A crazy, twisting slide, a hovering drone camera and a garden barge floating in New York's harbour top this week's Tasty Tech gallery.
1. World's Tallest and Longest Slide Tunnel
The world's tallest and longest slide tunnel is scheduled to open to the public this June in London. About 584 ft long and 249 ft tall, the Slide at the ArcelorMittal Orbit has twelve twists and turns, a tight corkscrew section and a long, speedy stretch to the finish. See a behind-the-scenes video here of the construction.
2. Dyson Hair Dryer
Engineer and inventor James Dyson, whose company is known for its bagless vacuum cleaners, hand-drying products, and annual industrial design contest has a new product ready for the market: The Dyson Hair hair dryer. Lightweight, compact and silent to the human ear, it will go on sale in June with a retail price of about US$436. See a video here that explains the technology inside the appliance.
3. Floating Solar
These floating solar panels from Vienna University of Technology are lightweight and flexible enough to bob on just about any kind of water surface, where they can generate solar power for coastal communities or help power desalination plants.
4. Birdhouse Alarm
Each year, forest fires destroy large tracts of land, create air pollution and kill people. This Birdhouse Alarm from designers at Ogilvy & Mather in Madrid, is equipped with a solar-powered Arduino-based smoke detector and a phone that reports potential fires to a local fire station.
5. Lightweight Armoured Vehicle
This week, DARPA awarded a few contracts to develop a new kind of armoured transport vehicle that's lightweight, autonomous, and able to roll over just about any terrain. The GXV-T can be carried by a Chinook helicopter, has a semi-autonomous driver function and 360-degree high-definition video capable of giving crews greater situational awareness. A video here demonstrates how the vehicle could work.
6. Hover Camera
Beijing startup Zero Zero Robotic introduced the beta version of its Hover Camera, a compact, foldable drone able to capture aerial and video photography. A strong carbon fibre frame encloses the propellers, making it possible to hold the drone when it's active. The camera produces 13-megapixel stills and 4K video.
7. Luxury Submarine
Luxury ship maker, Migaloo, now has a submersible yacht for all you up-and-coming one-percenters. The two-story, 377-foot vessel has a helipad, eight VIP suites, a swimming pool, movie theatre and the ability to dive to 787 feet.
8. Yellowstone Robot
A new Kickstarter project is working to raise US$100,000 to help build a submersible robot to explore the superheated and acrid waters of Yellowstone Lake. Designed to dive to 5,000 feet, the robot will take high-def images and video as well as collect samples of sediments, water and biological material to help reveal secrets of the microbial life there.
9. Garden Barge
This summer, a garden barge called Swale will dock in Brooklyn, Governors Island and the Bronx. Growing on-board are patches of scallions, rosemary, blueberries, wild leek, radicchio, ramps, sea kale and other fresh produce that residents will be invited to harvest. Swale has a Kickstarter aimed at increasing access to fresh food in New York City.
10. Affordable EV
For city dwellers, a compact electric vehicle to get a person from here to there is really all they need. The Generation 8 SRK from Eugene, Oregon-based Arcimoto, will have a base price of US$12,000 and a top speed of 80mph. Two seats and space for cargo will make it a great little vehicle for running errands.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Please adhere to proper blog etiquette when posting your comments. This blog owner will exercise his absolution discretion in allowing or rejecting any comments that are deemed seditious, defamatory, libelous, racist, vulgar, insulting, and other remarks that exhibit similar characteristics. If you insist on using anonymous comments, please write your name or other IDs at the end of your message.