Unit 1 Tourism Around The World Part A Listening Total: Fill & Download for Free

If you are interesting CHINA go check ‘Zhihu’Forget about EVERYTHING you been told about ChinaAdvice :learning Chinese is good for youAmerican people think about CHINA like thisIs China the most powerful country in the world?If you want to know real CHINADon’t listen West Medea, Ask people who live in CHINAHow strong China is now？中国现在到底有多强大？ - 知乎Is gonna happen war between CHINA and US?中美会发生战争吗?中美会发生战争吗？ - 知乎美国是不是正在为瓦解中国做准备？Is United States are preparing for the collapse of China?美国是不是正在为瓦解中国做准备？ - 知乎中国现在有哪些值得骄傲的方面？ - 知乎List of Highest International Bridges/Page 1China rotated a 17,000-ton bridge into place after its constructionHow Chinese mobile payments are quietly conquering the worldChinese Mobile Payment Service Alipay to Launch in the U.S.This is Microsoft didMicrosoft delivers secure China-only cut of Windows 10Why , Because Chinese is so richChinese tourists spent 12% more in travelling abroad in 2016China Inbound Tourism in 2016Comac C919 - WikipediaC-919: first Chinese-built passenger jet completes 'beautiful' maiden flightChina National Highways MapHigh-speed rail in China - WikipediaMap of China CRH(China Railway Highspeed) stationTitle:2,298 km in 7 hours and 59 minutes - This is Chinese High-Speed RailTrain G79 Beijing - Guangzhou travelling with an average speed of 287.8 km/h (178.8 mph) through Mainland China (Shijiazhuang, Zhengzhou, Wuhan, Changsha); from 2015 High-Speed trains may run from Beijing via Guangzhou to Hong Kong美国家庭支持国货换掉全部国外制造，最后还是买到了中国制造！◎_◎Title:US family support domestic products to replace all foreign manufacturing, But finally Still bought the Chinese manufacturingShanghai HongQiao Station HubThis station cost $ 10 billion虹桥综合交通枢纽 - 维基百科，自由的百科全书This station single day have 12 Million pass through, More than half province of Taiwan, China單日流量1200萬人，超過台灣一半人口List of metro systems - WikipediaThe Shanghai Metro is the longest metro system by route length.The Beijing Subway is the metro system with the highest ridership.Today China boasts both the world's longest and second longest metro systems.Urban rail transit in China - WikipediaFrom 2009 to 2015, China built 87 mass transit rail lines, totaling 3100 km, in 25 cities at the cost of ¥988.6 billion.Out of the top 10 busiest metro systems in the world 4 of them are in China. As of early 2016, China has 3195.6 km of subway linesand is responsible for most of the world's new subway mileage.As of January 2016, 26 Chinese cities have metro systems and 39 more have metro systems approved according to the National Development and Reform Commission. China plans to spend 4.7 trillion yuan ($706 billion) on transport infrastructure in the next 3 years.The Chinese government published a transport whitepaper titled "Development of China's Transport" as part of its 13th Five Year Plan. The plan envisions a more sustainable transport system with priority focused on high-capacity public transit particularly urban rail transit and bus rapid transit. All cities with over 3 million residents will start or continue developing urban rail networks. Regional railway networks will internally connect and integrate urban agglomerations such as the Jingjinji, Yangtze River Delta and Pearl River Delta areas.Title：World's Largest Airport - China's $11 Billion Mega-Project!!Title：Chinese Bridge Maker Machine - Amazing Bridge Construction MachineryTitle：World’s longest cross-sea bridge in S China close to completionTitle：China's Ultimate Port - Biggest Construction on Earth | Mega Structure NatgeoTitle：World's highest bridge opens to traffic in southwest ChinaTitle：China Sets Record for World's Highest Bridge, AgainWhy again, because when you look at this：List of Highest International BridgesTitle：Don’t get lost: the complicated highway interchange with 5 levels completed construction in SW ChinaWTF？Footage shows the newly completed highway interchange on May 31, 2017 in southwest China’s Chongqing. The crazy overpass has recently gone viral online due to its magnificence and complexity. It has a structure of 5 levels and 15 lanes, extending to a total of 8 directions. Some Chinese netizens joke that the most complicated interchange may even confuse the car GPS.This is city (Chongqing)build on mountain ,some of Chinese call it “3D City”China have a lot of things I can’t tell on this single answerIS THAT POWERFUL FOR YOU?PS.Here is some photos shot in China by myselfCites are nice and cleanWuhan 武汉Chengdu成都WuhanBack to home11 PM in WuhanChengduChengdu Metro Line 4Chengdu Metro Line 1 in 6 AMOne of small stationmax running speed380KM/hChengdu East Station at 11 PMSelf-service ticket machine （on Bus station）use AlipayOne of small town in Suzhou(Suzhou is very rich city,every 1 of 300 are Multimillionaire,They may sit subway around to you)I did’t mention Technology ,It’s too much words, Huawei Alibaba Tencent Baidu Vivo Oppo DJI SynologyMeet China's giant tech companiesThe fast Supercomputer in the worldChina introduced the Sunway TaihuLight supercomputer in 2016, which substantially outperforms the Tianhe-2, and now holds the title as the fastest supercomputer in the world while using completely domestic technology including the Sunway manycore microprocessorTianhe-2 - WikipediaQuantum Experiments at Space ScaleThe mission cost around US$100 million in total.Quantum Experiments at Space Scale - WikipediaChina’s BYD to build 40 new electric buses in AustraliaBYD founder and chief executive Wang Chuan-fu told RenewEconomy in January 2016 that he expects the global market for EVs to double in each of the next three years, although the company did not see itself as a competitor to Tesla.“We are the first Chinese company to crack Australia’s electric bus market, having come a long way since the trial of our electric buses at the country’s busiest airport in Sydney in late 2014,” he says.Now, back to question: Is China a powerful country?

