Sep 10 2009 Military Experimenting With Airless Tires

We've known about airless tires for a while now here on Geekologie, but now the US military is getting involved and testing them sums of beaches out on some of their vehicles. But not their tanks -- they don't have any air to begin with, silly!

The advantages of airless tires are obvious: they can't be punctured and they never go flat. But it clearly takes a lot of science to get the proper material that can stand up to the pressure of a multi-ton military vehicle sitting on top of it.

Nice, military, but how about some REAL airless tires. I'm talking about hover wheels, bitches! I know that shit exists, we stole the technology from the aliens. GET OUT OF MY HEAD GOVERNMENT! Quick, somebody Reynolds Wrap me, STAT!

Military testing out fancy new airless tires [dvice]

Aug 10 2009 Holodeck Coming Soon: Touchable Hologram

That's right folks, a fully functional Holodeck may be just around the corner. Using a combination of hologram and ultrasound technologies, a group of Japanese scientists have created a touchable, feelable 3-D image. Imagine the possibilities! I'm looking at you, Princess Leia.

Using ultrasonic waves to provide the resistance and tactile presence, the hologram simulates the sensation of rain drops or a small ball, all without interfering with the projected 3-D image. A couple of Wiimotes provide the tracking, and the programing provides the fun.

That's actually pretty freaking awesome. And I, for one, can't wait to see the long term, practical applications of this new technology (read: porn and video games).

Tokyo Scientists Create Touchable Hologram [popsci]

Thanks to Mih0, Will, eazie, Pete, Brocknoviatch and Daryl, who all prefer real life touching. Good, now rub my back.

Jul 9 2009 Graphene: The Material Of Tomorrow, Today

Science, best known for inventing robots and dooming the earth, is now responsible for a new carbon wonder material called graphene. Nice, science, way to do good for once.

Imagine a carbon sheet that's only one atom thick but is stronger than diamond and conducts electricity 100 times faster than the silicon in computer chips.

"It is the thinnest known material in the universe, and the strongest ever measured," Andre Geim , a physicist at the University of Manchester, England , wrote in the June 19 issue of the journal Science.

Like diamond, graphene is pure carbon. It forms a six-sided mesh of atoms that, through an electron microscope, looks like a honeycomb or piece of chicken wire. Despite its strength, it's as flexible as plastic wrap and can be bent, folded or rolled up like a scroll.

Hell yes graphene scrolls! Most practical application EVER. You hear that papyrus? YOU ARE OUTTA HERE! Don't let the Dead Sea hit you on your way out.

New wonder material, one-atom thick, has scientists abuzz [yahoonews]

Thanks to FDSY, who, based on the excitement in his email, popped like 16 boners at the very thought of graphene.

Mar 25 2009 OnLive: The Future Of Video Gaming?

OnLive promises to change the way we game by requiring no heavy-duty consoles or gaming rigs in the future, just a simple box and high-speed internet connection.

The brainchild of Rearden Studios founder Steve Perlman, formerly of Atari, Apple, WebTV and more, and Mike McGarvey, formerly of Eidos, the technology looks to revolutionize the way computer games are brought home. Instead of spending hundreds or thousands of dollars on the latest video game hardware that will make games like Crysis playable at nearly maxed settings, let OnLive's servers handle the processing. All that's required is a low cost "micro console" or a low end PC and a broadband internet connection.

Using patented video compression in tandem with algorithms that compensate for lag, jitter and packet loss, OnLive delivers video at up to 720p resolution at frame rates up to 60 frames per second. Of course, the quality of the video feed relies on your connection.

Well not bad. I'm really curious to see how this plays out. And by curious I mean bi-curious. NOW WHICH ONE OF YOU HANDSOME DEVILS WANTS A KISSIE?! Haha, ignore that, it's just a cold sore.

Official Site
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OnLive Makes PC Upgrades Extinct, Lets You Play Crysis On Your TV [kotaku]

Thanks to Julian, Ryan and Miguel, who don't need consoles because they game in their heads. They're freaking crazy people.

