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Awesome tech you can’t buy yet: Life-seeking telescopes, scuba arms, and more

At any given moment, there are approximately a zillion crowdfunding campaigns on the web. Take a stroll through Kickstarter or Indiegogo and you’ll find no shortage of weird, useless, and downright stupid projects out there — alongside some real gems. In this column, we cut through all the worthless wearables and Oculus Rift ripoffs to round up the week’s most unusual, ambitious, and exciting projects. But don’t grab your wallet just yet. Keep in mind that any crowdfunded project can fail — even the most well-intentioned. Do your homework before cutting a check for the gadget of your dreams.

PLANETS Telescope — exoplanet observation telescope

 

The PLANETS Foundation believes that we can find life outside of the solar system within a decade. How? By closely examining exoplanets orbiting nearby stars. The problem is we don’t currently have the observation technologies necessary to begin the search — but that might soon change.

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Years ago, the PLANETS (Polarized Light from Atmospheres of Near Extra Terrestrial Systems) Foundation embarked on a mission to build a sophisticated new telescope that could do the job. Now the project is nearing completion, and the foundation has turned to Kickstarter to help fund the final polishing stage of the PLANETS telescope mirror.

Currently under construction, the PLANETS telescope will be the world’s largest off-axis telescope (1.85 meters) for exoplanetary science. The telescope site is located on Haleakala, a 3,048m (10,000ft) volcano on the island of Maui, Hawaii, one of the world’s best astronomical sites.

Scheduled to be completed by 2019, the PLANETS telescope is a pathfinder project for even more sophisticated telescopes capable of seeking out and characterizing life on nearby exoplanets. Pledge your support and you could potentially fund the discovery of alien life!

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Scubalec — arm-mounted underwater propulsion device

Like something out of a Sean Connery-era James Bond movie, Scubalec is an exciting new arm-mounted personal jet drive, designed to propel intrepid users through the water.

“People go snorkeling because it’s a great way to explore the underwater world,” creator Un-Yong Park said in an interview. “For those people who love snorkeling, we’ve created a handy device to bring even more fun to the underwater experience. Simply put Scubalec on your arm and it pulls you just in the direction you point, easy and simple.”

The Scubalec is comprised of two small jet drives combined with a 7.500 mA/h lithium-ion battery. When fully charged, it will provide 10-12 minutes’ worth of continuous propulsion.

Park describes the experience of using the Scubalec as being “like a cyclist with a tailwind on their back.” And that’s with just one. Imagine what having one on each arm would be like!

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Hypar — folding kayak

Folding kayaks are nothing new at this point. Boats with a collapsible frame and a removable skin have been around for decades. The technology has improved to the point that these folding kayaks can compete favorably with traditional hard-shell kayaks in performance and durability.

Over the past few years, innovation in this category of watercraft has moved the boats away from the skin-on-frame design to a single-piece collapsible form factor that makes the kayaks easy to carry around.

The latest entry into the foldable and portable kayak market is the Hypar. Hypar sets itself apart with its unique hull shape that uses two hyperbolic paraboloids to form a hull that is razor sharp at the stern and wide at the bow. This configuration allows the boat to cut through the water with minimal distortion and drag. It also provides a stable base that can be fitted with a motor, or even transformed into a sailboat with the addition of a mast and sail.

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B2 Nano Blade — ultracompact pocket knife

Looking for a good pocket knife that isn’t too bulky? Check out the B2 Nano Blade. Inspired by the B-2 bomber, the knife is made from heat-treated 440C black stainless steel, which not only gives it a military look, but a high level of durability as well. Those same materials are also lightweight, allowing the knife to maintain a solid level of performance with a svelte design.

The folding and locking knife measures 1.8 inches in length when closed and 3.1 inches in length with the blade deployed. It weighs less than an ounce and comes with a lifetime guarantee.

Bomber and Company used a split-blade design when creating the Nano that allows it to provide a surprising amount of utility in a small package. The front half of the blade is a standard knife edge designed to cut as needed, while the second half features serrated teeth that are meant for use on tougher materials such as wood or thick rope. The entire blade has also been perforated for ease of cleaning and to prevent debris from sticking to it when in use.

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Guardian LF1 — Lionfish catching robot

Lionfish may be beautiful creatures, but they’re also one of the ocean’s biggest pests. They are native to the Indo-Pacific, but fish hobbyists around the world have been attracted to their striking patterns and spines since the 1980s.

Scientists think that these pet owners began to release their adult lionfish into the Atlantic, where the fish thrived, bred, and spread up the coast to Maine, throughout the Gulf of Mexico, and down to Panama. The problem is that smaller native fish don’t recognize the invasive lionfish as a threat — and lionfish have voracious appetites. To make matters worse, these spiny sea creatures lack natural predators in the Atlantic, resulting in marine ecosystems with an unregulated and very deadly species.

A number of initiatives have been launched to hunt down lionfish, offering incentives to spear fisherman who target the species. These efforts have been effective in the shallows, but researchers have found that most lionfish live 200 feet beneath the surface — too deep for the average sport diver. So to augment these existing efforts, RSE Technologies is developing a robotic terminator, which will be designed to target and eliminate lionfish at all depths.

This machine roves around the water, stalking any lionfish it finds. It then stuns them and sucks them into a tube before carrying them to shore for removal.

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Drew Prindle
Former Senior Editor, Features
Drew Prindle is an award-winning writer, editor, and storyteller who currently serves as Senior Features Editor for Digital…
Zoox recalls robotaxis after Las Vegas crash, citing software fix
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Amazon's self-driving vehicle unit, Zoox, has issued a voluntary safety recall after one of its autonomous vehicles was involved in a minor collision in Las Vegas. The incident, which occurred in April 2025, led the company to investigate and identify a software issue affecting how the robotaxi anticipates another vehicle’s path.
The recall, affecting 270 Zoox-built vehicles, was formally filed with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Zoox said the issue has already been addressed through a software update that was remotely deployed to its fleet.
Zoox’s robotaxis, which operate without driving controls like a steering wheel or pedals, are part of Amazon’s entry into the autonomous driving space. According to Zoox’s safety recall report, the vehicle failed to yield to oncoming traffic while making an unprotected left turn, leading to a low-speed collision with a regular passenger car. While damage was minor, the event raised flags about the system’s behavior in complex urban scenarios.
Establishing safety and reliability remain key factors in the deployment of the relatively new autonomous ride-hailing technology. Alphabet-owned Waymo continues to lead the sector in both safety and operational scale, with services active in multiple cities including Phoenix and San Francisco. But GM’s Cruise and Ford/VW-backed Argo AI were forced to abandon operations over the past few years.
Tesla is also expected to enter the robotaxi race with the launch of its own service in June 2025, leveraging its Full Self-Driving (FSD) software. While FSD has faced heavy regulatory scrutiny through last year, safety regulations are expected to loosen under the Trump administration.
Zoox, which Amazon acquired in 2020, says it issued the recall voluntarily as part of its commitment to safety. “It’s essential that we remain transparent about our processes and the collective decisions we make,” the company said in a statement.

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Mitsubishi’s back in the EV game—with a new electric SUV coming in 2026
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Mitsubishi is officially jumping back into the U.S. electric vehicle scene—and this time, it’s not just dipping a toe. The company confirmed it will launch a brand-new battery-electric SUV in North America starting in summer 2026, marking its first fully electric model here since the quirky little i-MiEV left the stage back in 2017.
The new EV will be a compact crossover, and while Mitsubishi is keeping most of the juicy details under wraps, we do know it’ll be based on the same next-gen platform as the upcoming Nissan Leaf. That means it’ll ride on the CMF-EV architecture—the same one underpinning the Nissan Ariya—which supports ranges of up to 300+ miles. So yeah, this won’t be your average entry-level EV.
Designed in partnership with Nissan, the new model will be built in Japan and shipped over to U.S. shores. No word yet on pricing, battery size, or even a name, but Mitsubishi has made it clear this EV is just the beginning. As part of its “Momentum 2030” plan, the company promises a new or updated vehicle every year through the end of the decade, with four electric models rolling out by 2028. And yes, one of those might even be a pickup.
Mitsubishi says the goal is to give customers “flexible powertrain options,” which is marketing speak for: “We’ll have something for everyone.” So whether you're all-in on electric or still into gas or hybrid power, they're aiming to have you covered.
This mystery EV will eventually sit alongside Mitsubishi’s current U.S. lineup—the Outlander, Outlander PHEV, Eclipse Cross, and Outlander Sport—and help the brand move beyond its current under-the-radar status in the electric world.
In short: Mitsubishi’s finally getting serious about EVs, and if this new SUV lives up to its potential, it might just put the brand back on your radar.

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Toyota unveils 2026 bZ: A smarter, longer-range electric SUV
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Toyota is back in the electric SUV game with the 2026 bZ, a major refresh of its bZ4X that finally delivers on two of the biggest demands from EV drivers: more range and faster charging.
The headline news is the improved driving range. Toyota now estimates up to 314 miles on a single charge for the front-wheel-drive model with the larger 74.7-kWh battery—about 60 miles more than the outgoing bZ4X. All-wheel-drive variants also get a boost, with up to 288 miles of range depending on trim.
Charging speeds haven’t increased in terms of raw kilowatts (still capped at 150 kW for DC fast charging), but Toyota has significantly improved how long peak speeds are sustained. With preconditioning enabled—especially helpful in colder weather—the new bZ can charge from 10% to 80% in about 30 minutes. Also new: Plug and Charge support for automatic payment at compatible stations and full adoption of the North American Charging Standard (NACS), meaning access to Tesla Superchargers will be standard by 2026.
Under the hood, or rather the floor, Toyota has swapped in higher-performance silicon carbide components to improve efficiency and power delivery. The AWD version now produces up to 338 horsepower and sprints from 0–60 mph in a brisk 4.9 seconds.
Toyota didn’t stop at just the powertrain. The exterior has been cleaned up, with body-colored wheel arches replacing the black cladding, and a sleeker front fascia. Inside, a larger 14-inch touchscreen now houses climate controls, giving the dash a more refined and less cluttered appearance. There’s also more usable storage thanks to a redesigned center console.
With the 2026 bZ, Toyota seems to be responding directly to critiques of the bZ4X. It’s faster, more efficient, and more driver-friendly—finally bringing Toyota’s EV efforts up to speed.

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