With gas prices what they are these days, everyone is looking for a car that will get them as many miles to the gallon as possible. So how does 2,752 MPG sound?

A group of mechanical engineering students at California Polytechnic State University is all set to enter the Shell Eco-Marathon competition with an ultra high-mileage, three-wheeled car that boasts over 2,500 miles per gallon.

Wired reports that the Cal Poly team is actually working on two vehicles for the student competition; the Black Widow (pictured), and a new three-wheeler for the contest's Urban Concept division. The Black Widow took first place in the 2007 Eco-Marathon and second place in 2008 and 2009 so to say these guys know what they're doing would be an understatement.

It's the Black Widow that boasts the impressive 2752.3 miles per gallon. The car weighs just 96 pounds, has a drag coefficient of 0.12 and can reach 30 mph with a modified 3 horsepower Honda 50cc four-stroke engine. Team leader Verent Chan said the car is capable of faster speeds but they're keeping it at around 30 mph because they want to maximize on fuel efficiency.

"The car is capable of higher speeds, but the fastest we’ve ever taken it is somewhere around 35 mph,” Chan admits. “This is because we are trying to maximize the fuel efficiency for the competition. If we wanted to reach higher speeds, the engine has enough power. We would just need to set up our gear ratios differently," he explained.

Road conditions this year are slightly different but team leader Mr. Chan said the guys are still shooting for first place.

"In the past, the competition has been held on closed race tracks, but this year, it is in downtown Houston,” said Chan. “Road conditions will be worse, which may negatively affect our fuel economy, but we still are aiming for the No. 1 spot."

Read the full story on Wired.

This plug mimics a leech, and drops after the device is done feeding.

Here's a nifty gadget that may eventually save you a few bucks: the Outlet Regulator from Conor Klein. The device was built around the concept of severing the flow of energy to a rechargeable device while it's still plugged into a wall outlet.

Previous devices have accomplished this task by incorporating a toggle switch, requiring the user to manually sever the electrical connection once the device has fully charged. However, the Outlet Regulator does something entirely different: it releases the charging cord without the need for user intervention.

"Once the plug falls out, all energy consumption stops and only resumes once the plug is inserted again," Conor Klein said.

Klein also added that the Outlet Regulator uses a timer circuit and electromechanics to eject its plug.

It's a man living in a steel box, and you can watch him live online.

Throwing a man into a metal box for thirty days seems rather wacked. But then again, astronauts are expected to live in close quarters for a six-month, one-way trip whenever NASA decides to send man to Mars. Still the idea seems disturbing, and curious web surfers can check out a man-in-a-box streaming live to Internet browsers by heading here.

The prisoner in question, Tim Shaw, has no idea of his whereabouts, knowing only that he's somewhere familiar. He can't even come out until someone finds him, or presumably when the thirty days has expired.

The wardrobe-sized box isn't without some furnishings however: he sleeps on a makeshift bed, a few lights are mounted on the "ceiling," and various items are handy to keep his mind somewhat occupied. Two cameras are mounted within the box: one placed over his head and one mounted behind his head. Someone is also feeding him one meal a day.

Apparently there's a contest behind this display of isolation. Anyone in the UK who spots this metal box will win £30k. Someone might need to find this chap rather quick, as TechEYE reports that he's been talking to an egg named Collin, and even pretended to have an interview.

No one has reported seeing Shaw go to the washroom.

Crack out that secure network connection!

TorrentFreak has listed this week's top ten most downloaded movies on BitTorrent. Given that the MPAA, RIAA and other agencies are casing the torrent scene with their vicious legal hounds, it's surprising to see copyrighted material still hitting the network. Apparently torrent uploaders are unfazed by the legal threat, providing the latest movies like James Cameron's Avatar and Sherlock Holmes for your downloading pleasure.

The angel-infested movie Legion tops this week's top ten BitTorrent list, followed by Edge of Darkness, both of which are newcomers to the top ten list. Old Dogs and Tooth Fairy also make their debut while Avatar and Sherlock Holmes finally fall out of the list's top three.

As TorrentFreak states, the top ten torrent list is for informational and educational purposes only. However, despite showing what downloaders are watching, the list also offers a quick glance at the overall ratings. Avatar is the real winner in the eyes of critics, followed by The Hurt Locker and Sherlock Holmes.

Here's this week's top 10 torrent movies, provided by TorrentFreak:

1.   Legion
2.   Edge of Darkness
3.   Old Dogs
4.   Sherlock Holmes
5.   Avatar
6.   Couples Retreat
7.   The Hurt Locker
8.   Tooth Fairy
9.   Daybreakers
10.  Agora

A recent FCC filing points towards a possible refresh for the PS3 Slim.

PS3 News reports that Sony has slipped two new PS3 Slim models though the FCC under its old pseudonym Sand Dollar Enterprises. The new models are labeled as the CECH-2101A and CECH-2101B and as far as we know, the only difference between the two is HDD type.

Unfortunately, it doesn't look like Sony has plans for a specs bump for the PS3 Slim just yet. PS3 News reports that the wireless specs on the "new" PS3 Slims include 802.11 b/g and Bluetooth, identical to the current models. The site goes on to speculate that the filing could just be because Sony found a new manufacturer for some of its wireless components, and was forced to pass the PS3 Slim through the FCC again.

Still, it's nice to dream of an upgrade.

Why move a mouse when you can use your mind?

