Technology
omnibrain | August 30, 2007According to the LA Times
Citing a fistful of studies that show teenagers among the most distracted and dangerous of drivers, the state Assembly on Monday passed a bill that would prohibit drivers under the age of 18 from using a cellphone, pager, text-messaging device or laptop while driving.
Ohh the humanity! Kids won't be able to use laptops while driving! They will be missing out on important AIM conversations, facebook messages, and new pictures of their friends posing shirtless by their cars on MySpace.
This is an abomination of law. These policy makers clearly have no idea that kids…
neurophilosophy | August 29, 2007
This mechanical prosthetic arm, developed by Michael Goldfarb and his colleagues of the Center for Intelligent Mechatronics at Vanderbilt University, is powered by a pencil-sized rocket that burns pressurized liquid hydrogen peroxide. The reaction, which is catalyzed by iridium-coated alumina granules, generates steam that forces the pistons in the arm to move up and down.
Conventional prosthetic limbs are powered by batteries. Rockets were employed here as an alternative, because of the weight of batteries needed to power a prosthesis for any reasonable amount of time.
The prototype…
neurophilosophy | August 24, 2007This year, several research groups have used bacterial proteins called channelrhodopsins to develop a technique with which light can be used to control the activity of nerve cells or the behaviour of small organisms.
For example, Ed Boyden's group at the MIT Media Lab used the method to activate or inhibit neurons on a millisecond-by-millsecond timescale, while Karl Deisseroth and his colleagues at Stanford have created an optical on/off switch that can control the movements of the nematode worm.
Devices employing such technologies could in theory be used in advanced neural prostheses for a…
purepedantry | August 17, 2007A lab in Japan has created a new way of making 3D animation by using lasers to create balls of plasma in the air:
Japan's National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) has developed a device that uses lasers to project real three-dimensional images in mid-air. The institute unveiled the device on February 7 in a demonstration that showed off the device's ability to project three-dimensional shapes of white light.
AIST developed the projector with the cooperation of Keio University and Burton Inc. (Kawasaki, Japan). Until now, projected three-dimensional imagery has…
sb admin | August 10, 2007Video of a Second Life virtual reality simulation of psychosis in schizophrenia, created by UC Davis Professor of Psychiatry Peter Yellowlees.
Also, create a psychotic VR therapeutic scenario with NeuroVR (from Positive Technology Journal).
neurophilosophy | August 9, 2007
Slate Magazine has a report from the DARPATech conference, containing details of the contraptions under development by those mad Pentagon scientists, including the robotic surgeon trauma pod and this prosthetic arm:
At one display area, a pair of armless volunteers and a young veteran missing his right hand demonstrate some fancy new models. We don't yet have bionic arms that hook up directly to the cortex, but one machine uses electrical signals from the muscle tissue remaining in a patient's stump to drive a mechanical hand: After extended training, the veteran could open and close his…
purepedantry | August 6, 2007Now that's thinking outside the box:
Two graduate students at MIT's School of Architecture and Planning want to harvest the energy of human movement in urban settings, like commuters in a train station or fans at a concert.
The so-called "Crowd Farm," as envisioned by James Graham and Thaddeus Jusczyk, both M.Arch candidates, would turn the mechanical energy of people walking or jumping into a source of electricity. Their proposal took first place in the Japan-based Holcim Foundation's Sustainable Construction competition this year.
A Crowd Farm in Boston's South Station railway terminal…
sciencetolife | July 25, 2007
An Industrial Design and Technology student from Brunel University in West London has designed an air-filtering cycle helmet and respirator that will filter out air pollutants and contaminants while you ride. It may be useful for those who suffer from severe allergies or hay fever.
Would you wear this, though? Seems bulky to me.
Read more from this Brunel University press release
neurophilosophy | July 21, 2007We live in a time in which we are overwhelmed by information obtained from multiple sources, such as the internet, television, and radio. We are usually unable to give our undivided attention to any one source of information, but instead give 'continuous partial attention' to all of them by constantly flitting between them. The limitations of cognitive processes, particularly attention and working memory, place a ceiling on the capacity of the brain to process and store information. It is these processes that some researchers are aiming to enhance with augmented cognition, an emerging field…
drorzel | July 19, 2007Speaking of dubious and oft-cited "Laws", I've run into a number of citations of "Clarke's Laws" recently. Of course, these were apparently subliminal mentions, because I can't seem to locate any of them again, but it put the subject in my mind, which is partly why I was primed to be annoyed by the subject of the previous post.
