Some time in 2015, Iowa will become the first state to offer an official app from the state’s Department of Transportation that can serve as your driver’s license and ID. That’s pretty incredible. It’s also getting us much closer to a more convenient, wallet-free future.

Smartphones … Read More → "Iowa is going to let you use a smartphone as your driver’s license"

Watch a demolition tower being ripped apart in Lublin, Poland. It looks like an invisible hand is pulling a thin cord embedded in the concrete. Amazing.

via Gizmodo 

… Read More → "Spectacular demolition rips up cooling tower in the most satisfying way"

Paralysis or problems controlling movement are among the most common disabilities resulting from stroke and have a major impact on everyday life. Lancaster University researchers say seven out of 10 stroke survivors suffer from arm weakness as a result of their stroke, and only a fifth of these people ever regain the full use of their arm. A new study suggests the Nintendo Wii could provide an effective, economical and fun rehabilitation tool for stroke victims.</ … Read More → "Adapted Wii games aid in stroke victim rehab"

Following an old recipe can be challenging. Following a recipe that is not written, but only depicted in pictograms and drawings, archeological examples, and assumptions is even more difficult. The job here is to not only follow the recipe, but also try to understand the culture and traditions where this bread came to be.

 

In this case, I’m trying to make bread as it was done in ancient Egypt. … Read More → "Baking bread from an ancient Egyptian hieroglyph recipe"

Today’s devices are so beautifully designed, so powerful, and so deeply and seamlessly integrated with the Internet of Things that it’s easy to forget just how distinctly our everyday technology has evolved in the past few decades. What was cutting edge less than a generation ago would now be classified as prehistoric, relegated with the dinosaurs to pages of history books. And yet almost every one of us was once … Read More → "Tech time warp: meet the prehistoric predecessors of today’s smart technologies"

For lifeless chemical compounds to organize themselves into something alive, scientists generally agree, three sets of things must be present:

? Standing water and an energy source.

? Five basic elements: carbon, oxygen, hydrogen, phosphorus and nitrogen.

? And time, lots … Read More → "Mars Rover finds stronger potential for life"

Some prosthetic limbs are so advanced they can be controlled by the brain, but no bionic arm or leg will ever be truly be life-like until they have “skin” that can feel. This new artificial skin developed by a team of American and Korean researchers, for instance, has a dense network of sensors made of silicon and gold that mimic the sensitivity of real skin. The amount of sensors present is important, because … Read More → "Stretchable artificial skin can give prosthetics the sense of touch"

Highliners from around the world gathered last Thanksgiving in Moab, Utah, and built this insane pentagonal hammock suspended in the middle of a 400-foot-high canyon. The”Mothership Space Net Penthouse“—as they called it—took 3 days to complete and more than 50 people.
via Gizmodo

Read More → "Highliners hang huge hammock in the middle of 400-foot-high canyon void"

We’ve been really excited to see a major tool manufacturer like Dremel entering into the 3D printer arena. Their Idea Builder did well in our tests and we can truly imagine it sitting on a workbench in our neighbor’s garage.

We’re especially giddy today because Dremel has offered up one of their new 3D printers as a prize for a contest!

< … Read More → "Share your idea for a chance to win a Dremel Idea Builder 3D Printer"

The Sinclair Spectrum Vega is a new low cost games computer based on Sir Clive’s hugely successful Spectrum products of the early 1980s.

The Sinclair Spectrum Vega takes advantage of major advances in technology to achieve big cost savings by replacing most of the electronics in the earlier computer products. Instead the Vega uses a low cost micro-controller and a clever piece … Read More → "Crowd Funded “Sinclair ZX Spectrum Vega” project launches"