Archive for the ‘Science and Tech’ Category

Kissing Your Robot?

Published by James Fishman on February 2nd, 2012

It’s one thing to really love your robot (well, that’s a bit weird too), but kissing it?  That’s just mega-weird.  The “Kissinger” is around the same size and shape as a softball and comes with a pair of touch-sensitive lips that works out how each partner delivers their kiss and then does it in their stead.  Developed by AI Singaporean researcher Hooman Samani, the robot’s virtual mouth can help create intimacy in a long-distance relationship, or add some excitement to a video game.

Samani argues that not only will the Kissinger be able to provide assistance in those long-distance relationships, it will also be able to bring a link in virtual worlds that will result in a whole new dimension of gaming.  He said that humans will be able to “kiss virtual characters while playing games and receive physical kisses from their favorite virtual characters.”  In addition (and this really sounds weird), a “more intimate relationship” will be able to develop between humans and robots.”  He added: “kissing is a very important mode of human communication that involves joining lips in order to express many deep felt positive emotions such as affection, respect, greeting, farewell, good luck, romantic affection or sexual desire.”  And now, technology has the answer; it is providing us with an upgraded interaction.

Samani has had other – similar in weirdness – creations.  He developed a pair of cabbage patch doll “surrogates” which mimic the human voice and movements online through motion-tracking-sensors, microphones and speakers. So one could wake up to a doll waving at them, chanti ng “good morning.”  Makes one wonder why one needs to find a mate in life…

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Facebook Users to Design a Beer?

Published by James Fishman on January 26th, 2012

 

It seems that if you want to design a beer these days, all you need is a Facebook account. Well, not quite, but that’s the first step.  US Beer brand Samuel Adams joined forces with social-media mogul Guy Kawasaki to set up the competition that is asking FB beer lovers to design a beer by February 5, 2012.  Using the FB app Crowd Craft Project, anyone who loves beer has to put in their two cents worth on the new brew.  They will vote on: body, clarity, color, hops (bitterness), malt, and yeast.

Next, brewers from Samuel Adams will take the favorites from each category and implement them in their new recipe for the ale that will be brewed during February. Then, that beer will be debuted at Guy Kawasaki’s Girl + Guy party in Austin the following month.  It will thereafter be available in various bars around Austin as well as the Samuel Adams Boston Brewery and Adams himself will let people know when the beer will be on the markets, through Facebook.

So it’s all about fun and it’s definitely a great marketing ploy on the part ofAdams and Kawasaki.  Good team work guys!

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Girl Scout Cookies Go High Tech

Published by James Fishman on January 18th, 2012

 

Everyone loves a Girl Scout cookie.  But now it seems that with a bit of technology, getting your Thin Mint fix from the scouts could be even easier!  Thanks to the new smartphone app, The Girl Scout Cookie Locator – with the assistance of GPS technology – users can find out where the nearest place is to locate their Girl Scout cookies.

All you need to do is input your city/zip code and then the locations will pop up.  In addition, you will receive directions on getting there by car so you will be with your cookies in no time at all.  Similar in style to the Cookie Finder app, the Girl Scout Cookie Locator has the added benefit of letting users find their cookie personalities.  So it’s all a bit of fun, but if you are a lover of these cookies, why not get them a bit earlier?  With this new app you need never be far from a Girl Scout Cookie again.

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Wacky Honda Cars

Published by James Fishman on January 15th, 2012

Honda is working towards the cars it will be presenting at the Tokyo Auto Salon.  In this vein, the company is developing its wacky small cars including the FreeD Spike Transporter Version, FreeD Wa and FLASH BOX.

None of the cars presented at the show are currently for sale in America.  The FLASH BOX, however, is not exactly new since it is a spin-off of Honda’s N Box microcar but has matte gunmetal paint and purple LED lighting.  The inside is pretty cool too with purple lights and black vinyl-looking seats that have purple piping.

Some of the old Honda cars will also be receiving facelifts.  These two will be modeled at the show.  For example, the Honda Beat sports car – that just met the two decade mark a year ago – is going to be getting special Honda accessories: front and rear lips and spoilers.

So for car lovers who like something different and new, check out the Tokyo Auto Salon.

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Marie Curie on Google Doodle

Published by James Fishman on November 8th, 2011


Radioactive Curie

Marie Curie turned 144 yesterday.  Well, at least she would have done had she still been alive.  Google marked her life with a Google Doodle. A pioneering chemist and physicist of her time, Curie might not have lived the safest life since today, all of her papers and books are still radioactive even after a century has passed.  Indeed, anyone who wants to view her manuscripts has to wear special protective clothing and sign a waiver of liability ahead of time.  Although ahead of her time vis-à-vis chemistry and physics, she certainly didn’t have enough information on the dangers of radiation; it just wasn’t known back then and was what ultimately led to her death.

Nobel Prize Winner

Marie Curie won a Nobel Prize in physics in 1903 and another one in chemistry eight years later.  She was born in Poland as Marie Sklodowska and then moved to Paris where she married Pierre Curie.  It was she who increased information about radioactivity which also significantly advanced the use of X-Rays in surgery.  During the First World War, she pushed for mobile radiography units to assist the wounded.  Thus they were renamed Petites Curies (Little Curies).  She passed away in 1934 from an aplastic anemia which resulted from her many years of exposure to radioactive materials.

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‘Astronaut’ Crew Emerges After 520 Days of Isolation

Published by Angie Burns on November 7th, 2011

The crew of a long-duration isolation study finally “landed” back on earth to be greeted by daylight and applause after living 520 days, or seventeen months, in a simulation of space travel to Mars.

The Mars500 experiment, which cost $15 million, aimed to test whether humans could stay physically and mentally healthy during the months of travel to Mars.

Six male volunteers from Europe, Russia and China took part in the experiment. On Friday, they emerged from their cells red eyed but smiling, and were allowed to greet friends and family briefly before being sent into a three-day quarantine.

“It’s really, really great to see you again, rather heartwarming,” said Diego Urbina, an Italian-Colombian participant. “On this mission we’ve achieved the longest isolation ever so that humankind can go to a distant but reachable planet.

Psychologists worry that the noise and activity of normal life will shock the would-be astronauts greatly.

“Time seems to have flown by since we closed the hatch last year. But how time really felt to the crew we’ll soon know. Probably we’ll have a very big difference of opinion,” said Igor Ushakov, head of the Russian Institute for Biomedical Problems, which ran the experiment.

Having fed on real astronauts rations, rarely showered and taken daily urine and blood samples, the men felt truly distant from Mission Control.

“I felt a physical distance between out crew and the people in Mission Control. My reasoning knows that they’re just 20 m away from us but my mind can’t accept it.”

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