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Wired: Gadgets

Objects of desire, tested by science.

Power Ascender: Ballsy Tool Yanks People, Equipment up WallsYesterday

What it is: Atlas Power Ascender

What it's used for: Rapidly pulling people and their gear up the side of a building or canyon

The prototype of the Power Ascender was not easy to use. The battery-powered, waist-mounted climbing assistant yanked people up a dangling rope at a blistering 10 feet per second — almost 7 mph — fast enough to snap their limbs back. So Atlas, a company run by four mechanical engineers outside Boston, set the maximum speed to a more reasonable 5 feet per second and added a variable- speed trigger like on a power drill. Now customers — such as US military personnel — simply clip the 25-pound device onto a climbing harness, push any nonbraided rope through the top, and let it fly. Inside the gizmo, a network of grippers scurries up the line and ensures that it threads cleanly out the side. The Ascender's 10-kilowatt output can lift up to 350 pounds, which is no easy task. "Having that much power that close to your crotch is a huge engineering challenge," says Atlas' Bryan Schmid, "and frankly a bit risky." Sounds pretty ballsy.

10 Hottest New Bike Gadgets for GearheadsOctober 10

: Photo: Jim Merithew/Wired.com

Cyclists are often overlooked in the gadget-lust category because their gear usually doesn't involve a screen, but no one craves the newest gizmo more than a biker with money to burn. The litany of bike models, the sophisticated engineering and the personal stat analysis also attract avid data addicts who appreciate product legacy and innovation.

Here at Wired.com, we have more than a few resident pedal pundits who love to accessorize. Click through the gallery to see the latest bike gadgets and apparel that got even our empty wallets salivating.

Left: Quarq Bicycle's new Power Meters allow you to measure pretty much any stat imaginable from your bike rides. The Quarq CinQo is compatible with your Garmin Edge 705, their own Quarq Qranium or the new iAreo, giving access to power, heart rate, speed, distance, torque and altitude.

The Qranium computer runs on Linux and comes with 512 MB of memory. Quarq says they are lightweight, waterproof and come with a user-changeable battery. The system runs about $1,200, plus the price of your crank of choice.

: Photo: Jim Merithew/Wired.com

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Flash and Awe: A Better Stun Grenade Protects the Good GuysOctober 10

Say you're a SWAT cop about to rescue hostages, or a soldier trying to extract your buddies from a terrorist hideout. You can't just charge in with guns blazing, so you throw the bad guys off with a nice stun grenade: It creates a deafening bang and a mighty flash without lethal shrapnel. Sounds great, but the force of the explosion can still injure the very people you're trying to save. A couple of years ago, Sandia National Laboratories, which has been developing stun grenades for decades, found a solution to this problem — the fuel/air distraction device. Traditional "flash-bangs" work by igniting a mixture of aluminum and potassium perchlorate. Pull the pin and a few seconds later the cocktail explodes from inside its housing. But yank the pin on the new stunner and a gas starts combusting, which pushes out and ignites a cloud of powdered aluminum. The result is what you see on the test stand above: a blinding burst of light accompanied by a boom of up to 170 decibels — about as loud as a shotgun — but very little blast pressure. Sandia has licensed the device to Defense Technology (a subsidiary of arms maker BAE Systems), which hopes to bring it to market by year's end. There's never been a safer time to be held against your will.

For more, visit video.wired.com.

How to Convert Vinyl LPs to MP3sOctober 9

Got stacks of Stax soul? A trove of treasures from Treasure Isle? It's remarkably easy to convert those old vinyl sides to play on your iPod. All you need is a turntable, a good audio cable and some free software and you'll be reliving vinyl's glory days in crystal-clear (and wear-free) digital sound. Got extra tips? Log in and contribute.

Apple Likely to Launch New Notebooks Next WeekOctober 9

Apple sends out press invitations to a special event next week, where it is expected to launch sub-$1,000 Mac notebooks.