Violinist fiddles with a smart bow to help his brain surgery

It’s common for brain surgery patients to stay awake. That’s how surgeons know everything is going smoothly, after all. When concert violinist Roger Frisch started suffering from tremors that are only a problem when he’s playing, however, Mayo Clinic doctors had to resort to some rather unusual technology to find out if they were installing the necessary brain pacemaker correctly. The surgical crew gave Frisch a bow equipped with a motion-tracking sensor and asked him to fiddle during the operation; the team knew it had electrodes in the right spot when the musician’s performance was steady.

As you can see in the video below, the procedure was a success. Frisch can now play smoothly simply by flicking on the pacemaker, and his musical career remains intact. A case like his is unlikely to come up often, but the invention hints that motion tracking could be handy for any surgery where motor skills are at stake — you might not have to worry about less-than-perfect implants and repeat hospital visits.

Filed under: Science

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Via: CNET

Source: Mayo Clinic (YouTube)

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Get This Look: Veu

Everyone is still going crazy over Android L and how absolutely gorgeous it is. If you are among the rooters and custom ROM users, then you are in luck. Veu is a very popular CM11 theme created and maintained by the amazing Arz Bhatia. Everything follows Material Design guidelines and looks beautiful doing it. This… Read more »

The post Get This Look: Veu appeared first on AndroidGuys.

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NASA researchers use extreme origami to build space solar panels

Here’s the dilemma: rockets have only so much space, yet satellite solar panels are much more useful when they’re big. The solution? Make them foldable using the ancient art of Japanese origami. Researchers at Brigham Young University (BYU) and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory have figured out how to one day create an array 8.9 feet in diameter that could unfold to 82 feet wide. A panel that size could generate 250 kilowatts of power, compared to the current maximum of about 14 kilowatts. The 1/20 scale prototype starts as a satellite-friendly cylindrical form and expands to a flat, 4.1 foot circular shape by the application of a single force (see the video below). The research was inspired by a technique called the “Miura fold,” originally developed for a Japanese satellite by astrophysicist Koryo Miura. A larger version could one day beam solar energy back to earth, or even power future spacecraft — especially now that microwave thrusters are feasible.

[Image credit: Mark A. Philbrick/BYU]

Filed under: Science

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Via: io9

Source: JPL

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This Bluetooth padlock will open for you and whomever you deem worthy

The plain old padlock is getting rather dull, but add Bluetooth to it unlocks (pun intended) a whole new level of possibilities. As the name suggests, this waterproof Noke smart padlock by Fuz Designs doesn’t come with any physical keys; instead, you unlock it with an iOS or Android device that supports Bluetooth LE. Better yet, you can also assign a Noke to your best pals, thus eliminating the need to pass a key around. But what if your phone runs out of battery? Well, that’s where your pre-assigned click pattern comes in: Simply tap that in on the hook and your Noke will magically open up. On a similar note, the device itself can last over a year with a CR3032 battery, which can be easily replaced even when completely out of juice (but it’d still be locked, of course). Check out the demo video after the break, and then you can head over to the Kickstarter page to grab one for an early-bird price of $59.

Update: Canada’s OckCorp previously tried to raise funds for a similar project but failed to reach goal.

Filed under: Peripherals

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Source: Kickstarter

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Hot-rod Tesla Model S will burn rubber and your cash

Tesla’s Model S P85 can vault from zero to 60 MPH in 4.2 seconds or so, pretty good for a luxury car with no pistons. Tuning outfit Saleen thought it could top that, though, and has come up with a new version called the Foursixteen. The company also bestows 700HP to Mustangs, but it thinks the Model S “is an entirely new class” of American car equally deserving of such treatment. To that end, Saleen started with the P85 performance variant of the Model S with 416 horsepower and 443 foot-pounds of torque, and changed the final drive ratio for better acceleration. It also added aerodynamic updates, a new suspension, 22-inch wheels, carbon ceramic brakes, a “supercar” interior and a new rear spoiler. The result? A quicker, slicker Tesla Model S that we’re guessing won’t hit the original EPA range of 265 miles. Oh, and the price: $152,000 instead of around $94,570. Despite its hot-rod status, though, the Foursixteen qualifies for all Federal and state EV rebates — meaning that depending on where you live, it could be up to $15,000 lower.

Filed under: Transportation

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Via: GT Spirit

Source: Saleen

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Alcohol delivery app adds underwear model couriers, could make bad ideas worse

It’s the times we live in: an app that delivers booze just isn’t appealing enough. Saucey, an app that delivers alcohol through its app is launching a sleepover pack that involves collaborating with an underwear company.. and some purchases will be accompanied by underwear models. Priced between $40 and $100, packages will include that all-important liquor, some mixers, clean underwear, sunglasses (?) and a hangover recovery drink. If you’re looking for the accompanying underwear models, they’ll be delivering around LA between 4 and 9pm – and no, they won’t be along for every order. The deal only runs for a week, though, which is hopefully short enough to ensure that nothing disastrous occurs.

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Via: LA Times

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MakerBot chief believes self-driving cars will spur a need for 3D-printed organs

Self-driving cars are safer by their very nature, since they avoid the mistakes of human drivers. However, that improved safety may create some new problems — at least, according to MakerBot founder Bre Pettis. He tells Fortune that scientists will likely have to step up work on 3D-printed organs if and when robotic vehicles take off, since a significant chunk of organ donations (which are already scarce) come from car accident victims. Pettis isn’t disputing the value of reducing road fatalities, of course. The issue is more that hospitals have to be ready for possible shortfalls in natural transplants.

There’s no immediate rush for synthetic tissue when widespread use of driverless cars is still years away (if it happens at all), and the executive has a vested interest in 3D printing as the solution. However, he has a point. While the tech industry should certainly save lives when possible, it also has to deal with the consequences of people living longer.

Filed under: Transportation, Science

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Source: Fortune

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Americans now have an electric supercar to call their own

It’s not hard to find electric supercars, but finding one that’s truly American is a challenge. Even Detroit Electric’s SP:01 borrows a British car body. Relief is in sight for patriotic EV buyers, however — Renovo has just unveiled the Coupe, billed as the first “all-electric American supercar.” It combines a Shelby CSX9000 chassis with eco-friendly guts, making it an odd blend of ’60s-era sports car looks with modern responsibility. That still makes it a pretty fearsome beast. Its twin electric motors put out the equivalents of 500HP and 1000lb/ft of torque, which is enough to catapult it to 60MPH in 3.4 seconds — that’s quicker than most exotic gas guzzlers, and substantially faster than American performance EVs like the SP:01 and Tesla Roadster (both of which take “just” 3.7 seconds). It’s quick to recharge, too, and can use a fast charger to top up in half an hour instead of the usual five.

There are some catches. The top speed is only listed as “over 120MPH,” so you probably won’t win any sustained drag races. There’s no mention of range, either, so you might not want to count on any lengthy adventures. And that’s if you can get a Coupe in the first place; the car doesn’t go into its limited production run in 2015, and word has it that the price may be a lofty $529,000. Even if that’s off, it makes Tesla’s highest-end Model S sound like the bargain of the century. Nonetheless, the Coupe may be the only game in town if you want the fastest possible green machine made on American soil.

Filed under: Transportation

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Via: Autoblog

Source: Renovo

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