The hammer throw, one of the most unusual events in the 2012 Summer Games, is a lot like a particle accelerator. For those who may not be familiar with the hammer throw, here’s a quick rundown:

• The goal is to throw a steel ball, attached to the end of a long cable, as far as you can.
• Men throw a 16-pound ball affixed to a cable that’s 3 feet, 11.75 inches long.
• Women throw an 8.82-pound ball affixed to a cable that’s 3 feet, 11 inches long.
• … Read More → "How the hammer throw is like a particle accelerator"

Siemens has released pictures of its truly gargantuan B75 wind turbine rotor blades. As you might imagine, the prototype turbines that will use these blades boast some staggering statistics of their own (Airbuses at the ready, please).

Remarkably, the 75-meter-long (246-ft) blades consist of a single component made from epoxy resin and balsa reinforced with glass fiber, cast in a gigantic mold using a process Siemens has cunningly named IntegralBlade.
… Read More → "Siemens unveils world’s largest wind turbine blades"

Mars is an alien place. In some ways, it’s a lot like Earth: there are processes (both geologic and atmospheric) that are continually reshaping the Martian surface. These processes are much, much different on Mars, however, leading to landscapes unlike anything you’ve ever seen.
via DVICE

Read More → "The beautiful and bizarre landscapes of Mars"

Even fancy new hotel rooms with flat screen TVs and iPhone alarm clocks catering to our gadget-laden lifestyles never seem to have enough outlets for charging all your toys. So a portable power bar is the most important thing you can travel with, particularly this folding model which can handle even the bulkiest of wall warts.
via Gizmodo</ … Read More → "Portable pivoting power adapter maximizes your hotel’s outlets"

In most American cities, a ride on the subway isn’t a particularly luxurious experience. Funding is in short supply for most of the country’s aging rapid transit systems, and most stations are utilitarian structures that were designed without much aesthetic consideration. The situation in Sweden couldn’t be more different. Metro stations in Stockholm have been elevated to veritable art museums with stunning murals and playful art installations  … Read More → "Stockholm’s subway system is the world’s largest underground art museum"

Americans love hamburgers — we each eat an average of three a week. But what are the hidden costs?

It turns out that industrial beef creates about as much greenhouse gas pollution as cars, planes and other forms of transport. It also takes a heavy environmental toll on land and water worldwide. How can we reduce our impact.
via Wired

… Read More → "The hidden environmental costs of hamburgers"

3D printing seems to be everywhere these days, but usually it’s just for making small machines or mechanical parts. Now a professor from the University of Southern California says that we need to think bigger, and has developed a system to print entire buildings in less than a single day.
via DVICE

< … Read More → "Build a custom home in 20 hours using a giant 3D printer"

Despite their ability to generate clean, green electricity, solar panels aren’t as commonplace as the could be. The main sticking point, of course, is price. Due to their need for relatively expensive semiconductor materials, conventional solar cells don’t yet have a price-efficiency combination that can compete with other sources of electricity. Now Profs. Alex Zettl and Feng Wang of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the University of California at Berkeley have developed seriously unconventional solar cell technology that allows virtually any semiconductor material to be used to create photovoltaic cells.
via Read More → "Breakthrough allows inexpensive solar cells to be fabricated of any semiconductor"

The image was sharpened using bi-cubic interpolation on the left, and a super-resolution technique on the right. The SR image shows true details not directly recorded on the original (Photo: Weizmann Institute of Science)

Ever taken a digital photograph and then found out you had missed the fine details that made the scene so impressive visually? Applying a Photoshop sharpen filter may make the photo appear sharper, … Read More → "It’s all in the detail: Impressive new approach to super-resolution processing developed"

For too long, media coverage of robotics has included a great deal of vague statistical data and conjecturing. In part because of the industry’s rapid growth and the discrepancies between pure-play robotics companies and those who dabble in the business, it’s difficult to see exactly how big the industry is, and where its epicenter(s) lie. 

The need for data-gathering tools in this sector is greater than ever if researchers, investors and business owners hope to stay ahead of the game. The Robot Report is taking up … Read More → "The robot report maps the future of robotics"