MagPen offers a new take on the stylus

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MagPen

The humble smartphone stylus may soon be gaining new features, thanks to a seemingly simple piece of technology. Developed by Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) PhD student Sungjae Hwang, the MagPen is essentially just a plastic tube covered in conductive tape, with conductive rubber tips at either end and a coin-shaped magnet inserted half-way down its length. Via a custom app, however, magnetometers already present in the phone are able to determine where that magnet is in relation to the screen, and respond with a variety of drawing and writing functions.

MagPen offers a new take on the stylus.

Evolve electric skateboard

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Evolve electric skateboard

While skateboarding is most popular with teenage males, improvements in compact electric motors and batteries has seen the emergence of electric skateboards that appeal to a much wider demographic, including those of us that are literally a wider demographic than we were in our teenage years. Battling it out with the likes of the Fiik, the ZBoard and Boosted Boards on the streets is Evolve Skateboards.

Evolve electric skateboard

Lernstift digital pen uses vibrations to improve spelling and penmanship

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lernstift digital learning pen

These days, we are so reliant on computers that many of us rarely pick up an actual pen or pencil and rely on auto-correct to fix our spelling mistakes. But Falk Wolsky and Daniel Kaesmacher think there's still a place in this modern world for good penmanship and correct spelling and have taken to Kickstarter to get their Lernstift (German for "learning pen"), which vibrates to indicate when the writer makes spelling mistakes or exhibits poor penmanship, into production.

Lernstift digital pen uses vibrations to improve spelling and penmanship 

Compleat Foodbag rethinks the traditional lunch box

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Compleat FoodBag

But Norwegian company Unikia is looking to update the plain old lunch bag with its Compleat FoodBag, a reusable lunch box that keeps food fresh and protected in transit and rolls up compactly when the meal is over.

Being completely sealed at the bottom, the bag can act as a container for any type of food, from sandwiches to pasta and even soup. After putting your food inside, the top of the FoodBag rolls down like a traditional paper lunch bag and can be secured with a belt so its contents stay fresh. The bag is made primarily from BPA-free silicone, with the bottom and sides more solid to keep anything inside from being squashed in transit.

Compleat Foodbag rethinks the traditional lunch box

Self-assembling multi-copter demonstrates networked flight control

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Self-assembling multi-copter 

Researchers at ETH Zurich have demonstrated an amazing capability for small robots to self-assemble and take to the air as a multi-rotor helicopter. Maximilian Kriegleder and Raymond Oung worked with Professor Raffaello D’Andrea at his research lab to develop the small hexagonal pods that assemble into flying rafts. The true accomplishment of this research is that there is not one robot in control – each unit in itself decides what actions to take to keep the group in the air in what's known as Distributed Flight Array.

Self-assembling multi-copter demonstrates networked flight control and watch video 

In Orbit art installation offers spidery spacewalk experience

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In Orbit art installation

If you have ever wished you could experience weightlessness but can't afford space tourism, then a Dusseldorf art gallery may get you closer, as long as you wear sturdy shoes. The in orbit multi-level art installation by Tomás Saraceno is suspended 20 m (60 ft) above the piazza of the Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen gallery. The Argentinian architect and artist’s largest work to date aims to resemble a cloud landscape for those brave enough to walk through it.

In Orbit art installation offers spidery spacewalk experience

Smart Diapers test chidren's urine to monitor their health over time

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Smart Diapers

Diapers usually rank very low on the list of items in need of a high-tech upgrade, despite products like the TweetPee recently hitting the market. But unlike a Twitter-enabled diaper, which provides information that anyone with a nose could figure out on their own, a new diaper from Pixie Scientific could actually warn parents of health issues before they become serious. The Smart Diaper uses several reactive agents and an app to monitor irregularities in an infant's urine over time and alerts parents if they need to visit a doctor.

Smart Diapers test chidren's urine to monitor their health over time