THE TECH-LICIOUS

Battery powered trousers could have you walking on walls

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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><img alt="A student paper has concluded that battery-powered trousers allowing people to walk on ver..." height="358" src="http://images.gizmag.com/hero/vacuum-pants.jpg" width="640" /></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">A group of students at the University of Leicester in the UK have shown that it is theoretically possible to build a pair of battery-powered trousers which would allow the wearer to walk on walls or even the ceiling, if only for a short time.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">In the 1993 Wallace & Gromit claymation movie <em>The Wrong Trousers</em>, Wallace buys Gromit a pair of battery-powered robotic trousers that, among other things, allow the wearer to walk up vertical walls or even on the ceiling. They work both on Earth and in space using a combination of vacuum and magnetic field generators placed in the soles of the boots. A team of graduate students at the University of Leicester set out to establish whether building such a gadget is physically possible.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">The mechanics of walking means that the device needs to function even when only a single boot is in contact with the wall or ceiling. Therefore, the students made their calculations assuming that only one boot is supporting the entire weight of both the person and the device itself.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">If each boot had a slightly raised rubber insulator on the edge of its sole, this would create a cavity when the wearer puts their foot down on a surface. Applying a vacuum to this cavity would make the boot stick firmly to the surface, similarly to a suction cup, but with finer control.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Making basic assumptions on the area of the sole as well as the weight of the wearer and the device itself, the students concluded that the vacuum generator would need to reduce the pressure of the air underneath the boot by approximately 18.5 kPa compared to the surrounding environment. This is roughly the vacuum created by an ordinary vacuum cleaner.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">According to the students, the main issue with building such trousers wouldn't be generating enough vacuum, but rather powering them effectively. Because of weight constraints, the students say their gravity-defying pants could realistically only be powered from a battery for about 20 minutes before needing recharging. The alternative would be to draw power directly from the grid, though this would obviously constrain movement.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Because the device relies on creating a lower pressure than the surrounding environment, the trousers wouldn't work in space, where pressure is already close to a perfect vacuum (negative pressures are possible in liquids, which is how very tall trees can carry water all the way up to their leaves, but gases cannot have negative pressure). The students say that a possible workaround could be to use magnetic generators rather than vacuum generators.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">The students presented their findings in a paper for the <em><a href="https://physics.le.ac.uk/journals/index.php/pst/article/view/651/437" style="background-color: transparent; color: #1e8dd7; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Journal of Physics Special Topics</a></em>, a peer-reviewed student journal designed to give students practical experience of writing, editing, publishing and reviewing scientific papers.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">source-<a href="http://www.gizmag.com/vacuum-trousers-wall-ceiling-walking/32988/" target="_blank">gizmag</a></span></div>
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Battery powered trousers could have you walking on walls

A group of students at the University of Leicester in the UK have shown that it is theoretically possible to build a pair of battery-pow...

Jaguar Virtual Windscreen concept looks to the future of HUDs

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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Looking to add a touch of <em>Gran Turismo</em> or <em>Forza</em> to your daily commute? Jaguar Land Rover is developing a Virtual Windscreen concept that aims to do just that with a slew of driver assistance technologies designed to keep your eyes on the road, including a head-up display (HUD) that overlays the driving line featured in many virtual racers.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">As well as projecting key information onto the windscreen like speed and navigation, the Jaguar Virtual Windscreen concept would also overlay the driving line and even a "ghost" car, which acts as a reference point from previous laps.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Although this may seem like a bit of fun for track-day warriors, HUD systemsoffer some obvious safety benefits for having key information at the driver's eye-level.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Jaguar's concept also extends to replacing rear view and external mirrors with cameras and virtual displays. This system would incorporate a of a "3D instrument cluster" linked to head-tracking technology that could deliver key information unobtrusively as well as giving drivers a clear picture of their surroundings.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Finally, the system would include gesture-based control for functions like sunblinds, rear windscreen wipers and maps. Rather than having to search for buttons on the dash, the idea is that drivers could simply wave at the gesture-sensor with a range of 15 cm (5.9 in) to operate particular functions. Of the three tech concepts in development, this is the one most likely to appear in production models in the near term, with Jaguar claiming it could be on sale "within the next few years."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Below is Jaguar's video detailing how the Virtual Windscreen concept would work.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">SOURCE-<a href="http://www.gizmag.com/jaguar-land-rover-virtual-windscreen-concept/32930/" target="_blank">GIZMAG</a></span></div>
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Jaguar Virtual Windscreen concept looks to the future of HUDs

Looking to add a touch of Gran Turismo or Forza to your daily commute? Jaguar Land Rover is developing a Virtual Windscreen concept ...

