Scooter-bike hybrid
Spotted on the corner of 15th and P St., in Washington, DC, and posted on ReadysetDC. Bike of the Day: 15th + P
Bicycles
Soft-setting adhesive putty
Sugru is a lot like epoxy putty, except that it sets on exposure to air (so you don’t have to knead two different components together) and that it dries to a soft, pliable, bouncy silicone elastomer. It sticks to most surfaces and bonds especially well to metals. [via Hack a Day]
Your FedEx package is getting hot, and it’s right behind you…
“FedEx Joins the Internet of Things With SenseAware” – Richard writes – International courier giant Fedex has just released a new tracking device and web service for packages. Called SenseAware, it keeps tabs on the temperature, location and other vital signs of a package – including when it’s opened and whether it was tampered with […]
Rocket fuel from aluminum and ice
The key to the process is that the metallic aluminum is present as a nano-scale powder, and its oxidation by water thus occurs over a huge surface area and therefore proceeds very quickly, releasing amazing amounts of energy. The video starts with the acoustic mixing of the nano-aluminum with water to make a gray paste which is frozen, in a mold, to make a tubular rocket motor. It then proceeds through various test-bench firings and culminates (at 4:00) in the launch of an actual rocket using the mixture.
Cement-impregnated fabric
Although they could probably use some more exciting branding, Concrete Cloth from the UK’s Concrete Canvas company is a pretty cool idea. The cloth, which is draped over forming members and then set by exposure to water (as, for instance, from rain), has a projected lifespan of 10 years.
NEC announces universal translator … sorta, kinda
NEC announced what could be an early, real-life version of the universal translator – NEC said the Tele Scouter was intended to be a business tool that could aid sales staff who would have information about a client’s buying history beamed into their eye during a conversation. But, it said, it could also be put […]
“Bomb-proof” kevlar wallpaper
Very clever idea commercialized as the X-flex Blast Protection System, in which a high-tensile-strength composite film is applied to the inside of a masonry wall to reinforce it against lateral impact. The video embedded above was produced by Popular Science, who included the X-flex system in their 100 best innovations of 2009.