That’’s right, Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata is slated to test a new kind of underwear during his current visit to the space station . The “state-of-the-art” undies were designed “to reduce the smells in normal clothing, absorb sweat and provide insulation.” The underwear, developed by Japanese researchers, are made of antibacterial polymers and are fire-resistant. Astronauts normally change their clothes every three days. Koichi will attempt to wear the underwear for a full seven days. Which, if successful, will only be 9 days short of my record. And, if you think I”m kidding, ask my dry cleaners. Well, my ex dry cleaners. I am so stinky! Astronaut tests non-smelly super pants in space [metro] Thanks to Thumperchica, who doesn”t care because she doesn”t wear underwear. I”m with you, girl — high five! No? Helicopter!

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Astronaut To Test New Non-Stink Underwear

Ostensibly this essay by Bruce “Is Loose (The)” Sterling in Metropolis is advice to industrial designers on what to design in the whirlwind markets of 2009, but I don’t actually understand what he’s saying. I tried Googling some of the products he used as examples and I can’t even find them. Except for cheap cell phones, which the global poor truly dote on, the lowest billion rarely buy appropriate objects designed for them by soft-hearted liberals. But formerly rich guys buying up-market peasant products? Man, that market should boom! Its high time for designers to plunder and upgrade the vernacular technologies of the Third World: wheelbarrows, bicycle rickshaws, rainwater barrels, window boxes, awnings, and mosquito nets; or weird and whimsical wind toys, bamboo-and-Mylar windup shortwave radios. If theyre cheap and blithe, you cant go wrong here. You want to vividly display a host of eye-catching solar gizmos, while quietly installing some humble weather stripping, which has a terrific ROI.

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Bruce Sterling gets high on industrial design

A school project set to the song “Slagsmlsklubben” by Tomas Nilsson, retelling Little Red Riding Hood with inforgraphics-style animations. Beware! There is techno here.

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Slagsmlsklubben, Little Red Riding hood by faux infographics

Filed under: Gadgets , Etc. , Toys Automoblox are some of our favorite playthings, and our kids like them, too. When a little cherub wraps baby-fat fingers around the C9 perched on the edge of the desk, rather than grit our teeth, we just wait to see what kind of assemblage will emerge. That free play time can now be worth cash money if you manage to capture a photo that wins one of the categories in the Automoblox Photo Contest . Three categories will be considered; coolest car, best play action, and most artistic photograph. Winners will receive a $200 gift certificate, good at the Automoblox Store . Entries are being accepted until March 31, 2009, and winners will be announced on April 3rd. Get out there and get shooting! UPDATE: The founder, owner and designer of Automoblox , Patrick Calello, is an Autoblog Super Fan and has offered any Autoblog reader 25% off his or her order using the coupon code “autoblog” , which is good through March 31st, 2009. Click here to start shopping. [Source: Automoblox ] This One’s For the Kids: Automoblox holding snapshot contest originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 16 Mar 2009 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Read ?|? Permalink ?|? Email this ?|? Comments

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This One’s For the Kids: Automoblox holding snapshot contest

Filed under: Aftermarket , Gadgets , Etc. , Bugatti UPDATE: No, this Bugatti is totally unrelated to the automotive brand, but we’re not the first internet chumps to get Casa Bugatti crossed up with the storied car brand. You’d expect that a Bugatti-branded blender would follow the lead of its Veyron sibling, with enough power to liquefy concrete. Unfortunately, the Bugatti Vela 3-speed blender is not the kitchen countertop equivalent of a 1001 horsepower supercar that accelerates like a GSX-R. What, then, is the point of dropping a third of a grand on something that doesn’t even have the power of the $60 Oster “Beehive” blender that’s been in production since the Pleistocene? Design. So what if the 450 watt motor is only about half a horsepower? The Vela is a decidedly modernist way to mix up your morning smoothie or evening mudslide. Looking super-smart in chrome (red is available, too), the style is elemental and bold. A lack of frippery brings a fresh look to an item that’s so often shaped like a plastic lump sprouting buttons. That said, if we were looking for high power, the wheezy Vela wouldn’t even make the best blenders list. Not when you can get the Vita-Mix 5200, sporting a full 1500 watts - that’s two horsepower, folks - for about a hundred bucks more than the Bug’s $350 list price. Since most any blender will work, the Bugatti Vela begs the question, what price, fashion? Thanks for the tip, Ed. [Source: Macy's ] Bugatti Vela 3-Speed: Not exactly the Veyron of blenders originally appeared on Autoblog on Sun, 08 Mar 2009 12:08:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Read ?|? Permalink ?|? Email this ?|? Comments

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Bugatti Vela 3-Speed: Not exactly the Veyron of blenders

Filed under: Gadgets , Videos , Toys Click above for high-res gallery of SuperCar Challenge screen caps System 3 has a follow-up title to last year’s Ferrari Challenge: SuperCar Challenge . The new game will offer 40 cars to choose from, not all of which are Ferraris this team. The roster will include such cars as the Aston Martin DBR9, Lamborghini Murcielago RGT, McLaren F1, Maserati MC12 and, of course, a supercar or two from Maranello like the Ferrari FXX. You’ll be able to race them on 20 real and fictitious tracks and the graphics of each car have been improved with better polygon counts, texture details and buffing. Multiplayer capability can link 16 drivers at once, sim players will get good handling and tuning options, and there’ll be an arcade mode for folks who just want to tear up the pavement. The AI has also been redesigned to be more consistent, and there’s a “Legendary” AI setting meant to challenge the best drivers. It will be available exclusively for the PS3 this Spring. While you wait, check out the high-res screenshots below and the video about the game’s innovative camera angles by clicking here . Gallery: SuperCar Challenge [Source: Gamers Hell ] Continue reading New SuperCar Challenge for PS3 under development New SuperCar Challenge for PS3 under development originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 02 Mar 2009 08:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Read ?|? Permalink ?|? Email this ?|? Comments

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New SuperCar Challenge for PS3 under development

Filed under: Gadgets , Green , Safety , Tech The Tire Technology of the Year award, handed out at the Tire Technology Expo in Hamburg, Germany, has been awarded to the creators of the Self-Inflating Tire at Coda Development. While “self-inflating” tires aren’t new to the market (especially in the commercial industry), nearly all of the existing systems utilize compressed air to inflate or maintain tire pressure. This requires a compressor or reservoir tank to feed air to the tires. Coda’s “SIT” system uses a peristaltic pump built directly into the tire that uses the spinning wheel to force air through a liquid-filled tube to maintain pressure at a set level. Designed to aid fuel economy and improve safety, the SIT system claims to maintain a constant inflation pressure over the lifetime of the tire. Simple, lightweight, inexpensive, and not requiring any power source, we liked the idea last year . Twelve months later, and now with an award under its belt, we think it’s time to get the SIT system rolling. Press release after the jump, gallery below. Gallery: Coda self-inflating tire technology Continue reading Self-inflating tire technology captures innovation award Self-inflating tire technology captures innovation award originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 23 Feb 2009 16:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink ?|? Email this ?|? Comments

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Self-inflating tire technology captures innovation award

Filed under: Gadgets , Porsche Click above to view the Porsche Design P’9522 mobile phone in high resolution Say what you will about Porsche’s automotive design, its product design is at the cutting edge of style and technology. The company’s merchandizing division, Porsche Design, has just upped the ante with its latest release, the P’9522 mobile phone. Unlike Porsche Design’s previous phone, the slick P’9521 clamshell , the P’9522 is designed around a straightforward “candy-bar” form factor, milled from a solid block of aluminum with a scratch-resistant touchscreen glass display. Avoiding getting your fingerprints all over this slick piece of tech would be an exercise in futility, so Porsche Design has incorporated a fingerprint reader to keep unwelcome users out. The P’9522 also features a five-megapixel camera with flash, GPS module, stereo MP3 player, WiFi and quad-band antennas for use around the world (except Japan and Korea). At €600 (approx. $774), it ain’t cheap, but it’s about half the price of the P’9521 flip-phone. To celebrate the launch of the new phone, Porsche Design has commissioned nine photographers from around the world to shoot the P’9522 (though presumably not with the phone’s built-in camera). The photos will appear in a travel exhibition touring the world, but you can see them all in the gallery below along with the more straightforward shots of the phone from every angle, with full details in the press release after the jump. Gallery: Porsche Design P’9522 [Source: Porsche Design] Continue reading Smooth Operator: Porsche Design releases new P’9522 phone Smooth Operator: Porsche Design releases new P’9522 phone originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 18 Feb 2009 08:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink ?|? Email this ?|? Comments

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Smooth Operator: Porsche Design releases new P’9522 phone

Filed under: Gadgets , Marketing/Advertising , Citroen Click above to view the Citroen DS line of accessories in high resolution The time has come for the Citroen DS to rise out of the ashes. While the classic French automobile was being named the most beautiful in history by a panel of the world’s top automotive designers and a rare example sold at auction for some $440,000, Citroen was preparing to announce the revival of the classic badge with a new sub-brand, to be launched at the upcoming Geneva Motor Show with the DS Inside concept . Citroen’s not about to let the opportunity pass it by, and to that end has already announced the launch of a line of DS merchandise to piggy-back on the line’s revival. The line takes the same neo-retro approach as the concept car, obviously targeted at the same trendy, young. upscale demographic as Citroen will be pursuing with its new sub-brand. The line includes items as diverse as snowboards, sunglasses and luggage, which you can check out in the gallery below. Gallery: Citroen DS merchandise [Source: CarScoop ] French Connection: Citroen launches merchandise line to coincide with DS revival originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 17 Feb 2009 08:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Read ?|? Permalink ?|? Email this ?|? Comments

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French Connection: Citroen launches merchandise line to coincide with DS revival

Filed under: Gadgets , Government/Legal , Tech Click above for a walk-through of how the SQUID works The U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Science & Technology Directorate has been working with a research firm in Arizona that has come up with the Safe Quick Undercarriage Immobilization Device (SQUID). The SQUID is designed to safely, non-lethally stop drivers trying to elude the police. Here’s how it works. The SQUID disc is placed in the middle of the road, and a remote operator triggers a two-stage explosion when the getaway car gets close to it. The first explosion sends barbed straps flying out away from the disc, which get hooked on the wheels and undercarriage when the car drives over them. The second explosion occurs when the SQUID detects engine heat directly overhead and sends a burst of “sticky tendrils” that cling the straps to the axles and driveshaft. Within 500 feet, the axles can’t turn any more and the car skids to a halt. The key now is to make it lighter, stronger and cheaper. Last year the SQUID stopped a Dodge Ram pickup traveling at 35 mph, but authorities want to be sure it will stop an F-150 at 120 mph before they’ll seriously consider using it. We aren’t sure that an F-150 doing a four-wheel skid at 120 mph is the safest way to bring someone in, but it is probably better than bullets. The scientists are working on that this year, and if they get it done it could give the word “dragnet” a whole new meaning. Check out a walk-through of how the SQUID works by clicking through the gallery below. Gallery: Safe Quick Undercarriage Immobilization Device (SQUID) [Source: DHS via Physorg ] New police pursuit-ending device inspired by Spiderman, squid originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 20 Jan 2009 18:37:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Read ?|? Permalink ?|? Email this ?|? Comments

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New police pursuit-ending device inspired by Spiderman, squid