Hasta La Gadget!

Now here is a conceptual vessel for the seven seas that would make any Captain proud – and the Vindskip, as it is known, was designed by Norwegian design firm Lade AS. This new concept vessel might actually see sailing to return in vogue where oceanic travel is concerned. The conceptual vessel, the Vindskip, happens to be one large cargo ship that can speed across the surface of the sea all the while being largely powered by wind instead of a nuclear motor or some other kind of fuel. Vindskip is translated directly to Windship, and it does not use sails in the traditional manner, but rather, will feature a special hull design that will function as a massive airfoil.

This kind of airfoil, theoretically speaking, would be able to harness the wind which will strike the ship’s sides, while using its force to pull the ship in advance. According to Lade AS, the design is efficient because of principle that is not different from that of aerodynamic lift, and by making full use of existing weather data, the vessel is able to plot a course which will ensure the wind-aided propulsion works at maximum efficiency. Do bear in mind that these are all claims on paper considering how this is a concept.

Vindskip Concept Cargo Ship Looks Sleek original content from Ubergizmo.

We do seem to live in a world where we are flooded with advertisements regardless of where we turn to, and this has led to a great distaste for ads. Virgin Mobile has decided to take that rather distasteful situation and turn it around, by making use of such contempt and “transferring” it into yet another ad. Yes, I know that it sounds rather mind boggling to get around at first, but this ad campaign by Virgin Mobile is slightly special as you might actually miss out on it whenever you blink.

Just how does this particular ad campaign work? Well, for starters, it will make use of your webcam as well as your eyes’ movement. Calling the process “BlinkWashing”, Virgin Mobile decided to ask for the assistance of digital production lab Rehabstudio as well as YouTube production company Greencard Studios in order to churn out an eye-teaser for Mac and PC computers. Whenever you start the YouTube video, you will be prompted to let Virgin access your webcam. When the proper calibration measures are in place, you are then shown a series of various ads, and blinking would see you transit to a different ad. So far, the webcam seems to be rather accurate in its response, and I do wonder what happens when you put up a portrait of yourself in front of the camera all the time.

Virgin Mobile BlinkWashing Ad original content from Ubergizmo.

The fabled ‘healing factor’ that many of us wish we had to remain perpetually in the prime of our lives, not to mention being able to be a general bad-ass like Wolverine without the fear of death (although, it must be noted, that the pain itself is very real). Well, don’t you wish that the same can be said of your modern day consumer electronics devices? Remember all those fragile tablets and smartphones that are unable to withstand a drop or two on concrete? If only they were made out of stronger material, and this is what scientists at the CIDETEC Center for Electrochemical Technologies in Spain have done. This ingenius invention of a plastic polymer has self-healing properties, as evident by the video above.

Using a polymer that they call polyurethane, cutting it in half is not the end of the story, as that is only the beginning. Whenever the polyurethane is cut, its disulphides will be able to redistribute themselves back into their original form. This is a completely natural reaction at room temperature, and in a matter of 2 hours, it can “heal” itself to about 97% of its original shape. Not only that, the previously cut section can be stretched by hand without any loss in its strength. Truly amazing stuff, and you have got to watch the video above to be wowed by it all.

Self-Regenerating Polymer Could Result In Regenerative Gadgets original content from Ubergizmo.

Hmmm, is it me, or is Iran getting more and more progressive? First, we heard that the government in that part of the world has already unblocked Twitter as well as Facebook, and now there are whispers from IRNA, Iran’s official news agency, which tout that Iran intends to send a Persian cat into space. In the past, Iran allegedly did send a monkey into orbit, although there were doubts which were raised after photos from that mission hit the Internet. Iran maintains that said monkey made it to space and back to earth safe and sound, the media touted different monkeys prior to and after the mission. Ah well, assuming the worst happened to that monkey in the name of science, we do hope that the Iranian scientists’ plans to fire a Persian cat into space via a liquid-fueled rocket will not suffer a similar fate.

We do wonder how the cat will feel like when floating around in zero gravity, but should said cat actually be selected for such a mission, it would join the distinguished ranks of 2 other cats who were launched in a rocket before – one in 1963, the other afterwards. Since a cat has proverbially nine lives, we do wish this kitty all the best of luck as it embarks to space in March next year.

Iran Could Send Persian Cat Into Space original content from Ubergizmo.

Bump is a five year old mobile sharing startup that Google has acquired today. Bump’s most popular product is called Bump, its lets users share data between their mobile devices by just bumping them with each other. The app is capable of handling videos, photos, apps and other files. Both users have to open the Bump app on their devices for this to work, gently tapping the devices together will initiate the transfer. Bump confirmed through a blogpost that it has been acquired by Google, while terms of the deal were not mentioned, it is believed that the acquisition might have cost Google roughly $30 million.

The folks at Bump have created another product called Flock. It lets users weed out strangers from images they’ve taken through any camera app. Flock can also be used to create a shared album for friends who’re in a particular picture, relevant pictures can then be added into that album for easy sharing. David Lieb, CEO and cofounder of Bump said that for now, both services will continue to work as they always have, though he does caution everyone to “stay tuned for future updates.” It hasn’t been revealed as yet what David and his team’s role will be at Google.

Google Buys Mobile Sharing Startup Bump original content from Ubergizmo.