I can only answer this question as a tourist from Taiwan. This is my personal observation of "life in Xinjiang", it may not be a total picture of the life of ordinary citizens in Xinjiang, it’s just a small part of it.Xingjiang is a mysterious place to me and is a place I always wanted to visit.Most of the western media on Xingjiang these days is full of negative news such as "concentration camp" like facilities that locked in a million Uyghurs; police patrolling every corner of the street; and some violent clashes between ethnic Uyghur and Han people in the past. All of this suggests that Xingjiang seems to me is not a very peaceful place.China is not new to me. I have traveled and worked in China from time to time since late 1980's but mostly in the eastern regions. Never been to Xinjiang, I finally decided to take a look at life in Xinjiang for myself.In a trip to Xingjiang in August of 2019, I arrived Urumqi from Moscow in a leg of my 3-week journey started from Taiwan, to a few Eastern Europe countries (that I have never been to but wanted in order to continue my quest for visiting as many countries as possible) first, then St. Petersburg and Moscow in Russia, and finally arrived in Urumqi before I return to Taiwan.I traveled alone, and can speak Chinese so I blend into the crowd very easily in China, and hopefully in Xinjiang as well, I hoped. I wanted to personally observe what ordinary people's life in Xinjiang like in a few days that I planned to stay there. During those few days, I tried to visit as many places as I could including tourist spots, museums, book stores, shopping malls; wondered around the streets and have taken buses, taxi, subway around the city of Urumqi, and high speed train to Turpan in a day trip.The following is a pictorial story of my observation of "Life in Xinjiang". There are quite a few people in pictures I took without asking permission, which I apologize. But I have no ill intentions. Most of the pictures of people are nice and warming occasions that I think represent the life in Xinjiang. I find all the places I visited in Xinjiang to be peaceful, with very few police or soldiers on the streets except places such as subway and train stations, etc. which is normal in all other cities in China. It seems to me that all locals and tourists regardless of ethnicity live harmoneously, people tending their own business and go about their own lives just like any other cities in the world. I did not see any signs of things that made me feel negative or uneasy. Again, I have to say that this may not be the full pictures of life in Xinjiang as I have only a few days and visited only two cities, Urumqi and Turpan.Finally, I need to clarify myself to the readers of this post. I am from Taiwan, and I believe that most of Taiwanese recognize that historically and culturally, Taiwan is related to China. The difference is the political systems in which Taiwan is democratic and China is authoritarian. To stay as a democratic society is the main stream political consensus in Taiwan. With that in mind, the tremendous progress that China made in the past 30 years or so is a fact that we have to face it objectively.So, here comes my observation of life in Xinjiang:1. Arrived in Urumqi in a warm, sunny day in August of 2019, checked in at the Hilton Hotel, Urumqi. This is one of the up scale hotels in Urumqi, with a very pleasant room, surroundings and friendly staff like most of the Hiltons around the world.The Hilton Hotel, Urumqi.Look out of my room across the street, I saw modern buildings, at right side is probably an office building, and residential buildings on the left side. Very nice, neat and modern buildings and wide streets.One evening, I wondered across the street from my hotel to the residential area. There was a street vendor selling various kinds of fruits. The vendor was a young man. He had a couple of very simple baskets of fruits laid on the street side a piece of cloth to display his fruits. Nice looking fruits with many different kinds of grapes that Xinjiang is famous for. I asked him why he is selling fruits on side walk. He said he is from country side and the evening is the only time that he can do it without being chased by police. I bought my daily ration of fruits from him for RMBY7, about US$1. The grapes are so sweet!In the parking lot of the hotel, I spotted this trailer home being towed by a SUV/Van. As middle class of ordinary Chinese citizens getting more affluent and they want to travel, by every which means they can think of. In this case, the license plate on the back of this trailer home says it is from Guangxi Autonomous Region (桂) in southern China, about 3,000 kilometers from Urumqi! Trailer homes are becoming popular in China, just like America or every where else in the world.2. Tour of Urumqi City. Grand Bazaar, Urumqi Museum, Sweat Blood Horse Breading Base, Shopping Malls, Subways and restaurantsI took the subway to visit the Grand Bazaar (大巴札) in southern Urumqi.Urumqi Subway is newly built, it's clean, bright and modern rivals any subway systems around the world.An Urumqi Subway Station.Different ethnic group people on the subway train. On the Subway train, you see people minding their own business just like any other cities around the world.3. The Grand Bazaar is one of the top tourist attractions of Urumqi, hundreds and thousands of tourists as well as locals come here to shop, eat, stroll, and just enjoy the place.The Grand Bazaar is a closed area with security check points at entrances. Security check points are common in China, at subway, train, major bus stations, large shopping malls, museums, public buildings, and tourist spots. This is no exception.Inside the Grand Bazaar, full of Uyghur flavors. I found the place is very lively, and peaceful with people from all walks of life, tourists and ethnicity mingle and even dance together.Locals and tourists dancing in the court yard, seems to be happy and enjoying themselves.The food court. All Xinjiang local flavors you can think off.This is a special picture that I waited and took the shot at the right moment. It shows a local food vendor scans the mobile