Photos of the Very Rare Pink Katydid

by Jerry James Stone, San Francisco, CA

from: http://www.treehugger.com/

Photo via Flickr

What you are looking at is the very rare and very pink katydid. First discovered back in 1887, the pink katydid is so rare that they occur once out of every 500 individuals. You have a better chance of spotting a unicorn in the wild.

Of course, the color pink alone isn't very common to the animal kingdom, flamingos aside. It's the result of a condition called erythrism, similar to the recessive gene that afflicts albino animals.

Katydids are large, leaf-shaped and usually green. They are named after a song they sing: katy did katy did katy did. Their green skin makes them somewhat hard to find for insect-chowing predators. But the pink ones are not afforded the same luxury.

While people have tried to produce pink katydids in captivity, there had been little success until last year. The New Orleans Audubon Insectarium had acquired both a pink male and a pink female katydid which resulted in a litter of new pink babies.

Like this article? Follow me on Twitter or friend me on FacebookPhoto via Flickr

Photo via Photobucket

Photo via Wikimedia Commons

Little girl can type 119wpm

Lisa Katayama

This little girl can type 119 wpm. It's not just a skill, it's a hobby. She started playing on the computer at age 4 and spends her weekends typing. Her goal right now? "I'd like to get to at least 200(wpm)."

While this may sound strange, I can understand the allure of the type test — when I was in middle school, I used to procrastinate from studying by taking type tests on my super old Apple machine. It's really not that different from any other addictive game — most of us now associate it with work, but back then I was constantly trying to beat myself in speed and accuracy. By the way, if you're curious to know how fast you're typing, you can take a one-minute typing test here.

[via Mashable]

Scientists Make LED Bulbs From Salmon DNA

BY Ariel Schwartz

Where can science fiction possibly go when real-life headlines proclaim that researchers have created LED lightbulbs from salmon DNA? University of Connecticut researchers have added fluorescent dye to salmon DNA and spun the DNA strands into nanofibers to create a brand new material that gives off a bright white light. A LED light is coated with the DNA nanofibers, and voila, a salmon DNA lightbulb is born.

While other scientists have experimented with materials like silica nanoparticles and block copolymers to alter the color of light given off by a LED bulb, salmon DNA has proven most successful. Tuning the light quality from cool white to warm white is just a matter of tweaking the ratio of dyes because, according to researchers, "the DNA fibers orient the dyes in an optimum way for efficient [fluorescence energy transfer] to occur." So salmon DNA bulbs could overcome at least one hurdle for LEDs--complaints about brightness.

But despite advances in color tuning, University of Connecticut scientists don't know if their LED bulbs will be cheaper or more energy-efficient than current LED bulbs, which are already more efficient than CFLs and incandescents. And with high-end LED bulbs selling for as much as $80, price will ultimately be the barrier that makes or breaks the success of LEDs in the market.

Voice Translator Coming to iPhone and Blackberry [VID]

BY Cliff Kuang

Witness the Real-life (Beta) Version of Star Trek's Universal Translator

Sakhr Mobile develops an iPhone app for troops and diplomats that translates Arabic speech into English, and visa versa--and there's video of it, in action.

Fast Company just got a tip about one of the first products of that effort, an iPhone and Blackberry app, created by Sakhr Software and Dial Directions, that does natural language translation. Check out the video of the app, translating sinister-sounding--but all-too-real--phrases like "The prime minister will form a new government":

This is the first product from Sakhr, which has just announced its acquisition of Dial Directions. Sakhr works on devices that scan Arabic words and then offer machine translations, and its customers already include the U.S. Department of Defense, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and the U.S. Department of Justice. Dial Directions, for its part, creates voice-entry applications.

Creating the app you see above was a matter of combining those technologies--first, the speech recognition part, which transcribes what's being said, and then applying Sakhr's know-how in translating the text that's produced. Zoinks! The future, apparently, is now. And while the military applications are obvious, we can't help but think the commercial applications are far more vast. How cool would it be to have something like this working for you while hiking in the wilds of India, or China, or any other Federation planet?

Of course, who knows how this device might fare in the field--machine language translators are faced with a daunting test, when posed with the sloppiness of real-life language. Just witness how bad Google's translation still is. The field has made tremendous strides in recent years. Will the pace continue?

The Coolest PC Game Gun Mod

June 20, 2009 by Ruibo

Get ready to ejaculate as you feast your eyes on this new mod known as the PC VR Game Gun. You can now get your lazy a** off the couch and get in some real live action. Can you say, real life video game simulation? Perhaps Project Natal and Nintendo can learn a thing or two here.

Some features include low-cost, dual-axis miniature rate gyroscope that is fully self-contained for easy integration into human input devices such as the PC VR Gamegun. A unique electromagnetic transducer design and a single etched beam structure utilize the Coriolis effect to sense rotation in two axes simultaneously. Operating between 2.3 and 3.6 volts. 1K of available EEPROM storage on board. Low drift.

Full Motion Tracking - Move the gun and it moves the mouse.

Specs

• 7″ Widescreen Active Matrix TFT Display
• Sleek, Stealth Design
• Emulates as a Windows Mouse 100% compatible
• Built-in Game pad 3 triggers and dual axis no drivers
• High-Quality Black Finish with Black Shroud
• High Dot Resolution: 1440 (H) x 234 (V)
• 3 Selectable Screen Modes (Full, Wide, Normal)
• Wireless Remote Control with Front Panel Controls
• On Screen Display (OSD)
• Power Supply: 12 VDC
• Standard RCA Composite Video Input (NTSC only)
• Dimensions: 5″ H x 9″ W x 0.7″ D
• Plug ‘n play USB, no special drivers or software needed

Check out the video below for more details.

If you’re interested in picking up one of these bad boys, check out blackhall.net.

Update: The wireless version.

