Hasta La Gadget!

Is there anything we can’t learn from drugged up rats? Researchers at Wake Forest University and the University of Southern California used a group of medicated rodents to demonstrate a method by which memory can be restored with the flick of a switch. The rats were outfitted with tiny, rat-sized electrodes and exposed to pharmacological substances, which caused them to forget the connection between pushing a lever and getting water. By turning the electronic switch on, the scientists restored the rats’ memory of the task — turning it off made them forget again. The next step in the process is testing the experiment out on primates and perhaps some day utilizing the research to benefit victims of strokes, Alzheimer’s, or injury-induced memory loss.

Scientists restore memory of drugged rats, hope to do the same with people originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 19 Jun 2011 20:33:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Researchers at the University of Georgia analyzed six years’ worth of Usenet posts, and you know what they discovered? Life ain’t fair. The most popular two percent of posters who started discussion threads hogged 50 percent of all replies, while everyone else struggled for attention. What made some thread-starters more attractive than others? Thankfully it wasn’t rampant flaming. The distinguishing trait was actually how factual they were: only 12 percent of posts by popular posters contained personal opinions or comments. However, posting a bit of news isn’t all it takes to win followers. In a related experiment, 200 volunteers were unleashed onto “simulated” discussion forums and their behavior revealed an even more important factor. The slightly flummoxed researchers called it a “preferential attachment”, which pulled readers towards posters who already had an excess of followers. In other words, life still ain’t fair. For a delightfully factual breakdown of the full results, check out the PR after the break.

Continue reading Shocker! The internet is not egalitarian, popular forum posters have it easy

Shocker! The internet is not egalitarian, popular forum posters have it easy originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 13 Jun 2011 11:11:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’re not sure how comfortable we are with everyone online being able to examine our, as the Brits would say, “rubbish.” But our friends across the pond are apparently ok with it, seeing as it’s the home of BinCam — a research project out of Newcastle University that posts pictures of people’s trash on Facebook. At the heart of the experiment is an Xperia X10 Mini strapped under the lid of a garbage can that automatically snaps a photo every time it’s opened and closed. That image is then uploaded to the BinCam Facebook app, where you’re showered with public shame for failing to sort your recyclables or celebrated for not wasting food. And, just in case you think this is all an elaborate joke, check out the BBC report after the break the the study of how it affected student behavior at the source.

Continue reading BinCam posts photos of your trash on Facebook, shames you into recycling (video)

BinCam posts photos of your trash on Facebook, shames you into recycling (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 10 Jun 2011 01:03:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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If you bump in to the Periodic Table of Elements today, be sure to give it a hearty Mazel Tov, because it’s just welcomed two new members to the family. Yesterday, the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) officially recognized elements 114 and 116, crediting the discovery to scientists from Russia’s Joint Institute for Nuclear Research and the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, in California. Boasting atomic masses of 289 and 292, respectively, the new man-made additions are now the heaviest elements on record, seizing the belt from copernicium (285) and roentgenium (272). As with most heavyweights, however, both decay within less than a second, making it difficult for researchers to get a grasp of their chemical properties. Nevertheless, both apparently had enough credibility to survive IUPAC’s three-year review process, paving the way for the real fun to begin. At the moment, 114 and 116 are known, rather coldly, as ununquadium and ununhexium, respectively, though their names will eventually be jazzed up — sort of. The Russian team has already proposed flerovium for 114 (after Soviet nuclear physicist Georgy Flyorov), and, for 116, the Moscow-inspired moscovium, which sounds more like an after shave for particularly macho chemists. IUPAC will have the final say on the matter, though one committee member said any proposed names are likely to be approved, as long as “it’s not something too weird.” Head past the break for a full, and somewhat obtuse PR.

Continue reading Periodic Table welcomes two new, ultraheavy elements, jury still out on the names

Periodic Table welcomes two new, ultraheavy elements, jury still out on the names originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 08 Jun 2011 16:22:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Microsoft’s Kinect is the gift that keeps on giving for hackers, spawning everything from glasses-free teleconferencing to Tesla coil manipulation to uh, well, Android dance parties. But Luis de Matos’s wi-Go project is one of the most socially conscious we’ve seen: it adds a laptop and (despite its name) a Kinect to a shopping cart, enabling the cart to follow a wheelchair user. Improving on the B.O.S.S. bot we saw a half-decade ago, the wi-Go could allow anyone — including the disabled or elderly — to shop independently, regardless of physical capability. De Matos doesn’t offer many technical details, but see the video above for a before-and-after demonstration.

Newest Kinect hack: a grocery cart that loyally follows disabled shoppers (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 05 Jun 2011 02:10:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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