Pocket Boom Portable Vibration Speaker – Black | Review Thanks to MobileFun for sending this out to me for review. Pros: - Small and compact - Uses a small vibration pad - Can turn literally anything into a speaker Cons: - 3.5mm jack could be longer - Requires AAA batteries - Sticky pad can lose stickiness over time There is no doubt that there are many portable speakers out there. Pocket Boom is a speaker taking an entirely different approach to how sound is produced. That pad can be stuck to things like a plastic box or a desk to produce sound. It’s great when stuck to a desk and actually produces quite good bass. In the box you get two extra sticky pads because over time the pads can lose their stickiness. One big problem I have with this is that it requires batteries. You can use the speaker via USB however. The speaker is very ‘pocket-able’ as the name of it suggests. One other gripe is the 3.5mm headphone jack. Overall The Pocket Boom is a new way for little speakers to produce big sound and it does it well.
A Guide to Recent Battery Advances Electric vehicles, hybrids, and renewable energy have at least one thing in common–if they’re ever going to be more widely used, representing the majority of cars on the road or a large share of electricity supply, batteries need to get significantly better. Batteries will need to store more energy, deliver it faster and more reliably, and ultimately, cost far less. The specific ways batteries need to improve vary by the application, but in all these areas, researchers have been making significant headway. Last week, MIT researchers led by Yang-Shao Horn , a professor of materials science and engineering and mechanical engineering, and Paula Hammond, a professor of chemical engineering, announced a new approach to high-power lithium-ion batteries, the type that’s useful for hybrid vehicles or for stabilizing the electricity grid.
Heads Up, Hoverboarders: Here Comes Quantum Levitation Few motifs of science fiction cinema have been more appealing to us than the subtle defiance of gravity offered by futuristic hovercraft. So every once in a while we check in to see how humanity is progressing on that front, and whether the promise of hoverboards will be delivered by 2015 as evidenced in Back to the Future Part 2. We’re not quite there yet, but we’re definitely getting off the ground, so to speak. Get ready to hover your brain around the art of quantum levitation. That’s right, quantum. Because of its chemical properties, a superconductor (when brought to low enough temperatures using, say, liquid nitrogen) exhibits this effect, causing the energy from the magnet below to warp around the superconductive object in a way which “locks” it in space. Even more impressive and ripe for practical transportation use: When the superconducting object is placed along a magnetic rail, it exhibits frictionless momentum. Connections:
Could Battery Advances Mean a Better Robot?: Scientific American Every robot has its limit. For the famous Roomba vacuum, it's two to three hours. For the several thousand robots deployed in Iraq, about the same. Perhaps more than any other factor, the life span of batteries has limited the infiltration of robotics into daily life. And so roboticists have watched the huge increase in investment into battery technology this year, driven by the new administration in Washington and the push for electric cars, with much interest. While the majority of this funding will manifest first in the garage, it will likely allow robotics to push into entirely new, mobile realms, according to Henrik Christensen, the director of the Center for Robotics and Intelligent Machines at the Georgia Institute of Technology. "We are going to piggyback on whatever they're going to do," he said. "There is no doubt that new development in robot technology is very much going to benefit from battery technology," he added. Such robots are closer than we think, Hong said.
Scientists create most powerful non-nuclear battery ever The chemical xenon difluoride is normally a mild-mannered white powder, but when you crush it with the pressure of 1 million times our atmosphere, it turns into a super substance. Due to some weird science, all the energy used to crush that stuff is stored inside its chemical bonds, making it a terrific energy storage device. In layman's terms, that would be a battery. Of course, it's not going to be easy to apply 1,000,000 atmospheres worth of pressure to this caustic and stinky powder that's normally used to etch circuits on silicon. The result? Either way, the scientists at Washington State's chemistry labs behind this discovery have a long way to go before this tech has a commercial application. Via iO9
MIT creates solar cell from grass clippings A researcher at MIT, Andreas Mershin, has created solar panels from agricultural waste such as cut grass and dead leaves. In a few years, Mershin says it’ll be possible to stir some grass clippings into a bag of cheap chemicals, paint the mixture on your roof, and immediately start producing electricity. If you remember high school biology classes, you will hopefully remember a process called photosynthesis, whereby plants turn sunlight into energy. Mershin has found a process which extracts the photosynthesizing molecules, called photosystem I, from plant matter. These molecules are then stabilized and spread on a glass substrate that’s covered in a forest of zinc oxide nanowires and titanium dioxide “sponges.” So far so good — now time for the reality check. Ultimately the goal is to create a cheap plastic bag that comes pre-filled with the necessary chemicals, and “one sheet of cartoon instructions, with no words.” Read more at MIT
