So this is not as much of a gadget as it is an awesome progression in technology.
Dubai-based Agricel have developed a farming system that requires no soil and only a tenth of the water of normal farming.
The film is a sort of hydromembrane which allows the passage of roots, nutrients all the good stuff that plants need. The membrane also hinders pathogens from entering the plants, which is key to healthy agricultural produce.
The idea in itself is useful in parts of the world, where water and hygiene is scarce. This could revolutionize agriculture in third world countries.
Weekend is upon us, and for most of you this means getting a beer after work, getting one extra for the other leg and possibly a lot of rejections from other patrons, due to the amounts of saliva that you've just formed in your mouth after the 6th beer in half an hour. You will probably wake up saturday and think "what the hell did I do last night?", then log on to facebook and relive the moments. If you think this will never apply to you, open this blog tomorrow and read this: "I told you so!".
If it still doesn't apply, fool's on me.
But I digress, let's take a look at that ice cold beer you're going to enjoy tonight:
Imagine the cool beer standing there in front of you. The foam is just about the right size, the temperature is chilling, without being too cold. You grab the beer, take a sip, talk to your friends.. and then everything goes wrong; the beer is tepid and the foam is all gone. The rest of the beer is just not that interesting.
Kirin, the japanese beer brewery, heard that their customers had the exact same problem as us, so they made a machine that freezes beer in its foamy form and then added it to the chilled beer, like softice into a cone. The result was consistent foam and chilled beer for a longer time without having to dillute the beer with ice cubes.
Genius in its purest form. A big pint raised to you Kirin, from beer-lovers around the world!
A commenter on the facebook page asked me to elaborate on the cover photo we are currently using on the fan page's timeline, so here it goes:
The LED Eyelashes, created by Soomi Park, were designed somewhere before 2010. The LED eyelashes were introoduced as "a product that speaks to many Asian women's desire for bigger eyes". The eyelashes are controlled by a tilt sensor, allowing you to control the lights by tilting your head. Electronics are stored in a set of headphones.
Question time: If technology allows these LED eyelashes to be elegantly designed, would this take flight in modern fashion, in your opinion? Comments below.
So, last month I came across the Necomimi ears. Cat ears on a ribbon bow, that respond to brain waves; every cos-players must-have! The idea was to have an external organ to communicate changes in mood, attention and stress levels. Since the developer was based in Japan, naturally this external organ was shaped as cat ears.
Today I found out that they actually managed to launch a retail edition, which first launched March 15 at the price of approx. $149,99, according to the developer, NeuroWear.
Question time: In your opinion; would you prefer a world where everybody could get a read on your emotions?
(Feel free to elaborate in the comment section below.)
Here's the concept video from NeuroWear, showing the features of the Necomimi. Enjoy!
Have you ever tried using a headset with your phone? If you have, you've known the irritation of when you accidently got something stuck in the wiring and the headphones just pop out. That's why the experienced headset user made the switch to a wireless bluetooth unit.
Bluetooth headsets are neat little things that keep the wires away, but stop me if this doesn't sound familiar:
They're ugly.
To make a long text short I recently stumbled upon this headset, which with a gentle twist transforms into a beautiful little ring or vice versa. It's old news from 2009, but I think this is what headsets should aim to be like: Versatile and simple.
So; Wearable Tech. Technology you can wear. We're not talking about GORE-TEX or some other textile with rain-deflection capabilities. We're talking about intelligent clothing and accessories with capabilities beyond the run-of-the-mill raincoat, hoodie or ribbon bow.
For instance, take this hoodie from ThinkGeek. It is not in production as it was an April's fool prank, they played on their nerdy clientele, but the idea is AMAZING! (by my opinion any way). To express oneself with LED-powered magic spells is a dream come true for any guy familiar with MMORPGs or LARP.
