Gadget That Turn Scrap Paper Into Pencils

Chinese industrial designers Chengzhu Ruan, Yuanyuan Liu, Xinwei Yuan and Chao Chen have come up with an awesome concept allowing you to transform scrap paper into pencils. There’s not much you can do with paper after you’ve written (or printed) both sides of it. You could use it to wrap stuff up you intend to store or throw away, but that’s about it. But if the LiteOn pencil maker ever gets made, then you can actually use it to make pencils.

It’s a concept that winds up the otherwise useless paper so tight that it forms the body of a pencil. Just feed spare paper it into the machine, wait a while, and voila! You’ve got a brand-spankin’ new customized pencil, ready for you to use. Of course, the lead will be brand new, but I think that’s a pretty easy material to source and feed into the machine. If that's not enough to sell it, it also has a fancy pencil sharpener built in.

Tigra Sport BikeCharge Recharges Your Phone as You Cycle

Tigra Sport has released it’s latest device called BikeCharge, and with BikeCharge, you can easily charge your smartphone via USB port while you’re cycling. In order to charge your smartphone, you have to attach dynamo to your wheel and place the phone on dedicated mount on your handles, and you’re good to go.

BikeCharge won’t charge your phone as fast as a wall socket, but it will provide enough power to use GPS and music on your smartphone at the same time.

If you like cycling, BikeCharge might be perfect for you, and as for the price, BikeCharge dynamo is priced at $99.99, while the dedicated mount costs $60, and it is sold separately. You can use any third party mount or even make your own.

Camera Powered by Android

Recently Samsung has unveiled its brand new Android-powered GALAXY Camera that allows the user to only to take quality images, but also surf the Web wirelessly over Wi-Fi, 3G or 4G networks and share the shots in an instant.

The device boasts a 23 mm, 21x optical zoom lens (F2.8), along with a 16.3-megapixel CMOS sensor, optical image stabilization technology, GPS and a 4.8-inch (121.2mm), HD "Super Clear" LCD display.

Of course the most impressive thing about the camera is the fact that it features a 1.4 GHz quad-core processor that helps run Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean). The device can also be connected to Samsung Galaxy smartphone and tablet.

Another impressive feature is voice control of zooming and shooting features. The use will also be able to edit photos and videos onboard.

Currently no information has been given on pricing and release date. Below you can find additional specs for the GALAXY Camera.

-> 4.77-inch, 308 ppi HD Super Clear Touch Display
-> ISO100 - 3200
-> 8 GB on board memory plus micro SDHC/SDSC/SDXC memory slot
-> Full HD video 1920 x 1080 at 30 fps
-> Slow motion movie capture (720 x 480 at 120 fps)
-> HDMI video output
-> Dimensions: 128.7 x 70.8 x 19.1 mm
-> Weight: 305 g

Now Control Your Car With A Wink or Nod

How about a car that works at your nod and wink? Engineers have come up with a whole new way driving using just facial expressions after creating a gadget that controls a car's functions using nods and winks.

The infra-red sensor is mounted on the dash board and recognises the driver's facial expression to control the car. A computer concealed inside the car translates the gestures which corresponds to a list of commands for the radio, Sat Nav, heating and mobile phone.

The gestures, which are being tested before they are finalised, include a wink to turn the radio and music player on and off. The technology is meant to be able to differentiate between an accidental blink and a wink by the length of time of the action before turning the radio on or off.

Drivers can nod left to turn the volume up and right to turn it down while a tap on the steering wheel to skip the station or song. Motorists can even make a phone call by making the 'lifting the receiver gesture' with their hand and dial by saying the name of the person they wish call.

Motorists can even control the air conditioning and heating by raising and lowering their left hand above the gear stick which has another computer sensor mounted inside. The technology means drivers would be able to control the functions inside the car without being distracted from the road.

Engineers from global infotainment specialists Harman have created a prototype car which could hit the roads in two years time.

Hans Roth, director of technology at Harman, said: 'It’s all about reducing distractions in the car. If you don’t have to take your hands off the wheel or look down then it’s obviously safer. We are still testing a list of gestures which could be standard for all cars across the world.'

CAR CONTROL GESTURES

These basic gestures are being testing around the globe to find the ideal system that can be used in countries around the world:

Wink - To turn the radio on and off.
Nod left - Turn the volume up.
Nod right - Turn the volume down.
Tap finger on steering wheel - Skip radio channel or song.
Left hand up (above gear stick) - Turn the heating on.
Left hand down (above gear stick) - Turn the air-conditioning on.
Phone gesture - To make a call.

Smartphones To Have Computing Power Of Desktops

Battery operated mobile devices like smartphones and tablets are still lagging behind laptops and desktops in sheer computing power.

An Israeli researcher, however, is tweaking their RAM to bring them on par with their bigger cousins, so that they can run various programs just as smoothly and simultaneously, even with a tiny battery.

Elad Mentovich, doctoral candidate at the Tel Aviv University, is relying on carbon molecule called C60, to build a sophisticated memory transistor that can both transfer and store energy, eliminating the need for a capacitor (energy storage device).

"When this new technology is integrated into future devices, you will have much more memory on your smartphones and tablets, approaching the level of a laptop. With that kind of memory, you'll be able to run applications simultaneously, and because it is low voltage, power consumption will fall and battery life will be longer," said Mentovich.

This molecular memory transistor stores and disseminates information at high speed - and it's ready to be produced at existing high-tech fabrication facilities. Major companies have already expressed interest in the technology, says Mentovich.

Solar-Powered Roads to Solve the Problem with Snow-Covered Highways

Places where people often witness an abundant amount of snow in winter face a serious problem linked with roads. Billions of dollars are spent each year to remove the snow and repair the roads damaged by the weather.

In order to solve the problem, a researcher named Rajib Mallick proposed solar powered road systems. The systems would store the power of the sun to help clear streets and possibly provide an alternative source of electricity.

Mallick's idea is to embed pavement with fluid-filled pipes. The fluid, which would be resistant to freezing, would be heated by the sun and stored in an insulated chamber. When ice and snow hit the roads, the heated fluid could be released to melt the snow. The heat from the fluid could also be used to provide electricity to nearby buildings.

The project's cost is estimated at $12,500 for every 50 meters of pipe, plus annual maintenance costs of $1,000. But Mallick tells the system could pay for itself in six months while also providing enough electricity to heat 55 homes for one month a year.

Aerographite - The Lightest Stuff Ever Made

It looks like a wisp of smoke or even the work of a very confused spider, but this is actually a close up of the lightest material that has ever been created.

Lighter than air? Nearly. A newly developed substance called Aerographite is now the lightest material in the world, constructed of 99.9 percent air.

Previous record holder for lightest stuff ever made includes aerogel, which was used by NASA to collect dust from a comet with a density of just 1 milligram per centimetre cubed. That was recently beaten by the metallic microlattice, which upped the stakes to 0.9 mg/cm³. This metallic material is also nearly 1,000 times thinner than a human hair. Now there is aerographite, which easily smashes the previous record. With a density of less than 0.2 mg/cm³.

Researchers at the Hamburg University of Technology and the University of Kiel, both in Germany, made it from a network of hollow carbon tubes grown at nano and micro scales. As the electron microscope picture above shows, it is mostly empty space, though if you held a clump in your hand, it would look like a black sponge.

Its sparse nature means aerographite can be compressed by a factor of a thousand, only to spring back to its original size. The material can also support 35 times more weight than the same mass of aerogel. Aerographite's ability to conduct electricity means it might also find a use as part of an ultra-lightweight battery.