Top Stories
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Drinks-On With The World's Biggest, Baddest Bartending Robot
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Unglamorous Space Catastrophes That You'll Never See In A Movie
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How Much Would It Cost To Build The Starship Enterprise?
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Why 3D Printing Is Overhyped (I Should Know, I Do It For A Living)
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Kogan Outs Android 4.2 3D TV For Under $500
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Google Just Went And Fixed The Samsung Galaxy S4
Regulars
Grip Simulator Could Revolutionise The Feeling Of Weapons In Games
When it comes to making video games feel more realistic, Nintendo seems to be one of the industry’s leading innovators. First it introduced a vibrating rumble controller accessory for the N64, and then of course it made a buttload of money from the motion-controlled Wii. But a company called Tactical Haptics wants to steal Nintendo’s thunder with a grip-simulating motion controller that promises to accurately simulate how a sword or gun really feels in hand.
Dock Your AR Drone With The ISS And Teach A Spacecraft New Tricks
In an effort to improve autopilot systems aboard spacecraft, the European Space Agency has released a free iOS app that works with Parrot’s AR Drone and lets amateur pilots practise a simulated docking with the International Space Station.
Try Not To Imagine The Awful Ways This Virtual Water Could Be Used
A Japanese company called Solidray, which specialises in virtual reality systems, has developed a clever way to simulate flowing water using both visual and tactile feedback. And while the technology is neat, the practical applications that come to mind are a little unsettling.
This Complex 3D Heart Simulator Can Run On Just A Laptop
Supercomputers let us simulate everything from the weather, to a chess match against a master, to how the human body operates. But researchers at Japan’s National Cerebral and Cardiovascular Center have created a detailed 3D simulation of a beating human heart that can run on a laptop, allowing even small hospitals to perform research and complex diagnoses.
Monster Machines: Behold The World’s Only Category 5 Hurricane Simulator
When Hurricane Andrew rolled ashore in South Florida back in 1992, it destroyed $US27 billion worth of property. The storm was the third most destructive to ever hit the US, an outcome due in part to the insufficient building codes of the time. Structures simply weren’t built to withstand the storm’s fury. These days, Florida ensures that new construction can stand up to the next Andrew by torture-testing building materials against a massive Wall of Wind.
Skillet Simulator: Perfect Your Sear Without The Smoke Alarm
If preparing a bowl of two-minute noodles maxes out your culinary capabilities, you might want to consider a trip to the Tokyo Institute of Technology to enhance your skillset in the kitchen. Researchers there have developed a cooking simulator complete with virtual vegetables that can actually burn, and a force feedback frying pan that lets you feel the weight of a hefty steak.
Monster Machines: The Space-Faking NASA Simulator
With modern space travel now the work of private industry operating under the guidance of NASA, how do you make sure that the custom hardware running on, say, the Dragon Module interfaces with the custom hardware aboard the ISS? You bug-test the crap out of them beforehand in NASA’s Systems Engineering Simulator.
NASA’s Environment Simulation Lab Recreates Space On Earth
During the Apollo years, NASA basically made up spaceflight as it went along. Nobody was really sure what would happen to spacecraft and astronauts in the cold embrace of space. So, before exposing these multi-million dollar investments into real space, NASA subjected them to the same harsh climates — except, in Houston.
The Kids’ Battlestar Galactica Viper Simulator Flies At Last!
The kids who kickstarted a Battlestar Galactica Viper simulator project back in March actually managed to get it up and flying at Maker Faire 2012! It rotates in every direction, as anticipated. It is quite an amazing achievement.
