JET SURFING: Where a jet boat pumps water to fly across the surface of a lake the Canadian JetLev jetpack pumps water to fly through the air. The jetpack, strapped on a person's back, sports a long 'tail' — a hose that sucks up water from a river or
lake. The water's pumped out through downward jets to provide lift. A float behind the flier provides the propulsion engine, fuel and related systems. There'd be an unpleasant shock if seaweed or driftwood gets sucked in. More at JetLev and video on YouTube.
BENDY GLASS: Glass: transparent and fragile, we know it well. A new glass is lighter than steel and tough enough for construction. Unfortunately it's hard and expensive to make so don't expect to see used for anything much just yet. The new glass is a microalloy made of palladium. Under stress shear bands form, allowing the glass to bend rather than break. I wonder what this means for the Klein bottle? More at Gizmodo.
YOU HEAR THE DRILL: Who's immune to the sound of a dentist's drill? A new device adds drill noise-cancelling to your MP3 player. The gadget analyses the sound wave from the drill and inverts it. Even if the amplitude and frequency change while the drill's being used the device can still track the changes and adapt the inverted wave to cancel the sound. Can't they just find a way to silence the drill? More at DailyMail.
¿HABLA ANDROID?: Conversation Mode on Android phones may let you talk to the natives without shouting and waving your arms. It listens to you speaking in your language and then speaks a translation in a selected language. At the moment it handles English and Spanish. Do.
You. Speak. English? More at GoogleBlog and video on YouTube.
COME MAPS OR HIGH WATER: No more worries when Google Maps direct you to drive through a river to your destination. The Terra Wind amphibious motor home & yacht is both a road vehicle and a boat. It maxes out at 130 Kph on land and 7 knots in water. Find a nice river to look at and drive right into it. More at Terrawind.
- Miraz Jordan knowit.co.nz
Where a jet boat pumps water to fly across the surface of a lake the Canadian JetLev jetpack pumps water to fly through the air. Photo / Supplied
JET SURFING: Where a jet boat pumps water to fly across the surface of a lake the Canadian JetLev jetpack pumps water to fly through the air. The jetpack, strapped on a person's back, sports a long 'tail' — a hose that sucks up water from a river or
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