According to the Chinese researchers, the bacteria found in your computer can actually be a good thing in the near future.  Using a colony of the E. coli bacteria, the team demonstrated a cool way of using the E. coli to store data which can be encrypted through the use of a site-specific genetic recombination.  The 18-cell bacteria colony was actually able to store enough data that the Declaration of Independence need.  Moreover, 1 GB of bacteria would actually be able to store 90GB of data when scaled up.

The research is in fact exciting to see how it would work. However, we could only hear news for it now as it’s obviously way too ready to be actually used on your PC.  Possible deleted data as well as retrieval of them needs a sequencer which can actually cause you to shell off some of your resources.  Finally, the bacteria used in the technique may mutate thus destroying the data stored on your machine.

[via SlashGear]

Meet the Hana Mado otherwise known as the Flower Window. Apparently, the device is a dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) thus converting light into electrical energy.  During the demonstration, the device was attached to a small fan showing how it generates power continuously.  It was also shown how the fan stopped once the light is blocked. Sony expressed that the Hana Mado solar panel is actually of great advantage because the gadget can be easily installed in buildings.

Moreover, the device is crafted beautifully which makes it really pleasing to the consumers.  It is made with screen printing which can actually be customized based on the consumer’s choice apart from the yellow and green design that was shown during the demo.

However, people from all over the region still have to wait further as the release date as well as the price of the Sony Hana Mado or Flower Window solar panel is not disclosed, yet.  We just hope we could see this being commercially available as possible.  Meanwhile, let’s take a look at the video taken during the demo in the Eco Products 2010.

[via gizmag]

Colin Furze, a British plumber, must have thought it would be even better if mobility scooters could go faster.  Therefore, he came up with the world’s fastest scooter to which runs at an incredible speed of 69mph and is nine times faster that an ordinary mobility scooter.

The guys from the Guinness Book of World Records told him that he could only change the engine, but he couldn’t change the appearance of the scooter. He then took a 125cc engine from his motorbike and fitted it into the scooter along with five gears and double exhausts. Moreover, he was told that his power-petroled scooter would have to travel atleast 61.4mph to finally make it to the record, thus he started it up and reached 69mph very quickly.

However, it doesn’t end there as Furze is trying to take the world’s fastest scooter into a drag strip and test the speed. He’s aiming for 70mph. So, we’ll he be happily accepted in the record book? Let’s stay tuned as we’re going to hear more of him in the near future.

The Skylifter Balloon is a 150 meter disc shaped which looks like a flying saucer is capable of carrying 150 tons compared to a heavy cargo helicopter’s capacity of carrying heavy gears. Also, the firm has designed it to provide a more stable and less susceptible to winds during flights of up to 1240 miles. The disc shaped balloon also acts like a parachute during its fall which according to the makers will provide a gentle landing while the control pod keeps it from being too heavy.

On the other hand, a mini remote-control version is currently being tested to show how the thing fully works. It is tested three meters across and it can carry half a kilo of load. The company is planning to build a full-sized prototype of the Skylifter balloon in the next three years.

Wow, how cool is that, eh?!?

WowWee Roboscooper is designed to help you clean and pick up small things not heavier that one ounce. Small stuffs like like paper clip, nails, and nuts.  It can also talk funny phrases like “Lets get to work”, and “1 step closer to cleaner world”

The robot is powered by 6 AAA batteries.  It can be controlled by remote or you can just also leave him in “autonomous mode” and he will clean and grab things he sees.

You can get the WowWee’s Roboscoopers for the price of $70.   Availabe at Hammacher Schlemmer for pre-order now for a late August delivery.

The Sikorsky X2 has future helicopter design. It has two rotating blades powered by LHTEC T800 turboshaft and combined with electronic controls to avoid shaking while hovering.  It also has rear-facing propeller that pushes the X2 forward.  The design of the blades eliminate the angular momentum and dissymmetry of lift allowing the aircraft to achieve faster speeds w/ greater efficiency.

The World’s fastest helicopter Sikorsky X2 can achieve speed at 366 Km/h but recently in the experiment performed at the Flight Center in Florida, the aircraft has broke its own record and has successfully achieved cruising speed of up to 225 knots (equal to 416 km per hour).

