Gearfuse

Up until recently, meteorologists used a combo of  ground weather sensors, weather balloons, satellite imagery and computer calculations to determine the current weather conditions and future forecast for your location.

AirDat uses wallet-sized sensors, attached to commercial jets, to deliver some of the most accurate weather forecasts ever presented. Covering more ground than ever before, AirDat can deliver specific local specs, rather than regional conditions. AirDat already has 160 sensor-equipped planes making daily flights out of 225 airports across all 50 states with 320 more planes on the way.

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Rainy days usually mean crashing into other people brandishing massive umbrellas, large enough to fit an entire obese family under, yet being used by only one person. These collisions usually cause droplets of water to fall everywhere, often splashing onto your clothes and skin. Kind of defeats the purpose.

The Polite Umbrella accounts for other people’s ostentatious overly large umbrellas. Pull the yank string and your umbrella temporarily collapses around you, allowing you to squeeze past others.

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Internationally acclaimed graffiti artist Banksy recently visited New Orleans to make some street art. When Hurricane Gustav hit the city last week, at least one of Banksy’s pieces was buried by the floodwaters.

We’ll have to wait for the water to recede to see whether or not the artwork was damaged in the storm. At least one of Banksy’s other New Orleans pieces managed to survive the storm, but there’s still no info on the entire collection. Next time Banksy wants to tour a city he might want to pick a place that’s less prone to natural disasters.

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How many times have you walked out of your house in the morning without checking the weather, only to be stuck in the rain later that day, sans an umbrella? You really suck at life sometimes. Hell, we all do. But our hands are full. Smelling like wet dog is so unappealing, and you can only wish you look as cute as a wet canine. The Rain Forecasting Umbrella from Materious uses a lit handle to notify you that there is rain scheduled in Mother Nature’s agenda planner.

Utilizing any nearby WiFi connection, the umbrella gathers data on the chance of precipitation in your area, glowing brighter as the chance increases. Maybe next time you’ll be prepared and not have to use that extra pair of clothes your keep in your car for those “you know, just in case” situations. Why didn’t they go ahead and add some Flickr functionality too? (more…)

With this gadget, I think we have a case of the AMX Thermostat mixed with the Undress Me Mug. Some people plan for the weather by watching the news and planning complex and ornate alternate plans for each possible weather condition, including an assortment of outfits laid out for the morning. I, on the other hand, just take a look out the window and see how the passing woman are dressed.

The Stripping Weathergirl Weather Station works on the same premise. The hotter it gets, the less clothes the weathergirl wears. The Weather Station features 15 different forecast icons, for the varying degree of temperatures. The time is set automatically via a radio signal. Personally, I don’t give a shit about the time when I have a scantily clad chick (animated or not) to look at. Get your own for $70. — Andrew Dobrow

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Not even your boss enjoys having a conference inside a dull office room when the weather is nice outside. If you know that your boss would much rather be doing something outdoors, you might want to suggest the Conference Bike, a bicycle that takes 7 people for a pleasant ride.

This is also good for those who need some exercise instead of sitting around at a boring conference table. Hell, if you suggest this to your boss, you might even get a raise. — Andrew Dobrow

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The past is funny. And pretty informative if you take a look at some of the predictions history has layed out for the fabulous future. These postcards from 1900 depict what people barely out of the 19th century thought their descendants would experience in 2000. Any of these look familiar? Check out those year 2000 Victorian outfits. Above is the “broadcast theater”. What predictions will we have all wrong? (more…)

The Cool Robot is a real icebreaker. And you might be picturing some suave cyborg who walks around picking up chicks and mouthing innuendos, but in actuality, this thing is built for cold polar weather. The Cool Robot’s job is to carry testing instruments across long spans of seas and oceans to make observations and measurements of snow levels relating to climate change.

Basically a wheeled box with solar panels on top, the robot weighs around 130 pounds and runs completely on solar power, with a top speed of a daredevil-like 2 mph. The Cool Robot is controlled through GPS, can travel about 310 miles in 2 weeks. The Cool Robot was shown at the Arctic Summit Science Week which brought together leading researchers from the Northern Hemisphere, to discuss the effects of global warming on the poles. — Andrew Dobrow

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Damn, Disney tricked us. We all thought that Mary Poppins was using a regular umbrella when she flew around, turns out they were doing green screens and replacing this SENZ umbrella with the normal one.

Well, maybe that didn’t happen, but the SENZ umbrella solves a problem we have had since umbrellas came around: the wind turing them inside-out. Not only does it look like the professional helmets used in the Tour de France, it probably is based on the same aerodynamics concepts.

The patented asymmetrical shape gives you a perfect sight, while giving you the best rain protection an umbrella can give. No longer will you embarrass yourself for running into telephone poles, cars or brick walls with an umbrella that completely blocks your view!

–Nik Gomez

SENZ Umbrella [via TechEBlog]

If you live somewhere outside of sunny Southern California you may have to use an umbrella a lot more then, well, never, and one of the worst problems with an umbrella is deciding whether or not there is a good enough chance of rain. If it ends up not raining, then you look stupid for carrying it around everywhere, and if it rains and you don’t have it, then you look stupid and wet. Well now have no fear because your umbrella is getting Accuweather feeds while you’re on the go, and if there is a 60% or more chance of rain, then the handle will pulsate blue. Once the chance of rain gets over 60%, then the blue LED will pulsate that many times per minute. For instance, if you manage to count to 100 pulses in a minute, then you can probably see the rain falling down around, because there is a 100% chance of rain. The Ambient Forecasting Umbrella is perfect for those not in Southern California who can’t seem to figure out when it’s going to rain so they get an umbrella that does all the thinking for them. — Nick Rice

Ambient Forecasting Umbrella [via Crave]