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Inhabitat's Week in Green: An impressive mobile home, and more!
Is the age of the flying car upon us? This week a new report revealed that Google co-founder Larry Page has secretly invested over $100 million in two aerial vehicle startups. Meanwhile, four major political parties in Norway have proposed a ban on all gas-powered cars by the year 2025. A team of Swedish students unveiled one of the world's most energy-efficient rail-bound vehicles. A young filmmaker transformed a boring Chevy van into an incredible solar-powered mobile home. And the Coboat is a sun and wind-powered catamaran for co-working freelance nomads.
Bitcoin will pay for public services in a small Swiss town
Most experiments in paying with digital currencies have come from private companies, but the Swiss town of Zug is trying something different. As of July 1st, the community is launching a trial that will let you pay for public services using Bitcoin -- as long as you're shelling out the equivalent of 200 francs ($206 US) or less, you can skip old-fashioned money. The trial will run through the rest of 2016, though whether or not it lives beyond that depends on the town council's findings.
Hiker with head-mounted cameras taught drones to fly through forests
Researchers in Switzerland have developed a drone that can navigate forest trails in search of missing hikers. According to EPFL, around 1,000 people get lost in Swiss forests every year and often need to be rescued. Rather than enlisting a search party, which are limited by the number of warm bodies on hand, a fleet of drones could cover the main trails with ease. Unfortunately, while getting a drone to fly through dense wooded forests was reasonable enough, letting it navigate the territory on its own was another thing altogether.
ICYMI: Underground AI delivery, sea life discovery and more
#fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-255157{display:none;} .cke_show_borders #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-255157, #postcontentcontainer #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-255157{width:570px;display:block;} try{document.getElementById("fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-255157").style.display="none";}catch(e){}Today on In Case You Missed It: The Xenoturbella deep sea creature doesn't have a brain, eyes or functional gut, but its genetics prove it is one of the oldest forms of ocean life. Also, it looks like a discarded purple sock.
MIT team gets us one step closer to robot bartenders
Sure, we've seen machines that can mix drinks with the help of an app and robot bartenders that can create cocktails out of Keurig-esque pods, but they all require you to actually push the control buttons and carry your own beverages. The horror! Fortunately for lazy drinkers everywhere, members of the CSAIL (Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory) team at MIT recently presented a system of robots working together in a "bar" scenario that consisted of a PR2 robot "bartender" and two four-wheeled open-source "Turtlebot" kits acting as waiters. That... must have been a mighty tough day at work.
Researchers develop multifaceted insect eyes for UAVs
A team of researchers from the Laboratory of Intelligent Systems at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL) have developed a tiny new set of electronic eyes for drones that are based on the multifaceted peepers of insects. These eyes are built specifically for the next generation of very small surveillance UAVs -- like that origami quadcopter EPFL developed earlier this year -- and operate very differently than the conventional cameras currently employed. Insect eyes aren't capable of generating a high spatial resolution (that is, the number of pixels you can pack into a single image) so they instead rely on quickly reacting to changes in how light reflects or objects appear as the insect moves. The new camera works the same way.
Swiss Post to start testing delivery drones this month
The Swiss Post might be one of the most advanced postal services in the world within a few years, if its plan to use delivery drones pans out. Here's one good sign for those who want to see that happen: it's slated to begin "testing the commercial use of logistics drones" sometime this month. We first heard about its intention to eventually use the machines for the delivery of small parcels back in April, when one of its program partners, California dronemaker Matternet, announced the project. As you'd expect, the agency will exclusively test several Matternet vehicles, specifically a model called "ONE." It's an autonomous quadcopter designed to follow pre-programmed flight paths and to carry payloads up to 2.2 pounds for over 10 miles in a single charge.