Mar 21 2009 Astronaut To Test New Non-Stink Underwear

That's right, Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata is slated to test a new kind of underwear during his current visit to the space station. The "state-of-the-art" undies were designed "to reduce the smells in normal clothing, absorb sweat and provide insulation."

The underwear, developed by Japanese researchers, are made of antibacterial polymers and are fire-resistant.

Astronauts normally change their clothes every three days.

Koichi will attempt to wear the underwear for a full seven days. Which, if successful, will only be 9 days short of my record. And, if you think I'm kidding, ask my dry cleaners. Well, my ex dry cleaners. I am so stinky!

Astronaut tests non-smelly super pants in space [metro]

Thanks to Thumperchica, who doesn't care because she doesn't wear underwear. I'm with you, girl -- high five! No? Helicopter!

Mar 5 2009 Blind Man Sees The Light With Bionic Eye

Ron is a 73-year old who went blind 30 years ago due to mysterious circumstances (the article didn't say). He hasn't been able to see anything since. I'm talking nothing. Pure blackness. But now, thanks to bionic eye surgery, he can finally see the light (again). Did somebody say laser vision? PEW PEW!

It uses a camera and video processor mounted on sunglasses to send captured images wirelessly to a tiny receiver on the outside of the eye. In turn, the receiver passes on the data via a tiny cable to an array of electrodes which sit on the retina - the layer of specialised cells that normally respond to light found at the back of the eye.

When these electrodes are stimulated they send messages along the optic nerve to the brain, which is able to perceive patterns of light and dark spots corresponding to which electrodes have been stimulated.

He says he can now follow white lines on the road, and even sort socks, using the bionic eye, known as Argus II.

Whoa whoa whoa -- let's slow down a minute. I'm all for bionic eyes, but don't you think it's a little early to be out on the road? Just saying. Quick Ron, how many fingers am I holding up? *POW* -- a fistful! Ron, can you see me? Ron? Uh-oh. Bionic eyes aren't expensive, are they? Looks like he might need a nose too.

Bionic eye gives blind man sight [bbcnews]

Thanks to Mal, who can see you through the internet. Mal, now describe to me what the ladies are wearing.

Feb 24 2009 LG Watch Phone Coming Soon, Costing A Lot

The LG touchscreen G910 watchphone is both watch and cellphone and is actually being made. The drop will start in Europe with a pricetag of £1,000 / €1,144 and then make its way to the states for somewhere between $1,000 and $1,500. So, you willing to pay a cool grand to be the first one with a watchphone? How much you willing to pay to be the first to kiss the Geekologie Writer? Do I hear $10? $5? The ice-cream truck? Wait for me, mister, I want a rocket-pop!

LG's G910 watchphone to cost £1,000? [engadget]

Dec 29 2008 PEW PEW: Cops' New Non-Lethal Weaponry

That thing doesn't even look real. It looks like a gun out of a video game. Or something cardboard Halo kid would make. But no, it's real (nonlethal) weapon.

Pictured above is the PHaSR, the bad-ass "Personnel Halting and Stimulation Response" rifle that's just about ready for deployment. It puts the hurt on you by dazzling you with laser light, while also burning your skin with an infrared laser.

PHaSR, very clever. I would have gone with PEW! though: Personal Eradication Weapon!. But hey, what do I know? I'm only a guy that practically comes up with acronyms for a living. Anyway, there's another weapon coming too, the ADS, or Active Denial System (which should clearly be the Active Incendiary Denial System), capable of shooting a 6-foot wide microwave beam that makes you feel all hot and bothered, but, on the plus side, can cook a frozen burrito like that.

Two fearsome non-lethal weapons on their way to cops' hands [dvice]

Dec 12 2008 Invasion Of Privacy: Scientists Aim To Extract Images/Dreams Directly From Your Brain

A team of Japanese researchers believe they're well on the way to developing a technology capable of displaying whatever is on a person's mind. Including pictures, dreams, and, God willing, sex with dinosaurs.

While the team for now has managed to reproduce only simple images from the brain, they said the technology could eventually be used to figure out dreams and other secrets inside people's minds.

