Light Start – UV stickers, 360 GoPro, a Hyperloop update, and the fate of John Snow
Brett Venter
L’Oréal’s UV patch will indicate sunburn, won’t help much in cases of extreme insults
There’s getting a burn and then there’s getting a burn. And while it might be devastating to have your friends or a random stranger completely destroy your self-confidence, sunburn tends to have much more lethal effects in large enough doses. Cosmetics company L’Oréal has come up with a way to monitor your UV absorption (other than checking yourself for blisters) so that you know just how much sunlight you’re getting. Called the My UV Patch, this is a flexible sticker-type thing which changes colour based on how much sunlight you’ve been exposed to. That’s because of “…photosensitive dyes that factor in the baseline skin tone and change colors when exposed to UV rays to indicate varying levels of sun exposure”, according to the company. The little health add-on was on show at CES 2016, because it actually works in conjunction with an iOS or Android app, but there’s no launch date for it just yet. Stick to sunblock and staying out of the light for now.
GoPro has a ‘casual’ 360-degree action cam heading to market
GoPro have had 360-degree cameras available for a while but these have been designed for the professional user and the accompanying bank balance. But since Nikon are about to drop a consumer version of just such an action cam, GoPro has decided that they’re doing the same. The announcement was made by GoPro CEO Nick Woodman, speaking at YouTube’s CES 2016 keynote presentation. Specs, pricing and what the unnamed camera can do will have to wait but this sort of announcement brings to mind how the company revealed that they were working on their own drone – so expect some news in the next few months clearing up our missing data.
As it turns out, it’s the Hyperloop that is a series of tubes
You remember the Hyperloop, that whole going-to-change-the-world transportation idea that Elon Musk lobbed onto the internet like it was no big deal? You probably also remember that several test tracks for the concept are going to be built early this year. Yeah, that’s definitely being made and we have the video footage to prove it (above, unless you’re reading this on the newsletter). Right now it’s just a collection of tubes which will be connected to test the concept and they’re lying out in the American desert. Like LEGO, we look forward to seeing what it looks like when all of this is assembled. Hopefully it works the way the theory says it should.
We might know nothing about John Snow right now but Game of Thrones Season 6 begins on 24 April
Let the countdown begin. Whether you’re a fan of the books or the HBO series, we’re all more or less on the same page right now. What’s up with John Snow? Also: Seriously, little kid? Seriously? Those are the question everyone’s asking and if we had the answers we’d… actually, we’d tell you. That’s too much suspense for one person to hold onto. But no, the answer will come with the Season 6 premiere, which will be taking place on 24 April according to the Game of Thrones Twitter account and the accompanying graphic. Excuse us while we go mark it on our calendars as large as possible.
