Bionic eyes not too far away
It’s not quite Steve Austin and Bionic Man territory but this story about a bionic eye that will let blind people see is very sci-fi all the same.
Food colouring
This article on food colouring on the BBC website is interesting for the fact that some colourings allowed in the UK are banned elsewhere, but the most bemusing thing is that so many colours come from coal. I’d always thought coal was black, but apparently not: TARTRAZINE (E102): A yellow food colouring made from coal …
Royal Mail loses postal monopoly
Given that Royal Mail currently delivers post at a loss I can only see that the addition of more overheads which other firms will be incurring to provide a similar service will increase the cost of posting letters dramatically over the next few years. This seems very similar to the path that directory enquiries has …
News of IE 7 release causes Xbox to catch fire
Okay, maybe the events aren’t directly related. But I do find it entertaining that a Microsoft product in the physical world has bugs in it the same way that their software does. Maybe there’s more truth in the (I presume) apocryphal “If GM Produced Cars like Microsoft Produces Software” story than I previously thought. BBC …
London’s 2012 Olympic bid
I’m not sure whether Tony Blair popping across to Singapore for the Olympic bid (I reckon he’s just after picking up some cheap gadgets) is going to make a huge difference to our chances. After all, as far as I can tell most of the world hates us for following America into every war they …
The DIY revolution gone mad
“Crush chaos at Ikea store opening” It’s amazing what people will do to get their hands on some flat-packed furniture ahead of everyone else. Except, of course, it’s the same stock in every store… It must be all those Viking sounding cabinet names that have turned the crowd into warring barbarians. I think there will …
Pizzas causing trouble
Two apparently unrelated stories: Army pilot rap over pizza flight “A lieutenant has been disciplined after using an Army helicopter to deliver a pizza to his girlfriend.” Anger over fireman’s ‘pizza trip’ “Sydney firemen were reportedly unable to answer a call-out because their fire engine was being used by a firefighter to collect a pizza.” …
Toyota demonstrates robot personal vehicles
I found the pictures of Toyota’s robot cars/personal vehicles very interesting. (‘Those whacky Japanese do it again’ was going to be my alternative headline, but that doesn’t give a great deal away about the content.) Okay, they may only travel at less than 1mph and look like a 1960’s sci-fi view of the future, but …
BBC NEWS | Technology | Britons growing ‘digitally obese’
“Attention grabbing pseudo-science headline”. It’s not so dramatic as it sounds – apparently we’re all carrying loads of data round on our PDA’s. So nothing to do with obesity at all. BBC NEWS | Technology | Britons growing ‘digitally obese’: “Britons growing ‘digitally obese’”