phone of a customer for the payment of the food she bought. You may already know that digital payment and transaction systems like AliPay, Wechat Pay are accepted every where in China, here in Urumqi, Xinjiang is no exception.Lady shoppers at the bazaar.Everything you need bazaar.I was hungry and went to a noodle shop in the Grand Bazaar for lunch. This is what I had:1) a bowl of beef noodle, RMB17 ~ US$2.502) cucumber salad, RMB5 ~ US$0.71Total RMB22 ~ US$3.214. During one of the days, I visited a very interesting place right in downtown Urumqi. It is a combination of two huge parks. One is the Xinjiang Ancient Ecological National Park with collection of precious ancient silicified wood, fossil plants, and black iron meteorites, and neighboring horse breeding base (Ferghana Horse Center, Akhal-Teke Horse Base) with an art gallery featuring painting about horses, as well as a museum of General Zuo Zongtang (which by the way, has no exhibitions except empty buildings unfortunately.) If you don’t know General Zuo, I have some description of General Zuo in the Xinjiang Museum section below.There are hundreds of silicified wood dating back to millions of years in the Ancient Ecological Park.A Uyghur couple strolling around the Ecological parkNext to the Ecological Park, is the Akhal-Teke Horse Base. The horse, Akhal-Teke ( 汗血馬 in Chinese, it literally means Sweat Blood Horse because when the horse gallops, her blood vain pops like sweat flowing down her body) is a majestic, magnificent looking big horse. The horse is very rare and can be found only in central Asia is said to be used in battles as war horses in the past. This horse breeding base has many different kind of horses but is specifically set up to preserve this beautiful Akhal-Teke horse. The Base has an Art Gallery that exhibits hundreds of giant oil paintings of horses. Should be a very enjoyable experience for both local and visiting tourist alike.The horses in the horse base.A father and son pair watching the horse.The horse gallery is full of large oil painting that are real life-like. I followed a group of tourist with a Gallery Guide. She looks like a young Uyghur lady but speaks perfect Mandarin Chinese with such abundant knowledge of horses and the paintings. It was a pleasure to listen to what she has to say.After a few hours touring the Ecological Park and the Horse Breeding base, it’s about time for lunch. I walked into a pleasant looking restaurant right next to the park in a hotel building. As a lone traveler having lunch by myself, I was led to a nice booth with drapes the staff closed off so I can have lunch in complete privacy.The name of the restaurant is Horse Wisperer (馬語者) . I guess it named so as it is located right next to the horse breeding base. Very nice western decor which of course, serves western food.This is my private booth.I ordered a salad, salmon fish (must be imported, we are at least 4000 km away from the sea), and a beer. The food is pretty good, and I enjoyed my meal and the environment very much.It costs me RMB116, about US$17. it is probably on the expensive side for locals, but I think it is OK for a tourist. I paid my food using AliPay, which is on record with my Alipay account. I actually checked it using my cell phone and found out how much I paid when I was doing this post months later in Taiwan. ( You can see on the upper left corner of the picture the Telco service company is Zhong Hua Telecom 中華電信 which is a Taiwan telco service provider. ) The digital payment systems are so convenient and efficient, I totally enjoyed the convenience of using it.5. Xinjiang Museum. Like many other major cities around the world Urumqi has a Museum that displays and exhibits Xinjing's history, culture and the evolution of life in the region, from the Chinese point of view, of course.The Xinjiang Museum. Many locals and tourists were seen touring the museum that day.A grand view of the ancient Silk Road, the Eastern most City is Changan ( Today's Xian), the western most city is Consitantinople ( Todays's Istanbul ), and Xinjiang is right in the middle.This placard says that the Han Chinese had settled in Xinjiang as early as 327 B.C. during the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, and established a Han-majority Kingdom of Gaochang (高昌國) in the Turpan area.The Turpan basin has become the political, economical, cultural and military center during the time Gaochang. Buddhism becoming to spread from India to China and the Xinjiang is the first point of entry for Buddhism. Buddhist relics of Xinjiang.Cultural relics of Xinjiang displayed at the Xinjiang MuseumFull of visitors from all over in the Xinjiang MuseumThe map of Xinjiang during Qing Dynasty (1644 - 1911 BC), the last dynasty of China before Sun-Yet Sen led revolution that overthrown Qing and established the Republic of China in 1911.Picture of General Zuo Zongtang. General Zuo is well known is America and some parts of the world nowadays other than China because of a very popular dish in Chinese restaurant all over known as General Zuo's Chicken. However in China, General Zuo is known as one of the most respected officials in the Qing Dynasty. General Zuo is a great politician, statesman, military strategist, a patriot. Gen. Zuo was instrumental in preserving the integrity of Xinjiang as part of China by fighting off and defeating British and Russian supported aggression of Xinjiang during a very difficult time in the Qing Dynasty when China has lost millions of square kilometers of land in the far east to Russia in unequal treaties. Because of General Zuo, Xinjiang was preserved as an integral part of China and continued through the years of Republic of China and People’s Republic to this date.6. Across the street not too far from the Xinjiang Museum is a large modern shopping mall. Yes, it is called the United States Shopping Mall in English, but Mei Mei (美美百貨商場) in Chinese. It is obviously an up-scale shopping mall with mostly stores with global brand-names and luxury goods, on par with any malls can find around