| April 2009 |
Sanguine science |
| As donor supplies remain critical, new 'pharming' technologies could create blood on demand. |
Our bodies manufacture lots of blood – nearly 50 ml of red blood cells daily – but the hospitals remain in desperately short supply. The need for blood for soldiers in war zones is even more dire.... |more| |
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Digital Clinic Q&A |
| Digital Clinic Q&A |
iPod auto control?Q My car doesn’t have a built-in iPod dock. What’s the best way to play my MP3s while I drive around? A Buy a new car. Just kidding. Some new vehicles have iPod docks; owners... |more| |
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Fly to work |
| Fly to work |
They call it the Transition Roadable Aircraft, and it’s the brainchild of the folk from Terrafugia, a Boston-based company founded in 2006 by MIT-trained aeronautical engineers and MBAs who also... |more| |
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Detroit beware? |
| Detroit beware? |
Our attention was grabbed by this unusual and beautifully engineered radial engine on display in the SolidWorks exhibition area. Unlike conventional internal-combustion engines, say its developers,... |more| |
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Dream machine becomes reality |
| Dream machine becomes reality |
This astonishing machine, known as the V-Rex, represents the fulfilment of a dream. It came about when a Fort Lauderdale bike enthusiast named Christian Travert stumbled upon concept drawings of an... |more| |
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What’s up, BUB? |
| What’s up, BUB? |
We mean no disrespect, but it needs to be pointed out that Denis “BUB” Manning, president and owner of BUB Enterprises, was unable to slip into the cockpit of the world’s fastest motorcycle for the... |more| |
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Recycling junk, saving lives |
| Recycling junk, saving lives |
A sobering fact: every year, over 4 million infants in the developing world die within a month of birth. Complications – including premature birth, low birth weight and illness – necessitate a clean... |more| |
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It’s a kind of magic |
| When thousands of 3D CAD practitioners assemble in one place to share their knowledge and showcase their designs, the results are an eye-opener |
Watching skilled 3D CAD operators at work, you might be inclined to use the word “magic”. Pointing, clicking and dragging, juggling shapes and dimensions with a dexterity that verges on acrobatic,... |more| |
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| March 2009 |
Prototype This |
| In last month’s issue, we introduced our plan to host the inaugural Popular Mechanics Inventors Conference, an ambitious annual event aimed at bringing together South Africa’s legions of inventors and innovators. To get everyone in the right frame of mind, we’re providing a taste of Prototype This, a new Discovery Channel (DStv) series that launches on 25 February. |
In a warehouse on an island in San Francisco Bay, a team of engineers and PhDs are inventing the future, one prototype at a time. From finding solutions to today’s problems to conceiving... |more| |
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Newsbriefs |
| Reports from the edge of science. |
Desktop earthquake detectors
Many laptops have tiny accelerometers that warn a computer that it is being dropped so it can protect its hard drive from impact. Researchers at two... |more| |
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