Crave

(Credit: University of Leeds)

Engineers in England have come up with a product to save a few bob for those who work in semi-dangerous occupations--cement body armor.

The vests combine "super strong" cement with recycled carbon fiber, making the vests tough enough to withstand most bullet calibers, according to researchers at the University of Leeds' School of Civil Engineering.

Currently, top-of-the-line bulletproof vests are made with alumina plates--the raw material used to make aluminum--through a costly process called sintering, which involves heating the material for up to two weeks at 1600 degrees Celsius to harden it.

The cement vest, on the other hand, would offer a cost-effective level of protection for people in semi-risky occupations short of full-on combat.

"By using cement instead of alumina we are confident we can deliver a cost-effective level of protection for many people at risk," said research team leader Philip Purnell. "It should be good enough for people like security guards, reporters, and aid workers who are worried about the odd pot shot being taken at them."

(Credit: Japan Trend Shop)

For a mere $39, the Body Check Ball sounds like a dodgy proposition in terms of claiming to calculate your body fat. More so when it states that it can measure your bone density and muscle ratio, all by holding this in your palms. No "Om" chant necessary.

Instead, true to its Japanese origins, the Body Check Ball employs good old technology. A pair of electrodes pass currents from your hand to the ball, which then churns out your health stats onto the LCD panel. Amazingly, this stores up to 10 user profiles and even sports a clock and alarm. Get out of here.

The only hiccup is the four AAA-size batteries, which will cost you more than AA batts and hold less of a charge.

(Source: Crave Asia via OhGizmo)

Smokers beware: the coughing ashtray is an annoying dose of reality.

(Credit: Perpetual Kid)

Want to annoy the nicotine addiction out of your smoking friend or family member? A battery-operated gadget named the "Screaming Coughing Ashtray" might just do it.

Though it's sold as a "fun" way to help people quit smoking, the gift giver might be the only one laughing. The $11 lung-shaped ashtray not only reminds smokers which body part is most adversely affect by smoking, but whenever a cigarette sits in it, it starts coughing and screaming.

Though the annoying ashtray could simply be thrown out a window, those who are sincerely trying to quit smoking could keep it around knowing they'll be subject to its awful noises if they give in to a craving. If the subtle e-cigarettes don't work maybe this screaming therapy will. I know what my brother will be getting for Christmas...

(Credit: Amazon)

If there's a gadget that symbolizes urban living, it might well be something like the "BodyGard Survivor."

As its name implies, this handheld item from Swiss Tech serves as a personal security device that will fire off a high-decibel sonic alarm and flash ultra-bright LEDs when activated by the panic button, according to Gadget Grid. The survivor half of the equation comes into play with its compass and hand-cranked generator, which can be used to power a cell phone or laptop that's gone dead.

Of course, depending on where you live, there are other alternatives that could be more appropriate (and effective)--such as the combination of an Avurt IM-5 and a whistle.

(Credit: The Competitive Edge)

Those callous souls who gave their poor mums a Wii Fit for Mother's Day should take note: They can even the score between parents by giving a similarly subtle hint to dad this weekend. But why not be a little more creative?

Tanita is pushing its "BC-558 Tanita Ironman Segmental and Full Body Composition Monitor" as an ideal Father's Day gift. It's especially useful for those vain fathers who spend too much time at the gym and flexing in the bathroom mirror, because this scale measures the body by segments--as in arms, legs, and the trunk. It's probably equally appropriate for dads of the flabbier variety, as it gauges "segmental body fat" as well as muscle, bone mass, and metabolic rates.

For those fitness-challenged types, Tanita even makes another kind of scale that would be a perfect companion gift: a kitchen version that's sensitive enough to weight every Cheeto, right down to the crumb.

(Credit: Sweetwater Sound)

If the human ear is to survive the forces of evolution, it may not be getting any help from music.

There are already a number of technologies that use other parts of the anatomy to conduct soundwaves, most notably bones, and some would even have us singing directly from vocal chords and bypassing the mouth altogether. Now Peterson has introduced the "BB-1 BodyBeat," an electronic metronome that sends beats pulsating through the fingertip.

It actually makes some sense, especially for musicians who find themselves in venues where they can't hear themselves think, let alone play. The idea, according to Technabob, is to learn the rhythm only by feeling the device's pulses traveling through its wires "instead of listening for clicks or watching for blinking LEDs." Perhaps a future generation will provide a way to crank up the amps with a wave of the hand.

(Credit: Crave UK)

BenQ might not jump into your head when it comes to mobiles as fast as, say, Boris Johnson when you say "useless foppish toff," but it's still in the game. Its new C36 handset looks almost identical to 3's Skype handset we looked at back in October (and still use). It's a music phone with support for MP3, WAV, AMR, and good old MIDI files, has a 176 x 220 LCD display and--chickety-check this out--"health management."

No, it won't perform the Heimlich maneuver when you're choking on a granddad-friendly Werther's, and neither will it avert epic heart fails. But it'll apparently tell you your Body Mass Index and, providing you're either a woman or a bloke who should really check himself into the nearest hospital pronto, it'll give you updates on your menstrual cycle. Evidently BenQ plans to keep on the bleeding edge of technology, at least for a brief period. Bdum tsh!

You'll also have video playback, a 1.3-megapixel camera that works as a Webcam, a microSD slot and built-in stereo speakers, but only a pitifully slow USB 1.1 connection, so any MP3s you want to put on the handset will take until the next Ice Age to complete.

It'll launch in Indonesia in May, with "other countries to follow in the coming months." No word on pricing, but if it comes to the U.K., we expect it to be free on contract.

(Source: Crave UK)

(Credit: Sega Toys)

The Wii Fit may have grabbed all the headlines for combining games and exercise, but it should be noted in fairness that other companies have been working on that mashup as well. Lately their efforts have focused on physical activities for kids, whether on stationary bikes or jet skis, but maybe that's just the beginning.

The latest evidence of the trend comes from Sega Toys, though it hardly looks like something aimed at your average adolescent. The "Body Trainer" sounds a lot like Yamaha's "BodiBeat," which chooses songs that supposedly match your heart rate, though we do like the fact that Sega's versions contains all the electronics in its headset. (We could never figure out how people keep their earbuds from falling out during a workout.)

Just enter your vitals and choose a level of exercise, according to Dvice, and the Body Trainer will "adjust the pace of the music to optimize your routine." No matter how it works, we hope game companies will continue down the fitness path. After all, they certainly couldn't do any worse than the hula chair.

(Credit: OhGizmo)

When we first saw a photo of someone wearing these "Vibe Body Sound" earphones by Outi, we thought they'd been put on backward. So we didn't stare or say anything for fear of humiliating the poor sap, just as mom always taught us.

Then it turns out that it was the right way to wear them after all, because they use that body-conduction technology we keep hearing about. This pair clips to the skin and cartilage of the outer ear just above the lobe and sends the sound vibrating through the skull, according to Coolest-Gadgets.

We've seen other headgear based on the same principle, but usually the in-ear variety is reserved for underwater use. Either way, it's enough to give us a massive headache just thinking about it.