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Power

MIT Wirelessly Powers a Lightbulb 394

Posted by Zonk from the magic-tubes-and-pots-and-pans-bits-and-pieces-and dept.
kcurtis writes "According to the Boston Globe, MIT Researchers have powered a light bulb remotely. The successful experiment lit a 60-watt light bulb from a power source two meters away, with no physical connection between the power source and the light bulb. Details about WiTricity, or wireless electricity, are scheduled to be reported today in Science Express, the advance online publication of the journal Science, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology said. 'The team from MIT is not the first group to suggest wireless energy transfer. Nineteenth-century physicist and engineer Nikola Tesla experimented with long-range wireless energy transfer, but his most ambitious attempt - the 29m high aerial known as Wardenclyffe Tower, in New York - failed when he ran out of money. Others have worked on highly directional mechanisms of energy transfer such as lasers. However, unlike the MIT work, these require an uninterrupted line of sight, and are therefore not good for powering objects around the home.'"
Games

Videogames Really Are Linked to Violence 204

Posted by Zonk from the much-like-your-average-poet-is-linked-to-black-clothing dept.
ahoehn writes "Amanda Schaffer has written a refreshingly balanced piece about the connection between video games and violence. Instead of regurgitating the typical reactionary voices in this debate, she looks at what scientific studies suggest about the issue. From the article: 'Pathological acts of course have multiple, complex causes and are terribly hard to predict. And clearly, millions of people play Counter-Strike, Halo, and Doom and never commit crimes. But the subtler question is whether exposure to video-game violence is one risk factor for increased aggression: Is it associated with shifts in attitudes or responses that may predispose kids to act out? A large body of evidence suggests that this may be so ... Given this, it makes sense to be specific about which games may be linked to harmful effects and which to neutral or good ones. Better research is also needed to understand whether some kids are more vulnerable to video-game violence, and how exposure interacts with other risk factors for aggression like poverty, psychological disorders, and a history of abuse.'"

Mercury Contamination Vs. Energy-Efficient Lightbulbs 801

Posted by CmdrTaco from the why-can't-it-just-be-easy dept.
phyrebyrd writes "How much money does it take to screw in a compact fluorescent lightbulb? About US$4.28 for the bulb and labor — unless you break the bulb. Then you, like Brandy Bridges of Ellsworth, Maine, could be looking at a cost of about US$2,004.28, which doesn't include the costs of frayed nerves and risks to health."
Games

BBC Ponders Another Games Industry Crash 219

Posted by Zonk from the just-like-clockwork dept.
weirdguy writes with a link to a BBC article that poses the same question asked by journalists every couple of years: is the games industry headed for another crash? "Yes, gamers are snapping up the new generation of games consoles — Microsoft's Xbox 360, Nintendo's Wii, and Sony's Playstation 3 [PS3], but at huge cost to the industry. Hardware makers are losing hundreds of dollars on every console sold, and games publishers face an "increasingly difficult environment, as rising development costs and small user bases [mean] that return on investment in next generation games development is unlikely to be achieved before 2008," according to media analysts Screen Digest. More importantly, though, the video games publishers are facing a revolution of their business model."
Role Playing (Games)

Fallout IP Sold to Bethesda Softworks 174

Posted by Zonk from the sweet-jumping-nuclear-radition dept.
In what I can only see as good news, the Fallout IP has been sold to Bethesda Softworks. A long, long time ago simoniker posted that Bethesda was licensing the IP from Interplay; as of earlier this month, they now own it lock, stock, and barrel. Gamasutra reports: "According to the filing, first spotted by Fallout fansite No Mutants Allowed, the purchase of the Fallout license and accompanying IP was settled on April 9th of this year, with final payment installments expected to be delivered by the third quarter of this year ... In an interesting twist, as part of the agreement Interplay now acts as a licensee of the IP as it continues to ramp up production on its own Fallout-themed massively multiplayer game, first announced in 2004 alongside Bethesda's sequel, and shown via internal documents as recently as December to have a projected $75 million dollar budget and launch date of 2010."
Biotech

Hardware Implants Mimic Brain Cells 230

Posted by ScuttleMonkey from the memory-upgrade dept.
An anonymous reader writes "PopSci is reporting that Ted Berger, a USC scientist, has been working to engineer a brain implant the mimics the functions of neurons. Early tests on rat brain cells have shown promise, and if successful, Berger's implant could remedy everything from Alzheimer's to absent-mindedness — and reduce memory loss to nothing more than a computer glitch"
Robotics

