Welcome to a magnificent and breathtaking world of the future brought to the present with the amazing ingenuity of modern science which has blurred out the fine line between reality and fantasy, between fact and fiction and between the possible and the improbable! Science with its amazing creative juices and vibrant thinking has chosen to alter the way we live and now it alters our realms of imagination and challenges the notion of the impossible. You need not rely on Hollywood for worlds like the Matrix or machines like Terminator as they are all on their way in to a world around us. Here is a list that delves in to that world, a compilation that alters your imagination of the “possible”...
10. Flexing those awesome bionic muscles!
We get started on our top 10 list by flexing the awesome bionic muscle that science promises to us. They are the building blocks of every superhero and in this case they are done using alcohol! The ground-breaking robotic arm is always on a high with artificial muscles infused with alcohol and carved out of elastic metal dubbed as ’shape memory wire’ for normal expansion and contraction. It works similar to human muscles powered by chemical energy, drawing power from alcohol in this case. Just in case you are wondering it is 100 times more powerful than human muscle!
9. Rocket Engine powered Bionic Arm... Terminator Anyone?
We promised you the ultimate machine and we are delivering it to you pretty early. This is science’s version of Cameroon’s master piece and it pretty much matches it stroke for stroke and metal for metal. A prototype from scientists at the University of Vanderbilt, Vanderbilt arm is a prosthetic hand that moves and feels exactly like the real thing. It is ten-times more powerful than the conventional. Is tougher, backed with stronger action of the synthetic muscles, despite the trueness of it being designed for power or strength.
8. Exoskeleton to carry more than 200 pounds of weigh!
We know that we promised to make you Superman with the list of bionic stuff, but this is more akin to making you and ant and that is a good thing actually. It is said that ants can lift 10 times their own body weight and this one allows you to do half that work, maybe even less for now. The all new HULC (Human Universal Load Carrier) exoskeleton allows users to carry a load of upto 200 pounds while walking normally just like a superhero. Developed by Berkeley Bionics, the exoskeleton is made up of two powered anthropomorphic legs, a power unit, a small on-bead micro-computer and a back-pack like frame for mounting loads. It can only get better...
7. Speedo’s LZR: A dream of ‘Olympic’ Proportions
When you have the ability to be superhuman then why not use your newly acquired super-suit to win an Olympic gold medal or two? The LZR Racer is a swimsuit that looks very similar, if not identical to the same one used by Ian Thorpe in the 2000 Olympics. It looks like a complete bodysuit but does have a wonderful seamless look to it. The swimsuit in fact has no seam as the costume’s material is welded together to give the effect of having no seams. No drag in the pool and all gold on the podium! Beijing calling folks...
6. Yamaha-branded Deus Ex Machina concept... Alien!
This is more something that will make you an alien than a superhero, but that is okay as it is only the looks that would change, not the side you would fight the battle on! Exoskeleton-ish Yamaha-branded Deus Ex Machina concept motorcycle was created by Art Center Pasadena student Jake Loniak. It has a body made up of 36 pneumatic muscles along with a spine consisting of seven artificial vertebrae, and the fact that the green vehicle can recharge itself in 15 minutes and last for a good hour with top speeds of 75mph! Now what can be better than that? Well, read on and find out...
5. Wearable Robot Suit... Power rangers alert!
I know that a lot of kids like the whole ‘Power Rangers’ stuff, but this is just not to my liking. It is something out of the old dubbed Chinese movies with big plastic suits. But it seems to be pretty popular in its circles and damn good. The Land Walker is a wearable robot suit, which is created by Masaaki Nagumo. The robot suit stands 3.4 meters high and weighs 907 kilograms or about 1 ton. The robot suit is controlled by four pedals to make movement and it can also shoot sponge bullet from two air guns installed beside the cockpit. At $350,000 it is yours! (Yes. It is cheap)
4. Keeper of the nights... Batman is here!
With this suit, everyone is going to be a Batman. Invented by Richard Palmer, ‘d3o(d-three-oh)’ is a ground-breaking shock-absorbent material that could bring a revolution in every sector, from the military to motor sports. The suit is crafted in a fashion that is akin to that of the suit of the lord of dark nights. The d3o, in simple words, is a sophisticated polymer with an intellectual molecular structure that flows with you as you move but, the moment it feels any shock, gets locked together to become stiff enough to absorb impact energy. No way Penguin is going to escape with this one. Dark Seduction!
3. Climb the high towers with the gecko-inspired Spidey Suit!
It is now time to defy gravity and climb the tallest structures of the world with just your bare hands and feet! It is time for Spiderman to weave his magic with this amazing new suit that is soon set the turn your world upside down... Literally! A team at a British aerospace and defense company have created a re-usable adhesive material that can stick to any surface with immense weight holding strength. The material is inspired from geckos and mimics the microscopic hairs on a gecko’s foot. The biggest advantage with this material is that it can be reused and can stick to a number of surfaces under different conditions. Now Spidey has competition from all around
2. HAL Assistive Limb Suit: Behold the Iron-Man!
The HAL suit was developed by Cyberdyne (not to be confused with Cyberdyne Systems, the company responsible for manufacturing Terminators). Despite the similar names, the suit is far from having Terminator-like features or Ironman for that matter. What if it does have are some little blue circles that light up? It still is the state of the art when it comes to bionic suits and quite simply awesome! It is just the top notch when it comes to the ultimate transformation.
1. The Matrix: A material to deflect bullets!
Remember The Matrix? Remember when Neo asks Morpheus if he was trying to tell him that he could dodge bullets and Morpheus replies in the voice of a Zen –
“No Neo. I’m trying to tell you that when you’re ready, you won’t have to.”
That was the an unforgettable moment in the science fiction trilogy, which not only holds your attention but offers perfect build to that famous snapshot where Neo stops the bullets and picks one off. You could do the same very soon! The engineers at University of Sydney have developed a material that actually allows the bullet to bounce off of its surface. A cloth that would save soon lives of millions of cops across the planet. No more dodging those damn bullets, just picking them off!
That makes our simple out-of-this-world list and it was awesome even getting down making one. Hope all out there have had as much fun in going through it. For now that is all from us, but do stay tuned on GizmoWatch for more cool stuff and the breakthroughs in technology that will blow you off your feet... Meet you in the Matrix.
