New Atlas: Technology-Innovation-Outdoor News

Next-gen hopping robot is the smart flea we didn't know we needed

Maryna Holovnova — Sat, 10 Oct 2026 15:00:00 GMT

We’ve already seen robots that can swim like fish, stick to walls like geckos, and grab objects like elephants. Now, engineers at the University of Washington are building a new type of robot inspired by … the flea.

Category: Robotics, Engineering

Tags: University of Washington, locomotion, Biomimicry

Triumph shrinks its iconic Bonneville to a 400

Utkarsh Sood — Sat, 10 Oct 2026 11:00:00 GMT

Motorcycles are a tricky business. Sometimes, companies spend years pouring money into R&D on a shiny new model, only for the market to turn on it the moment it launches and dismiss it as a desperate attempt at salvation. Other times, a bike maker can slap on a new paint job, a different set of wheels and a cushier seat, and somehow end up with a bike that sells like hotcakes.

Category: Motorcycles, Transport

Tags: Triumph, Retro, Bonneville, India

Mounjaro plus experimental drug dramatically boosts weight loss

Mike McRae — Sat, 10 Oct 2026 06:45:00 GMT

Combining the popular weight-loss medication tirzepatide with another hormone mimic may boost the drug’s effectiveness, according to the results of a recent clinical trial.

Category: Obesity, Illnesses and conditions, Body and Mind

Tags: Weight Loss, GLP-1 receptor agonists, Diabetes, Eli Lilly

Comedy Wildlife Awards spark much-needed joy in nature

Bronwyn Thompson — Sat, 10 Oct 2026 02:00:00 GMT

This year, more than 10,000 entries from 112 countries were judged in one of the most enjoyable photo competitions on the calendar. And here we present a snapshot of the 40 images that made the shortlist across a diverse range of categories, including ones that highlight amphibians and insects.

Category: Photography, Consumer Tech, Technology

Tags: Wildlife, Photo, Nikon, Awards, Art

The Honda NSX rises ... with more horsepower and carbon fiber

Abhimanyu Ghoshal — Fri, 09 Oct 2026 23:03:00 GMT

For decades, the original Honda NSX has stolen hearts and captured the imagination of sportscar enthusiasts worldwide. More than 35 years since its debut, the iconic two-door is making a comeback – but only for a lucky (and loaded) few.

Category: Automotive, Transport

Tags: Honda, nsx, Sports Cars, Pininfarina, Retro, Luxury

Inside an iconic Shanghai slaughterhouse, beauty masks a dark past

Bronwyn Thompson — Fri, 09 Oct 2026 22:00:00 GMT

Amid cranes on top of new skyscrapers and the blinding sunlight reflecting off the glass windows of those already standing tall, Shanghai has one of the most remarkable buildings you may ever experience – and it was built in 1933 by the British architectural firm Balfours to steer cattle to their deaths.

Category: Architecture, Engineering

Tags: Shanghai, China, Concept Architecture, Concrete, Cows, Industrial design, History

Stratospheric drone could make weather balloons obsolete

Ben Coxworth — Fri, 09 Oct 2026 20:30:00 GMT

Weather balloons are wasteful, and not very eco-friendly – they burst upon reaching high altitudes, then fall back to the earth as trash that rarely gets recovered. That's why there's now a reusable multicopter weather drone that can fly to the edge of the stratosphere.

Category: Drones, Consumer Tech, Technology

Tags: Weather, High Altitude, Quadcopter

The untamed reality of MINI’s new adventure camping crossover

Simon Heptinstall — Fri, 09 Oct 2026 18:37:00 GMT

MINI unveiled its new Countryman Untamed Edition on the shores of Lake Tahoe this last week. It’s an attempt to turn the familiar suburban crossover into a serious trail plugger – and comes ahead of MINI’s entry in the grueling women-only Rebelle Rally.

Category: Automotive, Transport

Tags: BMW, MINI, Countryman, Crossover, Rugged, SUV

'Invisible ink' keeps tattoos hidden until they're under certain light

Mike McRae — Fri, 09 Oct 2026 15:00:00 GMT

Once the hallmark of bikers, sailors, and general riff-raff, tattoos have become far more mainstream, decorating the bodies of everyone from teachers to lawyers to world-class surgeons.

