It can get tiresome, continually having to tell groups of children – or even adults – to be quiet. That’s where a new sound-sensitive lamp comes in, as it does the job for you by changing color in response to rising noise levels. The prototype device was designed by Markus Kraetzig and Sophie Kupke, both of whom are trainees at […]
LED Lamp Changes Colours According to Noise Levels
Spring Loaded Screw
Nobody likes hearing their neighbors’ music, TV shows or loud conversations. Soundproof wall materials, however, can be quite thick and expensive. Swedish scientists have developed a thinner, less costly alternative, in the form of a spring-loaded sound-damping screw. Known as the Revolutionary Sound Absorbing Screw (or the Sound Screw for short), the device was created by a team at Malmö […]
4D Printing
It wasn’t so long ago that 3D printing was the new kid on the block. Now the term 4D printing is making headlines, stretching our ability to conceptualize once again. To understand 4D printing, it helps to have a better familiarity with 3D printing. 3D printing was originally developed in 1984 by Charles Hull. However, it was 2007 before anyone other than businesses and the […]
3 Second Daily Dumbbell
Finding time to go the gym or even complete workouts at home can be a tricky task for busy folk, but a new study suggests even lifting a dumbbell once or twice a day can be worth your while, particularly when it comes to combating the effects of aging. The research examined the effects of different forms of bicep curls […]
Impact Absorbing Traffic Lights
When a car crashes into a roadside object at an intersection, chances are pretty high that object will be a traffic light pole. If it’s a new energy-absorbing pole, however, the likelihood of injury or even death may be significantly reduced. Traditional street light poles are relatively rigid and unyielding, so collisions with them can be quite nasty for the […]
AI Assistant Teaches Military Pilots
DARPA has selected Northrop Grumman and the University of Central Florida to develop a prototype augmented reality headset embedded with an AI assistant to help train rotorcraft pilots to deal with unexpected tasks and emergencies. One of the challenges of being a military pilot is that the job requires a lot of multitasking and a very high level of continuous […]
Sunlight With Salt Water Makes An Electricity Free Cooling System
There are many parts of the world which lack infrastructure, but that get a lot of sunlight … which makes buildings uncomfortably hot. A new system could help, as it uses a combination of sunlight and salt water – but no electricity – to produce a cooling effect. Currently being developed at Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah University of Science and […]
Buffalo Cart
Cargo wagons certainly make the hauling of loads easier, although particularly heavy wagonloads can still be difficult to pull. The Buffalo Cart was designed with such tasks in mind, and it features its own electric motor. Currently the subject of a Kickstarter campaign, the Texas-made Buffalo Cart is being offered in four models. These include a fairly traditional Radio-Flyer-like wagon, […]
Caffeine Reducing Cholesterol
Your morning vice might not be that guilty a pleasure after all: coffee seems to have a range of health benefits, but exactly how it affects the body to produce these results remains unknown. A new study has identified specific proteins that caffeine works on, which help the liver remove bad cholesterol from the bloodstream and protect against cardiovascular disease. […]
The Leaf in Seoul
Heatherwick Studio has shown a growing interest in waterfront parks in recent years. It has already completed the Little Island in New York City’s Hudson River, while The Cove in San Francisco is due to be finished in 2026. The high-profile British firm has now proposed yet another similar project in the form of a greenery-filled park/pier on a river in Seoul, South Korea. […]