While it will interesting to see what George Lucas has to say about Jedi Mind Inc.'s use of the word "Jedi," the company is currently working on a PC "peripheral" that integrates its thought-controlled software with a special brain-reading headset designed by Emotiv. According to a recent press release, Jedi Mind is ahead of schedule and plans to release the PC peripheral--called the Jedi Mouse--in Q1 2010.

"The Jedi Mouse allows the user to navigate the computer, open programs and send email with the power of their mind," the company explained. "The application launches a virtual keyboard once an email program is launched and provides the user the ability to compose a written correspondence and press send with the power of their mind."

The technology behind the Jedi Mouse is about as elusive as a Dark Jedi--although most likely just based on sensing brain electrical impulses. While it's unclear how the "mouse" aspect comes into play in other applications, it's assumed that the peripheral doesn't actually use a physical mouse, but creates a virtual mouse controlled by the user. The company recently launched a tech demo of the software called Think-Tac-Toe that requires the user to move a virtual target to a specific area.

Jedi Mind did not offer pricing for its upcoming thought-controlled mouse. However, Emotiv sells the actual headset (EPOC) for a surprising low cost of $299.00. There are various applications that take advantage of the technology including games and virtual worlds, a photo viewer, and more.

Valve will never develop a mini-game that uses Project Natal and a virtual saw.

Here's a bit of good news from Valve Software: the development house doesn't plan on making crappy party (aka mini) games. We actually figured that out a long time ago, however CVG felt the need to brush up on the subject with Valve writer Chet Faliszek who professed that Microsoft's upcoming Project Natal motion-sensing device was rather cool.

"Hopefully we've gotten past the point of mini-games," he said in regards to developing motion-sensing specific applications. "I'm sick of that [makes arm movement]. That's not a game for me anymore. Let's get some real interaction going."

"We have these technologies now that let us interact in different, really exciting ways," he added. "It's developers' jobs to do something with it. Impress me. Don't just make sh*tty games I wouldn't want to play if I had to use a joystick."

When asked about implementing Project Natal support into future Left 4 Dead games, Faliszek left the idea open for a possibility. But on that same note, he reassured CVG that there won't be any mini-games involving the technology.

"You won't have to make the arm movement of sawing off a zombie's head in some tiresome mini-game," he said. "I can promise you that."

Bummer. That actually sounded like a cool idea.

Apple is censoring boobs.

Apple has made a huge splash with its decision to delete a rumored 5,000 applications from the App Store. However, this wouldn't be an App Store story without some kind of inconsistent action on Apple's part; the App Store approval process has gained notoriety for approving some applications, while denying other perfectly acceptable apps.

In keeping with this tradition, it would appear Apple's decision to delete thousands of applications for their "overtly sexual content" does not extend to the Playboy application. The developer of an app called Wobble, ChilliFresh, claims to have spoken with Apple and says the following are the 'new rules' for submitting apps:

1. No images of women in bikinis (Ice skating tights are not OK either)

2. No images of men in bikinis! (I didn’t ask about Ice Skating tights for men)

3. No skin (he seriously said this) (I asked if a Burqa was OK, and the Apple guy got angry)

4. No silhouettes that indicate that Wobble can be used for wobbling boobs (yes – I am serious, we have to remove the silhouette in this pic)

5. No sexual connotations or innuendo: boobs, babes, booty, sex – all banned

6. Nothing that can be sexually arousing!! (I doubt many people could get aroused with the pic above but those puritanical guys at Apple must get off on pretty mundane things to find Wobble “overtly sexual!)

7. No apps will be approved that in any way imply sexual content (not sure how Playboy is still in the store, but …)

Apple has yet to make a statement about the removal of these applications from the App Store. We'll update if and when they do.  

Pre-orders for the 16 GB Wi-Fi iPad may begin February 25th reports an insider.

When Steve Jobs revealed to the world his beloved Apple iPad last month, he said that consumers will have it in their hands in sixty days. That makes its initial debut sometime around March 29th for the first wave of Wi-Fi models.

App Advice now reports that pre-orders for the first wave will begin this week here in the States, perhaps as early as February 25th. Although App Advice didn't name its source, the preorder is currently only taking place in the USA.

Given that neither Steve Jobs or Apple have released official announcements regarding a solid ship date, we'll have to chalk this one up as speculation. However, Apple has provided pre-orders in the past, roughly the same amount of time after a product launch, that has now passed with the iPad. If the pre-orders do begin this month, then that means consumers waiting out on the 3G models may be able to pre-order next month, as these are expected to ship one month after the wave of Wi-Fi models.

As we reported earlier, the pricing for the iPad starts at $499 for the 16 GB Wi-Fi model--prices climb up as high as $829 for the Wi-Fi / 3G model--although still lower than the $1000 originally thought by most.

Rather than send us to the moon, NASA is sending you to the iPhone and iPod Touch.

Is it me, or does the fact that NASA is spending time making games for the iPhone and iPod Touch seem just a little... annoying? After all, the Space Shuttle fleet is about to retire, and we're nowhere close to returning to the moon. A manned mission to Mars now seems more like science fiction.

Yet now we have a lunar rover game for Apple's portable devices. Again, there's something wrong with this picture. Still, for interested wanna-be-Astronauts, the game allows you to drive a virtual Lunar Electric Rover on a future lunar outpost. The app is free, and can be downloaded here.

"Welcome to the NASA Lunar Electric Rover (LER) Simulator," reads the game's description. "You don’t need a driver’s license, but you still need to buckle up as the LER Simulator gives you a glimpse of what it might be like to support the activities of a functioning Lunar Outpost. Get busy. You never know if your skills here will become a major part of the NASA Astronaut."