Category: Technology

Tags: Tattoo, Inks, UV light, University of Colorado

Tiny house spreads out with a pair of porches and a spacious interior

Adam Williams — Fri, 09 Oct 2026 12:29:02 GMT

This not-so-tiny house is designed for a comfortable full-time life on wheels. It features a single-level layout for two and includes a well-equipped kitchen, an open living area, and not just one but two porches.

Category: Tiny Houses, Outdoors

Tags: Building and Construction, Tiny Footprint, Micro-House, House, Home

'Junk-food' diet shows this species may also choose convenience over health

Bronwyn Thompson — Fri, 09 Oct 2026 09:01:00 GMT

In a landmark study, scientists have uncovered that an abundant and vibrant reef animal has had hundreds of its genes change in activity due to life in urbanized areas – and most are linked to inflammation and immune responses. They're naming it the "junk-food effect," where this reef fish is choosing convenience over its own health.

Category: Biology, Science

Tags: Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology, Fish, Inflammation, Human, Great Barrier Reef, Marine Biology, Animal science

Germany’s telescoping wind turbine becomes world’s tallest

Omar Kardoudi — Fri, 09 Oct 2026 08:56:29 GMT

Germany is taking wind power to new heights with a turbine almost as tall as Berlin’s iconic television tower at Alexanderplatz. Standing 365 m (1,198 ft) in Schipkau, the new world’s tallest wind turbine aims to tap stronger, steadier winds and test whether existing wind farms could gain a second story.

Category: Energy, Engineering

Tags: Wind, Energy, Engineering, Wind turbine, World's Tallest

Wild pickup camper automatically unfurls into a multi-tent in seconds

C.C. Weiss — Thu, 08 Oct 2026 23:03:00 GMT

The new Pickupmate Trunk from Chinese car camping specialist Wild Land is an impressive piece of truck camping kit that fuses several different products into one. It's not quite a rooftop tent, not quite a pickup camping topper and not quite a basic truck cap. Instead, it's all three in one, delivering a remote controlled dual-level camping experience like no other.

Category: Pickup Campers, Adventure Vehicles, Outdoors

Tags: Pickup, Truck, roof-top tent, Tent, Camping, Outdoors and Camping, Off-road

Saudi 1km tower nears halfway point – already cracks tallest top 15

Adam Williams — Thu, 08 Oct 2026 22:16:53 GMT

The incredibly ambitious Jeddah Tower is currently under construction in Saudi Arabia. Due to be the world's new tallest building once complete, it has already made it into the top 15 tallest buildings worldwide – and it's still less than halfway to its final height.

Category: Architecture, Engineering

Tags: Building and Construction, Skyscrapers, World's Tallest, Saudi Arabia

Microsoft rivals the MacBook Pro with an Nvidia chip and repairable design

Abhimanyu Ghoshal — Thu, 08 Oct 2026 20:00:00 GMT

Microsoft has just unveiled the most powerful laptop in its Surface range, and it's set to take on Apple's popular MacBook Pro for demanding work applications. If you're in the market for a higher-end machine, there's a couple of things in this premium option worth learning about – including a brand new processor that no other laptop on the market has yet.

Category: Consumer Tech, Technology

Tags: Laptop, Microsoft, Microsoft Surface, NVIDIA, Artificial Intelligence

Pocket piston 2.0 updates the art of combusting fire out of thin air

C.C. Weiss — Thu, 08 Oct 2026 18:37:00 GMT

The Aviator's Ember proved one of the more unexpected pieces of outdoor kit we looked at in 2025. Based on timeless, inalterable concepts of physics, the portable little piston allows users to start a fire with nothing more than tinder, air and a quick smack of the hand, relying on the immediate compression of air to deliver the heat that fires up the tinder. After taking in compliments and criticisms about the original design, Aerohart is back a year later with V2.0.

Category: Gear, Outdoors

Tags: Fire, Survival, Outdoors and Camping, Camping, Hiking, Backpacking, Kickstarter

Supercapacitor cement is key to buildings that store their own power

Ben Coxworth — Thu, 08 Oct 2026 18:03:49 GMT

In the not-too-distant future, a building's emergency lighting, fire alarms, sensors and other features could be powered not by fuel-burning generators or bulky battery packs, but by the actual material that the structure is already made of. That's because scientists have developed an experimental cement-based supercapacitor.

