odd look at news on the web
Ingenious unpowered sensor detects motion by generating ultrasound
2 May 2026 @ 8:03 pm
Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have created a passive motion/contact sensor that detects motion using only sound. Without electricity, electronics, or batteries. The sensors are small, uniquely shaped metal tags that each emit very specific ultrasonic sounds upon contact. They are smaller than a penny and cost only a few cents each.Continue ReadingCategory: Good Thinking, Ukraine’s rapid rise as an anti-drone powerhouse
2 May 2026 @ 4:03 pm
In only four years after the Russian invasion, Ukraine went from being a country knocked back on its heels and scrambling for military aid to emerging as a leading provider of battlefield-tested counter-drone expertise and exporter of anti-drone weapons systems. How did this happen? Let's find out.Continue ReadingCategory: Military, EngineeringTags: Review: 2026 Lexus RX 450h+ is a true realtor’s car
2 May 2026 @ 1:03 pm
The RX 450h+ plug-in hybrid luxury SUV sits right at the intersection of pragmatism and indulgence, sipping electrons like a monk but wrapped in enough leather to make a cattle ranch nervous.Continue ReadingCategory: Automotive, TransportTags: Lexus, SUVSwitzerland is building the world's most powerful redox flow battery
2 May 2026 @ 9:03 am
In northern Switzerland, a construction team is hard at work excavating a hole in the ground that will end up being over 88 ft (27 m) deep, and spanning the length of two soccer pitches. This pit will be home to Switzerland's first redox flow battery for storing clean energy – and it'll be the most powerful of its kind in the world.Continue ReadingCategory: Energy, Tiny bike camper expands via slide-out to sleep 2 people + toilet
2 May 2026 @ 2:07 am
Most bicycle campers just tow, but there are some that flip, that drop, that pitch and that straight blow up. The new Alpencamper adds another motion to that mix: sliding. The two-wheel towable borrows a trick from larger caravans and motorhomes, using a sidewall slide-out to expand its tiny interior enough to house a double bed comparable to what you'd find in a full-blown camper van – not bad for a little 'drop trailer that weighs less than the average adult.Just call these tiny autonomous construction robots “antdroids”
1 May 2026 @ 10:00 pm
Roboticists at Harvard and the Indian Institute of Technology Madras – very smart folks indeed – somehow entirely missed the great name “antdroids” when building the insectoid drones they call RAnts (robotic ants, which do not, in fact, rant about anything – not even against a tyrannical robotic ant queen).Continue ReadingCategory: Robotics, EngineeringTags: Solar-boosted pedal-electric velomobile is new and improved
1 May 2026 @ 7:58 pm
Fourteen years ago we first heard about the Elf, a pedal/electric velomobile that could be charged via a rooftop solar panel. Well, there's a new version on the way that'll be cushier, more powerful, and able to seat a second passenger.Continue ReadingCategory: Urban Transport, TransportForget digital keystone, this tri-laser 4K projector puts optical first
1 May 2026 @ 3:13 pm
On the face of it, JMGO's latest lifestyle projector might look like just another boxy smart entertainment hub. But this model is reported to boast the world's first 3-in-1 optical system, and rests on a nifty gimbal stand that can adjust itself or play follow the user.Continue ReadingCategory: Home Entertainment, Consumer Tech, TechnologyBrembo distills its racing know-how into mountain bike brakes
1 May 2026 @ 12:17 pm
Brembo's braking equipment has graced many a champion-winning F1 racecar and MotoGP superbike over the last several decades. It's now targeting cyclists who demand serious stopping power, with a whole ecosystem of gear specifically for mountain bikes.Continue ReadingCategory: Bicycles, TransportTags: Humanoids will handle your baggage at Tokyo's short-staffed airport
1 May 2026 @ 9:57 am
The next time you fly through Tokyo's Haneda Airport, your luggage might be taken care of by the dexterous hands of a humanoid robot.Continue ReadingCategory: AI and Humanoids, Technology