Gizmag News - Heavy metal concept bike with green cred

Welcome to the newsletter for gizmag Emerging Technology Magazine. These are the headlines for December the 29th, 2009. Heavy metal concept bike with green cred Jordan Meadows is best known for his automotive work such as the Award-winning Kaan, Mazda Kiyora and Mazda Furai, but his portfolio includes some remarkable work such as the Hellfighter VTOL aircraft and Hydroplane Racer concepts.. His latest concept is the Metalback cafe racer motorcycle, fashioned to exist where substance and sustainability meet speed and style. The engine is a V4 diesel running on environmentally-friendly bio diesel fuel, while the frame and skin are crafted from recycled aluminum. Read More Microscopic 'ants' can transport objects inside a microchip A collaboration between MIT, Boston University and German researchers has produced a new system that could be soon used to move tiny objects inside a microchip. The system is self-assembling, can be controlled via software and can transport particles up to 100 times the size of the beads carrying them. The objective is to give scientists new insights as to how cells and other objects are transported by tiny cilia throughout our bodies. Read More Aerodynamic long tail improves fuel efficiency 15 percent While windtunnels have long been employed in aerospace and all forms of race engineering, we’re likely to see them employed more frequently in future in the quest for improved fuel efficiency from our automobiles. Ecomodder.com’s Darin Cosgrove recently added this 1.37 tailpiece to his Pontiac Firefly to improve its drag coefficient from 0.34 to 0.23 and its fuel efficiency by 15.1 percent at 90kmh (56mph). Read More ChotuKool: the $69 fridge for rural India Is this the world’s cheapest refrigerator? Launched by Indian conglomerate Godrej and Boyce, ChotuKool's $69 price tag is not the only reason it can be called super economical. The portable, top-opening unit weighs only 7.8kg, uses high-end insulation to stay cool for hours without power and consumes half the energy used by regular refrigerators. This is a product that has crossed several technological barriers and is designed to cross several social barriers as well. Read More The bewildering Minitopz PC from Artopz We’ve seen some weird and wacky PC designs in our time, but few are as surreal as the Minitopz range from US firm Artopz Technology. The fusion of art and computing is entirely a subjective one, so we won’t cast too many opinions on the actual design, but what is intriguing here is that the Minitopz range has chosen the humble desk lamp as the subject of its hybrid. Read More GoPro HERO Wide action cam goes high-def In the past few years, several companies have started selling tiny, rugged, inexpensive “action” video cameras designed to be mounted on wild-n-crazy vantage points such as mountain bike helmets, hang-gliders or even model rockets (yes, it’s been done). Up until recently, however, a common complaint about these cameras was that their lenses weren’t wide enough to capture all the action. That problem was squarely addressed with the autumn 2008 release of a new camera, the GoPro HERO Wide. Now, GoPro has gone one better by introducing a High-Definition version of that same model. Read More Biomass Plant planned for UK This British biomass power station concept is one of the many projects being proposed around the globe as the search for renewable energy sources continues. The visually stunning Teesside plant will be covered with greenery, provide fuel for over 50,000 homes and be powered by palm kernel shells. Read More Japan's Ameba Pigg blogging platform poised for Facebook launch In the English speaking world, the free blogging platforms that stand out from the crowd are Google's Blogger and Wordpress.com. While those services are also popular in Japan, a particularly strong homegrown contender is Ameba.jp., which is now looking to tap into a global audience by launching as a Facebook app. More than just a blog platform, Ameba is unique in the way it has socialized blogs via a virtual online community - Ameba Pigg. Yes, it's an odd name... But it is Japan after all. Read More New sensors protect priceless paintings in transit Valuable paintings that are shipped or loaned to museums or other destinations around the world will soon have unusual traveling companions for their long journeys – sensors that can detect the buildup of pollutants within their specially-designed shipping crates. Occasionally, adhesives and other chemicals within the crates can breakdown and the fumes can damage the works of art. But the new sensors, developed by scientists at the Fraunhofer Institute for Silicate Research ISC in Würzburg, Germany, will detect these dangerous substances and help avoid the treasures being damaged. Read More Windows Mobile 6.5 reviews are in: better, but not good Recent mobile coverage at Gizmag HTC Dragon to put Android on the Snapdragon chipset? HP Mini 311 gets benchmarked App Store hits two billion downloads AT&T launches MMS support for the iPhone 3G and 3GS The Vertu Constellation Ayxta: yours for just 4,900 Euros BlackBerry Desktop Software for OS X coming very soon NTT's TOUCH WOOD concept phones Intel's Core i7 Mobile processors bring desktop performance to the road If you would like to refer this newsletter to a friend or colleague, please point them at our free subscription page. 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