Top Stories
Navy launches U.S.S. Independence, first of new class of weapons-bristling speedster trimarans
World’s tallest LEGO tower built in England
Redesigned NES is maybe 15 years too late
Sections
Archive
Vehicles
Volkswagen has plans to produce a 1-liter car by 2010 that'll get a whopping 200 miles per gallon, making it one of the most fuel-efficient cars on the road. It's not going to come without its drawbacks, however, as reaching...
POSTED Friday, May 9, 2008
This is a one horsepower vehicle. Literally. Get it?! It has a horse inside powering it, meaning it is literally powered by one horse! One horsepower! Do you get it? Hold on, let me explain more clearly for you. It's...
POSTED Monday, May 5, 2008
Apparently, the future of eco-friendly vehicles is the soap box derby racer. At least that's what Bentley's battery-powered Continental DC electric car looks like. Unlike a soap box derby racer, however, this guy can get moving at up to 40mph...
POSTED Monday, May 5, 2008
There are some devices where the expression "you go first" always pops into my head, and this is certainly one of them. We've seen some other wacky designs from Tecnologia Aeroespacial Mexicana that have actually made it into production,...
POSTED Thursday, May 1, 2008
Got an extra million dollars hanging around? Put down a $100K deposit on the upcoming Cirrus “The-Jet,” a tiny single-engine aircraft that doesn’t exist yet. Full-sized models are now touring the world, and when it does fly, the personal...
POSTED Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Take a look at the Hy-Bird, a hydrogen-powered electric airplane that gets 10% of its power from the sun. Made of super-lightweight (and expensive) carbon fiber, there’s talk of this fuel-cell aircraft flying around the world this summer, and...
POSTED Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Bikes are an awesome way to get around, especially if you live in a city. They provide you with exercise, are free transportation (after the initial investment), and are totally environmentally friendly. The problem? It's pretty tough to transport anything...
POSTED Tuesday, April 29, 2008
BMW today is proudly — boastfully — showing its M1 Homage, a tribute to a legendary super-sports car that began production 30 years ago. This M1, however, is only a concept. The M1 Homage holds remarkably firmly to the...
POSTED Monday, April 28, 2008
Longevity is a key indicator of a classic design, and going by this standard the bicycle must be just about perfect. While many have tried, the basic layout hasn't changed since the Starley Rover safety bicycle of 1885. The...
POSTED Saturday, April 26, 2008
The idea of owning an electric car is great until you realize that you'll need to plug it in every day. And who has a plug in their garage or their driveway? Are you going to need to snake an...
POSTED Friday, April 25, 2008
Designer Alex Naboko of Minsk, Belarus is on the right track to bringing back the glory of air travel. It's easy to imagine crisply uniformed attendants wandering the spacious aisles, serving better-than-expected trays of food on the large tables...
POSTED Friday, April 25, 2008
We’re at the dawn of a new era. Electric cars promise to soon be ubiquitous, saving energy with their ability to plug into our power system that theoretically is more energy-efficient than directly burning fossil fuels. But keeping electrics...
POSTED Wednesday, April 23, 2008
As you're probably painfully aware, the economy ain't doin' so hot right now. Everything is getting more expensive and our money is getting less valuable by the day. It's not a pretty situation. It probably heralds the oncoming apocalypse. How...
POSTED Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Want to save gas? Pack yourself into a tiny and lightweight car like this Space-Efficient Vehicle (SEV) designed by Ralph Panhuyzen and Steven van der Veen. It was another finalist in the 2008 Michelin Design Challenge, whose cars were...
POSTED Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Wedging yourself into an economy-class airplane seat is one of the atrocities of our age, but there’s help on the way. The Cozy Suite is a revolution in airline seating, giving you more room to yourself while giving the...
POSTED Monday, April 21, 2008
The City Transport Cell is a collaborative effort between design students Stefan Mathys, Florian Kaufmann, Thomas Spycher and Christof Bigler. Their mission: design a car for the cities of the year 2020. The bold team of four went ahead...
POSTED Monday, April 21, 2008
Back when I was a lad, nothing was cooler than rolling up to the neighbor kid's pad on your Big Wheel. Feeling like Dennis Hopper in Easy Rider, this was the ultimate in preschool hipness. Today's kids however need...
POSTED Saturday, April 19, 2008
The Aeryon Scout is an aerial surveillance vehicle that can take sneaky shots thanks to the camera fixed to its underside. It's a simple machine: it's remote controlled and has four rotors housed by foam casings that'll keep it...
POSTED Friday, April 18, 2008
Suddenly your $40-$50 bill to fill up gas every other week isn't so bad: the North American Eagle jet car costs $18,000 every single run. That's because it uses a 42,500 horsepower engine from airplane manufacturer Lockheed's retired 1957...
POSTED Thursday, April 17, 2008
Take a pair of radio-controlled racing boats, partition off a kiddie pool, and you have yourself an RC Speed Boat Challenge. Hey, it's like slot cars on water. Those little suckers look like they could go fast, but look...
POSTED Thursday, April 17, 2008
Want to create a bike that runs on thin air? Talk to this guy, former sheepherder and current rocket scientist/inventor Jem Stansfield, who took a couple of air canisters normally used by firefighters for their breathing apparatuses, and lashed...
POSTED Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Get out of the way, everybody! Here comes the one-wheeled Audi Snook. Maybe this auto-stabilized monowheel design concept isn’t such a bad idea, though, because it won German student Tilmann Schlootz a Michelin Challenge Design Award 2008 at this...
POSTED Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Tether cars have been running their circuitous routes for decades, but never have they been like this. The mind-boggling 200mph speed of this nitro-fueled mini-dragster is downright frightening. The pointy projectile looks more like a puny land-based powerboat than...
POSTED Tuesday, April 15, 2008
If hybrid vehicles want to challenge the reigning gas guzzlers in a serious way, there are still a few areas where they could be a little more robust: namely, with their heating a cooling. Thermoelectrical concepts could help the vehicles...
POSTED Monday, April 14, 2008
If there's anything the Segway needs, it's someone to make it look cooler. Like a hot girl wearing baggy clothes and nerd glasses in a teen comedy, it needs a hunky football player to take a bet to take the...
