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• Acoustic 'cloaking device' shields objects from sound
  BBC online news article, 24 June
  Acoustic cloaking was proposed theoretically in 2008 but has only this year been put into practice with an approach that borrows many ideas from attempts to "cloak" objects from light. It uses simple plastic sheets with arrays of holes, and could be put to use in making ships invisible to sonar or in the acoustic design of concert halls.
  Discussion starters:
  • Characteristics of technology: collaborative interdisciplinary practice
  • Technological products: material manipulation, transformation and formulation
• Genius teens offer clever exhaust emissions fix
  NZHerald online, 25 June
  Two North Shore City high-school students have caught the attention of the world's scientific community with an invention that cleans greenhouse gases out of car exhausts.
  Discussion starter:
  • Technological modelling: Proof of concept
• Kiwi guitar pedals making noise around the world
  nzherald.co.nz, 27 June
  Ben Fulton is a businessman who is well on the way to building an international operation and is working toward a $5 million turnover.
  His company specialises in making analogue guitar effect pedals and has won fans around the world from U2's The Edge to The Police's Andy Summers. "I'm a novelty, this long-haired Kiwi guy," says Fulton.
  Discussion starter:
  • Technology design process
  • Entrepreneurship
• Ahuriri firm's roof a world first
  NZHerald online, 29 June
  Tumu ITM's 4200sq m store in Ahuriri features a world-first roof design, says University of Auckland PhD student Felix Scheibmair. The university designed a connection that enabled steel and laminated timber to be joined more efficiently with a bolt system.
  Discussion starter:
  • Resistant materials - Research and development; construction innovation
• Hackers expose flaw in Apple software
  www.stuff.co.nz, 7 July
  Hackers have disclosed a bug in software from Apple that security experts said could be exploited by criminals looking to gain remote control over iPhones, iPads and iPod Touch devices.
  Discussion starter:
  • Digital Technologies : malicious software development
• Team develops winning Christchurch rebuild concept in a mere 48 hours
  Ideolog.co.nz, 7 July
  Being allocated only 48 hours in which to redesign a part of Christchurch's central city may not seem like enough time, but it was enough to earn NZ Wood the title of supreme winner for the 48 Hour Design Challenge.
  Discussion starters:
  • Nature of Technology : collaborative interdisciplinary practice
  • Design and Visual Communication: site permeability
  • Construction technology: timber as a safe construction material
• 3-D Printing: in chocolate
  www.stuff.co.nz, 8 July
  Consumers may soon be able to download a piece of software and use it to sketch the kind of chocolate they'd like to make. By sending the 3D CAD file to a machine in a local shop they'll be able pick up their finished chocolate design as quickly as 10 minutes later.
  Discussion starters:
  • Manufacturing technology: Flexible manufacturing; 3-D computer aided design
  • Product development: co-creation
• Could your phone be hacked?
  TV1 News, 8 July
  A TVNZ reporter investigates just how easy it could be to hack into your voicemail
  Discussion starter:
  • Digital Technologies: data protection
• First synthetic organ transplant
  New Scientist magazine online, 8 July
  Surgeons in Sweden have carried out the world's first synthetic organ transplant, using an artificial windpipe coated in stem cells. Video clip (1.58 mins)
  Discussion starters:
  • Technological knowledge: new material formulation
  • Medical technology: transplant innovation
• Cellphones 'major cause' of US car crashes
  www.stuff.co.nz, 8 July
  Driving distractions, primarily by cellphones and other electronic devices, are associated with up to 25 per cent of US car crashes, according to a recently released report. It showed that drivers are distracted up to half the time and that crashes caused by distractions range from minor damage to fatal injury.
  Discussion starters:
  • Socio-technological environment
  • Research based decision making
• Shuttle docks with space station for the last time
  www.bbc.co.uk news, 10 July
  Atlantis has docked with the International Space Station (ISS) on the final mission of the US space shuttle programme.
  It will spend at least seven days at the ISS and, on its return to Earth, will be retired along with the other shuttles in Nasa's fleet. Atlantis is taking vital supplies to the space station, including more than a tonne of food, ensuring astronauts there have got enough to last a year.
  Discussion starter:
  • Characteristics of Technological Outcomes: fitness for purpose - in its broadest sense
• Free online games reflect sea change
  www.stuff.co.nz, 11 July
  Wellington games developer Sidhe will release its first browser based and social smartphone games in the next few months as it shuns bricks and mortar retailing for digital downloads.
  Discussion starters:
  • Digital technologies: gaming technology; modes of distribution
  • Enterprise: marketing strategies
• Geo-immersion makes maps come alive
  Innovationwatch.com video, 11 July
  Imagine a virtual computer simulation that reflects the world around you in real-time. Before you ever leave your home, a wealth of images and information about the world around you is at your finger-tips.
  Discussion starter:
  • Digital technologies: Blending the real and virtual worlds; software applications
• Rare earth elements may affect future global relationships
  BBC.com online article, 12 July
  Wars have been fought over scarce resources like oil and water. But are the future global tensions going to be over access to Scandium, Neodymium or Dysprosium or any other of the 17 rare earth elements, which, week by week, are becoming more and more important in developing the latest high-tech products? Tucked onto the periodic table of the elements, in a little section once ignored by chemistry teachers, rare earths are now everywhere.
  Discussion starters:
  • Nature of Technology: Socio-cultural influences
  • Technological Products: new material formulation; impact of material use and development on product life cycles / expectancy; material sustainability
• 'Toxic crisis' predicted with digital TV move
  www.stuff.co.nz, 12 July
  New Zealand is facing a toxic crisis of electronic waste, with a new report estimating that 2.2 million televisions and 1.5m home computers will be dumped in the next few years. The eDay Trust is publishing a report today calling for urgent Government action, in which it outlines the extent of the problem from material such as cathode ray tubes entering landfills.
  Discussion starter:
  • Technological Products: The impact of material use and development on product life cycles; product stewardship