Tech universe: Monday, 5 July

The Nissan Leaf electric car. Some 15,000 charging stations are being planned in the US.

A round-up of the latest technology news from around the globe.

BLOWN AWAY: Blunt umbrellas - a Kiwi innovation -
withstand even Wellington gales. What it takes is double struts,
floating ribs and special Blunt strengthening tips. Hang on! Brolly
Sailing could be the latest Wellington sport! More at
Blunt Umbrellas.

IBM IS SUPER GREEN: 17 of the 20 most energy efficient supercomputers in the world are built by IBM. Each system produces more than 773 Megaflops per watt of energy. Whereas I flop when I have no energy. Read more at V3.

3D WATER TETRIS: Layer 3 artificial waterfalls and carefully time the drops. Then project images on the water to create a 3D display. So when do we get touchscreen? Details at Gizmodo and video at New Scientist.

DRIVER CHARGES: Washington, California, Arizona and Tennessee are
setting up 15,000 electric vehicle charging stations. A charge could
take as little as 15 minutes. A better buzz for drivers. Read the blog.

DRIVE BY LASER: A vibrating vest and puffs of air on the face could allow blind people to drive cars, according to Virginia Tech. Sensor lasers and cameras help drivers 'see' where they're going. Shouldn't the tech be compulsory for all of us? See more at BBC.