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Posts Tagged ‘Physorg’

Skinput: because touchscreens never felt right anyway (video)

Microsoft looks to be on a bit of a hot streak with innovations lately, and though this here project hasn’t received much hype (yet), we’d say it’s one of the most ingenious user interface concepts we’ve come across. Skinput is based on an armband straddling the wearer’s biceps and detecting the small vibrations generated when the user taps the skin of his arm. Due to different bone densities, tissue mass and muscle size, unique acoustic signatures can be identified for particular parts of the arm or hand (including fingers), allowing people to literally control their gear by touching themselves. The added pico projector is there just for convenience, and we can totally see ourselves using this by simply memorizing the five input points (current maximum, 95.5 percent accuracy), particularly since the band works even if you’re running. Make your way past the break to see Tetris played in a whole new way.

Continue reading Skinput: because touchscreens never felt right anyway (video)

Skinput: because touchscreens never felt right anyway (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 02 Mar 2010 04:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Newfangled nanoscale scanning technique could improve heart health
Oh, nanotechnology — your wonders never cease. Boffins at Imperial College London have been able to use live nanoscale microscopy (a technique called scanning ion conductance microscopy) in order to see the surface of the cardiac muscle cell at more detailed levels than those possible using conventional live microscopy. Without getting too gross on you, the new process could lead to improved designs of beta-blockers, the drugs that can retard the development of heart failure. Researchers are hoping that the findings could also lead to “improvements in current therapeutic approaches to treating heart failure and abnormal heart rhythms,” and while these exceptionally detailed images are helping the cardiac muscle right now, we’re hoping that this stuff could also bleed over to other fields of medicine. Ventricles crossed!

Newfangled nanoscale scanning technique could improve heart health originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 27 Feb 2010 11:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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UCLA nanowire discovery could lead to faster, stronger, smaller electronics
Advancements in silicon-germanium have been going on for years now, but a team at UCLA is convinced that their discovery really is “the next big thing.” For scores now, microchip makers have struggled with miniaturizing transistors as the public at large demands that things get smaller and smaller. Thanks to researchers at the aforesaid university, it’s looking like silicon-germanium nanowires could be the key to making the process a whole lot easier. According to study co-author Suneel Kodambaka, the new nanowires could “help speed the development of smaller, faster and more powerful electronics,” also noting that they’re so small that they can be “placed in virtually anything.” Which is great, because the Adamo XPS is just entirely too pudgy.

UCLA nanowire discovery could lead to faster, stronger, smaller electronics originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 15 Dec 2009 10:09:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Spin polarization achieved at room temperature, elusive miracles now less elusive
Spintronics — much like Cook-Out milkshakes and cotton candy for all — seems like a pipe dream at this point. We’ve been beaten over the head with theoretical miracles, but we’re getting to the point where it’s put up or shut up. Thankfully, a team of Dutch boffins are clearly in the same camp, and they’ve been toiling around the clock in order to achieve spin polarization in non-magnetic semiconductors at ambient temperature. The amazing part here is that “temperature” bit; up until this discovery, spin polarization was only possible at levels of around 150 K, or at temperatures far, far cooler than even your unheated basement. If spintronics could effectively be enacted at room temperature, all those unicorn-approved phenomena we mentioned earlier would have a much greater chance of sliding into the realm of reality. Here’s hoping they get this stuff ironed out prior to 2012.

Spin polarization achieved at room temperature, elusive miracles now less elusive originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 28 Nov 2009 06:47:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Carbon nanotubes find yet another purpose, could star in ultra-reliable batteries

Carbon nanotubes are kind of like peanuts. They both seem pretty simple at first glance, but with a little work, you can make pretty much anything out of ‘em. Take this case, for example, as MIT boffins have discovered that by forming the tube-shaped molecules of pure carbon into minuscule springs, they could be “capable of storing as much energy, pound for pound, as lithium-ion batteries.” The real kicker is exactly how they’d do it — “more durably and reliably.” Essentially, these newfangled cells could be left alone for years on end without losing their charge, and unlike conventional batteries, these wouldn’t suffer from performance degradation when exposed to temperature extremes. Of course, anything as pie-in-the-sky as this is probably at least a decade or so out from Walmart shelves, but considering that the group responsible has already filed a patent, we’d say they’re pretty confident in the possibilities.

[Via Physorg]

Filed under: Science

Carbon nanotubes find yet another purpose, could star in ultra-reliable batteries originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 21 Sep 2009 20:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Japanese researchers debut wheelchair-replacing RODEM "universal vehicle"

Look out, Rascal. You may just have have some new competition in the fast-moving field of slow-moving mobility — at least if this new RODEM prototype developed by a group of research partners at Japan’s Veda Center (including Tmsuk) actually hits the market. Apparently designed to be used as both a replacement for a wheelchair and as a general purpose “universal vehicle,” the four-wheeled RODEM allows folks to simply lean forward slightly without the need for any back support, which the group says will let people get in and out of the vehicle more easily, and with less assistance from care-givers. Of course, no sci-fi inspired vehicle would be complete without a few bells and whistles, and it looks like the RODEM is more than capable in that department, with it packing some built-in GPS, automatic obstacle evasion control, automatic slope correction, an “autonomous navigation function,” voice recognition, and some sort of vital monitoring system (all of which may or may not actually be included in the prototype) — not to mention a top speed of 6 kilometers per hour.

[Via Physorg]

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets, Transportation

Japanese researchers debut wheelchair-replacing RODEM “universal vehicle” originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 27 Aug 2009 13:07:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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