The world's first bionic hand that will allow patients to 'feel' sensations set to be transplanted onto a patient Will give amputees a genuine sense of touchAttached directly to the nervous system via electrodes'We hope one day the user will just forget it's there' Dr Silvestro Micera By Nick Mcdermott, Science Reporter Published: 18:34 GMT, 17 February 2013 | Updated: 08:21 GMT, 18 February 2013 A bionic hand which allows the recipient to feel ‘lifelike’ sensations is to be transplanted on to a patient’s arm for the first time. Until now, artificial limbs have been able to pick up brain signals destined for the absent hand and translate them into movements, but they could not give sensory feedback. The new hand, which is attached directly to the nervous system via electrodes clipped on to two of the arm’s main nerves, aims to restore a sense of touch in amputees. Scientists hope the new bionic hand will prove to be a breakthrough in the development of artificial limbs The bionic hand is attached directly to the central nervous system meaning it can be controlled directly by the recipient
Zen Table by Simon Hallam Imagine a Japanese Zen Garden built into a beautifully-crafted, glass-topped table. The body of the table encapsulates electronics and robotics, that sculpt geometric patterns and images into a field of microscopic silicone beads beneath a glass top. The effect is mesmerizing and magical; it is truly Zen-like to watch ever-changing patterns and images appear in the sand. The project is based on an idea I sketched in a notebook back in 1997. Since then I've tested a multitude of mechanical configurations and experimented with many different sculpting mediums. In May of this year I decided to get serious about the project, spending my life savings developing a full-sized coffee table prototype, building a smaller desktop sized version, and writing software that directs the table to sculpt interesting things. We Need Your Support The design and execution of the first functioning tables is complete. NEW VIDEO: I know this one isn't very Zen like, but it is one of my favorites. Simon Hallam.
Why 2012 will be year of the artist-entrepreneur While 2011 was a big year for political unrest, another uprising was afoot in the world of content creators and artists. Everywhere you look, artists are taking more control over their own economic well being, in large part because the Internet has enabled them to do so. You see it in all forms of content, from books, to video to music. A few examples from this year: e-books: Probably the most active area in large part because there is huge shifts taking place in digital publishing. Video: The story of the year for artists-as-entrepreneur came at the tail-end, with Louis CK saying no thank you to corporate middlemen and putting his new concert video online for $5 a pop. Radio/Music: All sorts of independent entrepreneurs are putting audio entertainment online, from the rise of podcast kings like Leo Laporte to a huge number of independents like Adam Carolla and Marc Maron. So what is driving this movement towards the artist-entrepreneur that will give it huge momentum in 2012?
Docandersen's Blog | Last friendly blog before, well you know. Swiss plan to orbit a satellite to kill old satellites It has always been rather ironic to me that the space surrounding the earth doesn't actually have a whole lot of space thanks to the hordes of satellites in orbit. Other than satellites that are actually working, there is a bunch of debris flying around orbiting the Earth that sometimes crashes in the other satellites that are in use, destroying them and making even more debris. Scientists in Switzerland have a plan to clean up junk that's in orbit around Earth. The plan involves a small satellite that would be placed in orbit and then catch up to the defunct or damaged satellites and capture them. The satellite is dubbed CleanSpace One and will have some sort small arm to reach out and grab the old satellites, and then store them inside itself. CleanSpace One is a small satellite that reportedly wouldn't cost that much to put into orbit. [via Business Insider]
7 Ingenious DIY Designs You Can Make At Home | Co.Design Samuel Bernier’s Project RE_ is a playful enigma. On the one hand, there is a clear aesthetic thread that runs through each project’s final form--it’s not hard to imagine spending far too much to buy these things at a high-end boutique. On the other hand, they are all made from household objects and the steps to making them are freely available online. It seems that Bernier is at home in this enigma. This is, in a funny way, big business. In the meantime, page through our gallery of Bernier’s designs and see if you can guess what the final result will be, by looking only at the ingredients.
Scottoandersen's Blog | Just another WordPress.com site 5 nieuwe media trends uit de States South by Southwest Interactive vond afgelopen week plaats in Austin, Texas. Het duurde 5 dagen, die allemaal dik gevuld waren met in totaal 3.000 sessies. Ik ben bij zo’n 15 sessies aanwezig geweest. Tijdens het napraten met andere bezoekers en het lezen van verschillende blogs over het event, ben ik tot 5 belangrijke trends gekomen: contentcuratie, social-local apps, de veranderende business, big data en techstuff (bij gebrek aan een betere verzamelnaam). 1. Curatie is een woord dat je de komende tijd veel zult horen. 2. Twitter en Foursquare zijn afgelopen jaren ‘doorgebroken’ op SXSW. Highlight De social-local app Highlight De app bezit zowel positieve als negatieve eigenschappen: het is echt leuk om meer te weten over de mensen om je heen, zeker op een evenement als SXSW. Lanyrd Ik vond het fijn om tijdens SXSW oog in oog te staan met een aantal mensen die ik bewonder en daarom volg op Twitter. Meer apps 3. Brian Solis- Book: The End of Business As Usual 4. 5. Mind-controlled skateboard
4 Reasons Why The Future Of Capitalism Is Homegrown, Small Scale, And Independent | Co. Design You won’t learn about it in business school, hear about it from Wall Street, or see it in Palo Alto. But if you spend time in Bushwick, Brooklyn, or on Rivington Street in Manhattan, you just might detect the outlines of an emerging “indie” capitalism. This new form of capitalism is not just about conventional startups and technology and venture capitalists. If you add up all the trends under way today, I believe we are beginning to see the start of something original, and perhaps wonderful. It may prove to be the economic and social antidote to the failed financial capitalism and crony capitalism that no longer delivers economic value in terms of jobs, income, and taxes to the people of this country. It’s too early to define the exact shape of this latest iteration of capitalism, but what indie capitalism appears to have is a distinct sensibility. Indie capitalism is local, not global, and cares about the community and jobs and says so right up front. What do you think?
To Create a Sustainable Business Find a REAL Problem to Solve TechCrunch's latest conference, Disrupt, is live streaming from San Francisco this week. A battery of new, hopeful companies are launching there, hoping to solve problems. But the companies I saw yesterday were not solving the many real problems we see around us: the scarcity of resources, the decline of public education, the high unemployment rate, the potential collapse of democracies, the inability of supposedly educated human beings to participate in civil discourse. Instead, they were trying--with great ingenuity and advanced technology--to solve manufactured problems: how to provide more rewards for consumers using Foursquare, (Gifi) how to track my behavior on Web sites I visit (One True Fan), These companies want brands to be able to reach me when I am in the super market and tell me about specials on shelves I might not want to visit, to buy things I may not want or need. What's the technology they're using? I am being manipulated. Manufactured needs are not dependable.