the world.A very well dressed lady, was about to take a picture in the mall.This was what the lady is taking a picture of. In the background is the US fashion brand Coach store.I also wondered into a large book store, the Xinhua Bookstore (新華書店) which is a national chain of state-run bookstore. There was a big pile of books as you enter the store in the most prominent spot, you do not need to know the language to know what the book is about.7. The Hong Guang Shan Buddist park (紅光山). Right next to the Hilton Hotel, here sits a massive buddist park called Hong Guang Shan. Buddhism used to be the dominate religion in Xingjiang and central Asia region, as Buddhism spread from India to China via Afghanistan and Xinjiang into central China then to Korea and Japan. Xinjiang still has many Buddhist temples, some old, some new because many old temples were destroyed during the Cultural revolution in the 1960's. Dunhunag area in the Xinjiang and Gansu is famous for many caves full of ancient buddhist relics. The Urumqi Hong Guang Shan is a massive, 15,000 acre Buddhist park which was built and completed in 2010.9. A Day-trip to Turpan.Turpan is of special interest to me because of its geological, historical and cultural aspect. Turpan basin is the only place in China that sits below sea level, and has the hottest spot in all China. The Turpan grapes are so famous that it is well known in Taiwan.This is the highlight of my Xingjiang trip. I booked in advance a round trip high speed train ticket to Turpan. I did a little research and planned my trip to visit these places of interest, hopefully in about 4-5 hours in Turpan: The Flame Mountain, Turpan Museum, Grape Valley, and the Imin Minaret Tower.The Urumqi High Speed Train Station. The security is very tight. It’s a thorough body search and full search of bags which takes a long time resulting in a long queue to enter the station, I almost missed my train.Inside the modern Urumqi High Speed Train StationThe first class car of the high speed train from Urumqi to Turpan. Some Chinese high speed train has higher class car called “Business Class”, which has very luxurious seats like first class of airlines with spacious seat shelled seats that can lay flat. This train has only First Class as the highest class car.The Turpan High Speed Train StationOut side the Turpan train station at the taxi stand, I negotiated with this taxi driver for a half a day private car-hire to tour the Turpan area. We finally settled at RMB450, about US$65. The taxi driver, Mr. Su (he has a long name so I just call him Su for short) is a Uyghur who speak Chinese with some accent, sometimes I have to listen very hard to understand him. But we had no trouble communicating with each other. I had a very pleasant trip, Mr. Su suggested a most efficient route to my planned places that I wanted to visit. In between, He took me to a Turpan local restaurant for lunch, that was a great experience.First stop, the Flaming Mountain, which is about 40 km from Turpan city.The highway near Turpan. it is divided, paved highway. very smooth ride, not the first class express way, but good enough for driving at 100 km/h. The Street sign says Turpan 30km, Turpan Dabancheng 133km, Urumuqi 209km.A local street side super market, the sign says "Super market & Urea”!The Flaming Mountain Tourist Park. The entrance to the park has a giant banana leaf shaped fan (A item in a Chinese Fairy tale “Journey to the West”), the with thermometer in it. It reads 40 deg. C. this is the foot hill of the mountain.Walked to the Hill top of the Flaming Mountain. The camels are waiting for customers in the hot sun.I have reached the hottest point in China, the sign says.The giant thermometer on the left in the picture reads: 59 deg. C!There is an ultra-light aircraft operator near the Flame Mountain offering tourist flying pleasure.We drove back to the city where the Turpan Museum is located. When driving around the Turpan city, I took some shots from the taxi the street scene, and some low and high rise residential buildings.Turpan street. Looked nice and neat. Note the solar panels on the roof top of the residential buildings.A high residential building I took while in the taxi driving through the city of Turpan.The buildings and streets looked very nice and neat, not bad for a city like Turpan which is considered a fourth line city in China. By the way, Urumqi is considered as third line city. The 5 mega cities like Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen are the first line, and some more developed provincial capital cities are second line.We stop by for lunch. At the suggestion of Mr. Su, we had lunch at a local restaurant called the Hamuzhar Restaurant (哈木札爾) . The sign on top says Evening Show, fashion KTV, Bar as you can see.In side the Hamuzhar, a large Projection TV screen, a stage for the band, and a keyboard on the stage. Looks like a night club setting.Our lunch, featured the local Grab Rice (抓飯) which is a combination rice dish with lamb and some vegetable, a typical local quick lunch choice.Mr. Su and I had altogether two Grab Rice, one for each, and two dishes, one stewed vegetable, one salad dish, and one beer for me (Su is driving, no alcohol for him). Total tab for two of us: RMB98, about US$14. Mr. Su and I had a nice talk over lunch. I asked about his family. His wife works at a local bank, has two children, one boy and one girl. He seems to feel pretty good about his family and I am happy for him.After lunch we head out to the Turpan Museum.Before we head out to the Turpan Museum, we made a brief stop at the Imin Minaret Tower (蘇公塔) which I have seen it in pictures and really liked the architecture and I wanted to see for myself. This Tower was built in 1777 or Qing Dynasty Qian-Long (乾隆) emperor year 42 by Imin Haja who was the head of Turpan prefecture subject to the rule of the emperor Qian Long. This beautiful, striking architecture has a distinctive Uyghur theme. I was pleased to come to visit and to pay my admiration.The Turpan Museum. The museum displays large