Thursday, November 1, 2007
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
How things would be different on Earth without the Moon
Bernard Foing wrote an article for Astrobiology Magazine about how our Earth, its weather, and its life forms would be different without the influence of the Moon.
Link (Via Daily Grail)The eyesight of many mammals is sensitive to moonlight. The level of adaptation of night vision would be very different without the Moon. Many of these species have evolved in such a way that their night vision could work in even partial lunar illumination, because that’s when they are most active. But they can be more subjected to predators, too, so there is a balance between your ability to see and your ability not to be seen. The Moon has completely changed evolution in that aspect.
Human vision is so sensitive that we are almost able to work by the light of the Milky Way. The full Moon has more light than we need to see at night. For most of our history, we were hunting and fishing or doing agriculture, and we organized our lives by using the Moon. It determined the time for hunting, or the time where we could harvest. That’s why most of our calendars are based on the Moon.
Zombie thought to really be dead
After attending a Halloween party in Hamburg, Germany, a 26-year-old drunken man dressed as a zombie passed out on the train home. Passengers thought he was dead and called police. Apparently, Halloween costumes aren't a common sight in the town he was passing thorough. From Reuters:
A first aid team called to the scene soon cleared up the confusion. Police told the man to remove his make-up after which he was allowed to continue his journey.Link (via Fortean Times)
Flickr user Kudzutech's bad-ass samurai costume (build detailed at the link below) is made from 32 gallon Rubbermaid garbage cans! 
Bamboo microscopes that cost just $4 are being made in India by a group called Jodo Gyan. They're hoping to supply kids with more hands-on learning, and get away from rote memorization. WiFi-detecting t-shirt -- Boing Boing Gadgets
Over on Boing Boing Gadgets, our Joel has found a battery-powered, WiFi-detecting t-shirt from ThinkGeek that lights up when you're near a live network. Like Joel, I want a t-shirt that can distinguish between closed and open nets. Link, Discuss this on Boing Boing Gadgets NEC develops Wideband Wearable Antenna
Posted Oct 31st 2007 6:54AM by Thomas RickerFiled under: WearablesTV's important right? Sure, now ask yourself: Is it important enough to turn your meat sack into a wideband antenna? NEC thinks so and just announced (officially, that is) its wideband wearable antenna which turns a small, flexible print substrate into a high-performance mobile antenna. The prototype is said to work equally well in open space or when operated up against the juicy impedance of the human body. NEC will be testing the first prototypes for reception of digital terrestrial broadcasts in the 470-770MHz band -- perfect for that upcoming FCC auction eh, cowboy?[Via Akihabara News]
Everex's $199 green PC: attention ignorant Wal-Mart shoppers
Posted Oct 31st 2007 10:16AM by Thomas RickerFiled under: DesktopsMake no mistake, Everex can build 'em some kind of ugly. Still, they have learned to spin their gear as green, not underpowered, which counts for something. The TC2502 gPC (that's "g" as in "green," not crap) is out cluttering Wal-Mart shelves with a low, low $199 price tag. Inside, you'll find a 1.5GHz VIA C7 CPU sitting daintily on a Mini-ITX motherboard. A Linux OS, 512MB of memory and an 80GB of disk are tossed in just for kicks. So why that huge-ass case? That's the best part. Research indicates that Wal-Mart shoppers equate the size of the system to its capability. As such, Everex swaddled all that nothingness in a 2-foot by 2-foot monument to plastic. Now go ahead, Greenpeace, we beg you, rip it apart and let us know just how much non-recyclable polymer and dangerous PVC and BFR this pup really contains.
[Via Gadget Lab, thanks Rob G.]
Google getting cozy with Verizon and Sprint for the Gphone?
Posted Oct 31st 2007 12:46PM by Nilay PatelFiled under: Cellphones
The Gphone rumors have been heating up lately, and things seems like they're about to come to a boil. The Wall Street Journal, not generally known for wild rumor-mongering, is reporting that Google is in "advanced talks" with Verizon and Sprint and has made "significant progress" with T-Mobile, with an announcement of some kind due within two weeks. The news sent Google stock past $700 today, although it's still not clear if Google is simply developing its own software or going all out and doing an entire handset. Either way, it looks like Google's getting ready to make a move sometime soon, and with the amount of chatter we're hearing, it's going to be a big one.
