Hasta La Gadget!

O Canada — your wacky scientists are at it again. And this time, the bright minds over at the University of Western Ontario have their third eye set on a certain precognitive prize. Avoiding the messier open-skull, electrode-imbedding alternative, researchers at the Centre for Brain and Mind employed functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to successfully predict the action of participants’ hands before they’d moved a muscle. After a year of brain-scanning trials, scientists learned to accurately foretell which signals were linked to one of three set actions: grabbing the top of an object, its bottom, or simply reaching out to touch it. Like our clairvoyant cousin’s previous beverage-predicting breakthrough, the spoils of this study go to prosthetic limb motion control and the paralyzed who’ll use it. We know what you’re thinking, but we’re not going to make the obvious Thing joke here. Instead, we have to wonder — What Would Ms. Cleo Do? Full release after the break, but you already knew that.

Continue reading Canadian scientists scan your brain, know how you want to hold your hand

Canadian scientists scan your brain, know how you want to hold your hand originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 05 Jul 2011 07:48:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ever wondered how image stabilization works? You probably already have a good idea of the principles involved: either the lens or the sensor moves to counteract any jitter from your shaky hands. But how does it actually work? And how does the camera do it all so quickly?

We turn to Preston Scott, the extremely smart guy behind the Camera Technica blog. Not only does he explain to us mortals the electronics behind the magic that is stabilization, he took a lens apart and filmed it in slow motion in order to make it accessible to our puny human eyes:

The lens is a kit Canon 18-55. The lens has accelerometers and gyroscopes that measure the amount and direction of movement and then tiny circuits throw a floating lens element around to compensate. In the second half of the clip you see the springs on which the lens element rests, keeping it in its own part of the lens barrel.

I love image stabilization, and miss it when it’s gone. Just this weekend I was shooting with a Panasonic GF1 loaded with an 85mm ƒ1.4 Nikon lens via an adapter, which turned into a 170mm lens on the Micro Four Thirds body. The wide aperture gave me enough light to keep a decent shutter speed for stills, but when I shot video, it looked like I was both drunk and sitting on top of a 4X4 crossing a plowed field, thanks to that long, long focal length. Image stabilization would have been awesome here.

The Science of Image Stabilization Technology [Camera Technica]

See Also:

• Video: Lasers Show Up Wobbly Camera Mirrors
• Rock Steady: Four Image-Stabilized Binoculars

In the northern hemisphere, yesterday was the summer solstice – the longest, lightest day of the year. Here are 45 different photos that you took in full-out pagan celebration. More »

If you wander out into a gaggle of fellow humans in total darkness, chances are you’re going to bump into one or two. Such is not the case for bats, which do much of their hunting after the sun sets. Boston University‘s Intelligent Mechatronics Lab launched operation Batcopter to better understand how bats can fly in clusters large enough to be detected by radar without colliding. Equipped with a GoPro 3D HD camera, GPS, and OpenPilot’s CopterControl system, the 1.8-pound quadcopter UAV joined Brazilian free-tailed bats in the skies of South Texas, capturing some pretty cool footage along the way. A trio of high-speed infrared cameras positioned on the ground photographed the aircraft’s interactions with the flying mammals, which seemed to maneuver around the man-made intruder without incident, until a rotor failure resulted in a Batcopter inversion and subsequent ground collision. Even so, the craft still managed to take to the skies. Jump past the break to see the crippled UAV in action, and hit up the source link for some awesome infrared footage and stills.

Continue reading Batcopter UAV observes anti-collision bat behavior, crashes into ground (video)

Batcopter UAV observes anti-collision bat behavior, crashes into ground (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 14 Jun 2011 10:07:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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A team of researchers recently revealed findings that could turn GPS stations into tools for detecting illegal nuclear explosions. According to a report, being presented to the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO) this week, the group found that nearby GPS stations showed a change in ionospheric electron density, following a 2009 nuclear test performed by North Korea. That discovery led to the realization that the same technology we use to track everything from dogs to children can more accurately detect nuclear explosions — even when they take place underground. By measuring the time it takes for a resulting shockwave to reach and affect surrounding stations, researchers can accurately determine the origin of the blast. The team is currently seeking funding to further its explosive (sorry, we had to) research.

GPS stations trace nuclear explosions, summon end to underground mushroom clouds? originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 08 Jun 2011 06:22:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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