New Ultra-Lightweight Fusion Concept Car

Ford unveiled a new concept car Tuesday, an ultra lightweight Fusion that is 800 pounds lighter than the Fusion models currently on the market.

The concept car, a mid-sized family sedan, shed nearly 25% of its weight; this makes it about the same weight as the Ford Fiesta, the manufacturer's smallest car. To reduce its weight, Ford substituted the material in almost every part of the car for lightweight alternatives, including high-strength steel, magnesium, aluminum and carbon fiber.

The car's wheels and seats are carbon fiber, while its crankshafts, springs and stabilizer bars are hollow steel. For the body, Ford opted to use a combination of aluminum, high-strength steel and magnesium.

The windshield and most of the windows are made out of chemically treated glass that is partially Gorilla Glass — used in earlier iPhone models — while the rear window is plastic.

The engine has also been slimmed down to a one-liter, three-cylinder EcoBoost engine that Ford said performs much like the regular Fusion, but has the fuel economy of the smaller Fiesta (about 45 MPG).

Ford didn't say when, or if, consumers would see the new Fusion in stores. It did not reveal a price for the concept.

Ford also announced a new partnership with Samsung's SDI group to build more efficient lightweight batteries. The two companies showed off a new two-battery system that uses a combination of lithium-ion and lead-acid batteries. They said the system will eventually be used to bring efficient regenerative braking systems— currently only used in hybrid models— to more cars.

New Age Iphone Case

A company creating a new iPhone case claims it can harness leftover electromagnetic energy to power an LED notification system, which users can see even if their phones are face-down or in silent mode.

Lunecase, developed by Ukraine-based startup Concepter, is an intelligent case that operates using energy that would otherwise go to waste, no batteries or cords required. The general premise is simple: When a call or text message comes in, the corresponding icon lights up on the back of the case, even before the phone starts to ring. Another version, Lunecase Eclipse, features a ring of lights around the Apple logo that flashes based on the type of incoming message. More notification categories, such as email, may be included in a future iterations.

"It's easy to miss a call or notification," Concepter CFO Oleg Vinokur told Mashable. "With our technology, you can actually see it. It's very visual."

Lunecase uses excess energy that an iPhone generates when it communicates with a network, not a bluetooth signal — so no setup is required other than putting the case on the phone. The wavelength of the cellular signal indicates whether you are receiving a phone call or a text message, so that the case won't drain any extra battery power or slow down connection speeds.

An earlier version of Lunecase was presented during CES 2014 in January.In its current form, the case is only compatible with the iPhone 5, 5S and 5C, but depending on demand, Vinokur said the team may develop versions for other brands, too. A working prototype only operates on GSM networks — AT&T and T-Mobile in the United States. It's possible that coverage will expand to CDMA networks — Verizon and Sprint — following final testing later this month.

A Kickstarter campaign has raised about $143,000 at the time of writing — almost triple its $50,000 goal. The campaign runs through June 5, and the case is expected to start shipping in August.

Teleportation : Closer to moving objects than people

Humanity is one step nearer to quicker computers, but still very far away from Harry Potter-like apparating.

Dutch physicists have successfully transported data from one electron to another three meters away, rendering previous doubts about quantum physics unfounded. The discovery — which took place at the Kavli Institute of Nanoscience, a branch of Delft University of Technology — was announced in a research paper released in Science, a journal published by the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

While quantum teleportation has been achieved in the past, this is the first time all of the data has transferred successfully, according to an report on CNET.

If this new technology proves to be as groundbreaking as the data suggests, scientists could be looking at faster data transportation and therefore, faster computing. Quantum computing is still a theory at this point, but this new find could present opportunities for further research into the subject.

This isn't the same kind of teleportation differs you'd need to physically move humans from one location to another. The data being transported in the former consists of quantum bits — or qubits — that make up the spin state of an electron. In other words, physical matter is not being moved.

The scientists who published the research also posted a YouTube video of themselves running the experiment, along with step-by-step instructions detailing the teleportation process. While the video makes it clear that only qubits can be teleported, the scientists leave open the question of whether humans will someday travel similarly.

