Tech Universe: Thursday 7 July

WATCHING US ALL: Canadian company UrtheCast plans to put two video
cameras on the ISS to record images of Earth 24 hours a day. Video will be broadcast online. One camera will be high-def, with one metre resolution, while the other will have a lower, three colour resolution. Viewers will be able to pause, rewind and zoom. Hasn't this been the plot of a few sci-fi movies? Digital Journal has more, and there's video here.

CATCH UP VIDEO: There may be a glitch with delivering video from the ISS - its internet connection runs at about dial-up speeds. The ISS orbits at eight kilometres per second. It's tricky for the data to travel between the ground computers and the laptop on the station, so there's usually quite a lag. Funny to think of dial-up speeds being measured in kilometres per second. More information here.

SPY BALL: Japan's military has developed a flying spherical reconnaissance drone. The sphere is almost half a metre in diameter and weighs only 350g. It can fly for eight minutes at up to 60km/h. Something about it being a sphere just makes it so much more impressive than a regular drone with a rotor blade on top. Details here and video here.

RARE IN EARTH: Rare earth minerals are essential to high-tech
electronics. At the moment 97% of them come from China. Now a team of
scientists led by the University of Tokyo has identified 78 locations
at depths of 3500 to 6000 metres around Hawaii and Tahiti with heavy
concentrations of rare earths. Deep sea mining will be a big
challenge. BBC has more.

FAST FUN: 260km/h is a respectable speed for a car. Even more so when it's a toy. The Schumacher Mi3's ultra-light carbon fibre chassis, 11hp electric motor and 12-cell battery pack help with the speed. There should be some real-world use for that. More here and video here.

- Miraz Jordan knowit.co.nz