abhishekupadhya - Slashdot User

Practical "Smell-o-Vision" System Being Developed 210

Posted by samzenpus on Wednesday June 22, 2011 @12:31PM from the this-show-stinks dept.

cylonlover writes "Researchers have managed to create a proof of concept Smell-o-Vision device potentially capable of pumping out thousands of different odors, yet small enough to fit behind a TV. The device has 200 X-axis controllers and 100 on the Y-axis that could selectively activate each of the 10,000 possible odors stored within numerous non-flammable silicone elastomer compartments."

Man Creates Open Source Flashlight 172

Posted by samzenpus on Tuesday June 07, 2011 @11:03AM from the things-we-don't-need dept.

DeviceGuru writes "Not content with revealing the source code to his mom's banana bread, two-time BattleBots champion Christian Carlberg has developed an open source flashlight. Carlberg first achieved notoriety shredding competitors' robots with Minion's 14-inch saw blade on BattleBots. Now he's all fired up to begin shipping what they say could be the 'world's first open source flashlight.' But why in the world would you want a reprogrammable flashlight?"

Sorting Algorithms As Dances 68

Posted by samzenpus on Sunday April 10, 2011 @11:19PM from the dancing-around-the-answer dept.

mikejuk writes "You may well have seen many simulations of sorting algorithms that aim to show how the algorithm works. However I guarantee that you have never seen anything quite in the same league as the videos made by Sapientia University — they are simply crazy but in the nicest possible way. They folk dance their way though bubble sort, shell sort, insertion sort and selection sort. Very, very weird but you find you can't but help checking that they are doing it right. Now anyone want to try quicksort?"

Full Bladder Improves Decision Making 229

Posted by CmdrTaco on Tuesday March 01, 2011 @05:04PM from the can't-talk-now-gotta-go dept.

anymouse writes "What should you do when you really, REALLY have to 'go'? Make important life decisions, maybe. Controlling your bladder makes you better at controlling yourself when making decisions about your future, too, according to a study to be published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science."

Comment Just think of the website (Score 1) 343

by abhishekupadhya on Sunday February 20, 2011 @04:24PM (#35261562) Attached to: Chrome May Drop the URL Bar

and Chrome will fetch it for you through the tubes... It's not like Google hasn't done this before. http://www.google.com/mentalplex/MP_faq.html

Obama's Goal: 98% of US Covered By 4G 324

Posted by Soulskill on Friday February 11, 2011 @11:17AM from the can-you-hear-me-now dept.

alphadogg writes "Ninety-eight percent of US residents would have access to high-speed mobile broadband service within five years under a plan that President Barack Obama detailed Thursday. Obama's proposal, which he alluded to in his State of the Union speech last month, would free up 500MHz of wireless spectrum over a decade by offering to share spectrum auction proceeds with current spectrum holders, including television stations, that have unused airwaves. The cost of the proposal is likely to raise questions from lawmakers, and some backers of government broadband spending have already raised concerns that the plan would give money and spectrum to large mobile carriers."

Spinach Could Be Used For Hydrogen Fuel 105

Posted by Roblimo on Tuesday February 08, 2011 @09:35PM from the energy-and-vitamins-in-one-healthy-package dept.

An anonymous reader writes "If Popeye had made alternative fuels, he'd have probably come up with something like this. Researchers from Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) have developed a system that converts solar energy directly into hydrogen using the common spinach plant."

Confession: There's an iPhone App For That 192

Posted by Roblimo on Tuesday February 08, 2011 @08:20PM from the Does-Apple-get-30%-of-each-confession? dept.

slshwtw writes "Pope Benedict XVI has recently encouraged priests to blog and promoted Christian Netiquette. Now apparently the Roman Catholic church has sanctioned a 'Confession App,' available through iTunes for $1.99. Apparently it doesn't replace 'traditional,' in-person confession, but walks one through the process, even suggesting sins you may wish to confess."'

