The bag you see above isn’t actually the core component of interface device — that’d be the sensor tile at its base, which generates and monitors a magnetic field. Any disturbances in the field — that’s where the bag, filled with some kind of magnetic substance, like iron filings, comes in — can be translated into movement, whether it be simple X/Y gestures around a flat plane, or more complex gestures that take into account prod pressure. Technically interesting, but I feel like this concept needs a little something extra:

[A researcher said] making a device that could switch between an input and output device would be challenging. While moving ball bearings using magnetic fields shouldn’t be too hard, “[moving] ferrous fluid bladders would be trickier,” he says.

WHO SAID ANYTHING ABOUT OUTPUT? Consider this, mouse jockies: a few years from now, your Intellipoint might be an actively pulsating pouch of magnetic fluid. John C Dvorak, 1984:

The nature of the personal computer is simply not fully understood by companies like Apple (or anyone else for that matter). Apple makes the arrogant assumption of thinking that it knows what you want and need. It, unfortunately, leaves the “why” out of the equation – as in “why would I want this?” The Macintosh uses an experimental pointing device called a ‘mouse’. There is no evidence that people want to use these things. I don’t want one of these new fangled devices.

Just replace “mouse” with “undulating sack of ferrofluid” and then tell me I’m crazy. Anyone? [Technology Review]

Some body modders, such as Jesse Jarrell and Steve Hasworth, have experimented with the idea, putting rare earth magnets in their fingertips. Their initial idea was to use the magnets to help them carry stuff, but it turns out that using a magnet in your hand to carry things around kills the skin between the magnet and the object. Not good!

Instead, it acts as an extra sense that lets you know when electricity is around.

According to Huffman, the magnet works by moving very slightly, or with a noticeable oscillation, in response to EM fields. This stimulates the somatosensory receptors in the fingertip, the same nerves that are responsible for perceiving pressure, temperature and pain. Huffman and other recipients found they could locate electric stovetops and motors, and pick out live electrical cables. Appliance cords in the United States give off a 60-Hz field, a sensation with which Huffman has become intimately familiar. “It is a light, rapid buzz,” he says.

It’s pretty awesome, really. It’s a way to make your body aware of an invisible energy that you were completely unaware of before. And if that’s not what body hacking is all about, then what is? [Wired]

This week, Gizmodo is exploring the enhanced human future in a segment we call This Cyborg Life. It’s about what happens when we treat our body less as a sacred object and more as what it is: nature’s ultimate machine.

ZERO G!!!!!!

SPICE RACK!!!!!

YOU HAVEN’T TASTED SPICE UNTIL YOU’VE TASTED IT IN ZERO G!!

ZERO G!!!!!

THE CANISTERS STICK UPSIDE DOWN!!!

ZERO G!!!

THE TASTE IS OUT OF THIS WORLD!!!!!

ZERO G!!!!

COOL!!!

ZERO G!!!

“Hey mum, this saffron just turned me into an astronaut!”

ZERO G!!!

SPICE RACK!!!

THE SPACE RACE JUST GOT A WHOLE LOT TASTIER. [Yanko Design via Boing Boing's Lisa Katayama, who came up with the brilliant product title]

Before you run off to grab the magnetic ink developer, ferric chloride or recycled cassette tapes needed to make it, let’s review what ferrofluid is and how it works:

Basically there are plenty of uses for the liquid, in engineering, electronics, optics, and most importantly, art. Due to the oil portion of ferrofluid following the iron particles, you can control the substance with some strong magnets and make it dance around like in the video.

Spiffy, purty and that was just scientific enough to pass any damages you cause off as a “learning experience”. Check out PopSci for the details on just how to make a DIY version of the stuff while I ignore any bets on how much of a mess I’ll make while trying each approach. [PopSci]

Scientists at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, have created a superconducting magnet that generates enough energy to lift small animals off the floor. The magnet pushes the water inside the animals up, making them fly. The amazing fact is that it works at room temperature—not the ultra-cooled down environments typical of these magnets—and it’s large enough to make rodents levitate.

The mice were high in more than one way, though. According to researcher Yuanming Liu, the “first mouse actually kicked around and started to spin, and without friction, it could spin faster and faster, and we think that made it even more disoriented”. So they gave a mild sedative to the next mouse, who was happy to float. [Live Science via Yahoo News]

Developed by researchers from Israel’s Technion University, what makes the robot feasible is that it isn’t self-propelled, saving size and engineering complication. Instead, the bot takes advantage of a magnetic field from outside the body, meaning that doctors can not only guide but also propel the the vein crawler forward at 9mm/second. And the robot shouldn’t run out of power mid-procedure, stalling it in your body as it drifts for your brain.

When the robot needs to park, those little arms can spring out *shiver* and grab onto vessel walls *shiver*shiver*shiver*shiver*shiver*shiver*shiver*.

Now researchers are looking at beefing up the bot, adding extra tools and even a camera to the mix. And as scary as a robot-filmed reality show starring my aorta may be, it sounds a lot better than having several layers of flesh peeled away via scalpel. [The Inquirer via Newlaunches]

This setup is deceptively simple. There’s an electro-magnetised ring of wire sending 1-watt signal at 7.6-something MHz. From there, a carefully placed and wound coil of wire (yellow) sends the magnetic signal in a direction where another smaller coil (green) specifically tuned to receive the power and send it to a tiny speaker. It reminds me of the way a generator or motor work, somehow. The range was about 3 feet and the music was quiet by audible and worked when I moved the speaker in different directions. Impressive!

The chances of this making its way into mobile gadgets that charge with no cables or pads, ever? We’re far off. The range and power are dependent on the size of the coils and the exact way they are wound, so they resonate the magnetic signals just right. Maybe a micro array of these, optimised several generations from now, will do the trick.

Or maybe the Dharma institute already has the answers.

of The speaker is attached to a

Aside from the electromagnetics (in a linear electric motor config) and bolt-action which supports a six-round magazine clip, this gun makes use of a multimeter, a few custom switches to turn the weapon on and off, some PVC piping, a scope, and presumably, a battery pack. My favourite part are the fold-down wood legs for those moments when hitting a can with extreme accuracy is imperative.

The actual power of this sniper rifle-inspired gun isn’t overwhelming, as it seems on par with (or maybe a bit more powerful than, a bb gun). But the use of electronics and the clever use of wood through out the design give it a DIY allure that I just can’t resist. But check out TechEBlog’s vid for your self. It’s pretty cool. [TechEBlog]