Technology
South Korean professor develops toilet that turns poop into power and cryptocurrency
Cho Jae-weon, a South Korean urban and environmental engineering professor at the Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST), developed an eco-friendly toilet that pays students cryptocurrency and turns feces into fuel.
The invention: The BeeVi toilet uses a vacuum pump that sends feces into an underground tank where microorganisms break down the waste and turn it into methane, according to Reuters.
Massive 3D calico cat watches over tiny humans in Tokyo’s Shinjuku district
A massive 3D calico cat has gone viral for its ultra-realistic appearance as it playfully watches over the tiny humans walking in Shinjuku.
The details: The Tokyo cat, affectionately known as “Shinjuku Cat,” is currently taking residence on a billboard at the east exit of Shinjuku train station, according to CNN.
Boston Dynamics’ Robot Dogs Just Danced to BTS and We’re Obsessed
A seven-member group of Spot robots is taking on BTS with a short dance performance of the K-pop supergroup’s 2020 song, “IONIQ: I’m On It.”
Behind the video: The dance routine, cleverly titled “Spot’s On It,” celebrates Hyundai’s controlling acquisition of engineering and robotics design company Boston Dynamics, which was completed on June 21 at a value of $1.1 billion.
Remote Workers in India Will Call You Out for Slacking, Thieves for Stealing From Thousands of Miles Away
A Washington-based surveillance company offers real-time 24/7 monitoring for convenience stores, gas stations, restaurants and hotel chains across the U.S. to help owners prevent theft and shoplifting.
Eye in the sky: Live Eye Surveillance employs workers from Karnal, India to monitor employees and deter any suspicious behaviors within the business for $399 per month, according to Vice News.
NASA Project Manager Rips Contingency Speech After Successful Mars Ingenuity Flight
MiMi Aung, the project manager for Ingenuity at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), was recently captured on camera ripping her prepared contingency speech in excitement after the successful flight of the helicopter on Mars.
The helicopter first became airborne on Monday at 3:34 a.m. EDT, according to NASA. Ingenuity hovered for 30 seconds at 10 feet above the Martian surface before landing safely for a total flight time of 39.1 seconds, becoming the “first-ever controlled, powered flight on another planet,” Newsweek reported.
Asian American Founders Launch FAM App to Take on Clubhouse
A new audio-focused social platform founded by Asian American entrepreneurs is hoping to attract more users with its promise of inclusivity and focus on culture and education.
FAM app, which recently launched on iOS and Android, is directly taking on Clubhouse — a similar product that made headlines after spikes in users earlier this year.
Nintendo ‘Laughed Their Asses Off’ at Microsoft’s Offer to Buy Them 20 Years Ago
Microsoft once tried to buy Nintendo and it didn’t go quite as planned, a recent Bloomberg feature on the creation of the original Xbox revealed.
Not taken seriously: Microsoft’s former third-party relations director, Kevin Bachus, shared that the Japanese video game giant reportedly “just laughed their asses off” when Microsoft made the offer 20 years ago.
Japan is Now Using AI to Get People to Date and Make Babies
Japan will use artificial intelligence to match singles and bring them together, a cabinet official said on Monday.
Last year, the nation of 126 million people had a fertility rate of 1.36 — one of the world’s lowest and statistically unlikely to reverse its “demographic time bomb.”
Japanese Company Pays People $380 to Make Hyperrealistic Masks of Their Face
A company in Tokyo has reached out to residents to turn their faces into hyperrealistic masks — and for a relatively good deal.
Kamenya Omote, an actual mask company, will pay each willing local $380 for its new project, which relies on 3D-printing technology.
Malaysian Boy, 9, Invents Solution to NASA’s ‘#1 Problem’
A 9-year-old boy from Malaysia may have solved one of the biggest dilemmas on NASA’s plate.
Easy peasy: Zyson Kang Zy Sun invented the “Spacesuit Lunar Toilet,” a portable toilet specially designed for astronauts, which would allow them to urinate in zero gravity, reported the New Straits Times.
Japanese Scientists Create Technology to Control Small Gundam Robots With Their Minds
Japanese researchers have created a mind-controllable Gundam robot, turning one of the anime’s most exciting technological concepts into reality.
The model, based on the mobile suit Zaku, has been available through Bandai’s Zeonic Technics package since last year, but that version requires manual programming on a smartphone app.
Japanese Researchers Create Robot Hand to Simulate Walking With a Girlfriend
A team of researchers in Japan has developed a robotic hand that mimics the experience of “walking with a girlfriend.”
The robot, known as “Osampo Kanojo” (“My Girlfriend in Walk”), was conceived from the idea that finding a girlfriend can be “very difficult” for some people.