Biking in Seattle can be less than mellow with all the hills, traffic and especially that rain . But those things are exactly what inspired the Teague team of bicycle designers to build the Denny bike for the Oregon Manifest bike design project. Teague’s model (built by fabricator Tom Sizemore ) sports a minimalist frame, which belies all the tech packed inside. First off, you’ve got an electric motor on the front hub (with a removable battery) to boost your pedaling, along with an automatic shifter. To combat the constant showers, the Denny has a simple device with rubber bristles that breaks up the water, rather than a clunky fender. Since city driving is fraught with danger , the Denny also has safety features like daytime running lights, brake lights and turn signals activated by bumping the brake handles. And to keep that minimalist form, the handlebars function as either a nifty quick locking system, or fully detach to secure the frame and back wheel. For now, the bike remains experimental as part of the Oregon Manifest Bike Design Project. However, whichever bike wins the contest will actually go into production, and previous champs like the Faraday Porteur have lived on as crowdfunded production models . Filed under: Transportation Comments

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Bike of the future removes the need to shift gears, pedal up hills or pack a lock

Automakers aren’t the only ones working to implement self-driving technology . The US Marine Corps has teamed up with TORC Robotics’ (among others) to work on a Jeep-esque option outfitted with the company’s Ground Unmanned Support Surrogate system — or GUSS to save the mouthful. Here, GUSS is used to power a self-driving version of the Marine two-seater truck dubbed the Internally Transportable Vehicle (ITV). As the name suggests, the compact option can be carried on a helicopter or plane for deployment, and its beacon can either send it to a specific location or maneuver it via remote control. As you may recall, TORC’s GUSS system was installed on a Polaris 6×6 ATV a few years back, so the tech has been through its share of tests. The goal is for the vehicle to be used to deliver supplies (up to 1, 600 pounds or evacuate wounded soldiers by determining its own route or being controlled from afar at a speed of 8 MPH. An unmanned ITV reamains in the testing phase, but the team sees similar options in the field in the next five years. [Photo credit: TORC Robotics] Filed under: Transportation Comments Via: Ars Technica Source: Fox News

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Self-driving mini truck put to the test by US Marines

Ever had the urge to peek at your friends’ phone screens, whether it’s to learn about their favorite apps or simply pry into their digital lives? Well, you can now do that without having to either strike up an awkward conversation or get overly nosy. PayPal co-founder Max Levchin and the HVF crew have launched Homer , an iPhone app that lets you share your app picks with fellow users. All you do is take screenshots of your home screens and submit them; Homer scans the pictures and identifies the apps, making it easy to compare them with pals in your contacts or on social networks. As you’d hope, there’s some privacy features baked in. Besides the voluntary nature of screen captures, you can hide individual apps you’d rather keep a secret — you don’t have to share your Tinder addiction with the rest of the world. There’s no mention of Homer versions for other platforms (or people outside the US, for that matter), but you can try it today if you have both an iPhone and an unquenchable curiosity about your buddies’ mobile habits. Filed under: Cellphones , Internet , Mobile Comments Via: GigaOM Source: App Store , HVF Labs

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Homer for iPhone lets you peek at the apps your friends use

Google’s got a big new project and it’s you. Well, not just you, but a genetic and molecular study of humanity that aims to grasp at what a healthy human should be. It’s in its early days, collecting anonymous data from 175 people, but it plans to expand to thousands later. The project is headed up by molecular biologist Andrew Conrad, who pioneered cheap HIV tests for blood-plasma donations. According to the WSJ , the team at Google X current numbers between 70 and 100, encompassing experts in physiology, biochemistry, optics, imaging and molecular biology. The Baseline project will apparently take in hundreds of different samples, with Google using its information processing talents to expose biomarkers and other patterns – the optimistic result hopefully being faster ways of diagnosing diseases. Biomarkers has typically been used with late-stage diseases, as these studies have typically used already-sick patients. “He gets that this is not a software project that will be done in one or two years, ” said Dr. Sam Gambhir, who is working with Dr. Conrad on the project. “We used to talk about curing cancer and doing this in a few years. We’ve learned to not say those things anymore.” Information from the project will remain anonymous: Google said that data won’t be shared with insurance companies, but the shadow of privacy issues hang over pretty much anything the company touches. Baseline started this summer, initially collecting fluids such as urine, blood, saliva and tears from the anonymous guinea pigs. Tissue samples will be taken later. “With any complex system, the notion has always been there to proactively address problems, ” Dr. Conrad said. “That’s not revolutionary. We are just asking the question: If we really wanted to be proactive, what would we need to know? You need to know what the fixed, well-running thing should look like.” Filed under: Science , Alt , Google Comments Source: WSJ

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Google wants to define a healthy human with its new baseline genetic study

