MIT Media Lab creates interface with antigravity ball
This is a metal ball. It levitates. It midair. You can move it around however you want and then let go of it, and it’ll just stick there, defying both gravity and common sense. The MIT Media Lab has worked this into an interface that lets both you and a computer communicate through the manipulation of physical objects. […] Powerful magnetic fields controlled by a computer coupled to an optical tracking system and a projector are used to move the ball around (or hold it in place in midair) and to provide an interactive volume for the user to frolic in.
ZeroN can remember how it has been moved. Physical motions of people can be collected in this medium to preserve and play them back indefinitely. When the users move release the ZeroN, it continues to float and starts to move along the same path. This allows a unique, tangible record of a user’s physical presence and motion which will continue to exist even after the death of the person.
Via Futurescope
![futurescope:
Researchers develop disposable paper-based touch pads
Today, electronic touch pads are widely found on laptops, tablets, and other computing devices. Less common uses, but gaining in popularity, are book covers and food labels. These and other low-tech applications become possible as touch pads become extremely inexpensive, with applications ranging from beer bottle labels to disposable medical device labels. Now a team of researchers from the US and France have developed paper-based electronic touch pads that cost just 25 cents per square meter, a price at which touch pads can simply be thrown away when no longer needed. […]
[read more] [Image credit: Mazzeo, et al.]](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m3vdnj7Ds41r08k60o1_400.jpg)
Researchers develop disposable paper-based touch pads
Today, electronic touch pads are widely found on laptops, tablets, and other computing devices. Less common uses, but gaining in popularity, are book covers and food labels. These and other low-tech applications become possible as touch pads become extremely inexpensive, with applications ranging from beer bottle labels to disposable medical device labels. Now a team of researchers from the US and France have developed paper-based electronic touch pads that cost just 25 cents per square meter, a price at which touch pads can simply be thrown away when no longer needed. […]
[read more] [Image credit: Mazzeo, et al.]
Researchers at University of Pittsburgh have generated a frequency comb (a slice of spectrum) with more than 100 terahertz bandwidth, eclipsing today’s devices that operate in the gigahertz frequency region.
A team of scientists report a communications breakthrough that they say could be used…
(Source: zdnet.com)
![futurescope:
Prosthetics Breakthrough Might Fuse Nerves With Fake Limbs
New plastic scaffolds attached to prosthetic devices could enable nerves to feel and control artificial limbs, using electrical signals to bring back real sensations. The research could eventually realize the dream of connecting artificial body extensions to the living nervous system.
Despite major advances in prosthetics, researchers have not been able to fully integrate nerves and prosthetic devices — though several teams, including DARPA, have been trying. New research at Sandia National Laboratories, the University of New Mexico and MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston could make it a reality. […]
[via] [more] [photo credit: Sgt. Ray Lewis/Bouhammer.com]](http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m02hn8S68Q1r08k60o1_1280.jpg)
Prosthetics Breakthrough Might Fuse Nerves With Fake Limbs
New plastic scaffolds attached to prosthetic devices could enable nerves to feel and control artificial limbs, using electrical signals to bring back real sensations. The research could eventually realize the dream of connecting artificial body extensions to the living nervous system.
Despite major advances in prosthetics, researchers have not been able to fully integrate nerves and prosthetic devices — though several teams, including DARPA, have been trying. New research at Sandia National Laboratories, the University of New Mexico and MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston could make it a reality. […]
![futurescope:
Scientists print cheap RFID tags on paper, kurzweilai.net
A technique for printing radio frequency identification (RFID) chips on paper has been developed by University of Montpellier scientists.
The technique uses a thermal evaporation process to deposit thin aluminium coil antennas on sheets of paper, which can later be used for packaging or printed material. The researchers claim this is a cheaper way to produce RFID tags, allowing the technology to replace both barcodes and QR codes.
[paper]](http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lzbxm2vGCK1qz4fj0o1_500.jpg)
Scientists print cheap RFID tags on paper, kurzweilai.net
A technique for printing radio frequency identification (RFID) chips on paper has been developed by University of Montpellier scientists.
The technique uses a thermal evaporation process to deposit thin aluminium coil antennas on sheets of paper, which can later be used for packaging or printed material. The researchers claim this is a cheaper way to produce RFID tags, allowing the technology to replace both barcodes and QR codes.
[paper]
(Source: futuramb)
In an age where the citizens of the supposedly free world are considered the enemy by their own governments, developments such as Singularity and brain/machine interfaces should be viewed with a heavy dose of skepticism and resistance. That is, while our ability to do so still exists
While TIME readers in the rest of the world get a serious profile of a key figure in the Euro crisis, Americans get a cover story about animal friendships – the latest in American news distortion.
Video: DARPA shows off new pet.
The LS3 robot is the next generation of the Big Dog robot, aimed at creating a robot capable of carrying supplies for troops over any terrain.
The LS3 robot also acts as a mobile charging station for troops to recharge batteries for their radios, tablets or laptops while on patrol. That makes a huge difference when today’s Marine platoon carries 30 to 50 radios on patrol in Afghanistan, compared with just two or three radios during the Vietnam War.
DARPA plans to next test the robot on a 20 mile trek carrying 400 pounds, without refueling for 24 hours.
I enjoyed the video of Big Dog more than this one, purely for the scene of some guy trying to kick it over - check it out here.
(Source: foxnews.com)
Via 8 Bit Future
MIT researchers Joel Voldman and colleagues have designed a flexible neural probe that can be attached directly to an insect’s ventral nerve cord (VNC), which is similar to a human spinal cord. The team implanted the device in untethered moths and sent commands remotely. The moths turned left or right whenever the appropriate signal was delivered. - From http://www.kurzweilai.netNerve probe controls cyborg moth in flight
