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• Top 10 Tech Cars 2011
  IEE Spectrum online magazine, April
  After being pummeled by economic storms, the world's major automakers are bruised but still standing. You'd think they'd be playing it safe, but many of them are actually doubling down on technology, seeing it as the only way to seize a competitive edge and thereby avoid the fate of Pontiac, Hummer, Mercury, and other brands that went extinct because they couldn't keep pace.
  As this year's top 10 list reveals, companies are continuing to pile their chips on electricity, hoping for a jackpot down the road. And decades from now, 2011 may well be remembered as the year when plug-in cars finally went mainstream.
  Discussion starter:
  • Innovation in transport technology
  • Energy efficiency
• Now you can kiss people of the Internet
  Stuff.co.nz video, 3 May
  Tactile communications: it may not sound too exciting, but it's precisely the field of research that produced a device which lets users "transmit the feeling of a kiss" long-distance.
  The Kajimoto Laboratory at the University of Electro-Communications has created a device which consists of a hardware receptacle which is placed into the mouth, and software that remembers the movements of your tongue and sends them to the other connected device, which moves accordingly.
  Of course, there's more to a kiss than just the movement of the tongue, and the folks from Kajimoto plan to recreate them all. "The elements of a kiss include the sense of taste, the manner of breathing, and the moistness of the tongue. If we can recreate all of those I think it will be a really powerful device," they explain in a video showcasing the device prototype.
• Ownership of TV Sets Falls in US
  New York Times online, 3 May
  For the first time in 20 years, the number of homes in the United States with television sets has dropped.
  The Nielsen Company, which takes TV set ownership into account when it produces ratings, will tell television networks and advertisers on Tuesday that 96.7 percent of American households now own sets, down from 98.9 percent previously.
  There are two reasons for the decline, according to Nielsen. One is poverty: some low-income households no longer own TV sets, most likely because they cannot afford new digital sets and antennas.
  Discussion starter:
  • Are TVs becoming obsolete?
• Pinot noir pioneer spins his levitation theory
  Stuff.co.nz article, 4 May
  Most of the wine industry knows that pioneer Verdun Burgess and his partner Sue Edwards are selling their long-standing central Otago winery.
  What most don't suspect is that Mr Burgess intends devoting much of his time once the winery is sold to getting a new project off the ground, literally. He will take to his shed and build a flying saucer, the self-confessed inventor said.
  The technology, if he can make it work, would also be embraced by the car industry, he said.
• Technology Universe
  NZHerald online article, 4 May
  PAVEMENT PARK: The Qtvan is the world's smallest caravan, and you can tow it with a mobility scooter.
  EYE BEAM: Engineers from the University of Michigan are developing a tiny solar powered sensor to be implanted inside the eye.
  A NOSE FOR CANCER: The earlier we can detect cancer the better our chances of dealing with it.
• Why are oil explorers so keen on New Zealand?
  TV3 News video, 4 May
  The seabed off Abel Tasman National Park is being eyed up as the next spot which could produce millions of dollars of oil.
  Much like the Brazilian company working off the East Cape, a Chinese-backed Australian company wants to carry out tests across much of Golden Bay.
  "We can only find out if it's there first. Then the discussions start as to whether it's viable or whether the local community want us," says David Crawford of the Petroleum Exploration and Production Association.
  Discussion starter:
  • Nature of Technology: socio-technological environments; accessing natural resources
• World-first idea to solve factory woes
  NZ Herald online article, 4 May
  A breakthrough NZ invention fixes a world-wide problem that plagues processing plants- dust extraction.
  Discussion starters:
  • Processing Technology: safe practice
  • Technological Products: relating material properties to fitness for purpose
  • Technological Modelling: prototype development - testing and trialling
• Laptop catches fire during use
  TV3 News video, 6 May
  An Auckland woman is warning people to be careful how they use their laptops after hers exploded into flames on her lap.
  Discussion starters:
  • Characteristics of Technological Outcomes: safe operating practice
  • Technological products: Material properties and fitness for purpose
• Twitter hits new high with Everest tweet
  NZ Herald online article, 7 May
  A renowned British climber has taken Twitter to a new high, firing off the first "tweet" from the peak of world's tallest mountain.
  Discussion starters:
  • Digital Technology: digital infrastructure;
  • Nature of Technology: social networking
• 'First Light' aiming to take first place in international competition
  TVNZ News video, 7 May
  A group of Wellington university students have improved upon the good old Kiwi bach.
  Discussion starter:
  • Construction Technology: material selection; energy efficiency
• Digging levitating climbing: A raft of new robots
  New Scientist online, 10 May
  As the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers' (IEEE) International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA) kicks off in Shanghai, China., the hot topic will be the critical role that robots are currently playing the other side of the East China Sea - exploring and clearing the wrecked reactor buildings at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Japan. The convention will also see details on a fascinating crop of robots revealed, from levitating medical camera bots to droids that can burrow underground on Mars.
  Discussion starters:
  • Working in hazardous environments • Advances in robotic technology
• Kiwi firm foots it with the best
  Stuff.co.nz, 10 May
  Farm Fleck socks are as ubiquitous in rural New Zealand as gumboots. Manawatu Standard reporter Jill Galloway went to the Kiwi Sock Company at Norsewood, to talk about what you wear in your boots.
  Discussion starter:
  • Manufacturing technology: competing on price/quality; material supply channels; investment in new technology.
• Website design on Twitter for client he has not met
  Stuff.co.nz, 11 May
  Social media website Twitter is a virtual office and a game for a New Plymouth graphic designer Ross Bennett - who could be spotted hard at work in a local cafe Tweeting a Melbourne woman he had never met as part of a social media competition he runs. This was Mr Bennett's third Free Logo Friday he had run where, in a live broadcast, he has three hours to design a business logo for one of his Twitter followers.
  Discussion starter:
  • Innovations in Technological Practice: managing stakeholder interactions
• Google wants to control your house with Android
  NZ Herald online, 11 May
  Google wants Android to move into people's homes with the open-source software powering everything from smart light bulbs to sound systems.
  Discussion starter:
  • Digital infrastructure: smart phone control
• Phone app lets the blind see through the crowds eyes
  New Scientist online, 11 May
  VizWiz,is a new mobile phone application that provides the visually impaired with nearly real-time solutions to everyday problems. VizWiz can, for example, help the blind read their mail, coordinate their outfits, understand menus in restaurants, check expiration dates and interpret street signs. The app owes its swiftness and accuracy to a marriage of computer chips and good old-fashioned human brainpower.
  Discussion starter:
  • Artificial intelligence: addressing real time text and object recognition issues