Astronomy is one of my hobbies. In fact it’s astrophysics, to be more specific. Although it’s a hobby, I haven’t managed to get a good small-sized telescope yet. But it looks like there are better devices to suite my starry cravings. Straight from Imaging Source, we get a new range of affordable, low noise astronomy cameras.
<-234x60 Half Banner - left->Digital cameras are known to have problems in low light environments, but Imaging Source assures us their products use high quality filters. OK, you can’t really compare them to Hubble’s Deep Field, but each camera comes in exquisitely crafted, blue and black anodized aluminum and zinc industrial housing, weighing in at about 260 grams and measuring 50mm x 56mm.
The camera has a noise reduction piece included in the C/CS mount on the front of the camera, while the rear integrates a USB or FireWire connector, depending on the model. The product range has monochrome as well as color models, while not all of them will include a special IR cut filter. Depending on which model you choose, the standard resolutions are 640 x 480, 1,024 x 768 or 1,280 x 960. The latest low noise CCD chips from Sony are utilized with each of the Imaging Source models, offering an exposure time of up to an hour and a maximum frame rate of up to 60 fps.
Unfortunately, these cameras don’t come that cheap, as the starter model costs $350 and the price rises up to $1200 for the top-of-the-line model.
Good news for armless persons! The creator of the Segway, Dean Kamen, is about to complete his Luke Arm project.
Kamen’s company, DEKA Research, has managed to integrate some cool new features in the arm’s interface, adding to the early mechanical prototype some spatial and neural interfaces. The man in the image above had his arm nerves transected in a misfortunate military operation, but that didn’t stop Kamen’s team to interface his nerve remnants directly to the robotic arm, enabling him to delicately utilize numerous degrees of motion within hours of installation.
Still in development, the spatial is claimed to intelligently give some control of movement back to the arm itself, while the non-invasive mind interface utilizes infrared to read neural signals through the skull. In order to provide more balance and motion control with heavier usage, a new body-mounting chassis was built, featuring embedded bladders that inflate.
I’ll leave you with an interesting clip that better explains all the technologies inside of the robotic arm.
Photographs sure came a long way. You can store many digital photos on memory cards, DVDs and other devices make those snapshots last for many years, but what if you want to go nostalgic and use paper again? Would you buy a sophisticated printer and use expensive ink cartridges? Or maybe you’d go to a photo shop? Don’t even bother! Just get yourself a Polaroid Pogo pocket printer and a good supply of special photo paper.
The Polaroid Pogo prints 2″ x 3″ size pictures with sticker backs that are small enough to look good even with the resolution provided by most cellphone cameras. Moreover, the Pogo is wireless and inkless, and weighs only 8 oz.
If your cellphone, compact or DSLR camera supports Bluetooth connectivity, you can print directly from it, without the need to download pics in the PC. The Pogo prints a photo in full color in about 60 seconds. The printer is inkless because it uses Zink photo paper which is covered in heat-activated crystals. This technology is a huge improvement over the old Polaroid snaps which were prone to smearing, as Zink photos are now waterproof, tear-proof, and smear-proof. The printer works both with a battery or with the charging cable.
The Pogo is expected to cost $149, and special promotions will be launched at Target and Best Buy.
Hey ladies! Instead of using that weird paralyzing spray inside your purse (like you can really find it fast when you need it inside that stuffed purse), you might want to take a look at this cool jacket and give it a try.
The No-Contact Jacket is a wearable defensive garment specifically designed to aid women in their struggle for protection from violence. When you turn it on via a special key, the jacket is infused with 80,000 volts of low amperage electric current pulses just below the surface shell. Also dubbed the exo-electric armor, the jacket prevents any unauthorized contact with the wearer’s upper body. So if some baddy wants to grab and neutralize you, the high voltage exterior would interrupt their neurological impulses which control voluntary muscle movement.
The Jacket has a unique electrically insulated rubber layer between the wearer and the electrified outer layer, which will keep the electric current from coming in contact with them. All you need to power the jacket is a 9V alkaline battery. Wait a second, what about your face and legs? I think the jacket is not enough in case somebody reaches for your legs or head, and you still have to master some martial arts skills in order to avoid getting a face pound or a nasty leg sweep.
Here is a demo clip. Unfortunately it’s in German, but all the info you need to know is presented above.
The disabled members of our society always get treated as outcasts, although they can still be of use for the human kind. Amputees, blind or visually impaired, even left-handed people, all of these plus lots others are treated as being some sort of sub-human entities. Speaking of blind people, a new debate has arisen concerning the need to design enhancement and the incorporation of next-gen features in gadgets developed for the visually challenged. They ask: what’s the point off adding cool stuff when the blind can’t make out the new features?
<-180×150 Small Rectangle - left->Matthew Wagerfield, a rather revolutionary mind, maybe a bit too keen on the blind, has created Sentio as a timekeeping device for blind and partially sighted users. The interesting piece of technology seems to perfectly combine the vanguard design and cutting-edge tactile technology. Sentio thus features implements the 7-segment display typically seen on digital alarm clocks and watches in a new and intuitive way.
LEDs and other lighting elements are pretty useless for the visually impaired, hence, the Sentio watch uses a tactile display in such a way that each segment rises 1mm above the watch face. This facilitates a simple reading of the time by touching the face as in the case of Braille watches.
Sentio can displays time in either hours or minutes depending on the mode selected. The watch comes in an elegant design, with attractive color options and fashionable extras. No info on pricing and availability for now.
