Monday, June 18, 2007

Scientists convert glucose into fuel and polyesters

Glucose has been the building block for many zany creations 'round these parts, but using the widely available substance to create "products currently created from petroleum" has some fairly far reaching consequences. Gurus at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory have reportedly "converted sugars ubiquitous in nature into a primary building block for fuel and polyesters," dubbed hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF). Aside from the obvious benefits of finding yet another renewable energy to tap into, learning to harness this power could give garb and plastic manufacturers new routes to source raw materials. So what do the creators themselves think? "The opportunities are endless" -- we say: prove it.

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Oregon Scientific Crystal Weather Station brings some flair to the forecast

Oregon Scientific has been busting out some pretty slick gear lately, and its new BA900 Crystal Weather Station is no exception. The acrylic block features three laser-engraved 3-D icons that light up in color to represent sunshine, precipitation, or cloudy skies, while the radio-controlled atomic clock in the base switches to a temperature readout with just a wave of your hand. We're hearing this thing will ship in December for about $60 -- just in time for that rain icon to be rendered totally inaccurate. [Via Red Ferret]

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WildCharger wireless charger poised for pre-order

With MIT's recent breakthrough in wireless electricity, we've been pretty hyped up on cutting the final cord that keeps our gadgets tethered to the wall and one another, so our ears certainly perked up when we learned that WildCharge's WildCharger powerpad is set to go up for pre-order. First revealed late last year, the multi-device induction charging surface is finally poised to begin taking orders come July 7th -- or 07/07/07, if you're into the whole numerology thing. Curiously there's no word yet on how much these things will set you back, but as usual, we're willing to pay through the nose to be the hippest kids on the block.

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Hybrid Mini offers 640 hp, 0-60 in 4.5 seconds

07/21/06, 06:08pm, EDT

jul21-mini.jpg

A British engineering firm has put together a high-performance hybrid version of BMW's Mini Cooper. The PML Mini QED has an output of 640 horsepower, according to PML. It has a top speed of 150 mph, a 0-60 mph time of 4.5 seconds. The car uses a small gasoline engine with four 160 horsepower electric motors on each wheel. The car employs a brake-by-wire system to recoup some lost energy under braking. The motors are able to provide ABS and traction control with guidance of the car's onboard computer. The Mini QED is a plug-in hybrid, meaning it can be charged directly from a power outlet. The car will "not be generally commercially available," according to its creators. However, the company is "interested in discussing possible one-off orders and collaborations."

[PDFs: General Info | Specs]

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Check out the Immersive Media street-scanning car

It looks like Immersive Media wanted to remove all doubt about what that street-traversing fleet of theirs really looks like. There's obviously more than one vehicle scanning in streets across the US, but now you know what to look out for -- and you little punks in the audience now realize just how tantalizing a target that little 11 camera orb on the roof really happens to be.

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