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British Airways will power some of its jets with trash
British Airways is taking a cue from Doc Brown for how it'll fuel its next generation of aircraft. No, not by bolting a flux capacitor inside the cockpit, but by turning to garbage for fuel. The airline has announced a partnership with renewable fuels outfit Velocys in an effort to reduce emissions as much as 50 percent by 2050, with plans to slowly introduce the alternative fuel over the next ten years and drop greenhouse gases by over 60 percent.
Smart garbage can turns trash into a game
Waste is a big concern for cities -- after all, no one likes looking at trash on the street. But it ends up there anyway for various reasons: bins overflow, sometimes they're hard to find and worst of all, some people just don't care what they do with their trash. Sencity seeks to fight this apathy by turning litter disposal into a game with its new TetraBIN, a connected trash bin that rewards you for tossing out your garbage.
Japan's space junk collection experiment ends in failure
Well that's disappointing. On January 27th, Japan's space agency (JAXA) successfully launched the Kounotori 6 spacecraft to the ISS. It was supposed to test a novel method of dragging space debris out of orbit however a technical issue prevented the spacecraft from carrying out that test before its fiery death in Earth's atmosphere on Monday morning.
The Engadget Podcast Ep 23: Leaving Las Vegas
Editor in chief Michael Gorman, executive editor Christopher Trout and managing editor Dana Wollman join host Terrence O'Brien to give you one last update from the ground in Las Vegas. They talk about the history of sex at CES, it's quiet reemergence and all the most absurd gadgets from the show floor. Plus they settle once and for all who is the Flame Wars champion, and who will have something to prove in 2017.
The GeniCan updates your shopping list based on what you throw away
Putting together your bi-weekly shopping list is a lot easier when you already have an idea of what you're out of. That's can be tough when you've forgotten what empty containers you've already tossed but with a new device called GeniCan, your rubbish bin will handle that tallying for you.
328 foot-long floating barrier will collect ocean trash
There are numerous efforts underway to clean the world's oceans, but The Ocean Cleanup is testing what may be both the simplest and the most ambitious. It just launched a 328 foot-long prototype floating barrier that will collect trash floating in the North Sea. If it can survive the rough conditions of those waters, the plan is to deploy a 62 mile-long (!) barrier in the Pacific Ocean and reduce the size of the notorious Great Pacific Garbage Patch -- the hope is to halve the size of the trash field in 10 years.
ICYMI: Google beats MS paint, gamified recycling and more
#fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-63653{display:none;} .cke_show_borders #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-63653, #postcontentcontainer #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-63653{width:570px;display:block;} try{document.getElementById("fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-63653").style.display="none";}catch(e){}Today on In Case You Missed It: Google's 3D painting app, Tiltbrush, has been used to make some beautiful things; a robotics company is gamifying trash sorting in a pilot program; and a 3D copier will let you make a double of any dang thing you like. If you're interested, GoPro sent a video camera to space with a rocket launch and the video is petty incredible. As always, please share any great tech or science videos you find by using the #ICYMI hashtag on Twitter for @mskerryd.
Volvo shows off a prototype of its self-emptying trash can
Volvo's ROAR (RObot based Autonomous Refuse handling) project has moved into prototype testing, the company announced earlier this week. The ROAR system is designed to autonomously empty trash cans from the back of a garbage truck, saving the driver from having to manually load bins into the hopper. The initial concept involved just the robot, which relied on maps of the neighborhood and likely bin locations (as well as GPS, LiDAR and accelerometers) to help it navigate. The new iteration, on the other hand, also employs an aerial drone that lifts off from the garbage truck's roof to act as a pair of "eyes in the sky" for the ROAR, telling it where the trash cans actually are, not just where they're supposed to be.
Automatic garbage bin promises to clean the oceans
Take a close look at the water in your local marina and you'll probably shudder at the amount of waste floating around. You'd practically need a dedicated clean-up crew to make it safe, wouldn't you? However, a pair of Australian surfers think they have a better way. Their crowdfunded Seabin promises to clean up marinas (and by extension, the ocean) through the one-two combo of a natural fiber garbage bin and an automated, above-the-water pump. It's almost too simple a concept, but it seems to work -- it sucks in all kinds of filth (including oil) and spits out clean water. You'd ideally leave a bunch of Seabins running at the dock all day, keeping the water relatively pristine.
