As the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympics Games are soon to begin, the London government is now busying with many projects to make the city good enough to welcome guests from all over the world. One of those projects is the LCD smart recycling bins built in London’s streets and public spaces. Each recycling bin features a couple of LCD screens on either side, which will display the latest news from 6 am to the mid-night every day. The bins are fitted with Wi-Fi too, so that they can offer a better and wider connectivity. Since these bins are nearly the most high-tech recycling bins we’ve ever met, each of them will cost about £30,000 to build.

The Zoological Institute at the University of Kiel has drawn an inspiration from geckos and insects which have an ability to defy gravity, to develop a new dry adhesive tape that features quite outstanding performance. Moreover, the super-strong tapes can maintain its boning strength even when it has been used for thousands of times. It can also work under water, and leaves no sticky residue.

Designer: University of Kiel

Technology changes the life, and quite soon you’ll see fabric that can convey therapeutic treatments through the skin. Developed by Schoeller Textil AG, the “iLoad” is made to soak up positively charged medical emulsion and then release the substance into the wearer’s skin when triggered by warmth, perspiration or other elements. Moreover, the fabric can be washed with industrial machines to remove lingering residue and then make it ready for reuse. Except used for medical treatment, the “iLoad” fabric is expected to create odor-neutralizing clothes too.

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Researchers from the University of Southampton have recently developed a new type of nanostructured glass that can optically store data forever.

The new material for data storage was made with a complicated process. Firstly, the research team imprinted some monolithic glass space-variant polarization converters on silicon glass, to alter the polarization of light passing through them. These pulses then processed to create some tiny dots called “voxels” (which are sort of like 3D pixels) into the glass. After that, the glass was “read” by a laser, the voxels produced tiny whirlpools of light and then allowed the users to write, wipe or rewrite some data into the molecular structure of the glass. Compared with common disk drives, the storage capability of this new material is pretty good and a piece of silicon glass that measures the same as your cellphone screen can store data of up to 50GB.

The University of Southampton is now working with Lithuanian company Altechna, to commercialize the technology. So we bet soon you’ll step into a new age using silicon glass for data storage.

The great development of technology has made everything possible. After we come with typewriters, cellphones, computers, etc, we now meet this Kiss Transmission Device.

Still under development at the Kajimoto Laboratory, at the University of Electro-Communications, the device is designed to transmit the feeling of a kiss over long distances. At present, the researchers have made it possible for the device to replicate the movement of the tongue. As you have one device in mouth and turn it with your tongue, you’ll find the other device do the same thing too. In the future you’ll get a better device, something that can duplicate and transmit a kiss including the sense of taste, manner of breathing and the moistness of the tongue.

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In ancient China people used to write on silk when there was no paper created, while nowadays researchers from Taiwan still prefer to use silk as basic materials for e-reader displays. The process begins with “liquid silk”, which is turned into insulating membranes to make the TFT (thin-film transistor) screens. These new e-reader displays are not only flexible, bendy but also cheap compared to existing ones. As a result, we may conveniently roll up e-readers just as we roll up books or newspapers, sounds really amazing!

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No one would believe that glass can be stronger and tougher than steel, if they hadn’t seen the new type of damage-tolerant metallic glass collaborated by Berkeley Lab and the California Institute of Technology.

The metallic glass contains palladium, a material that helps the glass to bend rather than crack in response to the external force. That outstanding feature not only enlarges glass’ scope of application, but will ensure people a safety use of glass.

Ladies who have devoted themselves to the pursuit of beauty and youth will surely be happy and excited to hear the news: their skin will stay white, tender and healthy with the help of the Nylgold textile fiber.

The unique Nylgold fiber can release antioxidant material to moisturize and improve the elasticity of the skin, and therefore to keep your skin youthful. Check out the click here if you’d like more information.

Fujitsu Laboratories Ltd. recently announced a new hybrid energy harvesting device that can convert both heat and light into electricity. Different from other devices that generate electricity from heat and light with the help of other devices, this one from Fujitsu can manage that process all by itself. Furthermore, the hybrid device is also believed to “pave the way to the widespread use of highly efficient energy harvesting devices” due to its low cost.

