Tag: public-access

Robotic exoskeleton and zaps of electricity helped man walk again

It’s not the first time Mark Pollock tested Ekso Bionics’ exoskeleton , but he can now move more naturally, as you can see in the video below the fold. That’s because Pollock, who’s been paralyzed from the waist down since 2010, gained back some control of and feelings in his legs, thanks to a process known as “transcutaneous spinal cord stimulation.” A team of UCLA scientists attached electrodes on his skin and stimulated his spine with jolts of electricity . After the process, Pollock’s legs tingled when exercising, regained enough voluntary control — he can raise them and flex his knees now — and even started sweating, which hasn’t happened since his accident. As a result, his legs and the battery-operated exoskeleton now work in tandem to give him a more natural gait. While he might never be able to walk unassisted, the result of his five-day training in UCLA sounds promising: he successfully walked thousands of steps. According to one of the researchers, Reggie Edgerton, restoring at least some of paraplegics’/quadriplegics’ ability to move on their own is essential despite advances in exoskeleton technologies, as it “will greatly improve their overall health and quality of life.” Filed under: Robots , Science Comments Source: The Washington Post , NIH , UCLA , IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society Tags: exoskeleton, medical, medicine

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Robotic exoskeleton and zaps of electricity helped man walk again

First 3D map of Earth’s interior shows where volcanoes come from

It’s no secret that Earth’s volcanoes are the result of magma rising through the planet’s mantle, but have you wondered just where those ‘roots’ run? UC Berkeley can provide an answer. It just created the first-ever detailed 3D map of the Earth’s interior by studying the path of seismic waves. The model shows mantle plumes (where the hot rock flows) starting at the bottom of the core-to-mantle boundary and climbing to the top, where they connect to volcanic hotspots in the Earth’s crust. As it turns out, the plumes don’t take a straight path — they often spread out as they merge with the colder upper mantle. It’s also clear that most of the world’s volcanoes (such as those in the Pacific’s island chains) ultimately come from two large “blobs” of hot rock at the core boundary. The model isn’t perfect. It didn’t link plumes to some volcanoes, such as the one at Yellowstone National Park . However, it’s good enough to represent the first hard evidence of magma plumes, and there are promises of higher-resolution maps in the future thanks to gravity-sensing satellites. While it’s doubtful that scientists will ever know as much about Earth’s insides as they do about the top layer, this below- longer as mysterious as it once was. [Image credit: Shutterstock] Filed under: Science Comments Source: UC Berkeley , Nature Tags: ctscan, LawrenceBerkeleyNationalLaboratory, science, UcBerkeley, video, volcano

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First 3D map of Earth’s interior shows where volcanoes come from

Google’s driverless cars skirt deer and pedestrians in Texas

By the looks of things, Google’s self-driving cars have been learning a lot in Austin, Texas . In its first report since it began testing autonomous vehicles in the city, the company details the challenges its cars have had to face while driving on its roads. For instance, they’ve been spotting and avoiding a lot of deer, some of which might have ended up as road kill if they happened to come across ordinary vehicles instead. The system also had to learn to identify new infrastructure, such as horizontal traffic signals. Google has learned, however, that one of the major problems it has to tackle is pedestrians stepping off the curb onto the road while hidden by other vehicles. On August 20th, a Lexus unit was rear ended after spotting a person starting to cross the road. See, its human driver took over to make sure he doesn’t end up harming anyone, but it turns out — based on the footage of the incident — that the accident wouldn’t have happened if he just allowed the car to brake on its own. Clearly, Google’s doing what it can to achieve its original goal of developing autonomous vehicles that can drive better than humans. In addition to discussing what it has learned in Austin, Mountain View has also revealed through the report that it’s deploying more of its egg-like prototype models in the city this September. Filed under: Transportation , Google Comments Via: USA Today Source: Google Tags: google, googlecar, self-drivingcar

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Google’s driverless cars skirt deer and pedestrians in Texas

