Crazy Tech News Countdown: Self-Aware Traffic Lights, Robot Phones and more!

Welcome once again to Crazy Tech News Countdown, the weekly column where we count down the weirdest tech of the week. So without further ado, let’s count them down!

5- Self-aware traffic lights – We get stuck in traffic jams way too often, even though many times we get stopped despite there being no pedestrians, or the other way around. European researchers are trying to fix this issue by making traffic lights that actually react to the traffic conditions. Hopefully that way we’ll all save on fuel, and our sanity.

4- Dog poop-powered park – Who knew dog poop could be useful for anything? It turns out that thanks to the great amounts of methane it releases, it can be used to generate electricity. The lights in this Cambridge, MA park are all powered by dog poop. Of course the owners will have to be wise and patient enough to scoop the dog’s leavings into a special tube that will then feed the lights and pretty much anything else really.

3- A “robot” cell phone – SoftBank Mobile, a popular carrier in Japan, has launched a phone themed after Gundam, a popular anime show over there. But more importantly, it’s waterproof and features a camera with 720p video recording, a digital TV tuner, Wi-Fi, HDMI output and much more. This is why living in Japan is awesome.

2- An airplane and automobile in one – Sorry to disappoint you, this was a concept from the 1930s. The December 1930 issue of Modern Mechanics predicted we’d have cars that could turn into planes and fly around if needed. Would have definitely made things a lot easier for working at a distance, even though many would agree the internet has solved that problem in a much more efficient way. Either way, I want! Ford, stop your Ford Sync stuff and get working on this!