Mind Reading Computers :: Coming Soon

Imagine a world where you begin your day at work by sitting at a computer and looking at a screen.  As you begin, the windows move with perfect cohesion across the screen and suddenly you're typing as fast as you can imagine words.  Your thoughts organize entire strips of data and soon you've completed all of your tasks in a matter of minutes, only to move on to the next set at the speed of thought.  Sound like science fiction?  New technology is bringing it into reality quicker than you think.

Intel is currently working to develop a complex map of words and their relation to impulses in the brain.  By crossing this barrier between mental data and digital data, quickly your brain's processing speed will be your only limiting factor as you click buttons, type emails, check the web, and call up information to research simply by thinking about it.  Currently Intel's machines can detect several words and even have them appear on screen when subjects think about them.

But as the technology improves, the size of the device used shrinks and the applications grow.  Now it's words, but can we imagine a world where the same technology is brought into the work place the same as the keyboard and mouse were brought in as personal computers first saw use in the commercial sector?

Just as with any new piece of technology the innovations that can be used are virtually endless.  And with them there's an entire new world opened up of mind hacking.  Take for instance the scenario where someone says, "Think about the last thing you ate for lunch."  Before in the privacy of our minds we could give in to the reflex of thinking about our lunch and then a decision would take place between the thought in our minds and the movement of our mouths.  The subtleties in the time difference and those movements may betray us if we had reason to lie about it, but there would still be an opportunity to do so.  What if a bank robber were to walk to a banker and put on one of these mind reading head-sets and ask them to think about the combination?  Of course it would only be a reflexive action, and the banker would have every opportunity to freeze his thoughts, but this would largely depend on how much training he had controlling his thoughts.  And as the technology improves, it may prove more difficult to fool the machine with each passing generation.

And what will we discover if we leave such a machine on as we sleep?  Would we get a better grasp of the thoughts that run through our minds as we dream?  Perhaps this is yet another avenue to wonder about privacy invasion.

So are we in for a world where even our own deepest thoughts are not private?  With feeds such as twitter casually updating the world on our every movement, is it possible we could be opening a Pandora's box of honesty society is not at this juncture ready for?  The applications are as promising as they are terrifying.

PlayStation 3 'hacked' by hardware crackers

A group of hardware hackers claim they are about to release the first product to allow gamers to play homemade and pirated games on the PlayStation 3.

The PS3 is the only games console that has not been hacked, despite being on the market for more than three years.

Now a group called PSJailbreak says it will release a USB dongle containing software that allows users to save games to the console's hard drive.

Sony, the maker of the PS3, declined to comment.

However, a distributor for the dongle said that he had tested it and would start selling the device "in the next two weeks".

Mixed response

According to videos of the hack posted online by an Australian distributor, a user merely has to insert the USB stick into the console to make it work.

The videos show a person navigating to a "backup manager" on the PS3, which purports to show a list of games saved to the console's hard drive.

The narrator flicks through the list before loading one of the games.

Sceptics have suggested the videos are a hoax or that they show the hack running on a so-called "debug PS3" or "dev unit", used by developers to test code for the machine.

A spokesperson for Console Pro, another distributor based in the Netherlands, told the "dongle converts a retail unit into a dev unit".

"Dev mode means it will run any - even unsigned - code. Using a simple backup maker or player software, you can play backed-up [saved] games without the actual disc being in the PS3."

The spokesperson for Fox-Chip said the hack was a "good thing" as it would give gamers more functionality, including the ability to run their own games, called homebrews.

"There was previously no homebrew, because it was impossible to execute [on the console] - now some people can do it," he said.

He denied that the product would just be used to pirate games and said, in the long run, its release would be good for Sony.

"Sony should sell a lot of consoles because of this," he said.

But Rik Ferguson of security firm Trend Micro warned that the hack could cause problems.

"It does disable some key security features built into the PS3 - like the running of unsigned code - and we've seen with the iPhone that this makes your device less secure."

The iPhone has been cracked several times and allows owners to run non-Apple approved applications.

Gamers have met the news of PSJailbreak with a mixed response, with some welcoming the possibility of developing their own games for the popular console.

However, many posting on PS3 forums said that the product would promote piracy and could undermine the games industry.

Pre-emptive strike

The legality of products such as this - commonly called modchips - differs by country.

The Fox-chip spokesperson said that distributing them was legal in France.

However, in other countries, console manufactures have successfully taken distributors to court.

A recent High Court ruling in the UK said that "game copiers" were illegal to import, advertise and sell.

The case had been brought by Nintendo, maker of the Wii and DS handheld console.

The defendants had argued that they allow gamers to play home-made games.

PSJailbreak is not the first time that there have been claims that the popular PS3, which has sold almost 40 million units, has been hacked.

Earlier this year, a US hacker who gained notoriety for unlocking Apple's iPhone as a teenager, George Hotz, claimed to have cracked the console.

