Archive for September 2014
Paralyzed humans can walk again through this
We can now remotely control paralyzed rats, letting them walk again: Humans are next
In the void left by the anticlimactic World Cup exoskeleton adventure, other efforts to make the paralyzed walk again are recapturing the spotlight. Chief among them is Grégoire Courtine’s research group at the EPFL in Switzerland. Their latest breakthroughs, just published in Science Translational Medicine, suggest that a more grounded approach is to repower the locomotive effort at the level of the spinal cord. The researchers were able to get the paralyzed rats to walk on their hind two legs with the help of a treadmill and harness.
What makes this feat impressive is that the rats had no control over their own legs because their spinal cords were completely severed. The key advance, and what may eventually make similar feats possible in humans, is that manual adjustment of the electrical stimulation of the spinal cord has been successfully automated into a realtime feedback loop. [DOI: 10.1126/scitranslmed.3008325]. This primarily means that stimulation parameters like pulse width, amplitude, and frequency are adjusted by a single algorithm that incorporates the full leg kinematics. Or, as Courtine would say, “We have complete control of the rat’s hind legs.”
While that statement is no doubt true, it is not meant to imply that the researchers have the ability to make the rat’s legs do whatever they want. Considering that other researchers have demonstrated that simple ball and stick models of legs can “walk” down an incline under the direction of nothing but gravity alone, I would like to suggest another challenge to meet before any measure of control over a spinal circuit might be claimed. That challenge would be not just to have the legs follow a powered walk on a treadmill, but rather the flip of the remote control switch would convert between a simple step and a two-legged hop.
The basic alternating step gait is as old or older then the backboned fish which have swiped their tails from side-to-side for eons unimaginable. That primitive spinal circuit in fish is still as much in us as adults as the gills and tail we have when in the womb. The elaborations on that key circuit which first flexed fins to push fish onto land at some point learned to cooperate in unison to lift the creature in synchronous defiance of gravity. Capturing the conversion point from asynchrony to synchrony would be the ideal milestone to mark our our accomplishment, and the foundation on which to build a more nuanced control platform.
For those who don’t feel it is essential to be able to rise first from the chair before walking across the floor, human trials for a device based on the Swiss protocols are scheduled to begin during summer 2015. With any luck, they will be a success. With a little more luck, the existing spinal circuits will survive the electrical hammering that already lets rats take upwards of 1000 steps, and the researchers will have learned how best to work with the wetware that paraplegics still have rather than forcing it to match their vague intuitions of it
Windows Smart Table
If you want to get a taste of what the future might look like CES is a good place to start. The people and companies here have many visions for what the future will hold, and they all include their products. One company is looking to improve the restaurants and retail store experiences with Windows based table PCs.
Imagine this: you walk into your favorite restaurant and you’re seated at a table. The waitress doesn’t leave a menu, and she doesn’t ask what you want to drink. Instead you look through the menu on a screen in the table and just tap what you want to eat or drink. As soon as it’s ready the waitress brings the food that you ordered to the table. This could also work in a retail store for clothes or shoes too. Instead of looking through racks of shirts just scroll through a list and select it.
The table that we saw was based on Windows 7, but they said they would upgrade it to Windows 8. This is good because the touch responsiveness wasn’t that great in the table we saw, and it’s much improved in Windows 8. The table also has a credit card reader built right in. You will no longer need to wait for your waitress to take your card up to pay.
iPhone 6 Features
The 5 best features of your new iPhone 6
Today, millions of happy customers are unboxing their brand new iPhone 6 or iPhone 6 Plus. Bigger screens, better battery life, and faster internals are all neat advancements, but these new devices have much more to offer than harder, better, faster, stronger. With a combination of improved internals and a shiny new operating system, your iPhone 6 has quite a few impressive tricks up its sleeves.
Sure, you can go to Apple’s site and read the mile-long list of cool new features with theiPhone 6 and iOS 8, but there are a handful of additions that stand out above the crowd. Below are five amazing features that will actually make your life a bit better. None of these are going to flip the mobile market on its head, but taken as a whole, they’re definitely worth the price of the upgrade.
Optical image stabilization
If you’re lucky enough to have snagged an iPhone 6 Plus, you’ll probably notice that your photos are a lot less blurry. Why? Apple is using a combination of the A8 SoC, the M8 motion coprocessor, and the lens of the camera itself to offer optical image stabilization. Your phone is sensing the shaking of your hand, and it’s compensating for that with image processing as well as movements of the camera lens. The result is clearer pictures — even in low light situations. The best part? It’s completely automatic, so you don’t have to change a thing.