"It was the first time in the world that it was possible to visualize what people see directly from the brain activity," the private institute said in a statement.

"By applying this technology, it may become possible to record and replay subjective images that people perceive like dreams."

Say, this reminds me of one of my own favorite dreams: I exit my cave wearing only an animal pelt. I spot a triceratops -- it catches my gaze. I approach and begin tenderly rubbing its horns while making cooing sounds. The beast gores me. I lay in the mud, bleeding to death. With my last breath I reach out to touch its genitals and....it crushes my arm with a single stomp from one of its massive legs. i wake from the dream dripping sweat, and also, other stuff. Damn -- I should write romance novels!

Dreams may no longer be secret with Japan computer screen [yahoonews]

Thanks to austin, Derrick, Ain and Zombie Bob, who have the ability to make your dreams come true, but only if you buy their set of instructional video for three easy payments of $39.95.

Nov 10 2008 Not Just A Pretty (Reflected) Face: An Interactive, Touch-Sensitive Mirror

It's a mirror. It's interactive. It's an interactive mirror. You can touch it to paint pictures and manipulate text. "Conceptualized by Alpay Kasal of Lit Studios and Sam Ewen of Interference Inc. This is a patent pending touch capable mirror." Now I'm not sure about the practical applications of such a reflectionary device, but hey, who said anything about practicality? If I wanna do my hair and browse recipes at the same time, that's my God-given right. Kidding ladies, that one's yours.

JOKING!

Youtube

Thanks to Brooke, who probably wishes she hadn't sent this and now thinks I'm a racist.

Oct 2 2008 Cool!: New Phone Can See Through Walls

Apparently software developers are working on a cell phone application that can "see" through walls.

The 'Real Space See-through Mobile' software comes from KDDI's R&D laboratory and Tokyo University and is - you'll not be surprised to learn - still just a prototype.

Although we weren't able to see it in action, we can tell you that it is supposed to be able to judge its surroundings, including those on the other side of a wall, using six different sensors. Three acceleration sensors combine with a similar number of geomagnetic sensors and a GPS chip to work out exactly where the phone is and in what direction it's pointing.

Using some sort of digital voodoo, the software then uses OpenGL to draw on the screen what it has 'sensed' is in the immediate surroundings.

Awesome, locker room spy shots without having to disguise myself as a water fountain!

Bizarre phone lets users see through walls [techradar]

Thanks to Jesus, who's a friend of mine.

Aug 5 2008 Eh: Multi-Touch 3D Hologram Display Is Here

This is a video of Obscura Digital demonstrating their multi-touch software with Musion's Eyeliner 3D holographic projector. It's pretty neat. But you know what? I'm getting sick and tired of all these multi-touch demos where it seems the extent of what you can so is shuffle through photos and resize them. BORING. Show me somebody building a LEGO castle or something. Anything -- anything besides "look, you can toss Polaroids around in space!" I mean I can do that in real life, and it would still suck. I want to see some VR applications. I need an escape damnit, and the drugs aren't working.

Obscura Digital projects multi-touch "hologram", blows all sorts of minds [engadget]

Thanks to Julian, who's anxiously awaiting holographic skin flicks.

Jul 11 2008 UPDATE: Radiohead's New "Video" Shot With Lasers Or Something, I Don't Understand, Am Stupid

So instead of using a camera like a normal band, Radiohead, in all their progression, shot their most recent video for "House of Cards" with lasers or something. I don't freaking know, people, does it look like I understand technology?

The Geometric Informatics scanning system employs structured light to capture detailed 3D images at close proximity, and was used to render the performances of Radiohead's Thom Yorke, the female lead, and several partygoers. The Velodyne Lidar system uses multiple lasers to capture large environments in 3D, in this case 64 lasers rotating and shooting in a 360 degree radius 900 times per minute, capturing all of the exterior scenes and wide party shots.