Sikorsky believes that the it can still break that record and still pushing the cruising speed of the X2 demonstrator to 250 knots or equal to 462 km per hour, thats nearly twice the speed of today’s choppers.

This is a very useful feature when you want to know the weather in the place that you would like to visit.   You can just check out the weather using this latest version 5.2 and you would be able to see the projected images of rain and snow if you are zooming it close enough.

Sadly though, the weather feature is only limited in some area as of this time.  North America and Europe only.   But i think it wont take long before Google

In order to see the weather in realtime, just open the the Google Earth and just activate the cloud layer.  You also have to enable the radar layer if you want check out if the feature is available in one particular area.

Robot experts from all over the world gathered for a six-day event in Singapore for the RoboCup 2010. The event ended last week with the German team bagging the win. The final game was a match between the Darmstadt Dribblers and Berlin’s FUmanoids with a 7:1 triumph.

In the last year’s RoboCup in Austria, it was the two teams who played at the final game. So, apparently this year’s game was actually a rematch as the FUmanoids were hungry to win the after losing the finals.

Berlin’s FUmanoids went home trophies for the Technical Challenges leaving them not empty-handed.

Watch out for the video below and get caught on fire showing the finals of the RoboCup 2010 held in Singapore running about 9 minutes and 24 seconds. If you’d like to see more clips of these humanoids playing soccer, then you may visit BotSportTV. You can also check out updates from the two teams – the Darmstadt Dribblers and FUmanoids via Twitter.

This is kind of interesting, huh. That’s why as early as now, we’re looking forward to this event getting bigger and more exciting in the next coming years.  Watch the funny video of these robots.

[via PlasticPals]

The traditional thing to do after you’ve taken everything out from your newly-bought Nintendo Wii is to plug it and play. Similar to most up to date game consoles, it is simple to connect the Wii to your TV sets.

How do you connect Nintendo Wii to your TV? Just follow the simple instructions that we’ve prepared for you:

Figure out where to place your Wii. The first thing to do is to settle on where you are going to put your Nintendo Wii. It is suggested that it must be near an electrical outlet and also near to your TV. You must also figure out whether you want your Nintendo Wii to lay flat or in a vertical position. If you’re going to lay it flat, you are now ready to connect the cables. But if you want to lay it vertically, use the Wii console stand and attach the Wii console plate to it.

Connect the Cables to Nintendo Wii. You have to make a link of the cables to the Wii. There are three Nintendo component cables that set connection to the Wii. The first one is the AC Adapter known as the power cord; the Audio/ Video (A/V) having three colored plugs on one end; and the Sensor Bar which sensors the wireless controllers to the network. Each plug has a distinct shape that is why each will fit in only one port. The power cord should be plugged into the largest of the three ports. Then, plug the Sensor Bar to the small red port. Plug the A/V cable to the last remaining port. The Sensor bar should be placed on top of your TV and should be centered in the middle so that it is in plain view of where you are going to stand while playing.

Connect the Nintendo Wii to your TV. To do so, find the A/V Cable (yellow, white and red colored). Plug the yellow colored cable to the Video Output. The White colored should be plugged to the Left Input and the red to the Right Input. The sockets are normally found on the back of the TV. However, you might also locate them either on the side or front.

Plug in your Wii. Just plug the power cord into a power strip. Press the console’s power button and a green light will appear on the power button.

Insert the batteries into the remote.Put two AA-sized batteries. Then, close the battery cover and pull the remote jacket back on.

Play with your Wii. Just turn on your TV and insert a game disc of the console. Push the start button on the control. Follow the instructions on the screen to begin playing your choice of game. After you’ve answered all the questions, you can now click the START button and you’re ready to play away!

We hope that you have found this post useful and that we have answered your concerns on how to connect Wii to TV sets. Have an endless fun playing with your Wii! ☺

What is Ferrofluid ?

Ferrofluid or liquid magnet is a colloidal mixture containing extremely tiny pieces of magnetic substance. Ferrofluids are made of nanoscale magnetic particles usually 10 nanometers or less in diameter of some compound of iron, magnetite, and cobalt. This becomes strongly polarized in the presence of magnetic field.