1080p 60fps video recording
You’ve been able to record 1080p video on smartphones for a while now, but Apple wants to push the limits with this release. With both models of the new iPhone, you can record all of your videos in full 1080p HD at either 30 fps or 60 fps. Crisp, clear, and virtually no motion blur to speak of. If you’re recording your kid’s soccer game, or shooting from a moving vehicle, this will make all the difference in the world. Even better, the slo-mo mode now supports upwards of 240 fps, so you can capture an insane amount of detail in your home movies.
VoLTE and WiFi calling
Traditional voice calls over cell networks sound awful to everyone involved. Thankfully, that’s not our only option anymore. With the advent of the iPhone 6 and iOS 8, VoLTE (Voice over LTE) support is now available. In addition, iOS 8 adds the ability to make calls over WiFi when cell coverage isn’t available. For people with spotty coverage, that’s a godsend. Unfortunately, both of these features need to be approved by your carrier, so not everyone gets to partake in better, more reliable calls.
More sensors
Over the years, Apple has continually packed more sensors into its devices. For example, the ambient light sensor, proximity sensor, accelerometer, gyroscope, and TouchID sensorwere introduced in previous models. This time around, Apple has added a barometer into the mix. Now, apps can more accurately track where you are, and what’s going on around you. This helps keep track of your altitude, and effectively makes every iPhone 6 a potential data point for small changes in the weather. If citizen science is your bag, the addition of this sensor holds a lot of potential.
Apple Pay
Other companies have been trying to get NFC payments to stick in the US for years. It hasn’t taken off as of yet, but hopefully Apple Pay will change all of that. Apple has slapped an NFC chip its new phones, and partnered with companies like McDonald’s, Walgreens, and Staples to help make NFC payments a reality across the United States. It’s still too early to tell whether or not Apple Pay will catch on, but just the idea of using your phone to pay for your sandwich is incredibly novel and exciting to most of us.
The best iPhone ever made
Of course, there’s much more to these devices than these highlights, and we’ve got all of the information you need right here at ExtremeTech. From analysis of the new A8 SoC that powers the phone to band breakdowns to review round-ups, everything you’re dying to know about the iPhone 6 is yours for the taking.
Does Technology help or destroy ?
When the world was created, there was no technology but yet MAN survived. MAN walked on barefoot and traveled miles: then MAN starts to realize that it will be much better if someone else do the trekking so he can sit and enjoy the ride. So MAN starts to mount donkeys, from donkeys to horses to camels.
When MAN got to the river. He wondered how on earth is he going to cross it, so he build himself a boat, from boats to ships and he was able to travel through the atlantic.
MAN realized again that the horses and camels are like them, they breathe and they can die. MAN was fed up, he needs something that cannot breath but can move; and so he build a four wheeled machine and named it a CAR. All he has to do was put his legs on the pedal and keep his hands straight on the wheels. It worked, so MAN drived around town in comfort and in style.
As if that wasn't enough, MAN sat on the mountain and watch the birds flying high in the sky. He envied them, he wished he could be free to fly and soar anywhere he desire. His thinking got the best of him, so he build a flying machine and named it AN AIRPLANE.
MAN got his wish. Yet it wasn't enough. "It's time to look beyond your levels", He thoughts. He wondered and pondered what's at the other side above the sky. His greed got the best of him and he builds a giant machine and named it SPACESHIP. MAN got crazy and starts to build nuts, from nuts to phones to bombs.
Finally, MAN realised he has tried creating so he decides to rest and enjoy the beauty of his creation. BUT ALAS! It strucks. All his creation began to go crazy at one time.
-His cars began to crash.
-His planes began to drop.
-His ships began to sink.
-His spaceships are disappearing.
-His bombs are exploding against him.
Everything is going bizzare. MAN realised what he has done but it's too late, so MAN made a quote instead "the worst thing about creating a monster, is that one day it will come against you"
And so MAN lived to enjoy and suffer in the works of his own hands till this day.
Technology is good. It helps man to achieve certain heights but one way or the other technology is destroying man. Man has taken advantage of technology and are now using it against each other. People that invented technology did it for the good of mankind but little did they know it's going to be the greatest challenge man ever has to face. And if extra measures are not taken, technology might destroy man.
Technology has made man lazy. Man depends on technology to do everything.
-WHEN MAN CREATED TELEPHONES: PEOPLE STOPPED VISITING RELATIVES AND FRIENDS AT HOME, THEY PREFER TO CALL INSTEAD.
-WHEN MAN CREATED TELEVISION: PEOPLE REFUSE TO GO OUT AND VIEW THE NATURE AND IT'S BEAUTY, THEY PREFER TO WATCH IT ON THE BIG SCREEN.
-WHEN MAN CREATED COMPUTER: PEOPLE ALLOWED COMPUTER DO EVERYTHING.
-WHEN MAN CREATED INTERNET: PEOPLE STARTS TO BRING OUT THE WORST IN THEM.
Technology has been been implanted into people's blood. Man cannot do without technology. If technology is taken away, man will die. Imagine this world now without electricity. Do you think man will survive it? Imagine if the planes, the cars and ships are destroyed? Do you think the world will survive it? The big answer is NO! So technology has come to stay and will stay. That's our biggest fear.
Too much of technology and scientific blah blah blah is killing the nature.
-Our climates are changing.
-The whether is going bizzare with the likes of hurricane katrina.
-The seas are under attack.
-The earh is undersiege.
No wonder we have countless of Earthquakes, Hurricanes, Volcanoes, you name them.
Different diseases are pouring into the world and into man's system.
-Death rate has increased by the second.
-People are experiencing usual body pains.
-Cancers are killing more people than death itself...
WHY? Because
-people now breath in gas instead of air.
-People now drink in substances instead of pure water.
-Animals and Plants are dying too.
-The earth is losing it's grips. WHY?
Because Technology and Science are getting heavier and heavier.
-Do you have any idea how much a single human being weighs? Then multiply it by the total population of the world.. How much?
-How much does a single animal weighs? Multiply it by the total number of the animal world.. How much? Not to mention the mountains, trees, seas, oceans and each stones and rocks.
-Then how much does a single nuclear weapon weighs? Multiply it by the total nuclear weapon ever built..How much?
Then tell me, how can one single planet EARTH carry all that heaviness? When God created the world to accommodate us, the animals and other creation. He didn't make plans over our excessive technology denture.
So don't be surprised that when the earth finally loses it's grips. MAN is going to fall so hard on their buttocks and no one might survive to tell the story.
This was my own perspective about technology. Up until now, I haven't made up my mind about technology because it's very useful today and it makes life easier. On the the other hand, it's makes all the people lazy and dependent on technology. So know you decide, does technology help or destroy?
GeForce GTX Titan Z
Are you tired of having a poor performance in gaming with your PC? Well, your problem's solved once you get your hands with the GeForce GTX Titan Z.
With the DNA of the world’s fastest supercomputer and the
soul of NVIDIA® Kepler™ architecture, GeForce® GTX TITAN GPU is a revolution in
PC gaming performance. GeForce GTX TITAN graphics card combines extraordinary
power, advanced control features, and game-changing thermal and acoustic
capability to provide an entirely new class of super-performance graphics card.
As you can see in the graph above, the GeForce GTX 700 Series, where the Titan is included, gives you a gaming performance that you've been dreaming of. The Titan also provides you a better performance than the previous series. You may have noticed that the GTX 690's higher than the Titan. Obviously, it provides faster performance than the Titan but, it consumes more power than the Titan. GTX Titan has the potential to give high-end gamers similar performance to the GTX 690 with more efficient power and cooling needs.
There you go, with Titan installed in your PC, it will give you a good gaming performance. This thing costs 999$, the same with the GeForce GTX 690. It's very expensive but it's worth it. ^___^
OnePlus One Preview
More than half way through this year, and we can already accurately predict which big phones will be on many end-of-year lists. Devices like the Galaxy S5, HTC ONE
(M8) and the LG G3. We’re expecting other high profile phones to hit the market this fall, too, rounding out what will likely be remembered as one of the strongest years in mobile ever.
(M8) and the LG G3. We’re expecting other high profile phones to hit the market this fall, too, rounding out what will likely be remembered as one of the strongest years in mobile ever.
But there’s another device people are excitedly talking about, a dark horse that’s rising from the SMARTPHONE ether, and it’s already showing tremendous promise. Maybe you’ve heard of it? The OnePlus One is this year’s so-called “flagship killer,” and it has many mobile nerds gawking.
ether, and it’s already showing tremendous promise. Maybe you’ve heard of it? The OnePlus One is this year’s so-called “flagship killer,” and it has many mobile nerds gawking.
Put out by Chinese company OnePlus, the device promises to be a no-compromise savior with a bold “never settle” philosophy. “‘Never Settle’ is about understanding our users’ root problems and making the best product decisions to solve them,” OnePlus says. “It’s not about tipping the scale toward one extreme end, but rather finding how to create the best day to day experience.”
That day to day experience OnePlus speaks of is without question among the best out there. Aside from a few small quibbles, I’d actually recommend this over the current crop of existing Android juggernauts. Not only is it a terrific device, but it’s cheap as heck; cheaper than the Nexus 5 even, which is one of the most affordable handsets available.
It’s such a shame, then, that OnePlus so severely bungled the One’s launch. Even now, a few months removed from the device’s initial announcement, the One still isn’t available to purchase publicly. I haven't received any invitation yet. But hopefully I'll get some soon.
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