Category: Energy, Engineering

Tags: Harbin Institute of Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, American Chemical Society, Cement, Supercapacitor

Jaguar re-launches itself with striking 1,000-hp Type 01 GT electric

Simon Heptinstall — Thu, 08 Oct 2026 12:53:24 GMT

However extraordinary the tech of the new Jaguar Type 01, this week’s launch was all about style and impact.

Category: Automotive, Transport

Tags: Jaguar, Luxury, Electric Vehicles

Brain-sensing headphones know when your focus starts to drift

Monica J. White — Thu, 08 Oct 2026 09:45:09 GMT

Neurable One hides 12 EEG sensors inside premium ANC headphones to track focus and fatigue, turning brain activity into real-time biofeedback while still working as an everyday pair of wireless headphones.

Category: Consumer Tech, Technology

Tags: Brain activity, Headphones, Monitoring, EEG, Noise-Canceling, Well-being

Tiny robot harvests battery power via skin on its feet

Omar Kardoudi — Thu, 08 Oct 2026 02:51:40 GMT

Researchers have developed a paper-thin foot membrane that lets crawling microrobots harvest electricity directly from the ground beneath them, ditching heavy onboard batteries by turning metal and silicon surfaces into an active power source.

Category: Robotics, Engineering

Tags: Robotics, Skin, Energy, Batteries

Vanilla-derived compound shown to accelerate healing of chronic wounds

Abhimanyu Ghoshal — Wed, 07 Oct 2026 23:03:00 GMT

Researchers have found that vanillin, the compound found in vanilla pods, is not only an aromatic flavoring agent for foods and perfumes, but it can also help treat chronic wounds.

Category: Body and Mind

Tags: wound-healing, Wound, Diabetes, Flinders University

Spiral solar tower promises near-continuous power for Moon bases

David Szondy — Wed, 07 Oct 2026 22:44:48 GMT

Blue Origin has unveiled its Power Tower for future Moon bases, which will be carried by the company's Mark 1 lunar lander. After touchdown, the spacecraft will deploy a 20-m (66-ft)-tall solar array for around-the-clock electrical power.

Category: Space Systems, Engineering

Tags: artemis, Blue Origin, Solar Powered, Moon

New lightweight naked bike is ready to slice up streets like a scalpel

Abhimanyu Ghoshal — Wed, 07 Oct 2026 21:00:00 GMT

After debuting its entry-level F 450 GS adventure bike last year, BMW's following that up with a roadster to round out its lineup. The new F 450 R features its sibling's powertrain and tech in a light naked frame that should make for exceptional maneuverability as you tear through city streets.

Category: Motorcycles, Transport

Tags: BMW Motorrad, Naked bike

Ford electric camper van goes after Kia with features PV5 doesn't have

C.C. Weiss — Wed, 07 Oct 2026 20:37:00 GMT

Ford has established itself as a leading badge in plug-in hybrid camper vans, both in-house and via third-party conversions, but it hasn't shown the same level of juice in all-electric campers, despite having a very solid base van for the purpose. Polish conversion shop Wavecamper looks to change that with the Flex E-Line, a convincing battery-driven mini-camper with over 200 miles of range built into Ford's E-Transit Custom. Will it take a big bite out of Kia's electric camper van success?

Category: Campervans, Adventure Vehicles, Outdoors

Tags: Ford, electric-camper, Campervan, mini-campervan, RV, Camping, Outdoors and Camping, dusseldorf-caravan-salon-2026

Modular recyclable tire hunts immortality with swappable tread

Ben Coxworth — Wed, 07 Oct 2026 18:37:00 GMT

Automobile tires are made to take a lot of abuse for a long time, so breaking them down for recycling has always been quite a challenge. Spanish scientists are developing a solution to that problem, with a modular tire that has a removable silicone tread.

Category: Automotive, Transport

Tags: Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, Tires, Recyclable, Environmentally-friendly, Modular, silicone, Microplastic

VR chair offers a new way into virtual worlds without a headset

Omar Kardoudi — Wed, 07 Oct 2026 15:56:11 GMT

Virtual reality can take you anywhere, but strap on a headset for long enough and your sore neck brings you back to actual reality. A Kyushu University researcher wants to change that, and his idea is a chair that offers a new way of experiencing virtual worlds.