POSTED Monday, April 14, 2008
Just to dash that first thought of yours: Nope, not a concept. This is real, my friend. The MonoTracer is an enclosed motorcycle or "cabin cycle," a style of vehicle which experiences a lot less drag than your average...
POSTED Monday, April 14, 2008
While the American divisions of the world's car manufacturers push complex hybrid cars as a solution to our bloated fuel consumption, most of the rest of the world has embraced modern Diesel technology. American's perceptions of Diesel vehicles are...
POSTED Saturday, April 12, 2008
The setup certainly doesn't make it sound positive: The Redbird Reef off the coast of Slaughter Beach, Delaware is a dump site for retired New York City subway cars, and there are already nearly 700 of them on the...
POSTED Friday, April 11, 2008
NBA star Kobe Bryant is a spectacular jumper, but his insurance company would never let him do a stunt like this. In this Nike ad, Bryant looks like he’s executing a perfectly timed leap over a speeding Aston Martin...
POSTED Friday, April 11, 2008
Sure, there are a lot of concept car designs floating around, but when Toyota cranks out a futuremobile, everyone remembers the Prius and stands at attention. This 1/X plug-in hybrid concept shaves off plenty of pounds to save energy,...
POSTED Thursday, April 10, 2008
Ikea is converting the Kobe Portliner Monorail in Japan into an innovative showroom in preparation for the launch of its store location at Port Island. Lucky for the display, it's beauty will be fleeting - Ikea will only run...
POSTED Thursday, April 10, 2008
What better way to acquaint yourself with a new love than riding with them on a completely ridiculous and presumably extremely complicated face-to-face tandem bike? This bike is the result of a year's worth of hard work by a...
POSTED Wednesday, April 9, 2008
Have you always wanted to fly a helicopter but are too dangerously incompetent to make your dream a reality? I feel you, I really do. Well, instead of actually putting you in control of a set of deadly whirring blades,...
POSTED Tuesday, April 8, 2008
All of NICE Car Company's electric vehicles produce absolutely zero CO² and feature 100% recyclable bodies. The company serves London with a range of urban-friendly vehicles from electric scooters, cars and compact trucks, with a mindset that reminds us...
POSTED Sunday, April 6, 2008
Boeing has just completed the first successful flight of a manned hydrogen-cell battery airplane, paving the way for the renewable energy source to become the new standard in air travel. We're still a ways off from it becoming a...
POSTED Thursday, April 3, 2008
This XO Movie scooter looks like an extra from the Transformers movie, able to fold down and lock itself up when not in use and featuring all of the curves and angles of our favorite robots in disguise. It can...
POSTED Thursday, April 3, 2008
Soon, in Washington DC, hoping to be lucky and be out of the way of the parking ticket officer's route isn't going to be an option anymore when parking illegally. That's because the city has plans to install cameras on...
POSTED Wednesday, April 2, 2008
For those of us propelling ourselves courtesy of our two feet, the Rhodes Car is the fancy way to get around. This four-wheeled human powered-vehicle is about as luxurious as it gets. You can make it even more versatile...
POSTED Tuesday, April 1, 2008
If you've got a hatchback with a tiny/non-existent amount of trunk space, this Auto Rucksack is for you. Essentially, it's a backpack for your car that mounts on the back window and is detachable, able to be used as a...
POSTED Tuesday, April 1, 2008
Electric cars could soon be free. Well, free if you sign up for a six-year contract for batteries and charging, that is. A new company called Project Better Place aims to solve the biggest problems of electric cars —...
POSTED Monday, March 31, 2008
If you thought paying $99 at the local Buff 'n' Shine for a wax and detail was a bit of a rip, you've probably never come across the products from Swizöl of Switzerland. Their top of the line Divine...
POSTED Monday, March 31, 2008
I travel to Europe on a regular basis, and have noticed the way most Europeans drive modern high performance Diesels that get amazing fuel mileage. Now Mercedes has combined this technology with the hybrid approach favored in the USA,...
POSTED Sunday, March 30, 2008
I travel to Europe on a regular basis, and have noticed the way most Europeans drive modern high performance Diesels that get amazing fuel mileage. Now Mercedes has combined this technology with the hybrid approach favored in the USA,...
POSTED Sunday, March 30, 2008
BMW has been hard at work on a prototype of a new super-eco-friendly vehicle, the Hydrogen 7. The hydrogen powered vehicle can also run on regular gasoline at the push of a button, recognizing that hydrogen isn't that easy to...
POSTED Saturday, March 29, 2008
Every time I see one of those Mini Coopers on the road here in Texas, I'm amazed it hasn't yet been crushed under the weight of a monster pick-up, mistaking it for a speed bump. But these little matchbox-sized cars...
POSTED Friday, March 28, 2008
Not to be outdone by the antics at the New York Auto Show, the Bangkok International Motor Show had a couple of surprises as well. The Toyota Hi-Ct concept car made its debut during the event with a decidedly tank-like...
POSTED Friday, March 28, 2008
From energy-efficient to bomb-resistant, Vanessa shows us the coolest concept vehicles from the 2008 NY Auto Show.
POSTED Thursday, March 27, 2008
The New York Auto Show was this weekend, and we've got cars on the brain. Good timing for Audi to let us try out the company's 2009 SUV (Audi's second), the Q7. Not that it's the first or even...
POSTED Tuesday, March 25, 2008
The Silbervogel Gravity Car, designed by Jakob Hirzel, is a concept racing car that would still turn a few heads even though it isn't a gas guzzling muscle car. The Silbervogel has a detachable top half that covers the driver,...
POSTED Monday, March 24, 2008
What do you get when you cross a bicycle with a elliptical trainer? That would be the Randy Ross stepper, a vehicle that looks like a bike at first glance, but has some notable — and useful — differences.
POSTED Monday, March 24, 2008
Segways aren't the coolest or manliest way to get around. No, they're more like a giant sign on your back announcing that you're a dork. It's too bad, really, because Segways do seem to be a kind of fun...
POSTED Monday, March 24, 2008
We visited the New York International Auto Show this week and found ourselves wishing that more car companies would introduce real eco-friendly cars instead of concepts. We weren't alone: many critics thought that this year's show was a sort...
POSTED Sunday, March 23, 2008
This Tong City Bike design is unique in two distinct aspects: first of all, all of its components are housed in the body, keeping the gears and chain hidden away and protected, not to mention your pantlegs protected. It easily...
POSTED Friday, March 21, 2008
Many of the "environmentally friendly" cars at the New York International Auto Show were concepts only, scheduled to hit the market in "2011" or, you know, never. Not so Mitsubish's iMiEV, a fully electric car that the company brought...
POSTED Thursday, March 20, 2008
Planning a road trip? The Microjoule can make the journey between New York and Los Angeles over three times on just one gallon of gas. Amazingly the Microjoule doesn't have any fancy tricks — it's just an aerodynamic, lightweight one-seater...
POSTED Thursday, March 20, 2008
We wrote about this flying car last week, and some of you wanted more information. Fortunately, we were lucky enough to run into Chris Milner, the younger half of the father-son team that runs Milner Motors, yesterday at the...
POSTED Thursday, March 20, 2008
We visited the New York International Auto show today at the Javits Center in Manhattan. The show opens to the public on Friday, in the meantime we got to roam the floors ahead of the crowd, which was pretty...
POSTED Wednesday, March 19, 2008
While most of Detroit’s electric cars still spin on giant lazy susans at car shows as concepts, California’s Tesla Motors cranked up its assembly line yesterday for the company's ultra-sexy sports car in the U.K. Production should ramp up...
POSTED Tuesday, March 18, 2008
What do you get when you take a Harley-Davidson V-Rod motorcycle, put an extra wheel on the front, install a couple of seats and top it off with a gorgeous fiberglass body? You get a Cirbin V13R, a tricycle...
POSTED Thursday, March 13, 2008
This is the Milner AirCar. It's a "flying car" that's really just an airplane that can be driven around on the ground, and it looks like it was constructed in the back yard of a mad scientist. It costs about...
POSTED Monday, March 10, 2008
As gas prices get higher and higher, Europeans build vehicles that are smaller and smaller. This three-wheeled Sidam Xnovo is more motorcycle than car, leaning with the turns and offered in enclosed and open-air versions. The first iteration will...
POSTED Monday, March 10, 2008
Thanks to the brilliant minds at Sanyo there is now a product that challenges two of the biggest competing movements out there: fitness and being green with the regenerative lithium-ion bicycle. Just introduced for the Japanese market is this...
POSTED Monday, March 10, 2008
Now this is an impressive DIY project. This amazing-looking bike, dubbed the C-Thru Road Frame, is completely homemade and built using carbon fiber, making it not only a cool looking bike but also a really light and efficient one. Taking...
POSTED Friday, March 7, 2008
I know all about dirt bikes, hybrids, racers and cruisers — but a city bike? What is that exactly? That’s new to me. But makes sense if you think of it; dirt bikes are tough enough, but they're pretty...
POSTED Wednesday, March 5, 2008
What goes up, must come down … eventually. That’s the principle U.S. military research agency DARPA wanted to stretch to its limit when it dreamed up the Vulture project, an unmanned spy plane that could stay aloft for five...
POSTED Tuesday, March 4, 2008
Toyota’s being coy about iQ, its latest pocketcar that just rolled out in its shipping trim at the Geneva Motor Show. Clearly aimed to compete directly with the Mercedes-built Smart Fortwo car, the company’s not saying if iQ will...
POSTED Tuesday, March 4, 2008
Earthquake-expby jpnvideos If you've ever wondered what it feels like to be around during an earthquake but don't want to go through the actual danger of being caught in one, there's a fancy new truck touring Japan that'll give you...
POSTED Monday, March 3, 2008
Most urban style folding bikes give up sleek styling for practicality and compactness, but not this concept model from German bike manufacturer Cube. Looking a bit like a sleeker version of the Cannondale On, the USC was designed by...
POSTED Saturday, March 1, 2008
Ever wonder what a space truck would look like? Above you can see the Chariot, a working prototype of what may very well be the future of NASA lunar rovers. It has six double wheels, each with independent steering, and...
POSTED Friday, February 29, 2008
If you’re thinking about going green with a Toyota Prius, hold on a second. Underneath this spectacular spacecraft-like exterior by Italdesign Giugiaro beats the frugal heart of a Prius. Well, almost, because the Quaranta concept car, to be rolled...
POSTED Friday, February 29, 2008
Hate plowing snow? Love biking? This pedal-powered snowplow made from a lawnmower chasis and a shovel could be the solution for you. It's certainly not as easy to use as this Roomba-style plow, but then, the only power it...
POSTED Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Car maker Tata Motors announced the world’s first air-powered car last year for India, and now it’s going to be delivering a version to the U.S. starting in 2009 or early 2010. The company’s Zero Pollution Motors (ZPM) division...
POSTED Friday, February 22, 2008
Who ever heard of fishing in a kayak? Until the Fisherman’s Kayak came along, kayak fishing was an activity worthy of a Three Stooges episode. This one lets you cruise out to that special spot, sneaking along motorless just...
POSTED Wednesday, February 20, 2008
The LifeCar is a zero-emissions vehicle, but unlike many environmentally-sound vehicles, it's got a pretty healthy dose of style as well. With a front end that looks like something off the Rolls-Royce assembly line and a body that looks like...
POSTED Wednesday, February 20, 2008
We've seen the MDI AirCar before, but back then it was little more than a twinkle in the eye of its inventor, France's Guy Negre. Now, rather than making a plaything for rich tree huggers, Mr Negre really sees...
POSTED Saturday, February 16, 2008
When it comes to vehicles from famous movies, they don't get too much cooler than James Bond's Lotus convertible that can also function as a submarine. Unfortunately, the very idea of a convertible submarine is nonsensical, so we'll probably never...
POSTED Thursday, February 14, 2008
This tiny single-seater can fly more than a mile into the wild blue at faster than 100 mph, but wait just a second here. There are no wings anywhere in sight. Wingless flying isn't all it can do, says...
POSTED Wednesday, February 13, 2008
A team at Chatten Associates is bridging the gap between remote vehicle and operator by helping the human feel far closer to the action. According to a study by DARPA, a remote operator will react nearly four times slower when...
