All joking aside, there are plenty of places in the world where getting speedy medical attention is difficult. And that's where the Jaambaaro concept from designer Benoît Angibaud comes in. It's a two-person pedal-powered ambulance, designed to get the sick and wounded to hospital in areas where motor vehicles are rare. It would have solar panels to help generate some energy, and be made of locally-salvaged materials. Great idea, though I have to admit the first thing that came to mind when seeing the stretcher's blister canopy was a short dude in glasses, shouting "Choppers!"... [Yanko Design]

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The director of the TSA, Kip Hawley, has spoken to the New York Times and confirmed that X-ray-friendly laptop cases will be accepted by the agency as soon as they hit the shelves, potentially bringing an end to the panic that your laptop will go astray in all the fuss at airport checkpoints. We brought you first hints of this back in May, but it looks like the process of getting the bags approved is well underway. And both Targus and Pathfinder Luggage are hoping to have products on sale as soon as September or October.

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Let's say someone put a bomb on your bus and it can't go below 75 kph or it will explode. If that were to happen on a NYC bus you would probably be incinerated because the city has installed a new GPS device in thousands of local commuter and tourist buses. If the authorities get wind of a hijacking in progress, they can slowly stop the vehicle and prevent it from restarting via remote control. It may not work for "Speed" style situations, but for conventional hijackings, it could prove to be an effective weapon.

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At this very moment a bike is leaning against my living room wall taking up unnecessary space. A simple solution would be to replace the standard handlebars with collapsible versions so that the bike could be placed flush (more or less) to the wall. Thanks to designer Joe Wentworth, these retrofit folding handlebars would make a bicycle easier to store and more secure if locked into the collapsed position. Whether this concept will actually see the light of day remains to be seen--but it can't come soon enough for me. The last thing I need is to another groin-first trip into my exposed bike handlebars. [Tuvie]

The stroller has undergone a radical redesign with this concept by designers Dan Levin and Evan Garrett, which places the baby passenger at almost normal eye-height. The design has sprung legs for ride comfort, and the seat unplugs so you can mount it easily on your bike too. Seems like a great idea, and frees the kid from having to look at endless sets of legs or ceilings rolling by, like in many normal strollers. But I can't help but worry that it looks very top-heavy, and a topple from that height would be terrifying. Might just need bigger, badder wheels. It's a concept, so don't expect to rush off and buy one. [Coroflot via Born Rich]

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Update: Unsurprisingly, this is bunk, as confirmed by Ann Arbor officials. But hey, the concept is still… interesting.
Everybody knows that the biggest, most bustling cities in America are Ann Arbor and Detroit, Michigan. You know what they say: "If you can make it in Ann Arbor, you can make it anywhere!" That's why it makes perfect sense that there are plans underway to build an insane futuristic transport system between the two cities.

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French engineering firm Alstom unveiled its successor the the TGV today, the AGV. Standing for Automotrice Grande Vitesse, the train, which boasts an individual engine beneath each carriage, can travel at speeds of up to 360kph. Up to 700 passengers can be transported at a time, and less fuel is used, as the AGV is lighter than its elder sister and consumes up to 30 per cent less energy. More info below the gallery.

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Ross Lovegrove's Car on a Stick concept takes multi-tasking to extremes. The latest idea from the former Apple and Sony designer, who has quite a penchant for solar-powered thingies is a solar-powered transport pod that can carry up to four people, plus shopping bags, that can be stored in an ingenious fashion.

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It may be the world's fastest, a maglev bullet train capable of exceeding 500 kph (310 mph), but it feels like the world's slowest to arrive. JR Central announced today that it would deploy its maglev system in 2025 to carry commuters between Tokyo and central Japan (despite one test of the technology resulting in a crash, and the death of 23 people, last year). The cost will not be minimal either—about $50 billion—which is why the company's stock fell nearly 9% after it made the announcement. And the Japanese government can't/won't bankroll it. In the meantime, the maglev train in Shanghai may get longer and faster, and proposed projects in Germany and even the US could take off too. [AFP/SMH]

The ground-breaking GPS vs. Radar case has been decided and, much to the chagrin of perpetual speeders like myself, the Sonoma County Superior Court has ruled that 17-year-old Shaun Malone was guilty of speeding.

The court case represented the first time that anyone had contested a ticket based on the data obtained by a GPS tracking device, and it appears that the failure of the defence was due largely to the inability of either side to accurately determine when the radar gun clocked him and where the GPS tracker marked him at 45 mph. Apparently, the system took readings every 30 seconds —if these readings were more frequent, there would have been a much better case for raising reasonable doubt. My guess is that we will see a lot more of these cases turn up as the technology progresses. So all hope is not lost. [Press Democrat]