If You Smell Something, Yell Something: Mass-Produceable "Electronic Nose" To Monitor For Gas Attacks

While relatively rare in the world of terror attacks, deadly gas remains a threat as an insidious, easily-deployed weapon of mass destruction. However, a new sensor can help curtail gas-based attacks and save lifes.

According to factor-tech.com, an "electronic nose" is in development at the Universitat Politècnica de València in Spain, to be used on public transport in an effort to identify deadly gases. Fifteen sensors in the device would alert an attached data acquisition system and computer (via sensitive metal oxide semiconductor sensors) to help discern the nature of a toxic airborne attack, such as sarin gas.

Cristian Olguín, a researcher on the project, explains, “The use of the electronic nose technology aims to create a device that detects these warfare gases in an efficient, quick, simple and cheap way.” The affordability and precision of the device would make it a popular option for monitoring the air in and around trains, planes, and many other hubs of public connection all over the world. The device is also small enough to be portable, which could have valuable applications for both military operators and civilians living in embattled areas.

Methodology of monitoring the volume of unpleasant-smelling commuters is unfortunately still limited to first-person analysis.

Our lives can go on like normal now!  Thanks, electronic nose!

Custom Camouflage: Octopus-Inspired Technology Will Help You Blend In...Or Not

I'M SO FANCYYY...

In some social settings, have you ever just wanted to blend into the walls and disappear? Maybe this will soon be possible thanks to new changeable camouflage technology being developed at the University of Illinois. 

As the BBC reports, a thin grid of 1-mm cells is controlled by a temperature-sensitive colored dye that is able to adapt to its environment. Derived from observations of creatures like octopi and cuttlefish, who are able to easily change colors to disguise themselves in the ocean to avoid predators and attract prey, the technology based itself in part on the idea of the animals' layered skin. In the grid, the bottom layer uses photosensors to reflect the desired pattern to actuators in the middle layer, which then control the colored pigment in the top level to change color at precisely 47 degrees Celsius. Similarly, an octopus would have these actuators embedded in its muscle flesh to control their color-changing outer skin.

Though the work is being accomplished in America (led by senior author Professor John Roberts), the word of this project has jumped the pond and gathered attention. Professor Anne Neville, the Royal Academy of Engineering Chair in Emerging Technologies at the University of Leeds, called Professor Roberts' work "very innovative and very interesting," as well as noting it was operating at a "very high standard."

The technology is not fully developed yet, and some hindrances still exist. The dye is currently only working in black and white, but will eventually take on other hues as the technology develops. Another issue is a power source for the camo, which is currently fueled externally, but could likely benefit from an element of solar cells.

The project is based off of information gleaned from "a collaboration between experts in biology, materials, computing and electrical engineering," according to Professor Roberts, but has wide potential for architectural, military, and even fashion applications. One day, you could use the hues to make your shirt any color you wanted, or really stand out in a room by reflecting its most stark colors, like a real-life Paint eyedropper feature for fashion.

Or, for those who still treasure their privacy in the face of ever-encroaching surveillance, you could just practice vanishing...

Homeland Security has no idea who this guy is.

Mass Surveillance In Massachusetts: Boston Police Spy And Lie

In yet another installation of a police force overprotecting and serving themselves, it has recently come to light that every single attendee of the Boston Calling music festival in 2013 was under surveillance, the records of which were accessible through the darknet.  According to techdirt.com, the Boston Police Department then lied about their involvement in the entire operation.

While the event was clearly being documented by the media, various videographers, and amateur snapshooters alike, no one was availed of the information that they were being categorized and profiled during the festival.  Reporter Tim Cushing described it as such:

"What Boston Calling attendees (and promoters, for that matter) didn't know, however, was that they were all unwitting test subjects for a sophisticated new event monitoring platform. Namely, the city's software and equipment gave authorities a live and detailed birdseye view of concertgoers, pedestrians, and vehicles in the vicinity of City Hall on May 25 and 26 of 2013 (as well as during the two days of a subsequent Boston Calling in September). We're not talking about old school black and white surveillance cameras. More like technology that analyzes every passerby for height, clothing, and skin color."

Boston's Dig website found some even more unsettling information:

"Shockingly, these sensitive documents have been left exposed online for more than a year. Among them are memos written by employees of IBM, the outside contractor involved, presenting plans to use "Face Capture" on "every person" at the 2013 concert. Another defines a party of interest "as anyone who walks through the door."

Over 50 hours of footage was available for easy access. When confronted, the Boston police department denied any involvement, until they were called out by journalist Kenneth Lipp (who found the files.) Boston police were clearly seen in monitoring stations, being trained by IBM employees.

Fortunately, this forced out the truth, with mayoral press secretary Kate Walsh explaining to Dig in an email that a "pilot program" had indeed been tested, and of course, it was for our own good. The city was merely "looking at challenges such as permitting, basic services, crowd and traffic management, public safety, and citizen engagement through social media and other channels. These were technology demonstrations utilizing pre-existing hardware (cameras) and data storage systems."

Yes, that's right. They've had the ability to do this for a while. And nobody in the crowd - or even the promoters - knew.

Lipp continued to probe, uncovering a host of other sensitive information that the BPD had left out in nearly plain sight. Driver's license information, addresses, and other valuable informative material was easily accessed, which could have led to a bigger problem than anything the cops were looking out for with their spy system.

Despite events like the Boston Marathon bombings prompting authorities to seek more intel on members of large crowds, the fact that this system went live without any public knowledge or oversight, and was then lied about, doesn't make the average civilian feel any safer.  When civilians are treated like suspects for no reason, cops are acting like villains for no reason.  And what kind of society is served by villains?

Soon they'll start judging and profiling you by your music tastes, too.

