Technology, Innovation & Outdoor News

Autonomous aviation system aims for pilot-free cargo aircraft

May 20, 2026 | David Szondy
A new frontier for autonomous flight appears to have been breached as Merlin, Inc. introduces its Merlin Pilot for Commercial Cargo AI-powered flight system that aims to eventually bring pilot-free flight to large cargo aircraft.

Nissan builds $14K tiny camper using crazy-versatile everyday material

May 19, 2026 | C.C. Weiss
Nissan keeps the factory camper vans coming. Its newest is built atop its smallest van, the Clipper kei van, which measures in under 3.4 meters (11.2 feet) long. To make it a micro-camper, Nissan relies on a basic household staple with which everyday DIY handymen have been familiar for ages: pegboard. The van's integrated peg panels serve as a simple, affordable means of holding up the bed and providing highly versatile storage organization for related (and unrelated) outdoor adventures.

Sub-zero survival lighter fires out lasting flame in rowdy conditions

May 20, 2026 | C.C. Weiss
The average $2 Bic lighter is great for lighting up a cigarette but not as great for lighting campfires or grills. Minnesota startup Radlight has an intriguing alternative for such outdoorsy tasks ... and for fending off hypothermia when things go south.

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The Manx R is a proper supersport, one that doesn’t feel like a retro cash-grab. Rather, a statement that the company wants to be taken seriously again – not just as a historic badge, but as a modern performance bikemaker with something left to prove.
The Byron Bay tiny house is a spacious model that's centered around an open kitchen and living area. The towable home also has multiple upgrades available, including an off-grid setup, and would be a good fit for small families.
CycloKinetics, a US propellant company, has unveiled a new family of superfuels for aircraft, missiles, and rockets that increase fuel performance by 32%. Aimed at the defense market, the fuels could allow vehicles to fly farther while carrying heavier payloads.
Winnebago's latest launch is its most ruggedly luxurious yet. Picking up where the Revel and Ekko leave off, the Arka truck camper is prepared to spend 2 full weeks at a time in the deep, dusty backcountry. Just don't expect a spa bathroom.
What better place to pull the covers off of your latest and greatest pocket camera than the Cannes Film Festival? DJI has done just that, unveiling the Osmo Pocket 4P on one of the most prestigious stages in global filmmaking.
Turkey-based upstart Shark Instruments is taking the fight to higher-end guitar makers with advanced manufacturing capabilities. Its latest industry-first feature: adjustable frets.

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Health and Science news from our sister site: Refractor
Domesticated from a now-extinct ox species around 10,500 years ago, cows have become a major source of protein, dairy, and leather worldwide. A study has now shown that cows can differentiate between familiar and unfamiliar faces.
A new study shows that some plants can enrich themselves by absorbing the essential minerals from dust through their leaves, forming an underexplored pathway that plays a major role in plant nutrition in nutrient-poor and dust-affected ecosystems.
The importance of bees for pollinating wild plants and crops is well known. If we lose the bees, we lose our food. But this is only part of the picture.
A survey found nearly 30 percent of American-registered physicians think it’s somewhat plausible that we’ll invent the ideal conditions for a brain to retain enough neural information to function well after death.
Texas-based company says its artificial egg supports the full development of bird embryos outside a biological eggshell, without requiring supplemental oxygen. The work is part of its plan to “de-extinct” birds, including the giant moa and dodo.
Is life really out there? A team of scientists from the University of California, Riverside, has devised a new statistical method that could serve as more than a cosmic thought experiment, potentially providing answers to the age-old question.

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Editor's Picks

The US Navy's secretive F/A-XX sixth-generation fighter plane is a bit less secret after program competitor Northrop Grumman unveiled a new concept image of its version of the carrier-based warplane, giving us a few design clues.
I spent a few nights with the Akaso Sight-300 and came away fairly impressed. My previous experiences with night vision have been with very high-end scopes, so I wasn't sure what to expect on something that costs several thousand dollars less.
Adding to the growing body of research that proves our microbiome is a powerful ally in fighting disease, scientists have found that an easy-to-get nutrient in our food causes our guts to produce powerful insulin-regulating compounds.
Despite the headlines, there’s limited evidence that using large language models – like Claude and ChatGPT – is rotting the brain. But there’s enough cause for concern.
Generally Honda is the major Japanese automaker pushing out a fast, ferocious new side-by-side. This time, it's Toyota, which shows a radical side-x-side that delivers an extra 50+ hp over any production SxS out there.
A novel study testing the effects of caffeine on the human brain found daily consumption can significantly reduce the volume of one's gray matter. Whether this is a good or bad thing is unclear but that daily cup of coffee is certainly doing something.
Roboticists today are wrestling with the question of whether AI needs a body? If so, what kind? And then there’s the “how” of it all; if embodied intelligence is the way forward to true artificial general intelligence, could soft robots be the next step?
This week, talk of the AI bubble bursting has intensified with Google top executive Demis Hassabis throwing some fuel on the fire while discussing the release of the tech company's Gemini 3 model. He also thinks some players will weather the storm.