Archive for the 'Technology' Category
Military Plans to Test Brain Implants to Fight Mental Disorders
May 28th, 2014Via: NPR: The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or DARPA, is launching a $70 million program to help military personnel with psychiatric disorders using electronic devices implanted in the brain. The goal of the five-year program is to develop new ways of treating problems including depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder, all of which are […]
‘Mind Pilots’ Steer Plane Simulator with Thoughts Alone
May 28th, 2014I like the one from a decade ago about the chunk of rat brain that flew the F22 simulator: Scientists have grown a living “brain” that sits inside a petri dish and can fly a simulated F-22 fighter aircraft. The brainchild of Thomas DeMarse, a biomedical engineer at the University of Florida in Gainesville, the […]
Brokers Use ‘Billions’ of Data Points to Profile Americans
May 27th, 2014Via: Washington Post: Data brokers that quietly gather billions of pieces of data on Americans should be required to operate more openly, so that those categorized as “financially challenged” or possibly suffering from serious medical conditions have the ability to check and challenge those characterizations, a federal report said Tuesday. The data broker industry, which […]
Teaching Union in Northern Ireland: Computers Can Have Negative Impact on Children’s Ability to Learn
May 23rd, 2014When I make my weekly trip to town, it is becoming increasingly common to see very young children using smartphones and cheap Android tablets. As parents buy soda, frozen pizzas and other toxic waste at the supermarket, the children waddle behind like zombies, swiping away at the screens. Loud game noise or crap music blares […]
Lifeguard Drones
May 23rd, 2014Via: Motherboard:
Facebook Wants to ‘Listen’ to Your Music and TV
May 22nd, 2014Via: BBC: Facebook is to release a new feature on its mobile app that “listens” to your music and TV shows. If the song or show is recognised by the app, users can publish the information on their profile or to selected friends. The service hopes to take advantage of the “second screen” trend, which […]
“Why I Was Forced to Shut Down Lavabit”
May 20th, 2014Via: Guardian: If my experience serves any purpose, it is to illustrate what most already know: courts must not be allowed to consider matters of great importance under the shroud of secrecy, lest we find ourselves summarily deprived of meaningful due process. If we allow our government to continue operating in secret, it is only […]
China Bans Use of Microsoft’s Windows 8 on Government Computers
May 20th, 2014To save energy. *wink* Via: Reuters: China has banned government use of Windows 8, Microsoft Corp’s latest operating system (OS), in a blow to the U.S. technology company which has long been plagued by sales woes in the country. The Central Government Procurement Center issued the ban on installing Windows 8 on government computers as […]
Focus Fusion
May 20th, 2014Via: Indiegogo: The goal of Focus Fusion is to provide clean, safe and affordable energy around the globe. Scientists at LPP Fusion, led by Chief Scientist Eric Lerner, are just one step away from this groundbreaking technology and we need your help for the final push. With only 1/1000th the budget of the huge government […]
Illuminating Neuron Activity in 3-D
May 20th, 2014Via: MIT News: Researchers at MIT and the University of Vienna have created an imaging system that reveals neural activity throughout the brains of living animals. This technique, the first that can generate 3-D movies of entire brains at the millisecond timescale, could help scientists discover how neuronal networks process sensory information and generate behavior. […]
