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For anyone who’s into SUVs, they know just how capable a car the Nissan Xterra was in its prime. A proper body-on-frame chassis, four-wheel drive, and a solid overall build quality to take on anything you’d throw at it … a proper SUV indeed.Continue ReadingCategory: Automotive, TransportTags: Nissan,

New Zealand camping badge Zempire has launched one of the slimmest, most portable camp stoves on the US market. The new Stealth-Jet stove series packs down flat and slim for easy transport, even in the most tightly packed micro-campers, firing out up to 10,000 BTUs of cooking power per burner to ensure that weary, hungry road-trippers can sit down to a hot meal in minutes. The Stealth-Jet isn't quite the all-out sveltest car camping stove on the market, but it out-slims the vast majority.

In my irascible opinion, there are never enough pockets in pants or backpacks for all the gadgets I need to tote around. With the arc-lighter-equipped Luxo multi-function flashlight however, that’s one less pocket taken up.Continue ReadingCategory: Gear, OutdoorsTags: Flashlights,

Scientists at Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH), in South Korea, have built a silicone neckband that reads the tiny movements of your neck as you mouth words – and turns them into speech in your own voice, transmitted to whoever is listening.Continue ReadingCategory: Wearables, Consumer Tech,

Downsizing is always a challenge, but the Knoll tiny house makes the jump more manageable than most. Featuring a spacious layout with plenty of storage, the towable home would be a good fit for a couple or even a small family.Continue ReadingCategory: Tiny Houses, OutdoorsTags:

Along the rocky Atlantic shoreline of Nova Scotia, Canadian studio Omar Gandhi Architects has completed a home that looks like it’s floating above the landscape. The East River Residence, which is suspended on thin columns, stretches across the valley like a bridge between two embankments, letting the terrain flow underneath it like water.Continue ReadingCategory: Architecture,

The all-new Mohab Altus is a vehicle rooftop shelter series like nothing we've covered before. Using an electric-lift system, it rises into a boxy cabin that lives atop your vehicle. With four hard walls of solid weather protection and available heating and air conditioning, the Altus blurs the line between tent and RV, turning any pickup truck or 4x4 into a comfy camping rig with rock-solid all-season protection.Continue ReadingCategory:

"Ancient Japanese Art Brings Spineless Robot To Life!" Sounds very much like a movie plot summary. In reality, it perfectly describes the work of Princeton University engineers who have created a robot that moves without a single motor or gear, using heat and the principles of origami instead. Their soft robotic system relies on a combination of heat-sensitive advanced materials, flexible embedded electronics, and carefully designed folding structures to produce motion, ditching traditional mechanical components.Continue Reading

People often muse over catching lightning in a bottle, and what an amazing feat it would be. But have you ever wondered what comes next if we do it? Well, researchers at Northwestern University have bottled lightning and are using it for something just as remarkable: clean fuel. Their technology uses plasma in glass tubes to produce methanol from methane gas, a process that typically requires enormous amounts of energy.Continue ReadingCategory: Energy, EngineeringTags:

I remember the various iterations of the family TV pretty much always being the focal point of our living room, but it never dominated the space like big flat panels can today. Some of the time the huge flat panel is hypnotizing watchers with the latest blockbuster movie, current viral sensation or – if you're lucky – an in-depth documentary or two. But much of its life it's just an unattractive dark presence looming large.Continue ReadingCategory: