ScienceDaily Technology Headlines -- for Sunday, February 20, 2011

ScienceDaily Technology Headlines

for Sunday, February 20, 2011

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Mind over matter: EECoG may finally allow enduring control of a prosthetic or a paralyzed arm by thought alone (February 19, 2011) -- A biomedical engineer is developing brain-computer interfaces based on grids of electrodes that lie beneath the skull but outside the dura mater, the protective membrane that covers the brain. His next project is to slip a thin 32-electrode grid he designed with a colleague under a macaque's skill and to train the monkey to control -- strictly by thinking about it -- a computational model of a macaque arm. ... > full story

Biologists use GPS to 'map' bat teeth to explore evolutionary adaptations to diet (February 19, 2011) -- In a clever use of GPS technology, biologists have "mapped" the topography of bat teeth as if they were uncharted mountain ranges, in order to better understand how toothy ridges, peaks and valleys have evolved to allow different species to eat everything from hard-shelled insects to blood and nectar. ... > full story

Augmented reality system for learning chess (February 19, 2011) -- Students in Spain have designed an innovative augmented reality system for learning to play chess. The system architecture, which combines augmented reality, computer vision and artificial intelligence, includes an application that tracks the movements of each piece, generates an audible description of each move, saves games automatically and can broadcast matches online, making it ideal for a wide range of users, including the visually impaired. ... > full story

Solar flare: Space weather disrupts communications, threatens other technologies (February 18, 2011) -- A powerful solar flare has ushered in the largest space weather storm in at least four years and has already disrupted some ground communications on Earth. ... > full story

Chemical guided missile could be the answer to wiping out cancer (February 18, 2011) -- Medical scientists in Australia have created the world's first cancer stem cell-targeting chemical missile, placing them a step closer to creating a medical 'smart bomb' that would seek out and eradicate the root of cancer cells. ... > full story

Hydrogen cartridges fuel laptops and phones for outdoor enthusiasts (February 18, 2011) -- Scientists have developed new hydrogen cartridges, which provide energy to fuel cells designed to recharge cell phones, laptops and GPS units. The green power source is geared toward outdoor enthusiasts as well as residents of the Third World, where electricity in homes is considered a luxury. ... > full story

The real avatar: Swiss researchers use virtual reality and brain imaging to hunt for the science of the self (February 18, 2011) -- That feeling of being in, and owning, your own body is a fundamental human experience. Now, researchers have announced an important step in decoding the phenomenon. By combining techniques from cognitive science with those of virtual reality and brain imaging, scientists in Switzerland are narrowing in on the first experimental, data-driven approach to understanding self-consciousness. ... > full story

World's first anti-laser built (February 18, 2011) -- More than 50 years after the invention of the laser, scientists have built the world's first anti-laser, in which incoming beams of light interfere with one another in such a way as to perfectly cancel each other out. The discovery could pave the way for a number of novel technologies with applications in everything from optical computing to radiology. ... > full story

Compact high-temperature superconducting cables demonstrated (February 18, 2011) -- A researcher has invented a method of making high-temperature superconducting (HTS) cables that are thinner and more flexible than demonstration HTS cables now installed in the electric power grid while carrying the same or more current. The compact cables could be used in the electric grid as well as scientific and medical equipment and may enable HTS power transmission for military applications. ... > full story

The green machine: Algae clean wastewater, convert to biodiesel (February 18, 2011) -- Researchers are developing biodiesel from microalgae grown in wastewater. The project is doubly "green" because algae consume nitrates and phosphates and reduce bacteria and toxins in the water. The end result: clean wastewater and stock for a promising biofuel. ... > full story

Catching space weather in the act (February 18, 2011) -- Special cameras aboard the Interstellar Boundary Explorer, or IBEX, spacecraft have snapped the first shots of a complex space environment. Instead of recording light, these two large single-pixel cameras detect energetic neutral atoms. ... > full story

Controlling a computer with thoughts? (February 18, 2011) -- Researchers will place brain-computer interfaces in patients with spinal cord injuries to test if it is possible for them to control external devices, such as a computer cursor or a prosthetic limb, with their thoughts. ... > full story