A multinational company hopes you’ll soon be flying over water — and not just on an airplane to get there. Jetlev, a new water-powered jet pack being piloted in Dania, Fla., has the potential to fly 30 feet in the air at 22 miles per hour, making it a lot more thrilling than a water slide or jet ski.
A new spin on Theo Jansen’s Strandbeestenshould leave even the artist himself smiling. Starting with a make-your-own-Strandbeest kit from Gakken (an educational toy company), I-Wei Huang, an animator and steampunk hobbyist, put his own unique and furry twist on the design.
So far, 2011 has been full of winter storms and a whole lot of snow. And as a massive blizzard that just slammed the Midwest U.S. moves eastward, Japan might have a cute and innovative solution for scooping up all the snow.
Not only can shoveling be too strenuous for some people, such as the sick or elderly, but it can also leave massive piles of snow in roads or sidewalks.
Instead, winter storm victims could enlist the help of the self-guided robotYuki-taro, which eats up snow and then excretes little snow-bricks.
Called AutoFrost, the machine combines electronic sensors, computer programming, and precise mechanics with delicious gooey confections. Just doodle your design on a basic Microsoft Paint-like program, hit the button that says, “I’m ready to design an amazing cake,” and watch the frosting begin.
We all brush our teeth in the morning, but what if our toothpaste did more than just fight cavities?
Engineers at MIT’s Media Lab are working on a prototype toothpaste called “Tastes Like Rain” that will tell you what the weather is like outside. They came up with the idea while working on super-mechanicals, the process of taking a basic object, such as toothpaste, and giving it dynamic properties.