Next Generation Roadways

Here’s an idea crazy enough that it just might work: Pave the streets with solar-powered panels that have their own built-in heat and LED lights. That’s what Scott and Julie Brusawhope to accomplish with their ongoing Solar Roadways project, which they just funded through a hugely popular crowdfunding campaign.

The husband-and-wife team has spent the better part of the last decade developing solar-powered modular panels that could be installed in roadways and parking lots, and would be able to collect power from the sun. Those panels could also keep streets clear of snow and ice, while illuminating them with LEDs.

Rather than paving streets and driveways with asphalt, the Solar Roadways panels would theoretically be able to decrease our nation’s dependence on fossil fuels by generating massive amounts of clean energy. Panels are made from ruggedized glass and connect to one another through a mesh network, so that even if one panel fails the system will notify repair crews that it needs to be replaced.

The whole thing is a pretty outlandish idea, and one we first wrote about back in 2010. Now, after rolling out some prototype panels in a driveway, and putting together a couple of videos to show how they work, the Solar Roadways team seems to have reached a point where it can actually start productizing and deploying its panels.

They will be helped by more than $1 million that they raised in a crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo. (The campaign goes on for another week, for those who’d like to contribute.)

After building out and testing its Phase II prototype thanks to funding from the Federal Highway Administration, the company is hoping to deploy the panels in the wild.

While frankly it’s a pretty cool idea, the Solar Roadways team has a lot of work ahead of it if it hopes to get its panels installed in real-world situations. And given the amount of highway and road infrastructure in the U.S., it would no doubt be crazy expensive to deploy in any massive scale. But the whole thing is crazy and cool enough that it just might work.

The Future Of Printing

Yes, the future of printing is here! And its three dimensional.

3D printing is a new milestone reached by Chuck Hull ,the executive vice president and chief technology officer of 3D Systems, a company built on his creation: the 3D printer.

Home model of a 3D printer.

For all those who don't know much about this technology, let me give you a brief on this. 3D printing is the process by which we can create an actual physical 3D model from the computer model of an object. This is done by adding layers of liquid plastic to form the model. The liquid plastic solidifies to form a hard plastic model. this process is called rapid prototyping or addictive manufacturing. The material used is PLA plastic as it is bio-degradable. 

There's limits to everything. So, the kind of traditional limits of 3D printing have been: material properties, speed, making millions of things. But all the competitive companies are just constantly pushing those limits, so if you're projecting the future, it looks like these limits are going to be beat down over the next couple of years.

Use of 3D printers

These machines are the future of the manufacturing business.

Even though some jobs can easily be cut because of these ingenious machines, 3D printers are not only more productive but are also more environmentally friendly. When you build something, you usually have scraps leftover. With a 3D printer, it knows the mold and design and builds only what is needed, making 3D printers more economically and earth friendly. 3D printers also have the advantage of becoming a productive manufacturing tool. With the purchase of a commercial 3D printer, higher production volumes can be achieved and larger products can be designed. 

They can produce just about anything.

If you have a craving for chocolate or if you are in need of an organ transplant, you’re in luck. 3D printing companies originally sold plastic ink cartridges but now have ink made out of sugar, chocolate, sand, ceramic, metal materials, and even living cells to manufacture an infinite amount of creations. 

Clothes.

3D printed clothes may not be in stores yet but its already debuted on the runway. Model Dieta Von Teese was the first to wear a fully articulated 3D gown specially made to fit her and flow according to her curves.

For the regular people like us, 3D printed clothes could mean a new level of customization beyond the ability of any tailor. 

The 3D printers are also used by NASA. Wonder how? Let me satisfy your curiosity.

NASA started funding a project through which scientists made a 3D printer that could make edible items. They use this technology to feed the astronauts in space. Usually a 3D printer works by using only one material cartridge. But the pizza printer works by printing from multiple cartridges at once containing material like dough, cheese and sauce.

With the rate at which the 3D printing technology is progressing I wouldn't be surprised if a few decades later we would be living in houses made using the 3D printer.