Technology News Articles

Christchurch Radio Network House implosion

Mon, 6 Aug 2012 13:00:00 +1300

It took less than 10 seconds for the Christchurch Radio Network House to be levelled after a controlled implosion just after dawn. The 14-storey office block was beyond repair and the explosive demolition helped to save time and money.
Discussion starter:

Construction Technology: controlled demolition.

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- TV3 News video

In the Olympics of Algorithms, a Russian Keeps Winning Gold

Mon, 6 Aug 2012 13:00:00 +1300

The world's best computer programmer is a 27-year-old Russian who earned his champion's title in competitive programming, a sport where hackers write computer code in pursuit of cash prizes, travel opportunities, and a deep fulfillment unattainable anywhere else.
Discussion starter:

Digital Technology: programming and computer science - recognition of excellence.

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- Technology Review 'Web' article

Asked to Get Slim, Cheese Resists

Mon, 6 Aug 2012 13:00:00 +1300

Under pressure to reduce sodium and saturated fats in American diets - especially those of children - the cheese industry has tried to make products with less salt or fat that consumers will like. It has not had great success.
Discussion starters:

Nature of Technology: socio-cultural influences.
Process Technology: cheese making.

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- NY Times online article

Nuclear Pack Powers Rover on Mars

Mon, 6 Aug 2012 13:00:00 +1300

NASA's Curiosity rover has landed on Mars and sent back a picture of its nuclear power pack. The rover's first grainy photo, from a hazcam at the rear of the rover, shows the left rear wheel, a little bit of soil and a cooling fin from the rover's radioisotope thermoelectric generator. The generator is the only power source for the one-ton rover, which is designed to cruise the surface for 23 months.
Discussion starter:

Technological Systems; automation and control - unmanned space exploration.

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- NY Times online article

NZer invents affordable incubator for third world

Fri, 3 Aug 2012 13:00:00 +1300

A British study has found a serious flaw with expensive medical equipment being donated by rich countries to the world's poor. It says the well-meant gestures often backfire because the equipment can't be operated or serviced properly. But New Zealand medical innovator Sir Ray Avery says the real outcome is actually far worse than that and the gifts can prove fatal, so he is working on a solution.
Discussion starter:

Nature of Technology: fitness for purpose; appropriate technology.

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- TV3 News video

Tech Bytes

Thu, 2 Aug 2012 13:00:00 +1300

In this week's TV3 tech news, a home help has been developed that is far from human. There is also a new gadget for gamers, and a website that helps people build their own books.
Discussion starter:

Technological Systems: innovation in space exploration,gaming technology, digital media, human/robot interaction.

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- TV3 News video

India suffers world's biggest-ever blackout

Thu, 2 Aug 2012 13:00:00 +1300

India's energy crisis cascaded over half the country when three of its regional grids collapsed, leaving 620 million people without government-supplied electricity for several hours in, by far, the world's biggest blackout. The massive failure has raised serious concerns about India's outdated infrastructure and the government's inability to meet its huge appetite for energy.
Discussion starter:

Technological systems: redundancy and reliability in energy supply systems.

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- TV3 News video

Japan could become second biggest solar power nation

Thu, 2 Aug 2012 13:00:00 +1300

With nuclear power on the ropes in Japan, it could be solar power's time to shine. Minamisoma City in Fukushima prefecture has signed an agreement with Toshiba to build the country's biggest solar park. The deal comes weeks after Japan introduced feed-in tariffs to subsidise renewable energy - a move that could see the nation become one of the world's largest markets for solar power.
Discussion starter:

Energy Technologies: socio-cultural influences.

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- Newscientist.com online article

Ethical Choice label in hot water

Wed, 1 Aug 2012 13:00:00 +1300

The Commerce Commission has warned fruit importer Dole it may be in breach of the Fair Trading Act on three separate counts relating to the company's Ethical Choice marketing scheme.
Discussion starter:

Nature of Technology: socio-cultural influences - ethical practice; greenwashing.

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- Idealog Daily Bacon blog

The Next Wave of Factory Robots

Mon, 23 Jul 2012 13:00:00 +1300

Ever since General Motors first put "Unimate" on an assembly line in 1961, most manufacturing robots have worked in isolation, caged off from human workers. Now a new breed of more flexible robot is being developed to work more closely with people.
Discussion starter:

Manufacturing Technology: robotics and control - safety considerations.

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- Technology Review 'Business' article

Jet pack pilot's high-flying tour

Fri, 20 Jul 2012 13:00:00 +1300

Jet-pack pilot Nick Macomber, from San Diego in California, took off from Bayswater Marina in Auckland on a test flight before the CRC Speed Show where he, his team and their back-from-the-future mode of transport would be star attractions.
Discussion starter:

Transport technology: innovation; fitness for purpose.

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- NZ Herald online article and video

Technology to continue to push athletes' limits

Thu, 19 Jul 2012 13:00:00 +1300

Performance-enhancing technologies will create athletes who will need a separate Olympic Games, a biomechanical engineer predicts in the latest edition of Nature.
Discussion starter:

Characteristics of Technology: challenging what it means to be human.