First Dynamically Balancing Biped Robot 155

Posted by kdawson from the mister-rossum-on-line-1 dept.
damg writes "Anybots, which is three guys led by Trevor Blackwell, has developed the first robot that walks like we do, by dynamically balancing itself rather than being pre-programmed for walking like Asimo. The video shows the robot walking and being pushed by another 'bully' robot to demonstrate that it can't easily be pushed over."
Education

Princeton ESP Lab to Close 363

Posted by Zonk from the don't-think-bad-thoughts dept.
Nico M writes " The New York Times reports on the imminent closure of one of the most controversial research units at an ivy league School. The Princeton Engineering Anomalies Research laboratory is due to close, but not because of pressure from the outside. Lab founder Robert G. Jahn has declared, in the article, that they've essentially collected all the data they're going to. The laboratory has conducted studies on extrasensory perception and telekinesis from its cramped quarters in the basement of the university's engineering building since 1979. Its equipment is aging, its finances dwindling. Jahn points the finger at detractors as well: 'If people don't believe us after all the results we've produced, then they never will.'"
The Courts

US Attorney General Questions Habeas Corpus 1151

Posted by kdawson from the exact-words dept.
spiedrazer writes "In yet another attempt to create legitimacy for the Bush Administration's many questionable legal practices, US attorney General Alberto Gonzales actually had the audacity to argue before a Congressional committee that the US Constitution doesn't explicitly bestow habeas corpus rights on US citizens. In his view it merely says when the so-called Great Writ can be suspended, but that doesn't necessarily mean that the rights are granted. The Attorney General was being questioned by Sen. Arlen Specter at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Jan. 18. THe MSM are not covering this story but Colbert is (click on the fourth video down, 'Exact Words')." From the Baltimore Chronicle and Sentinel commentary: "While Gonzales's statement has a measure of quibbling precision to it, his logic is troubling because it would suggest that many other fundamental rights that Americans hold dear (such as free speech, freedom of religion, and the right to assemble peacefully) also don't exist because the Constitution often spells out those rights in the negative. It boggles the mind the lengths this administration will go to to systematically erode the rights and privileges we have all counted on and held up as the granite pillars of our society since our nation was founded."
Encryption

Submission + - First AACS BluRay Content Decrypted

Submitted by kad77
kad77 writes: The anonymous coder 'muslix64', who earlier implemented the first public AACS decryption algorithm for use on HD-DVD movies (ed: need slashdot ref) (ed: http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=119871), has decrypted files from the AACS protected BluRay disc "Lord of War". His methodology was described in another doom9 forum thread (ed: http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=120869), as a "known-plaintext attack". BluRay's "BD+" enhanced DRM layer was not involved in this decryption, and has not been addressed to date. Ultimately, software content players were the weak point that lead to key discovery.
The Internet

Submission + - impeachbush.com going for $25,200 so far on ebay!

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: I guess it is a sign of the times that the domain name
www.impeachbush.com
is already at $25,200 in bidding on ebay!

(item 280070328094)

Several similiar domains have sprung up like www.clicktoimpeachbush.com which let's you give the finger to the administration in the book ads.

I guess the free marketplace is sending a message about what will be important topics in the year to come!

bid history so far!

