USC: Restoring Memory, Repairing Damaged Brains -- LOS ANGELES, June 17, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire Biomedical engineers analyze—and duplicate—the neural mechanism of learning in rats LOS ANGELES , June 17, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Scientists have developed a way to turn memories on and off—literally with the flip of a switch. (Photo: ) Using an electronic system that duplicates the neural signals associated with memory, they managed to replicate the brain function in rats associated with long-term learned behavior, even when the rats had been drugged to forget. "Flip the switch on, and the rats remember. Flip it off, and the rats forget," said Theodore Berger of the USC Viterbi School of Engineering's Department of Biomedical Engineering. Berger is the lead author of an article that will be published in the Journal of Neural Engineering . In the experiment, the researchers had rats learn a task, pressing one lever rather than another to receive a reward. SOURCE USC Viterbi School of Engineering
LED Resin Cube www.readwriteweb.com/archives/code-free_augmented_reality_in_under_5_minutes_video.php Augmented reality guru Bruce Sterling shared a fascinating video on his Wired.com blog Beyond the Beyond today that shows a developer building an AR application without any programming language in just shy of five minutes. Using the Mac-based visual design app Quartz Composer and few additional plugins, the developer (apparently a Russian named Vladmir, according to his YouTube account) quickly assembles the application using Quartz's visual Yahoo Pipes-like interface. The video embedded above is pretty easy to follow despite being a screencast of a complex design application. The developer simply drags and drops a few elements onto the screen to initialize the video input device, recognize a marker, and incorporate a 3D model of a teapot. After connecting a few dots and tweaking some settings, we see the teapot appearing on an AR marker via the developer's webcam.
Good-bye, Wheelchair, Hello Exoskeleton In a warehouse that looks like a cross between a mad inventor's garage and a climbing gym, a pair of mechanical legs hangs from the ceiling on ropes. With the quiet whir of four motors, one in each hip and knee, the legs take a step, then another and another. This is an exoskeleton walking suit, and it is taking the hundreds of thousands of steps that regulators demand to prove that it's no mere toy but a reliable medical device, one that just might change the lives of people who thought they'd never again rise from a wheelchair. The Berkeley, Calif., warehouse is the home of Ekso Bionics (formerly known as Berkeley Bionics), a young company that's about to step out onto the world stage. Photo: Gabriela Hasbun Hello, Ekso User Tamara Mena, who was paralyzed in 2005, gleefully puts her exoskeleton walking suit through its paces. When you don the Ekso, you are essentially strapping yourself to a sophisticated robot.
Future Foglets of the Hive Mind Michelle Ewens March 24, 2011 The concept of utility fog – flying, intercommunicating nanomachines that dynamically shape themselves into assorted configurations to serve various roles and execute multifarious tasks – was introduced by nanotech pioneer J. Storrs Hall in 1993. For instance, a few years ago Dr. However, if a future foglet ever became conscious enough to dissent from its assigned task and spread new information to the hive mind, this might cause other constituent foglets to deviate from their assigned tasks. Eric Drexler, who coined “grey goo” in his seminal 1986 work on nanotechnology, “Engines of Creation,” now resents the term’s spread since it is often used to conjure up fears of a nanotech-inspired apocalypse. Should we attempt to create artificially generated intelligence (AGI) in a manner that resembles what we would wish for ourselves? What Is It Like to Be a Foglet? Is it ridiculous to worry about the subjective experience of utility foglets?
The Truth About Kenji, the Robot Programmed to Love In early 2009, news broke that an experimental Toshiba robot that had been “programmed to love” was malfunctioning. The story, paired with the above image of a half-Frankenstein, half- Asimo automaton running amok with a captive damsel-in-distress, graced some of the internet’s most-read tech blogs and news sites. Gizmodo, IGN, the Next Web, and others all ran stories about Kenji, the robot-turned-stalker that refused to stop hugging a terrified female intern. It was a slightly chilling and totally titillating narrative, and it played directly into our science fiction-fed imaginations—the ones still avidly populated by increasingly sentient and sure-to-short-circuit robots. It was also a complete hoax. Yet the robo tall tale continues to quietly circulate around the web four years later, masquerading as blogged truth. Word that Kenji the love-struck robot was still lurking around online was delivered directly to my inbox. Right. The article also wasn’t new. But they did.