Category: Virtual Reality, Consumer Tech, Technology

Tags: VR, Immersive Media, Kyushu University, Chair, Imaging, Optics

These headphones look ordinary – until you twist them into a speaker

Abhimanyu Ghoshal — Wed, 07 Oct 2026 13:27:00 GMT

These newly launched headphones feature a novel hybrid design that I can't say I've seen before. You can use them on your noggin as normal for private listening, or twist the headband so the cups combine to form a speaker for others to hear.

Category: Consumer Tech, Technology

Tags: Audio, Headphones, Speaker, Bluetooth Speakers, Portable Audio

2027 BMW 3 Series brings Neue Klasse tech to the masses

Utkarsh Sood — Wed, 07 Oct 2026 11:09:16 GMT

It takes some serious guts to go out and change just about everything on your best-selling car. The eighth generation of the 3 Series is here, and BMW has done just that.

Category: Automotive, Transport

Tags: BMW, Sedan, Performance

Tinnitus answer may be found in our blood

Mike McRae — Wed, 07 Oct 2026 07:34:20 GMT

For the 14% of us living with tinnitus, the persistent ringing inside our heads is impossible for anybody else to hear. Or measure. A new study suggests a blood test for an inner-ear protein could provide a sign of the condition that anybody can detect and then act on.

Category: Imaging & Diagnostics, Medical Innovations, Body and Mind

Tags: tinnitus, Blood, Test, Diagnostic tools

All-purpose ebike promises real riding comfort in and out of town

Abhimanyu Ghoshal — Tue, 06 Oct 2026 22:01:36 GMT

Berlin-based ebike startup Lemmo has been shaking up the European market with a small selection of handsome mid-range models since 2022. It's now got something in the works for families and more adventurous riders with a versatile SUV ebike that promises to take you places while delivering an exceptionally comfortable ride.

Category: Bicycles, Transport

Tags: ebikes, urban transport, Pedal-assisted, cargo bike, Solid-state, Suspension

Ford minibus camper opens up via Murphy bed theater and corner office

C.C. Weiss — Tue, 06 Oct 2026 21:03:00 GMT

Canadian motorhome builder Leisure Travel Vans is always trying to squeeze more usable space out of its shuttle bus-sized Class C motorhomes. The last time we looked, it was designing a floor plan around a wide, cavernous double-door garage for loading up all kinds of gear and extras. Months later and now it's introducing a new Ford Transit motorhome that combines a slide-out wall with a split-recliner Murphy lounge that folds its way into a super-queen-size bed. The new 2027 Wonder FX makes sure you'll barely miss home when out on the road.

Category: RVs and Motorhomes, Adventure Vehicles, Outdoors

Tags: Motorhomes, Motorhome, RV, Leisure Travel Vans, Ford, Camping, Outdoors and Camping

Folding multitool distinguishes itself with unique set of skills

Maryna Holovnova — Tue, 06 Oct 2026 18:37:04 GMT

How many tools can you pack into a ruler without turning it into an overloaded multitool and losing its main purpose? Apparently, still quite a few.

Category: Knives and Multitools, Gear, Outdoors

Tags: Multitools, EDC, xxKickbooster, Kickstarter, Titanium

Video: Dexterous robot hand learns the delicate art of silk embroidery

Omar Kardoudi — Tue, 06 Oct 2026 14:03:00 GMT

Agilink, a spin-off of Chinese robotics giant AgiBot, asked Fu Xianghong, a master of traditional Suzhou embroidery, to train its OmniHand 3 Ultra. The synthetic hand has learned to split silk strands, thread a needle, stretch fabric across a frame, and stitch, following a craft with more than 2,500 years of history.

Category: Robotics, Engineering

Tags: Robotics, Hand, Humanoid, Dexterity, Silk

Tiny A-frame retreat provides rustic cabin living without compromise

Adam Williams — Tue, 06 Oct 2026 11:06:41 GMT

This charming A-frame offers a comfortable take on cabin-style living, with a spacious single-level interior that's designed more like a cozy rustic retreat than a typical tiny house.