US $25,200.00 Jan-19-07 16:23:38 PST View
        Bidder 17Feedback score is 50 to 99 US $25,100.00 Jan-19-07 08:59:07 PST View
        Bidder 25 US $25,000.00 Jan-19-07 05:51:20 PST View
        Bidder 25 US $15,000.00 Jan-19-07 05:51:13 PST View
        Bidder 24 US $10,000.00 Jan-19-07 05:24:04 PST View
        Bidder 25 US $10,000.00 Jan-19-07 05:51:03 PST View
        Bidder 25 US $7,500.00 Jan-19-07 05:50:54 PST View
        Bidder 25 US $5,000.00 Jan-19-07 05:50:46 PST View
        Bidder 22 US $2,503.03 Jan-19-07 02:15:23 PST View
        Bidder 23 US $1,495.00 Jan-19-07 05:17:31 PST View
        Bidder 23 US $1,265.00 Jan-19-07 05:17:15 PST View
        Bidder 19Feedback score is 10 to 49 US $1,000.00 Jan-18-07 23:03:34 PST View
        Bidder 8Feedback score is 10 to 49 US $1,000.00 Jan-19-07 00:18:43 PST View
        Bidder 21Feedback score is 50 to 99 US $940.00 Jan-18-07 23:57:23 PST View
        Bidder 20Feedback score is 100 to 499 US $920.00 Jan-18-07 23:36:21 PST View
        Bidder 17Feedback score is 50 to 99 US $900.00 Jan-18-07 22:54:45 PST View
        Bidder 18Feedback score is 100 to 499 US $870.00 Jan-18-07 23:01:09 PST View
        Bidder 15Feedback score is 100 to 499 US $850.00 Jan-18-07 22:45:24 PST View
        Bidder 16Feedback score is 10 to 49 US $839.23 Jan-18-07 22:53:22 PST View
        Bidder 8Feedback score is 10 to 49 US $800.00 Jan-18-07 22:03:51 PST View
        Bidder 14Feedback score is 50 to 99 US $800.00 Jan-18-07 22:30:20 PST View
        Bidder 14Feedback score is 50 to 99 US $780.00 Jan-18-07 22:29:45 PST View
        Bidder 13 US $760.00 Jan-18-07 22:03:50 PST View
        Bidder 9Feedback score is 500 to 999 US $750.00 Jan-18-07 21:55:52 PST View
        Bidder 8Feedback score is 10 to 49 US $750.00 Jan-18-07 22:03:38 PST View
        Bidder 8Feedback score is 10 to 49 US $700.00 Jan-18-07 22:02:43 PST View
        Bidder 8Feedback score is 10 to 49 US $650.00 Jan-18-07 22:02:25 PST View
        Bidder 8Feedback score is 10 to 49 US $625.00 Jan-18-07 22:02:16 PST View
        Bidder 8Feedback score is 10 to 49 US $600.00 Jan-18-07 22:02:05 PST View
        Bidder 12Feedback score is 10 to 49 US $577.77 Jan-18-07 21:57:14 PST View
        Bidder 8Feedback score is 10 to 49 US $550.00 Jan-18-07 21:54:18 PST View
        Bidder 10Feedback score is 10 to 49 US $510.00 Jan-18-07 21:52:30 PST View
        Bidder 9Feedback score is 500 to 999 US $500.00 Jan-18-07 21:48:25 PST View
        Bidder 11Feedback score is 10 to 49 US $500.00 Jan-18-07 21:51:11 PST View
        Bidder 10Feedback score is 10 to 49 US $400.00 Jan-18-07 21:50:48 PST View
        Bidder 11Feedback score is 10 to 49 US $350.00 Jan-18-07 21:50:42 PST View
        Bidder 10Feedback score is 10 to 49 US $300.00 Jan-18-07 21:49:33 PST View
        Bidder 8Feedback score is 10 to 49 US $225.00 Jan-18-07 21:32:48 PST View
        Bidder 7Feedback score is 100 to 499 US $211.00 Jan-18-07 21:24:07 PST View
        Bidder 8Feedback score is 10 to 49 US $210.00 Jan-18-07 21:32:34 PST View
        Bidder 4 US $200.00 Jan-17-07 17:14:26 PST View
        Bidder 6Feedback score is 100 to 499 US $200.00 Jan-18-07 21:19:18 PST View
        Bidder 6Feedback score is 100 to 499 US $175.00 Jan-18-07 21:18:50 PST View
        Bidder 5Feedback score is 100 to 499 US $149.36 Jan-18-07 21:09:45 PST View
        Bidder 5Feedback score is 100 to 499 US $138.97 Jan-18-07 21:09:20 PST View
        Bidder 3Feedback score is 100 to 499 US $125.00 Jan-16-07 07:04:19 PST View
        Bidder 4 US $100.00 Jan-17-07 17:14:04 PST View
        Bidder 4 US $50.00 Jan-17-07 17:13:36 PST View
        Bidder 2 US $40.00 Jan-15-07 18:25:00 PST View
        Bidder 2 US $25.00 Jan-15-07 18:24:38 PST View
        Bidder 1Feedback score is 50 to 99 US $15.00 Jan-15-07 18:08:22 PST View
Games

RedOctane Speaks Out on Guitar Hero's Future 59

Posted by Zonk from the still-tying-my-shoe dept.
njkid1 writes "In the first published interview since the news broke that Neversoft would be taking over development, RedOctane is speaking out on the decision and what it means for the future of the franchise. From the article: 'Internalizing development allows for more control of the creative elements of the game and, in this instance, provides for a much more robust and feature laden franchise. We believe that having the talented group at Neversoft, with their unprecedented string of market success with the billion dollar Tony Hawk franchise, develop the next Guitar Hero game will allow us to vastly enrich the consumer experience. We are excited to further the music and rhythm-based videogame genre, and Neversoft has the full experience, knowledge, and talent to do this.'" As nice as it is to hear from RedOctane, I'd rather hear the fully skinny from Harmonix.
Wii

Submission + - Wii Laptop?

Submitted by
PHPNerd
PHPNerd writes: "Now you can take your Wii with you anywhere! Engadget is featuring an article about how someone has created a Wii Laptop. Detailed Instructions on how to build your own are soon to follow. The article lists the laptops specs, has details photos, and even a video of it in action. Car rides and plane trips just got a lot more interesting."

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