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For so long a time we’ve been dreaming of a TV set that lets us smell the delicious foods when we see them on the screens, however it’s still a dream nowadays. But good news is that we can at least own a printer that lets us smell the foods on the pictures now. The amazing printer is a collaborative work by Japanese scientists from Keio University, who developed an innovative technology that can print smells using a modified ink-jet printer. Therefore next time you see an apple, you can catch the sweet aroma of the apple too. Isn’t that fantastic? I even couldn’t wait to have a try with the Smells Printer.

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No body would give himself or herself up to the autonomous cars without struggle, but at least the latest news from Google can make us think twice before we refuse to have a try. According to Google, seven test cars have driven 1,000 miles without human intervention and more than 140,000 miles with only occasional human control. And the Google cars seldom come into accidents except one car that was rear-ended while stopped at a traffic light.

For more information, please check out the link here or the video after the jump.

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Can the LCD TVs become much thinner and lighter? Obviously the answer to that question has been known with complete certainty, after the researchers at Japanese chemical company Teijin and Yamaguchi University claimed that they’ve come up a new production method to reduce the weight of LCD displays.

Compared with conventional LCD displays with silicon solid-state devices (generating heat when used) placed on glass substrates, the new technology features a thin layer of heat-resistant silicon dioxide on plastic. The improvement results in great change: less heat will be generated and TVs could be 50% lighter. According to the researchers, the new tech also leads to clearer images, and you’ll find a lighter LCD TV on the market in three years or so.

What if you could change the window glass, the table surface, or even a piece of plastic into a sensitive touch screen? That sounds attractive, right? Then you’ll be quite interested in the thin film invented by Displax. Easily stuck onto common materials like the glass, plastic and wood, the film could turn most flat surfaces that are range from 3-inches to 120-inches into touch screens. It features a transparency rate of up to 98 percent and comes with an outstanding ability to detect 16 fingers on a 50-inch screen. The first thin film will be available in July.

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We’ve been used to seeing through the windows from time to time, because in that way, we could learn clearly what is happening outside. And maybe that’s why windows are made of translucent glass. But this piece of glass not only tells us what is happening outside, but also what will happen in the future. Powered by solar energy, the cute gadget will show you any needed information when it is wirelessly connected to your computer. So next time you need weather reports, dates and flight information, check them out on your windows.

Designer: Kenny Hopper

You know E-ink, but you may not have heard of E-skin. Very basically put, the E-skin and E-ink presents more or less the same technology, but the former is better and more popular than the latter one. No longer featuring a black-and-white technology, the E-skin, Philips claimed, allows several colors to be built into one layer while still ensures that each color is separately controlled. Therefore, either separate colors or multiple colors will appear on a transparent layer, all coming under an accurate control. Hopefully, the new technology will soon be applied to players, cell phones and other devices. This time, it is colorful words that make the life colorful.

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Control a ball with brain? Oh, man, only if I had a super power, or that will never happen. However, in fact, every one wearing a special apparatus presented here is enabled to keep a ball floating in the air.

It has been on the market since October 1st, 2009.

Selling Price: $99.99

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Yeah Christmas is still far away, however, some scientists couldn’t help waiting to wish us a happy Christmas with the world’s smallest snowman, which measures only 0.01mm across. Do you really know what that means? Well, let me tell you, the snowman is merely one fifth of the width of the average human hair, and you couldn’t notice it with bare eyes even if it is rightly in front of you. It is a wonderful creation by the National Physical Laboratory.

I’m not mad about electronic gadgets, and it’s all right for me to use an old-fashioned computer for 5 or more years, that doesn’t matter. But what matters to me is convenience, for example, I could transfer documents and files from my phone to a flash disk, without needing a computer. And that’s just what this innovative gadget aims to do. Click here for a video demonstration.

Ever wished you had a witch mirror that tells you everything? Well, let me introduce you to the Virtual Butler mirror that keeps a watch on everything inside and around your house. Simply connect it to your doors, alarms, cameras and other digital appliance, the loyal butler then works in a stunningly effective way. Of course, since this butler is not a real man, you needn’t have to pay out wages every month.

