You are here

Author: admin

Other Tech 

Unique electric torque vectoring tech enters real world

admin

GKN Automotive has entered its eTwinster technology into the real world, as automakers test the torque vectoring electric drive system. The plug-in hybrid module is being showcased at the company’s Wintertest proving ground in Sweden as an all-wheel drive driveline option. The eTwinster is meant to offer automakers a combined solution for hybrid and plug-in all-wheel drive platforms. It’s a combination of the eAxle technologies GKN provides for companies like Volvo, Porsche and BMW, and the twin-clutch torque vectoring features the company created for vehicles from Ford and Range Rover.…

Read More
Transport Tech 

Too Bad You’ll Never Drive Nissan’s Razor-Like Electric Concept

admin

Over the past few years, the world has gotten to know some pretty cool electric vehicles: ludicrously quick Teslas, solar-powered planes, sport bikes with Italian styling. To add to the pile, Nissan now introduces the BladeGlider, a Zeus juice-powered razor blade on four wheels. Released in Rio de Janeiro this week, the prototype version of a concept Nissan first showed in 2013 is a 268-horsepower sports car with a heart of green, powered by a 220kW lithium-ion battery. The BladeGlider comes with rear-hinged dihedral doors (because conventional openings have no…

Read More
Transport Tech 

Proterra Catalyst XR electric bus delivers 258-mile range results

admin

One of the biggest limitations of electric buses is range. Now, though, a US company has eked out over 250 miles (402 km) from one of its electric buses. The Proterra Catalyst XR is said to afford the best efficiency rating ever for a 40-ft (12-m) transit bus, at 22 mpg (12.8 l/l00 km) equivalent. Electric buses are already in use in, or due to roll out to, a number of major cities around the world, including Gothenburg and London. Despite this, the technology is still relatively embryonic and so continues to be…

Read More
IT 

Facebook Is Ready To Replace TV News

admin

For some, scrolling through a Facebook News Feed is the modern day equivalent of clicking through television channels with a remote control. That analogue is about to become a bit more explicit: ABC News announced Monday morning that it will use the social network to stream live video coverage of the 2016 presidential election 24 hours a day during the Republican andDemocratic National Conventions. ABC will program video content specifically for audiences on Facebook. On Monday, for example, ABC’s “This Week” broadcast a live, 12-minute interview with Trevor Noah of “The Daily Show” via the social network. Facebook…

Read More
Medical Tech 

Jabra Elite Sport Wireless Headbuds with Heart Rate Monitoring, Activity Tracking

admin

Jabra, the big name in headphones and headsets, is releasing a pair of wireless earbuds that continuously measure the user’s heart rate. Designed for athletes, the Jabra Elite Sport are essentially an advanced activity tracker, earbuds, and a Bluetooth communication device all in one.   Jabra-Elite-SportThe heart rate tracking technology is called PerformTek, and was developed by Valencell, a company out of Raleigh, North Carolina. It uses an optical emitter and detector to notice tiny changes in the reflected light as blood moves through the capillaries of the ear.  …

Read More
Transport Tech 

India Marks Success in First Reusable Spacecraft Test

admin

The Indian Space Research Organisation is entering the next generation of space travel. The ISRO on Monday successfully launched its pint-sized Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV-TD) prototype from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, according to an announcement from the space organization. The first test flight marks a milestone for ISRO, which started developing its concept for a reusable launch vehicle  nearly a decade ago. Miniature Rocket The RLV-TD is just 23 feet tall, and weighs about 1.75 tons. For comparison, SpaceX’s Falcon 9 launch vehicle stands 224 feet upright, and weighs over 600…

Read More
IT 

AMD’s new Radeon RX 480 GPU aims to make VR affordable

admin

Getting VR-ready requires a pretty beefy rig, and there’s usually an equally-beefy price tag attached. AMD is looking to lower that barrier with the US$199Radeon RX 480 graphics card. That $199 will net you the 4GB edition of the Radeon RX 480, which AMD says packs the punch of a $500 GPU in terms of VR performance. With this price point the company hopes to drive up adoption rates of VR, encourage developers to create more content for the platform and drive down the costs of VR-ready computers and equipment.…

Read More
Medical Tech 

Nanotechnology sunscreen filters out dangers

admin

Current commercial sunscreens use compounds to filter out damaging ultraviolet (UV) light, but these agents can have adverse effects as they penetrate past the surface skin into the bloodstream. The agents have been found in human breast tissue and urine and are known to disrupt the normal function of some hormones. Also, the exposure of the UV filters to light can produce toxic reactive oxygen species that can damage cells, tissues and DNA, potentially causing cancerous tumors. A team of bioengineers and dermatologists at Yale University in New Haven, CT,…

Read More
IT 

New detector overcomes key challenge in using light for wireless communications

admin

Today’s high-speed wired communication networks use lasers to carry information through optical fibers, but wireless networks are currently based on radio frequencies or microwaves. In an advance that could one day make light-based wireless communications ubiquitous, researchers from Facebook Inc.’s Connectivity Lab have demonstrated a conceptually new approach for detecting optical communication signals traveling through the air. The team described the new technology, which could pave the way for fast optical wireless networks capable of delivering internet service to far-flung places, in Optica, The Optical Society’s journal for high impact research.…

Read More
Medical Tech 

Novel 3-D “Smart” Sutures for Wireless Collection of Biological Data

admin

The field of smart wearable systems has just gotten a boost thanks to researchers from Tufts University.  A team of engineers has developed a novel 3-dimensional thread-based diagnostic platform that, when sutured into tissue, collects a range of real-time diagnostic data wirelessly, including pH, glucose levels, temperature, stress, strain, and pressure.  Physical and chemical nanosensors, microfluidics, and electronics integrated into various types of conductive threads, including cotton and synthetic fibers, are connected to a wireless electronic circuit.  The result is a suture that can penetrate tissue, sense various factors in…

Read More