number of relics of the area, and the history of Turpan. If you are interested in dinosaurs, Xinjiang is the place to visit.The last stop in my tour of Turpan is the Grape Valley Park. It is an Valley along a stream that is perfect environment for growing grapes.This park is rated by Chinese Tourism Athority as a AAAAA (the highest) tourist attractions. This place is huge and would take hours to see the place. Mr. Su suggested me to see it as the last stop, which I find he is absolutely right. The park offers shuttle bus from the entrance to the part to the center tourist area which takes 15 mins drive.As the name implies, the Grape Alley is for growing grapes.There is a beverage stall selling freshly squeezed grape juice and water lemon juice for RMB5 (US$0.7) a cup. I tried the grape juice, it was so fresh and sweet.Some scene at the park.Stage performance - Uyghur dance for the tourists.The oasis in the desert.Time to head back to Urumqi. Mr. Su drove me back to the Turpan Station just in time for the train. Again I paid him the RMB450 we agreed for his taxi service with my Alipay and we bid farewell.Turpan is located about 250 km east of Urumqi, so the high speed train travels to the east from Urumqi. I had a left side seat on the train. There is not much of a view facing north because there is a sand barrier along the north side of the rail tracks which blocked the view. However, on the high speed train back to Urumqi, I was on the left side of the car again but this time facing south I had mostly open view. I spotted a large wind turbine farm in mostly desert terrain.Back to Urumqi, this concluded my travel to Urumqi. I must say that I had a fairly pleasant trip to Xinjiang. Again, as a tourist, I realize that this is just a small sample of the “life in Xinjiang”. I just hope that all people everywhere in this world can live peacefully as I witnessed.[Thank you!]

Game-changing gadgetsIf necessity is the mother of invention, then the father must be ingenuity. Or imagination. Or determination. Or maybe even luck.The point is, a lot of factors must align for someone to invent something that’s truly groundbreaking.Which is why when a lone tinkerer or a team of engineers capture lightning in a bottle, it should be celebrated for the rare achievement it is.As part of our continuing focus on innovation, CNN once again is honoring 10 new inventions in technology and related fields. These are gadgets or prototypes with big, game-changing goals: to harness wind energy a thousand feet off the ground, to seal gunshot wounds in seconds, to send text messages by waving your finger, to ferry private citizens into space.Some of these creations have been in the works for years but are finally ready for their close-up. Others are brand new on the scene. But all have the potential to shake up industries, to save lives, to make our daily existences a little bit easier.May we present the 2014 edition of The CNN 10: Inventions.Look, up in the sky! It’s a blimp! It’s a kite! It’s a …wind turbine?Yes, that strange-looking, helium-filled winged gray doughnut with the propeller-like blade in the center is a wind turbine – a Buoyant Airborne Turbine, or BAT, to be precise. And it just may be the answer for supplying energy to underserved regions, as well as providing cheaper and safer wind energy to the United States.The BAT is the brainchild of Altaeros Energies, a Boston-based company founded by four MIT grads. With funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the National Science Foundation and the California Energy Commission, among many, the company’s stated goal is to “deploy the world’s first commercial airborne wind turbine to harness the abundant energy in strong, steady winds at higher altitudes,” particularly in remote locations.Wind turbines have become common in certain areas around the world. But the towering machines have drawbacks: their power generation is unreliable and sometimes more costly than established forms. They can be deadly to birds.Moreover, they’re often criticized for their unsightliness. One planned wind farm, off the coast of Cape Cod, has been mired in controversy for years, partly because it would spoil the views of scenic areas.The BAT, says Altaeros, avoids many of those issues. The turbines, which are tethered to a power station on the ground, are portable. They’re less problematic with birds and the surrounding environment. And at altitudes as high as 1,000 feet, they’re more productive than ground-based turbines, since winds are much stronger and more consistent at high altitudes.“The reason high-altitude wind is so exciting and worth going after is really very simple: there’s just a lot more of it,” says CEO Ben Glass in a promotional video. Other companies, including a Google subsidiary, also have high-altitude wind turbines in development.The BAT won’t necessarily displace other forms of energy. Wind power can be expensive on its own. But in the remote areas Altaeros is targeting, it can be far more economical than the alternatives. Altaeros currently is testing the BAT in Alaska, and hopes to bring power to other isolated areas.In addition, the BAT may be able to function as a communications tool, useful for Internet and telephone transmission and weather coverage, as well as become handy in a crisis. If a disaster levels a local grid, a few BATs can provide emergency power.Sounds like a hit.In the mobile world, our screens have gotten smaller and more defined. Some are curvy or bendy and some show 3D images.But what if we could skip the screen altogether? That's what Glyph promises – 3D images beamed directly into our eyes.From Michigan-based Avegant, the Glyph headset looks like a chunky set of headphones with a pop-down, "Star Trek"-style visor. (They promise a sleeker look for the final product).It hooks up to a smartphone, TV, gaming device or laptop and uses a system of 2 million microscopic mirrors to beam the images directly into your retinas.Yes, the image will exist nowhere except in your brain. And that opens up a ton of