Unmanned X-47B Drone Makes Its First Flight

The X-47b took its first flight, sparking a whole new era of military remote-piloted, stealthy and deadly combat aircraft. Borrowing from decades of flying wing research, the X-47B is a sleek flying wedge of engines and electronics that's all but invisible to radar, and hard to lock on to with infrared missiles. It's capable of taking off automatically, flying to a location by itself, scanning the scene with a variety of sensors, and then--when commanded to do so by remote pilots--dropping precision-guided weapons on a target, before flying home to an air base or an aircraft carrier. Human pilots require life support systems in aircraft, which increases their weight, and limits their flight envelope--without the pilot aboard, an X-47B-type aircraft could theoretically perform all sorts of crazy aerobatic maneuvers that a human pilot couldn't withstand. The reality of aerial combat in the future will be similar to playing a computer game where by “pilots” will complete missions from remote desktops.

Nissan ESFLOW

Looking like something out of Tron, the Nissan ESFLOW will be unveiled at the upcoming Geneva motor show. The ESFLOW will accelerate from standstill to 100km/h in less than five seconds , travel 240km on a single charge and emit zero emissions! (assuming green energy was used to charge the car). The powertrain unit employs technologies from the Nissan LEAF, with the twin electric motors placed above the rear wheels in a mid-ship position. The motors independently control the left and right wheels, and so the torque is optimized to ensure outstanding vehicle stability and control as well as efficient power regeneration. The ESFLOW's body is made from a rollbar-integrated aluminium chassis and wrapped in a composite shell, while its laminated lithium batteries are mounted to maintain a low centre of gravity. Nissan hasn't released all of the concept's technical details yet but stay tuned for more info as the Geneva Motor show gets underway.

Nintendo 3DS Release- 31st March

At media events all over the world overnight, Nintendo announced the realease date for the successor to the worlds biggest ever selling console- the Nintendo DS selling over 144 million units. Released on the 31st of March 2011, the console will sell for $349 AUS compared with $249 US and £229 UK. The 3DS looks very similar to its predecessor, with twin 3.5-inch displays and a touch panel on the bottom screen, but features a significant graphical improvement including a stereoscopic 3D effect without the need for special glasses. The 3DS features an internal digital camera like the Nintendo DSi as well as dual cameras on the outside of the machine's case for taking 3D pictures. The machine will also play 3D movies thanks to a content deal with Hollywood studios Disney, Warner Bros and DreamWorks.Nintendo says more than 30 games will be released for the 3DS between launch and early June including titles such as Metal Gear Solid, Resident Evil, Street Fighter,DJ Hero, Final Fantasy, Mario KartSuper Mario BrosSonic the Hedgehog, Saints Row and FIFA.

Robonaut 2- The first Humanoid Space Robot!

Robonaut 2 or R2 will be the first humanoid robot to venture into space this month flying aboard the Space shuttle Discovery. R2 will be accompanied by 6 astronauts on their way to the International Space Station on what will be Discovery’s last ever trip into space. R2 (currently legless) will be placed on a fixed pedestal on board the space station to complete lessons on a task board. The board has switches, knobs, and connectors like the ones astronauts operate, and the crew will mock up chores for R2 to master. Once the legs are added, the trainee will be able to move around inside the station, wiping handrails, vacuuming air filters, and doing other mundane tasks for the crew. In development by NASA and GM, R2’s potential is still unknown. "There are so many possibilities for the future," says Rob Ambrose of NASA's Johnson Space Center. "For instance, we could add wheels so R2 could scout a potential landing site on a planet or an asteroid or set up a workstation or habitat there. Someday R2 may even get a jetpack! But we have to crawl before we can fly."

Volkswagen XL1: sub-1L/100km efficiency

The all new VW XL1 is to be shown off at the upcomming Qatar motor show. Its' powered by a two-cylinder 800cc TDI diesel producing 35kW, and linked to a 20kW electric motor, equalling a total of 55kW. The power is sent to the rear wheels via a seven-speed DSG gearbox with an automatic clutch fitted between each unit. This means the electric motor can work independently of the diesel or with it when accelerating. The total range of the XL1 is around 550km from only a 10 litre tank. In electric only mode the XL1 has a more modest range of 35km. The use of carbon fibre and other advanced construction methods helps keep the kerb weight of the XL1 to 795kg. Performance is not blistering, but it’s not too shabby, either, with 100km/h able to be reached in 11.9 seconds. Top speed is limited at 160km/h. A version of this car is likely to be built on mass production in the very near future.

SEGA Toylet (Boys Only!)

Sega is testing a new gamming format in toilets around Tokyo from January this year. Users are to strategically vary the strength and location of his urine stream to play a series of games.Each urinal is installed with a pressure sensor। An LCD screen is mounted on the wall above, letting the gamer select from and play four different minigames.

Games included:

• Mannekin Pis, which simply measures how hard you can pee.

• Graffiti Eraser which lets you remove paint by pointing a hose in different directions.

• The Northern Wind, The Sun and Me,” where you play as the wind trying to blow a girl’s skirt up, and the harder you pee, the harder the wind blows.

• Battle! Milk From Nose is a multiplayer game where you compete against the person who last used the urinal. The strength of your urine streams are compared, and translated into milk spraying out of your nose. If your stream is stronger, your milk-stream knocks your opponent out of the ring.

Holocube - HC70 holographic projector (video)

So it’s not quite holographic technology though this new projection method give a pretty awesome impression of what larger scale holographic images will look like and an example of how they may be implemented in the future.

Specs: Holocube HC70
70-inch transparent screen
40GB of SSD for storing more than 18 hours of uncompressed videos of 4 Mb/s or eight hours of compressed video at 9 Mb/s.
600cd/m2 brightness
1080×1920 pixel resolution.
Besides that, Holocube HC70 is using the Inter Dual Core 2.8 GHz processor and Windows 7 Embedded as its operating system.