The brain’s ability to quickly visually interpret our environment requires such an enormous number of computations it is pretty amazing that it accomplishes this feat so quickly and with seemingly little effort. Coming up with a computer-driven system that can mimic the human brain in visually recognizing objects, however, has proven difficult, but now Euginio Culurciello of Yale’s School of Engineering & Applied Sciences has developed a supercomputer based on the human visual system that operates more quickly and efficiently than ever before. Read More

Smart homes of the future will automatically adapt to their surroundings using an array of sensors to record everything from the building’s temperature and humidity to the light level and air quality. One hurdle impeding the development of such intelligent homes is the fact that existing technology is still power hungry and today’s wireless devices either transmit a signal only several feet, or consume so much energy they need frequent battery replacements. Researchers have now developed sensors that run on extremely low power thanks to using a home’s electrical wiring as a giant antenna to transmit information. Read More

The lads behind Diaspora, the open source decentralized alternative to Facebook, have announced the public release of its source code to developers. The group of four students from NYU’s Courant Institute wanted to give users complete control of their details and content in response to privacy concerns regarding Facebook. Upon releasing the source code the developers say, “this is now a community project and development is open to anyone with the technical expertise who shares the vision of a social network that puts users in control.” Read More

Molecular machines that seem to "walk" in living organisms transporting proteins between cells are the subject of a new study by University of California, Riverside researchers who hope to find out more about how these remarkable machines behave, in a development that could lead to important breakthroughs in medicine and the manufacturing of electronic devices. Read More

Back in 1984, Craig Henderson and Bill Green built a one-of-a-kind super fuel-efficient car called the Avion. In 1986, it set the Guinness world record for fuel economy by averaging 103.7USmpg (2.27L/100km) while driving from the Mexican to Canadian borders. Unlike most autos from that era, the Avion is still on the road... and breaking its own records. In October 2008, Henderson and Green achieved 113.1mpg (2.08 L/100km) on a 263-mile (423 km) trip in the US Pacific Northwest. Then, this August 29th, they departed from Blaine, Washington (adjacent to the Canadian border) and drove 1,478 miles (2,379 km) to the Mexican border. They used just 12.4 US gallons (46.94 L) of diesel and set a new record of 119.1mpg (1.97L/100km). Read More

Just as a successful TV show can yield spin-offs, apparently so it is with mobile phones. Looking to capitalize on the success of its HTC Desire, which launched earlier this year to positive reviews, HTC has unveiled the Desire HD and Desire Z. The Desire HD features a larger 4.3” display and is the first phone to be powered by the new 1GHz Qualcomm 8255 Snapdragon processor. Meanwhile, the Desire Z is a QWERTY slider and is the first to be powered by the 800MHz Qualcomm 7230 processor. In addition to the new hardware, HTC also announced an enhanced HTC Sense experience centered around a new HTCSense.com service that lets users backup, lock, locate and wipe data from their phone remotely. Read More

Nestled amongst ten new products launched by Elonex at IFA 2010 were a threesome of eTouch tablet computers. Powered by the company's own ARM-based LNX processor and running on the Android platform, there are a couple of 7-inch (17.78 cm) models and a 10-inch (25.4 cm) version – all with backlit touchscreen displays, 2GB of storage and Wi-Fi connectivity. Gizmag visited the Elonex booth to have a look at the e-Readers and tablets on offer. Read More

The cloning of human viruses may sound like the stuff of biological warfare, but breakthroughs in the area are helping in the development of antivirals and vaccines for life-threatening diseases. Now Welsh scientists have made the first complete copy of the virus Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) – a common infectious disease that is responsible for congenital malformations and potentially deadly to transplant patients or HIV/AIDS carriers. Read More

Canada’s Motive Industries grabbed some headlines last month, when it announced that the body of its soon-to-be-unveiled Kestrel EV was made from a hemp-based bio-composite material. Not only are its panels impact-resistant, but bio-composites in general are said to be lighter, less expensive and/or more ecologically-sustainable than conventional composites. At the time of the announcement, the car’s appearance was being kept under wraps. As part of this week’s Vancouver EV 2010 VÉ Conference and Trade Show, however, all was revealed. Read More

The wait is almost over. From close to 500 entries representing 18 countries, the judges in this year's James Dyson Award competition are now pawing over the final 15 projects. Amongst the finalists are reader favorites as well as projects not yet featured in Gizmag. So, let's take one last look at all of the designs that have impressed the panel of experts, ahead of the winner being announced in early October. Read More