possibilities. While other entries in the high-tech headset field, like Google Glass and the Oculus Rift, will rely on specially developed apps or games, Avegant says the Glyph will work with the media you already consume.Early response has been strong. A Kickstarter campaign early this year aimed to pull in $250,000. It hit that mark in four hours and went on to raise more than $1.5 million."It's like ordering flowers for your girlfriend and they show up with a whole truck full of flowers," Avegant CEO Edward Tang told CNN.When not being used, the visor can be flipped up and the headset can be used as a regular set of headphones.Last month, Avegant said it remains on pace to deliver what they're calling beta-testing models of the headset to Kickstarter donors by late this year. The company has already sent headsets to outside developers, who they hope will come up with new, previously unknown uses for the technology.If you're trying to improve the sound of music, it helps to have a rock 'n' roll legend on your side.When that legend is Neil Young, with support from other rock royalty like Bruce Springsteen, Tom Petty and Sting, you get Pono.Pono is the triangle-shaped music player, set to be released late this year, that backers hope will bring the quality of hi-fi stereo sound back to the mainstream in the age of the iPod.And even if its $399 price tag proves troublesome for some consumers, there appears to be, at the very least, a healthy niche market developing. A Kickstarter project to fund the device raised $6.2 million -- the 3rd-biggest campaign in the crowdfunding site's history."You have helped to set the stage for a revolution in music listening," Young wrote in a thank-you note to backers. "Finally, quality enters the listening space so that we can all hear and feel what the artists created, the way they heard and felt it."Digital music sales and online music streaming have crippled the physical sale of CDs in much the same way CDs moved folks past vinyl albums. But with each step, we sacrificed a little sound quality.For digital music, sound files get compressed to make them take up less storage space, squeezing out some of the music's more delicate details.In Pono's Kickstarter video, rocker Elvis Costello compares the end effect to looking at a Xerox copy of the Mona Lisa.Pono will stream music in 24-bit, 192-kHz sound, which is far cleaner than mp3s and even better than CDs.Young had been a critic of digital music, particularly Apple's iTunes store, for years when he decided to do something about it in 2012. That's when he teamed up with Silicon Valley tech entrepreneur John Hamm, who now serves as Pono's CEO.A handful of high-definition music players already exist. But they're super-expensive, sometimes going for more than $1,000, and there's very little music available for them. And that, in the end, might be Pono's most practical innovation.The company says it has agreements with all major record labels to make music available in its online store and that it's working with independent labels to help them do the same.Today’s smartphones, it can be argued, are rigid and wasteful. With preassembly, there’s no real way to personalize them. And if your camera breaks or battery dies, you’ve got a useless brick.Google is reimagining that concept with Project Ara, a totally customizable phone made of individual pieces.Need a new feature? Just add it. Something broke? Swap it out.The phone starts as a basic frame, called an Endo. Then you pick out the microprocessor, camera, battery and extra hardware that’s best for you. They snap together like Legos, except with magnets.The world of possibilities really opens up when you consider that 3D printers could be used to make special add-ons that are totally unique to your phone.The flexibility it gives phone owners is unprecedented. You can start at $50 and add on hardware as you can afford it. You can bulk up features for everyday use – or slim down for travel. And swapping out specific parts makes repairs cheaper and overall phone life longer.But will it actually work?If the magnets don’t hold up, the phone will fall apart. Awkward combinations could make your phone buggy. And overall, it’ll be more expensive. Big phone makers buy parts in bulk, so they can build entire devices more cheaply than you can.Project Ara might turn out to be like custom PCs – a niche reserved for a crowd that doesn’t mind higher prices and technical headaches. Maybe the unrivaled level of individuality will be worth it, though.Google expects an early version of the phone will be available in early 2015. For now, it’s calling on computer developers everywhere for input. And it’s asking for everyday people around the globe to become “Ara Scouts” to help guide the engineers. The whole project is open source, so independent 3D printing shops can get in on the action too.What’s not to love about freedom and choice?Modern technology hasn’t yet been able to bring us magic wands, but we’re getting close. Ring, a new project from Logbar Inc., is the latest step toward that goal.Using a Bluetooth sensor and gesture-recognition technology, Ring lets you do things like send text messages and control connected home devices with just a few waves of your finger. As you walk into your house, for example, you might wave your finger to engage with your lamp and then, with another gesture, adjust its brightness or turn it off. Another couple of swipes will turn your TV off or on and allow you to switch channels.Logbar has also developed payment software that you can use to pay participating retailers or other people just by waving your finger in the shape of a checkmark and then tracing out the amount you’d like to pay. Customized gestures for other tasks can be created using your smartphone or tablet.Going forward, Ring’s makers hope independent developers will come up with even more potential functions for the device, which works with both Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android software. It’s also compatible with Google Glass and smart