Gizmag News - Man-made 'clouds' to shade 2022 World Cup in Qatar?

Welcome to the newsletter for Gizmag Emerging Technology Magazine. These are the headlines for March the 28th, 2011. Man-made 'clouds' to shade 2022 World Cup in Qatar? With the World Cup always held in the European off-season in June and July, the awarding of the 2022 World Cup to Qatar offers the prospect of players and spectators sweating through the hottest part of the year. Doha sees an average top temperature of 41 degrees Celsius (106°F) in these months with the possibility of top temperatures as high as 50°C (122°F). While shifting the World Cup to the cooler month of January has been mooted and since rejected, a team of engineering scientists from Qatar University (QU) have taken a more high-tech approach to solving the problem – they've reportedly developed a type of artificial "cloud" designed to float above the World Cup venues and provide fans and players with relief from the blazing sun. Read More Multitouch gesture controlled microscope - the 'iPad on steroids' Researchers at the Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland (FIMM) have collaborated with Finnish company Multitouch Ltd to create a giant touch and gesture controlled microscope. The Multitouch microscope uses a combination of web based microscopy and a 46-inch multitouch display to create what researcher Dr Johan Lundin calls "an iPad on steroids." A useful tool for interactive teaching and learning, the microscope allows users to zoom in or out with a two handed stretch or pinch gesture – all the way down to 1000x magnification. Read More Motorized rehabilitation shoes put elderly on shaky ground to improve balance Although it might seem counter-intuitive, making it more difficult for older people to walk will actually improve their mobility. Walking on unpredictable and uneven surfaces can improve balance and help reduce risk of falling. Working on this principle, researchers at Glasgow's University of Strathclyde in collaboration with Israeli medical products company Step of Mind Ltd. (SoM) have developed an innovative training shoe based on this principle called Re-Step that incorporates four motors on the bottom of each shoe to make it more difficult for the wearer to walk, therefore helping in rehabilitation from movement disorders such as those that result from stroke or brain trauma. Read More 5-in-1 Connection Kit for iPad iPad accessories are once again a hot topic following the release of the iPad 2. Apps and covers are usually the highest priority accessories, but the iPad's lack of ports means if you want to connect it to anything other than the included dock connector then you'll need an add-on solution. The 5-in-1 Connection Kit for iPad ups the connectivity capabilities of the iPad by providing the convenience of – you guessed it – five ports in a single dongle. Read More Skin cancer-detecting laser tool developed Melanoma is the deadliest of skin cancers. In 2010 U.S. doctors diagnosed nearly 115,000 new cases of melanoma, with nearly 8,700 resulting in death. Scientists at Duke University have developed a new laser-based tool designed to identify malignant melanomas sooner, without the expense of false diagnosis and unnecessary surgery. Read More Crawling, squirming modular iMobot designed to advance robotics Building a robot, it’s probably safe to assume, is a daunting project. It would doubtless be considerably easier if designers didn’t have to build everything from scratch, but could instead use pre-built modules. That’s where the iMobot comes into play. Designed by University of California, Davis alumnus Graham Ryland and professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering Harry Cheng, the modular iMobot is a small robot in its own right, but could also be used as part of a larger robotic system. Read More Historic 15th century Fibonacci manuscript up for auction A collection of revered mathematical works will soon be put to auction in New York, including significant pieces of the Liber Abaci or Book of Calculation by Fibonacci. Esteemed as one of the most brilliant mathematicians in Western history, Leonardo Pisano Bigollo (Fibonacci) was one of the first to explain Arabic numerals, the superiority of these numerals and the importance of zero. Above all it was Fibonacci's work that has helped modern day mathematicians find breakthroughs in mathematical equations, whilst also defining sequences used for computer programming and the financial markets. Read More Bikemaker-carmaker collaboration produces the S-Works + McLaren Venge Given that legendary Italian bicycle-maker Colnago has collaborated with Ferrari on limited-edition bikes in the past, it perhaps shouldn’t come as a surprise that another bicycle company might also see the technological (and marketing) value of hooking up with a maker of racing and luxury automobiles. This time around, it’s America’s Specialized, that has joined forces with the UK’s McLaren Applied Technologies. Together, the two have created what is being promoted as “the fastest complete performance bike in the world” – the S-Works + McLaren Venge. Read More Toshiba’s 14-inch USB-powered Mobile Monitor released Walk into any graphic or game design studio, trading center or media authoring/editing business and you'll more than likely see some sort of multi-display workstation setup. I too have found that expanding display real estate over more than one screen can be very useful, but when thinking about such things for my notebook, I'm kind of limited to integrated screen-and-a-half or full dual-screen options. Happily, Toshiba's Digital Products Division is now offering another solution – a 14-inch Mobile Monitor that gets its power and video feed from one USB cable. Read More Laptop concept would roll up like a yoga mat Notebooks and tablets already offer pretty convenient computing on-the-go solutions, but Germany's Orkin Design proposes rolling up both devices into one ultra-portable package. The Rolltop concept will take advantage of advances in flexible OLED and touchscreen technologies to create a cylinder-shaped laptop computer that can be rolled out to form a notebook, a tablet, or display monitor. The concept has been floating around for a while, but has recently received a few tweaks to the design. Although specifics are in short supply, read on for what we do know ... Read More If you would like to refer this newsletter to a friend or colleague, please point them at our free subscription page. Please don't try to forward this email, as the formatting is unlikely to remain intact. And don't worry, we don't share email addresses. Please read our privacy policy if you are concerned. Watch for more of the best new innovations, ideas and practical technologies in your inbox. You are receiving this email because you signed up for our daily newsletter at http://www.gizmag.com. If you no longer wish to receive this newsletter please click here to unsubscribe. COPYRIGHT GIZMAG (C) 2011