Dr. Augustine Fou's Online Scrapbook

Thursday, February 05, 2009

Rice University rolls out new and improved "nanocar"

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/02/04/rice-university-rolls-out-new-and-improved-nanocar/

Nano-sized letters are one thing, but nothing impresses the nanotechnology community like creepy crawly nanotech, and some researchers from Rice University look to have fully delivered on that point with their latest so-called "nanocar." At about two nanometers in length, the new nanocar apparently doesn't represent a drastic reduction in size over the previous incarnation, but it does have the notable advantage of being able to "travel" across surfaces at room temperature (a temperature of 200° Celsius was required before). Interestingly, that breakthrough was actually discovered by accident, and was later able to be confirmed using a mix of time-lapse photography and a new tracking algorithm. As you might have guessed, however, they're still quite a ways away from being able to actually control the car, although the researchers say using six wheels instead of four could help with that, as could tracks to keep 'em going in one direction.

[Via DailyTech]

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

Rice University rolls out new and improved "nanocar" originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 04 Feb 2009 16:11:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Mission One electric motorcycle boasts 150 MPH top speed, extreme price tag

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/02/04/mission-one-ev-electric-motorcycle-boasts-150-mph-top-speed-ext/

The Mission One EV electric sports bike got a proper unveiling at this week's Technology, Entertainment, Design (TED) conference, and boy does this baby exude power. Mission Motors says the motorcycle's got an 150 MPH top speed and 100 foot-pounds of torque at any point between 0 and 6,500 RPM. That's a good deal faster than the Electric Motorsport GPR-S, which tops out at a now-paltry 100 MPH. The lithium-ion battery keeps it running for 150 miles, and charge time is targeted for under 2 Hours at 240V (8 Hours at 120V). Its stylish form factor comes from famed industrial designer Yves Behar. Yeah, we're excited, too, but here's the part where you flinch: the deathly silent super-scooter will first show up in 2010 with a 50-unit limited edition run costing $68,995 apiece. A more affordable model will be announced sometime this summer. If you've got a need for this much muted speed, be prepared to mortgage a house or two.

[Via Autoblog Green]

Filed under: Transportation

Mission One electric motorcycle boasts 150 MPH top speed, extreme price tag originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 04 Feb 2009 16:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

NEC shows off super resolution upconverting for your cell, HDTV and all in between

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/02/04/nec-shows-off-super-resolution-upconverting-for-your-cell-hdtv/

Let's face it, that low res cellphone video of last weekend's party and your Days of Thunder VHS won't be upscaling themselves, hence the sudden explosion of Super Resolution technology including this most recent entry from NEC. Claiming low power and memory requirements, part number uPD9245GJ is ready for duty blowing up images for display on your VGA cellphone or nav system without blurring, or upscaling low res sources to 1080p in a Blu-ray player or HDTV. Don't let the ridiculous soundtrack on the demo reel fool you -- recent reviews have given super resolution tech a thumbs up, and with Toshiba, Hitachi and Broadcom already in the game we've got a clue what feature will be checkmarked on your next electronics purchase.

Filed under: Cellphones, Displays, HDTV

NEC shows off super resolution upconverting for your cell, HDTV and all in between originally appeared on Engadget o! n Wed, 0 4 Feb 2009 19:52:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Progressive Automotive X-Prize competitors roundup

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/02/04/progressive-automotive-x-prize-competitors-roundup/

With about three weeks left to go, the Progressive Automotive X-Prize has already got 25 submissions (20 names have been publicly released) with creators ranging from college students to large auto makers already in the game. Here's the deal with the contest: the cars must be production-capable and fall in with federal safety guidelines, and it's got to be possible to produce and sell 10,000 of them annually, with a working business plan in place for this to happen by 2014. The car must deliver at least 100 MPGs, and CO2 emissions can't exceed 200 grams per kilometer. The prize for the competition is ten million dollars. We've seen some of these in the past -- Aptera's 2e, MDI's AirCar, and the Tata Nano are all on offer -- but there are a few new guys, too. Some of the more interesting entries are the totally rad looking diesel Avion which has gotten up to 103.7 miles per gallon, Kinetix Motors' diesel-electric hybrid E4 Sports Hatch, which should cost less than $25,000 with a top speed of 95 miles per hour. The company also claims the sporty ride goes from zero to sixty miles in 6.1 seconds. Finally, there's Physics Lab of Lake Havasu Green Giant, an electric truck that gets 50 miles per gallon on its battery, with plans to bump that figure to 100 miles per gallon using other sources of energy. Check out the gallery of other prospects, and hit the read link for the full, delicious list.

Gallery: Automotive X-Prize

Filed under: Transportation

Progressive Automotive X-Prize competitors roundup originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 04 Feb 2009 23:44:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Samsung Memoir officially brings 8 megapixels to T-Mobile

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/02/05/samsung-memoir-officially-brings-8-megapixels-to-t-mobile/

At some point, T-Mobile decided it wanted to play in the megapixel big leagues by rolling out the Motorola ZN5 and Samsung Behold, but why stop at a measly little 5 megapixels? The long-rumored t929 Memoir from Samsung has now been officially announced for T-Mobile USA's funky 3G bands, featuring a full touchscreen, TouchWiz user interface, integrated AGPS, full HTML browser, and -- of course -- that glorious 8 megapixel sensor with xenon flash. No word on pricing or availability just yet, but we're told we can expect it some time this month.

Gallery: Samsung Memoir officially brings 8 megapixels to T-Mobile