watches.At the moment, Ring is only good for about 1,000 gestures before it needs to be recharged, so it doesn’t make sense to use it for texting too often. It’s also a bit cumbersome and isn’t waterproof, so you may want to be selective about when you wear it. But as developers dream up novel ways of using it, Ring has the potential to give us continuous access to the “Internet of Things” without having to stare at our smartphones all the time.The device was a big hit on Kickstarter earlier this year, blowing past its funding goal of $250,000 and ultimately raising over $880,000. The first models will ship in July, with donors having ponied up between $145 and $185 to get their hands on one.Thanks to nutritional labels on packaging, most store-bought foods give you a breakdown of their contents: fat, sugar, calories, and so on.But what about that watermelon in the produce aisle? The cheese Danish at Starbucks? That glass of pinot noir you’re drinking?A new handheld gadget called SCiO takes the guesswork out of analyzing your food. The device, about the size of a cigarette lighter, can be used to scan almost any food or beverage, analyze its chemical makeup and send the data wirelessly to your phone."The first application (of SCiO) is for consumers interested to know the nutritional value of what they're eating," said Dror Sharon, CEO of Consumer Physics, the Israeli company behind the device. "I often meet people who don't know what's in cheese, fruit and vegetables and have a hard time discerning what they should eat.”SCiO contains a tiny optical sensor, called a spectrometer, which reads the molecular fingerprint of an object by shining an infrared light on it. The gadget then sends the data to the cloud for analysis and forwards the results to your phone, all in seconds. An accompanying SCiO app displays fat, protein and carbohydrate levels down to the milligram.The underlying technology has been used for decades by corporations in quality control of oil and chemicals, although SCiO is being pitched as the first portable spectrometer for consumers.The sensor can only detect materials and objects that were previously uploaded to its database. But it’s a smart device -- the more items you scan with it, the more it learns to recognize items and their ingredients.SCiO was a sensation this spring on Kickstarter, where its creators asked for $200,000 and reached their goal within 24 hours. They eventually raised more than $2.7 million, and have promised to deliver the first SCiOs, for $149 apiece, to early backers by the end of the year.Sharon acknowledges the device still has some flaws. It’s not yet effective at identifying allergens, gluten or lactose. And its sensor is less accurate when it has to scan through glass, plastic or other packaging.But the pocket sensor has more applications than just demystifying food. It can identify an unknown medication or check on the health of houseplants. And although its makers are quick to say SCiO is not a medical device, it could even be used to perform a basic, non-invasive blood scan.The first version of SCiO may be somewhat limited in what it can do. But as the device learns and improves -- outside developers will likely want to create apps for it -- its potential will only grow.Augmented reality is getting a lot of talk in the gaming world, with products like Sony's and the Oculus Rift promising to make play time more fun.But what if it could make the roads safer?That's what the makers of Skully promise with what they're calling the world's first augmented-reality motorcycle helmet.The Skully AR-1 helmet's anti-fog, anti-glare face shield features a heads-up display that shows blind spots, navigation information, weather and other data. The rider can use voice controls to play music, answer phone calls and do other things that might otherwise involve fumbling around with their hands.A rear camera shows what's going on behind the rider and a voice guide gives Google Maps-style voice directions.Skully also features Internet connectivity and a Bluetooth smartphone connection.According to a study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 4,502 people were killed in motorcycle crashes in 2010 (the most recent year available when the study was conducted), an increase of 55% from 2000.Skully's already making waves in the tech world. In March, the helmet won the coveted Accelerator Award at the South by Southwest Interactive festival in Austin, Texas. Five hundred companies submitted for the contest and Skully was a category winner among the 48 chosen to present at the festival."This is a great jump-start for the new year as we head forward to our product going to market," Skully CEO Marcus Weller said of the honor.The helmet is set to be released later this year and Skully is currently accepting applications to be part of an early beta test.In 1968, the movie “2001: A Space Odyssey” predicted regular Pan Am shuttle flights to a rotating space station equipped with hotels, restaurants and reasonably priced phone service.Thirteen years after the actual 2001, Pan Am is long out of business and the space station is a sparsely furnished shell barely roomy enough for several astronauts. But, finally, we’re embarking on an era of regular space flights – courtesy of Virgin Galactic’s rocket plane, SpaceShipTwo.It’s been a long time in coming, as Virgin Galactic head Richard Branson is the first to admit. He and his colleagues in the proposed field of space tourism, including SpaceX’s Elon Musk, have been tinkering with plans for some time.SpaceShipTwo, based on the Ansari X prize-winning SpaceShipOne, is a clever solution to a challenging problem: How do you create a ship that can transport visitors to outer space and return them to earth safely, frequently, routinely and relatively inexpensively? Even NASA’s space shuttles only went up 135 times in 30 years, far less than the space agency had planned.The first challenge is getting it aloft. NASA’s space shuttles were lifted by rockets; SpaceShipTwo has a jet-powered aircraft