Articles in Science
Quadrocopter lurks mid-air, shoots video or peeps
Maybe this NicoletoMK Mikrokopter Quadrocopter is not trendy enough to be controlled by an iPhone like that Parrott AR.Drone we saw at CES, but it's powerful enough for its four rotors to lift a 1.1-lb camcorder. You can either control it with its sophisticated remote or program it to lurk in the air autonomously, dutifully sending video back to you from its lofty perch according to your own preprogrammed flight plan.
This is no toy, created for professional videographers to ...
Maybe this NicoletoMK Mikrokopter Quadrocopter is not trendy enough to be controlled by an iPhone like that Parrott AR.Drone we saw at CES, but it's powerful enough for its four rotors to lift a 1.1-lb camcorder. You can either control it with its sophisticated remote or program it to lurk in the air autonomously, dutifully sending video back to you from its lofty perch according to your own preprogrammed flight plan.
This is no toy, created for professional videographers to ...
Ben-Gurion University’s wall-climbing robots scale defenses, haunt nightmares, stain faux-finishes (video)
We've seen plenty of prototype mechanisms for autonomous dealies that can scale the straightest of walls, but never have we seen so many gathered together into what can only be called a festival of disconcerting feats of robotic ingenuity. One uses magnets, one has little claws, and one uses integrated hot glue guns that would leave you with no doubt that something sticky had ...
We've seen plenty of prototype mechanisms for autonomous dealies that can scale the straightest of walls, but never have we seen so many gathered together into what can only be called a festival of disconcerting feats of robotic ingenuity. One uses magnets, one has little claws, and one uses integrated hot glue guns that would leave you with no doubt that something sticky had ...
Study Suggests There’s a "Texting While Walking" Epidemic Too [Texting]
![Study Suggests There’s a "Texting While Walking" Epidemic Too [Texting]](http://itoptech.com/wp-content/themes/iTopTech/scripts/timthumb.php?src=http://itoptech.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/9505c48da5exting.jpg.jpg&w=80&h=80&zc=1&q=100)
Forget the grisly effects of texting while driving for a moment, if you can. Instead, focus on a new epidemic, one that's admittedly much sillier than the driving one, but no less dangerous. Ladies and gents, meet texting while walking:
Slightly more than 1,000 pedestrians visited emergency rooms in 2008 because they got distracted and tripped, fell or ran into something while using a cellphone to talk or text. That was twice the number from 2007, which had nearly doubled from 2006, according ...
Forget the grisly effects of texting while driving for a moment, if you can. Instead, focus on a new epidemic, one that's admittedly much sillier than the driving one, but no less dangerous. Ladies and gents, meet texting while walking:
Slightly more than 1,000 pedestrians visited emergency rooms in 2008 because they got distracted and tripped, fell or ran into something while using a cellphone to talk or text. That was twice the number from 2007, which had nearly doubled from 2006, according ...
3 Million Square Feet of Robotics For Sale [Robots]
![3 Million Square Feet of Robotics For Sale [Robots]](http://itoptech.com/wp-content/themes/iTopTech/scripts/timthumb.php?src=http://itoptech.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/aa0e828138ction2.jpg.jpg&w=80&h=80&zc=1&q=100)
If you've always dreamed of taking over the world with an army of robots, but your plans have stalled due to your characteristic procrastination (or lack of robots), this, my friends, is your time to act.
The robots in this 3 million square foot factory in Newark, Delaware used to make cars for Chrysler. But I don't think they'll complain if you put them to work for more nefarious ends.
The auction is being held by the University of Delaware, who bought the Chrysler plant and all ...
If you've always dreamed of taking over the world with an army of robots, but your plans have stalled due to your characteristic procrastination (or lack of robots), this, my friends, is your time to act.
The robots in this 3 million square foot factory in Newark, Delaware used to make cars for Chrysler. But I don't think they'll complain if you put them to work for more nefarious ends.
The auction is being held by the University of Delaware, who bought the Chrysler plant and all ...
ThermaHelm ice pack helmet saves lives and frozen peas
A British man has designed a helmet that could save the lives of bikers and the military. The ThermaHelm is a carbon-fiber lid with two lightweight chemical packs — one water, the other ammonium nitrate — built into the lining of the helmet. In the event of impact, the contents of the two packs mix together, triggering a cooling reaction.
Jullian Preston-Powers thought of the idea after he and a friend hurt themselves during a basketball game. ...
A British man has designed a helmet that could save the lives of bikers and the military. The ThermaHelm is a carbon-fiber lid with two lightweight chemical packs — one water, the other ammonium nitrate — built into the lining of the helmet. In the event of impact, the contents of the two packs mix together, triggering a cooling reaction.
Jullian Preston-Powers thought of the idea after he and a friend hurt themselves during a basketball game. ...
