Posted on March 2nd, 2010 by jxh
Two companies believe that they have created the ultimate truth-revealing technology to help accurately determine who should go to jail and who should be freed.
Instead of relying on polygraph tests (see above image), which use pulse and breathing measurements to catch liars, the companies are using brain-scanning fMRI (functional magnetic-resonance imaging) scanners, which work by detecting the change of oxygen levels in response to neural activity. If a section of the brain is working hard, it will use more oxygen and glow brighter on the scan.
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Filed under: Biomedical, Computer, e-News, Electrical | Comments Off on Lie Detection for Your Brain
Tags: Biomedical, Computer, Electrical
Posted on March 1st, 2010 by jxh
If you plan on working in an auto factory or going into space anytime in the future, your most helpful coworker just might be a robot.
GM partnered with NASA to create Robonaut 2, also known as R2, a humanoid machine that can manipulate tools and other objects with greater dexterity than previous models. GM and NASA have spent three years working on Robonaut 2 at Johnson Space Center in Houston, and will continue to make improvements until R2 is deemed mission-ready. Watch the following video to learn more about how R2 was created
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Filed under: Aerospace, Computer, e-News, Electrical, Mechanical | 2 Comments »
Tags: Aerospace, Mechanical, Robotics
Posted on February 23rd, 2010 by axb
The slime mold, a type of single-celled amoeboid organism, looks to be more of a smartypants than scientists previously thought. Why? Because these gooey blobs are actually capable of growing sophisticated networks in order to feed themselves. In experiments where slime molds were exposed to an array of food sources (think: a scattering of crumbs or cereal), they showed an unexpected ability to grow very efficient connections between feeding hubs. These web-like structures (you can view them here) even mimicked modern transportation networks, like the Tokyo subway system.
Engineers are now searching for this special “slime formula”, which could make it easier to design a variety of networks (from public transportation to the internet) more efficiently.
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Filed under: Computer, e-News, Transportation | 1 Comment »
Tags: Computer, Transportation
Posted on February 22nd, 2010 by axb
Malaria, a mosquito-borne infectious disease, kills between one and three million people annually. Although both treatable and preventable, it still claims the lives of more than about 2 children every minute (most of them from poverty-stricken areas of Africa).
To fight this serious epidemic, Nathan Myhrvold of Intellectual Ventures Lab has designed a mosquito-killing laser gun. The device, made from spare parts found on Ebay, has the ability to track mosquitoes in flight and shoot them down with a precise death-ray. [Video after the jump]
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Filed under: Computer, e-News | 2 Comments »
Tags: Computer
Posted on February 16th, 2010 by axb
That’s right, everyone – we won the vote! Mattel has announced that Barbie’s 126th career path will be that of a computer engineer. This new techie Barbie comes equipped with a laptop, a Bluetooth headset, chic glasses, and a shirt that reads “Barbie” over and over in binary code.
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Filed under: Computer, e-News | 4 Comments »
Tags: Computer
