Linking ideas with the world
This is the latest in bionic hand technology: it’s controlled using the mind and existing musculature, you can manipulate the fingers independently and you have precision control over the power the fingers exert, meaning you don’t inadvertently crush things you’re trying to hold.
This three hour miniseries is available on Internet in seperate chapters from Nova. A lovely scientific series covering many elements of physics.
Just in case you don’t feel like drinking it, there are alternatives
You don’t know what DivX and XviD are? Or you simply don’t care? They are called codecs and this neat little program will download and install them for you next time Windows Media Player tells you it doesn’t have the correct codec.
Russia’s Vladimir Putin has just stepped out of the Conventional Forces in Europe Treaty (CFE), limiting the maximal amount of conventional weaponry that is allowed by both sides. This is his reaction to the US Anti-Ballistic Missile system (ABM) sheild as well as his petulance at NATO not ratifying some changes to the CFE. In Read more about Putin on the warpath[…]
This programme allows you to log in to your windows PC using your face – you set up a template and then after lock up you show your muggins to the camera and it will let you in. No, it probably isn’t the most secure thing to do at all, but it’s neat!
Yes, you have decided you really, really want to bluespam or bluesnarf everyone within a massive range – then this little box is the one for you. The Aircable Host XR gives 30 kilometers of unsuspecting targets to your PC.
In an apparent mistake, Stoke-on-Trent has managed to evade the blanket smoke ban in public places in the UK, by not approving the enforcement powers on time in the city council. Everyone there is overjoyed. Was it really a mistake though? 🙂
There are some seriously bizarre things to do in the UK for a day out. The Guardian has a nice list.
Using fat-derived stem cells allows patients to have fat taken from the belly, the stem cells extracted and put into a cartridge and injected into the breasts. The procedure takes around an hour and costs the same as similar surgeries. After doing this, the breasts grow over a period of months. Since they are ‘real’ Read more about Use your own fat to grow bigger breasts[…]
Interesting article with some truths about people and their behaviour that we’d really rather not face…
Build a tunnel in it… (more pics in the link)
No lists of iPhone hacks here – there are plenty of them, there shouldn’t be any trouble at all finding them on internet. However, because the OS restore disks came in 2 flavours, part encrypted, part unencrypted, they’ve managed to hack the standard root password out of it allready: Alpine Have fun. I still love Read more about iPhone hacked[…]
If you administer this drug whilst you’re visualising something, the drug removes first certain (possibly unconcious) associations with the memory and should after continued use, be able to remove the memory entirely.
This is being looked at quite seriously – Pennsylvania State University researchers have stated that there was definite something before the Big Bang, based on new knowledge of quantum physics. Due to cosmic forgetfulness we won’t know exactly what, but we can have a look what the universe looked like running up to the event. Read more about New theory: What was before the big bang[…]
Yes, Intel has done it again – not the 1+1=1.999999999r float bug, but close enough. Read about it here…
El reg has a nice article on why development of intelligent / multifunctional robots is still stagnated and run by hobbyists. It runs through some of the real problems of software development for robot brains.
An Israeli team has created a tiny little robot that can travel up and down your veins and arteries, being manipulated by magnetic fields. It has a diameter of 1mm and crawls along your bloodstream using little arms.
I’ve been following this story for years now – tens of thousands of plastic ducks which had gone overboard during a storm in 1992 are still being tracked, and are looking likely to wash up on the UK coasts. Apparently these ducks are now being sold for $500,- a piece. Leave them alone though! Let Read more about The floating plastic ducks[…]
3dvia.com is a flickr copy, except it hosts 3d models. They’re backed by Daussault Systems of France and hope to be as big as flickr / utube. They use the 3dxml as a standard, which has some slightly better editors for it than Google’s Earth 3D unit editor. Good luck to ’em.
Using nanowires assembled on glass and thin films of flexible plastic built using zinc oxide or indium oxide the transistors are not visible to the human eye. The researchers hope to create HUDs and displays on windsheilds, visors, spectacles, etc. Make my car look like the inside of an F-16 please!
MS is pushing the Vista upgrade with two games only supposed to work on Vista. Unfortunately people have allready managed to get them running on XP.
DNA splicing has now come such a long way from 5 years ago, that the experts are starting to become optimistic of being able to reacreate whole DNA sequences and cloning them into living animals fairly soon in the future. These guys want woolly mammoths back. Give me a sabre tooth tiger!
Now in the UK, Southampton, the Wellington Arms has allready become a consulate for the Island of Redonda. It’s now trying to become an embassy, in order to escape VAT and most importantly, the bans on smoking that will be in effect from 1/7 in England. Smokers will continue the fight!
Slashdot users have apparently been going to town on LiftPort’s ass. Enough that a fairly frank and complete rebuttal has been issued by the presidents of the space elevator company, showing how they think the company can work and how much work has allready been done.