Scientists Probe the Use of the Tongue

Yahoo! News is reporting that in the military's continuing search for better sensory input they have started looking at the tongue as a 'superior transmitter'.

 

From the article:

A narrow strip of red plastic connects the Brain Port to the tongue where 144 microelectrodes transmit information through nerve fibers to the brain. Instead of holding and looking at compasses and bluky-hand-held sonar devices, the divers can processes the information through their tongues, said Dr. Anil Raj, the project's lead scientist.

 

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060424/ap_on_sc/tongue_sight

 

TV's Flexible Future

"As you can see it's quite flexible," says Anna Chwang, senior scientist, as she displays a paper thin film with images running across it.

It uses something called "OLEDs" (organic light emitting devices), a thin film of chemicals, 1/10,000 of an inch thick, that turns an electronic signal into a picture, much like a television does.

OLEDs have already been spread on glass and used for cell-phone displays. These scientists are perfecting a way to spread them onto plastic to create flexible OLEDs.

Hollywood science fiction, right?

Actually, the future seen in the Tom Cruise movie "Minority Report" may be just around the corner.

An Alternate Human

What has six limbs, a prehensile tail, its brain in its chest, and reproductive organs in its mouth? The alternate human designed by biologist PZ Myers in Remaking Humanity, a story in Forbes.com's package on Reinvention. It may sound fantastic, but researchers are already working to re-build DNA, proteins and cells in a new field called synthetic biology, and we may have to meet these bug-eyed freaks sometime in our lifetime.

This too shall pass

A LOT OF THINGS MIGHT HELP you in your relationship, but when you try to sift out the most important, your ability to deal with conflict will be at or near the top of the list.

Would you like to experience less conflict? Would you like to feel calmer during conflicts? Would you like to resolve them easier? Here's how: Remember whatever is happening is temporary. There are several reasons this principle is so important.

Scientific explanation for near death experience

We have heard many stories on near death experiences. Here is a scientific explanation to it.

 

From the article:

Throughout history, there have been accounts of people experiencing visions on the brink of death, what are now called near-death experiences. There are dozens of books and films on the subject, even a Journal of Near Death Studies in America, and a conference planned this October in Houston, Texas.

Today, new evidence is published that backs the idea that the near-death experience is a biological experience, rather than anything to do with a larger, spiritual dimension, a glimpse of heaven, or the existence of the soul.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/04/11/wdeath11.xml&sSheet=/news/2006/04/11/ixworld.html

Tiny Flyer Navigates Like Fly

An ultralight autonomous aircraft that mimics the navigational abilities of a fly could one day become a real fly on the wall.

The 10-gram microflyer, being developed by a team of researchers lead by Dario Floreano at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne, has a 36-centimeter (14-inch) wingspan.

But it could one day be shrunk to insect size and used for search and rescue.

http://dsc.discovery.com/news/briefs/20060410/flybot_tec.html

Top 20 Strangest Gadgets and Accessories

Check out the talking lips, Wood LED Clock, Head bath cup, Bouncing digital camera, RSStroom Reader etc... Really weird ones ..

 

http://www.techeblog.com/index.php/tech-gadget/top-20-strangest-gadgets-and-accessories

Batteries made from Virus?

Researchers at MIT have modified the M13 virus to create very small batteries. With the viruses building wires 6 nanometers in diameter, the research team hopes to 'build batteries that range from the size of a grain of rice up to the size of existing hearing-aid batteries.'

 

Health Problems Related to the Geek Lifestyle

A doctor and former programmer has written a good article on common geek health problems. From the article: 'If I were to go and try to run a few miles this weekend, I would not be able to easily do so. [...] However, if you take one of the these college basketball athletes, any of them would be able to run miles without even breathing heavy. However, if you made them sit down and try to learn Java for 12 hours a day, most of them would be asleep at their desk before lunch. The typical geek trains their brain to be heavily focused while multitasking day after day. Is it surprising that this same brain does not do well when forced to isolate down to one task?

 

Self-Parking Cars Coming To U.S.

