Spinning off isn’t usually a good thing when you’re making a show about cars, unless the spinning in question relates to the series itself and not to the cars being driven. And while Clarkson, Stig, et al, have certainly spun enough cars on and off camera, their mishaps are surpassed by the number of spin-off shows that have resulted from the original BBC program.
Disregarding the other shows that Hammond and May in particular host, and the magazines, and the traveling road show and everything else, Top Gear has led to additional series in Australia, Russia, the United States, China and South Korea. And those are just the ones we know about. Now, word on the high street is that another series is planned for the Netherlands.
The latest spin-off is reportedly being put together by the publisher of Holland’s Autoweek magazine and the producers of Veronica, a local TV station that already broadcasts the British and Australian versions of the show in Holland.
The formula will naturally follow the tried, tested and true format that has made the original such a success and which has already been replicated around the world. As for the Stig, well… we always thought his name sounded mysteriously Dutch. And now it will be.
In the future, LCDs could be used to harvest and recycle power to provide electricity for an electronic device. Researchers at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) envision LCDs with integrated photovoltaic polarizers, which would allow displays to tap into ambient light, sunlight and their own backlight for additional electricity.
The researchers said they have created “a new type of energy-harvesting polarizer for LCDs called a polarizing organic photovoltaic, which can potentially boost the function of an LCD by working simultaneously as a polarizer, a photovoltaic device and an ambient light or sunlight photovoltaic panel.”
According to the scientists, 80 to 90% of a device’s entire power consumption could be caused by an LCD, while 75% of the light generated is lost without being used as a potential power source. Photovoltaic polarizers could solve this problem.
Attaching tails to large transportation trucks could reduce their environmental impact. A simple but effective product, the ATDynamics’ Trailer Tail hopes to make those large trucks a bit more fuel efficient. Although our environment would thank us greatly for getting rid of those large diesel-powered trucks altogether, that won’t be happening until we find a practical replacement. Until then, these trailer tails could do quite some good in reducing the environmental impact of large transportation trucks.
Created from a simple combination of plastic sheets and metal springs, Trailer Tails attach to the back of the truck with a flap-like shape that is designed to reduce wind drag. While stationary, the tail folds flat against the back of the truck and extend up to four feet out at an angle when the vehicle is in motion. According to ATDynamics, the Trailer Tail product could reduce fuel consumption by up to 6.6 percent. It may not be the biggest step in a green direction, but attaching one of these to every large truck out there could cut back on quite a bit of fuel consumption.
In developing countries where deadly diseases such as HIV are common and sophisticated testing centres and laboratories are scarce, this brand new tool is going to revolutionize diagnostics. Columbia researchers have studied the science of microfluidics to create a small, inexpensive but accurate diagnostic tool that can detect all sorts of deadly diseases without the need for complicated or expensive lab equipment.
Dubbed the mChip, this device is only the size of a credit card and requires nothing but a tiny drop of blood in order to detect a lethal disease such as HIV. What’s even better is that the device only costs approximately $1 to produce. Traditional tests for HIV require trained personnel to draw blood and utilize expensive lab equipment, requiring much more time and resources than the mChip’s 15 minute turnaround time.
In a recent study testing the accuracy of the device, researchers found that the mChip detected 100% of HIV and Syphilis cases from the study. With a device such as the mChip, developing country patients don’t have to worry about traveling far distances to hospitals and returning later for results. This advancement in detection technology could prove to be a major step forward in the treatment of deadly diseases in both underdeveloped and developed countries.
Researchers at Tel Aviv University have developed a sensor that promises to detect common date rape drugs with 100% accuracy. The technology is targeted at woman who may be in danger to sexual assault after being drugged by substances such as GHB and ketamine.
Women simply need to dip the sensor into a liquid and promises to instantly determine the presence of a drug. The sensor needs only an amount of 10 microliters to be able to detect a potentially dangerous substance.
The sensor will be available for purchase within a few years, the researchers said, and will be lightweight and discreet, easily transportable in a pocket or purse. The market for such a device may be substantial as the Department of Justice reported that about 200,000 women were reported to have been raped in 2007 with the aid of a date rape drug. There was no information on the possible price of the device, but the researchers said that it will be made “affordable” for personal use and the range of substances that can be detected will be widened.
The team is currently looking for investors to participate in the project.
The Dell Streak 5 was unveiled at CES 2010 amid a flurry of larger tablets. However, it seems Dell no longer has faith in the bite-sized slate, as it’s been discontinued.
Dell’s Streak 5 was one of those ‘worst kept secret’ devices. Between leaked pictures and videos, the mini-tablet barely needed an official unveiling at all. Dell used CES to debut the device, though, and it made quite a splash. The company’s decision to go with a 5-inch display meant that the Streak 5 awkwardly straddled both the smartphone and tablet categories. However, it seems the company has lost interest in the Streak 5, as a goodbye banner posted on its official site indicates that it’s been axed.
Those that purchased the Streak 5 in the year-or-so that it was available for purchase can still purchase accessories through Dell. The Streak 7 is still available on Dell’s website and appears to be safe for now.
Signs point to a September 7 event for Apple to show off its new iPhone offerings. The past few months have been filled with rumors of what the next big Apple product will be like, even though Apple’s kept a tight lid on things.
French site Nowhere Else made a neat looking video recapping some of the rumors thus far. They come with concept renders as well as a probability rating. Of course, nothing is truly 100 percent until Steve Jobs says so on stage, but there are some safe bets, such as the A5 chip.
Researchers at Tel Aviv University have developed a sensor that promises to detect common date rape drugs with 100% accuracy. The technology is targeted at woman who may be in danger to sexual assault after being drugged by substances such as GHB and ketamine.
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