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Babblers focus on adults’ mouths when learning how to speak

Not all that long ago the availability of a 1TB solid state drive (SSD) was big news, now you can fit them in your pocket … or in this case, your pocket-knife. Shown last week at CES, the Victorinox SSD features two interchangeable bodies - one with traditional Swiss Army Knife blade, scissors and nail file/screw driver combo, plus a second flight-friendly casing without any pointy bits. When the 1 TB model hits the market later this year Victorinox says it will be the world’s smallest high-capacity SSD drive available … but it won't come cheap... Continue Reading Victorinox packs a 1 TB SSD into a pocket-knife

Section: Personal Computing

Tags: SSD, Victorinox

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Five years ago at the Tokyo Motor Show, Nissan unveiled its clever NV200 minivan concept that incorporated a mobile office and a slide-out cargo compartment. It has since gone into production, losing the office and slide-out, but boasting what Nissan claims is the largest load space in its class. Last year, the automaker announced that it would begin testing of an electric version of the van. Now, the public can get a feel for what a consumer electric NV200 might be like, up close and in person, as the e-NV200 concept makes its world debut at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit... Continue Reading Nissan's e-NV200 electric minivan concept debuts in Detroit

Section: Automotive

Tags: Electric Vehicles, NAIAS 2012, Nissan, NV200

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It is no secret that personal transportation form factors are beginning to diverge and a new one caught our attention this week that is almost certain to carve itself a niche in this intensely interesting and competitive space. It's not as sexy as a Yikebike, Honda U3-X or Toyota Winglet, but it is easy to use, has a range of 12 miles (20 km), a top speed of 15 mph and a price under US$1000. At 90 pounds, the Personal Rover is not exactly small, but it folds up so it can be rolled on castor wheels inside a building, and will easily fit inside a car boot to fulfill secondary transport duties... Continue Reading Personal Rover - personal EV for under US$1000

Section: Urban Transport

Tags: Electric Vehicles, Personal Rover

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UC DAVIS (US) — Patients with greater access to three specific attributes of high-quality primary care have a reduced risk of death, research shows.

A new study published in the Annals of Family Medicine is the first to link comprehensiveness, a patient-centered approach, and extended office hours to lower mortality.

The bloggers among you will be aware of that ongoing, nagging, internal monologue as to whether our chosen blogging platform offers the optimal combination of features, cost and reliability for our particular blend of needs. Depending on where that silent debate presently rests, you may be either pleased or frustrated to hear that another contender - scriptogr.am - has entered the fray, though it's one with a markedly different take on the very process blogging, using text files from a user's Dropbox account to generate a simple, elegant weblog... Continue Reading scriptogr.am generates elegant weblogs from Dropbox-stored text files

Section: Personal Computing

Tags: Software

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At a whopping 234-diagonal-inches, the touchscreen display created by Microsoft and Stereolize for last year's CeBIT may well be the biggest we've seen but it's hardly practical (or cheap) enough for everyday use. If you're looking for something that won't require museum visitors or business customers to reach up way above their heads to even touch the screen, New Mexico's interactive exhibit veteran Ideum has announced the release of a new 65-inch wall-mounted multitouch display called the MT65 Presenter... Continue Reading Ideum unveils 65-inch HD 3D multitouch wall display

Section: Electronics

Tags: 3D, Display, HD, Ideum, Touchscreen, Wall-mounted

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RICE (US) — Scientists have developed a one-step chemical process to turn carbon fibers into graphene quantum dots.

The Rice University researchers say the new method is markedly simpler than established techniques for making graphene quantum dots—tiny specks of matter expected to prove useful in electronic, optical, and biomedical applications.

RICE (US) — A new study finds 18 percent of blacks and 4 percent of whites report emotional and/or physical distress due to racial discrimination.

“Discriminatory behavior very well may be a ‘missing link’ in the analysis of racial and ethnic health disparities,” Rice University sociologist Jenifer Bratter says. “It’s important to acknowledge and study its impact on long-term health.

BROWN (US) — Medicare plans aren’t allowed to exclude unhealthy—and costly—seniors, but some plans get around the restriction by offering gym memberships to draw in healthier—and more profitable—members.

“Offering a fitness membership does not mean that you are denying people coverage, but you are changing your benefits to appeal selectively to people who are healthy,” says co-author Amal Trivedi, a public health professor at Brown University.

U. MELBOURNE (AUS) — A new treatment for smoking-related lung diseases targets a protein that triggers inflammation and keeps lungs from healing.

The discovery by researchers at the University of Melbourne and Harvard University could dramatically improve treatments and slow the progression of COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease), which includes the incurable condition emphysema.