ICYMI: 3D-printed art, a Pac-Man satellite and more
#fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-137378{display:none;} .cke_show_borders #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-137378, #postcontentcontainer #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-137378{width:570px;display:block;} try{document.getElementById("fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-137378").style.display="none";}catch(e){}Today on In Case You Missed It: The giant robot duel challenge response is in from a Japanese mecha-manufacturer (aimed at some lippy Americans with a super paintball gun) and it's throwing hella shade y'all. Switzerland's EPFL space agency realized its old cubesats were cluttering up space so it came up with a hungry hippo of a satellite that should start gobbling up its smaller kin by 2018. And an architect hacked a 3D printer with LEDs and is creating beautiful paintings with light.
Drones will deliver mail in Switzerland this summer
You know which organization doesn't want to fall behind Amazon, DHL and Alibaba when it comes to drone deliveries? The Swiss Post. Yes, Switzerland's postal service wants to deliver small packages using small drones. In fact, it will start using quadcopters developed by a company called Matternet to drop off its customers' parcels during a pilot program this summer. Matternet ONE can carry anything up to 2.2 pounds for over 12 miles on a single charge, and the Post will put it to the test delivering small things like medicine or documents.
Apple reportedly can't ship its watch in Switzerland due to a trademark
Here's a textbook case of irony: the Apple Watch may not have a quick launch in Switzerland... you know, the spiritual home of watches. Swiss broadcaster RTS reports that Leonard Timepieces has a trademark in the country that supposedly prevents companies from using the word "apple" in association with watches and other jewelry. The 30-year-old legal filing expires on December 5th, but that's not much consolation to Apple if it hopes to challenge the traditionalists in Geneva this year.
The wearables industry needs to brace itself for the Apple Watch
Since the launch of the iPod, Apple's either dominated or come close to dominating every industry that it has entered. The only market where the company isn't the world number one is in set-top boxes, a field that has always been described as a "hobby." It's not too much of a risk to think that Apple will do to watches what it's already done to personal audio, smartphones and tablets -- even if global success isn't overnight. What then, for everyone else in the world of wearable technology?
IKEA's taking its low-cost solar panels to eight more countries
Remember when IKEA started selling solar panels in the UK despite its famous lack of sunshine? It must have been successful, because company CEO Peter Agnefjäll has just pledged that eight more nations will get the service in the next 18 months. First up is the Netherlands, which will begin offering the gear on October 28th, while Swiss stores will launch just before Christmas. The company's remaining tight-lipped on the other six locations, but we'd imagine the bulk of them will be in neighboring European countries. At the same time, Agnefjäll also pledged that, by 2020, all of IKEA's plastic products will be sourced from recycled plastic or renewable materials as part of a pledge to save 700,000 tons of CO2 each year. Clearly someone's been listening to those clever folks down at the UN.
Netflix's European tour comes to an end in Belgium and Luxembourg
This week began with Netflix launching streaming video service in France, and since then it's added Germany, Austria and Switzerland to the list. Belgium and Luxembourg are the final two on the list this fall, putting them among the 40 or so countries where Netflix now offers its services. CEO Reed Hastings (pictured above at the launch event in Berlin) called out the " incredible viewer enthusiasm" for the service's original series, including the ones coming to Europe for the first time like Orange is the New Black and Bojack Horseman. Upcoming Netflix series will remain exclusive to the service as well -- some of the existing ones like House of Cards are tied up in exclusivity deals with other broadcasters for now. Netflix is also the only place to (legally) watch a few other shows like From Dusk Till Dawn, Fargo and Penny Dreadful. No matter what country you're in, if you're looking for the something to watch we have a few suggestions on how to find it. If you just want the exclusives though, a recent tweak to the website means you can just search for "Netflix" and they will appear.