Following his initial announcement, Sony released an update for the console disabling a function that allowed gamers to install a version of Linux on their machines, thought to have been exploited by Mr Hotz.

Many saw it as a pre-emptive strike to guard against games piracy.

Mr Hotz has never released the exploit and has said publicly that he has given up his work on the console.

The spokesperson for Console Pro said he expected a similarly swift response to the latest exploit:

"They will come with a firmware update in some days blocking the use of the dongle," he said.

Ice Cold at Center of the Sun an Atmospheric Research

The sun is a searing 9,941 degrees Fahrenheit on the surface. And yet one scientist says what lies beneath may not be so hot at all, as dark matter works to cool it at the center. Royal Holloway's Dr. Stephen West has a theory that the mysterious substance, which comprises an astonishing 80 percent of the universe, and whose very existence has been a subject of hot debate recently, actually has a lasting effect on the sun to chill it out.

Everyone is told that staring at the sun too long will cause you to go blind. And yet Dr. West, though studying the sun for years has only been endowed with brilliant insight. The unexpected find has Dr. West and his colleagues excited as they propose a study on the Sun to discover the mysterious energy. Dark matter is a substance that has never been created in a lab or even directly observed, though its effects can be seen every night with a high powered telescope as stars exhibit unexplained gravitational perturbations with which scientists can speculate more gravity (and therefore mass) must somehow invisibly exist.


And yet if this matter is affected by gravity, then Dr. West says, it can get caught up in other passing celestial bodies. One prime candidate would be the sun, which has been traveling through the galaxy for several million years with matter collecting within it. The sun must therefore have not only a small amount, but a great deal of dark matter built up within it. This collection would then be absorbed and travel to the center of the sun where it would collect in a massive pool at the center, cooling the sun as it takes in massive amounts of the mysterious energy. And if this were the case, then this Dark Matter would still exist in our very own dark matter collector, locked away behind two billion billion billion tons of helium and fire.


By creating and then studying several simulations on the effect this buildup could have, Dr. West has theorized that the heat from the core could be absorbed by dark matter and then repelled outward while the center cools. As a result, those comparing heat to the center of the sun may actually be wrong. According to this theory, the center of the sun could actually be freezing.


Dr. West goes on, as Science Daily reports, to speculate on the possibility that not only could dark matter be there as a chance occurrence of its travel through the stars, but could actually play an important role in solar physics. Although, before this possibility is confirmed, further study is warranted, including further study of Dark Matter such as the experiments scheduled at CERN the Large Hadron Collider and Fermilab.


Though we may not ritually revere the sun as much as the Aztecs did, there is certainly a great deal of attention being given to our Solar friend even today. And with this incredible attention a sense of awe and wonder soon follows making it certain that we will be asking questions and studying for many years to come.

'Memory' how to fight Flu

In short order every few years a new flu strain evolves that many say threatens to disrupt civilization as we know it.  With super bug fears rising every year, some say the next superbug could be the one that finally mimics the Spanish flu and kills millions.  Of course these diseases are often seen as nothing more than an inconvenience.  But fear them or merely dislike them, a new vaccine may soon be available that removes the flu from our lives forever.

The logic of the vaccine is as follows: there are two largely recognizable parts of a flu virus, the head and the stem.  In using an analogy comparing the flu virus to an ice-cream cone we can discover how the vaccine works.  The head of the virus is similar to the ice cream contained in the cone.  The flavors or genetic variations of the virus change from one generation to the next, making it difficult to predict what will be coming next.  Meanwhile, despite the flavors of virus being different the cone is always the same, and rarely changes.  This new vaccine will target the thing that makes all flu viruses similar by making the body produce antibodies that fight specifically against it.

Scientists for years have had difficulty combating the rapidly mutating flus partially because of how different they can be from year to year and even from month to month.  When H1N1 first hit the US, 24 hour news coverage soon decreed that it could be a disaster of national proportions.  In retrospect, many have come forward saying these reports were hasty while others contend that H1N1 was never more than a few mutations away from becoming a serious problem.  And a mere five years earlier the Bird flu H5N1 was seen as a potential killer that could mutate into something quite deadly and cause the same level of devastation.  If every five years a flu is going to come around that threatens civilization as we know it, then a universal flu vaccine is certainly a worthy endeavor.

And that vaccine may soon be developed thanks to the efforts of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and its director, Anthony S. Fauci.  Fauci has found a way to create antibodies in animals that neutralize several different strains of the disease and provide protection that could last for ten years.  Given that somewhere around 36,000 people in the US die annually of the common flu, this would be a milestone achievement.  A single vaccine is expected to last for ten years, meaning up to 360,000 lives could be saved right away.  And that's only taking into account deaths in the United States.  Globally the disease claims up to 500,000 lives annually, meaning up to five million could be saved over one ten year period if the vaccine works.  And this is just taking into consideration the standard flu.  A super flu that could cause widespread devastation in a pandemic scenario could soon become a thing of the past.

