FutureWire: The ability to direct and transmit electrical power through the air, without wires, took a further step from the theoretical to the practical in June when a group of MIT researchers demonstrated their “WiTricity” concept. The technology works by transmitting electricity as a magnetic field oscillating at a specific frequency. Through “magnetically coupled resonance,” the “receiver” can capture the […]
Wireless Electricity
Free Phone Shopping
Iconoculture: Tired of sifting through the bargain bins for a great deal? Try Slifting instead. Slifter is a free mobile phone application that enables users to search for products at both online and brick-and-mortar retailers. Simply key in your zip code and Slifter does the searching part of shopping for you. The program has a database of more than 85 […]
Chew For Babies
Iconoculture: These pendants by Smart Mom Jewelry look good enough to eat, which is the whole idea. Colorful heart- or donut-shaped pendants of food-safe, phthalate-free, federally approved silicone adorn the mom and satisfy her teething baby at the same time. The company also sells matching bangles and keychains in its Teething Bling line. It’s all about convenience for busy moms. […]
Be Fit or Pay
Iconoculture: Americans are apparently a determinedly unhealthy lot. Despite nudging, hinting and suggesting that we eat healthier and exercise more, up to 70% of illnesses are lifestyle-related. BeniComp Advantage health insurance company seeks to lower healthcare costs by reducing the number of claims, figuring that if their members take responsibility for their health, they won’t go to the doctor as […]
Green Labels
Trendwatching: UK supermarket Tesco plans to introduce carbon footprint labels on all 70,000 products it sells to allow shoppers to compare carbon impacts. Implementation will take a while: the company is currently investigating how to develop a “universally accepted and commonly understood” measuring system. What works for bananas, works for eggs. Aptly naming their site wheresyoursfrom, UK-based Chippindale Foods was […]
Ace Test With Warcraft Manga
Iconoculture: Good news for manga-loving teens: Reading Warcraft can help you pass the SATs. Kaplan Publishing has partnered with TokyoPop on a manga series designed to give kids a leg up on the verbal part of the dreaded test. Psy-Comm, Von Van Hunter and other full-length graphic novels in the series are studded with highlighted words commonly used in SAT/ACT […]
MIT’s Annual InvenTeams
Businessentrepreneur: Evans was suffering a stroke that day five years ago. It robbed him of his ability to walk and speak. But a device developed by a team of high school students now allows Evans, of Los Altos Hills, Calif., to use a laser pointer to do basic tasks with a turn of his head. The “Laser Finger” was one […]
Fresh Air
Gizmodo: Hospitals and germ freaks rejoice! English tech company Inov8 (sounds a bit ravey, doesn’t it?) has come up with the Air Disinfection unit, or AD. It recreates fresh air, which is a key factor in killing microbes, without the need for opening a window in the operating theater. Any surgeons or hospital staff reading, that was a joke, by […]
Self-repairing Plastic
Futurewire: Researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) have developed a nanotechnology polymer that can “heal” itself by filling in cracks and tears automatically. Although self-healing plastic is not an entirely new concept, the UIUC material is different because it can repair itself multiple times without any intervention. The material could have important uses where making repairs is […]
Healing Waters
Iconoculture: While Coca-Cola is busy trying to come up with the perfect mix of pure and healthy for the anti-corn-syrup crowd, the folks at Aqua Tan think they’ve stumbled on the cure for what ails Coke, and just about everyone else on the planet. The healing water comes from the cave of Massabielle, where a young girl claimed she saw […]