AdHoc Folding Canoe - YouTube video

Israeli designer Ori Levin has created a one-of-a-kind folding canoe called the Adhoc, that tips (no pun intended) the scales at just 4.1 kilograms, or 9 pounds.

The single-passenger Adhoc features a carbon fiber frame, and a hull made from aramid fabric, which is also used in racing sails. Custom-made locking mechanisms hold the telescoping longitudinal framework poles in place at the bow and stern, while a "parasol-like" center folding mechanism allows the boat to hold its shape in the middle.

Its single seat is a hammock-like fabric and webbing arrangement. The whole canoe can reportedly be stowed in a bag the size of a regular backpack, and assembled within about five minutes.

While there's no word on how stable or hydrodynamic the Adhoc is, as you can see below, it does at lease float with a passenger aboard.

NASA - GATR Emergency Communications in Two Suitcases

When you leave your cell phone at home, you probably get nervous. What if something happens and you need to make a phone call?

Even a quick trip to the grocery store can make you feel vulnerable. But when astronauts go into space, ready communication is a vital need. No one will ever go to Mars, or even low-Earth orbit without reliable and efficient communication technology.

One device currently under development for space communication is the inflatable antenna. Because it is lightweight, easy to deploy, inexpensive, and requires low storage volume, inflatable technology is extremely attractive for space applications.

In 1997, Glenn Research Center awarded ManTech SRS Technologies, of Newport Beach, California, Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) funding to develop an inflatable solar concentrator for power generation.

It soon became evident that the same basic technology for solar concentrators was applicable for large inflatable antennas, and follow-on SBIR funding focused on developing inflatable antennas for space communication.

Paul Gierow, one of the engineers with SRS at the time, explains, “To make a solar concentrator, you point it at the Sun and focus the energy. The antenna is exactly the same thing, but instead of focusing it on the Sun, you point it at a satellite that is radiating radio frequency energy,” says Gierow.

With the help of SBIR funding, SRS modified the concepts and processes for ground-based inflatable antennas. “We came up with an idea to put an antenna in a ball, or sphere. Intuitively you don’t think it will work, but it did,” says Gierow.

In 2004, GATR (an acronym for “Ground Antenna Transmit and Receive”) Technologies, of Huntsville, Alabama, licensed the technology from SRS. GATR refined the product further, which led to a ground-based satellite communications system.

NASA - Emergency Communications in Two Suitcases

Over the ear, tiny video camera

Much the way the wearable Vicon Revue takes digital photos throughout the day as a means of recording the wearer's life, so the Looxcie records continuous video for a similar purpose.

Launched last month by a California company with the same name, the Looxcie (pronounced “look-see”) is a wearable Bluetooth camcorder that lets users capture video of everything they see. The device fits comfortably over the ear, the company says, and points wherever the wearer looks.

It's always on, so the user needn't worry about turning it on when they want to record. When something memorable happens, though, they simply press a button to save a permanent, sharable clip of the last 30 seconds.

Otherwise, Looxcie continuously purges the oldest video in its storage, which can accommodate up to five hours of recording. An accompanying smartphone application, meanwhile, turns the user's phone into a Looxcie viewfinder, remote control and editing tool for creating clips up to 30 minutes in length.

Clips can also be uploaded to a Mac or PC via the device's USB connector for archiving, viewing, editing or additional sharing; a pre-programmable auto-share feature lets users automatically send clips to a preset email address.

Looxcie currently operates with the majority of Android 2.0 and higher smartphones, with support for additional operating systems coming soon. The device itself is available at Amazon.com for USD 199.

Website: www.looxcie.com

Pain - The Weapon of Choice for the US Police? Portable pain weapon in police hands - New Scientist

Portable pain weapon may end up in police hands - tech - 30 September 2009 - New Scientist

HE Pentagon's efforts to develop a beam weapon that can deter an adversary by causing a burning sensation on their skin has taken a step forward with the development of a small, potentially hand-held, version. The weapon, which is claimed to cause no permanent harm, could also end up being used by police to control civilians.

The idea of the weapon is to "create a heating sensation that repels individual adversaries", according to the Joint Non-Lethal Weapons Directorate (JNLWD) in Quantico, Virginia, which develops less-lethal weapons for the US military and coastguard.

Tests with a rifle-mounted infrared laser, carried out at a US air force lab near Dayton, Ohio, have determined a combination of laser pulse power and wavelength that causes an alarming, hot sensation on the skin, but which stops short of causing a burn, says JNLWD project engineer Wesley Burgei.

"We have established the minimum irradiance to cause a sensation and have characterised where thermal injury begins," he says. "But the exact operating irradiance which balances a useful military effect with a conservative margin of safety has not been nailed down yet."

That's something that will have to be done before the weapon is deployed, as too powerful a laser beam could permanently blind someone if fired at their eyes. Weapons that do this are banned under the UN Protocol on Blinding Laser Weapons.

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Create your own Personal Cycle Lane wherever you go

(Image: Evan Gant, IDSA and Alex Tee, Altitude Inc)
Cycle lanes are a good way of keeping bikes away from cars and minimising accidents, but they aren't available on every road.

Evan Gant at the Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA) and Alex Tee of Altitude Inc in Somerville, Massachusetts, have designed a portable cycle "Light Lane" that straps to the back of a bike.

A laser projects an image of a cycle lane onto the road directly behind the cyclist to remind approaching cars to leave room.