The army has pilotless planes and now Google has created a driverless Toyota Prius.

In actuality, the idea of autonomous cars has been around since 1939 with the first robotic car introduced in 1980. It hasn’t been until recently that the technology has really caught up to make autonomous cars a reality. Google is the first developer, however, whose car has received a state driver’s license.

The car was tested on the highways and neighborhoods of Carson City and Las Vegas and is controlled by computers processing a combination of mapping data, radar, laser sensors and video feeds. The system regulates the brakes, acceleration and steering, though it is still a work in process as evidenced by a 5-car crash a year ago caused by a Google autonomous car.

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You know it happens, you travel somewhere and forget to take your medication or maybe it’s been such a busy day that you simply forget. Well, scientists have now figured out a way to make sure you get the proper dosage of medication without fail — a microchip.

Roughly fifteen years ago, MIT  began developing a wirelessly controlled device that would release medication at preset times via a microchip that is implanted just under the skin’s surface. This breakthrough technology has long been sought after, and the lucky company that received the licensing for this project is microCHIPS (very creative).

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Well the Terrafugia Transition is not quite as slim or sexy as the flying cars in Back to the Future Part 2, but at 35 MPG on unleaded gas, we’ll take it!

The two-seater plane wraps up its wings into a seven-foot tall, seven and a half foot wide, nineteen-foot long car.

The prototype’s first flight took off in Plattsburgh in 2009 (pun intended here, folks), and since then Terrafugia has attained an exemption from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) for a “roadable aircraft.”

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The technological advancements storming out of Japan now include two researchers’ methods for building a conversation ending SpeechJammer gun.

Imagine the board room meeting droning on for hours on end, and the very second a couple of the corporate clowns bend their heads down to joke with one another at a whisper (so that they can placate themselves and not lose their sanity in such a dry environment) the director points a radar gun-like device at them and – BAM – silences them instantly.

The device created by Kazutaka Kurihara, from the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology in Tskuba, and Koji Tsukada, at Ochanomizu University is not science fiction. On the other hand, it is simple, easy to engineer, and fully functional. It can stop people from talking in mid-sentence.

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Something that may be pretty obvious by now is the fact that I love Kickstarter, but the matter of fact is that I love any crowdsourcing project, it’s just that Kickstarter is the go-to platform for most people who want to get funding now days, thus it’s my first go-to place to check out some awesome indie projects. Not only is it a place to see what cool things people are doing, but it’s a place to help out others and possibly bag some beta products.

Ninja Blocks is one of those products that I fell in love with the moment I read the pitch, sure, I can’t think of a practical use for one right this second, but with APIs for social services becoming more and more popular and, in turn, becoming more integrated with our lives, it’s easy to imagine that one day I might hook up a Ninja Block as a monitor for my kids or something.

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I have never been so unfortunate as to have my cellphone drop into the toilet but, have heard countless tales of people who have lost it all in, what must be, the most demoralizing way possible. With their new WaterBlock technology, and your brave hand, HzO will make sure you never have to feel that pain again.

HzO’s WaterBlock technology protects all kinds of valuable electronics from humidity, rain, and even total water submersion. Unlike bulky waterproof cases, this invisible coating protects delicate circuitry at a molecular level, from the inside out – no need to worry about plugging up charging ports or headphone jacks.

The waterproof coating is created by placing any device or material into a vacuum chamber and replacing the typical atmospheric gases with an organic gas that builds up a solid thin film through a secret magical proprietary process.

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Xbox Kinect isn’t just for controlling digital gaming characters anymore.

The self described geniuses at Chaotic Moon have taken a motorized longboard and put it on geek steroids with a Xbox Kinect, Samsung Windows 8 tablet, phidget interface module, and all terrain tires – because they can.

The aptly named “Board of Awesomeness” utilizes video and speech recognition along with location and accelerometer data to allow riders complete control of the board without the aid of any other controllers (and while only looking mildly crazy).

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Zapata Racing’s FlyBoard has made the dramatic Sean Connery-based James Bond spy getaway a reality!

Warning: this looks extraordinarily dangerous and possibly deadly.

Now if that label does not get consumers to flock to the newest invention from Zapata Racing, nothing will. For 4900 Euros, or $6500 US dollars, a FlyBoard can be attained and, with it, a water-based jetpack flying experience.

The sport of wakeboarding has often dazzled spectators with displays of human beings soaring in Superman-like poses above the water for mere seconds before gravity takes them down

The FlyBoard extends the flying ability a bit longer by harnessing the power of a hundred plus horsepower jet ski (or PWC) motor. The human is strapped onto the board and a suit that links them to the FlyBoard system. The unit taps into the water that flows fiercely through the PWC and diverts it into tubes that are attached to the wakeboard-like device on the rider’s feet. Video after the jump…

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The problem with green personal transportation, as far as I am concerned, is that there is nothing sexy about any of today’s options. What good are those hundreds of miles to the gallon if no one wants to drive it? Today at the Tokyo Motor Show Yamaha looked to change all of that with it’s new Y125 MOEGI concept.

This retro beach cruiser style bike sports a super efficient polished 125cc four-stroke motor capable of of taking riders a cool 150 miles, in style, with one tank of gas. This 176lb work of art also features fuel injection, a four speed transmission, belt drive, and LED lights.

Although beautiful, the general simplicity of the design and four-stroke engine means the Y125 will be cheap to both run and maintain. That practicality accompanied by the undeniable style makes it easy to see a future where mass adoption of this green two wheeler could be a real possibility.

Unfortunately, this is all still a conceptual dream but, I can’t imagine anything but positive feedback driving something Y125-like into a not too distant Christmasey future.

[via motorcycle.com]

For someone like me, being able to envision an idea is one thing, but having the know how and ability to act upon that idea is a whole different kettle of fish. Early last year I got into Arduino’s (an open source electronics prototyping platform) and developing little ‘things’ with them. If you are someone with a creative mind you could surely waste many hours – even days – playing and programming Arduino’s. At first it was little things, but as I dug deeper into the possibilities of the Arduino, more ideas would flood in. I then began looking at other platforms such as the .NET Gadgeteer and the PicoCricket and they are both great. Now I have discovered a new want. A whole new platform to learn and something that looks like it would be great for rapid prototyping. The Teagueduino.

The Teaguedino is a development board loaded with the Teensy++ USB Development board plugged right into their custom breadboard which supplies you with 5 inputs and 5 outputs. They also supply you with an array of knobs, buttons, servos, speakers and lights that will literally just snap onto the board. Along with this, The Teaguedino team give you a copy of their open source software which makes the whole learning part easier. It offers up what looks to be a nice GUI with fairly simple to use Drag and Drop features. The idea is to get as many people as possible, spanning all ages, into development for embedded electronics and as all the components just snap into place (No soldering required) this can guarantee adoption.

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