Emergency Water Purifier for Flood Conditions

by Jerry James Stone

photo by MNgilen

Flood Waters

For this year’s Aspen Design Challenge — which had the theme Designing Water’s Future — Umea Institute of Design student Ceren Bagatar proposed the following concept: a Rescue Bottle.

The bottle is designed to address not only the scarcity of fresh water the world is facing, but mostly the contaminated and hazardous water conditions due to flooding, hurricanes and tsunamis. Those disasters expose and contaminate surface water, ground water and drinking water supplies with a variety of elements: toxins, chemicals, septic and animal carcasses.

The Rescue Bottle filters contaminated water through a reverse osmosis membrane using the driving force of highly concentrated dioralyte solution. The bottle has a 500 ml capacity and has an interchangable mouthpiece for multi-user usage. The dioralyte solution supports 15 batches of drinking water.

Awesome concept, Ceren!

Photo courtesy of Yanko Design

Photo courtesy of Yanko Design

Photo courtesy of Yanko Design

Source [Yanko Design]

DIY Solar Panels From Armageddon Energy

BY Ariel Schwartz

Rooftop solar panel installation is often a time-consuming and complicated process, but Armageddon Energy's new prefab panels are practically roof-ready when they come out of the box.

A solar "clover"--enough to provide 400 watts of power--is made up of three 10 to 12 pound silicon hexagonal panels, a triangular frame and a micro-inverter. The panels can be easily connected with a series of uncomplicated tab and slots. Then all that's left is for a professional, or mechanically-inclined homeowner, to secure the clovers to the roof, angle them towards the sun, and plug them into the home power system. According to Armageddon, the process only takes a few minutes.

Armageddon's solar panels are significantly lighter than traditional 40-pound silicon-panels, mainly because the solar cells are coated in Teflon instead of glass. At $6 per watt, the panels produce power cheaply, too--that's $1 per watt less than conventional systems.

Armageddon recently completed solar panel prototypes and is currently working on a beta round. The company expects commercial production to begin in about a year. But by the time Armageddon's panels make it to market, they'll have some competition in the prefab arena. Veranda Solar is working on a panel design that requires only a screwdriver and a standard home outlet. Can IKEA-branded DIY panels be far behind?

[Via Greentech Media]

Iron-based Catalyst To Replace Platinum For Cheaper Hydrogen Fuel Cells

Hydrogen fuel cells need catalysts to accelerate the chemical reactions inside them, but the problem is that they are very expensive because the catalysts are made of precious materials like platinum. The new catalyst is based on iron, nitrogen, and carbon which are far less expensive than platinum which ranges between $1,000 to $2,000 an ounce. Although these three non-precious materials were used for hydrogen fuel cells before, they didn’t react too well making the cells unpractical.

Researchers at the Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique, Quebec have managed to increase the power of the catalyst to 99 amps per cubic centimeter at .8 volts which is 35 times better than previous iron-based catalysts. With just a few improvements the INRS scientists should soon reach the 130 amps per cubic centimeter, which is the minimum amount for hydrogen fuel cell catalysts. According to Jean Pol Dodelet, leader of the INRS team, this iron-based catalyst is just as good as platinum catalysts which means that hydrogen fuel cells will become cheaper, and in time, better.

“We thought nobody would ever meet [the benchmark for hydrogen fuel cells]. For the very first time, a non-precious metal catalyst makes sense,” said Hubert Gasteiger, Professor of Mechanical Engineering at MIT. Gasteiger is only one of the researchers who praised INRS’ breakthrough which is “quite surprising” if it were to quote Radoslav Adzic, researcher and fuel cell catalysts-developer at the Brookhaven National Laboratory.

Although other researchers have tried, the INRS team used a different approach, and they increased the number of the catalytic sites in the iron-based material. They figured that if they would have more active sites, then the number of reactions within the material will increase. These catalytic sites are “obtained” by heating a graphite-like form of carbon called carbon black which reacts and creates “gaps” when in contact with ammonia and iron acetate. Then the researchers used nitrogen atoms to link gaps’ opposite sides which eventually result in active catalytic sites.

According to Dodelet, their iron-based catalyst performs best in PEM fuel cells which work at low temperatures, and feature a high power density. He also said that there are other non-precious metal-based catalysts which work in alkaline cells, however, these catalysts will not operate in an acidic environment like the one found in PEM fuel cells.

“We solved the problem,” said Dodelet, but he admits that the catalyst needs further improvements because it has two major flaws - the former is its durability which has to be increased as after 100 hours, the reactions in the cells were halved; and the latter is the fact that catalysts can operate as fast as the reactants allow them, but the oxygen and protons transportation will have to be improved by fuel cell engineers as Dodelet’s team only develops the catalysts.

I don’t think that it will take too long before these obstacles will be overcome, and it is quite possible that in the near future automakers will get their hands on cheaper hydrogen fuel cells which means that we will be able to buy hydrogen cars at lower prices.

10 Cars for More than Commuting

By: Matt Hardigree

They're called extreme commutes. Spending 90 minutes or more getting to and from work is no one's idea of a good time. What if you could while away the traffic doing email or playing Parcheesi with your family? The Japanese already treat the car like a mobile office or living room, and automakers, in their latest attempt to actually sell some cars, are encouraging customers to "hang out" on wheels, offering amenities such as Wi-Fi, satellite TV, and seating cushier than what you have at home. Let's face it, if the economy doesn't improve soon, we're all going to be living out of our cars, so think of these vehicles as a down payment on our dystopian, post-apocalyptic future.

Nissan Cube
The Cube answers the burning question, what if Ikea designed furniture for your first car the same way it outfits your first apartment? This aesthetic is most evident in the funky Cube's "sofa-style" rear seat and cubbyholes galore for storing electronics, clothing, and toiletries. Already popular in Japan, the economical Cube enters the U.S. market later this year. Although it's highly customizable, much like Toyota's Scion vehicles, thankfully there's no assembly required.

