370)this.width=370">Solar Impulse, a prototype of an airplane designed to fly around the world using only solar power, made its first real flight on Wednesday.
Powered by 12,000 solar cells, the aircraft, flew for 87 minutes to an altitude of nearly 4,000 feet above the Swiss countryside.
"I conceived it right after I got out," said Cornwell, a May 2006 graduate from Huntington, N.Y. "I missed the college scene. It embodies the college spirit that I didn't want to let go of."
It took the 22-year-old Cornwell about 150 hours and $400 in parts to modify a mini-fridge common to many college dorm rooms into the beer-tossing contraption, which can launch 10 cans of beer from its magazine before needing a reload.
With a click of the remote, fashioned from a car's keyless entry device, a small elevator inside the refrigerator lifts a beer can through a hole and loads it into the fridge's catapult arm. A second click fires the device, tossing the beer up to 20 feet — "far enough to get to the couch," he said.
Is there a foam explosion when the can is opened? Not if the recipient uses "soft hands" to cradle the can when caught, Cornwell said.
In developing his beer catapult, Cornwell said he dented a few walls and came close to accidentally throwing a can through his television. He's since fine-tuned the machine to land a beer where he usually sits at home, on what he called "a right-angle couch system."
For now, the machine throws only cans, although Cornwell has thought about making a version that can throw a bottle. The most beer he has run through the machine was at a party, when he launched a couple of 24-can cases.
"I did launch a lot watching the Super Bowl," he said. "My friends are the reason I built it. I told them about the idea and hyped it so much and I had to go through with it."
A video featuring the device is a hit on the Internet, where more than 600,000 people have watched it at metacafe.com, earning Cornwell more than $3,000 from the Web site.
Cornwell said he has talked to a brewing company about the machine, but right now only one exists. Asked if he might start building some for sale, he said: "I'm keeping that option open, depending on interest."
When Cornwell was a student at Duke — an elite, private university in Durham — he participated in the engineering school's robotic basketball contests, said mechanical engineering Professor Bob Kielb. He said students tried to build a robot that could retrieve a pingpong ball and toss it into a small hoop.
"He always did well in it," Kielb said. "He came up with completely unique ideas."
KUALA LUMPUR: The Short Message Service has been used for many things from sending out news alerts to warnings of earthquakes. However, the latest one takes the cake – it tells a woman when she is most fertile.
BaiBoo, Malaysia's Young Family Network, launched an ovulation alert service that aims at helping to increase women's chances of getting pregnant.
The service would notify subscribers via SMS about their fertile phase based on their menstrual cycle.
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Timely reminder: An example of one of the messages that will be sent out to subscribers. This one reads: “RM1.00 Tomorrow is your ovulation day. This is when you are most fertile. For more info: www.baiboo.com.my.” |
Subscribers would have to pay RM1 per message, in addition to the normal SMS charges. For more information, visit www. baiboo.com.my.
The state transportation department said on Thursday it has put some 500 talking deodorizers in bar and restaurant restrooms in the state in recent days to remind drivers not to drink and drive.
"Hey big guy, having a few drinks? Then listen up!" a voice chirps in. "Think you had one too many? Then it's time to call a cab or call a sober friend for a ride home."
Transportation department spokesman SU Mahesh said the motion-activated devices were part of an attempt to "think outside the box" to tackle drunk driving in the state.
"We have a big problem here in New Mexico. ... Hopefully this will be a humorous and also serious way to catch men before they go to their cars and say to them 'it's not worth it to drink and drive,'" Mahesh told Reuters.
Mahesh said the devices, which are manufactured by New York-based Healthquest Technologies Inc., have been used elsewhere in the United States, but never as part of a statewide campaign.
If the project is successful he hopes bars and restaurants will continue to purchase the battery-operated gadgets, which cost $21 (11 pounds) each and last three months.
Think you deserve a throne? A U.S. plumbing firm has created a luxury toilet equipped with laptop computer and flat-screen TV which it plans to give away in an online sweepstake.
Ohio-based Roto-Rooter says its "Pimped Out John" is designed to "fulfill all your wildest bathroom dreams." Special features include an iPod music player and speakers, an Xbox video game console, a refrigerator filled with drinks and snacks and a cycling exercise machine.
"The bathroom is the perfect place for your very own throne. It shouldn't always be regarded as the room of last resort," said Steven Pollyea, Roto-Rooter vice president of marketing, in a press release emailed to Reuters.
"The average person spends 11,862 hours in the bathroom, which equals one year, four months and five days in a lifetime... a toilet should be the most wonderful location in your home."
Roto-Rooter spokesman Paul Abrams said the firm spent about $5,000 on parts and components to customize the toilet.
Any resident of the United States could win this "gleaming monument to personal convenience" by entering the sweepstake at www.rotorooter.com before April 2.
You might never want to leave your bathroom again.
Toshiba has unveiled a printer that can print, erase and reprint on a single sheet of special paper up to 500 times.
Having a glass of wine has been revolutionised like you have never seen before - by an Australian company.
