BumpTop acts like desktop of the future, now free to download

We saw BumpTop when it was a mere design concept last year, but now the 3D icon-slingin' desktop can find its way to your PC. Download it now — it's free, PC-only — and see for yourself how easy it is to stack up icons, search your files by simply typing, sling icons around and pin them on virtual walls, and organize them in logical stacks with a simple lasso and right-click.

While we don't spend that much time on the desktop, this might be a good way to organize things. It's even dual-monitor aware, letting you use this cute 3D room on one monitor and the normal interface on the other. For $29, you can upgrade to the Pro version with extra features, but we're digging the free version for now. Try it — it's easy to uninstall if you don't like it.

Hyundai Nuvis Hybrid concept uses new battery tech for added sleekness

It seems like every car company is showing a hybrid at the New York Auto Show, but most of them are just a hybrid version of some plain-vanilla existing model. Stuffing an engine, electric motor, and all of the batteries needed to make hybrid takes up a lot of space, so it's hard to use the technology in a car that's sleek and sexy.

Hyundai thinks they have found a solution by using a new type of battery called lithium polymer in place of those bulky lithium-ion batteries most hybrids use. In addition to being both smaller and lighter, the lithium-polymer batteries are like the Mister Fantastic of the battery world, in that they can be made in a variety of custom shapes which fit neatly into tight spots in the car.

The super-sleek Hyundai Nuvis concept car unveiled yesterday in New York shows what you can do when you don't need a place to stash big hunking blocks of batteries. Unlike last year's weird looking BLUE-WILL, the Nuvis looks incredibly cool, although I doubt if those giant electric gullwing doors will ever make it into production.

For now the Nuvis is just a concept, but let's hope they take a bold step and actually build something like this soon. See a couple of extra pics of the Nuvis after the jump.

Via Hyundai USA

Cymascope machine translates dolphin-speak into Egyptian-like hieroglyphics

UK-based acoustics engineer John Reid has been working on a machine for a decade that may be able to translate dolphin talk in much the same way that we decipher Egyptian hieroglyphics. Called the Cymascope, the device analyzes the noises the mammals make and shapes them into a map of reproducible sound patterns, termed CymaGlyphs.

"Until now the complexity of a dolphin's speech has been virtually impossible to translate," Reid told the News & Star. "The Cymascope can pinpoint the structure of sound and simplify this into a basic pattern of speech."

His Cymascope uses a basin of water monitored by a video camera, and a few other odds and ends, including sand, brass plates and a violin bow. "What we're going to do is excite the water by introducing the whale song, then look at what happens on the TV monitor," Reid said, speaking to The Sun. "What you see is the image of the sound."

So, is he just doing this because he couldn't get enough of Darwin from Sea Quest DSV or Jones from Johnny Mnemonic? "Our ultimate aim," Reid said, "is to speak to dolphins with a basic vocabulary of dolphin sounds and to understand their responses."

Californians could enjoy space power by 2016

Harnessing energy here on Planet Earth sure is a pain. So why not harness it up in space and then beam it down here for our everyday uses? That's what California is hoping to do in 7 short years.

How would it work? Well, gigantic solar panels would be shot into orbit, where they'd be sitting there collecting energy from the sun without the stupid atmosphere getting in the way. It would then beam said energy down to Earth using RF transmissions, where it would be converted into usable energy. Sounds great! Now we'll see if it actually happens.

Kyocera EOS phone features sexy/flexy OLED screen, more astonishing tech

Kyocera takes us into the future of cell phoniness with this EOS phone, slapping one astonishing tech on top of another. First up is its flexible OLED display that lets you fold it up like a wallet. Second is its shape-memory buttons that pop out from their flush position right when you need them.

The kicker is its kinetic energy power, working like a self-winding watch to keep it perpetually in the juice. Either that or you have to work it like an old-timey Pitcher Pump just to make a phone call. Let's hope not. We're thinking the Kyocera EOS's creator, industrial designer Susan McKinney, might not have that part quite worked out yet.

Take the jump to see another pic of this sexy design concept splayed out with its wide screen showing: