Free Republic

His Name Is Branding Magic; Thomas Edison Is 'So 20th Century' Decades after he died penniless, Nikola Tesla is elbowing aside his old adversary Thomas Edison in the pantheon of geek gods. When California engineers wanted to brand their new $100,000 electric sports car, one name stood out: Tesla. When circuit designers at microchip producer Nvidia Corp. in 2007 launched a new line of advanced processors, they called them Tesla. And when videogame writers at Capcom Entertainment in Silicon Valley needed a character who could understand alien spaceships for their new Dark Void saga, they found him in Nikola Tesla....

“Save your receipts” may be the rule in the workplace for getting reimbursed for expenses, but those slips of paper are just so much trash to a college student. That’s what Drexel University student Bradley Ericson pondered as he observed transactions at the checkout counter at campus dining halls. Students have a meal plan and tap it electronically by using their student identification card. But the cashier still hands over a printed piece of thermal paper. Soon after, that receipt winds up on the floor or counter. A freshman at Drexel’s LeBow College of Business in the fall of 2008,...

What does everyone think was the best new gadget to come out in the past decade?

Lester Shubin, a government scientist who saw the potential of using Kevlar to strengthen bullet-resistant vests for the police, an advance that has saved the lives of more than 3,000 officers, died Nov. 20 at his home in Fairfax, Va. He was 84. The cause was a heart attack, his son, Harry, said. Working with the Army in the early 1970s, Mr. Shubin helped develop the first vests made of Kevlar, an extraordinarily strong fabric invented by the DuPont Company. At the time he was a program manager with the National Institute of Justice, an arm of the United States...

Disney debuted its uber-high-tech simulator experience that features a first-of-its-kind robotic arm, Wednesday. The Sum of All Thrills ride, sponsored by Raytheon Co., utilizes something called a KUKA RoboSim 4-D Simulator to power the attraction, where guests design and ride their own custom roller coasters and other simulated-motion experiences.

Toronto researchers have developed a portable device they say will accurately diagnose prostate cancer in 30 minutes. The microchip technology, created by a pair of University of Toronto scientists, will be able to determine the severity of the tumours through a simple urine sample and produce quick diagnosis with no need for painful biopsies.

A controversial cooker that 'grows' meat and fish by heating animal cells in your kitchen claimed first prize in the Electrolux design competition tonight. The invention, called Cocoon, could develop food with the make-up and nutrients of real meat. Mr Hederstierna, 27, said: 'This will create 100 per cent pure meat without the need for animals to be killed and with no risk of contamination. It will change everything.'

A Jones County inventor has filed a lawsuit against two Internet server companies. John Ishmel Henry of Soso, in May, filed a lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi. In his suit, Henry claims that “he was called and depicted as a n----r on two of the Internet service provider search engines, AOL and Google.” Henry, the original inventor of the vibrating toilet seat, was featured on the Jay Leno Show in November, 2008. “Needless to say that my invention garnered a lot of attention,” he said. “I was completely humiliated and horrified...

On a particular fall day in 1889, the members of the Ogden Rifle Club of Ogden, Utah, were out in force. The men were target shooting, but doubtless found the brilliant fall colors of aspens and oaks on the high peaks of the Wasatch Range a distraction. Enticing too were the flocks of migratory waterfowl wheeling overhead and grouse calling in the brush. But all rifles that day were trained on paper targets, although one of the competitors, an unusually tall man with stern but handsome features, was having trouble concentrating on hitting the mark. As his good friend Will...

(PhysOrg.com) -- A new study challenges the traditional view that patents foster innovation, suggesting instead that they may hinder technological progress, economic activity and societal wealth. These results could have important policy implications, because many countries count on patent systems to spur new technology and promote economic growth.