Ford SYNUS
Had Ford commercialized this Brinks truck-like vehicle, it surely would have kept any driver's virginity secure. This fanciful but tough-looking concept notably included a "lockdown mode" for when passengers wanted to ignore the outside world and watch a movie, play a game, or relax. (Ask any dog: Nothing screams relaxation like being locked in an automobile.) As hard as it is to believe this car was never made, take heart: Its portable "lounge" eventually found its way into Ford Flex vehicles, and newer compact SUVs carry over SYNUS's smaller windows and muscular look to make the driver feel secure and comfortable.

Dodge Caravan
Soccer moms, rejoice! The first true minivan is back with innovations even cooler than tummy-control jeans. The latest generation turns the van into a portable game room, featuring its own satellite hookup and flat-screen TVs waiting to be plugged into your DVD player and game console of choice. The middle row of seats can be turned backwards, and the kids can fold out a table for a round of Monopoly.

Ford Transit Connect W/ Work Solutions
When Hollywood makes The A-Team: The Movie (and it's just a matter of time), if the gang doesn't drive the Ford Transit Connect, they should. The setup includes an integrated computer system equipped with a portable keyboard and GPS. It's also configurable to include printers, inventory scanners, and other equipment. The van is also taller, easier to park, and cheaper to operate than a full-size van. If your job involves spending more time driving to see customers than sitting at your desk, this mobile office sure beats Starbucks. Available later this year.

Maserati Quattroporte Collezione Cento
You can take the CEO out of his renovated $10 million office, but you can't take the $10 million office out of the CEO. Enter the Maserati Quattroporte Collezione Cento. For merely $142,500 of taxpayer bailout money, the already loaded sedan includes a built-in rear-seat computer system (what? You think he's giving up his driver?) with wireless mouse and keyboard. Between the rear passenger seats is a foldout table for important documents and/or a cappuccino. Check your plummeting stock, fire thousands, and still make it to lunch at the club in style.

Honda Airwave
Carpooling in Japan must be different than in the United States. Rather than pull over to pick up doughnuts, when you park the Airwave (similar to the Honda Fit), the seats can be moved to form a small seating area for groups in need of a quick meeting space.

Mobile Mini House
Living in a car has heretofore been limited to camping families, RVing retirees, and folk singers down-on-their-luck. Stephanie Bellanger, Amaury Watine, François Gustin, and David Dethoor hope to change that with this accordion-style trailer. Rather than just a large rectangular room, the Mobile Mini House is like a fold-out Airstream trailer. Unpack this small, sustainable package to get a five-room abode, including bathroom and office. Perfect for hometown-displaced employees sick of Residence Inns or hipster drifters tired of couchsurfing.

Honda Element Ursa Minor Camper
This perfect accessory for the Honda Element "lifestyle" consumers interested in extending a rock climbing or mountain-biking adventure into a weekend-long excursion. The Ursa Minor ECamper turns the little Honda into a portable basecamp. The conversion folds outwards from the roof, creating a sleeping tent for up to two people. It's small enough to still work as a convenient city car but large enough to live in temporarily in the woods.

Kia Soul
If James Brown taught us anything, it was that you've got to have soul. (Also, don't do angel dust.) The Kia Soul is a boxy little compact like the Scion xB, except that it's tricked out for Burning Man. The audio system is connected to bright red lights in the speakers, pulsing to the beat and reflecting off the glow-in-the-dark seats. It's also jammed with tech-friendly goodies such as hands-free Bluetooth connectivity, USB/Aux input, satellite radio, and power in the front and back.

Nissan NV2500 Concept
If Nissan makes its NV2500 large commercial truck, its slogan should be, If you worked here, you'd be working by now. The truck is divided into three parts: driver and passenger zone, work/design station, and conference center/cargo bay. The showstopper within the workspace is the laser-projected keyboard. The car of the future can't get here soon enough.

Rumor Mill: Is IKEA Entering the Eco-Friendly Car Market?

BY Ariel Schwartz

We already know that IKEA is debuting a line of solar-powered lights; could the Swedish giant actually enter the eco-friendly car market?

The Internet is abuzz about a mysterious yet official-looking French website that appeared today. The site touts the LEKO, an environmentally-friendly IKEA-branded concept car. A video on the LEKO site says that the car is a modular design that can act as either a coupe or convertible. The car apparently also has the full backing of the World Wildlife Fund France, though it's not clear if that means the WWF is contributing to the LEKO's development or just endorsing it.

There's a distinct possibility that the LEKO video and site are the viral warning shots for someone's April Fools' Day hoax. The LEKO is absent from the IKEA website, and most importantly, the car will be unveiled on April Fools' Day.

But hey, stranger things, right? April 1-7 is France's Sustainable Development Week, and IKEA already offers "kit homes" shipped in flatpacks to customers in Northern England and Scandinavia. I hope we can get a LEKO in Swedish blue and yellow.

We wonder, though, if a car made by IKEA might ship to customers in pieces to DIY like the images below.

A Green Pimp My Ride: Ree-V Converts Cars to Electric

BY Ariel Schwartz

If you want your car converted to run on biodiesel or vegetable oil, there are plenty of places to turn--conversion kits are available for the DIY crowd, and the less mechanically-inclined can have professionals give their car biodiesel capability. But what if you want an electric car?

A Colorado company called Ree-V has stepped in to fill that niche by providing full-service electric car conversions. And while companies like Toyota, GM, and Ford have announced intentions to release PHEV (plug-in hybrid electric vehicle) models, a conversion could cost significantly less.

Conversions to a lead-acid battery cost a pretty penny--between $17,500 and $200,000. And most converted cars are only suitable for quick trips around town. Ree-V's 1995 Geo Metro conversion, for example, has a top speed of 70 MPH and a range of 25-35 miles.