Anyway, "Clarke's Laws" are statements by the noted science fiction writer (and, no doubt, personal friend and mentor of Jonathan Vos Post, which I really don't want to hear about in comments) Arthur C. Clarke:
When a distinguished but elderly scientist states that…
neurophilosophy | July 18, 2007
The world's most advanced prosthetic hand is now available commercially for about US$18,000.
The device is controlled by the electrical signals generated by the muscles in the arm. It has independently movable digits, much like Ambroise Pare's earlier model.
neurophilosophy | July 10, 2007Real-Time Face Detector is a computer program being developed by researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits IIS in Erlangen, Germany.
On a standard PC, the software can immediately locate and analyse large numbers of faces simultaneously. The algorithms can recognize changes in mood in real time by analyzing 30,000 different facial characteristics and comparing them to pre-pregrammed data.
The program has a host of potential applications - it could, for example, be used to determine how people respond to advertisements.
A demo version of the program can be downloaded…
sciencetolife | June 29, 2007
Here's a mix of recent science stories I found interesting.
Unraveling the puzzle of pain
"Today's pain medications are not always providing as much relief as we would like. We hope these early findings will lead to new drugs, and give some hope to people with chronic nerve pain, or pain from inflammation," says Dr. Gerald Zamponi. Read more about his research on pain pathways in the brain here.
Giant microwave turns plastic back to oil
US company Global Resource Corporation is taking plastics recycling to another level - turning them back into the oil they were made from, and gas. Read…
purepedantry | June 21, 2007Scientists in Britain have developed a super-efficient light bulb that works without filament -- thus making it likely to last longer than the machine that contains it:
Scientists working for Ceravision, a company based in Milton Keynes, in Britain, have designed a lamp that eliminates the need for electrodes. Their device uses microwaves to transform electricity into light. It consists of a relatively small lump of aluminium oxide into which a hole has been bored. When the aluminium oxide is bombarded with microwaves generated from the same sort of device that powers a microwave oven, it…
omnibrain | June 18, 2007I need a new phone and it just so happens that the new iPhone is coming out very soon. So the question is...
http://killersurvey.com/survey_code.php?sqs=1&id=677">
Here's some stats that might help you decide:
Feel free to leave comments telling me why not to buy it as well ;)
hrynyshyn | June 14, 2007The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers has released a radio ad designed to play on soccer mom's fears about road safety, dishonestly arguing that Congressional attempts to increase fuel mileage will make safe cars too expensive to afford. This despite the fact that SUVs tend to be more dangerous -- to both drivers and others -- than smaller vehicles. The New Scientist Environment blog has the details, the ad, and facts, including this graph illustrating the relative risk of a variety of cars and SUVs:
Click on the graph for a full-size version. And then consider the foolishness of a full-…
jlynch | June 11, 2007So I was watching Adult Swim last night (Futurama x2 followed by The Family Guy) and they were running a cool visualization by Aaron Koblin of the air traffic over the US.
There is more at Koblin's site.
Now, I need to go and watch tonight’s episodes!
jlynch | June 11, 2007Some out there may care that Apple have released their web browser (Safari) for Windows. Having played about with it for a bit, I cant really see any reason to shift from Firefox.
Now, if they could only release Quicksilver...
omnibrain | June 8, 2007I know you probably can't see the image and text very well - so just go ahead and click on the picture for this damn funny parody in full size.
omnibrain | June 8, 2007I'm going to make a bold bold prediction right here on Omni Brain. With the announcement of wireless electricity there will soon be a group of crazed wackjobs protesting it (well.. that is if it ever actually makes it to the consumer level) because the electricity flowing through the air causes Cancer, Autism, Genital Warts, or something else silly. Yes yes.. you've heard it first right here on Omni Brain!
Here's some of the details from BBC News:
US researchers have successfully tested an experimental system to deliver power to devices without the need for wires.
The setup, reported in the…