Uh-huh. Thom York had this to say about the video:

I always like the idea of using technology in a way that it wasn't meant to be used, the struggle to get your head round what you can do with it. I liked the idea of making a video of human beings and real life and time without using any cameras, just lasers, so there are just mathematical points-- and how strangely emotional it ended up being.

Uh-huh. You know, I've been emotionally attached to a laser before, and let me tell you what -- incredible lover. I'm talking burning passion. And, okay, pubes.

That's a screenshot there, and there are several more after the jump.

UPDATE: Two videos added after the jump. One is the music video, the other a "making of" video. Go here to play the video and manipulate it in real time using a visualization program.

Continue Reading " UPDATE: Radiohead's New "Video" Shot With Lasers Or Something, I Don't Understand, Am Stupid "

Jun 26 2008 DARPA Vulcan Engine Solves Problems

The problem with traditional scramjet planes (planes with the potential of hitting Mach 12-24) is they require supersonic airflow in order to function. So getting up to Mach 4 is a problem. That's why they've typically been piggybacked on other planes to get up to speed, and then released. Which isn't efficient or cost effective (since when did we start caring about this?).

Enter the DAPRA Vulcan. The Vulcan is a hybrid engine that can power a plane with a turbo jet until it's time to kick on the scramjet and feel your nuts climb up into your stomach. DARPA hopes to have a working prototype complete by 2012 and I'm all for it. Think about it -- Mach 24. That's like 250 trillion miles an hour. Which does comes with some inherent risk: I heard if you go that fast you may actually start aging in reverse and then crash the plane because you're seven and can't fly. I believe it.

Hit the jump for a conceptual video.

Continue Reading " DARPA Vulcan Engine Solves Problems "

Apr 15 2008 Robotic Heart Surgery Snake Is Mad Scary

Scientists (or at least people that wear those awesome white lab coats) at Carnegie Mellon University recently unveiled the CardioArm. It's a snake looking robot that was created to aid during heart surgery.

CardioArm is a jointed robot, allowing you to control its head while the rest of its joints follow exactly where the head has been to avoid any accidental internal injuries. The robot wraps itself around the heart until it finds what it's sent inside the body for (i.e., to remove damaged tissues).

They're still working on getting the size of the robot down, and hope to eventually create a unit that can fit inside blood vessels and requires no incision to enter the body. That's right folks, I'm talking about swallowing one.

These modifications include the ability of the robot to pass through natural openings like the mouth, as well creating a model with multiple tentacles able to enter through a single opening, but branch out to where they're supposed to go once inside the body.

So yeah, swallowing a multiple-tentacle robotic snake/octopus. Not too sure how I feel about that. Except for holy shit, I'm going to start eating right and exercising more.

Uncensored picture of the the snake winding through some body part, after the jump.

Continue Reading " Robotic Heart Surgery Snake Is Mad Scary "

Mar 11 2008 Uh-Oh: Nanobots To Take Over The World

Dr. Anirban Bandyopadhyah, of the National Institute of Materials Science in Tsukuba, Japan, has developed a chemical "brain" capable of controlling nanobots. This "brain", soon to be known by the few remaining humans not killed in the machine uprising as "Mother Brain" will control the bots responsible for the demise of humanity. The cave dwelling survivors of the apocalypse will regularly pray to Samus Aran that she return in all her hotness and destroy said brain to make the planet safe for humans once more.

Anyway, the two nanometer "brain" is made of 17 molecules of duroquinone, each considered a "logic device" and controlled by a center "control" molecule. By switching the control molecule in the center with a scanning tunneling microscope, the other 16 are switched based on the logical instructions received. There are over four billion combinations of outcome. At least three billion being "We're all going to die", and the other billion being "We're all going to die slowly."

Chemical brain controls nanobots [bbcnews]

Thanks to Justin, who may have to step in for Samus if things get out of hand, for the tip

Feb 26 2008 Adobe To Start Making Hardware Products?