Selling Price: $20000

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We’ve seen pretty high-tech clothes in our day, like the ‘Protective Coat’ if you remember, but few are as utilitarian as this. Using a new clothing technology called as e-Press, the shirt is built with bio sensors to check out the wearer’s stress levels in different parts including the chest, the back and both shoulders. If stress levels are high, the bio sensors will send signals to corresponding LEDs, which will then indicate that by blinking fast. On the contrary, if those parts are given a massage, the LEDs will blink slowly as the stress levels go down.

The ‘Sign-Voice-language Translator’ is the best solution I have ever seen to solve the communication problem between the blind and the deaf. Shaped like a necklace, the device in fact serves as a translator by converting gestures into voice or translating voice into written text. Good work!

Designer: Han-na Lee

The music player by Idan Traistman and Avishay Meron is a new high-tech product designed to work with your hand movements. When you raise your hand higher over it, the volume is correspondingly increased, and vice versa. Want the songs to skip? Just move you hand at right or left side.

Designer: Idan Traistman & Avishay Meron

The high-tech mirror is composed of several built-in equipments, including a radio, a clock, a barometer, and a loudspeaker. What you would like most may be the easy way to control all the tools simply through the touch screen on the mirror surface.

In this year full of hi-tech gadget, even bolt can be smarter. This bolt equipped with a tiny indicator disk on the top which can show you how tight it is. The tighter the bolt is, the dark the indicator.

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How could a to-do list be a high-tech product? You’d better check it out by yourself.

Video after the jump

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How, you may wonder, do Tetris and wrestling connect with each other? You should watch this video after the jump. It is fairly funny.

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With the development of digital technology, such digital music as MP3 is fairly popular in nowadays. Believe it or not, however, this kind of hi-tech music is not as smooth as analogue mediums like tape and even be harmful for your ear.

Yet you do not have to worry about it. Just plug a device like this from Intunition, you will better music. Moreover, unlike other similar but much bigger devices, this one do not require any extra power source. It uses power from the audio signal itself to do its magic

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Similar to the futuristic interactive device in Minority Report, this product unveiled in Cebit 2008 is pretty amazing.

Video after the break:

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Gabor Domokos and Peter Varkonyi from the Budapest University of Technology and Economics have developed the world’s first self-righting object without the help of any extra weight like roly-poly.

No matter how you move it or where on its surface you will place it, the Gomboc will right itself up.

Video demonstration after the break:

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The Audeo has unveiled a new system which could regenerate voice by analyzing your brainwave. So , you do not have to open your mouth to speak.

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This hi-tech holographic display from HOLOCUBE is a surprising product. Based on the holographic technology, it could provide perfect 3D movie with the little cube.
Video after the break

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This high-tech projection system allows uses to interact with pre-recorded video by warping or distorting the image in real time.

Video after the jump

The Magnetix I-coaster combines speed, high-tech design and magnetism into one package. With the magnetic track, all the balls are levitating on the track of the coaster at high speeds and they could give many magic shows to your kids.

Video after the break

Price: $128

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Researchers from Waseda University in Japan have developed this incredible face-shifter. Because of 56 degree of freedom, it could be show expression just like real man.

Video after the jump

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This mirror allows you to read your SMS messages while dressing up.

Since there are only twenty mirrors have been produced, it’s price is $ 10,000. It’s too expensive.

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You like to watch movie, you like the player to come out from the screen? OK, you gonna like this interactive system. The worm on the screen could move out! It’s pretty awesome.

Video after the jump

LG Philips announced that they have created a A4-sized super e-paper technology—about 0.3 millimeters thick. And it will cost energy only when changing image.

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If I tell you that there is a ink which is only belong to you. Do you know what I mean? Huh~~

Actually, Ko-sin Printing , a Tokyo-based company, has developed a new ink that includes the authors’ DNA.

With this kind of ink, authors could publish books printed by the ink with their very personal marker—DNA!!! In addition, Ko-sin claims it is possible to extract genetic information from the printed words, with which they can easily confirm whether it is a pirate, in other words, it even could be a ID of the books.

Via [GIGAZINE]

Remember Gun Metal? It’s the most popular cartoon when I was a child. Now, you can use a pen which could also change to a robot. Although it’s not a high-tech product, you gotta like it! How it works? Find out after the jump…

Price: £4

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