POSTED Tuesday, February 12, 2008
The tin-can style submarines made famous in The Hunt for Red October just aren't aesthetically pleasing and designer Taizo Doi agrees. This futuristic submarine design is Doi's work and is inspired by the jellyfish. Doi said he wanted the...
POSTED Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Looking to take a road trip over spring break? If so, why stick to those boring and crowded highways and paved roads, when you can rumble over mountains, through hollows, and down streams in a Unicat expedition vehicle. The...
POSTED Monday, February 11, 2008
Something about environmentally friendly cars makes designers go kind of crazy, assuming that if someone is forward-thinking enough to buy an electric car they probably won't mind if it looks like it was designed by someone with ADD in the...
POSTED Monday, February 11, 2008
I'll confess that I hate shopping. Nothing to me is more boring than meandering the aisles of the local Stop 'n' Shop, comparing the prices of name brand vs generic waxed beans. Andy Tyler from Beccles, England must feel...
POSTED Saturday, February 9, 2008
A robotic underwater glider deployed by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and the Webb Research Corporation keeps itself powered in a way that's bound to make Mother Nature happy while gathering oceanographic information — using changes in water temperature. Known...
POSTED Friday, February 8, 2008
Remember that awesome dump truck we showed you? Well, here's the Chameleon Truck, once again by concept designer Haishan Deng. Like his Super Tipper Truck, the Chameleon Truck makes up for the shortcomings of its modern trucking cousins. Where you...
POSTED Friday, February 8, 2008
The tragic and only crash of a Concorde airliner, Air France Flight 4590, marked the end of supersonic travel for some and, at the very least, a colossal step backward for others. Well, if you thought The Future was pretty...
POSTED Thursday, February 7, 2008
Here's H2GO, the first fuel cell model car that you can actually steer. Toy maker Corgi teamed up with Horizon, the company that pioneered the concept last year with its uncontrollable H-Racer, a $99 fuel cell toy (now available)...
POSTED Thursday, February 7, 2008
The last time I went kayaking, the waves and shifting currents in the San Francisco Bay forced me to paddle like mad to get anywhere. I would’ve gladly tossed my kayak partner out of the boat to swap in...
POSTED Wednesday, February 6, 2008
Just when we thought we'd seen the smallest personal helicopter in the world, along comes this one that's even smaller. It sits there, growling on its little tripod until some intrepid flyer with a death wish squats down, revs...
POSTED Tuesday, February 5, 2008
Ever think a dump truck could be sexy? Enter the Super Tipper Truck, designed by Haishan Deng. It's got eight wheels, an overhead cockpit and allows its driver more than one way to dump the payload. Typical dump trucks...
POSTED Tuesday, February 5, 2008
Car seats are so hard to deal with, or so we hear. We haven't been in one in a while. The designers at Think/Thing were tired of having to hunch into the back seats of their cars adjusting straps...
POSTED Wednesday, January 30, 2008
If you're worried about getting slammed by some distracted driver while riding your bike in the dark, Puma's Glow Rider should put those fears at ease. Part of the shoe company's Urban Mobility line — athletic products and programs...
POSTED Tuesday, January 29, 2008
In a show of MacGyver-esque brilliance, a 14 year old boy in Poland managed to use scavenged odds and ends to hijack a tram system in his country's city of Łódź. Sadly, a bit like MacGyver's nemesis Murdoc, the...
POSTED Monday, January 28, 2008
If you didn't see the guy standing next to this scale model Airbus A380 in this video, you'd think it was the real thing. The massive radio-controlled airplane could hardly be called miniature with its 18-foot wingspan and four...
POSTED Friday, January 25, 2008
There are lucky fish out there, and then there are unlucky ones. The lucky ones swim wild and free, living until fishy old age takes them and they peacefully drift into coral reefs somewhere. The unlucky ones end up as...
POSTED Friday, January 25, 2008
The city of Haifa, Israel is built largely on the slope of Mount Carmel, so its geography calls for an unconventional underground solution. And thus the Carmelit was born. The Carmelit is one of the smallest subways in the...
POSTED Friday, January 25, 2008
While it's safe to say you'll never do any Superman-style flying under your own power, the dream of being able to fly isn't really that unrealistic these days. I mean, heck, you can already buy a sweet commercial jetpack if...
POSTED Thursday, January 24, 2008
If you're the kind of flashy guy for whom a Lamborghini just isn't unique or distinctive enough, you'll probably get pretty excited about this new MCE MC1 supercar. Stocked with a 600bhp v10 engine, it's got an all-carbon fiber monocoque...
POSTED Thursday, January 24, 2008
The VW diesel station wagon I had in high school was the most unsexy car imaginable: it took about 5 minutes to warm up, rumbled like a farm tractor, and did 0 to 60 in about 2 minutes flat....
POSTED Thursday, January 24, 2008
The big brains at DARPA are at it again, this time teaming up with Oklahoma State University to develop unmanned aerial vehicles that will be small enough to fit into a soldier's pocket. The heart of the project is...
POSTED Monday, January 21, 2008
Ever wonder how they bore subway tunnels? It used to take a lot of explosives, but Germany is showing the world how to do it nice an easy: just make a massive drill. Several times the size of a...
POSTED Friday, January 18, 2008
If you did see one of these anti-riot vehicles at the 2008 North American International Auto Show, it's probably time to run. Police all around the world utilize special vehicles in situations where (at least, ideally) large crowds are...
POSTED Wednesday, January 16, 2008
GM showcased a "green" Hummer run by algae at last year's Los Angeles Auto show: it was really just a concept by someone with neat Photoshop skills. This year at the 2008 Detroit Auto Show, GM introduced a physical...
POSTED Monday, January 14, 2008
No, this isn't the new Batmobile from The Dark Knight; it's a super-slick concept car from Mazda dubbed the Furai. It's got a "Cougar C65 chassis and a three-rotor rotary engine capable of 450 hp," which means it's fast....
POSTED Monday, January 14, 2008
Designers from all over the world gathered to take part in the Platform21 = Joyriding exhibition in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, to rethink the shape of the automobile. And rethink it they did. The exhibition includes animations, scale models and...