But Ree-V CEO Luc Nadeau notes that his Colorado-based customers can receive the Colorado Alternative Vehicle Fuel Credit, that reimburses the majority--and in some cases all--of the conversion. A car older than 10 years is eligible for a 100 percent credit, while newer cars receive an 85 percent credit. And in case that isn't attractive enough, electric vehicle drivers can slash gas completely from their budgets.

PHEV conversions probably won't catch on until electric vehicles become mainstream--and everyone except early adopters might want to wait until batteries become smaller and more effective--but there's nothing stopping budding entrepreneurs from setting up shop in states that offer alternative vehicle credits.

[Via CBS4 Denver]

From Outcast to Awesome: 17 Famous Nerds Who Paved the Way

By Max Berlinger

In a different age, the label Nerd induced visions of tapered, high-water jeans, thick-framed glasses, and preppy, ill-patterned shirts. Oh, the horror! Now, check out the East Village on a typical weekend and what are the most stylish gents donning? Why, tapered jeans, thick-framed glasses, and button-down shirts! My, my, my, how things have changed!

Now, the public perception of boys and girls who spend all their time on the Internet has shifted. Dorks no more, this fleet of dweeb-tastic movers and shakers has evolved into the realm of Neo-Nerd! Translation: A successful young go-getter braving the dangers of the cyber-frontier and looking good to doing it! But tech-heads aren't the only ones leading the geek-chic charge. Nerd style has been sweeping the streets in a major way, and although we hate to say it, we were way ahead of the curve on this one.

We'd much rather be sharing a glass of perfectly aged Pino Noir in our Second Life with one of these tech-savvy boys than spending $12 a drink with some greaseball at Beatrice in the real world. Here is a sample of the newest crop of digital dorks we've been crushing on, and the fashionytes that have so beautifully appropriated their style.

Read on for our list of the hottest nerds of all time...

The Neo-Nerds.

Tom Anderson, Co-founder MySpace—He was our first internet love (OK, obsession), our first friend on MySpace and the man who acted as guide to the world of Web 2.0. Sigh. His smiling face (and plain white T-shirt) was always there when we signed in. We'll always have a special place in our heart for him. (pictured above, top left)

Jakob Lodwick, Founder Vimeo—He's the bad boy of the neo-nerds. He's like The Cobra Snake of the Silicon Valley crowd, a hipster who makes money off the web and uses it as a forum to spread his oh-so-coolness to the masses. Swoon. (pictured above, top middle)

Nate Silver, Statistician—He's so sexy that we don't even really understand what his job entails. We're just imagining romantic nights with him as we watch The City whilst he calculates the probability that our spawn will have his eyes and our hair. (pictured above, top right, photo via Blog Indecision)

Matt Buchanan, Associate Editor, Gizmodo— Because blogs are cool. And Gizmodo is the Refinery29 of the techie blog world. He could fix our computer and then some other stuff any day! (pictured above, bottom left)

Jack Dorsey, Founder, Twitter—With his steely blue eyes and shaggy hair, he's less of a neo-nerd and more of a model who just happened to start an online business model that is quickly sweeping the nation. Heck, even we got into it. The best part? You can Twitter-stalk his ass if you think he's playing the field behind your back. (pictured above, bottom middle, photo via Business Week)

Sam Stein, Huffington Post Reporter—He is striving to make online political reporting legit, and he's got that shy/quiet guy thing going on. He was the first web-based reporter called on by Obama during his first press conference. Presidential seal of approval? We're already doodling "Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Stein" on our notebook as you read this. (pictured above, bottom right)

The Fashion Nerds.

Scott Sternberg, Designer, Band of Outsiders—Bow tie? Check. Sweater vest? Check. Glasses? Check. Sternberg's a member, if not one of the leaders, of the preppy faction of nerds, and his simple-chic take on college campus classics actually get us thinking that the library might just be the sexiest boite in town. (pictured above, top left)

Tina Fey, Multi-hyphenate—Tina Fey has never been part of the hip crowd, and for that we're lucky. Whether she's mocking politics or the TV industry, she's always classy and with a hint of stern schoolmistress, Fey makes geeky seem cheeky, all while balancing her seemingly never-ending duties as writer/producer/actress/mom/nerd goddess. And, we especially love that she brought on the sexy in Vanity Fair earlier this year. (pictured above, top middle, photo via Vanity Fair)

Wes Anderson, Director—Anderson's quirky films have stolen our hearts time and time again. A master of clever minutiae, his films are somehow both aloof and warm. They're what we wish life was like. His schoolboy style, signature look and circle of taste-maker friends is what really seals the deal, though. (pictured above, top right)

Iekeliene Stange, Model/Artsy Person—Stange may be a pretty face, but this Dutch beauty now dabbles in geeky pastimes like photography and painting. And as for this girl's quirky hodge-podge style? It's pretty undeniable that she is a stunningly gorgeous dork at heart. (pictured above, bottom left)

Thom Browne, Menswear Designer—If there has been a second-coming of the nerd, then Mr. Browne was definitely at the forefront of that movement. His drastic take on menswear tailoring, and now notoriously out-there showings have made him the fashion crowd's American messiah. When he first introduced the nerd staple of floodwater pants, no one could have guessed the geek-chic revolution that it started. (pictured above, bottom middle, his designs, bottom right)

The Geeks Who Paved the Way.

