plane via head movements, while enjoying firstperson footage streamed live via Wi-Fi from its …

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25 Rare and Awesome Things Found On Earth EVER!

1. Flying Fish (Tropical and Sub-tropical Waters) Yes its true…there is a kind of fish that can fly! Flying fish can make powerful, self-propelled leaps out of water into air, where their long, wing-like fins enable gliding flight for considerable distances above the water’s surface. This uncommon ability is a natural defense mechanism to evade …

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silence-space

Silent Space – a Noise Cancellation System

French company Orfea Acoustique has developed Silent Space, which is essentially a noise cancellation system for entire rooms rather than your headphones. Designed for use in open-plan offices and other shared workspaces, the Silent Space system consists of a central controller, plus a number of satellite speakers (or ‘diffusers’, as Orfea calls them). The controller unit analyses the timbre and levels of ambient sound in the room, then instructs …

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witricity

Wireless Power … From a Distance

Imagine being able to charge your laptop, phone or tablet from a distance. That’s the promise offered by WiTricity, a new wireless charging technology developed by two professors at MIT. WiTricity uses a technique the professors first demonstrated in 2007, which makes use of natural resonant frequencies. This is the phenomenon whereby a wine glass will shatter if an opera singer hits a certain note, because …

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natufia-labs

Gardening … Geek Style

If you fancy growing your own food but are hampered by not having a garden, you’ll love this invention from Estonia’s Natufia Labs. The Kitchen Garden is an indoor incubator that’ll let you grow herbs and vegetables inside a high-tech hydroponic cabinet with a footprint of just 590 x 580mm. It’s equipped with an array of sensors that send data about growing conditions to a smartphone app, and …

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tightest-knot

Scientists Managed to Tie the Tightest-Ever Knot

If you thought untangling your phone charger from the mass of leads and cables in your desk drawer was tricky, spare a thought for David Leigh and his team at the University of Manchester, who recently had to unpick a knot that featured eight ‘crossings’ despite measuring just 20 millionths of a millimetre across. It was entirely their own fault, mind …

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