POSTED Friday, January 11, 2008
American Airlines' planes flying the transcontinental route between New York and California are slated to carry anti-missile defense systems attached to the underside of each craft. The defense system is a missile jammer that scans for and, once detected,...
POSTED Friday, January 11, 2008
Looking for a car but don't want to same some money? I mean come on, who really needs to spend $50,000 on a car? Or heck, even $40,000? Or $30,000? Or $20,000? Hell, I want to spend less than $5,000...
POSTED Thursday, January 10, 2008
The robot car that drives itself puts Vanessa in the passenger seat.
POSTED Wednesday, January 9, 2008
In case you're not near your back issues of Maxim and FHM, here's a picture we took earlier today of racing hottie Danica Patrick. She was signing posters at the GoDaddy booth this morning....
POSTED Monday, January 7, 2008
Interactive Toy Concepts gave me a live demonstration of their Firefly RC helicopter at CES, and while even the guys selling the thing couldn’t control it too well, that only made it more fun to play with. The way...
POSTED Sunday, January 6, 2008
A French pilot took the quest for green air travel another step forward with a successful, 48-minute flight of the Electra, a single-seater, wood-and-fabric aircraft. The light plane managed to traverse 30 miles in that amount of time and...
POSTED Friday, January 4, 2008
The Hyper-Sub Submersible Powerboat is a vessel that is capable of operating as a boat or a submarine. Built by Marion Hyper-Submersible Powerboat Design, the Hyper-Sub's creator, Reynolds Marion, enlisted his young, mechanical engineer next door neighbor to help...
POSTED Thursday, January 3, 2008
Japan's rail system is one of the best in the world, with speedy bullet trains available to whisk you between every major city and an extensive regional system in place to get you to even the smallest towns without ever...
POSTED Friday, December 28, 2007
The train makers on the Odakyu Line in Japan are pretty smart. When they wanted to make their trains more kid friendly, they simply went out and got kids to redesign them. The result is a big yellow train...
POSTED Thursday, December 27, 2007
There's never enough MP3 docks. By now you should have one in the kitchen, media room, shower and even at the office. On the hog is another place that can be scratched off that list with this motorcycle-mounted MP3...
POSTED Wednesday, December 26, 2007
Biking in an urban environment can be pretty dangerous, as drivers aren't always looking out for cyclists and people getting out of cabs are prone to opening their doors without checking to see if anyone is coming. While this Cervellum...
POSTED Friday, December 21, 2007
The folks over at the US Air Force Research Lab came up with an idea to allow spy drones to procure energy in the field: have them hang from power lines and leech some juice. Of course, there are...
POSTED Wednesday, December 19, 2007
When Elvis the cat lost the use of his hind legs because of a run-in with a truck, BattleBot builder Carlo Bertocchini wasn't going to acccept his cat's lost mobility. Instead, he fashioned the robotic carriage you see in...
POSTED Tuesday, December 18, 2007
Do you ever want to tell the annoying driver on your tail just what you think of him? You could use a bumper sticker, but that would involve being rude all the time, but you just want to express...
POSTED Monday, December 17, 2007
Everybody knows that rich guys like to golf. It's just in their nature, like wearing shorts with high white socks and enjoying cigars. But once all their other rich, golf-loving buddies have dropped loads of money on fancy clubs,...
POSTED Monday, December 17, 2007
You're probably used to bikes with a fixed number of gears. You know, like a 21-speed bike or a 14-speed bike. But this fancy-pants bike dubbed "The Ride" has an infinite number of gears. Yep, infinite. How?Twist a dial...
POSTED Friday, December 14, 2007
The race to build a working and dependable scramjet is happening all the world over — the United States, China, Australia and who knows who else all want one. DARPA's HTV-3X, also known as Blackswift, is an unmanned scramjet-powered...
POSTED Friday, December 14, 2007
I'm starting to get the feeling that when car designers go through a midlife crisis, they don't go buy a sweet sportscar — instead, they design a car that feels a lot like a plane. Well, we're better off...
POSTED Thursday, December 13, 2007
Bicycle theft is a huge problem in major cities, with no locks seemingly being strong enough to ward off thieves armed with wire cutters and lock picks. It seems that there's no way to lock your bike up outside...
POSTED Thursday, December 13, 2007
Sure, having an electric car would be great because you'd be able to skip past all those stupid gas stations that you're loathe to stop at whenever your tank is empty, but what if you could do more? That's just...
POSTED Tuesday, December 11, 2007
A team from Southern Taiwan University of Technology has unveiled the first solar-powered wheelchair that frees users from having to worry about running out of power and getting stranded in the middle of nowhere. Because the wheelchair doesn't have...
POSTED Monday, December 10, 2007
Here's another daredevil magic carpet that reminds us of that Vertipod we showed you last week—the PAM Individual Lifting Vehicle (ILV) is a flying platform whose makers say is as easy to pilot as a Segway. While there's no...
POSTED Friday, December 7, 2007
The Smith Newton is the largest electric truck out there right now. I know what you're thinking — sure it's a zero-emissions vehicle so it minimally pollutes, and while that's all fine and dandy it'll never catch on. But...
POSTED Friday, December 7, 2007
Were you the kind of tech-minded whippersnapper who was liable to leave anything electronic in pieces all over the living room floor? Well, where you might disassemble a remote control, someone's thought a little bigger: they took apart a...
POSTED Thursday, December 6, 2007
Like fast cars? Here's one for you, and it's a looker to boot. The updated Brabus Mercedes McLaren SLR Roadster goes from zero to 60 in a smidgen over three seconds, features a 650 horsepower engine, carbon fiber forward...
POSTED Wednesday, December 5, 2007
If you want to start your kid's life off on the right track to becoming a speed demon, start 'em young with this BMW racing carseat. Inspired by F1 racers, it's got the sleek lines and fancy detailing that make...
POSTED Tuesday, December 4, 2007
When you're floating around on your super yacht, sometimes you need to make a quick getaway, and that's where this Focus 21 France design concept might be just what you're looking for. You can configure it for 15 passengers,...
