Friday, May 11, 2007
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Plastic Blood Could Save Lives in Disaster and War Zones
11:52PM Seamus Byrne | Scientists at Sheffield University in Britain have developed synthetic blood that could be used to save lives in emergencies. The artificial substance is easier to transport than the real thing, and it keeps for longer as it does not need to be stored in a cool place. Just like hemoglobin, the fake blood is made up of plastic molecules that have an iron atom at their core, that can carry oxygen through the body. Dr Lance Twyman claims that the plastic blood, which comes in a water-soluble paste and has a honey-like consistency, is cheap to produce. The team is looking for funding to develop a final prototype for biological testing. (Any volunteers? Thought not.) “We are very excited about the potential for this product and about the fact that this could save lives,” he said. “Many people die from superficial wounds when they are trapped in an accident or are injured on the battlefield and can’t get blood before they get to hospital. This product can be stored a lot more easily than blood, meaning large quantities could be carried easily by ambulances and the armed forces.” – Ad Dugdale How Plastic Blood Could Move From Test Tube to Battlefield [Guardian Unlimited] More »
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Folding Tunes: Origami as Musical Instrument
11:52PM Seamus Byrne | Here’s some of the real origami, and it has nothing to do with ultramobile PCs, either. This resourceful student at NYU shows us her origami musical instrument for her graduation project for the interactive telecommunications program’s Spring Show 2007. Using origami folding to trigger musical samples of human voices, the hypnotic result speaks for itself. – Charlie White with video by Richard Blakeley More »
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Dual-blade Helicopter Breaks Chopper Speed Barrier
11:44PM Seamus Byrne | Helicopters aren’t known for their speed, which is why Sikorsky Aircraft is working on a chopper prototype with two sets of blades instead of one. The blades, which would spin in opposite directions, would create equal amounts of lift on both sides of the chopper. In other words, by spinning in opposite directions, they’d balance out the loss of lift experienced by the retreating blade and let the chopper reach speeds of up to 334mph. There’s no official test date for the chopper, but you must admit, design-wise the mock-up looks badass. – Louis Ramirez High-speed Helicopter Revolution [Popular Mechanics] More »
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Solient Solar Concentrators Crank Out Power Cheaper Than Electro-Grid
11:11PM Seamus Byrne | Hey, there’s going to be a half-price sale on solar energy this year, as soon as these way-cool solar panels from Solient Energy find their way onto your roof. In its first iteration that’ll be available later this year, the devices work like a series of slats that track the sun. Lenses inside these lightweight trough-like panels direct light to highly efficient solar cells, and the best news is that somehow these Solient guys have figured out how to manufacture these suckers at a price that’s half as much as those old-timey solar panels we’re using today. But wait, that ain’t nothin’ yet—wait until you see the next-generation design, after the jump. More »
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Could iPods Make Pacemaker Patients’ Tickers Dickier?
10:26PM Seamus Byrne | Pacemakers and iPods may not be ideal bedfellows, according to a study made by a 17-year-old high-school student. Jay Thaker tested the effect of the Apple player on 100 seniors, average age 77, who were fitted with the heart devices. When held just 2 inches from the patient’s chest for five to ten seconds, electrical interference was detected in half of the cases. One pacemaker stopped altogether, while others experienced interference even when the iPod was 18 inches away. Thaker, a student at Okemos High School in Michigan, who co-authored the report with a long-time friend of his electrophysicist father, Dr Krit Jongnarangsin, concluded that iPod interference can lead doctors to misdiagnose heart function. “Most pacemaker patients are not iPod users,” said the doctor in response to why the connection had not been made before. “This needs to be studied more.” – Ad Dugdale iPods can make Pacemakers malfunction [CNN.com] More »
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Bestilt Xbox Motion Sensing Mod Pics Surface
9:52PM Seamus Byrne | Here’s that Bestilt controller mod, whose motion-sensing tricks we showed you in a video yesterday, and now today they’ve posed for their first pics. The controller attachments will be available next week from Total Console in your choice of black or white for $37.99. If you’re inclined to take off the bottom of your Xbox 360 controller and solder these wires in place, your Xbox 360 might be able to do Nintendo Wii-like tricks. Too bad none of the Xbox 360 games were specifically written for motion sensing. Could be awkward, but we’ll reserve judgment. – Charlie White galleryPost('Bestilt', 4, 'Bestilt'); Product Page [Total Console] More »
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Pocket Bar and Grill Download for iPod
9:21PM Seamus Byrne | Before the Kill Ad campaign starts, please calm down. This is not the follow-up to Tuesday’s execrable stick-on pocket abomination. It’s actually a bit more useful than that, although the image that goes with it is hi-de-ous. Download the Pocket Bar and Grill onto your iPod and you will have instructions on how to shake, stir and guzzle 750 cocktails and 225 gourmet dishes at your fingertips. It will cost you $10, requires iPod Firmware 2.0 or later and is compatible with third generation and upward iPods, as well as the mini and nano. Mine’s a White Lady, made with vodka and served in a pint glass, please. – Ad Dugdale Product Page [Enrique Quintero Design via First Glimpse] More »
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James Webb Space Telescope: Boldly Peeking Where No Man Has Peeked Before
9:00PM Seamus Byrne | This is the James Webb Space Telescope, NASA’s new infrared peeping Tom and part of the effort to replace Hubble. It looks like an Imperial Star Destroyer and it seems just as big. OK, maybe it’s not Enterprise-fire-your-transphasic-torpedoes huge, but as you can see in this impressive actual-scale model, it is giganormous: At 80ft (24m) long and 40ft (12m or three stories) high, the JWST is big enough to make you wonder how are they going to put this in space in one piece. The answer is origami. Everything, from the thermal shield to its 21.3 feet diameter hexagonal mirror, is tightly packed to fit in its launcher. And you won’t have to go 930,000 miles from Earth to see it automagically unfold, because we’ve got the video right after the jump. galleryPost('JamesWebbSpaceTelescope', 8, 'JamesWebbSpaceTelescope'); More »
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Muscle Suit will give you (Austin) Powers
8:36PM Seamus Byrne | Those crazy cats at Tokyo’s University of Science have come up with a muscle suit. No, I’m not quite sure what it’s for either. Is it to wear under a suit to give you the illusion of being buff and studly? Or is it to develop your muscles? Nope, apparently it’s to help you lift things (although if the only objects you’re going to lift while wearing it is a set of dumbells, then you might as well ditch the suit and concentrate on the weights, dumbass). The suit only weighs 3 kilos, but you’ll need to carry around an air compressor and regulator with you. – Ad Dugdale Muscle Suits [Danny Choo via Ubergizmo] More »
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