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Soon your drone can avoid collisions using radar
Drones are all fun and games until their rotors casually meet your body. To avoid injuries, lawsuits and costly repairs, techies have built collision avoidance systems so your unmanned aerial vehicle automatically swerves away from people and obstacles. But existing camera-based solutions drain batteries and slow down flight speed when dodging things. Arbe Robotics just won TechCrunch's first Tel Aviv Meetup and Pitch-Off last night with its own avoidance system, which counters these drawbacks by using radar to guide drones without stunting flight time.
Tel Aviv University develops biodegradable transistor, literally man made
Blood sweat and tears go into many projects, and in this case almost literally -- although technically it's blood, milk and mucus. Yep, researchers at Tel Aviv University have created biodegradable transistors from proteins found in the aforementioned organic substances. When the proteins are mixed with base materials in the right combinations, it seems they self-assemble into a semi-conducting film. Why blood, milk and mucus? Apparently, the different proteins each have unique properties. Blood's oxygen storing ability, for example, helps mix chemicals with semi-conductors to give them specific properties, while milk and mucus (the only time we want to see them together) have fiber forming, and light-creating properties respectively. The hope is that this can lead to flexible and biodegradable technology. The team at Tel Aviv says it's already working on a biodegradable display, with other electronic devices to follow -- which should help stem the flow of waste.
Google to buy Modu patents, hopefully leave Nokia alone
It took complete failure to do it, but it looks like Modu founder Dov Moran finally found that new source of capital he went hunting for last November. In an effort to pay back creditors and unpaid wages, the firm's patent portfolio is slated to be snatched up by Google for roughly $4.8 million. What's Mountain View going to do with a mess of ultra-lite modular phone patents? It didn't come up, but we wouldn't be too surprised if it had something to do with its Danger-powered hardware wing and Android Open Accessory. Putting Modu to rest hasn't phased 'ol Dov, though; Israeli news source Calcalist reports that he's already invested three million smackers in a mysterious new start up -- about which Moran remains tight lipped. Goodnight, Modu; we'll always remember you as the audacious underdog who had the brass to tell Nokia to say their prayers.
Find My iPhone leads to a late-night chase in Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv resident Ori Goshen realized the benefit of Find My iPhone when an unexpected late-night car ride left him without his iPhone. Goshen hopped into a car with two strangers and gave them directions, using his iPhone, in exchange for a ride closer to his apartment. (Bad decision? Quite possibly.) What started out as an innocent ride turned into a nightmare when the two men began quizzing him about places to find some sordid late night activity. At his first opportunity, Goshen bolted from the car to head to his apartment and immediately realized he'd left his iPhone in the car seat he'd just vacated. Arming himself with his Mac notebook and an Android handset, Goshen went on a hunt for his phone using the maps on Find My iPhone and Google Maps. Undaunted by the late hour, Goshen took to the streets of Tel Aviv with phone and notebook in hand. Guided by his phone's GPS coordinates, he came upon the car sitting at a red light. Goshen hopped in the back seat and asked the shocked men for his iPhone. They claimed to have no knowledge of the phone, but Goshen rang the iPhone using the remote ring feature. He quickly snatched the ringing phone from the front seat and bolted out of the car as fast as he could. After arriving home from his adventure-filled recovery mission, Goshen savored the moment with a frosty beverage and some hard-won life lessons.
Modu barely alive after failed bid for capital, laying off most of its employees
Modu hasn't really stormed the market with any of its miniature offerings just yet, and even with the just-announced Modu T and the upcoming Android-based Modu W offering a chance to turn things around, it looks like Modu is up against the financial ropes. Founder Dov Moran just announced that the company had failed to raise money in Tel Aviv, and he's going to have to lay off most of his workforce to stay alive. Modu currently employs around 30 people, and it's naturally going to have trouble building and selling phones with any fewer, but Dov says the company will "continue to sell its products" and he's going to be on the hunt for "other sources of capital."
Scientists devise software that can interpret attractiveness
Believe it or not, this isn't the first time we've seen software created in order to determine whether a subject is drop-dead gorgeous, but scientists at Tel Aviv University have seemingly concocted a program of their own that can "interpret attractiveness in women." Before you ask, the researchers have yet to perfect the art of computing the beauty of males, but they're attributing said omission to the difficulty in "defining" attractiveness in dudes. Nevertheless, the software was purportedly able to reach nearly the same conclusion as humans about how lovely (or not) a hundred different ladies were, as it broke down features like face symmetry, smoothness of the skin and hair color. We're told the development could eventually be used in "plastic and reconstructive surgery and computer visualization programs," but c'mon, this is totally meant to automate the grueling Hot or Not process.[Via Physorg]