Category: Tiny Houses, Outdoors

Tags: Building and Construction, Tiny Footprint, Micro-House, House, Home

Did Germany really come close to making an atomic bomb?

Mike McRae — Tue, 06 Oct 2026 07:10:34 GMT

In the final weeks of the Second World War, a team of Germany’s most gifted scientists threw itself into a last-ditch effort to make an atomic weapon.

Category: Technology

Tags: World War Two, University of Maryland, Nuclear Fission, Bombs, Nuclear weapons

200-year mobile tiny vise locks in with surgical precision

C.C. Weiss — Mon, 05 Oct 2026 21:03:00 GMT

While Leatherman and Victorinox have established themselves as the pillars of multitool design, a much newer name has quietly worked its way into the thrown of stylish, meticulously engineered single-purpose tools. Since 2019, British workshop Metmo has impressed with a highly focused lineup of small pocket tools built to perform specific tasks with singular precision ... for 200 years a pop. This time, it tackles the ambitious objective of making fine-point tweezers even more precise and controllable. The result is the Precision Grip, a tool designed to secure the tiniest, squirrelliest of bits and bobs for micro-level tasks of all kinds.

Category: Knives and Multitools, Gear, Outdoors

Tags: Tools, metmo, DIY, Kickstarter

Blue Talon packs high-level stealth in low-cost Loyal Wingman

David Szondy — Mon, 05 Oct 2026 21:00:00 GMT

Loyal Wingman technology continues to evolve rapidly as Northrop Grumman's YFQ-48A Blue Talon autonomous fighter completes its maiden flight at Mojave, California, controlling every aspect from engine start to landing with pilot intervention.

Category: Military, Engineering

Tags: Northrop Grumman, drones

Song-splitting app achieves the impossible in 40 seconds

Howard Armitage — Mon, 05 Oct 2026 20:39:14 GMT

If you're wondering why anyone would want to pull a perfectly good song apart, I have a simple answer.

Category: Technology

Tags: Audio, AI Art and Music, Mixer, Sound

Folding fingertip knife is the ultimate in discreet urban EDC

Abhimanyu Ghoshal — Mon, 05 Oct 2026 18:10:35 GMT

If you're looking to build out an easy-to-carry EDC kit with just the essentials for days in the city, this impossibly tiny knife is worth a look.

Category: Knives and Multitools, Gear, Outdoors

Tags: EDC, Knife, Titanium, xxKickbooster, Kickstarter

Vinyl and cassette system doubles as sick wall decor in your home

Abhimanyu Ghoshal — Mon, 05 Oct 2026 15:27:06 GMT

A lesser-known audio gear brand out of China is targeting design fans with a range of spectacular-looking products. It's come out of the gate swinging with a whole system of analog music players that can go on your wall, and catch your eye every time you pass by.

Category: Consumer Tech, Technology

Tags: Vinyl, Music Player, Cassettes, CD Player, xxKickbooster, Kickstarter

Benjamin gives YouTube music lessons real buttons and dials

Monica J. White — Mon, 05 Oct 2026 13:27:00 GMT

Benjamin is a tactile control surface and iPad stand that replaces fiddly touchscreen gestures with physical controls. It helps musicians keep their focus on the instrument while they learn from tutorial videos.

Category: Music, Consumer Tech, Technology

Tags: xxKickbooster, Kickstarter, Learning, iPad, Dock, Instrument, Tactile, Controller

Tiny house skips the squeeze to provide comfort in a compact package

Adam Williams — Mon, 05 Oct 2026 11:03:06 GMT

All tiny houses – even the massive ones – require a degree of compromise, but the eVista XL Limited Edition makes smart use of its compact single-story space to ensure it's more practical and comfortable than you might expect.

Category: Tiny Houses, Outdoors

Tags: Building and Construction, Tiny Footprint, Micro-House, House, Home

Review: $19 key puts you in control of your phone screen time – and it works

Bronwyn Thompson — Mon, 05 Oct 2026 06:00:00 GMT

From a return to "simple" smartphones to timers that hide notifications, there seems to be a market for ways to disengage from our digital devices. This physical key from the innovative company Autonomous AI is the first I have tried, and I was doubtful.

