This week we feature city surfing, levitating speakers, tornadoes made of light and swarms of robots that self-organize into complex shapes.
1. Vertical Take-Off Plane
This cargo plane from UK-based 4x4 Aviation is being designed to carry 30 tons of equipment and supplies. Four clusters of four electrically powered ducted fans provide enough lift for a vertical take off and landing. Once in the plane is airborne, the fans move into a horizontal position for forward flight at 200 mph. See the video here.
2. City Wave Park
A new urban attraction in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, will bring ocean sports to the city's Steigersgracht Canal. RiF010 is a wave-generating facility that will create a 14-second wave where people can surf, kayak and swim. [RiF010 website]
3. Florida Polytechnic University
The Innovation, Science, and Technology Building at Florida Polytechnic University is the latest project from renowned architect Santiago Calatrava. The 200,000-square-foot building was constructed from aluminium, concrete and glass in a way that promotes the use of natural light without overheating in the Florida sun. FPU is the a member of the state’s university system, and gets its first incoming students this Fall semester.
4. Luxury Craft
For the yacht owner who has an extra US$50,000 laying around comes the Wet Rod Personal Watercraft from luxury yacht builder, Strand Craft. The V8 engine generates 300 horsepower and a top speed of 65 mph.
5. Bottle Light
By day, this bottle filters and purifies water using the sun's ultraviolet light and by night, it illuminates dark areas. Perfect for campers. A USB port charges the bottle's battery for 10 hours of light.
6. Levitating Speaker
The Om/One Bluetooth speaker from Om Audio levitates via magnetism over a 6.3-inch base. You can get one for US$179 or donate to the crowd-funding effort on the company's website.
7. Trojan Horse
Scientists from the University of Cambridge have used nanotechnology to create a therapeutic “Trojan horse" that gets into cancerous cells and destroys them from the inside out. It starts with tiny nanoparticles made from gold, which the cancer cells do not see as a threat, and contains cisplatin, a chemotherapy drug. Once the particles are inside the cell, the area is exposed to radiation, which causes the gold to release electrons that damage the the DNA of the cells, enhancing the impact of the chemotherapy drug. In this image, the nanoparticles are green and have entered the nucleus of the cell, which is blue.
8. Light Tornado
Photographer Martin Kimbell, based in England, uses LEDs and long-exposure techniques to create tornadic swirls of light that are simply otherworldly.
9. Swarm Robots
A swarm of 1,024 tiny robots have run amok at Harvard University. Well, not quite. The collective of autonomous bots, called Kilobots, are able to work together in a way that resembles bees and ants. In experiments, the bots came together into the shape of a starfish and a letter of the alphabet.
10. Windowless Jet With Panoramic View
This concept jet has no windows and yet it provides panoramic views. It's able to do that thanks to an interior lined with high-definition digital displays. The IXION from Technicon Design uses cameras mounted on the plane’s exterior to capture the surrounding scenery and then project that onto screens on the cabin walls and ceiling. The display can also present programmed scenery when the view outside is less than captivating.
Top gif image: The Kilobots. Credit: Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, via Harvard Gazette.
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