Features of the week
Now we're cooking with water! Startup offers a hydrogen-powered stove
by Etiido Uko
Imagine slashing your cooking electricity bill by a factor of six. That would almost be as wild as cooking with water! Well, GreenVize says it has made both possible with a hydrogen-based cooking unit that runs on water and a bit of electricity.
Kia Kingfisher camper van is a stylish, streamlined tiny RVing marvel
by C.C. Weiss
Less than two months after teasing the first Kia PV5 pop-up camper van, Sussex Campervans has revealed its work. The camper looks even better than expected, offering a sleek, rustic layout with sleeping, cooking, dining and even toilet amenities.
Focused microwaves allow 3D printers to fuse circuits onto almost anything
by Omar Kardoudi
A desktop-sized 3D printer can now write working electronic circuits directly onto a broad range of surfaces without burning them. The secret is microwaves, focused with surgical precision onto a spot no wider than a human hair.
Tiny house trades portability for a more spacious interior layout
by Adam Williams
The Lukas tiny house isn't a great fit for would-be nomads since it needs to be transported by truck. However, what it lacks in portability, it more than makes up for with a spacious interior that sleeps four in comfort.
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Top Stories: Transport
World-first eVTOL transition flight for Vertical Aerospace
by David Szondy
Vertical Aerospace has scored a world-first as its full-scale tilt-rotor eVTOL completed a two-way piloted transition between vertical helicopter mode and horizontal airplane mode during a single continuous flight while under regulatory oversight.
Battery-boosted Mercedes super-saloon pushes closer to 600-mile range
by Simon Heptinstall
Mercedes has given its poshest electric saloon, the EQS, a mid-term refresh – showing exactly where the auto world’s current battleground is focused. Forget style, power, speed. Selling big EV sedans is now all about range.
Review: 2026 Toyota Sienna takes minivan-ness to fat MPG levels
by Aaron Turpen
The most versatile vehicle on the road is the minivan and, like cargo shorts, it’s often maligned for no good reason. The 2026 Sienna expands that high practicality by adding a hybrid powertrain as the default.
How on earth is this insane 525hp go-kart street-legal?
by Abhimanyu Ghoshal
You can now actually buy an Ariel Atom 4RR. The idea that one of these track weapons with 525 hp and a 0-60 mph time of just 2.4 seconds might actually be blasting through city streets has me gobsmacked.
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Top stories: Body & Mind
Does the brain really make its own DMT? New study ignites debate
by Kayleigh Long
Does the brain really produce its own psychedelic “Spirit Molecule” to power our dream states and near-death experiences? A new study has sparked fresh debate over endogenous DMT, and its presence – or absence – in mammalian brains.
Low-protein diet shifts fat tissue into burn mode
by Michelle Falci
High-protein diets are often touted as a great way to lose weight. A new finding from a team of researchers, however, found that under certain conditions, mice on a low-protein diet converted energy-storing white fat to calorie-burning beige fat.
Top Stories: Outdoor
Shapeshifting camper van leaps beyond Swiss Army level
by C.C. Weiss
Plenty of camper vans boast multifunctional designs, but the Vanspeed Album takes it to new heights. What looks like an unassuming Sprinter camper is actually a transforming wonder, split into multipurpose zones that fold, drop, swivel and remove.
Upside-down tiny house makes room for three bedrooms and two bathrooms
by Adam Williams
The Onda is a tiny house that tries something a little different. It turns the usual layout on its head to provide a roomy interior that places three bedrooms downstairs, and the main living area above.
Automated filtration system promises drinking water anywhere on demand
by Abhimanyu Ghoshal
California-based startup Vital Lyfe says its first product, a portable battery-powered filtration system, can provide safe drinking water from any source on demand – including seawater. Expect as much as 12 gallons per hour, with no setup time.
A giant cat has made itself at home inside Hong Kong’s airport
by Bronwyn Thompson
Passengers landing at Hong Kong International Airport this month will be greeted by a surprise friend waiting for them in the arrivals hall – a giant fluffy orange cat sleeping right in the middle of the bustling space.
Top Stories: Technology
Fearless rugged tablet packs projector, night vision and huge battery
by Monica J. White
The 8849 Tank Pad Ultra combines a built-in 1080p projector that puts out 260 lumens for on-the-spot visuals, as well as night vision cameras, and a laser rangefinder in a rugged tablet designed for fieldwork and outdoor use.
Robot smashes human record in half-marathon – as another self-destructed
by Bronwyn Thompson
A field of robots competing in a half marathon demonstrated how frighteningly fast the technology has developed in 12 months. Even if one bot had a race to forget, smashing into pieces at the starting line, Honor's Lightning instead smashed records.
GoPro's new 8K Mission 1 camera is more than just an actioncam
by Utkarsh Sood
GoPro just stunned all of us by announcing a brand new line of action cameras. The Mission 1 won't replace the Hero lineup. Instead, it’s a new, parallel lineup that is aimed at pro creators who want to do more than just capture action in a jiffy.
Renpho Eyeris Zen massager review: It's surprisingly good
by Joe Salas
The last massager I bought was circa 2005, so I expected another failure that would simply annoy me and end up at Goodwill. Technology has changed a lot in 20 years, as I've found out with the Eyeris Zen.
Top Stories: Science
Asteroid-mining microbes extract metal from rocks in space
by Ivan Farkas
Humanity may be one step closer to space-mining and cosmic self-sustainability, thanks to a secret, tiny weapon: microbes. Scientists recently used bacteria and fungi to extract precious metals from an asteroid in microgravity.
A monkey ate the wrong squirrel – and started an outbreak
by Jay Kakade
In January 2023, an infant monkey made a bad choice at snack time. In a rare discovery, researchers found that by eating a rodent known as a fire-footed rope squirrel, the primate unwittingly spread monkeypox to nearly a third of its troop.
Extragalactic Archaeology tells the 'life story' of a whole galaxy
by Elizabeth Howell
For the first time, astronomers claim they’ve found a way to reconstruct a galaxy’s entire ‘life story’ – from a single snapshot in time.
Great white sharks may never have vanished after all
by Toluwalogo Niji-Olawepo
In 2023, a great white shark was caught off Spain, leading researchers to analyze historical data. They suggest these rare sightings aren't random anomalies but evidence of a "ghost" population persisting in the Mediterranean over centuries.
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