In what sounds uncomfortably like a scenario from The Matrix, a startup in Corvallis, Oregon, has developed a small chip that can turn body heat into electric energy. The chip, which absorbs heat directly from the skin, channels energy through a thermoelectric generator that converts it into electric power. In future, the chip will enable us to power and recharge our handheld and wearable electronic devices with our own … Read More → "A chip that turns your body into a battery"

You and I are really, really small. And we’re even smaller than we thought we were last month, at least when compared with the size of the largest known item in the universe.

Last week, a team of astronomers based in the U.K. discovered the largest object in all of our observable existence: a celestial structure made up of 73 quasars that is up to 4 billion … Read More → "The biggest thing in the universe is really, really big"

I know, I know. It’s a cat video. I’ve certainly crossed the line now. 

… Read More → "Cat plays shell game, wins every time"

There may soon be help for people who have been rendered functionally deaf by problems of the middle ear. Researchers from Sweden’s Chalmers University of Technology have developed an implant that bypasses the defective middle ear, transmitting sounds to the inner ear by sending vibrations right through the skull bone.
via gizmag

Read More → "Implanted hearing aid uses bone conduction to bypass defective middle ear"

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has seen the future of naval warfare and it’s falling upward. As part of an effort to reduce the logistics of sending equipment into trouble areas, the agency’s Upward Falling Payloads project is aimed at developing storage capsules capable of remaining on the deep seabed for years. These would contain non-lethal military assets that could be deployed on the spot years in advance and … Read More → "DARPA wants to hide naval assets on the sea bottom"

Eric Standley works with hundreds of layers of colored paper creating intricate laser cut stain glass windows. These beautifully constructed works are made up of interlacing positive and negative spaces that seem to “float” in a fabricated suspension. He begins with a drawing, this helps him create the complex range of imagery needed to make a workable design, before cutting and assembling the paper pieces.
via Read More → "Eric Standley’s intricate laser-cut “stained glass” paper windows"

A couple years back, photographer Emily Maye came across a set of old bicycle racing photos made by Robert Capa at the 1939 Tour de France. She loved the timeless feel of the work and ever since has taken a similar approach to documenting the sport.
via Wired

Read More → "Cycling photog lands dream gig by re-visualizing the sport"

Israeli designers David Budzik and Adi Schlesinger have created a coffee machine with a scientific twist. 

Called the ‘Laboratory Espresso Machine’, the contraption was created to help users achieve the perfect timing for the perfect espresso.
via Design Taxi

More here 

NASA has announced that it has awarded a US$17.8 million contract to Bigelow Aerospace to provide the International Space Station with an inflatable module. Details of the award will be discussed by NASA Deputy Administrator Lori Garver and Bigelow Aerospace President Robert Bigelow at a press conference on January 16 at the Bigelow Aerospace facilities in North Las Vegas. However, based on previous talks, it’s likely that the module in question could be … Read More → "NASA awards contract to Bigelow Aerospace for inflatable ISS module"

Western University engineer Louis Michaud has received an investment of $300,000 for a start-up company that aims to harness energy from controlled tornadoes created for this purpose. A single twister-generator machine could produce as much energy as a coal-fired power plant without the downside of greenhouse gas emissions.

Michaud has successfully proven the Atmospheric Vortex Engine idea using a 13-foot diameter version and is now working with Lambton College in Ontario on a 26-foot-wide-by-20 … Read More → "Harnessing energy from tornadoes"