DARPA’s Moving Target Retina Scanning Makes Me Want To Wear Sunglasses [Espionage]

Retinal scanners have tended to be rather clumsy devices, conditions need to be ideal to get a good read. The person being scanned needs to stand still in front of the scanner – then hopefully an eyelash doesn’t get in the way. It is for this reason that the latest retinal scanning developments from DARPA and Southern Methodist University are big news – if their claims are to be believed, not only do subjects not have to be standing in front of the camera, they don’t even need to be standing still.

Theoretically, the new scanner would be able to scan multiple subjects from a crowd, and because the scanner does not have to capture the whole eye to get a reading – a partial scan is all that is needed.

Something to think about the next time you go to a demonstration.

[Uber-Review via DViCE]

Sony’s new, super-thin OLED display wraps around a pencil [OLED]

OLEDs, which are said to lead the next wave of innovation in the TV space (after back-lit LCDs and 3D displays), come with plenty of advantages: they produce gorgeous images, they are self-luminous, light, and they’re flexible – very flexible. Case in point: a super-thin, Sony-made 4.1-inch OLED that actually wraps around a pencil, shown today in Japan.

The display is just 80μm thick, offers 432 x 240 resolution (121 ppi), a contrast ratio of around 1,000:1, and produces 100 cd/m2 brightness. Sony says the OLED can be wrapped around a pencil with just a 4mm radius. And the OLED can actually continue to display images and video while being rolled up, which is (according to Sony) a world’s first.



Unfortunately, the OLED is just a prototype, but those of you who attend the SID event in Seattle this week will be able to see the screen in action. All the others can drool over the display in the short (but pretty cool) video embedded below.




[TechCrunch]

bebionic Advanced Hand Prosthesis Finally Unveiled [Steve Austin]

The bebionic fully articulating myo-electric prosthetic hand from RSLSteeper (Kent, UK) has been officially launched at the International Society for Prosthetics and Orthotics World Congress Meeting and Orthopädie + Reha-Technik Trade Show in Leipzig, Germany. The hand can be used with a wrist unit that provides powered rotation and flexion/extension, and when ordering you'll be able to select the tone of the silicone skin wrapped around the mechanical part and even the shape of the nails.

Featuring individual motors for each digit the hand moves and grips in a natural and coordinated way, providing compliant and conformable grips around complex shapes. On board microprocessors constantly monitor the positions of the fingers so that grip sequences are accurate every time. The hand electronics sense if a gripped item is slipping and automatically tightens the grip to maintain a secure and safe hold.

The hand has two user selectable thumb positions; opposed or non-opposed, with an in-built sensor detecting the position. The non-opposed position controls key grip and finger point whilst the opposed position controls tripod and power grip.


Designed with robust assembly providing impact resistance, the fingers also feature spring returns so that the fingers move naturally when passively flexed such as brushing past someone on the street.



Press release: bebionic Launches at Leipzig May 2010 ...

Flashbacks: A Preview of BeBionic Artificial Hand

[Medgadget]

Carbon fiber is secret ingredient in lightest soccer shoes ever [Shoes]

In a world of incredibly light 10-ounce soccer shoes, one of these weighs 5.8 ounces. The Adidas F50 Adizero is the latest in a string of sports innovations to debut at the World Cup soccer championship, this one on the feet of Argentine player Lionel Messi.


A lot of that weight was shed by removing the insole and strengthening the outer part of the shoe. That's complimented by the ultra-light carbon fiber upper, and plastic tech borrowed from another sport where lightness can make a big difference: cycle racing.


If it weren't for that mild-mannered Carolina blue color, I wouldn't mind wearing a pair of these babies. Look for the tech inside these tricky kicks to be available to the rest of us before too long, but don't expect it to be cheap.


[DVICE via Fast Company]

Teleportation over 10 miles: the ultimate secure line [Entanglement]

We picked our jaws off the floor when we heard about tiny particles being teleported just a foot or two away, but now scientists have topped that by 10 miles. This tech won't be transporting Kirk and his Away Team to the surface of some distant planet anytime soon, but it has seriously practical applications to communications.


Quantum physics says photons can, in some ways, occupy two places at once. When one photon gets entangled with another, whatever happens to one of those particles also happens to another, even if it's TEN frickin' miles away! Now THAT's a fast connection.


The good news: The researchers were able to send this info with 89% fidelity. The bad? Information transmitted in this way will be hard to encrypt. But they're working on that. There's good reason to work on it; if they can get this right, the communication would be completely secure. Since there's no physical medium for the transmission to travel through — not even spacetime itself ૼ it would be physically impossible to jam or intercept.


[DVICE via Ars Technica via Gizmodo]

Japan Promises 3D Holographic Broadcasts for 2022 World Cup [World Cup]

You think 3D TV is impressive? Japan wants to broadcast 3D holograms to stadiums all over the world for the 2022 World Cup. Yes, 3D holograms.

They claim they'd be able to pull this off by capturing the action via 200 3D HD cameras at each game while microphones under the field would record all the sound. They then just assume the technology would be available for projecting 3D holograms onto the field itself, making it seem like you were watching the game in person.

Oh, and did I mention how they'll power it? With electricity generated by spectators cheers and foot-stomping, of course. That and the power generated by good vibrations from all the fun those fans will be having, I'm sure.

Of course, if that doesn't work out they can just project the 3D images on giant screens, but once you promise holograms, normal 3D is just gonna be a disappointment.
[Gizmodo via AFP via Engadget]

Breaking News: Craig Venter and Others Make Synthetic Self-replicating Bacteria

The J. Craig Venter Institute just concluded a press conference where they announced the results of a 15 year project to make what could be called the ultimate medical gadget, a living, replicating cell.

From the announcement:

Now, this scientific team headed by Drs. Craig Venter, Hamilton Smith and Clyde Hutchison have achieved the final step in their quest to create the first synthetic bacterial cell. In a publication in Science magazine, Daniel Gibson, Ph.D. and a team of 23 additional researchers outline the steps to synthesize a 1.08 million base pair Mycoplasma mycoides genome, constructed from four bottles of chemicals that make up DNA. This synthetic genome has been 'booted up' in a cell to create the first cell controlled completely by a synthetic genome.

Here's Venter's talk from TEDMED 2009 where he discussed some of his work from the research just announced:






Venter Institute: FIRST SELF-REPLICATING SYNTHETIC BACTERIAL CELL...

Abstract in Science : Creation of a Bacterial Cell Controlled by a Chemically Synthesized Genome...


[Medgadget]