Credit: Rehabilitation Institute of Chicargo/ Discover
http://discovermagazine.com/2013/jan-feb/94-triumph-of-the-bionic-limbs#.UQ0Vwf1hiK0 / Zac Vawter uses his thoughts to control a bionic leg up 103 flights of stairs Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago August Oscar Pistorius South African double amputee, sprinted into the 400-meter semifinals into Olympic history carbon-fiber feet Zac Vawter climbed to the top of Chicago’s Willis Tower Sears Tower bionic leg controlled by his thoughts athletes army prosthetics engineers software engineer, has even bigger implications for commonplace amputee challenges like walking up hills and stairs experimental technique targeted muscle reinnervation stray ends of nerves amputation site redirected into muscle elsewhere in the leg his brain sends messages down those nerves, the muscles contract, amplifying the signal. Engineers at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago put electrodes on Vawter’s thigh to detect the contractions and used a computer chip to translate them into commands for his motorized prosthetic patterns look like when Zac wants to bend his knee or climb the stairs machines become better integrated with the human body glimpsing a future without disabilities, says Hugh Herr, a pioneering prosthetics researcher at MIT /
http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/80beats/2013/01/31/brain-basis-for-why-petting-feels-good/#.UQ0PY_1hiK0 / stroking stimulates a very specific set of neurons that have to do with hair sensory neurons are relatively non-discriminatory respond to touch temperature pretty much anything that comes into contact with the skin researchers rare type neuron MRGPRB4+ linked specifically to hair follicles lab tests patch mouse skin neurons didn’t respond single stimulus Nature genetically engineered glow when active stroked poked pinched the mice neurons responded to unpleasant stimuli like pokes but the MRGPRB4+ neurons only responded to stroking chemical that could elicit the same response neurons lit up, just as if the mouse was being stroked unique neurons were linked specifically to the hair follicles in the mice’s skin, and the nerve-endings were very spread out. Thus, gently stroking their hindquarters would stimulate the mice but poking would not. And it turns out that humans have similar, stroke-sensitive neurons in the hair-covered portions of our skin /
http://m.computerworld.com/s/article/9236429/IronKey_Workspace_review_Windows_8_PC_on_a_stick / Imation IronKey division USB 3.0 flash drive boot up Windows 8. business enterprise employees telework from home consultants work in multiple locations field personnel access corporate desktops any PC certified Windows To Go enterprise feature Windows 8 fully portable desktop regardless of the operating system running on the PC boot up USB any Intel-based Apple computer suspends session USB device removed from host computer. Plug in and you can pick up where you left off, and no data is lost 256-bit AES encryption flash drive /
http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2013/02/in-search-of-a-proper-to-do-application-for-android/ / Classic Notes export notes as text SD card send those notes to services like Google Docs and Dropbox Hotstrings stopwatch tip calculator rhyming words function Todo.txt Touch Text Edit or Notepad users, as it syncs a todo.txt Windows linebreaks Astrid Google Play store notification appointments deadlines Wunderlist is particularly useful for cross-platform sync to-do lists across various devices Facebook account /
http://www.gizmodo.com.au/2013/02/thunderbolt-vs-usb-3-0-the-definitive-showdown/ / Macintosh platform 10Gb/second per channel throughput, T-bolt technology pure performance price implementation standard tie /
http://thetechblock.com/from-ios-to-android/ / Apple Android Google iOS operating system more powerful apps unknown number integration Android allows third-party apps Truecaller system itself bytNotes to remind myself talk to people small note remind callingscreen replaced stock dialer exDialer T9 dialer speed dial shortcuts lock screen calling most frequently dialled contacts iPhone Favourites tab Phone app searching contacts and calling QWERTY keyboard GO Locker camera lock screen single-swipe access messaging apps WhatsApp Messenger integrates third-party developers access system Clipper clipboard history app Pastebot Apple restrictions Contact Sync Facebook fetch replaced the stock Android keyboard for me high resolution photos of your contacts from Facebook in the background. Apps like Pocket can download articles in the background, so you have them ready to read when your phone is out of network coverage SwiftKey stock Android keyboard Multitasking Notifications convenience of Power Toggles Settings app Notification Center actionable notifications notification LED Light Flow colour color Powerful Home Screens Nova Launcher calendar events widget Google Voice search bar Google Now Siri Google Play Store fifteen minute refund window Chrome Gmail Maps Hardware huge screen micro USB port charging cables removable storage on a computer free Android File Transfer utility on a Mac hardware design user interface Tasker scripting app automation OS X SDK Hardware Niggles /
Bouncing droplet
Credit: University of Michigan
http://www.wired.com/design/2013/02/superomniphobicexpialidocious/ / oleophobic coatings oil grease touchscreen hydrophobic coating repel water University of Michigan,Newtonian and non-Newtonian fluids superomniphobic Dr. Tuteja making fluids bounce off a material trap pockets of air surface chemistry problem material low surface energy physics problem water to bead geometry shape coating create polymer solution applies electric field tuning concentration polymer solution microscopic droplets deposited on the surface coat any material hierarchical texture highly porous surface made up of nanopores many millions of tiny pockets air trapped under the droplet that the fluid and the surface barely come into contact at all says they’ve left samples submerged for up to two months come out completely dry /
http://bgr.com/2013/01/30/iphone-users-wireless-bill-analysis-311886/?utm_source=related-sb&utm_medium=article / cutting into their margins iPhone users spend more wireless bills users any other smartphone AllThingsD new research from Consumer Intelligence Research Partners 59% of iPhone users spend over $100 a month on their wireless bills highest percentage of any other group of smartphone Windows Phone phone bills are almost as expensive Android BlackBerry users have the lowest average monthly smartphone bill /