Vehicles that are able to parallel park themselves while drivers sit and relax behind the wheel are coming to the United States, according to a Local 6 News report. New Toyota hybrid cars are now available in Britain with a $700 "parking assist" option. Local 6 news showed video of a driver sitting and allowing the car's steering wheel to turn on its own as it pulled into a tight parking spot on a London street. The reporter never touched the wheel as the car parked itself.Toyota says expect to see the technology pop up in the U.S. soon." Here is our previous coverage of their release in Japan.

 

Cell phone users 240 % more promne to brain tumors

A new Swedish study has found that heavy users of cell phones had a 240 percent increase in brain tumors on the side of their head that the phone was used on.

 

http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1040_22-6056325.html?tag=zdfd.newsfeed

Prayer Does Not Help Heart Patients

A recent study conducted by the Duke University Medical Center on 700 patients, found that having people pray for heart bypass surgery patients had no effect on their recovery. Researchers emphasized their work does not address whether God exists or answers prayers made on another's behalf.This result seems to contradict a previous study by the same authors that reported "cardiac patients who received intercessory prayer in addition to coronary stenting appeared to have better clinical outcomes than those treated with standard stenting therapy alone

 

Doctors grow organs from patients' own cells

Scientists grew new bladders from the patients' own cells, which were then transplanted back into the patients' bodies.

Dr. Anthony Atala and his colleagues described the experiment as a long-term success for the seven patients, who ranged from toddlers to teenagers.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/HEALTH/conditions/04/03/engineered.organs/index.html

Cell phone users 240 % more prone to brain tumors

A new Swedishstudy hasfound that heavy users of cell phones had a 240 percent increase inbrain tumors on the side of their head that the phone was usedon. The study defined 'heavy' use as more than 2,000 total hours,or approximately one hour of use per workday for 10 years. Anearlier Britishstudy was previously discussedhere that didn't find an increased risk, although that studycovered fewer subjects and only followed one type of brain tumor for ashorter period of time. Or course, the biggest epidemiologicalstudy of all is the one we are all participating in whenever we use ourcell phone. The results from that study won't be available for awhile.

 

Five things likely to make you happier in the short term

Here is my list of things to give you a short-term "hit" of happiness. Of course, these things won't solve your long-term problems, but they are useful tricks to giving yourself some relief when it all seems too much.

Each is virtually guaranteed to give you some satisfaction, but they won't work unless you try them. Sometimes, misery and depression can all become a bit too comfortable. Taking action, however minor, can appear like too much effort. It's so much easier just to hang around the house feeling bad, than doing something about it

 

1. Go out for a walk
2. Do something fun that you haven't done in a long time
3. Do something creative
4. Complete some minor chore that you've been avoiding
5. Get in contact with an old friend or acquaintance you haven't seen for a while

http://www.paulstips.com/brainbox/pt/home.nsf/$all/7DF93F19B64240A3CA2570490040AB62?opendocument

Electrical Noise Causing Physiological Stress?

The Globe and Mail is reporting on possible physiological problems caused by so-called 'dirty electricity.' Poor power quality caused by electrical feedback and harmonics from consumer electronics are cited as a possible cause of various 'physiological stress' problems. While previous research in this area looked for connections between EM fields and cancer, some research is now looking into possible connections to fatigue, headaches, depression, and other symptoms. From the article: 'If electricity were flowing in a constant way, most people's bodies would likely adapt, but with all the interference from modern devices, the resulting fields are too variable for people to get used to.

First Steps Toward Artificial Gravity

Have scientists been able to artificially generate a gravitational field? Researchers at the European Space Agency believe so."Small acceleration sensors placed at different locations close to the spinning superconductor, which has to be accelerated for the effect to be noticeable, recorded an acceleration field outside the superconductor that appears to be produced by gravitomagnetism. This experiment is the gravitational analogue of Faraday's electromagnetic induction experiment in 1831."The effect is very small, so don't expect to see it used in spacecraft any time soon. But the effect is still many times larger than the predictions of Einstein's theories."If confirmed, this would be a major breakthrough," says [Austrian researcher Martin] Tajmar. "It opens up a new means of investigating general relativity and it consequences in the quantum world."

Measure the speed of your brain

According to CNet, a company named Posit Science has produced an online test using Flash that uses sounds to measure the speed of your brain down to the millisecond. According to the company, the test 'measures auditory processing (listening) speed—one of many measures of brain function...The faster we can take in information accurately, the better we can keep up with, respond to and remember what we hear