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- Stuff.co.nz news article

Weta Workshop's DIY devices changing the way we make movies.

Thu, 19 Jul 2012 13:00:00 +1300

Weta Workshop has long had the capability of using 3D printing technology to turn digital models into solid three dimnensional objects such as helmets and axes. Now they are bolting a robotic milling machine onto the printers to make larger props such as a car.
Discussion starter:

Manufacturing Technology: Animatronics - 3D printing/DIY improvisation.

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- TVNZ news video

City may test new-tech piles

Thu, 19 Jul 2012 13:00:00 +1300

An Australian company developing piles that act as 'shock absorbers' for houses during earthquakes hopes to test the new technology in Christchurch.
Discussion starters:

Construction Technology: earthquake protection.
Technological modelling: prototype testing.

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- Stuff.co.nz news article

Team chews over Mars menu options

Thu, 19 Jul 2012 13:00:00 +1300

Deep inside a 1950s-era building that has housed research since the origins of US space travel, people in white coats are stirring, mixing, measuring, brushing and tasting the end result of their cooking. Their mission: Build a menu for a planned journey to Mars in the 2030s.
Discussion starter:

Food Technology: menu planning - nutritional balance; packaging and preservation.

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- NZ Herald online article and video

Bluetooth shoes

Sat, 14 Jul 2012 13:00:00 +1300

More than 285 million people suffer from visual impairment, yet the tools to assist the blind in walking have changed little since the 1920s, when their canes started being painted white to make other pedestrians more aware of their presence. A young Indian computer engineer aims to change this with "Le Chal" ("take me along" in Hindi), which pairs a smartphone app with a small actuator sewn inside the sole of one shoe via Bluetooth. The user tells the phone his desired destination, and the app fetches the local map of the area and, using the phone's Global Positioning System (GPS), tracks the user's location in real-time and tells the actuator to vibrate when it is time to turn, and which way.
Discussion starters:

Digital Technologies: voice control; applications software; real time systems.
Design in Technology: balancing form and functionality.

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- The Economist online article

Tokelau on track to become world's first entirely solar-powered country

Fri, 13 Jul 2012 13:00:00 +1300

A Mount Maunganui company is spearheading a pioneering project to transform the diesel-dependent South Pacific nation of Tokelau into the world's first solar-powered country.
Discussion starter:

Sustainable energy supply: diesel dependence; climate change obligations.

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- Idealog Daily Bacon blog

Keen students trade holiday for classes

Fri, 13 Jul 2012 13:00:00 +1300

While other students were enjoying their holidays, 21 Wanganui City College Year 12 and 13 students were hard at work putting in a 40-hour week as part of their school Technology programme.
Discussion starter:

Construction and Mechanical Technologies: Trades certificates - block coursework.

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- Wanganui Chronicle online article

New console promises low cost gaming

Tue, 10 Jul 2012 13:00:00 +1300

A new video game console costing just $99 could help bring smartphone games to your living room. The device runs a version of the Android operating system and eschews the disc-based games of traditional consoles, offering download-only app store instead. The system's controller also hints at a mix between consoles and phones - it looks like an Xbox 360 controller with the addition of a touchpad.
Discussion starters:

Gaming Technology: console development.
Innovation and Enterprise: from proof of concept to production ready models.

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- NewScientist.com blog posting

Kiwi baby formula a hit in China

Fri, 6 Jul 2012 13:00:00 +1300

A new baby formula made purely in New Zealand - from the dairy cow to the milk powder and the packaging - is being snapped up in China. Christchurch company Carrickmore has been inundated with hundreds of thousands of orders for Nutrition. Its first shipment leaves next week, and Chinese mothers can't get enough of it.
Discussion starter:

Nature of Technology: new food product development - socio-cultural influences.

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- TV3 News video

Forget Skype

Fri, 6 Jul 2012 13:00:00 +1300

FaceMe is the NZ technology solution that is changing the way businesses interact with customers. While Skype might have become one of the internet's most popular free downloads, allowing millions of users around the world to enjoy face to face telephony, the system does have its limitations when it comes to business users. Enter home grown technology company Hitech Solutions which has taken the best of Skype and integrated a range of software technologies, including Windows applications such as Word, Excel and Powerpoint, to produce a cost effective video conferencing solution known as FaceMe.
Discussion starter:

Communication Technology: User interfacing - browser based software technology; hardware and software system compatibility.

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- Interest.co.nz feature article

Do smart devices make smart kids?

Fri, 6 Jul 2012 13:00:00 +1300

These days children often learn to navigate the internet before they learn to read. In the US most young children now have access to a touch-screen device that, according to Daniel Anderson, a professor emeritus of psychology at the University of Massachusetts, could be more addictive than watching television.
Discussion starter:

Nature of Technology: digital media - impact on learning.