Before we break down how to make a ferrofluid, let’s a watch a Youtube video first to basically see what this stuff looks like:

Probably, your next question is about the applications of this liquid magnet . Apparently, apart from looking at it as a cool toy, ferrofluids have a lot of functions. Say for instance, this thing is used in military as radar absorbent material paint. In medicine, it can be used as contrast agent for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and can also be used to detect cancer. Ferrofluids can also be used to form liquid seals around the spinning drive shafts in hard drives preventing debris from entering the hard disks. Another thing is that some people use it as a form of art to entertain guests in gatherings like what Sachiko Kodama did. Great, right?!?

Okay, so I already said a lot about these ferrofluids. Usually they are very complicated to make and very expensive when you buy it.  But we are going to show you how you can make a simple ferrofluid using some of your household items easily, more affordably, and quickly. Here’s how to make a ferrofluid.   There are three options in making FerroFluid:

Option 1:  Magnetic Ink Developer to make a FerroFluid

The easiest and popular way to make this magnetic fluid is perhaps by using the magnetic ink developer (MICR Toner).  or laser jet toner.  All you have to do is to mix toner into oil, 1:1 ratio works. Then mix it well, a spoon on a power drill works well and saves time.  Voila!! Done.  Now you have your finished product:  The Ferro-Liquid.  Have Fun with Ferro.

Option 2:  Audio Cassettes to make a FerroFluid

Another way of making magnetic fluid is by using audio cassette tapes. We will  not use the tape itself but we only need iron particles or the ferric oxide powder attached on plastic tape. We need this magnetic particles as  the magnetite for our solution.

To separate the Ferric oxide from the plastic tapes, we have to use Acetone.  This chemical will melt the plastic tapes thus helping to  separate the Ferric Oxide from the tapes.  All you have to do is to find a big bowl then fill it with acetone and then put all the tapes and leave it for few hours. Next step is to collect the ferric oxide using strong magnet rolled with paper. After you’ve collected the ferric oxide mix this with cooking oil (3:1). Mix it well.  Voila!! you’ve just made yourself a ferro-liquid.

Option 3:  Ferric Chloride & Steel Wool to Make Ferro-Liquid

The last option is by using ferric cloride.  This chemical  is  used in electronics for making Printed Circuit Board (PCB), to separate the copper from the board.  Prepare these equipments: 2 Beakers, plastic syringe and coffee filters.

Materials:

• Distilled water
• Steel wool
• Ferric Chloride
• Kerosene
• Household Ammonia
• Oleic Acid

Steps:

1. Mix Ferric chloride with water (25mL Ferric Chloride / 25mL Water)
2. Add a small piece of steel wool then stir it and wait until it has turned into bright green.  This bright green chemical is called Ferrous Chloride or FeC12 .
3. Filter it to get rid of the steel wool and other dirt, you may use coffee filter as strainer.
4. Now we have to add 40 ml of ferric chloride to the Green Ferrous Chloride that you’ve just filtered.  THe ratio of FeCl3 AND FeCl2 should be 1:1.
5. Stir the solution and while stirring, slowly add 400ML of Ammonia.
6. Heat the solution to near boiling.  When it starts to steam stir the solution and
7. while stirring add small amount oleic acid at a time.  you’ll need a total of  about 10ml of oleic acid added.  Continue to heat near boiling until the smell of ammonia disappears.
8. Let the solution to cool completely then add 200ML of kerosene and stir it well.
9. When it settles, you will see 2 layers, the black layer on the top is the magnetite particles (FerroFluid) and the other layer is the remaining water and kerosine.  Pour off the Ferrofluid layer on the top and discard the other layer. Voila!! We now have our finished product. The Ferrofluid.

Have Fun with Ferro “The Magnetic Fluid”, Using Strong Magnet (neodymium)

Finally, you have your solution. To see it now, magnetize your liquid by using rare earth magnets. Try to be resourceful. You can use the magnets that you can find in your speakers or the most suggested is to use neodymium magnets. Remember, a strong magnet will help you notice a better effect.

Okay, that’s how easy to make a ferro-fluid.  Pretty cool, isn’t it?  -:)