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Want to trace the missing limbs on your family tree? GeneTree, launched this week in beta, offers DNA Test Kits so you can do just that. It has access to records from the Sorenson Molecular Genealogy Foundation which holds over 100,000 samples worldwide. After its research, the company claims to have a database of 6 million people. For a fee starting at $99.00, GeneTree will send you some mouthwash to swirl, spit, and send back. You can then wait for the rich relatives to claim you on your profile page.
The newly established Ancestry also offers those services, and is building its database from scratch. They have taken profiles of 50,000 individuals and hope to see results in about 6 months. You can then compare your DNA results with others through the site. With a variety of tests available, the service’s cheek swab will set you back at a price beginning at $149.00.
While DNA testing will not tell you everything you need to know, it may lead to information such as names and addresses of those who are related to you. At least you will know if you absolutely have to attend the next family reunion.
Read More 
| ABC
Gallery: Two Companies Analyze DNA
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Who needs to force their children into the competitive world of athletics when they can watch robotic soccer players and cheerleaders? During a display at the Robotic Althletic Meet 2007, many of them tripped up and collided, but could get back up for the most part. Ken Senoh, professor at the University of Tokyo, claims that bots are still in their infancy, but feels that they will eventually surpass humans the way that computers have done.
Sony AIBO robots also took part in the demo, as well as other bots and their owners. One woman commented that she wouldn’t let her “son play in a game like that.” At the time, she was referring to her robotic pet.
Read More | Reuters
Gallery: Bots Playing Soccer
Glow Brick Lights Up Your Night
Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Smart Home, Misc. Tech, Science,
Made from an actual light bulb, the Glow Brick collects energy from the sun by day and lights up your night. Each one is 3.3 x 3.3 x 5-inches, large enough to keep you completely out of the dark by glowing. The effect takes place when a small space between the container’s light bulb glass and acrylic resin shrinks during production. The photoluminescent lamp is available for $29.95. We applaud the idea that we can have a night light and conserve energy without really trying.
Read More | ThinkGeek
Gallery: Glow Brick Lights Up Your Night
Some NHL players will become guinea pigs in November to test Therma Blade’s new heated skate blades. Inventor Tory Weber claims that the prototypes cut down on friction up to 50% and allow players to skate faster with less energy needed. There is a resistor in the blade that heats it by battery to 5º C (~41º F,) regulated by a microprocessor in the heel. Apparently the warmth thickens the film of water between the ice and the blade and acts as a lubricant. We don’t know much about the way skates work. We thought that perhaps there would be less chaos at the hockey rink if the players’ feet were warmer.
Read More | Reuters
Gallery: Therma Blades Warm Up
Reach Out and Touch Yourself
Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Design, Internet, Misc. Tech, Science, Videos,
Meet one of the first interactive mixed reality humanoid robots. Put on a special HMD (head-mounted display) and U-Tsu-Shi-O-Mi appears as an animated character that you can literally touch. The 3D avatar is made with skin that acts as a green screen and as users adjust their head angle and position, so does the robot. Created by Michihiko Shoji, the plans are for U-Tsu-Shi-O-Mi to enhance existing virtual reality and its first application will probably be in arcades, with household usage to come later. This brings on a whole new meaning of self-communication, doesn’t it?
Read More | Pink Tentacle
Gallery: Reach Out and Touch Yourself
Turn Your TV Into a Weather Station
Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Home Entertainment, Misc. Tech, Science,
We have found a device that allows you to keep up with the current weather without waiting until the 11:00 news. The TV Weather Station works on your TV screen with data received from outdoor sensors up to about 200 feet. Hook it up with its included RCA cable and receive 11 weather conditions such as temperature, wind speed and chill factor, and barometric pressure from its sensors and radio transmitter. It also forecasts the next 12 hours based on trends from the past 3 days. The station will set you back $129.95 and requires 4 AA batteries (not included), but we still think it would be an improvement from the yardstick in a tin can that we have in our backyard.
Read More | firstSTREET
Gallery: Turn Your TV Into a Weather Station
Robots Fooled by Optical Illusions
Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Misc. Tech, Science, Software,
Researchers at University College in London have discovered that robots cannot detect optical illusions. The team installed software in bots to give them abilities for processing visual cues into an artificial nerve network. For example, in a simultaneous brightness contrast of two identical tiles, a human will see one tile with a dark background as lighter than one in front of a paler background. The program fooled the software just as it would a person. Lead study author R. Beau Lotto and team found that vision is composed of experiences rather than absolutes. We just think of it as a one-up on robots for us humans.
Read More | National Geographic
Gallery: Robots Fooled by Optical Illusions
Cell Phone for Hypochondriacs
Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Smartphones, Misc. Tech, Science,
NTT Docomo has created a cell phone with a new twist. The Mitsubishi Wellness Navigator has all the usual features but also includes a heart rate monitor, breath analyzer, burned calorie counter, and body fat calculator, and pedometer application. The data is matched to your age, gender, weight, and height, and can be sent along to your doctor to save you the dreaded “regularly scheduled” appointment. No price or availability yet on this prototype, but we are not sure we really want to know how much body fat is in there.
Read More | Aving
Gallery: Cell Phone for Hypochondriacs
Tokyo’s Waseda University has developed the WAO-1 (Waseda Asahi Oral Rehabilitation) Robot. It was created for hospitalized patients with jaw related medical problems who also require facial massage. The WAO-1’s arms have ceramic spheres that roll over the skin which are controlled by algorithms to resemble massaging. Six sensors adjust the pressure. The team says that the bot could also give beauty and relaxation massages with minor tweaking. We’re certainly up for that application if they ever become affordable for the average human. Clinical trials will begin next month.
Read More | CNN
Gallery: WAO-1 Gives Massages
USC’s Information Sciences Institute really needs to get a life. Beginning in 2003, the researchers began collecting data. They eventually created a map of the Internet. Their ISI computers searched about 2.8 billion IPs and received about 187 million answers. They then used one dot per addy and came up with a diagram of 9 x 9 feet, the brighter images showing the area of the greater number of computers.
John Heidemann, head of the project, says that the map is actually only a portion of what is out there since some computers may have been shut off or behind a firewall, but hopes it will help researchers study the spread of viruses. A 24 x 36-inch version of the map (with about 65,000 addresses squeezed into one dot) will become available, so contact ant@isi.edu if you would like to get a copy.
Read More | ISI