Google Mobile Searches Get Optimized Based on Location [Google]
![Google Mobile Searches Get Optimized Based on Location [Google]](http://itoptech.com/wp-content/themes/iTopTech/scripts/timthumb.php?src=http://itoptech.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/b84a229990naware.jpg.jpg&w=80&h=80&zc=1&q=100)
Google's location-aware features can feel creepy at times, but in the case of mobile searches they can make life a heck of a lot easier. Queries made from most mobile devices can now include suggestions optimized for your current location.
The basic idea is to reduce how much you need to fumble with your phone and give you the most relevant query suggestions possible. Let's say I'm sitting around in Tampa, Florida and searching for a museum. It's more likely ...
Google's location-aware features can feel creepy at times, but in the case of mobile searches they can make life a heck of a lot easier. Queries made from most mobile devices can now include suggestions optimized for your current location.
The basic idea is to reduce how much you need to fumble with your phone and give you the most relevant query suggestions possible. Let's say I'm sitting around in Tampa, Florida and searching for a museum. It's more likely ...
Magnetism! [Image Cache]
![Magnetism! [Image Cache]](http://itoptech.com/wp-content/themes/iTopTech/scripts/timthumb.php?src=http://itoptech.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/eea38fb10dxus_01.jpg.jpg&w=80&h=80&zc=1&q=100)
Science visualization doesn't get much awesomerer and old school than this, really. We should put a bunch of these together near the North Pole, to keep the Russians from stealing it. [Thanks David Keyes]
Science visualization doesn't get much awesomerer and old school than this, really. We should put a bunch of these together near the North Pole, to keep the Russians from stealing it. [Thanks David Keyes]
Indoor Personal Mobility Robot rides like a Segway
The Indoor Personal Mobility Robot isn't the first robotic wheelchair we've seen, but it's decidedly the most Japanese-looking. Just look at those cutesy eyes!
Developed by the University of Tokyo as a prototype for what could later be the real deal, the Indoor Personal Mobility Robot should be familiar to anyone who's spent some time on a Segway, though here you're sitting down. The seat of the wheelchair has sensors in it so that it knows when someone is ...
The Indoor Personal Mobility Robot isn't the first robotic wheelchair we've seen, but it's decidedly the most Japanese-looking. Just look at those cutesy eyes!
Developed by the University of Tokyo as a prototype for what could later be the real deal, the Indoor Personal Mobility Robot should be familiar to anyone who's spent some time on a Segway, though here you're sitting down. The seat of the wheelchair has sensors in it so that it knows when someone is ...
Best of the Rest: Kevin’s Picks of 2009
Halo Wars
Yeah, that's right, Halo Wars. I've already caught enough flak for putting this on my best-of list for 2009 (it's hard to even remember that it came out way back in February), but it deserves to be recognized ... so pay attention once your laughter has died down. Ensemble Studios (RIP) proved that you could bring a real-time strategy game to a console, and still make it enjoyable. Sure, you'll never have 1:1 parity mapping everything ...
Halo Wars
Yeah, that's right, Halo Wars. I've already caught enough flak for putting this on my best-of list for 2009 (it's hard to even remember that it came out way back in February), but it deserves to be recognized ... so pay attention once your laughter has died down. Ensemble Studios (RIP) proved that you could bring a real-time strategy game to a console, and still make it enjoyable. Sure, you'll never have 1:1 parity mapping everything ...
Expose Fake Boobs Using Only a Flashlight [Party Tricks]
![Expose Fake Boobs Using Only a Flashlight [Party Tricks]](http://itoptech.com/wp-content/themes/iTopTech/scripts/timthumb.php?src=http://itoptech.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/d0fe0ea0852K.flv.jpg.jpg&w=80&h=80&zc=1&q=100)
The gals at Jezebel have stumbled onto the party trick of the decade: How to detect breast implants using only a flashlight. While it may not exactly be an entirely scientific method, it most definitely looks fun.
This is apparently an unaired clip fromThe Real World/Road Rules Challenge and the gal teaching everyone the implant-detection trick supposedly had one of her implants bust at some point. Youch! While I feel sorry for her, this is still one party trick that I can't ...
The gals at Jezebel have stumbled onto the party trick of the decade: How to detect breast implants using only a flashlight. While it may not exactly be an entirely scientific method, it most definitely looks fun.
This is apparently an unaired clip fromThe Real World/Road Rules Challenge and the gal teaching everyone the implant-detection trick supposedly had one of her implants bust at some point. Youch! While I feel sorry for her, this is still one party trick that I can't ... 
![Fleshbot Reviews the Real Touch, a Video-Synchronized Masturbator [Sex]](http://itoptech.com/wp-content/themes/iTopTech/scripts/timthumb.php?src=/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/e036aa3577ltouch.jpg.jpg&w=80&h=80&zc=1&q=100)
![BarMax iPhone App Might Actually Be a Bargain at $1000 [App Store]](http://itoptech.com/wp-content/themes/iTopTech/scripts/timthumb.php?src=/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/6d0c72691cbarmax.jpg.jpg&w=80&h=80&zc=1&q=100)
