NASA twin spacecraft to map the inner Moon

The US space agency plans to launch two unmanned spacecraft Thursday that will chase each other around the Moon as they use gravity measurements to draw an unprecedented map of its inner workings.

Known as the GRAIL mission, or Gravity Recovery And Interior Laboratory, the satellites will launch together on a single Delta II rocket as early as 8:37 am Thursday (1237 GMT), when the launch window opens.

Researchers hope GRAIL will answer some of the mysteries about the far side of the moon, which humans have never explored, and also shed light on how other rocky planets like Earth, Venus, Mars, and Mercury may have formed.

"GRAIL is a mission that will study the inside of the Moon from crust to core," said the 500-million-dollar project's principal investigator Maria Zuber.The project is part of NASA's Discovery program, which has launched 10 spacecraft since 1992 to study the solar system.

Zuber noted that the Moon has been amply studied since the dawn of the space age in 1959, with a total of 109 missions of various kinds.Twelve humans have stepped foot on the lunar surface, and 842 pounds (382 kilograms) of rocks and soil have been brought back to Earth for further study.In addition, three science satellites are currently orbiting the moon, she said.

After GRAIL, the US space agency plans to launch its Mars Science Laboratory in November on a nearly two-year journey to the red planet. (AFP)

iPhone 6 Concept

Now we’re looking far more than the Verizon iPhone and iPhone 5G, yes, don’t be get too excited like this designer who was able to come up with an iPhone 6 concept design already. The design seems to embodied same simple single button, much wider screen, rugged feel and majorly resolving the death-grip issue. Along with the design is a eco-boasting solar dock where you can comfortably charge your iPhone 6.

One thing is for sure, you can take this with a grain of salt, but you can tell us if you think this feasibly fit for the next generation iPhone, else tell us what you want? Source

The Intel Reader makes printed text accessible to users

While we're busying ourselves with arguing about how to replace the perfectly usable book gadget, Intel is right to point out that plenty of people, for whatever reason, can't read at all. Presenting its Reader as a necessity rather than luxury, Intel has shown off its vision for how visually impaired and dyslexic people can obtain access to the written word.

Combining a text-scanning camera with a text-to-speech engine (powered by an Atom inside) is certainly no bad idea, but as the video beyond the break will show you, Intel's execution isn't exactly stellar. The arrhythmic, robotic reading from Alice In Wonderland left us shaken, but what floored us was the $1,499 asking price. Yes, it's a customized niche device, but we reckon we could build something similar for a third of the price. Full PR and video after the break.

Ultimate Car That Can Drive Everywhere

Time for the future! Now the car which we only saw in science-fictions is about to hit the planet. An inventor has come up with a new design for a car that will drive on roads, sand, ice – and even water.The all-terrain vehicle, which has a top speed of 62mph and works like a hovercraft, can move seamlessly between different surfaces.

Female designer Zhang Yuhan, 21, created the amazing machine – called the Volkswagen Aqua – for a competition sponsored by the German car manufacturer.The vehicle’s sleek sportscar-like design incorporates four high-powered fans and integrated airbags that inflate to lift it from the ground.

A large windscreen stretches above the front seats to give a panoramic view of the landscape ahead.You enter and exit the car from a hatch at the rear of the car.Based on technology that is currently available, the Aqua uses a hydrogen fuel cell to power two motors – with zero carbon emissions.

One motor inflates the skirt around the vehicle to make it hover, while the second drives it forwards and controls its direction.There is no better form of transport than an air cushion vehicle because it travels equally well over land, ice, and water,’ said Ms Yuhan.

The mechanic design graduate, from China, added: ‘I hope Aqua will become an affordable supercar that is available to the general public one day.’The Xihua University student made the shortlist from the CDN China Car Award.The competition asked designers to come up with a ‘Chinese off-road vehicle’ with ‘go-anywhere’ capabilities.

Your Mom Can See You In Classroom

The appropriate term is ‘Big Mother’ rather than ‘Big Brother’ here.A nursery school is believed to be the first in the country to install internet-linked CCTV cameras to allow parents to keep an eye on their little ones.

Seven cameras at the Bright Futures Day Nursery in Clitheroe, Lancashire, will stream real-time moving pictures from playrooms and the garden.The video streams will be encrypted, protected by ‘multi-layered security measures’ and can only be accessed by parents with the correct passwords.

But critics say the monitoring is another step towards the surveillance society and warn the live streams are only as safe as the parents who have access to them.Daniel Hamilton, of privacy campaign group Big Brother Watch, said it was ‘sad’ the nursery had installed the equipment.

‘With each person in the UK being caught on CCTV an average of 300 times a day, it now appears that even young children can’t escape the surveillance state,’ he said.‘Of course parents want their children to be safe, but monitoring their every movement goes a step too far.’

The cameras, which go live on July 1 as part of a £40,000 refurbishment, will deliver colour images but no sound, streamed live to the NurseryCam website.The nursery says it will help parents feel more secure and allow them to ‘participate’ more in their children’s activities.Parents will even be able to log in using their smartphones.

‘Parents can check in on their children, and because there’s been nurseries in the news over safety concerns, it protects our staff with accusations,’ said nursery owner and manager Jasmine Cross.

