Archive for February 23rd, 2012

(Credit:
Obayashi)

Japanese construction company Obayashi wants to build an elevator to space and transport passengers to a station about a tenth the distance to the moon.

The elevator would use super-strong carbon nanotubes in its cables and could be ready as early as 2050, according to Tokyo-based Obayashi.

The cables would stretch some 60,000 miles, about a quarter the distance to the moon, and would be attached to Earth at a spaceport anchored to the ocean floor. The other end would dangle a counterweight in space.

The elevator would zip along at 125 mph, possibly powered by magnetic linear motors, but would take about a week to get to the station. It would carry up to 30 people.

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Up above, the space station would have living quarters and lab facilities. Solar panels connected to the station would generate electricity that would be transmitted to the ground.

NASA has also investigated space elevators, awarding $900,000 in 2009 to … [Read more]

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Whurley from Chaotic Moon Labs takes a ride on the Board of Imagination.

(Credit:
Chaotic Moon Labs)

Remember the Board of Awesomeness, the Kinect-controlled motorized skateboard from CES? Well, it just got more awesome.

The creator of this high-tech board, Chaotic Moon Labs, has come up with a new version called the Board of Imagination that works by reading your brain waves. That’s right, a mind-controlled skateboard. You simply imagine where you’d like to go and how fast you want to get there, and the Board of Imagination will take care of the rest.

It’s powered by the same 800-watt electric motor and Windows 8-enabled Samsung tablet as the Board of Awesomeness, but it adds an emotive headset to read your thoughts to set the board in motion.

To wrap our heads around how it all works, Crave talked with Whurley (like Prince and Cher, it’s just Whurley), general manager of Chaotic Moon Labs, to learn more about the technology behind the Board of Imagination. We also plan to go for a ride on the board soon (I’m going out to buy my crash helmet now), so definitely stay tuned for more.

Q: Can you explain how the emotive headset reads and translates your brainwaves? What’s the technology behind it?
Whurley: Simply put, the hea… [Read more]

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With a 4.7-inch display, the LG is anything but small

(Credit:
LG)

We haven’t even left for Mobile World Congress yet and LG just keeps the news coming.

On the heels of the LG Optimus Vu, Optimus 3D Max, and the three L-Style handsets, the company also has confirmed the Optimus 4X HD.

The press release was in Korean, but thanks to Google Translate we got a rough, but very promising, look at its specs. And even if something was lost in translation, it’s clear that the 4X HD should be at the head of LG’s Optimus pack.

On the outside, we’ll see a 4.7-inch display with an 1280×720-pixel resolution. That’s a massive display that knocks on … [Read more]

Related Links:
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With a 4.7-inch display, the LG is anything but small

(Credit:
LG)

We haven’t even left for Mobile World Congress yet and LG just keeps the news coming.

On the heels of the LG Optimus Vu, Optimus 3D Max, and the three L-Style handsets, the company also has confirmed the Optimus 4X HD.

The press release was in Korean, but thanks to Google Translate we got a rough, but very promising, looks at its specs. And even if something was lost in translation, it’s clear that the 4X HD should be at the head of LG’s Optimus pack.

On the outside, we’ll see a 4.7-inch display with an 1280×720-pixel resolution. That’s a massive display that knocks on … [Read more]

Related Links:
Pair of unknown LG Androids found ahead of Mobile World Congress
LG goes big with 5-inch Optimus Vu
Quad-core smartphones: This is their year
LG Optimus LTE smartphone hits 1 million in sales
Plenty of new phones could land in Barcelona

(Credit:
Video screenshot by Bonnie Cha/CNET)

Fans (present company included) flipped out when Mattel announced that it would release a 1:1 replica of the hoverboard from “Back to the Future II” and “Back to the Future III.” However, the replica doesn’t actually float, and it’s not even clear how it glides over surfaces, which is perhaps why one enterprising individual took matters into his own hands.

Inspired by an art exhibition by Nils Guadagnin, YouTube user dondula7 created a floating hoverboard using an electromagnetic kit. Dondula7 notes on his YouTube page that his replica is still a work in progress, and he’s hoping to build a better display to hide the magnets.

Also, this isn’t quite ready for human use, as the board is only capable of supporting up to 5 pounds in weight. Still, it’s a pretty neat DIY project in our book, and it even got a shout-out on the “Back to the Future” Facebook page. No word yet on whether it has to power to float on water.

[Read more]

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