Engadget Giveaway: win an Amped Wireless WiFi router, range extender and adapter!

Engadget Giveaway win an Amped Wireless WiFi router, range extender and adapter!

You want range? Amped Wireless has range. More than 10,000 square feet of it, in fact; last week the company announced the REA20, its latest and greatest range extender, and wants to give one away to a lucky reader. Of course, what’s a range extender without a router and adapter to go along with it? Amped’s got you covered with an RTA15, which comes with the same 802.11ac standard as well as four gigabit Ethernet ports and USB 2.0 slot, as well as an adapter to go along with it. Head to the widget below to enter, and good luck!

Filed under: , , ,

Comments

Scientists set new stability record with ytterbium atomic clock

Scientists set new stability record with ytterbium atomic clock

The story of scientific advancement is rarely one of leaps and bounds. More often than not it’s evolution over revolution, and the story of the so-called ytterbium atomic clock fits that bill perfectly. You may remember that in July researchers improved upon the standard, cesium-powered atomic clock model by using a network of lasers to trap and excite strontium; instead of losing a second every few years, the Optical Lattice Clock only lost a second every three centuries. Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology made a pretty simple tweak to that model: replace the strontium with ytterbium and, voilà, another ten-fold increase in stability. Ten thousand of the rare-earth atoms are held in place, cooled to 10 microKelvin (just a few millionths of a degree above absolute zero) and excited by a laser “tick” 518 trillion times per second. Whereas the average cesium atomic clock must run for roughly five days to achieve its comparatively paltry level of consistency, the ytterbium clock reaches peak stability in just a single second.

That stability doesn’t necessarily translate into accuracy, but chances are good that it will. That could could mean more accurate measurements of how gravity effects time and lead to improvements in accuracy for GPS or its future equivalents. The next steps are pretty clear, though hardly simple: to see how much farther the accuracy and stability can be pushed, then shrink the clock down to a size that could fit on a satellite or space ship. The one currently in use at the NIST is roughly the size of a large dining room table.

Filed under: ,

Comments

Via: AFP

Engadget Giveaway: win one of five backpacks containing a Sony VAIO Fit 15, courtesy of Kaspersky Lab!

As we gently tumble from summer to fall we know you’ll invariably start to ponder just what exactly you’re going to need to kit yourself out for the school year. While we can’t help you with your textbooks, Kaspersky Lab has generously offered up five CaseLogic backpacks loaded with stuff to get you started. The highlight is the Sony Vaio Fit 15 but you’ll also find a Microsoft Sculpt Touch Mouse, a $25 Amazon gift card and an activation code for Kaspersky‘s flagship Internet Security 2014 packed along for the ride. Sound good? All you need to do to get involved is drop down to the widget below and get yourself signed up for the contest.

Filed under: , , , , ,

Comments

Source: Kaspersky Lab

Ford studies space robots to improve communication with connected cars

DNP Ford finds inspiration for improved safety in space robots

Ford has joined forces with Russia’s Saint Petersburg Polytechnic University for a three-year research project aimed at improving vehicle connectivity, with inspiration coming from an unlikely source: space robots. By studying the way robots interact, Ford hopes to develop its cars’ communications systems so that tasks like contacting emergency services after an accident will be performed even if the vehicle is damaged or the data connection is lost. What’s most fascinating are the so-called “mesh networks” which allow robots to maintain a flow of information amongst themselves and with their controllers on Earth and aboard the International Space Station in the event of a disrupted connection. This knowledge could prove useful to Ford in terms of improving emergency response protocols as well as vehicle-to-vehicle communications. To learn more, check out the video and press release after the break.

Filed under: , ,

Comments

Via: The Verge

Source: Ford

Fraunhofer iPad app guides liver surgery through augmented reality

Fraunhofer iPad app guides liver surgery through augmented reality

Liver surgery is more than a little dangerous — with so many blood vessels, one wrong cut can lead to disaster. Fraunhofer MEVIS has just tested a new generation of augmented reality iPad app that could minimize those risks. The tool puts a 3D vessel map on top of live video of a patient, telling the surgeon where it’s safe to make incisions. Doctors who do need to cut vessels can predict the level of blood loss and remove affected vessels from the map. The trial was successful enough that Fraunhofer MEVIS sees the new technology applying to surgery elsewhere in the body. If all goes well, there should be fewer accidents during tricky operations of many kinds — a big relief for those of us going under the knife.

