Poetree: A Funeral Urn That Lets You Plant A Tree From Ashes. Images: Margaux Ruyant.
Disposable flash drives. 0inShare GIGS.2.GO is perhaps the most tidy execution of a paper-based USB flash drives we’ve seen. Four sticks, or tabs, made from recycled, molded paper pulp can be torn from a credit-card sized pack.You can tear off an individual 1GB drive like a phone number on a flyer for a cat-sitter. Designed by Kurt Rampton and BOLTgroup, the drives allow for quick, on-the-go data transfer of large files that can’t be emailed. Share and Enjoy. Samsung explores touchless tablet interaction with brainwave technology. Try and wrap this one around your noggin.
Samsung is currently working with researchers at the University of Texas on a project involving EEG caps that harnesses the power of one's mind to control tablets and smartphones, and if that weren't enough, the company's actually hoping to take it mainstream. Now, before we get too far ahead of ourselves, let's be clear: in its current stage, the system is cumbersome and aimed at those with disabilities, but Samsung's already proven that it's interested in alternative input methods, and this could certainly be the logical conclusion. As is, participants are asked to wear EEG caps that measure the electrical activity along their scalp. A Washing Machine That Fits in Your Pocket. Designed for travelers—whether they're backpacking in Yosemite or on a business trip—the Scrubba is a tiny bag that washes clothes with no electricity and little water.
The idea was born when an Australian adventurer, Ash Newland, was planning a trip to Africa with a friend. Because of all of the equipment they had to carry, from tents and sleeping bags to cold-weather gear, they could only take a couple of changes of clothes along. They realized if they carried a plastic bag, they could soak the clothing overnight, and Newland suggested they could take it a step further, and build a flexible washboard into the bag itself.
Single-passenger taxi designed to beat traffic. Microexpressions: Almost Undetectable Facial Language. Micro Expressions are split-second muscle changes in the face that indicate that a person is either conscious or unconsciously supressing their true emotions.
These changes are constantly occurring on people’s faces, but can last for as little as 1/25th of a second according to Dr. Paul Ekman, the modern expert of micro expressions. Thus most of the time you are only picking up on these expressions unconsciously, which may give you what feels to be intuitive insight into what a person really feels. For example, if someone sneers for a split second before smiling to answer a question and you detect the change either conscious OR unconsciously, you will not trust the smile as much as if the sneer had no occurred. The Creators Project. Pranav Mistry: The thrilling potential of SixthSense technology. Psilocybin, the Drug in 'Magic Mushrooms,' Lifts Mood and Increases Compassion Over the Long Term - - TIME Healthland. The psychedelic drug in magic mushrooms may have lasting medical and spiritual benefits, according to new research from Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.
The mushroom-derived hallucinogen, called psilocybin, is known to trigger transformative spiritual states, but at high doses it can also result in “bad trips” marked by terror and panic. The trick is to get the dose just right, which the Johns Hopkins researchers report having accomplished. In their study, the Hopkins scientists were able to reliably induce transcendental experiences in volunteers, which offered long-lasting psychological growth and helped people find peace in their lives — without the negative effects. (PHOTOS: Inside Colorado’s Marijuana Industry) First 'habitable' exoplanet confirmed. Gliese 581d is the outlying planet in the Gliese 581 system, and orbits its parent star every 66.8 days.
It may be covered by a large and deep ocean and is the first serious 'waterworld' candidate discovered beyond our Solar System. Credit: ESO/L. Calçada PARIS: A rocky world orbiting a nearby star was confirmed as the first planet outside our Solar System to meet key requirements for sustaining life. Modelling of planet Gliese 581d shows it has the potential to be warm and wet enough to nurture Earth-like life, scientists have said. $99 NoteSlate may become the new college notebook. Among 2011′s impending hail of new tablet releases, there’s one slate that’s going to stand out among the rest in its single-function, single-colour glory: The NoteSlate.
An upgrade to the Boogie Board of yesteryear. Green roofs made easy. Electric Aircraft Competition Wraps, With $1.35M Prize For Plane That Out-Economizes A Prius. A little more than a year ago, we posted about the possibilities of electric aircraft.
At the time, we also mentioned an upcoming competition that would test the mettle of these flying batteries: the CAFE Green Flight Challenge. It’s a NASA event (and purse), sponsored by Google, which like the X-Prize aims to fund innovation through competition. Entrants would have to fly 200 miles in under two hours, while using less than a gallon of fuel (or equivalent energy) per passenger.
Tough terms, but 10 teams put their designs in flight in a quiet, efficient battle for the $1.35 million prize. The competition just wrapped last week, and the winners were revealed at an expo in Mountain View on Monday. Robot adapts to injury. Lindsay France/University Photography Graduate student Viktor Zykov, former student Josh Bongard, now a professor at the University of Vermont, and Hod Lipson, Cornell assistant professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering, watch as a starfish-like robot pulls itself forward, using a gait it developed for itself. the robot's ability to figure out how it is put together, and from that to learn to walk, enables it to adapt and find a new gait when it is damaged.
