For years, scientists have suspected that drinking coffee helps lessen the chances of getting Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases. A new study indicates that this may indeed be the case, and that the darker the roast, the better it works. Led by Dr. Donald Weaver, scientists at Canada’s Krembil Brain Institute compared three types of Starbucks 100-percent Arabica instant coffee – […]
Can Coffee Finally Be Good?
Measuring Blood Oxygen Levels
Currently, if you want to measure someone’s blood oxygen levels, you have to use one of those oximeters that clips onto their finger. An experimental new system, however, is able to check those levels anywhere on the body – and that could mean big things for the field of medicine. Traditional oximeters use LEDs to shine red and near-infrared light […]
Pulped Paper For 3D Printing
With a few notable exceptions, the majority of objects removed from a 3D printer bed are fashioned using plastic. But plastic has a nasty habit of ruining our environment at the end of its useful life. Designer Beer Holthuis looked for a more sustainable alternative, and built a 3D printer that extrudes paper pulp to build three-dimensional objects. Holthuis has […]
Hybrid Airship
It was just last year that we heard about the Plimp, a sort of plane/blimp/helicopter hybrid drone manufactured by Egan Airships. As was hinted at then, the Seattle-based company has now officially announced that it’s working on a passenger-carrying variant known as the Model J. First of all, just how does the original Plimp drone work? Well, it’s basically a […]
Pedalcycle Rolls On Solar Power
Screecher – out of Yarmouth, Maine – describes its four-wheel drive, two seat, solar-powered, folding pedalcycle as fun, affordable, practical and Earth-friendly. Riders can zip up to 15 mph on motor power alone, or choose from five levels of pedal assist. The onboard battery can be plugged in for a top up, or users can park up in a sunny […]
Residential Buildings Made Up Of Shipping Containers
We’ve covered a lot of shipping container-based architecture projects but this one, by New York City and Naples-based firm Lot-ek, is larger than most. Named Drivelines Studios, it’s a residential project in South Africa that’s made from a total of 140 recycled shipping containers. Drivelines Studios is located on an awkward triangular site in Johannesburg (the city also hosts container-based […]
GameShare With Your Friends?
Sharing a game is no longer as easy as passing a cartridge of your favorite game to a friend. With so many games stored digitally, it’s become incredibly hard to navigate the endless hoops and requirements to play your games when and where you want. Thankfully, there are ways to share your games across multiple PlayStation 4 consoles, so you […]
Netflix Roulette
Are you getting tired of sifting through the same old suggestions on Netflix for the zillionth time? We all know that feeling: Scrolling through interminable rows of the same old shows and movies until fatigue begins to set in, and suddenly nothing that’s being offered looks good. If you use Netflix regularly, you aren’t likely to see a lot of new recommendations, […]
Bionic Mushroom Uses Bacteria & Graphene To Help Generate Electricity
Could your home one day be powered by patches of mushrooms? Probably not, but scientists have nonetheless created a “bionic mushroom” that does indeed generate electricity – and it may pave the way for more practical bio-electric systems. Led by Manu Mannoor and Sudeep Joshi, a team from New Jersey’s Stevens Institute of Technology started with an ordinary, living button […]
Automatically Helps To Rock Your Cradle
For parents who don’t wish to repeatedly get up in the night and rock their fussing infant back to sleep, there’s already at least one sensor-equipped baby bed that does the job for them. Sleepytroll, however, takes a different approach – it gets attached to existing strollers or beds, rocking them when it detects a waking baby. Created by Norwegian […]