You may think that the 3GB of memory in your new smartphone is hot stuff, but that pales in comparison with what Rice University has in store. Its scientists have detailed a form of resistive RAM (RRAM) that can be made using regular equipment at room temperatures, making it practical for everyday gadgets. The trick is the use of porous silicon oxide where metals (such as gold or platinum) fill the gaps. Using the silicon material doesn’t just give manufacturers something familiar to work with; it requires much less power than previous techniques, can last through 100 times as many uses and isn’t fazed by heat. It’s also far denser than earlier RRAM, storing nine bits per cell where even conventional flash storage stops at three. The result should be an easy-to-make RAM chip with the kind of capacity that you’d normally expect from much larger permanent storage, like an SSD — as the company Crossbar hinted when it first discussed this approach, you could stuff 1TB into a component the size of a postage stamp. That’s just about ideal for mobile devices, and could mean that future phones and tablets won’t have to worry about low memory errors for a long, long time. Crossbar’s technology is due in later this year in chips destined for embedded uses like appliances and cars, so the breakthrough won’t be noticeable at first. Research lead James Tour tells MIT that he expects a deal with an unnamed manufacturer in the next couple of weeks, though, so it’s entirely possible that this super-capacious memory will become commonplace. Filed under: Storage , Science , Mobile Comments Via: MIT Technology Review Source: Rice University

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Future phones could house a terabyte of memory

We’re not sure how many of the new Oculus Rift VR kits have shipped out to developers already , but it looks like a healthy amount are in San Diego right now. That’s where Comic-Con is happening this week and, following the X-Men VR demo we already heard about, Legendary Pictures and Oculus have teamed up for Pacific Rim: Jaeger Pilot . It lets attendees take control of the 250-foot tall Jaeger “Gipsy Danger” (no drift connection necessary) and do battle in a virtual reality combat simulator against the kaiju Knifehead (the first one you see in the movie). The whole experience is built in Unreal Engine 4 using the same assets Industrial Light & Magic worked with for the movie. Sure, you’ve seen the movie, and maybe even in IMAX 3D, but we’re pretty sure even Guillermo del Toro’s directing tricks can’t add up to feeling like you’re there, fighting an 8, 700 ton monster off the coast of Alaska. It’s all in Legendary’s booth #3920 for all four days the show is open, from Thursday through Sunday. Don’t have a ticket? There’s a video preview embedded after the break, but it can’t compare to diving into a VR world with Oculus — maybe we’ll be able to enjoy it at home by April 2017 when Pacific Rim 2 arrives. Join the fight! ‘Drift with the Rift’ exclusively at the @Legendary booth (#3920) & prepare to pilot a 250ft Jaeger. http://t.co/C6CeXE7ldp – Legendary (@Legendary) July 24, 2014 Filed under: Displays , Gaming , Home Entertainment , HD Comments Source: Legendary Pictures (YouTube) , Legendary.com

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You can pilot one of the robots from ‘Pacific Rim’ in virtual reality at Comic-Con

When it came to life on Mars , NASA might have struck out, but it’s got a good feeling about Europa . The agency is working on a probe designed to scan its vast oceans for signs of alien life, but there’s a problem, namely the 30 feet of ice that covers the moon’s surface.That’s where VALKYRIE comes in, a torpedo-shaped robot that’ll suck up water, warm it and fire it back into the ice to quickly and easily drill through the layer. Once the hardware reaches its destination, it’ll release a swarm of smaller ‘bots that’ll map the geography and hunt for alien microbes. There’s still a few issues to work out with the gear, like the fact that it can’t properly change course while tunneling, which would be pretty essential if it were to come across a rock or other blockage. Then again, given that we won’t be ready to launch a mission to Jupiter’s moon until the early 2020’s, NASA’s got some time to fix the problems. Filed under: Robots , Transportation , Science , Alt Comments Via: Gizmodo Source: New Scientist

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Prototype NASA robot will burrow through sheets of alien ice

Amazon’s recently announced music service for Prime members just got a bit better. Today, the giant online retailer revealed that its Prime Music library is welcoming a bunch of new songs into the mix, from artists such as Miles Davis, Ray Charles, Kendrick Lamar, Shakira, Skrillex, Ella Fitzgerald, DJ Snake & Lil Jon ( #TD4W, anyone? ) and many, many more. To make use of these newly added tunes, Amazon said it has curated “hundreds” of fresh Prime Playlists , citing this feature as one users have come to love since the service’s launch last month. Amazon will need to keep making similar moves if Prime Music is to be a threat to the likes of Spotify , so this is, without a doubt, a step in the right direction. The next natural step would be expanding outside of the US, but record labels might make that a lot more complicated than it sounds. Filed under: Misc , Portable Audio/Video , Internet , Mobile , Amazon Comments Source: Amazon

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Amazon expands Prime Music library with loads of new tracks

Whether you’re looking to replace your laptop or just find something to keep you entertained, there’s a tablet out there to suit you. But with an ever-increasing array of slates crowding the market, narrowing down the list can be a chore. So we’ve sorted through the pile and picked out some of our favorites for both power users and media consumers. Our complete buyer’s guide is always just a few clicks away, but feel free to cruise through the gallery below for a quick rundown of the best tablets you can buy today. Filed under: Tablets , Mobile , Apple , Samsung , Sony , Microsoft , ASUS , Google , Amazon , Acer Comments

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The top 12 tablets you can buy right now

StubHub has revealed that it’s been the victim of a global fraud operation that’s lasted longer than a year. Rather than being hacked, however, criminals obtained user details from other websites and keylogging software, then proceeded to make purchases on the eBay-owned ticket site. Company official Glenn Lehrman has told Reuters that authorities in the US, Canada and the UK will conduct arrests later today, at which point more details will be released. Worried users of the service should relax, for the moment at least, since the company has promised that any unauthorized transactions were spotted and refunded back in 2013. Filed under: Internet Comments Via: WGGB Source: Reuters

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eBay’s ticket site StubHub says it’s the victim of a ‘global fraud ring’