Canada's Tamaggo Inc. previewed an egg-shaped photographic device at this year's CES that's claimed to capture navigable high resolution 360-degree panoramas of its surroundings with a single click. Rather than stitch together lots of different photos taken one after the other in quick succession, the Tamaggo 360-Imager would appear to do for photography what lens attachments like the GoPano micro did for iPhone video. I say appear to do because the device on show in Las Vegas was a non-functioning prototype, so we've yet to see what the technology can actually do... Continue Reading Tamaggo 360-Imager captures all round action with a single click

Section: Digital Cameras

Tags: 360-degree, CES 2012, Photography

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Home video game consoles can provide endless entertainment, but sadly aren't the most portable of devices and can be fairly fragile to boot. Traveling gamers know what a pain it can be to try and haul gaming equipment around for long trips, and that's without trying to find a TV to use wherever they go. GAEMS, Inc. may have a solution, though, with its rugged G155 case that can secure an Xbox 360 or PS3 along with the provided HD LED screen in one tidy, portable package... Continue Reading GAEMS G155 case keeps your console protected and ready to play

Section: Games

Tags: CES 2012, PlayStation 3, Video Games, Xbox 360

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Thanks to their habit of remaining concealed, the first indication people get that termites have invaded their home is after they’ve already wreaked their particular brand of wood-eating havoc. According to Associate Professor Adam Osseiran of Western Australia’s Edith Cowan University, the yearly damage bill in the U.S. for termite damage tops US$12 billion, while in Australia they cause an estimated $1 to $3 billion damage each year. In attempt to reduce such damage, Osseiran and his team have developed an acoustic sensor that is so sensitive it can detect termite infestation by “hearing” them chew through timber... Continue Reading WiSPr acoustic termite detector works by "hearing" termites eat

Section: Around The Home

Tags: Acoustic, Insect, Pests, Sensor, Wireless

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Just over six years ago, we reported that Nissan had developed a "Scratch Guard Coat" paint designed to repair scratches on not only cars, but on painted surfaces in general. The company has already applied its paint technology to a number of Nissan and Infiniti models, and in 2009 it announced that it would license it for use on mobile phones. It appears there weren't many takers as Nissan has now announced that it has produced the world's first self-healing iPhone case that makes use of the Scratch Shield paint... Continue Reading Nissan announces world’s first self-healing iPhone case

Section: Mobile Technology

Tags: iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, Nissan, Paint, Scratch Shield Paint, Self-healing

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Researchers claim a newly discovered molecule found in the Earth’s atmosphere holds the potential to help offset global warming by actually cooling the planet. The molecule is a Criegee biradical or Criegee intermediate, which are chemical intermediaries that are powerful oxidizers of pollutants produced by combustion, such as nitrogen dioxide and sulfur dioxide. They have the ability to naturally clean up the atmosphere by helping break down nitrogen dioxide and sulfur dioxide to form sulfate and nitrate, which ultimately leads to cloud formation that could help cool the planet... Continue Reading Newly discovered molecule has potential to offset climate change and cool the planet

Section: Research Watch

Tags: Climate Change, Global Warming, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Sandia Labs, University of Bristol, University of Manchester

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As anyone who spends a lot of time seated at a desk will know, it's important to change your position every now and then. For wheelchair users, who spend almost every waking moment seated, it is crucial that they do so - if they don't, they can develop deformities or bedsores, or at least end up in considerable pain. Now, the Swiss research group Empa is working with the ergonomics company r going, to develop a new type of wheelchair seat that periodically causes users to change the way they're sitting... Continue Reading New wheelchair seat gets users to regularly change their position

Section: Health and Wellbeing

Tags: Empa, Ergonomic, Wheelchair

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There’s no doubt that we will soon be seeing a lot more in the way of low-cost electronic circuits that have been printed onto common, flexible materials such as plastic, paper or fabric. One of the key technological innovations making this possible is silver ink, which is used to print these circuits’ conductors. While such ink usually incorporates particles of silver suspended in a carrier liquid, a new type of ink created at the University of Illinois forgoes the particle approach, and is said to offer some distinct advantages as a result... Continue Reading Particle-free silver ink developed for printable electronics

Section: Research Watch

Tags: Flexible, Printable Electronics, Silver, University of Illinois

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Often viewed as works of art, violins and other string instruments are not uncommonly displayed in the home. One Chinese company is turning a number of violins and other string instruments into speakers, so the display is functional. Instruments used to make the speakers, which also include bass and other string selections, are made by Hua Xing String Instruments in Guangzhou, China. A driver is inserted into the instrument, and the resonance within the resulting ViolinSpeaker is used to produce and project sound. .. Continue Reading ViolinSpeaker resonates at CES

Section: Around The Home

Tags: Audio, CES 2012, Speaker, Violin

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Although it can't be denied that smartphones are ... well, that they're really smart, the fact is that not everyone wants to play games, shoot and watch videos, surf the web or use apps every time they step out their door. For many people, the ability to make and receive phone calls is all that really matters. It was for minimalists like these that Austrian electronics company emporia designed its very basic, large-keyed mobile phones. While they were previously not available to North American consumers, that changed with an announcement last week at CES. .. Continue Reading Emporia bringing simplified mobile phones to North America

Section: Mobile Technology

Tags: CES 2012, Mobile Phone, Rugged, Seniors, Smartphone

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