No one likes to be bitten by mosquitoes, but bee and hornet stings are far worse, while jellyfish stings can be quite painful. We’ve heard of various methods to ease the pain and reduce the itchiness but most still leave us scratching and in some discomfort. One solution would be to slather yourself in various bug repellants or simply avoid outdoors altogether. But there is another option.
The Therapik is a high-tech solution to an old age problem. But ironically it is a fairly simple solution too. The Therapik might look like something out of Star Trek, but it simply produces the right range of heat to neutralize the pain, itch and swelling – because the irritants in the stings and bites are in fact sensitive to heat. Just press the device’s tip against the bite or sting and the irritant will be reduced along with swelling and itching.
We’ve seen a few fold up watercraft this year, including the 
Japanese based Arte Sales rolled out its new Tretta 2WD bike at last week’s Interbike. The concept has taken five years to develop and was finally introduced last year, but the company hopes to gain traction in the worldwide cycling market.
Having some sort of light is a good idea when riding a bike at night. But instead of buying yet one more gizmo, the team at Monocle have created an abrasion-resistant synthetic webbing that holds and iPhone and uses the handsets flash to blink through a red lens – thus transforming the handset into a bike light.
This past Saturday saw the release of a very different Nike shoe, the Nike Free Inneva Woven. This footwear featured a new 360-degree hand-woven system that unifies the laces with nylon webbing upper made from various strand widths. The idea is a shoe that fits better, offers great support and can truly breathe!
At this week’s Interbike we’ve seen bikes made of steel, titanium , aluminum and of course carbon fiber, not to mention bamboo. We’ve heard about bikes made of wood and now Izhar Gafni is working on a bike made of recycled cardboard.
Boosted Boards is looking to roll out what it claims to be the absolutely lightest electric vehicle on the planet, which isn’t much of a surprise as it is essentially a motorized skateboard. The company claims that it can hit speeds up to 20mph, and handle grades up to 15 percent. It can run six miles on a single charge, which could make it an option for daring commuters.
Isn’t every new design project somewhat of a priority? That likely depends, but for Cannondale its game changing CERV (Continuously Ergonomic Race Vehicle) certainly seems like it could get somewhere in a hurry. It is actually a concept bike from Priority Designs that could take cycling in a new direction.
Bicycles can often seem like works of art, and various artists have created art projects from bicycle parts. But now DLECTRICITY is another type of art utilizing the bicycle:
Do athletics have to “think” about their reaction, and could performance be improved by “training” the muscles to do what seemingly comes so naturally? That remains a question to ask, but an engineering team from Imperial College London has created a wearable, vibrating armband called “Ghost,” which reportedly can train a person’s muscles and teach the user to move like professional athletes.
At last week’s Eurobike trade show Canadian apparel maker Louis Garneau took home the Eurobike Award for its Course Speedzone Vest, which was designed by company founder and President Louis Garneau. The vest offers a new approach to outerwear layering in that it allows riders to access the jersey pocks and maintain that race numbers remain visible. This just proves that simple can help win races and awards! 
Earlier this year we profiled an interesting design in bicycle locks called the Pedal Lock. As the name suggests it was designed to use a bicycles pedals as a means of securing the bike.
For those who have the legs the Wandertec Tuba Bike Trailer can haul just about anything you need. Meant to replicate the load capacity of car trunk – and a big car trunk at that – the trailer is available in two sizes with the large holding 11,000 cubic inches while the slightly smaller one offers 7,700 cubic inches. The trailer features an aluminum frame and Baltic birch plywood bed to reduce weight. The Wandertec attaches to bikes via a hitch system used by Chariot Bike trailers.