To be fair, we feel that we must tip our hats to all the nerds of yesteryear who paved the way to today's nerd insurgency:

Michaelangelo—This dude was the ultimate know-it-all nerd, and we guess it paid off, since we still know who he is. He pretty much single-handedly created the template for shut-in bookworms for centuries to come. (pictured above, top left, image via The National Gallery)

Cameron Frye, Ferris Bueller's Day Off—This is one of our first memories of having a soft spot for the dorky dude. We know that compared to Ferris, he was supposed to be the forgettable techie BFF, but we couldn't help fall a little bit in love with him anyway. (pictured above, top middle )

Albert Einstein—We've been seeing too many wild mustaches around town to think that Einstein doesn't have anything to do with it. And those wacky hipster locks? Bedford Ave has nothing on this infinitely brilliant trailblazer. (pictured above, top right)

Ben Stein—Stein has made a name for himself in the American canon of dweebs. Few others can claim to having made a name in Hollywood solely on looking like someone you wouldn't want to hang out with. (pictured above, bottom left)

Richie Cunningham, Happy Days—Richie conjures up images of the typical '50s squeaky clean geek, and set forth a handbook for preppy-wear that's influence is felt even today. And talk about the nerd made good? Amid all that film biz slickness, Ron Howard still wears his geek-chic like a Hollywood pro. (pictured above, bottom middle)

Tina Brown, Editrix—Brown's insane resume, which boasts tenures at Vanity Fair and The New Yorker as well as her own mega-blog The Daily Beast, make most competitors' CVs look like classifieds ads. This English publishing nerd has a magical knack for whipping entire magazines—and now websites—into shape, and she has the numbers to prove it. We, though, just admire her subtle take on buttoned-up, UES chic. There's something to be said about a gal who loves a pencil skirt and classic white oxford, but always keeps her blonde locks just a little bit messy. (pictured above, bottom right)

Porsche Cayenne S Hybrid To Deliver V-8 Power, 26+ mpg

By Colin Mathews

Porsche Cayenne S Hybrid
Enlarge Photo

Pure electric propulsion is the name of the game for cutting gas/electric hybrid fuel consumption, and Porsche claims to have taken it to a whole new level with the upcoming 2010 Cayenne S Hybrid. Capable of traveling at speeds up to 86 mph solely on electric propulsion, the 5,000-some-odd pound full-frame SUV's thirst for premium should be cut dramatically.

Porsche Cayenne S Hybrid
Enlarge Photo

Economy estimated at 26 mpg or slightly greater (extrapolated from Porsche's claim of less than 9 liters/100 km fuel consumed on the European cycle) is very respectable for this behemoth, but it's a figure shamed by car-based crossover hybrids. Interesting will be the difference between city and highway mileage; typically, gas/electric hybrids attain their biggest mileage benefits in city driving where the electric motors are most helpful, but this Porsche system turns that paradigm on its head with stout electric highway capabilities.

The hybrid drive in the Porsche Cayenne S Hybrid uses a parallel full hybrid design that sandwiches the electric motor between an Audi-sourced V-6 and an eight-speed automatic transmission. The V-6 is Audi's new 3.0-liter supercharged V-6 found in models like the 2009 Audi A6, itself surprisingly efficient considering the 333 hp and 324 lb-ft torque it yields. The electric motor will be supplied by a 154-lb. nickel metal hybrid battery that fits in the spare tire well.

Porsche promises no intrusions into cabin or cargo space, as well as a 0-60 mph sprint of just under 6.8 seconds. So drivers of heavy luxury SUVs may soon have their cake and eat it too. But aren't drivers of luxury SUVs quickly abandoning the segment? History will tell us the rest of the story, but let's not forget the miserable sales of GM's (Tahoe, Escalade) and Chrysler's (Aspen, Durango) well-engineered full-size SUV hybrids.

MCE-5 to Debut 220-HP 1.5L Engine with Variable Compression Ratio at Geneva

by Scott_Evans

If you know much about how engines work, the idea of a variable compression ratio seems almost crazy. The idea isn't new, in fact Saab claims to have been working on it since the 1980s, but it's never been commercially viable. Nine years after the last attempt to bring it to market, the variable compression engine is back for another round and it's got some big promises to keep. This time, another European company is giving it a go. France-based MCE-5 Development was founded in the year 2000 by a small group of engineers from a school in Paris dedicated to developing VCR technology. The company quickly teamed up with a number of European automakers and auto parts suppliers and has been trying to perfect an engine design originally conceived back in 1997. Here's what they've come up with: The gasoline-powered, four-cylinder MCE-5 VCRi (for Intelligent Variable Compression Ratio) engine uses a two-state turbocharger, displaces 1.5L and pumps out an impressive 220 hp and 310 lb-ft of torque -- numbers comparable to engines with much larger displacement and more cylinders. MCE-5 says the engine will get 35 mpg and emit only 0.56 grams of CO2 per mile. Sound too good to be true? Wait, it gets better. MCE-5 says that the engine shown here is just a preliminary model and will soon be upgraded. For 2010, MCE-5 will add direct injection, optimized combustion chambers and advanced temperature management of the engine, cylinder head, piston, and exhaust. All of these upgrades will help the revised engine produce a whopping 266 hp and 347 lb-ft of torque, all from just 1.5L. It'll even bump fuel economy over 40 mpg and drop CO2 emissions under 0.5 lbs per mile. MCE-5 is optimistic even here, suggesting that emissions could drop under 0.43 lbs per mile by 2012-2013 and fuel economy could improve even further. The last time we saw this kind of technology was the 2000 Geneva Motor Show, where Saab rolled out the Saab Variable Compression engine, which could alter its compression ratio while running. To do so, Saab attached one side of the cylinder head to the cylinder block with a hinge, then placed a lifting mechanism on the other side of the block. When activated, it would tilt the cylinder head four degrees up to one side in a similar fashion to opening the lid of a piano. Doing so would increase the volume of the combustion chambers, lowering the compression ratio. Saab claimed that the technology could change the compression ratio from 8:1 to 14:1 while the engine was running for optimal efficiency and performance, yielding 225 hp and 224 lb-ft of torque on 40 psi of boost from a supercharged 1.5L engine. MCE-5, though, has other ideas. Rather than move the cylinder head around, MCE-5 appears to be manipulating the stroke of the pistons. In a traditional internal combustion engine, each piston is attached directly to the crankshaft by a rod. MCE-5, though, has added an intermediary in the form of a special gear. This gear acts as both a gear and a rocker arm, and special hydraulic jacks embedded in the engine block next to the cylinders manipulate this rocker gear in order to change the length of the piston stroke, thereby changing the volume of the combustion chamber and therefore the compression ratio. MCE-5 says their system can change the compression ratio from 7:1 to an incredible 18:1 and the system can change the ratio from the lowest to the highest in less than 100 milliseconds. The system will supposedly allow the gasoline engine to run on compression like a diesel in some cases, use the more-efficient Atkinson Cycle and run various other fuels like bio-fuels and compressed gasses. The system can even control each cylinder separately, allowing all four cylinders to operate at different compression ratios, each one optimal for that cylinder. At least, that's how we understand it. The new design is very complex and MCE-5 never explains exactly how the mechanics of the system work, so our understanding is a bit hazy. If you're mechanically inclined, pop over to MCE-5's website and have a look around at their diagrams, videos and other materials and see what you can make of it. MCE-5 claims that because their system is based on simple mechanics and utilizes all of the same construction techniques as conventional engines, the cost of putting an MCE-5 engine in a car is less the $700 more than using a conventional engine. The company will be showing off their prototype nestled under the hood of a Peugeot 407 at the 2009 Geneva Motor Show next week, and who knows, maybe we'll see it on the road someday. Source: MCE-5 Development

How the Rich Guys Fly: Sneak Peek at SWISS's New First Class Cabin

BY Cliff Kuang

Over the past several years, SWISS has been overhauling its brand, and amping up its high-design bonafides. The airline's latest salvo is a swank new first-class cabin that's nicer than all but the nicest of New York apartments. Designed by Priestman Goode, the new seats aren't really seats at all, but rather cubicles that can convert between a two-top table set-up, a full bed, and a reclining seat. Each cubicle gets a flat-screen TV. The design itself is oh-so Swiss: Handsome and serene. There's a virtual tour here.

Of course, luxury like this comes at a price. First class airfare from New York to Geneva, Switzerland starts at $5,567.68. The folks back in steerage class will pay $420.18 for the same ride, minus the posh accommodations and the haute cuisine dining experience ("You and you alone decide when the kitchen opens," SWISS's first class site promises. "Whether you fancy a seven course meal shortly after take-off, or a freshly-brewed espresso accompanied by a chocolate truffle, SWISS meets all your culinary needs.")

Still, as GM's pampered execs demonstrated (before they were taken to the woodshed by Congress), even flying first class is a come down if you're accustomed to a private jet.

[Via Wallpaper]

Five Brain-Manipulating Technologies That Prove Dollhouse Exists Right Now

By Annalee Newitz

Joss Whedon's new show Dollhouse is about a secret organization that supplies mind-wiped sex ninjas to the rich. It's not set in the future because neuromanipulated technoslaves could exist today. Here's proof.

1. We can erase people's memories.
Back in October a study was published in Neuron that proved an enzyme called CaMKII can erase bad memories while you recall them. In Dollhouse, the "actives" have their own memories erased first, and then new memories implanted. The brain-erasure technology is actually the cornerstone of the operation, as it's what turns the actives into blank slates ready to be reprogrammed. Right now, with the cooperation of desperate people, scientists could be using CaMKII to erase their old lives. Then they'll just need to implant new personalities and emotions.

2. We can regulate people's moods with microchips.
Right now, there are a series of implantable microchips on the market that send out electrical impulses over your nerves that can soothe a depressed person or reduce seizures. Some call them neurological pacemakers, and we are discovering new things about them every day - such as the fact that some can cause instant orgasm. Wipe somebody's brain, then install these brain pacemakers, and you might start shaping a whole new person by controlling what gives them pleasure and what makes them depressed.

3. We can use brain implants to steer animals left and right.
Several years ago, neuroscientists invented a little rat-sized brain implant that sent directional signals to the rodent's brain. Using a handheld remote, scientists sent electrical signals to the parts of the rats' brains connected to right and left whisker sensations - and could induce the rats to turn right or left at the press of a button. Dubbed the "robo-rat," the creatures could be used for complicated search and rescue efforts that require crawling into small places. Or they could be the beta version for a more nefarious technology implanted into humans' brains that would allow a corporation like the Dollhouse to remote-control an active's every move, right down to which street they turn on.

4. Infrared brain scans can predict what people want.
As we reported last week, researchers have discovered that a simple infrared brain scan can reveal patterns in brain activity that show simple preferences. Ask a person whether they'd rather have a dog or a cat, and this scan will give you the answer. This is the first step towards knowing how to shape people's preferences. If scientists could trigger a reaction in your brain that reversed the pattern, they might be able to turn a cat person into a dog person and vice versa.

5. Human-computer interfaces link human brains directly to computers.
You may have heard of BrainGate, a technology that uses electrodes sunk into your gray matter to convert electrical impulses from your brain into computer commands. It is currently used by people who are profoundly paralyzed to communicate by moving a cursor around. If we can open up communication between brain and computer like that, it stands to reason that the communication might be two-way. Who is to say there is no secret organization using a BrainGate-esque technology to reprogram people's thoughts?

Staff Finds White House in the Technological Dark Ages

By Anne E. Kornblut

Washington Post Staff Writer

President Obama, with Vice President Biden, finishes signing one of his executive orders on his first full day in office. (By Gerald Martineau -- The Washington Post)

If the Obama campaign represented a sleek, new iPhone kind of future, the first day of the Obama administration looked more like the rotary-dial past.

