In 1959, Volvo engineer Nils Bohlin created the three-point seatbelt and offered the design plans for free to automakers around the world. Since its introduction, the relatively simple but game-changing design has been credited with saving more than a million lives worldwide. Now the safety-focused car brand is back, giving the humble seatbelt a high-tech upgrade.

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Category: Automotive, Transport

Tags: Volvo, Safety, Road Safety, Seat-belts

Researchers have identified a previously unknown biological process that causes tissue and organ damage in conditions where oxygen is low, such as heart attacks and strokes. The study suggests that bursting red blood cells, not blood clots, are the culprits.

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Category: Illnesses and conditions, Body & Mind

Tags: Red blood cells, Blood clotting, Heart attack, Stroke

In the ongoing search to find a pain intervention that does away with the need for opioids – and bypasses drugs altogether – a new game-based system has shown huge promise in tackling chronic neuropathic pain. Using a game and a headset, it "trains" patients to rewire brain signals in order to relieve pain.

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Category: Chronic Pain, Illnesses and conditions, Body & Mind

Tags: University of New South Wales, Pain, Nerves, Chronic pain, Drugs, Treatment, Video Games, Games

Since launching in 2022, the TQ HPR50 electric motor drive has underpinned some of the lightest, most inconspicuous electric bikes from name brands like Trek and Pinarello. Its low profile doesn't mean it isn't ready to power up a ride, though, dealing out 300 watts and 50 Nm (37 lb-ft) of torque for road and trail riding convenience. For 2025, TQ takes the next step forward with the HPR60, which boosts power even higher while putting on only a fraction of a pound.

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Category: Bicycles, Transport

Tags: ebikes, Bikes, Mountain Bikes, Electric Motors

In a somewhat odd flex, Mercedes-Benz Trucks just backed its way into the Guinness Book of World Records, quite literally.

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Category: Automotive, Transport

Tags: Mercedes-Benz, Truck, Electric truck, Electric Vehicles

If you like outdoor gear, chances are you also like things that have a rustic, timeless look. Should that be the case, you'll probably take a shine to the AX03 carabiner-type multitool, which packs nine functions into a classy brass body.

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Category: Outdoors, Lifestyle

Tags: Multitools, EDC, Kickstarter

While automatic gear-shifting for bikes isn't unheard of, such setups typically require batteries that have to be frequently recharged. This is not the case with Shimano's new Q'Auto system, however, as it draws on the rider's own pedaling power.

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Category: Bicycles, Transport

Tags: shimano, Cycling, Pedaling, Electronic Shifting Systems

A surprising finding from researchers in Japan has shown how an environmental factor can influence the development of sex organs in unborn mice. The discovery challenges the longstanding belief that sex is determined purely by genetic factors.

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Category: Biology, Science

Tags: Pregnancy, Sex, Mice, Osaka University, Genetics, Iron, Diet

Hisense has launched its "smallest, lightest and most portable laser projector to date." The M2 Pro smart mini projector boasts RGB lasers, expands 4K viewing up to 200 inches and pounds out the soundtrack though Dolby speakers.

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Category: Home Entertainment, Consumer Tech, Technology

Tags: Hisense, Projectors, Laser, Portable, 4K UHD

The United States has a new center for tall timber towers – and it's not NYC or Chicago, as you might assume – but Milwaukee. The world's next tallest timber tower is due to begin construction in the Wisconsin city soon, near the current world record holder, the Ascent.

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Category: Architecture, Lifestyle

Tags: Building and Construction, Skyscrapers, Timber, cross-laminated timber, World's Tallest

Enjoy some hairy onboard footage as this alien spaceship of a sailboat records the second-fastest speed in history. The outright record is now well within reach, and this outrageous kite-powered boat is designed to absolutely smash it.

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Category: Marine, Transport

Tags: Yachts, World's Fastest, Speed, Sailing, World Speed Sailing Record, High-speed, Kite Power

A platinum fiddle that's just 35 microns in length and 13 microns in width is believed to be the world's smallest violin, measuring just a fraction of a tardigrade or the diameter of an average human hair. But before you get too excited, or ponder the logistics of operating such a tiny instrument, we must unfortunately break the news that it can't be played.

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Category: Physics, Science

Tags: Loughborough University, Nano-tool, Nanomaterials, Computers, Microchip Technologies, Physics, Engineering, Materials

Try as they might with add-ons like pneumatic tires and vacuum insulation, the competition hasn't been able to knock Yeti off its pedestal as the go-to for rugged adventure coolers. Dometic might have a chance by delivering something that's both elusive and invaluable to campers: space. Its all-new Recon series of modular coolers stack nearly as neatly as Legos, squeezing the most out of any pickup bed or car trunk so you can pack everything you need and maybe even a few things you don't.

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Category: Outdoors, Lifestyle

Tags: Coolers, dometic, Camping, Outdoors and Camping, Modular

It was not too long ago when a certain Stig was racing cars around the Dunsfold Aerodrome in the Bohema on Top Gear. The masked maskot certainly knew how to race cars, and it seems like he’s put his powers to use again … only to break his own record.

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Category: Automotive, Transport

Tags: Supercars, Hypercar, Record, track racer

While 3D printing is indeed a burgeoning technology, it's limited by the fact that items can typically only be printed from a single material. A new system still uses just one print resin, but that substance can form into two different solid materials as needed.

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Category: 3D Printing, Manufacturing, Technology

Tags: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Light, Ultraviolet, UC Santa Barbara

Influential Dutch architecture firm MVRDV has revealed plans for a striking new residential tower in Taiwan. Appropriately named Out of the Box, the project is defined by a bold blocky design and cantilevered facade that creates outdoor areas and increases indoor living space.

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Category: Architecture, Lifestyle

Tags: Building and Construction, MVRDV, Residential towers

In an impressive feat of rapid urban adaptation, sulphur-crested cockatoos have worked out how to use their feet and their large bodies to twist the tap handles of drinking fountains in order to access water from the faucet. It's the first observation of this behavior spread throughout a large population of birds.

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Category: Biology, Science

Tags: Western Sydney University, Australian National University, Max Planck Institute, University of Vienna, Birds, Animal science, Behavior, Urban, nature

New research has identified the mechanism by which air pollution damages the lungs’ self-cleaning system, leaving us vulnerable to infection. In doing so, it has also identified a way to reverse that damage and restore lung function.

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Category: Wellness & Healthy Living, Body & Mind

Tags: Respiratory health, Lung, Air pollution, Fine particulate matter (PM2.5), University of Osaka

A new study has found that gaining weight as a result of poor diet is linked to impaired cognitive functioning and developing symptoms of anxiety, adding to the growing body of evidence that there's an intrinsic biological link between our gut health and mental health.

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Category: Diet & Nutrition, Wellness & Healthy Living, Body & Mind

Tags: Obesity, Anxiety, mental health, Georgia State University, Cognitive functioning, Microbiome, Gut health, Gut Bacteria, Nutrition, Diet, Fat cells

It was just last year that we heard about the Atmos inflatable hammock, which was claimed to keep users warm at night without adding to the bulk and weight they have to carry. Well, as promised it would be at the time, the Atmos is now the subject of a Kickstarter campaign.

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Category: Outdoors, Lifestyle

Tags: Hammocks, Inflatable, Camping, Kickstarter, 2025 Updates