called White Knight Two, which takes the spaceplane to about 50,000 feet. At that altitude, SpaceShipTwo fires its RocketMotorTwo, a hybrid rocket engine powered by both solid and liquid fuel.SpaceShipTwo then reaches supersonic speeds on its way to its intended altitude of about 62 miles above the Earth, which marks the beginning of outer space. At that point, passengers will get about five minutes of weightlessness before the bonds of earth retract with 6 G’s of force.The spaceplane will then glide back through the atmosphere to landing.Is it safe? With composite lightweight materials, “feathered” rudders capable of turning 90 degrees and that hybrid system, as safe as modern technology can make it. As designer and aviator Burt Rutan put it in 2008, "This vehicle is designed to go into the atmosphere in the worst case straight in or upside down and it'll correct.”It’ll have to be safe. In 2008, Virgin Galactic had plans for SpaceShipTwo to go up twice a day.Of course, Virgin Galactic has been predicting the imminent launch of SpaceShipTwo for years. In 2008 it was supposed to start flying in 2009; in spring 2013 Branson said he’d be flying by the end of the year. There’s a list of more than 600 people waiting to fly, including Stephen Hawking, Tom Hanks, Ashton Kutcher and Katy Perry – and the privilege costs as much as $250,000. NASA’s also waiting in the wings with experiments.But if tests continue to be successful, the next 12 months should tell. Then, perhaps, the 21st century can really start looking like “2001.”It’s hard not to watch movies like “Iron Man” or “Aliens” without imagining how cool it would be to inhabit a metal suit that gives you superhuman powers. Suddenly, your puny arms can lift hundreds of pounds, and no physical task seems too daunting.Sadly, that future is a ways off. But the Titan Arm is a promising first step.Developed by a team of mechanical engineering students from the University of Pennsylvania, the Titan Arm is a battery-powered, robotic arm which instantly increases human strength. The arm straps to the right arm of the wearer, is anchored by a harness and can augment arm strength by 40 pounds -- not superhero level, but enough to hoist heavy objects with ease.The device is mostly made of aluminum and steel components, and is powered at its elbow joint by a DC battery. It also can be locked into any position with a ratchet brake to hold an object steady without any exertion from its wearer.Its makers believe the Titan Arm can help rehabilitate people with back injuries by allowing them to rebuild muscle and relearn motor control. They also think the bionic arm could assist people who lift heavy objects as part of their jobs, such as baggage handlers, warehouse workers or delivery-truck drivers.This is not a small thing. Back problems afflict 600,000 American workerswith a cost of around $50 billion annually to the U.S. economy, according to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.And the Titan Arm prototype cost only $2,000 to produce, which is much less expensive than other exoskeletons.For all these reasons, the Titan Arm has already made a splash in the inventor community. The device earned its inventors $10,000 in the Cornell Cup for Innovation and then won last year’s James Dyson Award, open to student inventors and engineers around the world.“Titan Arm is obviously an ingenious design, but the team’s use of modern, rapid – and relatively inexpensive – manufacturing techniques makes the project even more compelling,” said Dyson in awarding the $45,000 prize.Its young inventors hope to eventually market the arm as a commercial product. But they have already caught the attention of Hollywood. The students say they were contacted last year by the makers of “Elysium,” the futuristic 2013 movie starring Matt Damon as a man who wears an elaborate exoskeleton to battle his enemies.So with the Titan Arm, that sci-fi future may not be so far off after all.As any Army medic will tell you, life in battle is measured in blood. And the standard method of plugging wounds -- packing them with gauze and then applying direct pressure -- can take too long.This is why the U.S. military turned to RevMedx, an Oregon-based medical-technology company, for help. Their solution: The XStat, a syringe-like device, packed with tiny sponges, that could change the way troops are treated for gunshot and shrapnel wounds.Medics insert the syringe into the wound cavity and inject dozens of tiny, pill-shaped sponges which have been treated with chitosan, a substance that clots blood and fights infections. The sponges expand to 10 times their size in seconds, plugging the wound and stanching the bleeding.Its makers say the XStat can seal a wound within 20 seconds and remain in the body for up to four hours, stabilizing a wounded patient so that he or she can be transported to a hospital. This is especially crucial for wounds in the armpit or groin area, which cannot be treated with a tourniquet or manual compression."Three to five minutes can mean the difference between life and death," says John Steinbaugh, a former Special Forces medic and RevMedx’s director of strategic development. "You put it (the XStat) in and the bleeding instantly stops."Each of the absorbent sponges is marked with an X, visible via X-ray, to help doctors spot and remove them before a wound is stitched up.In April, the device won a 2014 Inventions Award from Popular Science. That same month it won FDA approval, meaning that RevMedx can now legally market and sell the XStat in the U.S.The company plans to provide a limited quantity of XStats to the U.S. military by late 2014, with hopes of making them available to other clients, such as paramedics and law enforcement officers, in 2015 and beyond.RevMedx also is working on a slimmer version for wounds with narrow entry points.Given that the U.S. Army says nearly 50% of combat deaths since mid-World War II were due to excessive loss of blood, the XStat could save countless lives -- on and off the battlefield.The CNN 10: Inventions