Google expands health conditions feature to over 900 illnesses

Google’s health conditions feature is about making it easier to find information about an illness. So, when there’s a local outbreak, or you get early symptoms, you can be better prepared. Mountain View has doubled the number of diseases in its database, bringing the number up to over 900 — including neglected tropical diseases and infections that typically affect people in developing nations. If you do a query for any of those illnesses on either mobile or desktop, you’ll see a quick results panel, which contains info on its symptoms, treatments and prevalence. You can even download the panel as a PDF file that you can print — apparently, that’s the most requested feature among the doctors Google worked with to ensure each condition’s accuracy. Unfortunately, the feature remains accessible only via Google US (that’s Google.com, or the one without a country-specific domain), but the company promises to make it available in more languages in the future. Filed under: Misc , Google Comments Source: Google Tags: google, googlehealth

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Google expands health conditions feature to over 900 illnesses

Here’s the world’s first Ultra HD Blu-Ray player

Samsung has announced the first ( consumer ready ) Ultra HD Bluray player , alongside word that movie studio Fox is already getting its releases ready for the new format. That means 4K movies, yes, but also compatibility for HDR video. Here’s a closer look at the curved player — perfect for that new curved UHDTV, right? Check out all the news from Berlin at our IFA 2015 hub . Filed under: Home Entertainment , Samsung Comments Tags: 4k, hands-on, hdr, hdrvideo, ifa, ifa2015, samsung, uhd, uhdbluray, UltraHighDefinition, video

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Here’s the world’s first Ultra HD Blu-Ray player

MIT scientists make it easy to tweak designs for 3D printing

Two different groups of MIT researchers found a way to print out objects with glass instead of plastic and to make a printer spew out 10 different materials at once earlier this year. This particular team along with researchers from the Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya in Israel, however, have chosen to focus on creating a system that makes it possible for even novices to customize the objects they want to print. Designers typically have to adjust a CAD file to tweak the object’s looks by typing in numerical values, and then wait for minutes to hours for a simulation software to make sure the final product is viable. The system this group developed dramatically speeds up the process. It displays the design along with sliders representing different parameters — say, the height of a shoe’s heel or the base size and width of a mug — on a web browser. The user can then easily play with the sliders to achieve the look they want. Now, here’s the best thing about it: it won’t let you design unstable structures or anything that can’t be printed or used. Nobody has to spend hours waiting for software to make sure the modified digital object is feasible, and all the user needs to do is to send it straight to the 3D printer. Filed under: Science Comments Source: MIT Tags: 3dprinter, 3dprinting, MIT

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MIT scientists make it easy to tweak designs for 3D printing

Skype 6.0 brings revamped design to both iOS and Android

Skype users have ridden a rollercoaster of different designs over the years, and the latest version promises yet more change. Version 6.0 has been completely redesigned for both iOS and Android apps, which are now in lockstep with each other. For Google’s ecosystem, the new layout took a page from the Android 5 “Material” playbook with circular icons and other touches. Other features include a floating action button to start new calls or chats (à la Facebook’s Messenger), enhanced search and improved messaging. There are also custom ringtones, photo sharing and web link reviews to bring the app in line with rival messaging products like Google’s Hangouts. On the Apple side, Microsoft made similar visual tweaks and added swipe gestures for calls and messages. It’s also easier to post photos, links and emoticons when you’re on a video or voice call. Other tweaks include enhanced search, location info and other features you’d expect on a messaging system. The Skype iPad app has been completely revamped to take advantage of the larger screen, and now includes group calling to boot. Both the Android and iOS apps are now available, and as for Skype on Windows 10 Mobile, MIcrosoft said it’s working hard on the next version and “we’ll let you know when we have more to share.” Filed under: Cellphones , Tablets , Mobile , Microsoft Comments Source: Skype Tags: Android, iOS, iPhone, microsoft, mobilepostcross, Skype, Skype 6.0

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Skype 6.0 brings revamped design to both iOS and Android