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- BBC.com online article

Predictive technology pegged to cut crime

Wed, 4 Jul 2012 13:00:00 +1300

A five-year crackdown on crime could see Minority Report-style software used to predict where and when offences will take place.
Discussion starters:

Digital Technologies: data gathering and near real-time analysis.
Design in Technology: "CPTED" concept - crime prevention through environmental design principles.

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- Stuff.co.nz online article

Why laptops aren't beating poverty in Peru

Wed, 4 Jul 2012 13:00:00 +1300

Peru's distribution of more than 800,000 low-cost laptop computers to children across the country easily ranks as one of the world's most ambitious efforts to use digital technology in the fight against poverty. Yet five years into the program, there are serious doubts about whether the largest single deployment in the One Laptop Per Child initiative was worth the more than US$200 million that Peru's government spent.
Discussion starters:

Nature of Technology: appropriate technology - socio-cultural influences.

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- Stuff.co.nz news article

The implications of Google Glasses for business

Wed, 4 Jul 2012 13:00:00 +1300

One of the most exciting announcements and demos from Google IO 2012 was Project Glass -Google's computerised glasses designed to let wearers use apps, capture images and video, and use the internet and social networks on the move.During the keynote, Google touted two main design goals of Glass: communicating with images, and instant access to a broad range of information. it is in these goals, coupled with the audio communication, that we'll see a dramatic shift in the way that we interact with information, people, and work.
Discussion starters:

Technological systems: digital information systems.
Future capability: natural user interfaces involving vision and voice.

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- Idealog Daily Bacon blog

Take a moment to appreciate industrial design

Mon, 2 Jul 2012 13:00:00 +1300

Friday June 29 was the fifth World Industrial Design Day -inaugurated in 2007 to honour 50 years since the International Council of Societies of Industrial Design (ICSID) was established.
Discussion starter:

Design in Technology: evolution of tertiary industrial design programmes in NZ.

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- Idealog Daily Bacon Blog article

Fair wind blows for brolly inventors

Mon, 2 Jul 2012 13:00:00 +1300

Blunt Umbrellas started as a design concept on a kitchen table in the UK in 1999 . Kiwi Greig Brebner, who was working part-time in London as an engineer, figured umbrellas could be done better -and today the award-winning NZ company exports to 23 countries.
Discussion starters:

Technological products: properties of materials and their performance characteristics.
Innovation and Enterprise: niche marketing.

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- Stuff.co.nz news article

NZ scientists' nano-technology breakthroughs

Sat, 30 Jun 2012 13:00:00 +1300

Nanotechnology is something of a buzzword - it's the science of the very, very small. It has been the basis of some of the great technological leaps of the past two decades and it's a given that it will "power" progress for a long time to come. Along with their counterparts around the world, New Zealand scientists are looking for the next big breakthrough - the next discovery with the potential to change the way we operate.
Discussion starters:

Characteristics of Technology: collaborative interdisciplinary practice.
Technological Products: new material formulation.
Digital technologies: computer modelling.

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- TV3 The Nation video

Switch off your lights by smartphone

Sat, 30 Jun 2012 13:00:00 +1300

Whether you want to generate your own electricity, join the swing back to timber construction or turn on your lights from your phone, intelligent houses are getting ever smarter.
Discussion starters:

Nature of Technology: socio-technological environments - intelligent houses.
Technological Systems: automation and control -wireless communication.

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- Stuff.co.nz news article

Goodbye, power bill

Fri, 29 Jun 2012 13:00:00 +1300

Joanna Woods and Shay Brazier believe they can live without a power bill, by only using the electricity they generate themselves. How will they do it? ... And could we all do the same?
Discussion starter:

Energy Technology: domestic power supply -'zero houses': heat retention techniques; solar tiles.

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- TV1 Close Up video

China in space: running fast to catch up

Fri, 29 Jun 2012 13:00:00 +1300

With the success of its Shenzhou-9 mission, China may just be repeating the achievements of American and Soviet astronauts made way back in the 1960s and 1970s, but that heritage and the sophistication of modern technology means the Asian nation is on an accelerated development track.
Discussion starter:

Characteristics of Technology: space technology -international competition and collaboration.

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- BBC.co.uk news article

'Paint-on' batteries demonstrated

Fri, 29 Jun 2012 13:00:00 +1300

Researchers have shown off a means to spray-paint batteries onto any surface. Their batteries are made up of five separate layers, each with its own recipe - together measuring just 0.5mm thick. The approach will be of particular interest in industrial applications, as it is compatible with existing spray-painting technology.
Discussion starters:

Technological Products: new material formulation.
Design in Technology: battery technology - 'form factors'.

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- BBC.co.uk news article

Calling the next Trevor Baylis

Fri, 29 Jun 2012 13:00:00 +1300

In November 1992, an amateur inventor called Trevor Baylis submitted his first patent application for a wind-up radio. Designed for people without electricity and too poor to buy batteries, Baylis saw the radio as an affordable way to disseminate health education in areas of Africa devastated by AIDS. It worked, and later models would be used by hundreds of thousands of households across the continent.
Discussion starter:

Characteristics of Technology: appropriate technology -sustainable development.

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- NewScientist.com online article