German, Austrian, Swiss games at Gamescom's Indie Arena
Independent developers from Germany, Austria and Switzerland are heading to Gamescom this year with the second annual installment of the Indie Arena, a showcase of games from smaller studios across those regions. Games due to display this year include The Last Tinker from Mimimi, The Masterplan from Shark Punch, Mercury Shift from Klonk, Beatbuddy iOS from Threaks, Schein from Zeppelin Studio and Paperbound from Dissident Logic. The Indie Arena is in Hall 9, booth A-032. Last year the Indie Arena featured games to play, developers to talk to and walls to write on. There's a bit of overlap between Indie Arena and the Indie Megabooth, which is making its glorious Gamescom debut this year. Double the indie booths, double the fun. [Images: Indie Arena]
The Big Picture: Preparing for a solar-powered flight around the world
Earlier this week, the second Solar Impulse aircraft embarked on its maiden voyage over Payerne, Switzerland. Solar Impulse 2 hopes to expand on the success of its predecessor, and make an around-the-world flight in 2015. The 72 meter-wide wing houses over 17,000 solar panels that can power the craft with virtually unlimited autonomy. The global voyage will take a five months, and is planned to launch in March.
Roombots: Lego-like robotic blocks that transform into furniture (video)
Imagine if you can just snap your fingers or issue a verbal command for a table, a chair or any other furniture to assemble right in front of you. That's what a team of researchers from the Swiss Biorobotics Laboratory (BioRob) at École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) hopes to achieve by developing Lego-like robotic blocks called Roombots that can stick to each other and form different structures. Each Roombot is made up of two blocks with wireless connection and a battery that powers motors, which the robot uses to rotate into place. These blocks also have retractable claws so anything you conjure up can climb walls and ceilings or stay attached to floors. The researchers believe that Roombots could be very useful to the elderly and people with disabilities, as they could eventually tell the machines to move closer to them or move out of the way.
Xbox One rolling to 26 new regions in September
Microsoft plans to bring the Xbox One to 26 more markets in September, eight of which were in the original plans for the console's November 2013 launch. Those eight territories, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Netherlands, Norway, Russia, Sweden and Switzerland, were cut from the first run in August, at which point Microsoft scaled its launch plans back to 13 regions. Head past the break to see the list of the other 18 regions the system will arrive in come September.
Swiss researchers created a cube that can sit, jump and walk (video)
Swiss researchers have created a metallic cube that can "walk" across a surface. Staff at the Federal Institute of Technology Zurich crammed a series of inertia sensors and constantly-spinning rotors (called reaction wheels) into a 15-centimeter cube, dubbed Cubli, that enable the contraption to move around on its own. When one or more of the weighted rotors abruptly stops spinning, the machine sort of jumps on its edge -- all thanks to centrifugal force. Once upended, the rotors act like a gyroscope to maintain Cubli's position. Halt another wheel and things get really crazy: the device defies gravity, tipping up and balancing on one of its eight corners. By repeating these motions in succession, the gizmo uses a series of controlled falls to slowly hop across a surface. In terms of practical applications, the Swiss researchers said this tech could aid in remote planetary exploration, possibly giving the Curiosity rover and its ilk some company. All noble goals, but for now the lab says that Cubli is just a high-tech toy. And that? That's perfectly fine.
Google Street View lets you stroll around CERN, no doctorate required
Previously, free rein to explore the labyrinthine laboratory that is CERN has been granted only to the lucky, or those with four degrees and an aptitude for finding theoretical particles. That changes today, however, as anyone can now explore the home of the Large Hadron Collider in Geneva, Switzerland through Google Street View. All the imagery was captured back in 2011, but it's finally been stitched together, allowing you to wander freely around the site of the famous particle accelerator and learn a little about its experiments. Hit up Google Views to begin your personal guided tour, and let us know if you spot this Higgs fellow everyone's so keen on finding.
Apple adds movies in the cloud for Japan, others
Apple has continued their global expansion of iTunes in the Cloud for Movies with the addition of eight new markets for the service. Movie fans in Austria, Estonia, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovenia, and Switzerland can now re-download content they've previously purchased in iTunes from the cloud. Since launching in 2011 as a music service, iTunes in the Cloud has slowly expanded to cover new markets and services. In 2012, support was added for Movies, but the roll out to different markets around the world has been slow. For a complete list of countries where the service is currently not available head over to Apple Support.