Volvo wants robots to help collect your garbage
To call garbage collection an inglorious job would be an understatement -- it typically involves early mornings, monotony and (of course) lots of smelly trash. It's the perfect sort of job for a robot, don't you think? Volvo agrees. It's partnering with both universities and waste management firm Renova on ROAR (Robot-based Autonomous Refuse handling), a project that has robots pick up your trash while a human oversees everything from the relative comfort of the garbage truck. It's still early going (the odds are that the end product will look nothing like what you see above), but the hope is that it'll eliminate most of the drudgery and noise of scooping up waste. You should see the first tests in June 2016, although it could be a while longer before you see automatons in front of your house -- ROAR won't be practical unless the robots can reliably empty cans and bins in real-world conditions.
The Joystiq Indie Pitch: DB42
Indie developers are the starving artists of the video-game world, often brilliant and innovative, but also misunderstood, underfunded and more prone to writing free-form poetry on their LiveJournals. We at Joystiq believe no one deserves to starve, and many indie developers are entitled to a fridge full of tasty, fulfilling media coverage, right here. This week, Tim Scott explains what happens when the robots get sick and tired of picking up your garbage with his Android title, DB42. What's your game called and what's it about?My game is called DB42 and is available for Android phones and tablets. It's about a little service droid named Deeby that knows there's more to life than sorting through trash. He begs and pleads and is finally given permission to show his true worth in the Cynobotic Army's Advanced Robotic Training grounds. There's a catch though! He starts off with his gear stripped and his articulated arm completely disabled. Along the way he picks up upgrades to help him out.These upgrades allow him to scope out his environment, levitate objects, push objects away and teleport between two points. With these abilities, he's then got to use his wits to reach the exit on each level.The game itself is a platformer that takes the form of level challenges. Levels include obstacles like zero-gravity fields, object field suppressors, water hazards, spatial constraints and physics-related puzzles. The lite version of the game has a single stage with 20 training levels and over 20 achievements the player can earn. The full, paid version of the game has five stages, 100 levels and nearly 60 achievements to earn. Some levels are extremely casual. Other levels can be real head scratchers.Sell DB42 in one sentence:If you've never used the words "kick-ass" and "puzzle" in the same sentence, you've never played DB42.
BinCam posts photos of your trash on Facebook, shames you into recycling (video)
We're not sure how comfortable we are with everyone online being able to examine our, as the Brits would say, "rubbish." But our friends across the pond are apparently ok with it, seeing as it's the home of BinCam -- a research project out of Newcastle University that posts pictures of people's trash on Facebook. At the heart of the experiment is an Xperia X10 Mini strapped under the lid of a garbage can that automatically snaps a photo every time it's opened and closed. That image is then uploaded to the BinCam Facebook app, where you're showered with public shame for failing to sort your recyclables or celebrated for not wasting food. And, just in case you think this is all an elaborate joke, check out the BBC report after the break the the study of how it affected student behavior at the source.
RC car runs on soda can rings, Doc Brown approves (video)
Many a future engineer was inspired by Back to the Future's Dr. Emmett "Doc" Brown, and not just because he proved that unkempt eccentrics could truly change the world. No, he also pioneered Mr. Fusion, the coffee maker/cold fusion reactor that turned garbage into energy. And while we're still waiting for cold fusion and time travel to become a reality, today we're all one step closer to waste-powered cars. A pair of Spanish engineers have recently unveiled the dAlH2Orean (see what they did there?), a R/C car that runs on aluminum. Dropping a few soda can tabs into a tank of sodium hydroxide produces enough hydrogen to power the little speedster for 40 minutes – at almost 20mph. Hit the video above to see it in action, along with your daily helping of the Chemical Brothers. Fitting.
Cleveland approves $2.5 million for RFID recycling bins (update)
When it comes to trash can technology, there's little doubt the United Kingdom is on top, what with the bomb-proof and RFID-laden bins denizens have been subjected to for years. Still, the US has trialed traceable cans for some time now, and the city of Cleveland, Ohio's just decided to make them stick, shelling out $2.5 million last week for 150,000 households worth of electronically-accountable recycling. Unlike prior garbage tracing schemes, however, citizens won't be charged according to the raw weight of undesirables in their can, but rather tested to make sure at least 10 percent of the recycling bin's contents are actually recyclable -- else face a $100 fine. That may sound a little pricey, but let's face facts: if 91 percent of what you toss in your recycling bin is garbage, you're not exactly helping the planet. they aren't throwing recycling in the trash bin instead. If over 10% of a resident's trash is actually recyclable, they're slapped with a $100 fine, a costly reminder to take better care of the planet next time. Update: We read it wrong; it's actually your trash can that's measured for recyclables. That makes much more sense! [Thanks, Adam Z.]