Synopsis ... chock full of GE products

WASHINGTON (AFP) – The Hubble space telescope, the object of NASA's fifth and last servicing mission next week, is a veritable time machine that has revolutionized humankind's vision and comprehension of the universe. Put into orbit at an altitude of 600 kilometers (360 miles) by the shuttle Discovery on April 25, 1990, Hubble has transmitted more than 750,000 spectacular images and streams of data from the ends of the universe, opening a new era in astronomy. But the telescope, the fruit of a collaboration between NASA and the European Space Agency, had a troubled start and did not become operational...

It’s the typical story of American ingenuity. Two buddies get together, get an idea to build something and before you know it, they’ve come up with a one-of-a-kind item. And of course there’s an engine involved. “We just started throwing parts at it,” said Russ Freeman, one of the inventors of the unique MotorHead Grill. Freeman’s good friend, Jay Thurman, had come into his garage and said he wanted to build a functional grill out of an engine block for his dad. The West Jones High School grads tried this and tried that. Eventually they had what looked like...

Before we break into 2009 and consider what the future may offer, it is worthwhile looking back to review the year that passed. So I’ll do that right now, in real time. 2008 was a signature year of change - and not just in politics and economics. The changes in technology and the technology market were many and various, and some were profound. Here are the ones that I suspect were the most important. 1. The GPU and the CPU: The GPU (graphics processing unit) is in the process of usurping the CPU on client computers and access devices (but...

Segway Inventor Builds Bionic Arm Tuesday , December 09, 2008 FOX NEWS The man behind the Segway scooter has a new invention: bionic arms for wounded soldiers. Called the "Luke Arm" after the prosthetic hand sported by Luke Skywalker in the "Star Wars" movies, Dean Kamen's device is lightweight, self-contained and fully capable of picking up grapes, baby bottles, even electric drills. ... snip The Luke Arm has four fingers and an opposable thumb, and was designed to be controlled by muscular movement in the wearer's remaining limbs. But thanks to neurological advances in "targeted renervation" by Dr. Todd Kuiken...

Local man invents vibrating toilet seat By Eloria Newell James, community@leadercall.com  Jones County native Johnny Henry talks about his invention, the vibrating toilet seat.Photo/Eloria Newell James / A Jones County native has developed a new twist to a traditional item.Johnny Henry of Laurel has developed the vibrating toilet seat.“I believe in thinking out of the box,” Henry said. “I wanted to create something that is a little unusual.“This invention is designed to stimulate,” he said. “It’s to make you feel good while you are there.”Because of Henry’s invention, he recently attended the Invent Bay International Inventors Convention held at the...

To Timbuktu by flying car: it sounds the most unlikely journey on earth; a sci-fi voyage from the pages of Jules Verne. But this is no fantasy. The car really flies. And the journey will become reality early in the new year when two explorers set off from London in a propeller-powered dune buggy heading for the Sahara. The seed of this improbable adventure was sown four years ago when Gilo Cardozo, a paramotor manufacturer, had a eureka moment. For those not familiar with paramotors, picture a parachutist with a giant industrial fan strapped to his back, which provides...

This ya gotta see...One of those "Would be nice...if true". http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=efCelx7qe_M&feature=related

Al Gore has a new boat and even it is green. The boat is docked at Hurricane Marina on Center Hill Lake in Smithville, about 70 miles east of Nashville. While it doesn't have solar panels yet, a spokesperson at Gore's office told News 2 they are scheduled to be installed Wednesday. The boat is named Bio-Solar One and has been called the "Toyota Prius of boats"...

Bruce E. Ivins, the government biodefense scientist linked to the deadly anthrax mailings of 2001, stood to gain financially from the huge federal spending in the fear-filled aftermath of those killings, the Los Angeles Times has learned. Ivins is listed as a co-inventor on two patents for a genetically engineered anthrax vaccine, federal records show. Separately, Ivins is also listed as a co-inventor on an application to patent an additive for various biodefense vaccines. Ivins, 62, died Tuesday, apparently in a suicide. Federal authorities had informed his lawyer that criminal charges related to the mailings would be filed. As a...