When you hear someone else speak, specific neurons in your brain fire. Brian Pasley and a bunch of his colleagues discovered this at the University of California, Berkeley. And not only that, but those neurons all appeared to be tuned to specific sound frequencies. So, Pasley had a thought: “If you’re reading text in a newspaper or a book, you hear a voice in your own head,” so why can’t we decode that internal voice simply … Read More → "Scientists can make your inner monologue audible"

Three-dimensional “mini-stomachs” have been created from human stem cells. The tiny organs measure about 3 millimeters in diameter and can be used as models for the infections that are often precursors to peptic ulcers and stomach cancer.

“This represents the first in vitro model of the human stomach,” says James Wells, a stem cell biologist at Cincinnati Children’s and a co-author of the study, … Read More → "Tiny human stomachs created from stem cells"

If there’s anything we can take from the barrage of delivery drones to emerge recently, its that the technology has the potential to transport objects with unprecedented efficiency. Graduate student Alec Momont from Holland’s Delft University of Technology is looking to tap into this ability to reduce emergency response times to cardiac arrest incidents. His Ambulance Drone prototype carries a defibrillator to the scene and promises to dramatically … Read More → "In a heartbeat: Ambulance Drone designed to cut cardiac arrest response times"

There are some smartwatches out there like Will.i.am’s Puls that can make voice calls without having to connect to a phone. But have you ever heard of an analog watch with the same capability? No? Well, now you will: the GPS-equipped Limmex emergency watch looks like a perfectly old-fashioned Swiss timepiece, except it has an emergency button you can press that calls preprogrammed contacts. You don’t … Read More → "Analog wrist watch can call emergency numbers even without a phone"

Wi-Fi in New York City Subway stations makes it easy to burn through your inbox during your commute, but did you know it can also be used to make some great music? Director Chris Shimojima paired eleven musicians in different subway stations with composer and conductor Ljova using the public Wi-Fi hotspots for his latest video. Each of the musicians were set up … Read More → "Wi-Fi hotspots turn New York subway musicians into a wireless orchestra"

In anticipation of Halloween, Brooklyn-based artist Yuliya Tsukerman made this neat stop motion recreating the iconic shower scene in Psycho using only carved pumpkins.
via Gizmodo

… Read More → "Stop-motion video recreates Psycho’s shower scene using carved pumpkins"

NPR’s Planet Money blog has an interactive ranking of the most popular Halloween costumes in America from 2009 to 2013. Users can hover over a specific costume, like zombie, in order to see its rise and fall in popularity over time. Witches, vampires, and pirates seems to be a constant favorite but there are a few interesting additions. The chart — created by Quoctrung Bui and LA Johnson & … Read More → "An interactive ranking of the most popular Halloween costumes in America from 2009 to 2013"

NASA has released a huge library of recorded sounds, everything from rockets to space shuttles to individual planets. You can listen at the NASA SoundCloud page.  

NASA put up special instruments which recorded electromagnetic vibrations on the Voyager space probe and converted that into actual sound. The recordings include the sounds of Saturn’s rings, Neptune, Jupiter … Read More → "NASA releases massive library of sounds recorded in space"

ROBOTIS staged a robot martial arts performance utilizing their Bioloid humanoid robots equipped with DARWIN-OP heads.
via Robots Dreams

… Read More → "Robot martial arts performance at Robot World 2014"

Touchable Memories might ostensibly be an advertisement campaign for a 3D printer, but it’s also a poignant social experiment that delineates how technology can be used to better lives. Featuring five visually impaired people, the video series illustrates the connection between remembrance and tactile contact. It uses a 3D printer to turn photographs from the subjects’ lives into … Read More → "3D printing helps the visually impaired restore faded memories"