"Endless" house to be built using giant 3D printer

Welcome to the newsletter for Gizmag Emerging Technology Magazine. These are the headlines for January the 23rd, 2013. "Endless" house to be built using giant 3D printer An Amsterdam-based architecture firm has ambitions to take 3D printing to the next level, by building the world's first 3D-printed house as early as 2014. The team at Universe Architecture, led by Janjaap Ruijssenaars, hope to use a D-Shape 3D printer to form a Möbius strip-shaped structure and create a home that is "endless" in its design, where occupants can walk continuously through the building. Read on Desktop or Read on Mobile Dr. GIY's Pre-made Me robot maid cleans up on the dance floor Strange as it may seem, in the last few years Japan has been home to a fad where cute girls dressed up as french maids star in J-POP, comics, animation, and video games. The distinctive costume has grown so popular that there's a number of so-called maid cafés in Tokyo's geeky Akihabara district where anyone can enjoy the thrills of being served by a horde of hostesses in full outfit. That – to say nothing of Japan's endless fascination with humanoid robots – probably explains Pre-made Me, the latest creation by well-known Japanese roboticist Dr. GIY. Read on Desktop or Read on Mobile Hennessey Venom GT sets new production car acceleration world record American tuning house Hennessey Performance Engineering is crowing after its own production car, the Hennessey Venom GT, set a new Guinness World Record for the world's fastest accelerating production car. To claim the record, the vehicle completed two runs in opposite directions within one hour of each other that averaged out to a time of 13.63 seconds to go from 0-300 km/h (186.4 mph). Read on Desktop or Read on Mobile Planetary Resources shows off full-scale asteroid mining prototype Last year, we took an in-depth look at Planetary Resources' asteroid mining plans. Now the Bellevue, Washington-based company has revealed a full-scale prototype of its Arkyd-100 Low Earth Orbit spacecraft that will search for promising mining candidates. In a video update, Planetary Resources President and "Chief Asteroid Miner," Chris Lewicki gave a tour of the 11 kilogram (24.2 lb) spacecraft's features and outlined the company's immediate goals. Read on Desktop or Read on Mobile Better than advertised: Fiat 500e rated at 116 mpg-e When Fiat revealed the 500e at the L.A. Auto Show, it estimated that its first U.S. electric car would score a miles per gallon gasoline equivalent fuel economy of 116 mpg-e city, 100 mpg-e highway and 108 mpg-e. The official Environmental Protection Agency rating is in, and it's significantly better than estimated. Read on Desktop or Read on Mobile Mercedes updates traffic sign assistance system to stop "wrong-way drivers" The traffic sign assistance system currently offered in Mercedes-Benz's S- and E-Class models uses a camera mounted on the inside of the front windscreen to identify speed restriction signs. This speed restriction information is relayed to the navigation system and displayed in the instrument cluster and in the map view to help prevent drivers exceeding the speed limit. Mercedes has now updated the system to also recognize no-overtaking zones and no-entry signs so as to prevent drivers from accidentally traveling in the wrong direction. Read on Desktop or Read on Mobile NASA and CSA begin testing satellite refueling on the ISS NASA and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) have begun practicing satellite refueling in space on a test bed outside the International Space Station (ISS). In a series of tests that started on January 14 and are scheduled to continue until the 25th, the two space agencies are using the Robotic Refueling Module (RRM) and Canada's Special Purpose Dexterous Manipulator, or Dextre, robot to carry out simulated refueling operations. The purpose of these tests is to develop refueling methods aimed at extending the life of satellites and reducing the amount of space debris orbiting the Earth. Read on Desktop or Read on Mobile The LG Optimus G Pro is official ... at least in Japan LG's high-end Optimus G has sold over one million units, and LG passed Apple as the number two phone maker (including feature phones) in the U.S. Its next move? If the Japanese market is any indication, it will be an upgraded version of its flagship, the Optimus G Pro. Read on Desktop or Read on Mobile Size identified as key to more efficient nanowire solar cells In a breakthrough that could lead to more efficient and cheaper solar cells, scientists at Sweden's Lund University claim to have identified the ideal diameter for nanowires to convert sunlight into electricity. Read on Desktop or Read on Mobile Hot Tub Boat combines cruising and soaking Can't decide between lounging in the hot tub or going boating? Well, why not do both? People in and around The Netherlands can already do so, in a HotTug. Now, North Americans can also get in on the action, with the Hot Tub Boat. Read on Desktop or Read on Mobile Two new egg yolk separators suck at their job Whether you're making a meringue, a low-calorie omelet or any number of other dishes, sometimes you need just an egg white – without the yolk. Once you've cracked the egg open, you can try "pouring" off the yolk, or lifting it out with a traditional strainer-style egg yolk separator. Two new products, however, also give you the option of sucking it away. Read on Desktop or Read on Mobile Microsoft Surface Pro finally gets a release date In late October, when Microsoft released the Windows RT version of Surface, the company estimated that the Windows 8 Pro version would arrive about 90 days later. Well, Microsoft didn't quite hit its own target, but it didn't miss by much. Today the company finally revealed a firm ship date for the Surface Pro: February 9. Read on Desktop or Read on Mobile Lynx autonomous indoor vehicle promises materials handling boost If you're in charge of a parts warehouse, a distribution center, or some other big building full of things that need to be moved around, the Adept Lynx might be just what you need. Made by California-based Adept Technology, the autonomous indoor vehicle (AIV) is able to find its own way as it carries cargo from point to point, within "challenging environments." Read on Desktop or Read on Mobile Samsung's Galaxy S4 event, release date, and other details reportedly leaked Samsung's Galaxy S series may not be quite as popular as the iPhone, but it's inching closer. So too is the hype surrounding Galaxy S leaks and rumors. Today's series of rumors, then, is as hype-worthy as it gets. It claims to detail the announcement date, release date, and some specifications of the Galaxy S IV. Read on Desktop or Read on Mobile Here's what your iPhone needs – a viewfinder Although many people now use their camera-equipped smartphone for all their photo-taking needs, better-quality compact cameras still have some key advantages. Among those is the fact that most cameras have an optical viewfinder (along with an LCD screen), allowing users to view images even in bright sunlight. The Daylight Viewfinder aims to add that same functionality to the iPhone. Read on Desktop or Read on Mobile Short Circuit project reuses unwanted kitchen appliances In recent years, repairing and upgrading electronics has largely given way to a trend of disposable gadgets which fill up landfills – especially with regard to home appliances like coffee makers and toasters. However, French designer Gaspard Tiné-Berès proposes to repair and re-use discarded and damaged appliances, with readily available reclaimed materials providing the necessary components, and the bodies constructed from cork. Read on Desktop or Read on Mobile Uuni: the wood-fired pizza oven that fits inside a suitcase For a top-notch pizza, the best places to go usually make theirs the old-fashioned way, in a wood-fire oven. Unfortuantely, unless you've got the budget and space to build a full-sized brick oven, you're not going to be able to make your own pizzas at home the same way. It's a gap the Uuni is looking to fill. The Uuni is a lightweight, wood-burning pizza oven that's small enough to fit in a kitchen and cooks a pizza in under three minutes. Read on Desktop or Read on Mobile Special promotion for Gizmag readers *Become a web developer from scratch, learn everything you need to know to develop a website.* Learn to develop a website, from scratch, even if you've never written a line of code. This online course at Udemy, "Become a Web Developer from Scratch", includes over 231 lectures that will teach you HTML5, CSS, PHP, MySQL, AJAX, JQuery and more. When you are done with the 40 hrs of content, which you can cover at your own pace, you will be ready to create a fully, functioning, interactive website using today's most popular web development technologies. Gizmag subscribers get this great course for only $79 instead of $199, that's 60% off! Don't miss this course, click here to learn more. 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