POSTED Monday, December 3, 2007
Having a hybrid is nice and all, but what about the kiddos? Without a drivers license, there is no way to show the world just how important the environment is. With a miniature solar-powered car, the kiddos can finally...
POSTED Saturday, December 1, 2007
Motoring around the countryside in tiny cars has been a trend in France for a while. One of the vehicles popular for this diversion has just hit England: the Zest Roadster. The Roadster's exterior is made of plastic and...
POSTED Friday, November 30, 2007
Only 10 EcosseSpirit ES1 prototype motorcycles will be made and, as you can imagine, a customized limited-edition bike comes with a limited-edition price: 3.6 million buckaroos. Still reading? Buying one of the prototypes not only means you can work...
POSTED Friday, November 30, 2007
The one time in his life that David Hasselhoff was upstaged, it was when working with Knight Industries Two Thousand, or KITT, his super intelligent car featured in the series Knight Rider. For those unaware, Knight Rider is making...
POSTED Thursday, November 29, 2007
Bicycles that fold are everywhere these days, helping commuters with complex bike/bus/subway commutes. An MIT group just brought the folding bike concept to a new level with a folding electric motor scooter. The small white scooters are battery powered...
POSTED Thursday, November 29, 2007
The Segway was supposed to be revolutionary, but somehow it just didn't do it for us. However, this Vertipod is like a flying Segway. Now that's different. Fueled by gasoline or ethanol, its 440cc lawnmower-like engine can propel the craft...
POSTED Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Yeehaw! Southern police departments in Houston, Texas and Miami-Dade, Florida are fixin' to take in the Honeywell Micro Air Vehicle (or MAV) for a crash course in law enforcement. The remote-controlled drone video tapes everything it sees and acts...
POSTED Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Ever get the urge when you're biking around to smash into solid objects like cars and brick walls? Accidentally end up doing that anyway? You might want to trade in your bi-wheeled conveyance for something that packs a little...
POSTED Monday, November 26, 2007
Powered by biofuel, the Koenigsegg CCXR is a new alternative fuel automobile setting out to show how eco-friendly designs can still have plenty of muscle. When building its new car, Koenigsegg made a happy discovery: the ethanol found in...
POSTED Monday, November 26, 2007
There are dudes rich enough to buy private jets, sure. But there aren't many dudes rich enough to buy supersonic jets. One of the few with such insane means, the Sheik of Dubai, just dropped $80,000,000 on an Aerion...
POSTED Friday, November 23, 2007
Sure you could wait a few months and get one of those fancy hydrogen fuel cell cars coming from Japan, or you could get some fresh air with the Pearl fuel cell bike from Valeswood right now. Instead of...
POSTED Wednesday, November 21, 2007
I was tempted to just post a picture of this beast and no text because that is all that is needed to shock and awe, but it's my duty to at least give a little information about this big...
POSTED Sunday, November 18, 2007
The Arantix Mountain Bike may look a little sketchy, but make no mistake — it's one of the strongest and lightest mountain bikes in the world. Each Arantix bike is hand-made by weaving single carbon-fiber strands that create an...
POSTED Friday, November 16, 2007
While initial reports from last year said we could expect hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles from Honda by 2010, the Japanese car company beat that by two years, announcing this week its FCX Clarity fuel cell sedan will be rolling out...
POSTED Friday, November 16, 2007
The Volitan, or the "Flying Fish," is a concept design for a boat that would run green over the great big blue. It harnesses both the power of the wind and the Sun, using solid sails and an array...
POSTED Thursday, November 15, 2007
Looking for a distinctive vehicle that'll stand out from all the other cars on the road? Well, there aren't many cars out there that are all that unique, so maybe you need to take it to the next level....
POSTED Wednesday, November 14, 2007
This isn't an ordinary scooter; nope, it wasn't built in a factory somewhere from parts specially designed for scooters. It's a labor of love built by artist Nemo Gould. It's made completely out of old appliance and gadget parts,...
POSTED Tuesday, November 13, 2007
This ain't your pappas Volkswagen Beatle. No, this super-futuristic concept design for an all-electric VW doesn't look like anything else the company has ever made before, that's for sure. The concept, created by Marc Kirsch in collaboration with Volkswagen...
POSTED Monday, November 12, 2007
While it's significantly more difficult than buying a commercial boat, one of the beautiful things about building your own is that you can pick what it's made from. In the case of this "Aquatic Pod-Racer," Joey Ruiter used three...
POSTED Friday, November 9, 2007
The Russian national space administration, Roskosmos, announced its intent to move on to the next generation of spacecraft and boosters. Planning is still in its early stages, though the new spacecraft might follow along the lines of the heavily-used...
POSTED Friday, November 9, 2007
Powering your boat via an engine is so last year. The new cool way to propel your new luxury yacht? A big kite, of course. What, you don't think it'd be enough? You obviously don't know much about kites,...
POSTED Friday, November 9, 2007
Who says hybrid cars have to be ugly? Henrik Fisker, who used to design Aston Martins, has come up with a hybrid four door car that looks sporty, and will turn the heads of passersby as you drive down...
POSTED Friday, November 9, 2007
The entirely self aware and fully autonomous Black Knight combat walker is a four-legged behemoth of — oh wait, that's tomorrow's headline. This "Unmanned Combat Vehicle," being developed for the US Army by weapons purveyor BAE Systems, is actually...
POSTED Friday, November 9, 2007
Honda's new CR-Z (Compact Renaissance Zero) proves that merging green automotive technology with practical-yet-futuristic style is indeed possible. Currently being shown off at the Tokyo Motor Show, the CR-Z makes nice with the environment by employing a gas-electric hybrid...
POSTED Wednesday, November 7, 2007
Barefoot Motors created the all-electric Model One Earth Utility Vehicle by first understanding that a green all-terrain vehicle needs to be as powerful and useful as a regular gas-powered ATV. Since the company's based in Northern California, most of...
POSTED Tuesday, November 6, 2007
It's very important for fire engines to get to their destinations as fast as possible, but it's equally, if not more, important for them to be able to, you know, put out the fire using water. That's where this...