Design unveiled for world's fastest car

Farnborough:

A British team aiming to smash the current land speed record has unveiled the design of a pencil-shaped car that it hopes will travel at more than 1,000 miles (1,609 kms) an hour.

After three years of aerodynamic research, construction is about to begin on the Bloodhound Supersonic Car which will be powered by a jet engine and a rocket with the record attempt slated for 2012 in South Africa.

"We have fixed the shape," said Andy Green, the Royal Air Force fighter pilot who will drive the Bloodhound as it attempts to speed into the record books.

"Because of the modelling we have done, we know this shape will go to 1,000 miles an hour. Now we are actually going to get on and build it."

The same team, led by Briton Richard Noble, hold the current record of 763 mph set in 1997. At that stage Green became the first man to travel at supersonic speed on land, breaking the sound barrier.

Powered by a combination of a Typhoon fighter's jet engine and a Falcon rocket, the car unveiled at the Farnborough International Air Show will develop 135,000 horse power or 180 times the power of a Formula 1 car.

The record attempt, on a dry lake bed, will see it accelerate from stationary to 1,000 mph (1,609 kmph) in 4.5 miles (7.25 km) in 45 seconds.

But the team say their mission is not just to break the land speed record - they want to inspire the next generation of engineers and technologists.

Since the project was announced in October 2008 at the Science Museum in London, more than 1.5 million British school children have become involved in the Bloodhound Education programme.

Paralyzed Man Bionic Legs Invention

 

 Every year the field of medical science closes the gap between humans and robots just a tiny step more in the name of providing patients with better lives.  The miracles of science have now provided one paralyzed man a news lease on life, and may even save the lives of others as well.  With bionic technology the patient is not only enjoying a new set of bionic legs, but a whole new way of living.

Five years ago New Zealander Hayden Allen found himself wondering if he would ever walk again as doctors informed him that the motorcycle accident he had just been involved in had severed his spinal cord.  Doctors were certain he wouldn't, but Hayden knew there were always ways of proving even doctors wrong.  And it was with the help of a team of researchers that he discovered his days of walking were far from over.

The new device will allow Hayden to not only walk, but to sit down and even use stairs – a significant advantage over the wheelchair Hayden had become used to.  The biotech company developing the legs calls it simply 'Rex,' which is Latin for King but also stands for Robotic EXoskeleton.  And there's no doubt with his new lease on life Hayden Allen is feeling as fortunate as a King as he is able to see his legs walking for the first time in years.

The device does not require any special neural interface to work.  There was no surgery involved, and Allen can just strap himself in and walk to his heart's content even if his spinal column is not functioning.  With sufficient practice Hayden Allen's new pair of bionic legs will seem as though they were a natural extension of his own body.

The legs are controlled by a remote control that juts out from the hip.  Hayden inputs what he wants them to do and they perform the duties themselves.  As Hayden selects an action (such as sitting) the legs begin that process while servos perform the actual work.  The legs were what allowed Hayden to walk on stage during a meeting with the Prime Minister John Key and shake his hand.

The legs provide a medical benefit as well as a practical one.  With movement in the legs circulation will be helped unlike when Hayden was simply sitting in a wheelchair, making blood clots less of a threat to his wellbeing than they once were.  Additionally, he has had greater success with work now than before, and can perform much more practical duties as a mechanic than he once was able to do.  Even simple tasks, such as locking the doors of his house are more easily performed than they once were.

And who knows what the future of bionics may bring.  With technology that reads brainwaves and allows humans to control objects simply by thinking about them, perhaps a more futuristic and dexterous system will be in the works in the future, allowing those suffering from life changing paralysis an opportunity to walk hands free and walk or even run.  The future indeed looks bright for medical technology in this field.

Lenovo plans Android tablet PC

Hong kong: Lenovo Group, the world's No 4 PC brand, said it will roll out its own tablet PC, becoming the latest technology company to jump on the bandwagon for computers styled after Apple Inc's popular iPad.

Lenovo was developing a tablet PC, known internally as LePad, that would run on Google Inc's Android operating system, Lenovo spokeswoman Wu Hwa said on Wednesday, adding that no launch date had been set and the name of the product may change.

"We want the tablet PC to be compatible with our LePhone smartphone, which is why we're using Android," Wu said.

LePhone is Lenovo's smartphone offering in China, sold by China Unicom, which also runs on Android.

Tablet PC shipments are expected to grow by an average 57.4 percent per year between 2010 and 2014, research firm IDC said, making the sector a lucrative growth area for companies selling heavily commoditised laptops.

The tablet PC has already caught the attention of major PC companies such as Hewlett-Packard Co, Dell Inc and now Lenovo, as they look to diversify beyond laptop PCs that typically offer low profit margins.

Apple's iPad, launched in April, sold 3.27 million units in the second quarter, prompting research firm iSuppli to revise upwards its full-year shipment forecast for the product to 13 million units from 7.1 million units.

"iSuppli believe that the only limitation on iPad sales now is production and not demand," iSuppli analyst Rhoda Alexander said.