Nothing can possibly go wrong ... go wrong ... go wrong ... Brain Scanner Records Dreams on Video. Just a few weeks ago, we posted about how brain patterns can reveal almost exactly what you're thinking.
Now, researchers at UC Berkeley have figured out how to extract what you're picturing inside your head, and they can play it back on video. The way this works is very similar to the mind-reading technique that we covered earlier this month. A functional MRI (fMRI) machine watches the patterns that appear in people's brains as they watch a movie, and then correlates those patterns with the image on the screen. Facial Recognition System Targets Criminals in Public Places. Criminals beware! Ayonix Inc. Japan, an image technology solution provider, recently released a new real-time facial detection and recognition surveillance product aimed at safely identifying criminals and suspects in public places, such as airports, train stations, stadiums and public malls. The Somnus-Neu Interactive Pod Bed. Imagine a network of interactive multimedia beds—located in hotels and airport lounges around the world—that would automatically know your favorite music, your travel schedule and your television preferences.
Creating that network is the ambitious goal of Yoo-Pod Ltd. and their Somnus-Neu project, named after the ancient Roman god of sleep but billed as “the future of beds.” And with all of these beds’ high tech features it is easy to see why. The Somnus-Neu bed includes: • An internet connection, either through wifi or ethernet. 'Earthscraper' concept hides a 1,000-foot skyscraper underground. The folks over at Mexican architecture group BNKR Arquitectura call this thing an "earthscraper," and the reason why should be obvious: it's a monstrous, beautiful, 65-story inverted skyscraper that hides a mini city underground.
Designed to be built smack-dab in the center of Mexico City, BNKR's Earthscraper wouldn't ruin the skyline there (though, really, who would object to something that looks like this?) And is designed in such a way that it would incorporate Mexico's history in its design. The top ten floors — which, here, would be the "bottom" ten — is a museum and cultural center dedicated to the Aztecs. Below that you've got retail space, then apartments and finally, deep underground, businesses. Because, you know, that's where business do their best work. Our favorite detail: the interior of the structure is actually hollowed out, and there are bridges that extend out into the center of it so you can look down. Click to enlarge. Switchable adhesion device. Michael Vogel Paul Steen and Michael Vogel's surface tension-based adhesive device with a lego man payload.
Could humans one day walk on walls, like Spider-Man? A palm-sized device invented at Cornell that uses water surface tension as an adhesive bond just might make it possible. The rapid adhesion mechanism could lead to such applications as shoes or gloves that stick and unstick to walls, or Post-it-like notes that can bear loads, according to Paul Steen, professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering, who invented the device with Michael Vogel, a former postdoctoral associate. The device is the result of inspiration drawn from a beetle native to Florida, which can adhere to a leaf with a force 100 times its own weight, yet also instantly unstick itself. Scientific Advances in Changing the Human Body. Monkey brains 'feel' virtual objects. Earthbag Construction. EarthBag Homes - you're standing on the building materials...
Light Touch projector makes any surface a touchscreen. Bionic Arm Can Move, Feel. Scientists are developing an entirely new type of prosthetic arm and hand that allows a patient to regain not only movement, but also the sense of touch. 10 Ways the Next 10 Years Are Going To Be Mind-Blowing. We are living in an extremely exciting time in terms of science and technology. Things that have always been considered science fiction are becoming normal day-to-day components of our lives. Biz Cafe! Future technology. DISCERN Artificial Neural Network - How to Build a Schizophrenic Computer. Schizophrenia is one of the most infamous and mysterious mental disorders. Attempting to get to the root of the problem, scientists recently came up with an extraordinary solution: They built a schizophrenic computer. In a study published in the online version of Biological Psychiatry in March, researchers altered an artificial neural network capable of learning language and stories, to the point where it started "acting" schizophrenic.
9 Implants that make human healthy body even more useful. Paralyzed Man Uses Mind-Powered Robot Arm To Touch. Solar Forest Keeps Cars Cool And Juiced. LED Lights Make Augmented Vision a Reality. LED Lights Make Augmented Vision a Reality. Earbuds Beat Depression by Shining Lights Into Your Brain. For first time, chimps seen making pencils. Living, breathing human lung-on-a-chip. There is a pillow that connects distant lovers through heart beats. Next Generation Technology of Flexible Display Future technology. Practical Invisibility Cloaks. Robot Skin Can Feel Touch, Sense Chemicals, and Soak Up Solar Power. The Quantum Frontier. Anybots QB robotic avatar spotted out in public after engineer gets hankering for a scone. DARPA's Brain-Controlled Robotic Arm Fast-Tracked, Could Be Available in Just Four Years.
7 Man-Made Substances that Laugh in the Face of Physics. Mycologist's So-Called Life Box - Environment. Nextep1. Technology and the Brightest Young Minds in Music, Art, Film, and Design.