The Royal Navy’s NavyX autonomy accelerator team and private companies Malloy Aeronautics and Planck Aerosystems have been testing the potential for heavy-lift Minerva drones to locate and aid sailors that have fallen overboard until help can arrive. On even the smallest boat, hearing the cry of “person overboard” is something you always hope is just another practice drill. Finding and […]
Royal Navy Tests Rescue Potential For Drones
Wearable Tracker Prevents Drowning Among Kids
Although there will never be a substitute for parents’ watchful eyes while their children are swimming, eyes can sometimes miss things. That’s where the Wave system is designed to come in, by sounding an alarm if kids stay underwater too long. The Wave setup consists of a Hub device that sits beside the pool (or lake, river or ocean), along […]
Hyper Port’s Containers To Be Transported At Hypersonic Speeds
Hyperloop Transport Technologies has presented an ultra-high-speed shipping port logistics system it says can shift up to 2,800 containers a day, covering hundreds of kilometers in minutes – while decreasing emissions wherever it’s rolled out. The whole thing would be like a giant cargo-carrying version of the pneumatic tube systemsthat once blasted thousands of messages around every hour, back when […]
Orbital’s O2 Floating Turbine Exports Clean Power
Following the official launch of “the world’s most powerful tidal turbine” in April, Orbital Marine Power has announced that the O2 has started grid-connected power generation at the European Marine Energy Centre in Orkney. After being manufactured in Dundee, Scotland, the floating turbine was towed up to Orkney in June, before being anchored in the fast-moving waters of the Fall […]
Hydrogel Brain Implant
Among other things, brain implants are capable of stimulating specific neurons, and of delivering medication to specific regions. An experimental new implant could overcome a common limitation of others, by transforming from rigid to soft states. Existing implants incorporate devices such as electrodes, which are typically fairly stiff. The brain tissue that those electrodes are inserted into, on the other […]
Beach Blanket Fits Into Backpack
If you’re the beachy type, you might own a beach blanket, a sun shade, and a couple of hammocks. The Shadeeco system combines all four in one kit, that can be carried in a custom-designed backpack. Arizona-based entrepreneur Michael Graham invented Shadeeco (pronounced “shade-echo”) after finding that traditional beach umbrellas were awkward to carry, and difficult to securely set to […]
Solo Stoves
Since starting out with small backpacking stoves way back in 2011, Texan outfit Solo Stove has continued to build out its catalog of fire pits and grills to go with them. The company has now introduced a new cast-iron grilling system designed to fit snugly over these fire pits to turn them into camp-style cooking stations, while using a clever […]
Reinkstone Paper Tablet
China’s Reinkstone has launched a 10.1-inch color e-paper tablet that runs on Android 11, which offers the kind of reading and doodling experience of the excellent Remarkable 2, but with the added draw of color. After using the PocketBook InkPad Color recently, trying to read comics or magazines on a grayscale e-reader just looks… wrong. That said, though electronic ink […]
Bizarre Sci-Fi Purifier Mask
It looks like something straight out of dystopian sci-fi, but then here we are. Biotlab has presented a neck-mounted wearable that provides you with a range of magnetic face shields, and a personal supply of HEPA-filtered, UV-sterilized air. The Air-Ring drapes around your neck, with the guts of the device at the back and battery arrays resting down your chest. […]
Verdi Creates Home Decor From Natural Fibers
Interior design is a culmination of many things, not the least of which is culture. Mix in the desire for sustainable, fair-trade textiles and other decorations that are made from non-toxic materials and you’ll find a Colombian company called Verdi, rich in history yet innovative in design. Verdi began in 1995 when Carlos Vera Dieppa began exploring techniques to make […]