Waze sued for allegedly stealing map data

Google and its mapping service Waze are being dragged to court over allegations that Waze stole data from a rival’s map database. The lawsuit filed in San Francisco federal court on Tuesday by PhantomAlert alleges that the navigation app used proprietary data from PhantomAlert without permission. Both apps share road, red light and traffic information. According to PhantomAlert CEO Joseph Seyoum he noticed that Waze was using the same fictitious location information in its app that his company had used to test PhantomAlert. The only way Waze would have that fake location data is if it was using information from Seyoum’s company. In a statement Seyoum said, “I started PhantomAlert seven years ago as an entrepreneur with a dream, and now that dream has been crushed by companies that are profiting from the years of blood, sweat and tears our team put into our product.” PhantomAlert lawyer Karl Kronenberger alleges that Waze used his client’s data to increase its value and become more attractive to potential buyers. Both Google and Facebook were reportedly interested in purchasing the mapping app with Google securing the deal for around $1 billion n 2013. The suit seeks monetary damages and an injunction against Waze and Google regarding the app. Google has not responded to queries for comment about the lawsuit. Filed under: Transportation , Google Comments Via: CNET Source: PhantomAlert Tags: google, Lawsuit, Mapping, Waze

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Waze sued for allegedly stealing map data

Samsung jumps into Ultra HD Blu-ray, as Fox provides the movies

Today Samsung is the first company to announce an Ultra HD Blu-ray player, taking the lead in 4K and HDR video. Following up on its big Ultra HD push at CES and the movie streaming/ download tech that has arrived in the months since, Samsung is ready to push super high resolution movies (four times the resolution of Blu-ray, and 64 times as many colors) on discs too. There’s not much detail available on its new player, although we expect it will cost less than the $1, 000 price its first Blu-ray player commanded nearly a decade ago and it should launch early next year. Joining the tech company on its IFA 2015 stage are Fox execs, with president Mike Dunn proclaiming the studio is committed to releasing its slate of upcoming movies in Ultra HD with HDR day-and-date with the Blu-ray and Digital HD releases. That includes Fantastic Four , Maze Runner , Kingsman: The Secret Service and more. Samsung’s Ultra HD Blu-ray player is curved to match its TVs , and also includes a number of UHD streaming services. The other news today at IFA is that Samsung’s TVs will be the first ones getting a software update to support HDMI 2.0a , necessary to receive HDR info from the new Blu-ray players. As far as that UHD Alliance the tech industry and Hollywood are creating to push their new video standards, Fox CTO Hanno Basse said it has tripled in size, and hopes to share more details in “the coming months.” Filed under: Home Entertainment , HD , Samsung , Microsoft Comments Tags: 4K, Blu-ray, Fox, hdpostcross, HDR, IFA, IFA2015, microsoft, MikeDunn, samsung, SUHD, UltraHD, UltraHDBlu-ray

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Samsung jumps into Ultra HD Blu-ray, as Fox provides the movies

Hulu without the ads is here, for $4 more per month

Just as rumored , Hulu has finally decided to offer a version of its subscription without the ad breaks . Ad-free Hulu will cost $12 per month, as opposed to the regular $8 subscription (or the shows it offers for free), and of course it will soon include more movies (that Netflix doesn’t have ) thanks to the company’s deal with Epix . One small catch however is revealed by the FAQ , which indicates that due to licensing, a few shows will still have ads before and after (but not during) episodes. Hulu’s ads have always separated it from online streaming competition like Amazon and Netflix, and even though ads are a way of life on cable and broadcast television, its annoying tendency to repeat the same few selections always drove me crazy. Now, with more original content ( Seinfeld , The Mindy Project , the just-renewed Difficult People and others ), it’s a serious, although slightly more expensive, competitor for our attention. Developing… Will all shows and movies be commercial free? In response to feedback from our viewers, we started offering a commercial-free experience on Hulu. For a small number of shows, however, we have not obtained the rights to stream commercial free and they are not included in our No Commercials plan. You can still easily access these shows with a short commercial before and after each episode with no interruptions during the episode. Specific shows that still have commercials accessible through the No Commercials plan will be noted throughout the signup, switching, and playback experience. While the list of shows may change, these shows are currently: Grey’s Anatomy, Once Upon A Time, Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Scandal, Grimm, New Girl, and How To Get Away With Murder. Filed under: Home Entertainment , Internet , HD Comments Source: Hulu Tags: ads, breaking news, hdpostcross, hulu

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Hulu without the ads is here, for $4 more per month