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Carbon nanotube yarn generates electricity when stretched
Wearable makers have long sought to harvest electricity from your movement, but current tech is expensive and inefficient. However, researchers from Texas and South Korea have discovered a promising method using our good old friend, the carbon nanotube. The team twisted the lightweight tubes into tight, elastic-like coils, so that they rotate and generate electricity when stretched. The threads (called "twistron") could lead to new types of generators or self-powered wearables that can track your heart rate and breathing.
Fighting games to fairy tales: The unlikely story of 'Unravel'
Unravel is a thoughtful, heartwarming game that feels like mix of LittleBigPlanet, Limbo and Hans Christian Andersen's Thumbelina, all wrapped up in a cozy sweater your grandmother just finished knitting. If it weren't a digital-only title, its disc would probably smell like freshly baked gingerbread cookies and sunshine. The game stars Yarny, a tiny creature made of red yarn who voyages into the Swedish wilderness to collect an old woman's memories. Yarny uses his body's thread to solve platforming puzzles, allowing him to cross rivers, leap over gulfs and fight off beastly bugs. More importantly, though, Unravel tells this grandmother's story, offering snapshots of a life filled with family, love and heartache. Unravel is a departure for developer Coldwood Interactive, whose releases include Ski-Doo Snow X Racing, Freakout, Move Fitness and The Fight: Lights Out. This shift didn't happen by accident, according to creator Martin Sahlin: "Unravel was basically a reaction to those previous games, an effort to do something completely different."
'Yoshi's Woolly World' is the video game equivalent of a hug
I am not what you would call a "hardcore gamer." I don't enjoy shooters; I don't have the time for RPGs; and my last dance with open-world gameplay was a 45-minute joyride through the faux-LA of Grand Theft Auto V. But, oh, do I love me some Yoshi's Woolly World. The upcoming, cutesy Wii U title, due out this fall, has a shared DNA. It's a hodgepodge of past Yoshi's Island games and the Wii title Kirby's Epic Yarn. That last bit of pedigree makes complete sense when you consider that the game's being developed by Good-Feel, the very same studio behind the aforementioned Kirby title.
Yarn-eating Yarn Monster forms yarn balls, makes us want to build our own (video)
Robots, Arduino, and monsters are all very close to our new-age, gadget-loving hearts. The folks over at Union Bridge Labs have created a half-monster, half-machine dubbed the Yarn Monster. This little cubic beast has one job -- to eat yarn and shape it into a perfectly rolled ball of, well, yarn. It's powered by a ton of hardware, from a stepper motor to Arduino components to even a universal mounting hub. Instructions to control speed of the nom-noming are sent to the Arduino via XBee from a remotely connected potentiometer which can also reverse the direction of yarn-ball rolling. We encourage you to spend your hard-earned dough (about $130), buy the proper components and build one of these things to impress your loved ones. If not though, be sure to watch the video after the break.
