The international design consultancy Design Q recently presented the project of a new-generation heliport that has great chances of becoming the cornerstone of VIP travel in the Middle East.

The pictures of the new heliport were unveiled by Flight Daily News, being shown at the Dubai air show. All facilities of the construction are fully integrated.

Here's how the heliport functions: before the flight, VIP customers can have their cars parked inside the building. From the vehicle they step right into a personal luxury lounge. After the check-in, the lounge module goes up or down so VIP guests can step out on to the required landing port and into the helicopter.

According to the Design Q director Gary Doy the main idea of the design is to make the transport experience seamless and opulent. Due to the fact that the heliport is modular, the construction can be build up for special events like Formula 1 races and conferences or for permanent settings like Madsar City in Abu Dhabi.

It is worth mentioning that the design of the new heliport is the idea proposed by Doy and Howard Guy, previously senior designers at Jaguar who 12 years ago decided to open Design Q.

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In order to refresh the conventional workplace, make it more contemporary and efficient, designer Jenny Redd decided come up with a new invention - a room divider that, besides providing more privacy, uses solar energy to power the workplace.

Jenny's new invention is called Solar Wall and it makes use of a new type of solar technology.

The glass of the room divider has built-in dye-sensitized solar cells printed on it. The freestanding construction has a honeycomb pattern.

Solar Wall gathers solar energy in its base that features power outlets. From there one can power other devices in the office.

One more advantage of the new invention is that it harnesses not only direct sunlight but indirect as well.

If the invention hits the market it could revolutionize today's offices, making the more self-sufficient.

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Architects from the Dutch design company MVRDV have won the right to develop the city centre of Gwang Gyo, situated about 35 kilometers south of Seoul, South Korea.

Their design concept is made of a series of overgrown hill-shaped structures boasting a great programmatic variety. The project encourages extra developments within the area where the Power Center is expected to be built.

Designers have the goal of creating the Gwang Gyo Power Centre with spaces for housing and offices. In addition, the project envisions creating spaces for cultural, leisure, educational facilities and parking.

Having the shape of a hill, the construction has a series of rings that are meant to promote outdoor life. The building will have floors made of terraces, informs DesignBoom. The floor to floor circulation mechanism will gather water that will be used for irrigation.

Each tower will have a series of voids linked to the atrium. These voids will be used for light and ventilation as well as for creating semi-public spaces. The whole town will represent a self-sufficient place with 77,000 inhabitants. The project is expected to be finished by 2011.

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Researchers from the University of California, Berkeley, implanted tiny neural and muscle stimulation systems into small beetles, thus obtaining the possibility to control the insects.

It is worth mentioning that at the pupal stage scientists implanted the electrodes and then linked them to remote control devices. They installed a microcontroller and a tiny battery on the dorsal thorax of each insect. The microcontroller transmits certain electrical signals through the implanted electrodes.

To create their first prototype cyborg beetle, researchers used live Coleopteran as an insect platform. By using the cyborg beetle system, researchers were able to control the insect's initiation, cessation, elevation and left/right turns during the beetle's flight, reports Discovery News.

The project is funded by the government and is expected to find a wide use in the military field, where scientists would develop military cyborg beetles that would work as spies.

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The software giant Microsoft has teamed up with NASA to set up an interactive website that makes it possible for the users to study closer the red planet. The website is called beamartian.jpl.nasa.gov and it allows users to help scientists carry out research tasks like improving the maps of Mars.

Doug McCuistion, who is currently heading NASA's Mars Exploration Program, stated: "With so much data coming back from Mars missions that are accessible by all, exploring Mars has become a shared human endeavor."

He mentioned that users can, for instance, count the large number of volcanoes on the red planet, which NASA considered a rather difficult task. But a team of a thousand users will be able to complete the task and help researchers create a more accurate map of the planet.

Be a Martian is a website that features hundreds of thousands of images of the red planet, some of which have never been shown before. It includes a "virtual town hall," a place where people can ask questions that will eventually be answered by Mars specialists, and give away prizes to software developers who make instruments that could help grant access to Mars pictures for various uses.

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