POSTED Tuesday, November 6, 2007
The Mademoto Electric Cruiser has done the unthinkable and taken all of the beneficial purposes out of rollerskates, skateboards and other manual modes of rolling transportation. Thank of the Electric Cruiser as the front half of an electric moped,...
POSTED Monday, November 5, 2007
Bit of a speed demon? This steam powered car has all of the acceleration you need. It has a high pressure tank fixed to its back, packed at 500 pounds per square inch. It super-heats its payload to almost...
POSTED Monday, November 5, 2007
Did you know there's a division at MIT called the Smart Cities group? It's true, and judging by the designs the team puts out maybe we should just leave city planning to them from here on out. They have...
POSTED Friday, November 2, 2007
The Halloween pirates and piracy pirates have nothing on the real-life pirates that are currently roaming the seas trying to plunder and pillage. The United States Navy and Coast Guard know these dangers and are looking into an unmanned...
POSTED Thursday, November 1, 2007
Inspector Gadget fans can now look forward to imitating their hero with the debut of Yamaha's BOBBY mini-scooter at the Tokyo Motor Show. On the outside, the BOBBY looks like a suitcase with wheels and even collapses into a...
POSTED Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Most of us are familiar with various goofy little amphibious vehicles that are good for a lark. But this one is guaranteed to induce shore-side heart attacks the first time you drive it head-first into the lake at the campground....
POSTED Monday, October 29, 2007
Maybe I have been asleep for too long, but a New Zealander has come out of nowhere with a homemade hovercraft. The designer, Rudy Heeman, has been working on this craft for the past 11 years and has experienced...
POSTED Sunday, October 28, 2007
The Tokyo Motor Show is in full swing allowing us to take a closer look at two of Suzuki's new concept vehicles called the PIXY and the SSC. The PIXY is termed as a personal mobility vehicle designed for...
POSTED Saturday, October 27, 2007
Pardon us while we go nuts over this teaser photo of an upcoming hybrid sports car that auto industry wonks say will make its debut at the upcoming North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) this January. To be built...
POSTED Friday, October 26, 2007
I hear there's a lot less crime in Japan. I thought it was because of all the giant robots and mysterious technology, but these bunny-shaped police lights might have something to do with it. After all, if a cop...
POSTED Friday, October 26, 2007
The 2057 Mercedes-Benz SilverFlow is the company's entry into the annual LA Auto Show Design Challenge, which this year carries the theme of "Robocar 2057." It's styled after the sleek Grand Prix racers Mercedes-Benz used to build, although by...
POSTED Friday, October 26, 2007
I'll admit, when I first saw these remote controlled trench compactors, I thought they were toys. And I guess they kind of are, but for construction workers. While not as imposing as their larger cousins, the mini trench compactors...
POSTED Friday, October 26, 2007
Let's hope the Biplane didn't get its name from something that happened during test runs — motorcycles tend to be at their best with at least one wheel on the ground. The Biplane is a concept motorcycle design that...
POSTED Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Hitachi's finger vein authentication system represents a decade's worth of development and improvement and the technology has already been included in computers, ATMs and used for cardless payment authorization. Every finger has a vein configuration that is unique to...
POSTED Tuesday, October 23, 2007
That plethora of wires connecting all of your gadgets to your car should be no more, at least if Venturi has anything to do with it. If it relates to your cellphone or audio player, the Venturi Mini can...
POSTED Tuesday, October 23, 2007
George Lucas will slap the Star Wars logo on just about anything, and now it looks like Ferrari is following by putting the stylish red paint job and yellow seal on everything from pens to laptops. Now the company...
POSTED Monday, October 22, 2007
I like my bike, but it takes up a tremendous amount of room in the garage, on the rack behind the SUV, and in my office where it won't get stolen. We've seen folding bikes before, but not one...
POSTED Friday, October 19, 2007
The "Microrobot" may sound like a cute, tiny mech, but you should probably think twice before picking on it. Hint: it'll probably respond by shooting you. The Microrobot is a driverless patrol vehicle designed to guard the Korean Demilitarized...
POSTED Friday, October 19, 2007
Plans are underway to implement a personal rapid transit (or PRT) system at Heathrow Airport, Britain that will ferry tired passengers from the main terminal to its car parks. The driverless, four-seater cars operate on a closed system so...
POSTED Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Citizens living in Oslo, Norway will be greeted by new trains at the station. Developed by Siemens Transport Division, the trains are said to give off 2.6 grams of carbon dioxide every kilometer traversed, which is a small fraction...
POSTED Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Ready for the commute to the office? Just unbuckle your seatbelt, turn around and — voilà! — you're only a few steps away, your office attached to the rear of the van and all. Driving to the work site,...
POSTED Tuesday, October 16, 2007
The only thing cooler than traveling to Tokyo to see the futuristic sights is to do so while riding around the city in what amounts to a floating spaceship. The Jicco Floating Bar ferries Tokyo barflys around the city...
POSTED Saturday, October 13, 2007
If your eyes were already wide with wonder after seeing a car that could pass as a jellybean or this other buggy with a robotic buddy inside just like the taxicabs in Total Recall, hopefully you can open them...
POSTED Thursday, October 11, 2007
Private planes are so last century. Nowadays, any reasonably loaded person can go out and get themselves a plane, it's just not a big deal anymore. No, you need something bigger and more ostentatious. How's a "flying palace" sound?...
POSTED Tuesday, October 9, 2007
If you like riding the motorbikes, and need an excuse to travel to the land of the rising sun, look no further than Yamaha's Tesseract motorcycle that will debut at the Tokyo Motor Show. It's not a car, and...
POSTED Monday, October 8, 2007
Nissan's really looking to change up the look and feel of cars, or at least their concept autos are really out there. Just take a look at this Pivo concept car, which not only looks really strange but also...
POSTED Friday, October 5, 2007
Sick of losing at paintball? Time to take some serious initiative — it's humiliating to keep losing again and again and again, after all. You need some better firepower. The Paintball Panzer might seem like cheating, but just think...
POSTED Wednesday, October 3, 2007
When a product works by sticking it in your car tailpipe, you have to wonder if it's a gag. But the Sabertec Blade is totally serious — supposedly it will help your car burn less gas. Exactly how it...