Designers Create Meat Eating Furniture 120

Posted by samzenpus on Tuesday February 08, 2011 @10:16AM from the eating-the-couch-potato dept.

Sonny Yatsen writes "NPR's Robert Krulwich explores the work of several designers who are working on carnivorous furniture. These creations, include a clock that feeds on dead flies, and a table that lures mice into a guillotined death. 'We want robots to be able to get their own energy from the environment,' says co-designer Prof. Melhuish. Let's hope they come up with a lounge chair that eats cockroaches sometime soon."

Tethered, Water-Powered Jetpack Provides Two Hours of Flight Time 170

Posted by Soulskill on Sunday February 06, 2011 @06:10AM from the fun-on-the-lake dept.

arshadk writes "Unlike 'ordinary' jetpacks, the JetLev is actually two vehicles, tethered by a hose the thickness of your thigh. On the water is a small speedboat-like unit which contains a 250 horsepower motor and a pump. This is connected to the pack — into which you strap your frail body — by a 10-meter hose. The water is pumped from the sea or lake below up to the nozzles on the jetpack, providing a 1,900-Newton thrust, enough to lift a human weighing up to 150 kilos."

'Invisibility Cloak' Created Using Crystals 98

Posted by Soulskill on Friday February 04, 2011 @12:48PM from the keep-this-discovery-away-from-the-klingons dept.

Zothecula writes "The quest to build a working 'invisibility cloak' generally focuses on the use of metamaterials – artificially engineered materials with a negative refractive index that have already been used to render microscopic objects invisible in specific wavelengths of light. Now, using naturally occurring crystals rather than metamaterials, two research teams working independently have demonstrated technology that can cloak larger objects in the broad range of wavelengths visible to the human eye. PDFs of the two similarly named research papers are available through arXiv.org."

Malaysia Releases Genetically Modified Mosquitoes 140

Posted by Soulskill on Friday January 28, 2011 @06:14PM from the look-what-you've-done-gates dept.

Blessed_by_the_Cow writes "Apparently, Malaysian scientists have released 6,000 genetically modified male mosquitoes into the the wild. These bloodsuckers have been altered to have shorter lifespans. The basic idea behind it is to help slow down the spread of Dengue fever by killing off the mosquitoes faster."

Euler's Partition Function Theory Finished 117

Posted by Soulskill on Friday January 21, 2011 @05:29PM from the that-was-quick dept.

universegeek writes "Mathematician Ken Ono, from Emory, has solved a 250-year-old problem: how to exactly and explicitly generate partition numbers. Ono and colleagues were able to finally do this by realizing that the pattern of partition numbers is fractal (PDF). This pattern allowed them to find a finite, algebraic formula, which is like striking oil in mathematics."

Adding an Olfactory Dimension To Games 108

Posted by Soulskill on Tuesday January 18, 2011 @02:05AM from the secret-cow-level-not-so-alluring-anymore dept.

cylonlover writes "California-based company Scent Sciences is looking to bring an olfactory dimension to computer games with its ScentScape personal digital scent delivery system. The ScentScape Gaming Suite system consists of a unit that plugs into a PC or gaming console via USB and generates smells using scent cartridges. As well as aiming for the development of ScentScape-capable games from games developers, the system also allows gamers to add scents to existing games and share these with other ScentScape system users."

Stars Remain In Their Usual Places; People Panic 468

Posted by timothy on Saturday January 15, 2011 @02:12PM from the why-is-the-alphabet-in-that-order? dept.

asheller writes "The Star Tribune tells us the zodiac signs have shifted. Earth's wobble has shifted the signs, a new one's been added and many of us have changed signs. Formerly a Cancer, I've apparently been upgraded to Gemini and am now married to an Ophiuchus, a new sign. What's yor sign? The new Zodiac Chart is pretty interesting." Here are some priceless reactions to this celestial development. As long as the Chinese Zodiac is unaffected, I'll still be able to accurately judge people based on when they were born, so please indicate in comments your (new) sign and birth year animal, so we'll be able to know where you're coming from.

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