Gizmag news
The sub-2 hour marathon, and the technology that made it possible
For decades, the idea of a sub-two-hour marathon occupied a near-mythical place in endurance sport. Like Roger Bannister’s four-minute mile, it represented a physiological and psychological frontier that seemed just beyond human reach. That barrier finally fell in an official race at the 2026 London Marathon on April 26th, when Kenya’s Sabastian Sawe ran 1:59:30, followed moments later by Ethiopia’s Yomif Kejelcha in 1:59:41.
Category: Sports, Consumer Tech, Technology
Tags: Running, World Records, Shoes, Adidas
World's first vaccine for Lyme disease could be available in 2027
Based on the results of two completed Phase III trials, scientists are confident that we could see an effective vaccine against Lyme disease by next year.
Category: Illnesses and conditions, Body and Mind
Tags: Pfizer, Lyme disease, Drug delivery, Vaccines, clinical trials, Tick, Health
Adventure RV mastermind preps VW into "most ambitious camper van" yet
German camper van and small motorhome builder Sunlight has made a name for itself as a go-to for capable adventure machines built to support formidable all-terrain excursions. With last year's Ibex 4x4 concept, it previewed how it would step things up to the next level. And now it's preparing to take the official step, readying the production Ibex for launch this summer. Inspired by prototype testing in rugged worldly destinations like Morocco and Iceland, the production camper van promises to meld a ruggedized Volkswagen Crafter 4x4 shell with a smart, homey interior built for extended living.
Category: Campervans, Adventure Vehicles, Outdoors
Tags: Campervan, RV, Camping, Outdoors and Camping, Off-road
Ultra Telephoto lens sure beats pinching and zooming on your phone's screen
My favorite part of watching the Olympics was viewing the long telephoto lenses used by the photojournalists, and dreaming of one day owning one of those expensive lenses. With this latest design from Reeflex, a European brand committed to pushing the limits of mobile phone photography, I'm one step closer to meeting that goal without breaking the piggy bank.
Category: Photography, Consumer Tech, Technology
Tags: Kickstarter, xxKickbooster, Lens
Wireless offshore chargers will allow electric ships to recharge at sea
Poseidon is probably still getting used to our growth from wooden boats to enormous cruise ships. Imagine his shock when he sees electric boats casually pulling up to recharge right in the middle of his abode, thanks to a new offshore charging system.
Tags: SINTEF, Electric Boats, Wireless Charging, Ocean
Superfast power bank brings its own solar panel for recharging
Power banks are a dime a dozen, but this one caught my eye with a feature I haven't seen before: a built-in solar panel to recharge it using the power of the sun.
Category: Consumer Tech, Technology
Tags: Rechargeable+Battery, EDC, Outdoors and Camping, Charger, Kickstarter, xxKickbooster
Startup's squeezable solid could upend cooling and refrigeration
A startup founded by a material physicist has been working for the past seven years to change the way we cool our food and interior spaces, and it's now taken a big step toward that goal.
Category: Materials, Engineering
Tags: Physics, Cooling, Refrigeration, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, University of Cambridge
Dopamine bends time in our brain, making novel moments memorable
You know the saying: Time flies when you’re having fun.
Category: Learning & Memory, Brain Health, Body and Mind
Tags: Dopamine, Brain, Time, Perception, Memory, Neuroscience, UCLA
LOCUST laser weapon scores 100% kill rate in US Navy trials
Laser weapons reached a new milestone as the US Navy tested the AeroVironment (AV) LOCUST Laser Weapon System (LWS) aboard the nuclear aircraft carrier USS George H W Bush (CVN-77), notching up a 100% kill rate against multiple aerial drone threats.
Category: Military, Engineering
Tags: Aircraft Carrier, AeroVironment, US Navy, Laser weapon
Motion-capture exoskeletons let violinists feel each others’ subtlest moves
World-renowned science fiction author Arthur C. Clarke (2001: A Space Odyssey, Childhood’s End) once quipped that “Any teacher who can be replaced by a computer should be.” Some people think Clarke’s statement means we should replace all teachers.
