Verbling Pairs You with Native Speakers So You Can Practice Speaking New Languages
"Flashcards and topics for discussion (e.g., "What is the nightlife like in your country") are provided beneath the video screen to help guide your conversation. Each session lasts five minutes. I was matched up quickly with Paco in Spain, but then the video cut off, and then Jose connected. The quality of the videos can really vary depending on the user and, obviously, there may be difficulties understanding the other person depending on how far along you both are in your language learning, your personalities, and so on. Still, it’s pretty neat to instantly connect with a stranger across the world and try to boost each other’s linguistic skills."
via Lifehacker
Bird-Shaped Smoke Detector Chirps Louder As Smoke Thickens
"The Chick-a-Dee is a simple design that brings a fresh twist to traditional smoke detectors. The device is designed to look like a bird perched on a branch and gives out friendly chirps when it detects smoke. As smoke thickens, the sound becomes louder and more sustained at 85 decibels."
via @PSFK
Play Smartphone Lazer Tag With New Gun Attachment
"The XAPPR gun attachment for smartphones is being debuted at the International Toy Fair in Nuremberg, Germany, this week. Compatible with iOS, Android and Windows Phone devices, it will provide an enhanced experience for players with enabled apps. The types of games currently available include shooting alien spaceships, zombies and robots and a multiplayer combat game called ATK. This lets you work against each other or in teams, running around and trying to “shoot” other players by aiming at them with the gun, like a game of Lazer Tag."
via PSFK
Creating Art From People’s Vanity and Digital Leavings
"The photographs in "Unintended Consequences" come from camera equipped devices in Apple Computer stores. On a daily basis people are leaving their portraits behind on iPhones, iPads and iPods. Customers are disregarding their own discretion and abandoning these photographs. Since these images are anonymous the participants can represent themselves however they chose to without scrutiny. Taking these images explores the change in behavior when people do not consider how these images will be used."
via Core77
UPenn’s GRASP lab unleashes a swarm of Nano Quadrotors
"Remote-controlled quadrotor robots have been around for some time, but in the following video just released by a research team at the University of Pennsylvania’s General Robotics, Automation, Sensing and Perception (GRASP) Lab, science fiction edges much closer to science fact as a swarm of the Nano Quadrotors perform some astounding maneuvers. Admittedly, use of the term "nano" may be stretching things a bit, but even so, the capable little robots provide an interesting glimpse into what the future may hold for surveillance, search and rescue, light construction and warfare."
via Gizmag
Mask stuffed with micro-components could work miracles for severe facial burn patients
"Engineers and researchers at the University of Texas, Arlington in collaboration with military medical institutions aim to develop a mask that would use mechanical, electrical and biological components to speed up the healing process following severe facial burns. The flexible polymer face mold is to be fitted with sensors for the monitoring of the healing process. If necessary, embedded components would selectively administer the appropriate pharmaceuticals to the right section of the wound. The aim of the Biomask project is not only to prevent further disfigurement, but also to facilitate facial tissue regeneration in injured soldiers."
via Gizmag
Science decodes ‘internal voices’
"The team monitored the STG brain waves of 15 patients who were undergoing surgery for epilepsy or tumours, while playing audio of a number of different speakers reciting words and sentences. The trick is disentangling the chaos of electrical signals that the audio brought about in the patients’ STG regions. To do that, the team employed a computer model that helped map out which parts of the brain were firing at what rate, when different frequencies of sound were played. With the help of that model, when patients were presented with words to think about, the team was able to guess which word the participants had chosen."
via BBC News
Self-guided bullet could hit laser-marked targets from a mile away
"A group of researchers at Sandia National Laboratories have built a prototype of a small-caliber bullet capable of steering itself towards a laser-marked target located approximately 2,000 meters (1.2 miles) away. The dart-like design has passed the initial testing stage, which included computer simulations as well as field-testing prototypes built from commercially available parts."
via Gizmag
Science decodes ‘internal voices’
"The team monitored the STG brain waves of 15 patients who were undergoing surgery for epilepsy or tumours, while playing audio of a number of different speakers reciting words and sentences. The trick is disentangling the chaos of electrical signals that the audio brought about in the patients’ STG regions. To do that, the team employed a computer model that helped map out which parts of the brain were firing at what rate, when different frequencies of sound were played. With the help of that model, when patients were presented with words to think about, the team was able to guess which word the participants had chosen."
via BBC News
SmartCap monitors workers’ fatigue levels by reading their brain waves
"The washable cap incorporates waterproof sensors in its lining, which are able to measure electrical activity originating in the brain, at the scalp level. No preparation of the scalp is necessary. Once every second, a custom algorithm analyzes the data, to determine the wearer’s level of alertness. This information is transmitted by Bluetooth to a linked device such as a smartphone or the dedicated SmartCap touchscreen monitor, where the user will be able to see a visual display of their fatigue level – if that level drops to dangerous levels, audible and visual alarms will be activated. The sensors are able to tell when the cap isn’t being worn, so simply taking it off to hide one’s fatigue isn’t an option."
via Gizmag
