Technology in the news – Articles from 2011

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Electronics news articles

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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
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
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
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
Nature.com news article, 18 August
IBM has unveiled a new 'cognitive computing' microchip that, according to the company, emulates some of the brain's abilities. Nature magazine takes a peek under the hood of this new chip.
Discussion starter:
• Digital technologies: chip design
Stuff.co.nz article, 17 September
Inspired by his experiences with meditation, a fourth year Victoria University media design student has invented a device which shows what is going on inside the user's mind. A specially designed brain-computer interface headset captures brain wave data and reflects a person's state of mind through audio and patterns.
Discussion starter:
• Digital Technologies: interfacing technology
Stuff.co.nz article, 19 September
Using some of the functions of todays smart phones, a new technology is being developed to project three-dimensional images are into the back seat of a car to entertain passengers, who control the action with gestures rather than hand-held devices.
Discussion starter:
• Digital Technologies: innovation in gaming technologies; holographic projection
NewScientist.com article, 21 September
Reaching out from under a table to grab a cup of coffee on top might seem like a simple task, but it actually involves planning a mathematically complex journey. That's no problem for humans, who can intuitively skip the maths and jump straight to the caffeine fix, but robots are forced to crunch the numbers. Now researchers have found a shortcut that could help make robots a little more human.
Discussion starter:
• Computer science: motion planning algorithms
Stuff.co.nz article, 4 October
Dashboard buttons could be a thing of the past within a few years as car makers look at using futuristic control systems that rely on voices, a wave of the hand or even a glance of the eye.
Discussion starter:
• Digital Technologies: cloud computer control systems
Mailonline article, 7 October
Thermometer, stethoscope... smartphone? Research from Worcester Polytechnic Institute (UK) shows that smartphones could replace anything from heart monitors to microscopes. The researchers proved that by simply pressing a patient's finger against a Motorola Android smartphone's camera, they could harvest data as accurately as the huge and expensive monitors used in hospitals. Other researchers showed off using iPhone as a microscope - and an app that breathalyses you to 'tell' you if you are hungry enough for a snack.
Discussion starters:
• Characteristics of Technological Outcomes: 'proper' and 'alternative' functions
• Digital Technologies: new software applications
Stuff.co.nz article, 21 October
Built to simulate a human being, SimMan 3G is helping to train medical professionals at Waikato hospital's Clinical Skills and Simulation Centre. Designed to simulate a range of medical situations, the SimMan 3G can quickly become a she.
Discussion starters:
• Digital Technologies: human-robot interaction
• Technological Systems: wireless control; simulation technology
Stuff.co.nz article, 16 November
An Australian company has released a device that monitors how a car is being driven and send alerts to its owner via text message. The device, called the In-Vehicle Monitoring System (IVMS), was originally developed for the mining industry by Australian company Digicore but is now available to the general public.
Discussion starter:
• Digital Technologies: data monitoring and reporting
BBC News online article, 18 November
The US has test-fired a new weapon which can travel at five times the speed of sound, the Pentagon says. The missile was launched from Hawaii and reached its target on a Pacific atoll 2,300 miles (3,700km) away in less than half an hour.
Discussion starter:
• Characteristics of Technological Outcomes: fitness for purpose in its broadest sense
Dailymail.co.uk online article, 7 December
Many mobile phones boast of their 'haptics' - the advanced vibration effects that let you 'feel' when you've typed a letter on screen. But a new technology from Senseg uses electrical current to 'pull' the skin of your finger towards the surface, creating textures you can feel. It's also totally silent, with no 'buzzing' noise. The results can be used to create control dials that you can feel on screen - or even to create pictures with textures, such as a rough wall that actually feels like stone
Discussion starters:
• Digital Technology: terminology - 'tixels'; 'haptic'
• Technological systems : transformation, storage, transportation or control of materials, energy and/or information.
nzherald.co.nz online article, 15 December
A robotic cook, a colouring book that comes to virtual life and movies that read your mind are some of the innovations on show at a cutting-edge computer technology exhibition in Hong Kong this week.
Discussion starters:
• Digital Technologies: Augmented reality technology
• Technological modelling: Prototype development

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