Category: Consumer Tech, Technology

Tags: Artificial Intelligence, Social media, Smartphones, Digital, Society

Hot deal via StackSocial: Rewire your brain 15 minutes at a time

Mon, 05 Oct 2026 06:00:00 GMT

TL;DR: Learn 14 languages from lessons written by linguists with a Babbel lifetime subscription, $159 with codeLEARN (reg. $299).

Category: Deals

Smart wallpaper turns your wall into a small indoor powerplant

Omar Kardoudi — Sun, 04 Oct 2026 23:00:00 GMT

Rooftop solar panels power millions of homes around the world. But a team of researchers at Binghamton University is asking what happens if some of that electricity came from inside the house. Their answer is a study, described in Advanced Energy Materials, that turns indoor humidity into a small electric current.

Category: Materials, Engineering

Tags: Binghamton University, Paper, Energy, Humidity, Power

V2G system sucks energy out of parked EVs to supply the grid

Maryna Holovnova — Sun, 04 Oct 2026 22:00:00 GMT

Electric vehicles already solve a lot of problems: they reduce our dependence on gas and help reduce emissions. At the same time, EVs are a major source of electricity consumption, and most existing electricity grids were simply not designed for this level of demand. That creates new challenges, but what if EVs could also become part of the solution to this same problem?

Category: Energy, Engineering

Tags: Battery Electric Vehicles, EV Charging

24-ft tiny house finds space to squeeze in three bedrooms

Adam Williams — Sun, 04 Oct 2026 08:03:00 GMT

A downstairs bedroom is already a luxury in a tiny house, doubly so in this model, which also somehow manages to find room for two lofts and an open layout despite having a modest length of just 24 ft (7.3 m).

Category: Tiny Houses, Outdoors

Tags: Building and Construction, Tiny Footprint, Micro-House, House, Home

Boeing wins 'mystery fighter' contract for US Navy

David Szondy — Sun, 04 Oct 2026 04:00:00 GMT

Boeing has been awarded a US$20-billion contract by the US Navy to develop the super-secret F/A-XX 6th-Generation fighter plane. The question is, what's under the covers for this aircraft that we've only caught glimpses of?

Category: Military, Engineering

Tags: Boeing, Fighter, US Navy

Wearable 2-way radio combines LTE group comms and off-grid backup

Abhimanyu Ghoshal — Sun, 04 Oct 2026 03:00:00 GMT

If your idea of a good time involves heading outdoors with a bunch of pals, you'll want to check out this upcoming gadget. It's a hybrid radio that offers nearly unlimited range so you can stay in touch with your group over long distances.

Category: Gear, Outdoors

Tags: Radio, Walkie Talkies, Kickstarter, Communications, LTE, Wearable, Safety

Mind-reading tech aims to make AI actually intelligent

Etiido Uko — Sun, 04 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMT

For all its intelligence – and it can be extremely intelligent – giving instructions to AI can sometimes feel like talking to a toddler. You provide a detailed prompt explaining exactly what you want, and the AI does something that may be related to it, but definitely not what you meant. Scientists have now developed a system that can detect that unspoken “That's not what I meant” response directly from your brainwaves, potentially allowing an AI to realize it has misunderstood you and attempt to correct itself in real time.

Category: AI and Humanoids, Technology

Tags: KAIST, Artificial Intelligence, EEG, Brain-computer interface

Dairy waste could be a sweet new source of biofuel

Etiido Uko — Sat, 03 Oct 2026 22:00:00 GMT

For centuries, humans have obtained fuel from the strangest of sources: the remains of organisms that lived millions of years ago, seawater, decaying biomass and now, from cow's milk ... or more accurately, salty whey, a by-product produced during the manufacture of cheddar and similar cheeses.

Category: Energy, Engineering

Tags: Biofuel, Recycling, Heriot Watt University, Food waste, Milk

Radical electric bikemaker is coming to the USA next year

Utkarsh Sood — Sat, 03 Oct 2026 05:00:00 GMT

Very few people understand what it actually takes for a company to become a household name. With small-ticket products, the odds are at least somewhat kinder. Something sitting on a supermarket shelf can grab your attention, cost little enough to try on a whim, and, if you like it, be bought again and again. Familiarity builds quickly when the barrier to entry is a few dollars.

