Hasta La Gadget!

A 1982 plan to build a nearly 400-mile long artificial river across Kansas—an infrastructural super-project that could cost as much as $12 billion—is back on the table, according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Who said Big Government is bad—especially when it brings thirsty Red States their water? “We’ve got a tremendous amount of water in the east and only a small fraction of it is usable to Kansas at this point," the executive director of the SW Kansas Groundwater Management District told the Salina Journal.

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The Xbox One brings a plethora of improvements over its predecessor, the Xbox 360. Microsoft’s next generation console is much more powerful, efficient and interactive. The company vastly improved its Kinect accessory as well, which comes bundled with the Xbox One. The latest Kinect sensor comes with an ultra-wide 1080p camera which lets it track a number of physical attributes, such as the heart rate, as well as see in the dark. A purported leaked Xbox One manual reveals that the minimum distance required by Kinect to operate has been reduced to just 1.4 meters, that’s a little over 4.5 feet.

Kinect for Xbox 360 required a minimum distance of 1.8 meters or 6 feet to operate, that too for single player gaming. For two players, the minimum recommended distance is 2.4 meters or 8 feet. Gamers would often find themselves rearranging things in their space so that Kinect could work properly, particularly if it was hooked up to a TV in a small room. This approximately 20 percent improvement in minimum distance means that gamers, particularly those who live in small apartments or houses, would possibly not have to shuffle things around so much now. Microsoft hasn’t commented on the leaked manual and hasn’t confirmed if the minimum distance has infact been reduced. Xbox One begins shipping November 22nd. [Image via Engadget]

Xbox One Leaked Manual Hints At Kinect Minimum Distance Improvement original content from Ubergizmo.

Most folks know someone with diabetes, a family member or friend, who deals with the constant finger sticking and subsequent injections. I guess eventually you get used to it, and it becomes less intrusive, however, I have to believe a device that could monitor your blood sugar and supply insulin as needed would be quite exciting to most people dealing with diabetes.

Let me introduce you to the Smart Pump. For people with diabetes, having low blood sugar can translate to a lack of energy during the day, but terrifyingly, if this low blood sugar occurs when a person is sleeping, it can lead to comas, seizures, or worse. The use of a device like a Smart Pump, that  actually shuts off the insulin supply for hours whenever a person’s blood-sugar falls below a certain level, can protect you while you are asleep, and since it continuously monitors your levels, the Smart Pump could end your daytime jabbing as well.

This technology is already available in Europe and it is making strides towards producing a device that could work as a true artificial pancreas,  completely eliminating the life and health threatening blood-sugar highs and lows by being able to precisely track your  glucose levels and then delivering specific doses of insulin on demand.

This summer, Medtronic began the first enrollments in its overnight study and feasibility trials in order to forge its way towards making a fully automated true artificial pancreas for those of us with diabetes, and the results appear to have been very promising. This system would require no interaction from the user after it’s calibration, and it could change peoples lives forever. To keep up with new developments, please visit medtronicdiabetes.com

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[ The Medtronic Smart Pump – Major Step towards an Artificial Pancreas copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]

Sony may be working on a new mobile device, and its likely to be a phablet. According to reports coming in from China, the Sony Xperia Tianchi is a low cost phablet that is going to be released in the near future. The device is said to have a MediaTek MT6592 8 core processor. That’s just about it. These reports don’t mention any additional details about the hardware specifications of this phablet, and leave us guessing about Sony’s new device.

As is the case with rumors, the company itself has not confirmed or denied the device’s existence. As per rumors, the Xperia Tianchi might be launched on November 12th. Sony is also expected to launch yet another Xperia device at this event, the Xperia Z1S, which is basically a variant of the Xperia Z1 f that’s going to be exclusive to China. There’s no word as yet if the Xperia Tianchi, assuming that it does exist, will only be released in China. This isn’t the first time that Sony is going to use a MediaTek processor for a mobile device, the company has used a MediaTek CPU already in its Xperia C smartphone. Information on pricing is not available, and it is also not known if the Tianchi will see a broader roll out in major markets around the globe.

Sony Xperia Tianchi With 8 Core CPU Rumored original content from Ubergizmo.

You may not have been bitten by a radioactive spider, but thanks to Marvel’s new Creativity Studio and its accompanying stylus, you can at least draw the person who did. The app and pen combo, which is the fruit of a collaboration between Marvel and eKids, is a tool for those young imaginations out …