Australians develop space junk laser tracking system, still can't track space jams
Australian company Electric Optic Systems has announced its developed a laser tracking system which will be able to stop space junk -- discarded debris in orbit around the earth, of which there is currently over 200,000 pieces larger than 1cm -- from colliding with satellites and spacecraft. The new laser system is more precise than previous radars specifically because of its ability to track debris that is small, which can still cause major problems if encountered. Using a 3.5 million dollar grant from the Australian government, the company developed the system which it says will ultimately work best as a network.
British garbage collectors to get 1,500 BlackBerrys
First it was the rozzers, now British bin men are getting BlackBerrys as part of their job equipment pack. Biffa, a private garbage collection firm responsible for cleaning up 25 local authorities around the UK, has agreed a £1.7 million ($2.44 million) deal with Vodafone for the provision of some 1,500 BlackBerry handsets along with dongles and 3G data cards. This somewhat curious capital investment has been made in order to allow drivers to download maps, collect data from customers, liaise with head office, and even take photos where necessary. The RIM phones will also allow Biffa to track its trucks' locations -- an option that's sure to get plenty of use, considering how much Brits love to keep an eye on things.
If you throw away your console, the terrorists have won
In one of those fun, yet uncomfortable, instances where real life and video games interact, Fox News has uncovered a dusty (and old, very old) PlayStation controller during a raid of an Afghanistani farmhouse, which doubled up as a munitions depository. Lying there, in among rockets, grenades, plastic explosives and tank shells, was this humble blue-hued PlayStation appendage, which we're told can be rewired to act as a remote detonator. Should you question just how seriously the US government is taking this growing tide of console-aided terrorism, below you'll find a press release (seriously, a state-issued press release) detailing the detainment of four men in connection with the illegal transportation of digital cameras and PlayStation 2s to a "terrorist entity" in Paraguay. If convicted of the most egregious charge, they face 20 years in prison... for contraband consoles. Face, meet palm.
United Nations identifies e-waste as an urgent and growing problem, wants change
E-waste might be one of the biggest misnomers in the history of nomery -- the image it creates in the mind is of a bunch of email and document files clogging up your local internet pipes. The reality of it is that electronic waste is rapidly populating ever-growing landfill areas in so-called developing countries (they're poor, just call a spade a spade) and the issue has now garnered the attention of the United Nations. The UN Environment Programme has issued a wideranging report warning that e-waste in China and South Africa could double or even quadruple within the next decade, whereas India could experience a five-fold rise. Major hazards exist in the unregulated and informal recycling of circuit boards and techno gadgets, as processes like backyard incineration for the retrieval of gold generate toxic gases while also being wildly inefficient. The whole point of the report is to encourage some global cooperation in setting up modern and safe recycling facilities in the affected countries to ameliorate the problem, though being generally more careful in our consumption and disposal of electronics wouldn't do the environment's chances any harm either.
Artist crafts Pentium Nikes but Mom buys us AMD Keds anyways
If there are two things we love here at Engadget, it's our PCs and our kicks -- that's why we were tickled when trash artist and bon vivant Gabriel Dishaw decided to memorialize the Nike Blazer with a sculpture rendered from an old circuit board. Titled "Nike Blazer Pentium 1.0," this is the first part of a series of classic sneakers -- and we must say, this one looks pretty good, if somewhat uncomfortable. Hit the read link to inquire about purchasing some art for yourself, but not before getting a closer look or two after the break. [Thanks, daklar]
Indilinx firmware cleans dirty SSDs, restores performance while idle
You know those quirky, not-at-all convenient issues that can cause certain solid state drives to lag with extensive use? Yeah -- not cool. Thankfully, the engineers at OCZ Technology and Indilinx are fed up, and rather than sitting around doing nothing, they've both collaborated on a breakthrough firmware that can actually clean and restore one's "dirtied" SSD while the drive sits idle. In short, the firmware instructs the SSD to perform a "garbage collection" process in order to mitigate the unwanted block re-writing quandary, where the drive actively seeks and removes garbage that hinders read / write performance when handling small chunks of data. The crew over at HotHardware managed to run a few speed tests with said firmware firmly implemented, and the results are downright shocking: after just five minutes of idle time, the SSD was restored to near new, with an hour of downtime being enough to "totally restore" performance. Don't believe us? Give that read link a tap, bub.