Category: Motorcycles, Transport

Tags: Ultraviolette, America, Electric Motorcycles, India, urban transport

Flying cell tower beams phone signal to Japan from 10 miles up

Omar Kardoudi — Sat, 03 Oct 2026 04:00:00 GMT

An unmanned Sceye airship flew from New Mexico to Japan and back, beaming mobile cell service to ordinary phones from the stratosphere. Still a test, but SoftBank – one of Japan's major mobile carriers – eyes commercial service in Japan from 2027.

Category: Aircraft, Transport

Tags: Cell+Phone, Stratospheric, Blimp, Unmanned, High Altitude, Broadband

MIT robot swims through water via living muscle cells

Omar Kardoudi — Sat, 03 Oct 2026 01:00:00 GMT

An MIT robot powered by a single layer of living muscle cells swam through a watery maze, following a light held in a researcher’s hand. It is slow, tiny and nowhere near ready for the open ocean, but its thin design could point toward softer, cheaper swimming machines.

Category: Robotics, Engineering

Tags: MIT, Research, Robotics, Water, Swim

Smart rings are suddenly everywhere. Has their time finally come?

Howard Armitage — Fri, 02 Oct 2026 23:00:00 GMT

There was a time when intelligent rings were what your level-three wizard wore in a Dungeons and Dragons campaign. Now Amazon will sell you one for less than a steak dinner for two.

Category: Wearables, Consumer Tech, Technology

Tags: Smart technology, Sweat sensor, ring, Heart Rate Monitor, Sleep monitors

Swiss Army knife adds prized EDC accessory it's lacked for centuries

Abhimanyu Ghoshal — Fri, 02 Oct 2026 19:03:00 GMT

For how ubiquitous and varied they are, Victorinox' Swiss Army Knives strangely don't come with clips to hold them in place in your pocket. You'd think that some time over the last 136 years, the company would have added one by now.

Category: Knives and Multitools, Gear, Outdoors

Tags: Swiss Army, Knife, Multitools, EDC, Kickstarter

Aston Martin DBX GT offers 717 horsepower in a tailored suit

Simon Heptinstall — Fri, 02 Oct 2026 15:33:00 GMT

British luxury automotive marque Aston Martin has always maintained that true sophistication is never purely about raw, numbers-driven performance.

Category: Automotive, Transport

Tags: Aston Martin, SUV, Performance, Luxury

Hillbilly Express: Riding the 2026 Harley-Davidson Pan America Special

Boris Mihailovic — Fri, 02 Oct 2026 11:57:00 GMT

“Just a good old boys, Never meanin’ no harm, Beats all you never saw, Been in trouble with the law since the day they was born,Straightening the curves, yeah,Flattenin’ the hills,Someday the mountain might get 'em, but the law never will,Makin’ their way the only way they know how,That's just a little bit more than the law will allow…”Waylon Jennings

Category: Motorcycles, Transport

Tags: Harley Davidson, Motorcycle, Adventure Bikes, Reviews

Sea sponges serve as inspiration for strong, lightweight metamaterials

Malcolm Azania — Fri, 02 Oct 2026 09:54:01 GMT

As one of nature’s most spectacular structures, Venus’ flower basket glass sponges can live thousands of years more than 2 km (3,300 ft) below the surface of the Pacific Ocean. Composed of lightweight, durable, flexible, glass-like silica structures, the pipe-shaped Euplectella aspergillum are also providing a stunning opportunity for aircraft and architectural biomimicry.

Category: Materials, Engineering

Tags: University of California Berkeley, Metamaterials, Biomimicry, Harvard

Slick cargo crate hauls gear, doubles as an off-grid rescue tool

C.C. Weiss — Thu, 01 Oct 2026 23:03:00 GMT

A handy multifunctional contraption for camping, 4x4ing and overlanding, the RT700 Traction Crate from Colorado's Rock Tamers looks simply at first to be a new milk crate design complete with flip-open lid. It's rugged, capable of carrying just over 35 liters of gear, ready to work as a makeshift seat, and designed to stack up into a handy table for camp or garage. But its name betrays a critical second function, which is to provide the type of tire-biting traction that can rescue you from one of the more frustrating debacles of off-road travel.

Category: Gear, Outdoors

Tags: Off-road, Emergency, Camping, Outdoors and Camping, Automotive