Science Fiction
Dictionary
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
 |
Wasabi Smoke Alarm Now Available
This wasabi-based alarm will wake you up when it really counts, says researchers. Instead of a loud noise, the alarm dishes out the chemical compound allyl isothiocyanate, which gives horseradish, mustard, and wasabi their famous zip. The wasabi smoke alarm has been under development for several years.
(Wasabi smoke alarm)
In tests on sleeping people with normal or no hearing, the device woke nearly all subjects up within two and a half minutes after the stench hit their nostrils. Further tests determined the ideal intensity of airborne wasabi to wake people up but not hurt their eyes in the process.The alarm is about 8 inches long by 3 inches wide and works on a room that's roughly 50 square feet. It was launched in 2009 following a two-year development by Kobe-based fire extinguisher company Air Water Safety Service and Seems, a bioventure in Tokyo.
Frank Herbert wrote about a device he called the odalarm, an alarm clock that uses scent rather than sound, in his excellent 1977 novel The Dosadi Experiment
The odalarm awoke Jorj X. McKie with a whiff of lemon.
(More...)
See my previous article on the wasabi smoke alarm; latest news via CNET.
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 2/1/2010)
Follow this kind of news @Technovelgy.| Email | RSS | Blog It | Stumble | del.icio.us | Digg | Reddit |
Would
you like to contribute a story tip?
It's easy:
Get the URL of the story, and the related sf author, and add
it here.
Comment/Join discussion ( 3 )
Related News Stories - (" Engineering ")
Shine On, Portable Wind Turbine
'Sometimes a man has a windmill on his roof...' - John Jacob Astor IV, 1894.
The Mojo Smart Contact Lens Experience
'... the lens displays would be useless without a wearable computer to do the graphics.' - Vernor Vinge, 2001.
Low-Cost Gel Pulls Water From Atmosphere Like Star Wars Vaporator
'The atmosphere yielded its moisture with reluctance. It had to be coaxed down...' George Lucas, 1976.
SpaceX Rocket Quick Reaction Force
'... the ship went into free flight, arching in a high parabola.' - Robert Heinlein, 1951.
Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
Science Fiction
Timeline
1600-1899
1900-1939
1940's 1950's
1960's 1970's
1980's 1990's
2000's 2010's
Current News
NAVER Labs Haptic Device 2.0 Robot vs. IKEA
'... the two pairs of waldoes in the screen followed in exact, simultaneous parallelism.'
Spaceships Should Last So Long
'THE SPACE VESSEL was traveling swiftly… For over five thousand years they had Voyaged on and on.’
Shine On, Portable Wind Turbine
'Sometimes a man has a windmill on his roof...'
Amazing Indoor Robotic Drones Mimic Dolphins and Whales
'They circled the vast audiences, dancing, twittering, chirping...'
Space Station Shutters
'The sun-quilt was a patchwork of colors and materials on the inward side, but silvered on the outward side...'
Tiny Mining - Extract Precious Industrial Minerals From Your Own Body
'Jim, I saw them reduce four of my doctors and nurses into those little cubes!'
MIT Proposes Space Bubbles To Combat Climate Change, Misses The Point Of Space Bubbles
'Fats Jordan was hanging in the center of the Big Glass Balloon, hugging his guitar to his massive black belly above his purple shorts..'
Tianjin Solar Vehicle From Hanergy (2022) Looking Like Heinlein's (1940)
'When confronted by hills, or rough terrain, it did not stop, but simply slowed until the task demanded equaled its steady power output.'
Study Reveals Effect Of Space Travel On The Brain
'... the brain is no longer subjected to the accustomed pull, and it expands slightly in all directions.'
Sky Cruise Nuclear Powered Flying Hotel Concept
'... the huge air-freighter Jupiter.'
The Mojo Smart Contact Lens Experience
'... the lens displays would be useless without a wearable computer to do the graphics.'
Small Town Wants 60 License Plate Readers
'the registration number which the traffic control automatically photographed as she left the controlway...'
Lightyear 0 World's First Production-Ready Solar Car
'It could maintain a steady six miles per hour...'
AI Robots Excel At Trash Sorting And Recycling
'Then they press one of these here thirteen buttons...'
Could Increased Space Rocketry Damage The Ozone Layer?
'...without burning a single hydrocarbon molecule to injure the diseased atmosphere any further.'
Dyson's Secret Household Robots
'...work a human being does around a house.'