IF YOU ARE A BAD SHOOTER THEN DON'T WORRY "SMART BULLETS" ARE HERE

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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/proxy/AVvXsEgUkBJms2-451S-KtC4sm5uwAh4gJ_x-UG_gbnXwkyGaNQErREy2bdanoaEzj4p29Hky9sVghumw8SWnPryheRDxipSylqI3T8B69JuN95qp4aQHOzA30g8RFuBwq0QD86gIXaESrKG401i7_hrClE2ecFCUUqu-z05f8ppRAEtKz1WrZ1yPx85ijk2TarhiKe2KpflJrkTYHAsjqf_k8HNdSQ2hXt4iqKBsbllOdg4=" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="DARPA shows its EXACTO smart bullets in action" border="0" height="224" src="http://o.aolcdn.com/hss/storage/midas/73fc49aa21b738b625a9e5907b4ee16d/200410163/darpa-exacto-demonstration.jpg" width="400" /></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Soldiers have long dreamed of smart bullets that always hit their targets, and it looks like they're now much closer to getting their wish. DARPA has posted the <a href="http://www.darpa.mil/NewsEvents/Releases/2014/07/10a.aspx" style="color: #3399cc; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">first footage</a> of<a href="http://www.darpa.mil/Our_Work/TTO/Programs/Extreme_Accuracy_Tasked_Ordnance_(EXACTO).aspx" style="color: #3399cc; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">EXACTO</a> (Extreme Accuracy Tasked Ordnance), a .50-caliber bullet that uses optical guidance and sensors to home in on its prey. As you see in the fuzzy-looking video below, the projectile compensates for movement, weather and wind with all the agility of a missile -- even if you try to miss, it easily swerves back on track. The project is still young, but it could prove a tremendous help to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Longest_recorded_sniper_kills" style="color: #3399cc; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">long-distance snipers</a> for whom even the tiniest slip-up could ruin a shot.</span></div>
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IF YOU ARE A BAD SHOOTER THEN DON'T WORRY "SMART BULLETS" ARE HERE

Soldiers have long dreamed of smart bullets that always hit their targets, and it looks like they're now much closer to getting t...

Bell Labs Zips Past Google Fiber to Set Broadband Speed Record of 10GBPS

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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><img alt="Apple AirPort Extreme-Back" src="http://www.technobuffalo.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Apple-AirPort-Extreme-Back-630x420.jpg" /></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Can we get some of that 10Gbps, please?</span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Records are meant to be broken, but sometimes they’re downright shattered. Case in point – <strong>Bell Labs, the research arm of Alcatel-Lucent, just set a new broadband speed record of 10 gigabits per second</strong> using traditional copper telephone lines combined with a prototype technology that’s intended to show how existing copper access networks can be used to deliver 1Gbps symmetrical ultra-broadband access services.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">The prototype technology is called XG-FAST and is an extension of G.fast technology, a new broadband standard currently being finalized by the ITU. G.fast, which is expected to be commercially available in 2015, uses a frequency of 106MHz to deliver broadband speeds of up to 500Mbps over a distance of 100 meters.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">By comparison, XG-FAST uses an increased frequency range of up to 500MHz to achieve faster speeds, albeit over shorter distances. Using XG-FAST technology, Bell Labs was able to hit 1Gbps symmetrical over 70 meters on a single copper pair, and 10Gbps over 30 meters using two pairs of lines (bonding).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">“Our constant aim is to push the limits of what is possible to ‘invent the future’, with breakthroughs that are 10 times better than are possible today,” explains Marcus Weldon, President of Bell Labs. “Our demonstration of 10Gbps over copper is a prime example: by pushing broadband technology to its limits, operators can determine how they could deliver gigabit services over their existing networks, ensuring the availability of ultra-broadband access as widely and as economically as possible.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Interesting stuff, though Bell Labs set the record in a lab under ideal conditions. Quality of wire, crosstalk, and other factors can all affect real-world results. Nevertheless, it’s pretty exciting that 10Gbps speeds are visible in the distance.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">SOURCE-<a href="http://www.technobuffalo.com/2014/07/12/bell-labs-zips-past-google-fiber-to-set-broadband-speed-record/" target="_blank">TECHNO BUFFALO</a></span></div>
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Bell Labs Zips Past Google Fiber to Set Broadband Speed Record of 10GBPS

