South Korean scientists have copied the structure of a firefly’s underbelly to create what they say is an improved and cheaper LED lens.They hope the discovery will one day be used in smartphones, televisions and other devices.In a paper published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences journal (“Biologically inspired LED lens from cuticular nanostructures of firefly lantern”), the scientists describe how they were inspired by … Read More → "Nanoscale structures of fireflies inspire cheaper LED lamps"

To this day it remains a mystery why the cerebral pressure in certain people suddenly increases. The consequences, however, are better understood: The blood circulation is disrupted and after a while parts of the brain may die off, similar to what occurs in a stroke. This is how dementia takes its insidious path. Experts estimate that up to ten percent of all cases of dementia in Europe can be attributed to rising blood pressure in the brain. … Read More → "New intracranial sensor serves to measure cerebral pressure"

The saying that “war is long periods of boredom punctuated by moments of sheer terror” could have been written for military UAV pilots. The news media like to portray drones like the MQ-1 Predator as robot warriors, but behind each one is a human pilot with only limited powers of endurance. On long missions, pilots get bored and distracted, so a team from MIT’s Human and Automaton’s Lab … Read More → "MIT investigating ways to combat boredom in drone pilots"

Around here we’re big believers in the good of gaming. Gamers have proven to have amazing collective reasoning enabling them to crack the code of an Aids-like virus, and incredible hand-eye coordination. Now scientists from the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston validate yet again that gaming is a pastime with more depth. They gave game playing students virtual surgery tools and measured their skills against UTMB residents. The gamers did … Read More → "Research shows gamers are better virtual surgeons than residents"

A Southern California man was arrested at Oakland International Airport after security officers found him wearing an unusual watch they said could be used to make a timing device for a bomb, authorities said Friday.

Geoffrey McGann, 49, of Rancho Palos Verdes was taken into custody Thursday night after he tried to pass through airport security with an ornate watch that had switches, wires and fuses, according to Sgt. J.D. Nelson, a spokesman for the Alameda County Sheriff’s Department.

A bomb squad arrived within five minutes and determined there were no explosive materials … Read More → "Man with strange watch arrested at Oakland airport"

Melbourne, Australia’s Metro Trains has created a cheerful, catchy and adorable animation to keep people from doing idiotic things that could cost their lives. 

From setting your hair on fire to selling your kidneys on the net, the three-minute spot shows you the dumb ways to die—and advises viewers to be safe around trains.
via Design Taxi

… Read More → "The dumbest ways to die"

This is the world’s most advanced Scrabble set. Packed with LEDs, RFID sensors and fancy software, it’s the cutting-edge in boardgames—and it’s worth a cool $30,000.

Designed especially for the Prague Mind Sports Festival—where clever types gather to compete in a range of mentally taxing games—this board is designed to help broadcast games online, in real-time.
via Read More → "The world’s most advanced Scrabble set: LEDs, RFID and $30,000"

Available in five models, all achingly cool and all powered by the revolutionary Z-Force motor whose performance is nearly double that of its nearest rivals on average makes the 2013 Zero Electric Motorcycles a speed-fiend’s dream. So fast and so powerful in fact that they may just turn a few petrol-heads too.
via Gear Culture

< … Read More → "2013 Zero electric motorcycles"

The Economist magazine announced the winners of its 2012 Innovation Awards on Thursday evening. Selected from fields as diverse as bioscience, telecommunications, energy and aerospace, the winners were selected by a panel of judges, comprised largely of previous award winners. As diverse as they were, those awarded did share one particular trait: far from being pie-in-the-sky ideas, their innovations were all proven technologies. Gizmag attended the awards ceremony at BAFTA in London to get the lowdown on the event.
via gizmag</ … Read More → "The Economist reveals its 2012 Innovation Awards winners"

NASA’s Curiosity rover has lately been investigating the wind and radiation on Mars, providing data on some uniquely Martian weather phenomena.

The probe’s main objectives on Mars are to scour the planet for signs of ancient habitability. “But we also have some pretty important goals of studying the modern environment,” said geophysicist Ashwin Vasavada, deputy project scientist for Curiosity during a press conference today. ” … Read More → "Curiosity Rover measures radiation and wind on Mars"