New Atlas

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Pump needle gives you a whistle when the basketball's just right

Ben Coxworth February 21, 2019

While people are fairly fussy about things like bicycle tire pressure, they tend to be a lot more blasé when it comes to inflating basketballs – even though a ball's pressure can greatly affect its performance. The Innoflate Perfect Pressure Needle is designed to help … by whistling.

The Innoflate needle is presently the subject of a Kickstarter campaign

Bicycles Review

Review: Silca Viaggio gives floor pumps the Bluetooth treatment

Ben Coxworth February 19, 2019

Founded in Italy in 1917, Silca was the first company to put an air gauge on a bicycle tire pump. Now based out of Indianapolis, the manufacturer has sort of come full circle with its Viaggio Bluetooth-equipped floor pump – it's taken the gauge back off, and put it on the user's smartphone.

New Atlas reviews the Bluetooth-enabled Silca Viaggio travel floor pump

Wearables

Wearable device promises silent-running breast-pumping

Ben Coxworth September 14, 2018

For nursing mothers who don't wish to be tied down to a non-portable breast pump, there are already wearable versions that can be slipped under a bra. Women's tech company Elvie is taking things a step further, by announcing what it claims is the world's first silent wearable breast pump.

The Elvie Pump works with a smartphone app

Bicycles

Stompump lets cyclists' legs do the pumping

Ben Coxworth April 13, 2018

Serious cyclists typically carry compact hand pumps with them on long rides. Using such a pump to inflate a completely flat tire from scratch, however, can be an arduous process. That's why the foot-operated Stompump was created.

The Stompump is presently on Kickstarter

Bicycles

Li'l electric bike pump pops into a pocket

Ben Coxworth September 22, 2017

When a cyclist has to change a high-pressure tire at the side of the road, pumping it back up using a compact hand pump can be quite the hassle. An alternative was unveiled at Interbike this week, however – the pocketable miniFumpa battery electric pump.

The miniFumpa is a reusable alternative to compressed air canisters

Materials

Liquids that pump themselves may be in the pipeline

Michael Irving March 27, 2017

Thanks to gravity, fluids flow downwards following the path of least resistance. Now researchers at Brandeis University have mixed biological molecules into a substance that marks the first steps towards developing a self-propelling liquid, that could flow free of human or gravitational influence.

Taking advantage of processes going on inside cells, researchers have taken the first steps towards developing ...

Wearables

Wireless wearable offers mothers a discreet way to pump

Stanley Goodner January 10, 2017

Most breast pumps require secluded privacy to use, oftentimes leashing women to wall outlets and/or bulky tote bags. The Willow wearable breast pump, showcased at CES 2017, promises freedom with a wireless hands-free design that slips right under one's clothing.

Since the overall shape closely resembles that of a natural breast, women can wear the Willow ...

Bicycles

Bike tire lever has an inflated sense of purpose

Ben Coxworth December 13, 2016

Instead of bothering with a hand pump for refilling flat tires, many cyclists instead just use a compressed air cartridge. That said, they still need a set of tire levers. With that in mind, Bar Fly has created a lever that doubles as a CO2 inflator.

The Air Lever combines a tire lever and a CO2 inflator

Bicycles

Spinning bike wheels compress flat-filling air

Ben Coxworth September 23, 2016

Although you certainly can inflate a bike's tires using a hand pump, doing so typically involves some time and effort. Production Functional Factory is attempting to address that situation with Bimp Air, a refillable compressed air system that's charged by the spinning of the bike's front wheel.

Bimp Air can reportedly fill a bicycle tire in less than 10 seconds

Bicycles

AirSupply puts a tire pump in a seatpost

Ben Coxworth February 11, 2016

While there are various ways of stowing a compact tire pump within a bicycle, a full-size model is almost always going to make the pumping easier. That's why Alexander Haager created the AirSupply pump, which doubles as a seatpost.

The AirSupply pump/seatpost, in use on the back tire