Tech Today w/ Ken May

Photo: Cytograft You’re looking at a “rope” made from braided human parts. No, it’s not a premise for a new Syfy movie, rather a new tissue engineering technique by biotech firm Cytograft: … the biological strands could be used to weave blood vessel patches and grafts that a patient’s body would readily accept for wound repair. The process is faster and could be more cost-effective than other methods of producing biological tissue replacements. Cytograft’s technique draws upon a long history of medical textiles, which are typically produced with synthetic fibers like polyester. “Creating textiles is an ancient and powerful technique, and combining it with biomaterials is exciting because it has so much more versatility than the sheet method,” says Christopher Breuer, a surgeon, scientist, and tissue engineer at the Yale School of Medicine. “The notion of making blood vessels or more complex shapes like heart valves, or patches for the heart, is much easier to do with fibers,” he says. “If you can make fibers of any length, then there is no limit to the size or shape that you can make.” And that’s a better than any science fiction tale you can weave: Link – via Kurzweil

( YouTube Link ) To say that the Uncharted video game trilogy is the most cinematic gaming experience ever would be an understatement, and crafty editor morphinapg has spliced together the proof and put it on YouTube. Each game in the series has been cut into an epic length movie, which speaks volumes about the major role storytelling plays in each game. If you’re afraid of spoilers because you haven’t gotten around to playing the Uncharted trilogy yet, then don’t watch the entire two to three hours of each video and your game won’t be ruined. Otherwise pop some corn, turn up your speakers and enjoy cinematic adventure game cutscenes at their very best. –via Geekosystem  

The folks are away, so it’s time to party! Or so David Rowe’s teenage daughter thought. How could her dad find out if he’s hundreds of miles away? The geek way, of course, by measuring his house’s power consumption using Fluksometer : On New Years Eve 2011 I was in Geelong at a restaurant, 800km from my home in Adelaide. This year I happened to be away from my children, who were staying elsewhere in Adelaide while I was interstate. My home was supposedly vacant. However I knew it was very hot in Adelaide that day (40C) and I wondered if this would affect my power consumption, for example an increased duty cycle on the fridge. I am just that sort of power-geek. So I checked my Fluksometer via my 3G android phone. I was surprised to see 1000W being used since 1pm – about what my Air-con uses. I also noticed that around 7pm the power jumped by a few 100W, just like the lights had gone on, or perhaps the TV. Looked like some one was in my home. On New Years Eve. Hmmmmmm. Damn you, technology! Link – via Gizmodo Australia

( YouTube link ) In 2001, Animusic produced a music video called Pipe Dream that became an animation classic. Ten years later, Intel commissioned Sisu Devices to recreate that video in physical space. It’s not as colorful as the original, but the fact that they pulled it off at all is remarkable. Link -via Metafilter

This illustrated chart by H. Caldwell Tanner shows how much time is needed to properly enjoy each genre of video game, from casual games to epic length RPGs, and in my opinion it pretty much sums up what all hardcore gamers know-each genre has a different level of commitment, and appeals to a particular type of gamer. This chart is a great way for newbie gamers to figure out what kind of games they’re looking for, instead of borrowing your copy of Mass Effect 3 for six months just to discover that they don’t really like RPGs. Link   –via Geeks Are Sexy

Doctors from the Texas Heart Institute have successfully replaced a patient’s heart with a device that keeps the blood flowing, thereby allowing him to live without a detectable heartbeat or even a pulse. Here’s how it works: The turbine-like device, that are simple whirling rotors, developed by the doctors does not beat like a heart, rather provides a ‘continuous flow’ like a garden hose. Craig Lewis was a 55-year-old, dying from amyloidosis, which causes a build-up of abnormal proteins. The proteins clog the organs so much that they stop working, according to NPR. But after the operation , with the ‘machine’ as his heart’s replacement, Lewis’ blood continued to spin and move through his body. However, when doctors put a stethoscope to his chest, no heartbeat or pulse can be heard (only a ‘humming’ sound)—which “by all criteria that we conventionally use to analyze patients”, Doctor Cohn said, he is dead. This is proof that “human physiology can be supported without a pulse”. With all the talk of replacing human organs with those of an animal and electronic hearts, it’s surprising that medical researchers overlooked taking a trip to the plumbing section of the hardware store for replacement parts! Link

I saw pictures of this place last year and could not find enough information about it to share, so I am delighted to find this article. Taichung City in Taiwan, a military dependents village founded over 50 years ago, is one of the most colorful places in the world, thanks to 86-year-old artist Huang Yung-fu. Huang Yung-fu first picked up a paintbrush about two years ago. He started to paint for his own pleasure using the remains of the equipment from the art classes he attended when he was a child. Students of a university not far from the “painted military dependents’ village” seem to be among the first who discovered this old man’s talent and started to spread the news. Some even took pictures of the paintings and published them online. Information about his paintings went viral, to the point where tourists have flown in from Malaysia, Japan, and Korea to see them. The dull and drab military dependents’ village is now recognized as one of the must-see spots in central Taichung City. See more pictures at Amusing Planet. Link -via the Presurfer (Image credit: Flickr user Steve Barringer )