ACADEMIC RESEARCH
Robotic hand controlled by compressed air grasps the concept of delicacy
May 08, 2009 12:40 AM EST - submitted by Daniel Shope
The fully articulated robotic hand RAPHaEL (Robotic Air Powered Hand with Elastic Ligaments) can firmly hold objects as heavy as a can of food or as delicate as a raw egg. It also is dexterous enough to gesture for sign language.

ACADEMIC RESEARCH
Visual EMR Software Pass Clinical Trial
April 23, 2009 08:48 AM EST - submitted by Daniel Shope
IBM has teamed up with a company called Nhumi Technologies, out of Zurich, Switzerland, a developer of EMR visualization software, to create a hospital record system that can help clinicians see more relevant patient data in a more efficient manner. By using an avatar to represent a particular patient, the system shows what clinical information is available in the EMR record on different parts and regions of the patient's body.

ACADEMIC RESEARCH
Magic mirror shows real-time muscle data
March 02, 2009 10:15 AM EST - submitted by Daniel Shope
Researchers at the University of Tokyo have developed a computerized, sensor-based “magic mirror” that analyzes muscular activity and shows real-time computer-generated images of how hard the user’s muscles are being worked while exercising.

ACADEMIC RESEARCH
Reading Thoughts with Brain Imaging
February 22, 2009 05:40 PM EST - submitted by Daniel Shope
Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) looks more and more like a window into the mind. In a study published online today in Nature, researchers at Vanderbilt University report that from fMRI data alone, they could distinguish which of two images subjects were holding in their memory--even several seconds after the images were removed.

ACADEMIC RESEARCH
Canadian scientists read minds with infrared scan
February 15, 2009 10:49 PM EST - submitted by Daniel Shope
Researchers at Canada's largest children's rehabilitation hospital have developed a technique that uses infrared light brain imaging to decode preference – with the goal of ultimately opening the world of choice to children who can't speak or move.

ACADEMIC RESEARCH
Better Artificial Nose Inspired By Sniffer Dogs
February 15, 2009 10:15 PM EST - submitted by Daniel Shope
For the sensitive work of detecting explosives and drugs in airports and other high-risk areas, humans have long relied on a marvel of evolutionary biology: the sniffer dog. The canine nose can detect a seemingly infinite range of odors, alone and in combination, at concentrations down to the parts per trillion level.

ACADEMIC RESEARCH
Sci-fi laser stiches wounds
February 13, 2009 06:40 AM EST - submitted by Daniel Shope
It could be a scene from a sci-fi movie -- doctors instantly sealing a patient's wounds using little more than a laser beam. A group of scientists from Tel Aviv University have discovered that by meticulously controlling a laser's heat they can use it to weld the skin shut.

ACADEMIC RESEARCH
Simulation Reveals How Body Repairs Balance After Damage
February 09, 2009 05:22 AM EST - submitted by Daniel Shope
Your body goes to a lot of trouble to make sure you stay upright. But when the brain’s neural pathways are impaired through injury, age or illness, muscles are deprived of the detailed sensory information they need to perform the constant yet delicate balancing act required for normal movement and standing.

ACADEMIC RESEARCH
Bacteria Are Models Of Efficiency
February 05, 2009 03:58 AM EST - submitted by Daniel Shope
The bacterium Escherichia coli, one of the best-studied single-celled organisms around, is a master of industrial efficiency. This bacterium can be thought of as a factory with just one product: itself. It exists to make copies of itself, and its business plan is to make them at the lowest possible cost, with the greatest possible efficiency.

ACADEMIC RESEARCH
Teaching Children About Artificial Intelligence Through New Computer Game
February 04, 2009 11:39 PM EST - submitted by Daniel Shope
Scientists have developed a computer game called “Gorge” – designed to help children understand artificial intelligence through play, and even to change it. It can also improve the children’s social interaction skills.

ACADEMIC RESEARCH
A Balancing Act: Ballbot from Carnegie Mellon
February 04, 2009 03:23 PM EST - submitted by Daniel Shope
For people who aren't circus performers it's a ridiculous notion: Balancing atop a soccer ball as an efficient means of traveling across a room. The floor is flat and the ball is round, so it's obviously unstable and goes against all common sense. Unless you are Ralph Hollis.

ACADEMIC RESEARCH
Canadian Robot Walks Underwater
February 04, 2009 04:45 AM EST - submitted by Daniel Shope
AQUA, a new experimental underwater robot, can walk on the ocean floor, noiselessly swim amongst school fish unnoticed, and quietly crawl out the of the water and walk onto the beach when its mission is over. So stealthful is this 6-limbed robot that it almost went unnoticed when it made its Mississauga, Ontario debut at the February Adventure Show.

ACADEMIC RESEARCH
Sony Develops Finger Vein Authentication Technology
February 02, 2009 06:23 PM EST - submitted by Daniel Shope
Sony Corporation today announced the development of a finger vein authentication technology called "mofiria." The user-friendly technology offers quick response and high accuracy and comes in a compact size for mounting on mobile devices such as a personal computer or mobile phone.

ACADEMIC RESEARCH
Can Networked Human Computation Solve Computer Language Comprehension?
February 01, 2009 04:10 PM EST - submitted by Daniel Shope
Researchers at the University of Essex hope to answer this question by getting more volunteers to take part in their online game, Phrase Detectives. Jon Chamberlain, from Essex's School of Computer Science and Electronic Engineering, explains: ‘Human language is not an unconnected series of words, phrases and sentences but a series of people, objects and ideas that refer to each other in different ways.

ACADEMIC RESEARCH
Robotics Integrated With Human Body In Near Future?
February 01, 2009 03:56 PM EST - submitted by Daniel Shope
Spanish researchers have carried out a study looking into the potential future impact of robots on society. Their conclusions show that the enormous automation capacity of robots and their ability to interact with humans will cause a technological imbalance over the next 12 years between those who have them and those who do not.