Bioengineers inject cockroaches with DNA nanobots
posted by Laura Domela
It seems to be universal knowledge that if were ever invaded by aliens, cockroaches would most likely survive. Cockroaches will probably survive anything apocalyptic as proven in Fallout 3 after having to fight off those oversized nightmares. However, scientists thought it would be a swell idea to inject cockroaches with DNA nanobots.
The nanobots are also called “origami robots” because they fold and unfold strands of DNA. The cockroaches should be able to function like little computer and perform various simple tasks. The DNA nanobots have been programmed to interact with each other and move around inside of the cockroaches. So far as we can tell, these super cockroaches are meant for dispensing drugs.
via Geekosystem
image via Jeremy Page
A list of people who disappeared mysteriously
posted by Laura Domela
This is a list of people who disappeared mysteriously, and whose current whereabouts are unknown or whose deaths are not substantiated, as well as a few cases of people whose disappearance was notable and remained mysterious for a long time, but was eventually explained.
via Boing Boing
Google's new modular phone may be the last you'll need to buy
posted by Laura Domela
At the Project Ara Developer’s Conference in Santa Clara, California, the moment of unveiling was a bit of a letdown. When project lead Paul Eremenko got ready for the big reveal — finally showing off Google’s vision for a modular phone with working, user-interchangeable components — he had to dampen expectations from the enthusiastic crowd. “You should temper your applause,” he warned, explaining that the device had been damaged the previous day. “We did crack the screen, and the phone doesn’t quite boot.” A disappointment, sure, but it did little to actually temper anything.
Project Ara is Google’s attempt to reinvent the cellphone as we know it. Instead of a slab of glass and metal that you have no ability to upgrade, save for buying a new device, it’s an attempt to launch a phone where all of the main components are interchangeable via modules that click in and out, attaching via electro-permanent magnets. Despite being highly customizable, it will only come in three main sizes, helping to eliminate the kind of device fragmentation that currently plagues Android. Google plans to roll out a “gray model,” a very basic device that costs as little as $50, as well as higher-end handsets that could go for as much as $500 and up. The former will be released first — around this time next year if all goes according to plan — and will likely be a smaller, Wi-Fi-only version. This bare-bones model will be followed by the higher-end ones eventually. But Google’s initial objective is to ramp up a hardware ecosystem that moves at the same pace as the software it runs.
via Wired
Photo: Norman Chan/Tested.com
Google applies for patent on contact lens camera
posted by Laura Domela
Google's research department is cranking out ideas for eye-worn electronics. Just a few months ago saw the company's patent application for a glucose sensor in a contact lens — now it is looking at integrating a full-on camera.
The application, uncovered by Patent Bolt, is one of many recent ones relating to methods for adding chips and components of various kinds to contact lenses. In the illustrations, a tiny camera sensor is seen just below where the eye's iris would be, and various accompanying electronic bits are connected.
via NBC News
Watch five Giant Cat excavators play the world's biggest game of Jenga
posted by Larra Morris
Twenty-seven wooden blocks weighing 600 pounds each? That's no regular game of Jenga—that's a job for a team of five giant, yet agile, Cat excavators and telehandlers to take on. Just some machines having fun.
via Gizmodo
Scientists are studying evolutionary concepts with robot mice
posted by Larra Morris
Studying evolution is tricky -- it's a process that happens over countless generations and thousands of years, but the men tasked with studying it live less than a century. Researchers at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology have found one way around the problem: robots. OIST's Dr. Stefan Elfwing has been using small, rodent-like robots to study the long-term effects of disparate mating strategies, observing the evolution of the simulated species for over 1,000 generations. Two groups of robo-mice were programmed to forage for food (battery-powered recharge stations) and to find a mate (trade data through an embedded IR port), with each group following a different mating strategy. Robots dubbed "foragers" would focus on recharging, only mating if it didn't get in the way of feeding, while "trackers" would actively seek mates and go without charging if it increased their chances of linking up IR ports.
via Engadget
Image: OIST
Google Glass now available to all for limited time
posted by Laura Domela
Google has been peddling its Google Glass wearable device for a while now and so far, to be able to buy one, you had to be invited. Even once you were invited, you still needed to cough up the $1500. If you have been dreaming about becoming a Glass user, but didn't know anyone who could invite you, today is your day.
Google confirmed a few days ago that on April 15 anyone would be able to buy Glass without having an invite. The catch to thisspecial deal is that it is for a limited number of spots open in the Glass Explorer program. Google offers no details on exactly how many spots it is trying to fill.
via SlashGear
Image: SlashGear
Five Thirty Eight breaks down the statistics of Bob Ross paintings
posted by Larra Morris
Statistical analysis site Five Thirty Eight has analyzed the artwork of Joy of Painting host Bob Ross, discovering that 91-percent of the works he created on the show featured at least one of the “happy trees” for which he is remembered. Author Walt Hickey further breaks down the 381 episodes on which Ross painted by conditional probability — i.e., what is the likelihood that he painted another object after he painted a first.
There’s a 93-percent chance that Ross paints a second tree given that he has painted a first […] Ross was also amenable to painting friends for mountains. Sixty-percent of paintings with one mountain in them have at least two mountains.
via Laughing Squid
Image: Five Thirty Eight
MIT whizzes invent magical furniture that changes shape on demand
posted by Larra Morris
Just imagine if your sofa could sense how you’re feeling when you get home from work. To stave off marathon TV sessions, it could transform from a cushioned pile of pillows to a rigid lounge as encouragement to go outside and move around. This exact shape-shifting scenario is an unlikely reality, but a new project from MIT’s Tangible Media Group envisions more realistically what might happen when our furniture is finally able to respond to us.
Called Transform, this table-like structure metamorphoses based on the motions and emotions of the humans around it. Developed by Sean Follmer, Daniel Leithinger and Hiroshi Ishii, the magical device was on show at the Lexus Design Amazing display during Milan Design Week.
via Wired
Image: MIT