POSTED Monday, October 1, 2007
This fancy track bike certainly looks futuristic and technologically advanced, but the design is actually inspired by something from nature, not technology: the frog. Once you know that, you can definitely see the resemblance between the bike and our...
POSTED Friday, September 28, 2007
Remember the Aptera three-wheeled vehicle we showed you back in March? Well, if you've been lusting at it ever since, today's your lucky day: it's now available for pre-order. As promised, it'll set you back about $20,000, but even...
POSTED Friday, September 28, 2007
Riding a bike is a great way to get some fresh air, some exercise, and get to where you're going on the cheap. It's all well and good except for one of those things: exercise. Who needs that? Not...
POSTED Thursday, September 27, 2007
Fred and Barney used their legs to propel their primitive vehicles. You and I might start using our arms. Thinking about how sweaty we're all going to be once we get to work makes me wish these designers watched...
POSTED Thursday, September 20, 2007
So we've seen crazy bikes with too many wheels, but how about a giant unicycle? The Wheelsurf out of the Netherlands is just that. Well, on second thought, it's more like a motorcycle without a backseat to pick up...
POSTED Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Imagine if you could take your favorite piece of Internet software and somehow seamlessly merge it with the most bad-ass vehicle you've ever driven and you might have the Mozilla Firefox (as in the Web browser) NASCAR style racer....
POSTED Tuesday, September 18, 2007
You don't want to be just another sucker on a boring old bike, do you? Of course you don't. You're a unique and beautiful snowflake, and you wanna let the whole world know. That's why this StreetSurfer bike is...
POSTED Thursday, September 13, 2007
The luxury of unhindered mobility isn't shared by all of us. Restoring functionality to the disabled — whether they've experienced the loss of movement, sight, and so on — is one branch of medical science that seems limited only...
POSTED Friday, September 7, 2007
Mitsubishi is working on a new electric vehicle that has not one, not two, but three (count 'em) motors. The i MIEV Sport has motors in each of the front wheels and one that powers the back two. The...
POSTED Friday, September 7, 2007
Fleethorse, a Dubai-based company, has designed a variety of horse-powered vehicles, like the bus shown here. These vehicles are a bit different that the carriages of days past because the horse directly propels the vehicle and charges up a...
POSTED Wednesday, September 5, 2007
Why struggle with other tourists for the best seat on a glass-bottomed boat when you could explore on your own in a small boat made entirely of glass? Well, one reason might be that his transparent canoe/kayak from Hammacher...
POSTED Monday, September 3, 2007
If you've got a gigantic pile of money sitting around and nothing constructive to do with it and also happen to have fantasies about being a James Bond supervillain, I've got something for you. It's the 118 WallyPower yacht,...
POSTED Monday, September 3, 2007
Folding bikes are awesome for city dwellers that don't have a garage to stow their bike in; rather than taking up a huge chunk of space in your apartment, it neatly folds up and fits in a closet or...
POSTED Monday, September 3, 2007
I clearly remember a certain ominous, all-powerful presence that lorded over my early years — or mother, if you prefer — who would deny any request outright for motorized buggies. Instead I was stuck with a barbaric, Flintstones-like plastic...
POSTED Monday, August 27, 2007
RUB is a trendy Manhattan-based barbecue joint. But its owner had a more ambitious vision — he wanted to combine BBQ and biking. So the restaurant commissioned this "mobile barbecue pit." It's an Easy Rider-style motorcycle with a smoker...
POSTED Thursday, August 23, 2007
SCI FI Tech's title of World's Sexiest Electric Car may be in jeopardy when the first prototype Lightning GT rolls off the assembly line later this year. The most remarkable characteristic of this upcoming vehicle? It's the first electric...
POSTED Tuesday, August 21, 2007
Good news for wealthy, impractical Back to the Future fans: the DeLorean is making a comeback. With manufacturing beginning at the end of this year, the DeLorean should be for sale in the first quarter of next year for...
POSTED Tuesday, August 21, 2007
Want a bigger, better, faster bike? The HyperBike claims to be all of those things and more. Curtis DeForest wanted a bike that could keep up with traffic. He was inspired by the angled wheels on the wheelchairs used...
POSTED Tuesday, August 21, 2007
Kids these days are always trying to one-up their elders. Take these young whippersnappers from Wayland High School, John D. O'Bryant School of Math and Science, and Cambridge Rindge and Latin School for example. Working with four students from...
POSTED Monday, August 20, 2007
Economy fliers may finally have our chance to snooze on an Airbus. Lufthansa, the German airline, recently ran an online questionnaire asking passengers if they'd welcome a chance to stretch out in a horizontal bunk on the Airbus A380....
POSTED Friday, August 10, 2007
The skies just got a little more friendly. That's because Virgin America just took off on its inaugural flight yesterday, sending some lucky people between San Francisco and Los Angeles on the most high-tech airplane around. Virgin America offers...
POSTED Friday, August 10, 2007
It's been long enough since the Hindenburg disaster for people to get comfortable with the idea of traveling around in gigantic blimps, apparently. And in the time since that famous fiery crash, blimp technology has made some pretty sizable...
POSTED Thursday, August 9, 2007
Rollerman, Rollerman, does what ever a Rollerman can. Beneath that gear is Frenchman Jean-Yves Blondeau, who likes to deck himself out in an outfit that makes him look like a Transformer that forgot to remove the human occupant before...
POSTED Wednesday, August 8, 2007
Who says you need old fashioned gasoline to get going at high speeds? Last weekend, a car powered solely by 192 AA batteries got going up to a speed of 75mph. That might not seem like a lot to...
POSTED Monday, August 6, 2007
New robotic software is being put into place in Air Force fighter jets to help prevent collisions with that most unforgiving of surfaces: the ground. The Automatic Ground Collision Avoidance System (Auto-GCAS) takes control of the plane when it's...
POSTED Monday, August 6, 2007
Is this a car or a motorcycle? The Stallion by Thoroughbred Motorsports is neither; it's a three-wheeled vehicle with a 2.3-liter Ford four-cylinder engine, cranking out 155 ponies. That might not sound like a lot, but this is a...
POSTED Saturday, August 4, 2007
Here's a Z-car that's different from any you've ever seen,