Adobe recently displayed a camera lens they've developed that's capable of taking 19 different depth of field pictures with a single snap. Then, using their custom software they showed how you can manipulate a picture's focus and potentially bring objects at farther focal lengths into focus with nearer ones, etc. Pretty freaking neat. Adobe built this prototype to show off their software, but similar products could be on the market in a few years. And I'm going to buy one, damnit. I'm tired of all the hot girls in the background of my vacation photos turning out blurry because the camera decided to focus on my boring girlfriend.

Several more pictures, including one with an explanation of how the camera works, along with a video of Adobe demonstrating the prototype, after the jump.

Continue Reading " Adobe To Start Making Hardware Products? "

Feb 22 2008 Self-Healing Rubber Sticks Back Together

Ludwik Leibler is a chemistry professor in Paris that has created an artificial rubber substance that can stick back together with the same strength it had prior to being cut. The unnamed material is made in an earth-friendly manner from vegetable oil and urea (the stuff in urine that makes it delicious).

Break a rubber and the chemical welds - known as covalent bonds - are also broken. The trick was to replace the covalent bonds in rubber with weaker connections known as hydrogen bonds. These are like hands on neighboring molecules that can clasp together, but let go when broken. Dr Leibler quickly realized that this meant not only that the new rubber could be recycled and remolded many times over, but that if separated by a cut or break, the chemical hands at the fresh surfaces would still be waving about ready to bind again.

Now let me tell you, covalent bonds aren't the only things severed when rubbers break. No sir. Your whole life can get split apart. You know what I'm talking about don't you? I'm talking about accidentally having kids. And don't believe that baloney "the stork brings them to your house" nonsense either, it isn't true. That's just a lie your parents told you so they wouldn't have to say the word vagina.

Self-healing rubber bounces back [bbcnews]

Thanks to Frankie, who is both wild and crazy, for the tip

Feb 22 2008 I'm Thinking This Could Get Scary: Introducing The Mind-Controlled Gaming Headset

The Emotiv EPOC is a neuroheadset unveiled at the Game Developers conference in San Francisco. You can use it to map different thoughts to perform different actions in video games.

The device can detect conscious thoughts, areas of brain activity, facial expressions and even some emotions such as frustration, shock and anger, and will cost about $US300 ($326) when it is released in late 2008. The EPOC will ship with a range of games designed specifically for the headset, but gamers will also be able to use it with existing PC titles by mapping certain thoughts to keystroke patterns.

Well there you have it folks, machines are officially going to be ruling our brains soon. I'll briefly describe what is happening using a driving metaphor. So here we all are, cruising down Route We Control The Computers and headed towards Paradise City. When all of a sudden a robotic tractor trailer veers into our lane, causing us to jump the median, spin out of control and sideswipe a Volkswagen. When we come to we realize we're no longer on the road we once were. No sir, we're speeding along in the HOV lane of Interstate The Computers Have Taken Over Our Brains and approaching the We'ref***edville city limits at an alarming rate.

Emotiv
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Mind-controlled gaming headset unveiled [news]

A big thanks to Marcus, who is freaking awesome, for the tip

Jan 22 2008 It's About Time: Self-Assembling Bionic Eyes

Finally, bionic vision. I've been waiting for this technology forever, and apparently it's right around the corner, waiting to pounce on me like a mugger. We have a group of electrical engineers from the University of Washington to thank for this awesome step into the future. The idea was to provide a means of streaming information in your field of vision without the use of some goofy looking glasses.

Sporting circuits a few nanometers thick and grain-of-sand-sized light-emitting diodes, the lenses have full Count Zero potential. They're also the product of some ingenious hackery: since contact lenses are delicate and circuit manufacture is hot and toxic, the researchers designed each component to attach itself only to certain other components. Their powder of circuits and diodes literally self-assembled into gadgetry when sprinkled onto the lens plastic.

The engineers say they'll have basic models out "fairly quickly", but the cooler wireless-enabled and radio/solar charging ones will take longer. And sadly, at this end of this post, I come to the realization that bionic vision has nothing to do with seeing through a woman's shirt.

Self-Assembling Bionic Eyes Coming Soon [wired]

Thanks to Sebastian, who doesn't need any special technology to get to see a woman's hooters, for the tip