Category: Robotics, Engineering
Tags: Exoskeleton, Education, Training aid, Ghent University, Violin
Three-bedroom tiny house makes space for comfortable family living
Designing a tiny house for a couple is one thing, but creating a home on wheels for an entire family is another challenge entirely. The Soma addresses this with a remarkably spacious layout that packs in three bedrooms and a large open living area.
Category: Tiny Houses, Outdoors
Tags: Building and Construction, Tiny Footprint, Micro-House, House, Home
US Army combines bunker-buster warhead with drone delivery
One of the biggest hitters in the conventional arsenal merged with drone technology, as the US Army tested a bunker-buster warhead combined with an expendable Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) for field testing at Redstone Arsenal in Alabama.
Category: Military, Engineering
AltoVolo gets a prototype of its spicy high-performance eVTOL in the air
The last time we heard from the UK's AltoVolo, it only had renders of its grand vision for a sportscar equivalent of an eVTOL to show off. That was exactly a year ago – and it's now got a working prototype taking to the skies.
Tags: eVTOL, Hybrid eVTOLs, Personal eVTOLs
SAIL tech lets robots perform human-scale tasks far more quickly
Thanks to researchers at Georgia Tech, robots have taken several new steps towards replacing human labor – and not simply for dangerous tasks such as mining the depths of the Earth and exploring the Moon, or difficult tasks such as high-speed mass-assembly of thousands of cars.
Category: Robotics, Engineering
Tags: Georgia Tech, Georgia Institute of Technology, Humanoid
Watch: Sony's insane autonomous robot shows off 'superhuman' skills
Flying under the radar of robot hype, Sony AI's Ace has shown off its rapid-speed learning abilities that are seriously remarkable, displaying powerful split-second decision-making while taking on some of the best table tennis players – and winning.
Category: Robotics, Engineering
Tags: Sony, Sport, Autonomous, Self-Learning, Robotic construction
Sleek Swiss capsule camp stove adds 35% more power and loses weight
In 2021, Optimus debuted the Gemini stove, a sleek, uniquely shaped dual-burner stove that split the difference between backpacking and car camping gear. The brand immediately took home several prestigious awards for its design efforts, including an ISPO Award in Europe and an Outdoor Retailer Innovation Award in the US. Now it's doubling down on what makes the Gemini stove great, debuting a Gemini II that packs over a third more power per burner while still managing to drop a couple ounces.
Category: Outdoor Cooking, Gear, Outdoors
Tags: Stoves, Camping, Cooking, Backpacking, Bikepacking, Outdoors and Camping, Katadyn
Vibrating pillow sleeve warns deaf sleepers of burglars and fires
A research team supervised by Assoc. Prof. Theo Hughes-Riley from Nottingham Trent University has designed a smart vibrating pillow sleeve prototype, to alert people who are deaf to fire and burglar alarms. The device was recently presented at the Association for Computing Machinery CHI conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, at the Barcelona International Convention Centre in Spain.
Category: Good Thinking, Technology
Tags: Nottingham Trent University, Deaf, Sleep, Alert, Hearing Impaired
224-sq-ft tiny house sleeps up to six people for under $50K
Combining a low price with a modest footprint of just 224 sq ft (20.81 sq m), the Rasa tiny house comes with a carefully considered interior that sleeps four in comfort – or even up to six at a squeeze.
Category: Tiny Houses, Outdoors
Tags: Building and Construction, Tiny Footprint, Micro-House, House, Home
Review: 2026 Nissan Frontier runs with an “if it ain’t broke” philosophy
The 2026 Nissan Frontier is a truck that’s equal parts stubborn old-school and new-face modernized. And honestly? That tension is exactly what makes the Frontier interesting.
Category: Automotive, Transport