Hasta La Gadget!

Think your dreams and thoughts are safe in that big melon of yours? Think again, shluffy head.

University of Arizona sleep researcher, Dr. Moran Serf has developed a method to pinpoint particular parts of the human brain that become active when a patient thinks about certain subject matters. Patients were shown images of familiar things–celebrities, politicians, famous landmarks–and the research team was able to detect specific neurons that were activated in their brain. For example, the team was able to lock-down a specific neuron that would activate every time one patient thought of Marilyn Monroe. 

Theoretically, this technology could be developed to give doctors a running narration of what a sleeping patient is dreaming about. To do so, a large enough database of subject matter and corresponding neural activity would have to be created for each patient. Then, as the patient sleeps and neurons fire off while a dream is happening, a running tally of subjects, concepts, and people in the dream could be kept.

Kind of like a Twitter feed of your deep dark subconscious.

That kind of technology is quite a way off. But if the science is right and consistent, it will absolutely exist one day. Which may lead to a wide range of possibilities: some hopeful, some frightening. On the side of good, this tech could be used as a powerful mental therapeutic tool. It could also be used to help so-called “locked-in” patients communicate with the world–those in a coma, with severe brain trauma, or with other maladies.

On the dark side: this technology will definitely be of interest to militaries and other covert agencies around the world to extract information from those not willing to give it up. It could also be used as a powerful new form of blackmail. Like keeping a diary against your will. Scary.

The world’s fastest supercomputer title now belongs to China. A new machine from that country is 1.4 times faster than the former record holder, a U.S.-based system. The new machine, known as Tianhe-1A, is located in China’s National University of Defense Technology, and according to Jack Dongarra, the compiler of a list of the world’s fastest 500 computers, it “blows away the existing number one machine.”

“We don’t close the books until Nov. 1,” Dongarra told The New York Times, “but I would say it is unlikely we will see a system that is faster.”

The technology that drives the system is the networking technology inside that transfers data between the chips inside. The Chinese computer can apparently transfer data at somewhere in the neighborhood of twice the rate of other supercomputers.

The U.S. has largely remained on top of the supercomputer ratings, but was surpassed in 2002 by a Japanese machine. The U.S. grabbed the title back in 2004 and has remained on top–until now.

Somewhere between a glorified Nintendo Power Glove and a Peregrine Gaming Glove, the concept KeyGlove uses a combination of 34 sensors and an Arduino to tell where your fingers are at any given moment and how your hand movements correspond to a virtual keyboard and the letters on it. For example, numbers are on your palm at the tips of your fingers, and letters correspond to taps either on the inside or sides of your fingers in different places.

The KeyGlove is a prototype right now, but it’s being designed for people who have difficulty using keyboards or want a different, more portable way to interact with their computer. The engineer behind the KeyGlove is pondering selling the device to interested buyers, and has even published some basic instructions on how to make your own, if you’re the DIY sort of person. Whether the KeyGlove will revolutionize the way we work with computers remains to be seen, but it definitely presents an alternative.

EARL is the perfect name for a robotic bowler, but even if we strip away the acronym artifice to reveal the technology’s full name–Enhanced Automated Robotic Launcher–EARL’s a pretty cool invention. According to a post on Coolest Gadgets EARL is an expert bowling robot used by the Equipment Specifications and Certifications team of the National Bowling Congress to test bowling gear.

I used to bowl a bit and always imagined that if I, like EARL, could throw the ball exactly the same every time, and consistently hit the sweet spot between the 1 and 2 (or 3) pin, I’d have a strike every time. I never bowled above a175, but strangely, EARL, a seemingly perfect bowler–it’s a computer for heaven’s sake–can’t bowl perfectly either. Learn why (and see EARL compete) after the jump.

T-Mobile announced today that the new HTC HD7, one of the carrier’s new Windows Phone 7 devices, will be available for purchase in the US starting on November 8th for $199 US with a new two-year agreement and $50 mail-in rebate.

The HD7 features a huge 4.3-inch display, a 1GHz Snapdragon processor, 16GB of storage built-in, and a 5-megapixel camera that can shoot video in720p. The phone will also come bundled with Slacker Radio and Netflix apps for streaming music and video direct to the device. Before you sign up to be one of the first people to get your hands on one though, you might want to read Sascha Segan’s hands-on with the HTC HD7 at PCMag.com.