Printing a bicycle with a 3D printer

The BBC explores how industrial 3-D printers can go from a nylon plastic powder to any conceivable shape. At this U.K. factory, engineers try to produce a ready-to-ride.bicycle in one go.

J-Lo promotes 'finger break-dance' app game

A Hollywood-backed app company partners with Jennifer Lopez for a new dancing game that's like Dance Dance Revolution for your fingers. Get ready for a ton of pop culture. Word.

(Credit: Bratopoulosm)

Time to get your rhinestone glove on and let your fingers do the walking -- or dancing in this case.

The Hollywood-backed app Dance Pad makes its debut Thursday on the iPad, with pop icon Jennifer Lopez as its cheerleader.

The title, a rhythm dance game for smartphones, involves hitting the right beats with your fingers, much like the popular dance game Dance Dance Revolution (where you actually dance with your feet).

The app, originally the brainchild of several USC students who were inspired by finger break-dancing videos on YouTube, has the benefit of star power. Besides J-Lo's massive fame, the app's promo video features break-dancing crew Jabbawockeez of America's Best Dance Crew fame.

Dance Pad is the first app to come fromMoonshark, a Hollywood-backed app publisher that wants to usher Hollywood into the new era of gaming with original content created with celebrities.

Moonshark CEO Matt Kozlov said he sees Dance Pad as an app that can garner the same kind of cult following that DDR has inspired. DDR fans run tournaments and hold exhibitions of their skill on the arcade machine.

"We want to create a community where people dress up (their hands) and film themselves dancing and post it to YouTube, post to Facebook," he said, adding that the company plans to do promotions to encourage the sharing of videos. App users who participate would be able to win a meeting with some of the artists featured on the app, which doesn't include Lopez, yet.

Kozlov said the company is still working on including her songs in the future, but for now, he's happy to have her as a partner for DancePad.

"Jennifer loved the game, we love Jennifer -- she's an icon in music, dance, and popular culture," Kozlov said.

The app will include 30 different bands and artists, including The Bangerz, retro soul singer Mayer Hawthorne, throw-back rock band Vintage Trouble, and DJ-singer Blaqstarr.

Dance Pad

(Credit: Moonshark)

Started in 2011, Moonshark came from the Creative Artists Agency's incubator program (the same program produced comedy video site Funny or Die), and seems to be a reflection of Hollywood's readiness to get into the mobile entertainment business. The company is also backed by Qualcomm.

Kozlov said mobile apps are a ripe medium for content creators because they take less time to develop and produce and there's a large audience thanks to the rise of smartphones.

"You can develop a great game in six months and you can reach a lot of people," he said.

He pointed to successful franchises like Rovio's Angry Birds -- which has merchandise and has long-form content in the making -- and Draw Something, which is about to be a TV show.

"We think there are lots of different types of content that would work in mobile," Kozlov said. "We're really excited about the potential for creativity in this space for all genres."

Other projects Moonshark is embarking on include stars of all kinds -- comedians, comic book creators, and directors.

Moonshark is working with John Woo, who has directed films like "Face/Off" and "Mission: Impossible 2" to create an action adventure game, and with YouTube star Philip DeFranco to create a "charming photo app that is really funny."

T-50: Russia's secret fighter jet with 'human intellect.'

We can expect a real breakthrough when the Russian-Indian collaboration on the creation of a fifth-generation prototype aircraft based on the experimental T-50 starts to become a reality.

A fifth generation combat aircraft has taken to the air in Russia. This plane is as yet unnamed it is just known as the T-50. Following its maiden flight earlier this year, the aircraft has now reached the flight testing stage.

Traditionally fighters are divided into generations, but often one aircraft combines characteristics of both current and future machines. Generally speaking, the first generation includes the subsonic jet aircraft which appeared after the Second World War and which has cannon armaments (MiG -15 and the MiG-17 are best known examples of this type).

In terms of appearance, the T-50, or as its still known the PAK FA (Perspective complex of front aircraft), is similar to the Raptor. But it may turn out to be much better and more economical. 

It is impossible to compare the features of the two aircraft, since everything to do with the T-50 is still classified information. But there are a few things that can be discussed. With its supersonic cruise speed, the Raptor can enter a combat zone quickly. 

