Tech Universe: Monday 14 March

National Geographic built a 5m by 5m model house and then attached 300 helium balloons. Photo / National Geographic

UP, UP AND AWAY: National Geographic built a 5 metre by 5 metre model house for their How Hard Can it Be? series. Then they attached the house to 300 weather balloons full of helium. The 10-story high 'aircraft' reached around 3,000 metres and flew for about an hour. It's a wonder Parliament buildings all over the world are still attached to the ground, since they're so full of gas. More at NationalGeographic and video on YouTube.

THE PRINTER WITH NO INK: People at parties or conferences often take smartphone photos using Instagram. If you have an Instaprint box it sits nearby and watches out for certain hashtags or locations at Instagram. When it spots them it prints out the photo. The printer doesn't use ink; instead colour for the prints comes from the Zink paper it uses which contains cyan, yellow, and magenta dye crystals underneath a polymer overcoat layer. Heat activates the crystals to create the full colour photo. Choose those hashtags carefully. Details at InstaPrint, video on Vimeo and further on Zink.

SEE THROUGH TV: Samsung Electronics has a prototype of a new transparent LCD screen that's powered by ambient light - no cords required. It's also a touchscreen. See through the screen or watch TV, it's up to you. I guess if the programme's boring you can always watch the wall instead. More at Physorg and video on YouTube.

SIMPLE VIEW: The Argus II from Second Sight is a chip implanted near the retina. The user also wears a pair of glasses with a camera mounted on them. The camera sends signals wirelessly to the retinal implant. That triggers 60 electrodes to stimulate retinal cells and produce light in the patient's field of view. This gives the patient enough vision to see simple objects. High Res is better but Low Res is better than none. More at TechnologyReview.

SECURE LINE: The 173 billion text messages people in the USA send per month are not secure. In fact, text messages aren't secure anywhere. TigerText aims to provide secure SMS messaging by encrypting the messages on the way through, then deleting them from the server. This opens up texting for people like doctors who need to ensure their messages are private. Ahhh, a single point for failure... More at NPR.

- Miraz Jordan knowit.co.nz