Two years after launching the most technologically savvy presidential campaign in history, Obama officials ran smack into the constraints of the federal bureaucracy yesterday, encountering a jumble of disconnected phone lines, old computer software, and security regulations forbidding outside e-mail accounts.

What does that mean in 21st-century terms? No Facebook to communicate with supporters. No outside e-mail log-ins. No instant messaging. Hard adjustments for a staff that helped sweep Obama to power through, among other things, relentless online social networking.

"It is kind of like going from an Xbox to an Atari," Obama spokesman Bill Burton said of his new digs.

In many ways, the move into the White House resembled a first day at school: Advisers wandered the halls, looking for their offices. Aides spent hours in orientation, learning such things as government ethics rules as well as how their paychecks will be delivered. And everyone filled out a seemingly endless pile of paperwork.

There were plenty of first-day glitches, too, as calls to many lines in the West Wing were met with a busy signal all morning and those to the main White House switchboard were greeted by a recording, redirecting callers to the presidential Web site. A number of reporters were also shut out of the White House because of lost security clearance lists.

By late evening, the vaunted new White House Web site did not offer any updated posts about President Obama's busy first day on the job, which included an inaugural prayer service, an open house with the public, and meetings with his economic and national security teams.

Nor did the site reflect the transparency Obama promised to deliver. "The President has not yet issued any executive orders," it stated hours after Obama issued executive orders to tighten ethics rules, enhance Freedom of Information Act rules and freeze the salaries of White House officials who earn more than $100,000.

The site was updated for the first time last night, when information on the executive orders was added. But there were still no pool reports or blog entries.

No one could quite explain the problem -- but they swore it would be fixed.

One member of the White House new-media team came to work on Tuesday, right after the swearing-in ceremony, only to discover that it was impossible to know which programs could be updated, or even which computers could be used for which purposes. The team members, accustomed to working on Macintoshes, found computers outfitted with six-year-old versions of Microsoft software. Laptops were scarce, assigned to only a few people in the West Wing. The team was left struggling to put closed captions on online videos.

Senior advisers chafed at the new arrangements, which severely limit mobility -- partly by tradition but also for security reasons and to ensure that all official work is preserved under the Presidential Records Act.

"It is what it is," said a White House staff member, speaking on the condition of anonymity. "Nobody is being a blockade right now. It's just the system we need to go through."

The system has daunted past White House employees. David Almacy, who became President George W. Bush's Internet director in 2005, recalled having a week-long delay between his arrival at the White House and getting set up with a computer and a BlackBerry.

"The White House itself is an institution that transitions regardless of who the president is," he said. "The White House is not starting from scratch. Processes are already in place."

One White House official, who arrived breathless yesterday after being held up at the exterior gate, found he had no computer or telephone number. Recently called back from overseas duty, he ended up using his foreign cellphone.

Another White House official whose transition cellphone was disconnected left a message temporarily referring callers to his wife's phone.

Several people tried to route their e-mails through personal accounts.

But there were no missing letters from the computer keyboards, as Bush officials had complained of during their transition in 2001.

And officials in the press office were prepared: In addition to having their own cellphones, they set up Gmail accounts, with approval from the White House counsel, so they could send information in more than one way.

Staff writers Jose Antonio Vargas and Karen DeYoung contributed to this report.

Obama Promises Science-Centric, Eco-Friendly Presidency

By: Kit Eaton

President Obama's Inaugural speech included a clutch of promises and observations that will have scientists, medical researchers and environmentalists in the US and around the world breathing a sigh of relief.

"We will restore science to its rightful place, and wield technology's wonders to raise health care's quality and lower its cost," is Obama's key phrase, and it contains a multitude of subtle points.

"Rightful place" is at first a dig at George W. Bush's sidelining of scientific thinking during his two presidential terms. It's no secret that Bush's personal beliefs pushed many science issues into the background, and Obama's words suggest he holds science in higher regard for its role in our modern world. Wielding "technology's wonders" is immediately a powerful phrase underlining the benefits that science and technology can bring, and it is specifically referenced in terms of improving health care, rather than bringing economic success or just "new gadgets."

While Bush spoke of health care in both his inauguration addresses, it was in broad, political and economic terms: "We will widen the ownership of homes and businesses, retirement savings and health insurance" came in the second, while "Government has great responsibilities for public safety and public health," in the first. Throughout his presidency "tricky" health care issues like high teenage pregnancy rates and stem cell research were dealt with from a decidedly moral, as opposed to scientific viewpoint. "From the day of our Founding, we have proclaimed that every man and woman on this earth has rights, and dignity, and matchless value, because they bear the image of the Maker of Heaven and earth," is a line from Bush's second speech that underlines this--and explains why in 2006 he used the presidential veto to stop a bill that would've freed up more federal money for stem cell research.

In an interesting moment in 2005 Rep. Henry Waxman clashed very publicly with Bush's science adviser, accusing the administration of actually fudging its scientific models on climate and health care--and of underlining scientific "uncertainty" to quash research and laws with results or intents counter to Bush policies.

Climate issues were downplayed often during Bush's early years in power, and in 2002 when the EPA surprised the administration by issuing a report that supported theories that global warming had a significant human component, Bush dismissed it thus:
"I read the report put out by the bureaucracy."

President Obama, on the other hand, made a direct reference to climate issues in his speech, and gave tacit support to the theory global warming is man made: "we will work tirelessly to lessen the nuclear threat, and roll back the spectre of a warming planet." That neatly tied global war catastrophes to the environment too.

Obama also promised to actually respond to the issue of climate change: "We will harness the Sun and the winds and soil to fuel our cars and run our factories," is a guarantee that more environmentally-friendly policies will be coming out of the White House, particularly in terms of alternative energy sources. It's impossible to "consume the world's resources without regard to effect," he noted, going on to suggest that "the world has changed, and we must change with it."