Can we get some of that 10Gbps, please? Records are meant to be broken, but sometimes they’re downright shattered. Case in point – Be...

NASA’s newest telescope is housed in a special jumbo jet that flies at 45,000 feet

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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">The thick, soupy atmosphere of Earth is great for breathing, but not so much for seeing what’s going on in the cosmos. That’s why the most spectacular and scientifically important images of the universe have been taken by the Hubble Space Telescope. It has served the world well for more than 20 years, but Hubble is nearing the end of its useful life, and the James Webb telescope is still years away from completion. In the meantime, NASA and the German Aerospace Center (DLR) have just completed the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) — a giant telescope that rides on the back of a high-altitude jumbo jet. It’s really the next best thing to being in space.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">NASA has been working on the SOFIA project for a number of years, but only recently has the flying observatory been declared fully operational. Sadly, it’s not as simple as strapping a telescope to a standard jet and heading for the skies. The plane itself, a Boeing 747SP, is highly specialized. This craft was designed by Boeing to be able to fly higher, faster, and longer than a standard 747, which is perfect for SOFIA. The frame of the aircraft has been modified to be considerably lighter, but the most obvious change is the addition of a large door toward the aft where the 2.5-meter telescope peeks out.</span></div>
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<a href="http://www.extremetech.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/sofia-orion-spitzer.jpg" style="color: #b1700a; text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><img alt="Imagery taken by NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope (similar to Hubble), overlaid with SOFIA imagery" class="size-large wp-image-186179" height="529" src="http://www.extremetech.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/sofia-orion-spitzer-640x529.jpg" style="border-style: none;" width="640" /></span></a><div class="wp-caption-text" style="color: #666666; line-height: 15px; padding: 10px 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Imagery taken by NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope (similar to Hubble), overlaid with SOFIA imagery</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">The unique design of this aircraft allows it to remain in the stratosphere (at about 45,000 feet, 13,000 meters) for several hours making observations. At that altitude, most of the atmospheric distortion ground telescopes contend with <a href="http://www.geek.com/science/nasas-sofia-telescope-lives-in-a-jumbo-jet-at-45000-ft-1598833/" style="color: #b1700a; text-decoration: none;">is a non-issue</a>, and it can fly to any part of the globe to observe different parts of the sky. One advantage SOFIA has over space-based telescopes is that it lands at the end of each mission, which makes it considerably easier to repair and outfit for particular tasks. A telescope like Hubble needs to be almost entirely automated and servicing it is a <em>bit </em>more involved.</span></div>
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<a href="http://www.extremetech.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/1024px-SOFIA_2.5M_Primary_Mirror.jpg" style="color: #b1700a; text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><img alt="Telescope" class="size-large wp-image-186071" height="415" src="http://www.extremetech.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/1024px-SOFIA_2.5M_Primary_Mirror-640x415.jpg" style="border-style: none;" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">SOFIA’s telescope works with nine interchangeable instruments that allow it to do astronomy in the infrared and visible spectrum. However, only one instrument can be attached at a time. That’s not a huge problem as NASA plans more than 100 flights per year. The telescope also has a system of gyroscopes and pressurized oil bearings to cope with vibration from turbulence and the engines. Using these packages, SOFIA is capable of investigating many of the same things as space telescopes including exoplanet study, comet composition, and stellar evolution. The newly completed GREAT spectrometer will be perfect for peering deep into distant planetary nebulae.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">While operating SOFIA is cheap compared to launching a space telescope, the yearly costs are still more than $80 million. NASA has worried publicly that unless the DLR contributes more funding to the program, it might have to be grounded in a few years. The space agency is working to convince Congress to authorize additional funding in 2015 for the SOFIA program. Until it knows for sure, NASA will continue flying SOFIA missions and studying the universe at 600 miles per hour.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">SOURCE-<a href="http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/186069-nasas-newest-telescope-is-housed-in-a-special-jumbo-jet-that-flies-at-45000-feet" target="_blank">EXTREAM TECH</a></span></div>
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NASA’s newest telescope is housed in a special jumbo jet that flies at 45,000 feet