[Thanks, Urban]

Filed under: ,

Comments

Source: Fraunhofer MEVIS

Smithsonian X-rays space suits, shows Savile Row’s got nothin’ on NASA

DNP NASA xrays space gear, we stare slackjawed

Give a national museum a 3D scanner and it’ll archive its entire collection. Give it an X-ray machine though, and it’ll show you the innards of a space suit. As part of its Suited for Space exhibit, the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum ran a series of astronauts’ work-wear through a CT scanner. The results (above and below) are more than a little haunting, with all manner of hidden buckles, straps and sensors exposed against ghostly transparent fabrics. Why X-rays? Because according to Wired, the Smithsonian wanted to see how the suits were put together, but deconstructing them without damage wasn’t exactly feasible. Seeing the level of detail required to keep our spacewalkers safe on the job via online pictures is one thing, but scoping it out in person is likely much cooler. If you want an up-close look for yourself, you have until December 1st to make the trip to Washington, D.C.

Filed under: ,

Comments

Via: The Verge

Source: Wired, Smithsonian

Okkervil River’s new online game brings spooky graveyards back to indie rock

Image

Now here’s how you sell a record in 2013: make it a video game. Will Sheff’s already got the whole “writing great lyrics and producing outstanding records” thing down to a science, but let’s face it, in the age of BitTorrent, such old-fashioned methods just don’t sell albums. Thankfully, the Okkervil River frontman is exploring new methods, putting together a browser-based game inspired by PC graphic adventure games of the 80s. Sheff (who incidentally bears a passing resemblance to the hero) co-wrote dialog for the game and performed chiptune versions of tracks from the band’s forthcoming LP, The Silver Gymnasium (also, incidentally, the name of the game). That album’s set to arrive on September 3rd, and if this morning is any indication, we’ll likely be playing the game until right around then.

Filed under: ,

Comments

Source: The Silver Gymnasium

Augmented reality table lets you explore a book without opening it (video)

Gensler and The Hive build digitally augmented table linked to 4K display, awesomeness video

We’ve seen touch-friendly tables before, but they’re rarely so slick as the Multi Surface Experience, a newly launched collaboration between design firm Gensler and ad agency The Hive. The installation lets guests explore Gensler’s architectural portfolio (the book you see above) just by walking up to a wavy table. An overhead projector, Kinect for Windows and special software present an interface wherever people stand; when users choose to learn more about a project, it pops up on a wall-mounted 4K display. The current experience is sadly confined to Gensler’s Los Angeles office, but it’s also the start of teamwork that could lead to commercial designs. Don’t be surprised if company lobbies are much livelier in the future.

Filed under: ,

Comments

Source: The Hive

Alt-week 8.17.13: Fukushima’s permafrost plan, the rodent afterlife and quantum teleportation

Alt-week takes a look at the best science and alternative tech stories from the last seven days.

Altweek 81713 Fukushima's permafrost plan, the rodent afterlife and quantum teleportation

Two years on, the Fukushima nuclear meltdown is still causing problems, and the Japanese government is looking at a particularly cool way (literally) to address them. Similarly chilling is the prospect that ‘dead’ rats aren’t quite as lifeless as you might think. Do rodents go to heaven? That, we can’t answer, but what we can tell you is that new research shows we’re edging ever closer to a quantum-computing future. This is alt-week.

Filed under: ,

Comments

Via: The Verge, Gizmodo, Forbes

Growing Up Geek: Mariella Moon

Welcome to Growing Up Geek, an ongoing feature where we take a look back at our youth and tell stories of growing up to be the nerds that we are. Today, we have our very own Mariella Moon.

DNP Growing Up Geek Mariella Moon

I used to call my first mobile device a solephone. Humongous, heavy, and encased in black rubber, it was more akin to the sole of a work boot than the sleek, thin phones of today. My mom got it for me out of the blue when I was 12, and I could barely stop myself from strutting down the school’s hallways with a pair of aviators on, brandishing my new baby in everyone’s faces. As far as I know, I was the first kid in school to have a mobile phone, and being first is reason enough for a pre-teen to feel cool.

Filed under:

Comments