“In a boost to the open source software movement, the United States Department of Defense (DoD) issued a 68+ page report entitled Open Technology Development (OTD): Lessons Learned & Best Practices for Military Software, the DoD outlines the military’s experiences with and approval of open source software.” via Dangerous Prototypes

Read the article here

“20 golf schools and PGA professional instructors world-wide to use SensoGlove, the world’s first digital golf glove, as a training tool to help correct the dreaded golf club “death grip” for a more accurate and powerful golf swing.  The only digital golf glove available today that gives constant feedback on grip pressure in real-time, SensoGlove can be used with or without a teacher and is an essential tool … Read More → "SensoGlove, the world’s first digital golf glove"

Patrick McCabe enjoys the challenge of playing chess against the computer but he wasn’t satisfied with the flat experience of on-screen gaming. No problem, he just built his own gantry-style chess robot that he can play against. via Hackaday

… Read More → "Why build a CNC mill when you can have a chess robot instead?"

Japan is considering a plan that would make it compulsory for all new buildings and houses to come fitted with solar panels by 2030, a business daily said Sunday. PhysOrg via Gizmodo

“Last week my wife and I told our 13-year-old daughter she could join Facebook. Within a few hours she had accumulated 171 friends, and I felt a little as if I had passed my child a pipe of crystal meth.” via NYT

Bill Kellar at the NYT has an interesting article on social media. Read it here.

Check out the the Icelandic volcano Grimsvötn as viewed by the Meteosat-9, a European satellite in geostationary orbit:

And this similar image from the US GOES 13 satellite showing 3.5 hours of the eruption:

Image: EUMETSAT; NOAA

via Discover Magazine</ … Read More → "Weather satellite captures cool shots of volcanic plume blasting through clouds"

PopSci has a cool feature about Darpa’s tiny robotic hummingbird:

“In 2006, Darpa, the Department of Defense’s R&D arm, commissioned AeroVironment, a company specializing in remote aircraft, to create an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) small enough to fly through an open window. AeroVironment had already built the 4.5-foot-wingspan Raven, which first saw … Read More → "How Darpa’s tiny robotic hummingbird hovers and films"

“Swiss researchers have claimed a new world record efficiency of 18.7% for flexible copper indium gallium (di)selenide (CIGS) solar cells on plastics. Flexible CIGS solar cells have the potential to drive down the price of solar electricity because they are cheaper to produce and this latest breakthrough brings them closer to the highest efficiency levels achieved by crystalline silicon and rigid CIGS cells.” via Gizmodo

Read More → "New efficiency record for flexible CIGS solar cells"

“The Indianapolis 500 is more than an automobile race. It is an institution, a cultural touchstone so steeped in history that it’s rightly been dubbed the Greatest Spectacle in Racing.” via Wired

Wired takes a look at 15 of the most significant, innovative or just plain awesomest cars to lap the Brickyard.

Read the article/browse the gallery here

“Boasting a list of innovations of sci-fi proportions, designer and researcher Marcelo Coelho paints a future that is both accessible and immediate. Referencing daily materials and human behavior, Coelho creates objects that feel technologically tailored and socially integrated. After completing his BFA in Computation Arts at Montreal’s Concordia University, Coelho relocated to Cambridge, MA, where he is currently a PhD candidate at the MIT Media Lab as a member of Fluid Interfaces Group. Focused on enhancing the human-computer relationship, Fluid designs interfaces that are as informational as they are experiential by seamlessly integrating … Read More → "Explorations in physical interface design from an MIT Media Lab student"