Paperphone: A Phone with a Flexible Electronic Paper Display

PaperPhone is the world’s first nextgen, thin film smartphone and interactive paper computer. It is based on a 3.7″ flexible electrophoretic (E Ink) display that does not consume electricity when it is not refreshed. Thinfilm sensors allow the phone to respond to bending of the screen to navigate pages in ebooks, play or pause mp3s, make phone calls, or navigate apps. A flexible wacom tablet allows users to draw on the screen with a pen as if it were a sheet of paper.

The Solar-Powered Bikini

New York-based designer Andrew Schneider spends about 80 hours each week stitching photovoltaic mini-panels into bikini forms with conductive thread. If you think you’d like an iKini (that’s right–an iKini), be prepared to drop about $200 for the custom-fitted swimsuit.

Each suit comes equipped with four hidden pockets for carrying anything from a cell phone to an iPod to… something else that needs charging. And if you’re worried about getting your iKini wet, don’t be–as long as you make sure the suit is dry before plugging in your device. “You wouldn’t even feel the charge,” says Schneider.

Photo Credit : Caters News 

The Flexiphone by Philip Pearce

This mobile phone is completely flexible due to the technology behind it… it uses a grapheme touch screen being grapheme based makes it essentially indestrucable the battery has been created by NEC which is an organic radical secondary battery it’s slim, flexible and has a high-speed charge which is it’s key feature of only taking 30 seconds to maintain a full charge. the phone is also waterproof and the main speaker and keyboard can be removed for ease of use.

Source

Portable Video glasses (40 inch Display)

Functions:
Advanced Micro LCOS screen, no radiation, no eye injury
light and portable structure, only 48g;With patented anti-fatigue technology, super cool feeling.
Perfect illustration of the end product: Ipod / Iphone / 3G Mobile phone/ Video / VCD / DVD / Mp4 / Car DVD player / HDD player/ computer and any display terminals which with TV / AV out functions, support digital TV and portable display devices.
Play games: connect with PS2/ PS3 / XBOX / WII game pad or any other game consoles
Watch TV shows when connected with TV set ,TV tuners or boxes
(Like DVB-T, TV mobile phone)
Unique non-spherical optical system pair 320 * 240 (QVGA) /400*240 (WQVGA) resolution display with users left and right eyes;
Virtual Image size: 40 inch from 2 meters or 60 inch from 2 meters;
Two video Standards options: NTSC / PAL
2.0 channel hi-fi stereo sound effect
Using environment-friendly materials, human engineering design, people who wear glasses are not affected, and can also wear goggles (Included)
Low power consumption,LV-QB01 can be used for 4 hours when battery full recharge

Specifications:
Resolution: QVGA 230K 320*240 4:3 40 inch from 2M
WQVGA 308K 400*240 16:9 60 inch from 2M
Video Standards: NTSC/PAL
Image input: AV-in
Channel:2.0 channel hi-fi stereo (1W*2)
Operating temperature:0°-40°
Viewing angle:35 degree Contrast ratio:100:1
Play time:4 Hours
Adaptor Power input :100-240V,power output:5V/1A
Power:3.7-5.5V
Power consumption:0.4W
Weight:48g

HP LIM Glass computer

The HP LiM (Less is More) concept is set to feature a 19″ transparent touch OLED screen along with a wireless keyboard. The touch screen slides down to create a more ergonomic touch experience and easy navigation.

Help Readers device

This device converts text to audio, helping you in case you have eye problems or because you’re infected with the laziness virus. in

Geist Projector

We’ll keep on going with the balls issue but this time it’s about a projector. The mobility of the projected image is given by the levitating ball that sustains itself in the air with the help of electromagnetism.

Newspaper of the future

Nowadays people try to find alternatives to using paper and they come up with interesting solutions. We already saw the eRoll in this article and tablets like iPad are made in a lot of variations today but Seon-Keun Park and Byung-Min Woo came with a different idea.

Bracelet phone

Concept phones are becoming very popular these days. The stranger their shape is, the more popular they get. Probably that’s why this bracelet phone got so many fans or because it has a round dialer on it, like in old land phones.

Wind circle

This will surely start a lot of discussions with your house guests but besides that it will also cool the air in the room. Yeah, it does that too…

MU SPACE

Listening music in bed with your headbuds in your ears can be really annoying and it appears that Yuan-Hao Hsu and Lin Tzu Hsuan have figured that one out. The result consists in a mp3 player pillow that will help you relax when taking your nap.

Folding-out Laptop

The Transformers wallpaper on this laptop says it all. This laptop transforms into a mega-laptop as soon as you unfold its keyboard.

eRoll, "The future of e-reading"

eRoll could be the future of e-reading, along with iPad and another gadget that will be presented in this article. If you don’t want it to read ebooks on it, you can use it as a self defense weapon.

Bio Robot Refrigerator

The Bio Robot fridge cools biopolymer gel through luminescence. It might look stinky and sticky but it’s actually an odorless gel that envelopes the food.

QWERTY Keyboard For iPhone

Surely, this sounds like a dream come true. The Iphone is everywhere and probably a lot of you have it encountered the typing problem. With this tiny little qwerty keyboard you can type fast and accurately.