It sounds very much like the winds of change are blowing through the corridors of power in Washington, and bringing new regard for science, medicine, and the environment along with them.

[via New Scientist, image: Getty]

Is The MacBook's New Super-Battery Actually Cutting Edge?

| posted by Chris Dannen

The best new feature in Apple's [AAPL] new MacBook Pro is the 8-hour, ultra-durable battery that Apple says it custom-designed. But is it really the advanced powerplant it claims to be?

Conventional notebook batteries, or lithium-ion batteries, are made up of tightly-packed cylindrical cells, almost like a bunch of little Duracell Cs in a case. Apple has chosen to use lithium-polymer batteries in the new MacBook Pro, which are widely regarded as more advanced than li-ion batteries; they're lighter, more physically robust, more energy-dense, cheaper to manufacture and don't have to be in the traditional block form-factor.

Because li-poly batteries can be any shape, Apple smartly molded the new MacBook Pro's battery to the inside of its case, packing in a 40% "bigger" battery into the machine. That increase probably has as much to do with the physical size of the cells as the energy density of li-poly storage, which has helped Apple keep weight down. The MacBook Pro tips the scales at 6.6 pounds.

The new li-poly battery allows Apple to claim eight hours on a single charge, or seven with a beefier video card. Each battery should survive longer, too; Apple claims five years, or 200-300 full charges. That longevity owes itself to Apple's new "adaptive charging" system, which uses microchips inside the battery to determine the optimal level of current for each cell.

But put your ear to the ground in the battery community, and the buzz isn't about custom-shaped li-poly batteries, with or without "adaptive" charging. Companies like ZPower are already boasting huge improvements in silver-oxide batteries (also known as silver-zinc batteries), which have a much better energy-to-weight ratio than lithium-based batteries. You can see an animation of how silver-zinc batteries work here.

Not only are they 40% more energy-dense than lithium-based cells, silver-zinc batteries are 95% recyclable, and because they don't contain lithium, they're not prone to exploding and engulfing your precious notebook in flames. Apple's new li-poly battery, to its credit, is arsenic, BFR, mercury, and PVC free, and “highly recyclable,” according to the company -- but it's hard to beat silver for its green cred and safety.

The downside is that silver-based batteries are susceptible to the fluctuations of the price of silver, which has been on a rollercoaster ride since late 2005. [To see a graph of silver prices since 1992, courtesy of TheBullionDesk.com, click here.] That has rendered them useful only in small, if important, devices like the on-board computers inside self-guided weaponry.

But ZPower, for one, has said that it's gearing up to launch its batteries inside a "major notebook computer" this year, suggesting that some of the leakage problems that plagued early silver batteries has been solved. The company plans on using a trade-in recycling program to keep battery prices stable and manageable. California-based ZPower, whose backers include Intel [INTC], claims this will add two hours to the life of an average notebook battery, a jump from five hours to seven hours.

With its monster battery registering at welter-weight size, Apple is ahead of the pack for now. But should a competitor like Dell [DELL] or HP [HPQ] come out with a silver-ion battery in one of their 2009-2010 notebooks -- and should the price of silver fall -- all of Apple's custom in-house engineering might have been for naught.

SmartHand: Cyborg Limbs Will Feel Like User's Own

| posted by Kit Eaton

SmartHand is a European collaborative project to develop a next-generation robotic prosthetic limb, and as part of the project Swedish researchers have successfully demonstrated a neat psychological trick that makes wearers feel like an artificial limb is actually part of their body.

A report published by the team at the Karolinska Institutet and Malmö University Hospital shows success in what's known as the "rubber hand" illusion. Amputees' brains can be fooled into thinking that a fake hand is actually wired into their nervous systems, despite the fact that the hand has no sensory inputs whatsoever.

It's a similar effect to the solution discovered by V.S. Ramachandran to alleviating phantom limb pain: In his work the brain is fooled into thinking it's getting sensory inputs from a missing limb by an optical illusion with a mirror, and the mental side-effects of this relieve pain. The work challenged the existing medical thinking that damaged severed nerve endings were the cause of the pain.

In the Swedish case, Prosthetic limb users were subjected to a different visual trick: Someone visibly touched the artificial hand while out of the patient's sight their arm stump was being stimulated. Apparently the illusion is very convincing, and the deep psychological basis for the effect was further demonstrated by subconsciously-induced sweating when the "rubber" hand was pricked by a needle. The results suggest that the artificial hand has been completely adopted into the user's body image at a neurological level.

The research team sees this as evidence for a possible new way of connecting up future prosthetic limbs sensor-equipped hands to a patient, and it's potentially a much simpler solution than having to directly couple electronics into the nervous system surgically. And since the illusion is similar to Ramachandran's study, there's a possibility that phantom limb pain may also be reduced.

The research into the more mechanical aspects of SmartHand have produced an amazing thought-controlled product that's ever-evolving, with the goal of totally replacing a missing forelimb with a sophisticated robot. But it's not alone: in the US there's Dean Kamen's robotic limb project.

This device is already so sci-fi-ishly sophisticated it's been dubbed the "Luke arm" after the artificial limb given to Luke Skywalker in the Star Wars movies. Kamen's project is concentrating on developing the motorized engineering and nerve-input interface--it's directly wired into patient's nerves to control its motors--but has already shown remarkable results. Famously one test subject felt so much at ease operating the arm that he was able to rest a mug on a nearby table without watching, and carrying on a conversation at the same time.

Kamen's work was initially aimed at replacing limbs lost by soldiers on duty, but the Luke arm and SmartHand suggest that limb-loss victims of all types, through accidents and as civilian war casualties, have amazing artificial limbs to look forward to in the future. They'll work just like the real thing, maybe even being stronger, and they just might feel like they're a natural part of the body. But the costs will have to be driven down from multi-million-dollar levels.

[via Medgadget]