Just like Harry Potter's invisibility cloak, Marty Mcfly's hoverboard, featured in "Back to the Future" Part II and III, has captured the imagination of both fans and scientists. But despite numerous claims, no one has been able to replicate the flying skateboard that bounced off walls and easily outpaced cars. Now thanks to US-based ARCA Space Corporation, hoverboards may finally become a reality....
Read news articleWith the increasing popularity of drones as toys and potentially even for commercial delivery, researchers are going all out to build cooler and more sophisticated quadcopters. However, none can compare to the Loon Copter, which not only flies like a bird, but also swims like a fish!...
Read news articleAccess to electricity has always been sketchy for the 173 residents of Nuevo Saposoa, a remote village in Peru. S.America. However, things went from bad to worse in March 2015 after a flood damaged the few power cables in the area. The villagers were forced to turn to kerosene lamps, which are not only expensive but also dangerous because of the toxic fumes they emit....
Read news articleIt is the beginning of a new year. This means that most of us have a lengthy list of goals laid out for the next 365 days. Facebook's founder Mark Zuckerberg is no exception. While his past resolutions have been mundane challenges like reading two books a month, meeting a new person every day of the year and mastering Mandarin, this year the Internet mogul has a loftier goal. He wants to build his own version of Tony Stark's (AKA Iron Man's) digital assistant and closest friend, Jarvis (Just A Rather Very Intelligent System)....
Read news articleTwo years ago, Jeff Bezos, the founder, and CEO of retail giant Amazon Inc. announced that the company would soon be introducing Amazon Prime Air - A new 30-minute delivery service using unmanned drones. Timed to coincide with the country's biggest online shopping day - 'Cyber Monday,' the news generated a lot of excitement among consumers. Unfortunately, thanks to the U.S. Federal Aviation Authority (FAA), the service has yet to 'take off!' But Amazon has not given up....
Read news articleAmerican Sign Language (ASL), has been one of the primary means of communication for the deaf in the United States and many parts of Canada since the 1800s. It is estimated that between 500,000 to 2 million people use the language on a regular basis....
Read news articleIn case you missed it, Wednesday was 'Back to the Future Day.' For those not familiar with the trilogy, in Back to the Future II, the film's protagonists Marty McFly and Doctor Brown travel 30 years in the future to the fictional city of Hill Valley, CA, to save McFly's yet-to-be born children. The date of their arrival, October 21st, 2015, has since been eagerly awaited by fans all over the world....
Read news articleAn invisibility cloak might be easy to come by if you are a young wizard like Harry Potter, but developing such a device for the real world has proven to be a challenging task for scientists. Over the years, there have been numerous attempts. While each version has been slightly better than the previous one, none has come even close to the original 'created' by J.K. Rowling....
Read news articleProsthetics have come a long way since the first known artificial limb - A wood and leather toe was created for an Egyptian noblewoman nearly 3,000 years ago. However, though they have certainly become increasingly sophisticated and nimble they remain extremely expensive, not to mention very industrial looking....
Read news article