But what's next? Then it has to transfer to subsonic speed so as to be able to open the doors of the armament store and utilise the missiles which are hidden in the belly of its fuselage. 

Russian aircraft designers were the first in the world to manage to solve the problem of opening the armament store doors and releasing a missile when in supersonic flight.

As far as the electronic 'brain' is concerned the avionics of the fifth generation are also of a high quality, and at the moment they are being tested on the Su35 and the MiG-35.

F-22 Rap­tor - 5th Gen­er­a­tion Fight­er Air­craft

...

pub­lished: 22 Jul 2009

From Italy, indoor hydroponic rotary garden fits on a shelf

DesignLibero’s Green Wheel is a micro rotary garden enabling apartment residents to grow their own without the need for a garden.

Innovations that enable city-dwellers to grow their own plants and food have been coming thick and fast over the past couple of years, with new ideas such as spiral-shaped growing environments helping to maximise the use of space. Now, DesignLibero’s Green Wheel provides a rotary garden compact enough to fit on an indoor shelf, with aesthetics to match.

In order to allow astronauts to have access to fresh produce while on long space missions, NASA developed the rotary garden as a way to grow herbs and leaves without soil. Using the same technology, the Green Wheel is a relatively miniature version that can be housed indoors. While previous versions have been bulky and definitely look like a complicated piece of equipment, Italy-based DesignLibero has streamlined the aesthetics of the system so as to make it an attractive appliance for the home. The company aims to make the device an “iconic object” and thus has taken cues from the iPod with its plain white outer case, which hides the engine that rotates the plants, as well as a water reservoir and a pump which automatically irrigates the system. The organic matter gets its light from a strip in the center of the system as well as a ring around the outside. Users of the Green Wheel can also manage their gardening using their smartphones or tablet devices through an app which allows control of temperature and light levels and warns if water levels are low.

Much like Urbio’s magnetic indoor gardens featured on these pages recently, the Green Wheel could be implemented in apartments, offices or other green-less city spaces to brighten up the environment or provide a way to grow food. As for food businesses in urban areas – could this cut down on outgoings and improve your environmental footprint?

Website: www.designlibero.com

Flying car launches in the Netherlands

The PAL-V ONE is the first car and Gyroplane hybrid to be successfully tested, enabling drivers to travel on roads or through the air.

The concept of a flying car has long been a feature in popular visions of the future, but has never really come to fruition. Now, however, the PAL-V ONE has become the first car and gyroplane hybrid to be successfully tested.

While innovative hybrids have been the subject of some of our previous articles – take the amphibiousSealander for example – the PAL-V ONE is the first to combine automobile design with gyroplane technology to create a land-air machine that apparently attains the comfort of today’s land-dwelling cars. The three-wheel slimline car, which utilizes ’tilting’ technology to make the driving experience similar to a motorbike, features gyroplane blades fitted to the top of the vehicle. Users will need to drive to the nearest airfield to take flight, however the PAL-V ONE has short take-off and landing requirements and can get into the air at fairly low speeds. Once in the sky it can reach up to 112 miles per hour and is designed to operate at 4,000 feet or lower — the designated space for non-controlled flights — meaning that it does not interfere with commercial flights. Users will need a driver’s licence and a Sports Pilot Licence in the US or a Recreational Pilot Licence/Private Pilot Licence in Europe. The vehicle will go on sale for USD 300,000 when it hits the market. The video below demonstrates the PAL-V ONE in action:

According to Wired, the PAL-V ONE is also joined by the Terrafugia Transition, a “street airplane” which is being demonstrated at the New York International Auto Show this week. Could this be the future of both the automotive and aeronautical industries?

Website: www.pal-v.com

Eddie Obeng says that the pace of change is out growing the pace of learning! 

This is big issues. I suffer from learning overload these days and it's my job to see and forecast what's next and what comes after what comes next.

‘The world is changing much more rapidly than most people realize, and creative output cannot keep up. In this spirited talk, he highlights three important changes we should understand for better productivity, and calls for a stronger culture of 'smart failure'.'

 He says,

'We spend our time responding rationally to a world which we understand and recognize, but which no longer exists.'

Link to TED lecture.