Quantum Levitation Will Blow Your Mind Let me preface this by dispelling any thought that you might have that I know anything about the quantum physics that makes all of this possible: I don’t know anything about the Quantum physics that makes this possible. But I do know something amazing when I see it. And this, my friends, kicks ass. This demonstration video, courtesy of the Tel-Aviv University and the Association of Science-Technology Centers (ASTC), has been making the viral rounds today. The demonstration is in something called Quantum Levitation, a phenomenon that results from the fact that superconductors and magnets tend to not like each other. They start with a crystal “wafer” and coat it with a thin layer of a ceramic material called yttrium barium copper oxide. Superconductivity and magnetic field do not like each other. The term they keep using is “locked in space.” Here’s a little more in-depth demonstration of the levitation. Yeah science! Can you say holiday wishlist? Quantum Levitation Will Blow Your Mind
Geekologie - Gadgets, Gizmos, and Awesome Reuben Margolin’s Kinetic Wave Sculptures Our Mechanics theme brought to mind San Francisco Bay Area kinetic sculptor Reuben Margolin, one of my all-time favorite artists. He makes mind-blowing, moving art based on tiny observations in nature. His collection of waves has the ability to quiet, soothe, and inspire awe in the viewer. Goli Mohammadi I’m senior editor at MAKE and have worked on MAKE magazine since the first issue. The maker movement provides me with endless inspiration, and I love shining light on the incredible makers in our community. Contact me at goli (at) makermedia (dot) com. Related Aerogel A block of aerogel in a person's hand Aerogel was first created by Samuel Stephens Kistler in 1931, as a result of a bet with Charles Learned over who could replace the liquid in "jellies" with gas without causing shrinkage.[3][4] IUPAC definition Gel comprised of a microporous solid in which the dispersed phase is a gas. Note 1: Microporous silica, microporous glass, and zeolites are common examples of aerogels. Note 2: Corrected from ref. [4], where the definition is a repetition of the incorrect definition of a gel followed by an inexplicit reference to the porosity of the structure. [6] Properties[edit] A flower is on a piece of aerogel which is suspended over a flame from a Bunsen burner. Aerogels are good thermal insulators because they almost nullify two of the three methods of heat transfer (convection, conduction, and radiation). Owing to its hygroscopic nature, aerogel feels dry and acts as a strong desiccant. Knudsen effect[edit] Materials[edit] Silica[edit] Carbon[edit] Alumina[edit]
Facts about Sleeping | YOUTH FRENZY Sleeping is the best leisure activity of many of us.It is famous for sleep that it can even grab one on throns. If you want to know the importance of sleep, then ask that to a medical student. He will tell you that its most precious present from God. Sleep is the best known medicine on planet. The feeling one gets in a warm blanket with sleep in the head is matchless indeed. Its the best cure for pain.
Why We Laugh Embed This Quick Fact: <a href=" title="Why We Laugh"><img src=" alt="" title="Why We Laugh" border="0" /></a><br />Source: <a href=" title="Random Quick Facts">Random Quick Facts</a> Click Here for Sources and to Learn Why It’s Nearly Impossible to Tickle Yourself Contrary to popular belief, most laughter is not associated with humor, but rather stems from non-humor related social interactions.
Can Anonymous Cripple Critical U.S. Infrastructure? - Security - Vulnerabilities and threats Homeland Security says Anonymous can cause DDoS attacks, but says chance of attack on scale of Stuxnet is slim. 10 Companies Driving Mobile Security (click image for larger view and for slideshow) Does the hacktivist collective known as Anonymous pose a threat to the nation's critical infrastructure security? According to a recent government report, the group may well be able to launch a distributed denial of service attack against critical infrastructure. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) study, "Assessment of Anonymous Threat to Control Systems," evaluated the group's potential to disrupt the critical infrastructure. [ The Feds are moving aggressively to bust hackers. The report's creation was spurred in part by a July 19 post on Twitter by a known Anonymous member, which listed a directory tree for Siemens SIMATIC control system software. The report noted that Anonymous has also called on its members to target energy companies. More Insights
The hard way: Our odd desire to do it ourselves - 06 January 2012 Read full article Continue reading page |1|2 From self-assembly furniture to cake mix, we value the things we make ourselves – however badly we do it WHEN instant cake mixes hit US shelves in the late 1940s, sales were disappointing. Pioneering consumer psychologist Ernest Dichter went into the nation's kitchens to investigate. His interviews with housewives led him to a startling conclusion. The story is an example of an odd phenomenon in modern consumer societies. The idea seems embedded in animal psyches. Things started to go awry for humans during the industrial revolution. He has dubbed this phenomenon the IKEA effect, in honour of an obscure start-up that harnessed it and went on to great things. In a series of experiments they asked people to assemble IKEA boxes - a boring, banal task - or to engage in the more pleasurable activities of folding origami or building Lego sets. But is it really the act of creating something that increases our sense of its worth? Promoted Stories