A round-up of the latest technology news from around the globe.
THE CAR THAT CAN: The Baldos II is a tiny red car from Sweden that can go 152.2 kilometres on one litre of fuel - that's 0.657 litres per 100 km. It's a single-seater whose top speed is 35 Kph. Without the driver, the car weighs 155 Kg. Pranksters will have fun re-parking that one! More at Baldos.
MCAFEE INSIDE: Intel plan to buy McAfee and their security software for around US$30 per share, or almost $8 billion in total. Intel want to bolster "security for the growing shift to wireless connectivity." I feel safer already. More at V3.
SUNNY SPINNER: The Heliotrope solar house in Germany cost 1.2 million Euros. Designed to capture the sun's light and heat through solar cells and other techniques, it gently rotates through the day. The house generates 5 times as much energy as it consumes. Forget Net Zero; energy 'profit' is the thing to aim for. Details at Inhabitat and video (in German) on YouTube.
3D ECHO: NIWA has been 'pinging' the ridges, volcanoes, plateaus, canyons and seamounts around NZ. Echo sounder systems send out hundreds of separate beams to build up a 3-D picture of the seafloor. Travel time of the sound shows water depth, while strength of the signal shows hardness and texture of the floor. 3D really is trendy
these days. More at NIWA.
TIGHT FISTED: Plastic cards haven't totally done away with cash yet, but a new wallet can make it harder to spend those hard-earned notes. The Proverbial Bumblebee Wallet buzzes whenever your bank processes a transaction, while the Peacock grows and shrinks to reflect your bank balance, and the Mother Bear contains a hinge that resists opening. Just don't buy yourself an extra treat for managing to open the darn thing. More at MIT Media lab.
- Miraz Jordan knowit.co.nz.
