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Tamanoi Vinegar Sports a New Spokesbot
Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Design, Misc. Tech, Science,
It’s not all about the Pillsbury Doughboy any longer. Joining the ranks of spokes-mascots is Japan’s Tamanoi Vinegar Robot, with a mouth that is in sync with his words and gestures through 24 points of upper body articulation. At a size of nearly 6 feet and a weight of about 220 lbs., the bot has a plastic outer shell to match Tamanoi’s black vinegar. Created by the company buildup, when he makes his debut at the company’s head office in Osaka in July, guests will also be treated to a 12-minute high-def video about vinegar. You can catch a preview of Vin-bot in action. Here’s hoping that they at least hand out popcorn for the event. How exciting can vinegar be?
Read More 
| Tamanoi (Japanese) via Pink Tentacle
Gallery: Tamanoi Vinegar Sports a New Spokesbot
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Remember Pleo? His creator, Caleb Chung, has just sent Gear Live an a picture of what the carton will look like and an update as to his release. If you are still interested in adopting the cuddly critter for your very own, sign up at Ugobe and expect the stork to arrive in the upcoming months. Chung also mentioned that Pleo’s battery is now both rechargeable and replaceable. Hurry up Pleo, we can hardly wait to witness your hatching.
Read More | Ugobe
Gallery: Pleo is About to Hatch
A new term has been added to Internet maladies, Cyberchondria. Ninety percent of those who are already hypochondriacs one-up their malady when they gain Internet access, according to Dr. Brian Fallon of Columbia University. He says that these users sometimes become obsessive compulsive.
“Cyberchondria can be a terrible, devastating disease in the sense that the individual focuses on nothing other than checking their symptoms on the Internet and it destroys their lives,” he said.
We see his point. We checked out some symptoms of our own and it scared us to the point that we may never hit Web MD again.
Read More | ABC
Gallery: Cyberchondriacs Invade the Internet
Polarstern Discovers Possible Source of Evolution
Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Misc. Tech, Science,
Between 2002 and 2005, scientists have uncovered creatures under Weddell Sea in the Arctic aboard the German ship Polarstern. The findings show that some of them may have dated back 65 million years, including this Ceragoserolis isopod, which may have been the forefather to crustaceans like pill bugs, sea lice, and sea centipedes.
“The Antarctic deep sea is potentially the cradle of life of the global marine species,” said leader Angelika Brandt of the Zoological Institute and Museum at the University of Hamburg.
The three expeditions discovered nearly 600 organisms never found before and was reported in the journal Nature. We think not only is it kind of creepy to see some of these ancient creatures, but those of us who side with Darwin wish we could have kept a couple of those extra legs.
Read More | Live Science
Gallery: Polarstern Discovers Possible Source of Evolution
If you love fish and are approacting midlife, this may be excellent news for you. Some experts are reporting that they believe omega-3 fatty acid DHA may slow the progession of the brain’s losing functional and cognitive functions, which is the cause of Alzheimer’s. The Alzheimer’s Disease Cooperative Study (ADCS) will be conducting a survey among 500 participants that are 50+ of age and have a mild to moderate cases of the disease. The clinical test will take place over an 18 month period. Contact the NIA (National Institue of Aging) if you or someone you know would like to participate in the test. Wait a minute, what were we supposed to eat again?
Read More | NIH
Gallery: Omega-3 May Lessen Alzheimer’s Progress
Japanese scientists at Gifu University have created a bot that responds when asked questions about how it feels, and can move its robotic limbs to exhibit symptoms. Modeled after an adult female, the “patient” was designed for medical students to practice hands-on diagnosing of ailments. As an example, when the bot is suffering from fatigue and muscle weakness, she says her eyelids are heavy, frowns, relaxes her shoulders, then hunches over.
Researcher Yuzo Takahashi is hoping to add the robot to the curriculum within the next year. We were just wondering why it was created in a female likeness. Perhaps more than just being used for medical reasons, a future application for the robo-patient could be for those who just want to “play” doctor.
Read More | Pink Tentacle
Gallery: Patient Bot Shows and Tells
iPods Interfere With Pacemakers
Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Apple, Music, Portable Audio / Video, Science,
We have heard the rumor that microwave ovens can injure someone with a pacemaker, now we find out that PMPs can do the same. A study was conducted by a 17 year-old high school student who gave iPods to one hundred subjects, the mean age being 77. Electrical interference was detected in about 50% of the cases when the PMP was held for 5 to 10 seconds, two inches away from a patient’s chest. Occasionally, it even caused problems when held up to 18 inches away, and in one case it made a pacemaker stop working altogether. Next time you decide to take a jaunt into a retirement home, you had better leave the music behind.
Read More | Computerworld
Gallery: iPods Interfere With Pacemakers
We think this contraption by Tom Ballhatchet is just the gingiest. The hamster spins the wheel which causes paper to shred. It then uses the paper as nesting for its cage and to chew on occasionally, if it is a particularly interesting read. With the Hamster shredder you can allow your little pet infinite fun and pleasure, unless he/she is intelligent enough to figure out that you were just too lazy to do yourself. Only a concept thus far, the wheel made its debut at the recent Satellite Design show in Milan, with 15 designers representing 12 nationalities.
Read More | Tom Ballhatchet
Gallery: Make Your Hamster Earn its Keep
Researchers Call for New Hurricane Prediction System
Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Misc. Tech, Science,
Timothy Reinhold, engineer of the Institute for Business & Home Safety, and Mark Powell, a meteorologist with the Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory, want to institute a new system to predict hurricanes’ damage potential. The Saffir-Simpson Scale is the current one which gives a 1 to 5 rating based on wind speed, strength, and surge. The two say that this system can’t handle just how destructive a storm can be by predicting its size and reach.
Reinhold feels that their classification system could have warned Gulf residents of the magnitude of the hurricane before Katrina hit, thereby allowing them better staying/relocation choices.
“We have known for some time that the level of surge and surge-related damage is not well correlated with the maximum wind speeds at landfall.”
Hurricane season officially runs from June 1 to November 30, although the Sub-tropical Storm Andrea occurred May 9. The two are expected to test out their idea this year.
Read More | Live Science
Gallery: Researchers Call for New Hurricane Prediction System
Colin Beavan is the subject of an interesting experiment. He and his family are trying to live for one year with absolutely no impact against the environment in New York City. Referring to himself as “No Impact Man,” he is trying to live without creating any waste. The family doesn’t use electricity, take any public transportation (he and wife Michelle share a scooter,) don’t purchase any food that isn’t grown or made within 250 miles, or buy anything with packaging. They don’t take elevators, have given up toilet paper, don’t do coffee (because it is not a local product,) and have a compost box in their kitchen with earthworms to break down the debris.
Beavan is also writing a book about his experience and wants to try to stick to some of these basics at the end of the trial year. He also keeps a daily personal blog online. Sheryl Crow would be proud.
Read More | ABC
