Tracking your blood alcohol level is never a bad idea, but huffing, puffing and whipping out a breathlyzer isn’t always an option. Looking to unearth a more inconspicuous way of keeping an eye on things, the National Health Institute’s Wearable Alcohol Biosensor Challenge put the call out for non-invasive solutions to this problem, and has now selected its winner. The wrist-worn BACtrack Skyn pairs with an app to offer … Read More → "Alcohol-monitoring bracelet pings your phone when it’s time to ease up"

This footage, captured above the appropriately named Shark Bay in Western Australia, shows what happens when 70 sharks come across a whale. It involves rather a lot of blood.

The once-clear waters of the bay fill with plumes of blood as the tiger sharks chow down without mercy on the humpback whale.
via < … Read More → "Drone catches incredible 70-shark feeding frenzy"

With an interest in connecting industrial automation with historical geology, Czech artist Prokop Bartonícek and German artist Benjamin Maus collaborated to create the Jller, an incredible kinetic machine that easily sorts random stones from a specific river by their geological age using … Read More → "An incredible machine that sorts random river stones by their geological age"

While we’ve seen new robotic devices that can do everything from driving a car to thwarting underwater terrorists, a team of robotics researchers from Cornell and Stanford just want to make sure you never forget to put away the milk. At the International Conference on Robotics and Automation yesterday, the team presented Watch-Bot, a sort of robo-sentry that keeps an eye on the most mundane tasks in your home or … Read More → "Researchers develop passive-aggressive robotic roommate"

Google’s autonomous cars have been out and about for years, and so far their track record for safety is looking pretty good. But even for the best robot drivers, accidents do happen, so Google has patented a creative safety feature: an adhesive front end that glues pedestrians to the car in the event of an accident to … Read More → "Google patents safety system that glues pedestrians to cars"

A team of engineers from Harvard University’s Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering have moved one step closer to a consumer version of a soft, assistive exosuit that could help patients with lower limb disabilities walk again. The Wyss Institute announced today that the university is collaborating with ReWalk Robotics to bring its wearable robotic suit to market.

The … Read More → "Harvard engineers designed a ‘soft wearable robot’"

Practically everyone who has ever considered a tattoo knows the old parental refrain of “you’ll have it forever.” It’s a fairly stark warning tinged with the regret of a generation covered in inked relics of disco and popular culture past.

Some temporary solutions do exist, including the relatively recent phenomenon of the two-week tattoo (along with … Read More → "Tattoo ink designed to disappear after a year"

For tiny scraps of plastic, six-pack rings can pose a huge threat to marine life. Small enough and ubiquitous enough that they’re easy to discard and forget about, the little plastic webs all too often make their way to the ocean, where animals can ingest or become trapped in them. In order to combat that problem, Florida-based < … Read More → "A Florida brewery created edible six-pack rings to protect aquatic animals"

Portland-based Path Architecture recently completed a very charming tiny house. Dubbed 359, the home comprises generous glazing and is set on a manually-operated rotating base, which allows it to easily follow (or indeed face away from) the sun, warming the interior naturally and providing plenty of natural light.
via Gizmag

Read More → "Portland tiny house rotates to follow the sun"

The Pilot translation system developed by Waverly Labs. The in-ear devices will cost $129 when they’re available this September and can translate a smartphone-selected foreign language in real-time into your native language with the voice of a robot lady. The languages currently supported are English, French, Spanish and Italian
via Geekologie

</ … Read More → "In-ear aid translates foreign languages in real-time"