The thick, soupy atmosphere of Earth is great for breathing, but not so much for seeing what’s going on in the cosmos. That’s why the mo...

SCIENTISTS creates a living copy of Vincent Van Gogh's ear with relative's DNA

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If you thought cloning mice, frogs and extinct mammoths to be challenging, how about cloning Vincent Van Gogh's ear? Dutch artist Diemut Strebe has grown a living replica of the ear that Vincent Van Gogh reportedly sliced off in a troubled episode, using genetic material from one of Van Gogh's direct descendants. With a lifespan of 80 years or more, the ear could live as long as any one of us, says Strebe, who is investigating the idea of replicating people from historical DNA.</div>
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"The ear is grown with Lieuwe van Gogh's cells," Strebe tells Gizmag. "By his natural relationship to Vincent, he carries in his cells the white chromosomes of Vincent and a 16th of his genome."</div>
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Strebe figured out the shape of the ear by looking at a historical photo of the artist, and extrapolated the measurements to create a 3D-printed mold that approximated its shape. A scaffold placed in the mold was seeded with Van Gogh's cells, which grew until the ear reached its final form. The result, states Strebe, is a true living piece.</div>
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"It has a metabolism," Strebe tells us. "It lives in a container, in a system which mimics our body. It has a lung, it has a heart, it has plasma and it even has oxygen exchange."</div>
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<a href="http://www.gizmag.com/artist-grows-living-copy-vincent-van-goghs-ear/32925/pictures#2" style="background-color: transparent; color: #1e8dd7; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><img alt="The ear has its own metabolism and lives in a bioreactor which effectively mimics the diff..." src="http://images.gizmag.com/inline/diemutstrebe-1.jpg" style="border: 0px; vertical-align: bottom;" width="530" /></a></div>
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To make a system that supported the ear, she built a bioreactor that mimics the body's different parts. According to Strebe, the ear could live to be really old if it's well taken care of and given proper nutrition. To genetically engineer the ear to be as close to Vincen't Van Gogh's as possible, she collaborated with scientists at Harvard and MIT as part of a project called "Sugababe." Along with some of Van Gogh's genetic material, the ear is also made up of some genetically engineered components.</div>
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While she initially hoped to use Van Gogh's own DNA to grow the ear, that plan fell apart when donated letters that supposedly belonged to the artist (which took a year for her to source) were found to lack any trace of his DNA. Strebe next approached Lieuwe van Gogh, the great-great-grandson of Vincent's brother Theo Gogh, who readily donated a bit of his skin for the project. Strebe, who is currently trying to source other historical DNA to experiment with, says that the project brings up many interesting questions about human replication.</div>
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"Theoretically a historical person could be genetically created," Strebe tells us." There are many interesting questions involved about uniqueness, about the possibility to reconstruct somebody physically or how identical the result would be even if you get to that point. The questions involved are similar to those when Plutarch talked about the Ship of Thesus – whether a ship would be the same ship if all its parts were replaced?".</div>
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The living ear was exhibited recently at the Center for Art and Media (ZKM) in Karlsruhe, Germany.</div>
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SOURCE-<a href="http://www.gizmag.com/artist-grows-living-copy-vincent-van-goghs-ear/32925/" target="_blank">GIZMAG</a></div>
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