Be Future-Fashion Forward With 3-D Printed Dresses

Science has determined that soon we'll be able to 3-D print out whole new organs for our bodies. But what are our freshly-invigorated forms going to wear? 3-D printing now has an answer for that too.

As shown by burlesque performer, "muse and model" Dita Von Teese in New York City, 3-D printing proved that isn't just in fashion, it's creating fashion. Her $100,000 3-D printed mesh dress, inspired by the ever-escalating Fibonacci sequence, conforms precisely to her form thanks to virtual technology imbuing the dress with next-generation design elements.

“It’s that continuous variation — managing the complexity of the subtle adjustments in form to respond to curvature of the body, how things tighten or narrow, where we need more flexibility or less flexibility of the mesh, all that was able to be tuned to a really high level,” says Francis Bitonti, who along with fellow designer Michael Schmidt created the dress using various 3-D imaging software programs.

According to wired.com, the process was elaborate. First, a 3-D model of the dress was built by Bitonti from an original sketch by Schmidt, using the Maya design program to custom tailor it to Von Teese's figure. Using Rhino, a software program that works to intricately detail surfaces, he fleshed out the 2,633 "rings" that interlock to form the garment. The dress was then sintered on an EOS P350 laser printer by Shapeways and manually assembled from the 17 different sections of material.

The dress, while expensive, could set the stage for a whole new category of couture. Shapeways designer Evangelist Duann Scott enthused, “Traditionally, all garments are either a weave or a stitch...with 3-D printing, we can…introduce something completely different. So we can grow designs rather than just using something that’s centuries-old technology. It’s a whole way to move forward in fashion and clothing and textiles.”

The 3-D technology of the future holds many promises...it can stop sweatshop labor yet quickly create necessary items when none are available...could its refinement and tailored-tech finally be able to solve the problem of finding that perfect pair of jeans, too?

Von Teese's fabulous fabricated frock.

Space Station Sunday: Supermoon!

The astronomical phenomena known as a "supermoon" occurred earlier this week, giving humans both on Earth and in space the chance to gaze on the biggest and brightest view of the moon seen in 20 years.  The supermoon occurs when the moon is at its perigee, a.k.a. the point closest in its orbit to the earth (the scientific name for the supermoon is "perigee moon.")  That put our nearest astronomical neighbor a mere 221,765 miles away from us, making it appear 30% brighter and 14% larger, according to a report published on www.independent.co.uk.

The supermoon was prominent indeed to our intrepid heroes on the ISS, and was captured in all of its super, moony glory by several astronauts.  Oleg Artemyev, a Russian cosmonaut aboard the ISS, snapped a series of images of what he called the "moonset", including the dramatic shot below.

German ISS astronaut Alexander Gerst also captured the event, posting an image of the supermoon behind the spacecraft to his Twitter feed.

Meanwhile NASA posted this patriotic take on the phenomena.

It's even red, white, and blue!  Of course, because Americans reached the moon first.

Earthlings got in on the action too, with space.com featuring an array of astral awesomeness captured from the ground during the supermoon.

Moon enthusiasts (lunatics?) can check out even more cool supermoon pictures from weather.com.

The supermoon was so bright that even while it was waning, it outshone another major astronomical event last week:  the Perseid meteor shower.  But don't worry, astronaut Gerst had a good enough view to capture a subtle but still cool bit of that too, explaining "Here's what a shooting star looks like from the side!"

  You get to make extra wishes on shooting stars seen from space.

Believe The Hyperlapse: New App To Smooth Out GoPro Videos For Maximum Cool Viewing

For adventurous videographers everywhere, the GoPro is a thing of beauty.  The compact, tough little cameras operate in a variety of crazy environments - even underwater or hurtling through the air - and the high-def videos serve as souvenirs like no other of your excellent exploits.  Unfortunately, your gnarly ski vids end up looking a little TOO gnarly thanks to the shaking inherent to all of your extreme activity.  Thankfully, Microsoft is working on a software solution to this issue.

According to wired.com, a new app is in development to help smooth out your shots and gives your home movie a "hyperlapse" real movie feel.  This works by an algorithm analyzing your original trajectory, then restitching and blending the frames together to create a more fluid appearance.  "Hyperlapse" refers to the smoothed-out version of time lapse videos - a.k.a. the sped-up versions of your adventures that make the action move more swiftly, and now, not at the expense of watchability.  The technology is currently in development for a new app for Windows.

Learn more and check out some spectacular stabilized footage at research.microsoft.com/hyperlapse.

So even if you're attacked by sharks during a dive, you'll still look chill.

Windowless Planes To Provide Amazing High-Res Views?

If you like flying so much that you can't bear to be away from the window seat, there may be an exciting new technological breakthrough you'll enjoy. A new design for a windowless airplane that recreates scenery in high definition inside the airplane cabin could revolutionize how you see the skies.

Technicon, a Parisian design company, has drawn accolades for their new IXION Windowless Plane Concept. Using exterior-mounted cameras, a 360-view of what's going on outside your aircraft could be displayed in glorious high-def for your in-flight entertainment.

According to mashable.com, design director Gareth Davies explained, “The ethos of the project is simple, to challenge current thinking, and propose something a little different, but not just a fantasy. It has to be credible and relevant, yet provoke discussion.”

Amorphous solar panels on a windowless fuselage would help to power the displays. The imagery itself could be anything - your flight over Kansas could magically become a leisurely lift over the Hawaiian islands, or even space-based scenes. Parallax balance technology could allow for separate viewing screens, if you absolutely HAD to watch some boring business presentation during your amazing all-seeing excursion.

While this is still a concept in development for the private planes of the future, it's nice to know that even something as awesome as flying can still get even better.

Wonder Woman has the right idea.