TRACTOR FARM: We've seen planes and cars that fly themselves, but Kinze is working on a project to take the humans out of grain harvest and other farm operations. Their driverless tractor and grain cart operate autonomously to receive grain from a combine harvester and deliver it to a silo. No driver or preprogrammed route required. 4 legs good, 2 legs better, wheels best. Check out Farm Equipment for more. Here's the video.
THE CAR OR THE FUEL?: If you drive a hydrogen powered car you have a big problem: where to fill up. The UK's first public hydrogen filling station has opened in Swindon. Where a battery powered car might cover 100 Km and take hours to recharge a hydrogen car can drive for 500 Km and take only 5 minutes to refuel. Of course, there aren't many hydrogen cars around just yet, but without filling stations who'll buy the cars? BBC fills in the details.
MAGNETIC BLOCK: Putting someone with a pacemaker into an MRI machine could have bad consequences for both the machine and the human because of magnetic interference. But what say the pacemaker could be shielded with an anti-magnet? Scientists at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona are working on just such a device. A superconducting material blocks the internal magnetic field of an object, while dampening layers block the effect of the superconductor on the external magnetic field. Such a shield could also protect ships from magnetic mines. Wouldn't the superconductors leave a signature trace though? Gizmodo explains.
PROTONICS: Scientists at the University of Washington have built a transistor that uses protons instead of electrons, aiming to bridge the gap between human bodies and electronics. It's not easy to create gadgets that interact directly with the human body since it works on protons and ions, rather than the electrons of electronics. The new prototype transistor still uses silicon as a base but it includes a modified form of the compound chitosan that can be recycled from crab shells. Chitosan works well to move protons around. And when the protonics and electronics work smoothly together can we just save time and call them all 'onics'? University of Washington details.
OFFSCREEN TOUCH: The Portico system is a collaboration between Intel, Microsoft and the University of Washington. It adds dual webcams to a tablet. The cameras monitor the tablet screen and also the surface around the tablet, allowing a user to move objects on a desk to interact with the computer. For example, you might roll a miniature football on the desk into a goal displayed on screen. The system can also detect hand gestures. The team say Portico increases the usable area of the computer by 6 times. That could make a tablet an interesting centre piece at a dinner table. Go to Technology Review for more information and to watch the video, click here.
Miraz Jordan, knowit.co.nz