Dope: Full Electric Tron LightCycle by Parker Bros Choppers! Mann wird wegen seiner digitalen Brille angegriffen – Zeit noch nicht Reif für diese Technik? | NewGadgets.de Ihr dachtet Google Glass ist etwas neues? Falsch gedacht! Computer die man als Brille mit sich herumträgt gibt es schon länger und Steve Mann, der sich schon seit 34 Jahren mit dieser Technologie auseinandersetzt, wird liebevoll “father of wearable computing” genannt.Er trägt seine digitale Brille, Projekt EyeTap Digital Eye Glass, immer mit sich herum. Nun ist sein EyeTap kaputt, denn man wollte ihm die Brille gewaltsam vom Kopf reissen. Passiert ist dies am 1. Die komplette Geschichte, die dank der Brille auch noch bebildert ist, könnt ihr hier nachlesen. Da seine Brille natürlich über eine Kamera verfügt, wurden Bilder gemacht, die sich nun perfekt dazu nutzen lassen um die Angreifer zu identifizieren. Dies war nur ein Einzelfall, klar, es gibt ja auch noch nicht viele Menschen die solche Brillen tragen. Abgesehen von der kaputten Brille, war die Situation für Mann sicher mehr als demütigend und ich hätte nicht gerne in seiner Haut gesteckt! Digitale Brillen im Alltag
Solar Home Principles and Design by David W. Allan The home is basically designed to be warm in the winter and cool in the summer. There is plenty of solar energy. The problem is how to store it and optimally use it for self sufficiency. More about Eutectic Salt Chamber 6. 7. Humans Show Empathy for Robots | Human-Robot Interactions From R2-D2 in "Star Wars" to Furby, robots can generate surprisingly humanlike feelings. Watching a robot being abused or cuddled has a similar effect on people to seeing those things done to a human, new research shows. Humans are increasingly exposed to robots in their daily lives, but little is known about how these lifelike machines influence human emotions. Feeling bad for bots In two new studies, researchers sought to measure how people responded to robots on an emotional and neurological level. Scientists assessed people's levels of physiological excitation after watching the videos by recording their skin conductance, a measure of how well the skin conducts electricity. The volunteers reported feeling more negative emotions while watching the robot being abused. In the second study, researchers use functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to visualize brain activity in the participants as they watched videos of humans and robots interacting. Human-robot interactions
Visual prosthesis A visual prosthesis, often referred to as a bionic eye, is an experimental visual device intended to restore functional vision in those suffering from partial or total blindness. In 1983 Joao Lobo Antunes, a Portuguese doctor, implanted a bionic eye in a person born blind. Many devices have been developed, usually modeled on the cochlear implant or bionic ear devices, a type of neural prosthesis in use since the mid-1980s. The idea of using electrical current (e.g., electrically stimulating the retina or the visual cortex) to provide sight dates back to the 18th century, discussed by Benjamin Franklin,[1] Tiberius Cavallo,[2] and Charles LeRoy.[3] Biological considerations[edit] The ability to give sight to a blind person via a bionic eye depends on the circumstances surrounding the loss of sight. Technological considerations[edit] Visual prosthetics are being developed as a potentially valuable aid for individuals with visual degradation. Ongoing projects[edit] Dr. Dobelle Eye[edit] Dr.
Worlds Nests | humanhavens.com Angel’s Nest, now Worlds Nests, the sustainable energy demonstration showcase in Taos, New Mexico, built by Robert Plarr and Victoria Peters, incorporates wind and solar power, a renewable hydrogen fueling station, and integrated greenhouses in a unique closed loop, grid-independent energy and water replenishment cycle. Dedicated to all the resources necessary to providing Green-Sustainable Systems to create Fully Affordable Sustainable Homes, Businesses and Communities around the world.