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The Gphone rumors have been heating up lately, and things seems like they're about to come to a boil. The Wall Street Journal, not generally known for wild rumor-mongering, is reporting that Google is in "advanced talks" with Verizon and Sprint and has made "significant progress" with T-Mobile, with an announcement of some kind due within two weeks. The news sent Google stock past $700 today, although it's still not clear if Google is simply developing its own software or going all out and doing an entire handset. Either way, it looks like Google's getting ready to make a move sometime soon, and with the amount of chatter we're hearing, it's going to be a big one.
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Crealev builds a levitating lamp
Posted Oct 31st 2007 4:09PM by Nilay PatelFiled under: Misc. GadgetsWe haven't heard of Dutch design outfit Crealev before, but the company says it's developed a "new levitation concept which is able to produce a very high levitation height combined with a low power dissipation and excellent stability" -- and apparently the best way to show that off is this series of levitating lamps. Unveiled at last week's Dutch Design Week event, the lamps are the product of designer Angela Jansen. We're assuming they're magnetic in some way, but Crealev's website is pretty cagey with the details, only saying that it's a "proprietary technology." Either way, we want one.Read -- Crealev webisteRead -- Video of the lamps in action
The thought-controlled robotic arm
Posted Feb 18th 2005 10:35AM by Ryan BlockFiled under: RobotsWe were aware of otherwise primitive systems that had been interfaced with the human nervous system, but a freaking thought-controlled robot arm? Apparently researchers at the U of Pittsburgh were able to create a full shoulder-elbow-gripper type arm that can be jacked into a system of neural probes—the machine filters out all but the most important arm-movement neural signaling, and uses that to approximate mechanical motion with what they call a "population vector." So basically a monkey with its limbs restrained was able to pick up, hold food, and feed itself when its brain started firing arm movement commands. This is some seriously unbelievable freaky awesome advanced stuff, man.
Researchers show off robot hand neural interface
Posted Jul 26th 2007 8:14AM by Donald MelansonFiled under: Misc. Gadgets, RobotsIt looks like robot hands have taken yet another step into human-like territory, with a team of researchers at John's Hopkins University recently demonstrating a new neural interface that allows an artificial hand to be used to play the piano. But that's not all! In true mad scientist fashion, to actually control the hand, the researchers relied on neural activity recorded from a monkey's brain. According to MIT's Technology Review, that resulted in the fingers on the hand performing their intended movement about 95 percent of the time. While the system doesn't currently work in real time, the researchers are reportedly planning a live demonstration with a monkey within the next six months. Apparently foreseeing a potential monkey-machine rampage, however, the researchers have wisely decided to only let the monkey control a virtual version of a prosthetic arm.
Tags: monkey, robot hand, RobotHand, robotic hand, RoboticHand
Monkeys use brain power to move robotic arm
Posted May 12th 2005 4:30AM by Donald MelansonFiled under: Misc. Gadgets, Robots
Medical researchers at Duke University said Tuesday that their recent research revealed that the brain cells of monkeys adapt when moving robotic arms as if they were their own. This follows a 2003 study that showed monkeys were capable of controlling robotic arms using only their brain, although at the time it wasn't evident that the monkeys' brain cells had actually changed. The study, which is published in the Journal of Neuroscience (some of our favourite bedtime reading), concludes that the primate brain is extraordinarily adaptable and could lead the way towards brain-operated devices for handicapped people.
Medical researchers at Duke University said Tuesday that their recent research revealed that the brain cells of monkeys adapt when moving robotic arms as if they were their own. This follows a 2003 study that showed monkeys were capable of controlling robotic arms using only their brain, although at the time it wasn't evident that the monkeys' brain cells had actually changed. The study, which is published in the Journal of Neuroscience (some of our favourite bedtime reading), concludes that the primate brain is extraordinarily adaptable and could lead the way towards brain-operated devices for handicapped people.
Games: Today's Gamers, Tomorrow's Leaders?
Posted by CmdrTaco on Wednesday October 31, @08:48AMfrom the something-to-think-about dept.
slash-sa writes "Video games have become problem-solving exercises wrapped in the veneer of an exotic adventure. In today's fast and rapidly-changing business environment, the strategic skills they teach are more important than ever. From realistic battlefield simulations to the building of great nations, from fantastic voyages through worlds of mythology to conquering space, "Generation G" could well offer the answer to unlocking great 21st century strategists and leaders."
[+] games, cheetos, wishfulthinking, ender, dreaming (tagging beta)
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slash-sa writes "Video games have become problem-solving exercises wrapped in the veneer of an exotic adventure. In today's fast and rapidly-changing business environment, the strategic skills they teach are more important than ever. From realistic battlefield simulations to the building of great nations, from fantastic voyages through worlds of mythology to conquering space, "Generation G" could well offer the answer to unlocking great 21st century strategists and leaders."
[+] games, cheetos, wishfulthinking, ender, dreaming (tagging beta)
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IT: One-Third of Employees Violate Company IT Policies
Posted by Zonk on Wednesday October 31, @04:39PMfrom the yeah-but-they-were-all-bad dept.
BaCa writes with a link indicating that a survey of white collar US workers shows that something like a third of all employees break IT policies. Of those, almost a sixth actually used P2P technologies from their work PCs. Overall, the survey indicates workers aren't overly concerned about any kind of security: "The telephone survey found that 65% of white-collar professionals are either not very concerned or not concerned at all about their privacy when using a workplace computer. A surprising 63% are not very concerned or are not concerned at all about the security of their information while at work. Additionally, most employees have the misconception that these behaviors pose little to no risk to their companies."
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BaCa writes with a link indicating that a survey of white collar US workers shows that something like a third of all employees break IT policies. Of those, almost a sixth actually used P2P technologies from their work PCs. Overall, the survey indicates workers aren't overly concerned about any kind of security: "The telephone survey found that 65% of white-collar professionals are either not very concerned or not concerned at all about their privacy when using a workplace computer. A surprising 63% are not very concerned or are not concerned at all about the security of their information while at work. Additionally, most employees have the misconception that these behaviors pose little to no risk to their companies."
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For Bigfoot fans
This article talks about a bigfoot sighting in the same county some of my family lives.
http://www.nbc4.com/news/14455569/detail.html
http://www.nbc4.com/news/14455569/detail.html
Capsaicin Tested On Surgical Wounds
Posted by kdawson on Tuesday October 30, @11:48PM
from the that-smarts dept.
from the that-smarts dept.
Ponca City, We Love You writes "Bite a hot pepper, and after the burn your tongue goes numb. The Baltimore Sun reports that Capsaicin, the chemical that gives chili peppers their fire, is being dripped directly into open wounds during highly painful operations, bathing surgically exposed nerves in a high enough dose to numb them for weeks. As a result patients suffer less pain and require fewer narcotic painkillers as they heal. 'We wanted to exploit this numbness,' says Dr. Eske Aasvang, a pain specialist who is testing the substance. Capsaicin works by binding to C fibers called TRPV1, the nerve endings responsible for long-lasting aching and throbbing pain. Experiments are under way involving several hundred patients undergoing various surgeries, including knee and hip replacements using an ultra-purified version of Capsaicin to avoid infection. Volunteers are under anesthesia so they don't feel the initial burn."
The Real Mother of All Bombs, 46 Years Ago
Posted by kdawson on Wednesday October 31, @02:30AM
from the things-that-go-boom dept.
from the things-that-go-boom dept.
vaporland writes "Tsar Bomba is the Western name for the RDS-220, the largest, most powerful weapon ever detonated. The bomb was tested on October 30, 1961, in an archipelago in the Arctic Sea. Developed by the Soviet Union, the bomb had a yield of about 50 megatons. Its detonation released energy equivalent to approximately 1% of the power output of the Sun for 39 nanoseconds of its detonation. The device was scaled down from its original design of 100 megatons to reduce the resulting nuclear fallout. The Tsar Bomba qualifies as the single most powerful device ever utilized throughout the history of humanity."
First Fossil Evidence That Velociraptors Hunted in Packs
Posted by Zonk on Tuesday October 30, @01:32PM
from the clever-girl dept.
from the clever-girl dept.
Ponca City, We Love You writes "The New Scientist reports that palaeontologists have excavated a fossil trackway in Shandong Province in China 100 to 120 million years old that contains footprints left by six Dromeosaurs, the more formal name for raptors, showing evidence of group behavior. Up until now, the popular stereotype from Jurassic Park of raptors hunting in packs has had no fossil evidence to back it up. The paths of the six 90 kilo raptors do not overlap where the animals walked alongside a river or stream. '"The odds of these tracks being made by different individuals that just happen to be moving in the same direction, without their tracks stepping on one another, are small," said Jerry D. Harris, director of paleontology at Dixie State College. "Groups that do that usually have relatively sophisticated behavior, and they're relatively intelligent," Harris added. "By moving together in groups, it's entirely possible that they hunted in groups."'"
British Army looks to make tanks, troops invisible
[Via DailyMail]
Monday, October 29, 2007
Vista Sales Rate Fell Last Quarter
Journal written by twitter (104583) and posted by kdawson on Sunday October 28, @12:58PM
from the peaked-too-early dept.
Windows Microsoft
Microsoft is not directly mentioning Vista demand while they brag about how much money they made last quarter, because sales fell. "[Microsoft] shipped approximately 28 million copies of Vista in the latest quarter ended September, or 9.3 million copies per month. Though the Windows developer pointed to 27 percent growth in business licenses and noted that many home users were buying the more lucrative Vista Home Premium or Ultimate editions, the rate represents a decline from the 10 million per month reported early in summer."
[+] vista, windows, haha, microsoft, twitter (tagging beta)
from the peaked-too-early dept.
Windows Microsoft
Microsoft is not directly mentioning Vista demand while they brag about how much money they made last quarter, because sales fell. "[Microsoft] shipped approximately 28 million copies of Vista in the latest quarter ended September, or 9.3 million copies per month. Though the Windows developer pointed to 27 percent growth in business licenses and noted that many home users were buying the more lucrative Vista Home Premium or Ultimate editions, the rate represents a decline from the 10 million per month reported early in summer."
[+] vista, windows, haha, microsoft, twitter (tagging beta)
Lunar Lander Challenge Ends in Fire, Disappoinment
Posted by CmdrTaco on Monday October 29, @11:30AM
from the fire-go-boom-boom dept.
Moon NASA
mikesd81 writes "The rocketeers at Armadillo Aerospace, thwarted by engine problems and other mechanical failures, left this year's X Prize Cup empty-handed after their spacecraft burst into flames on liftoff Sunday. An attempt on Sunday to hop from launch and landing pads ended with the MOD craft bursting in flames shortly after engine ignition. This is the team's second attempt at the challenge in New Mexico, they were the only entrant in last year's event, which they also lost. Brett Alexander, Executive Director of Space Prizes and the X Prize Cup relayed a comment from John Carmack, leader of the Armadillo team: "Today is officially a bad day when it comes to our vehicle." he last attempt to win the $350,000 Level 1 prize on Sunday ended when the MOD vehicle had an engine fire, with pieces coming off, including disconnected cabling. Clearly, there was a fire on the pad that burned for a while — but then went out. The Armadillo team called a safety emergency, requesting fire truck assistance, Alexander said."
[+] nasa, nasaftw, xprize, boom, space (tagging beta)
from the fire-go-boom-boom dept.
Moon NASA
mikesd81 writes "The rocketeers at Armadillo Aerospace, thwarted by engine problems and other mechanical failures, left this year's X Prize Cup empty-handed after their spacecraft burst into flames on liftoff Sunday. An attempt on Sunday to hop from launch and landing pads ended with the MOD craft bursting in flames shortly after engine ignition. This is the team's second attempt at the challenge in New Mexico, they were the only entrant in last year's event, which they also lost. Brett Alexander, Executive Director of Space Prizes and the X Prize Cup relayed a comment from John Carmack, leader of the Armadillo team: "Today is officially a bad day when it comes to our vehicle." he last attempt to win the $350,000 Level 1 prize on Sunday ended when the MOD vehicle had an engine fire, with pieces coming off, including disconnected cabling. Clearly, there was a fire on the pad that burned for a while — but then went out. The Armadillo team called a safety emergency, requesting fire truck assistance, Alexander said."
[+] nasa, nasaftw, xprize, boom, space (tagging beta)
Wikipedia Begets Veropedia
Posted by CmdrTaco on Monday October 29, @10:11AM
from the and--veropedia-begat-a-ham-sandwich dept.
from the and--veropedia-begat-a-ham-sandwich dept.
Ponca City, We Love You writes "October saw the launch of Veropedia, a collaborative effort to collect the best of Wikipedia's content, clean it up, vet it, and save it in a quality stable version that cannot be edited. To qualify for inclusion in Veropedia, a Wikipedia article must contain no cleanup tags, no "citation needed" tags, no disambiguation links, no dead external links, and no fair use images after which candidates for inclusion are reviewed by recognized academics and experts. One big difference with Wikipedia is that Veropedia is registered as a for profit corporation and earns money from advertising on the site. Veropedia is supposed to help improve the quality of Wikipedia because contributors must improve an article on Wikipedia, fixing up all the flaws, until a quality version can be imported to Veropedia. To date Veropedia contains about 3,800 articles."
Human Race to split int to pretties and Uglies?
http://www.topnews.in/human-race-split-elite-and-ugly-species-11000-years-hence-24632
This article seems to say that we would split into two different races.
This article seems to say that we would split into two different races.
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