Scientists at Tsinghua University in Beijing have just perfected a process by which nanotubes can be coaxed to emit sound, allowing for the construction of ultra-thin, transparent, flexible ‘speakers’, demonstrated above affixed to a waving flag. Unlike normal speakers, which produce sound with direct vibration, these sheets produce sound with wildly fluctuating temperatures that create pressure oscillations in the surrounding air. In other words, these nanotube speakers — in contrast to other forays into flat sound production — don’t vibrate at all.
This crazy, crazy “Flatmobile” is going to enter the Guinness books as the flattest vehicle ever. How flat is it? Nineteen inches. I think that’s about how flat we’d be if we laid on our backs (depending on what’s on our minds and what we ate for lunch). Not only is this Batmobile-like contraption dangerous, it’s extremely dangerous—creator Perry Watkins shoved a gas turbine jet engine on the butt. It’s also supposedly street legal, but we wouldn’t want to be in it during a rollover. Or when the jet turbine catches fire because the AFTERBURNER FAILED. See that video after the jump. [Flatmobile via Nexus 404]
At Giz, we’re in the habit of introducing new products every day, and in the world of gadgetry, specialty kitchen products are a dime a dozen. Today, though, I was taken by surprise by the simplest of inventions: a flat, barbecue-style toaster. When I spotted the Fagor TP-2006 X (with “acoustic warning device”) on Appliancist today, not only did the form of it surprise me, but—after a little Googling—so did the fact that the flat toaster is not a new concept:
