levitation

Levitating bike powers your phone, creates Wi-Fi hot spot

When you pedal a bicycle, the kinetic energy is channeled into propulsion, but what if it could be used in other ways? Architect Michael Strain isn't the first to think of using pedal power to charge your gadgets -- in fact, there are products on the market that already allow you to harness that excess energy -- but his concept bike, has a few other tricks up its suspension.

The bike, called Levitation and designed for the 2013 Hi-Macs Annual Design Contest, looks like a more low-tech Tron Cycle. It features an on-board generator and battery that stores the power collected while cycling. The power can then be used in two ways: charging small gadgets via the USB port on the bike's handlebars, or sending it into your home's power supply via a drain cable to alleviate grid usage. … Read more

The 404 1,094: Where we've made it to Livestream (podcast)

Thanks to all the live listeners for bearing with our first day broadcasting video on Livestream. Be sure to check us out every weekday at 12 p.m ET/9 a.m. PT on the Livestream homepage.

Leaked from today's 404 show:

- Jeff gives a spoiler-free review of "The Dark Knight Rises."

- 46 Things You Probably Don't Know About the Batman films.

- eHarmony has some tips to bail you out of a horrible online date.

- How bars use music to get you drunk faster.… Read more

Toy racetrack too cool to be real

Quantum superconductors are an amazing thing.

With the right materials cooled down to below -301 degrees Fahrenheit, you can create a superconductive magnetic field known as the Meissner effect that is capable of floating stably in midair.

Over the past year, we've seen the effect demonstrated with a floating crystal wafer and a skateboard, and discussed as a real-world solution for high-speed rail.

With all that said, it seems completely plausible that some bored science students might construct a small-scale quantum superconductive racetrack styled after the '90s PlayStation game Wipe'out. I mean, why not?

Well, as badly as I want to believe in the above piece of awesomeness, it is likely a hoax.… Read more

Gadgettes 79: The Feel-Good Episode

EPISODE 79

Polaroid digital photoframe makes them weirdly desirable http://www.shinyshiny.tv/2008/02/polaroid_digita.html

Barf no more with ReliefBand http://www.popgadget.net/2008/02/barf_no_more_wi.php

Stink-free compost right in the kitchen http://crave.cnet.com/8301-1_105-9881204-1.html

USB Wireless Finger Mouse http://www.popgadget.net/2008/02/usb_wireless_fi.php

Tuck Your Cell Phone into The Tare Panda Holder at Night http://chipchick.com/2008/02/ tuck_your_cell_phone_into_the_tare_panda_holder_at_night.html http://www.dreamkitty.com/Merchant2/ merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=T-MK41901&Category_Code=NEW

SweetPea3 MP3 player for kids http://www.popgadget.net/2008/02/sweetpea3_mp3_p.php… Read more

Lamp levitates, but how?

The cool thing about this lamp is you don't have to play the slumber party classic Light as a Feather, Stiff as a Board to get it to levitate. It does that on its own.

Or so promises Crealev, an Eindhoven, Netherlands-based company that specializes in levitating products. Designer Angela Jansen presented her creation during Dutch Design Week last week, and design blog MoCo Loco has posted a video of the lamp in action.

It's unclear just how the lamp, or other Createv products, such as the hovering Buddha, do what they do.

Createv will only say that … Read more

Desktop levitation sans voodoo

Levitating TVs are nice, if a bit nerve-wracking. Levitating globes are great if you're planning world domination.

But what about in-home object levitation for the rest of us television-boycotting, non-geography-loving types?

It's not new, but the IFO 3000 fills in that gap nicely, offering desktop (actual desktop, not computer desktop) levitation for such items as picture frames, Mini Coopers, and alarm clocks. And, yes, globes. For good measure.

The IFO 3000 does not come with a wizard who makes objects levitate via witchcraft. Instead, magnetic fields are to blame for all the levitation action.

Again, it's nothing new, … Read more