Future tech

Hydrogen is lightweight and efficient as a fuel. When it burns, you get water as the exhaust, and the fuel cell technology that burns the gas is well developed. The major hang-up has been how to produce hydrogen without needing lots of fossil-derived energy.

Apparently, the way to cheap hydrogen is through aluminum. Purdue researchers earlier this year announced they'd found a way to use aluminum to get hydrogen from water. Today a Chinese ceramicist who did graduate work in Portugal says there's an even simpler way to derive hydrogen. This process uses powdered aluminum at room temperature, … Read more

Taser International, the people who make the stun guns, and iRobot have kicked off a collaboration to develop machines for the military and police agencies that ideally will incapacitate, but not kill, suspects.

Thus, instead of sending a rookie cop into a strip club to break up a fight between a bouncer and a coked-up drummer from a heavy-metal band, the robot can do it for him.

And think of the improvements in crowd control you could achieve at those messy Greenpeace rallies.

The two companies have already integrated a Taser X26 stun gun--also known as "an electronic control … Read more

Maybe it's an extension of our latently adolescent excitement over the pending Speed Racer movie, but we've been thinking a lot about TV shows from the '60s of late, especially of the sci-fi variety. So it was only a matter of time before we got around to full-length features from the era as well.

As others have noted, obvious comparisons can be made between the microscopic submarine in the 1966 movie Fantastic Voyage and a minuscule robot that's being developed by Israeli scientists. In both cases, the vehicle is designed to travel through the human bloodstream for … Read more

Twenty teams from high schools across the United States are showing off their inventions this week during the Lemelson-MIT InvenTeams Odyssey at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology campus in Cambridge. Last fall, each team received a grant of up to $10,000 from the Lemelson-MIT Program to create a solution to a problem they chose.

The three-day event enables students to show off their inventions, which run the gamut from health, safety and environment-oriented gadgets to consumer products and assistance-offering devices.

Click above for more photos of the young 'uns and the products of their intellect.

Call me crazy...but I hate public restrooms. To be precise, drying my hands in public restrooms. Most of them I come across these days have ditched the paper towels in favor of those air dryers. Problem is, they don't do much drying at all. That leaves me to just skip 'em and just wipe my hands on my pants (hint--use the lower part near your ankles).

I've heard about the Dyson Airblade for a while now and was wondering when it would make its debut in the United States. Well, it's here, and I got to … Read more

There's no time like the present for those who have designs on the future. That's certainly the case at the International Paris Air Show, where aircraft makers have gathered to make deals and show off what they've got on the drawing board.

One company with a particularly lofty goal is Aerion, which wants to get the first supersonic business jet off the ground. The aeronautical engineering venture, based in Reno, Nev., says its plane will be able to fly from Paris to New York in just a little more than four hours--or about three hours ahead of … Read more

Swiss automotive design house Rinspeed announced a new initiative to design airplane cabins with light displays on the walls. According to its press release, Rinspeed says it can replace "clinical and plastic-orientated ceiling and side panels" with "soft-focus effect pictures and patterns, which are supported by sound and aromas". Rinspeed calls its cabin design Sensosphere. It relies on a computer-controlled electroluminescent material lining the cabin walls for the displays, and we're not really sure what it relies on for the aromas. But anything has got to smell better than the passenger in the next seat. … Read more

Good news, galactic explorers: You no longer have to pay a million bucks for the privilege to be one of the only civilians to fly in outer space--just somewhere between $200,000 and $300,000.

Europe's EADS Astrium is developing a space jet to take off in 2012 that's one of a new generation of "airplane-to rocket" vehicles, according to BornRich: It looks like a conventional aircraft but is powered by rocket engines. The "Astrium Space Jet" can even take off from regular airports, though we somehow doubt that it will go through the … Read more

If you've ever thought that planetariums would make really good nightclubs--and not just because you're nostalgic for the days of Dark Side of the Moon laser shows--you're not alone. Digital-hipster hub Flavorpill is throwing monthly parties this summer at the Rose Center for Earth and Space at New York's American Museum of Natural History, and CNET News.com was there to capture the action at the June edition (which took place last Friday). There was plenty of DJ music, dancing, and fun people--and plus, I can now tell you that it is really, really awkward to … Read more