Tag: Science

Non-Acoustic Sensors Detect Speech Without Sound


( Image from Flickr.com – ‘Infidelity’)

These would be so darn handy to have.

Just think how eerie it would be, yet also how peaceful – people all around having conversations on their mobile phones, but without uttering a sound.
Thanks to some military research, this social nirvana just might come true. DARPA, the US Department of Defense’s research agency, is working on a project known as Advanced Speech Encoding, aimed at replacing microphones with non-acoustic sensors that detect speech via the speaker’s nerve and muscle activity, rather than sound itself.

Non-acoustic sensors detect speech without sound

(Thank you agent Greg for this handy bit of news)

audio, acoustics, DARPA, microphone

Sculpting Geometry

Gyroid120 CellDNA

This is a beautiful joining of computer aided simulation, rapid prototyping, mathematics, and artistic beauty.
He takes a mathematical model and creates a steel powdered laser sintered model of the design, dips it in molten bronze to add strength to the sintered piece (it was 60% steel powder and 40% air before that) and then it it ‘smoked’ with sulfur and ammonia vapor to add color and then polished and textured with hand tools. Finally they are acid washed to produce a nice patina.
His work with laser-etched glass blocks are amazing as well. I’m surprised that he doesn’t crack the crystals with the density of the etch points…
Any one of these would make a fantastic gift for the science fan in your life. (hint hint!)
Bathsheba Grossman – Sculpting Geometry

art, sculpting, prototyping, matamatics, gifts

DIY ‘Gameboy’

I love this! Not only will you learn how to make an electronic device but you get to program it and lean how games work. You can download some pre made games too, a maze game, the classic pong, and even a music maker. These should be part of every schools electronics class! At less than $100US each they would be an easy buy for even summer programs. There are even photos of a bunch of Korean grade school kids showing off their Mignons on the site.

The “Mignon Game Kit” is a kitset which enables a minimalist “Gameboy” to be individually designed, programmed and constructed. Workshops and online instructions enable advanced learners to invent and programme their own games. In this way the do-it-yourself console of the “Mignon Game Kit” provides not only the opportunity for basic experiments with micro-electronics for first time users but can also be used as a platform for individual computer games. As opposed to conventional Gameboys the user develops a personal relationship to his device through the processes of self-production and individually determined programming.

migon game kit

DIY, electronics, game, projects, cool

Ultra-Rapid Charging Li-Ion Battery

Yow! A battery that will recharg to 80% in 60 seconds? Very cool.
My friend Greg mentioned a super capacitor that uses nanoparticles to pack in the joules. These rapid charge lithium ion batteries use the same idea. Look for them in 2006. I hope that they can up the discharge rate and get these in R/C planes.

Toshiba ultra-rapid charging battery

(Toshiba, battery, li-ion, power)

Mini Big Bang Created

I wonder if this can be used in a practical fashion. Might prove to be a good source of atomic particle.

“We expected to bring the nuclear liquid to a boil and produce a steam of quark-gluon plasma,” said John Cramer from the University of Washington. “Instead, the boiler seems to be blowing up in our faces.”

Mini Big Bang Created, Puzzling Results Too Explosive

(Thank you Kevin for this info)