News Card #7
More Bionic News.
The first in bionic fingers have recently been showcased, costing in the area of 35,000-45,000 pounds sterling, they are controlled directly by the brain and require no surgery. The prototypes allow recipients to grip a glass to drink, to hold a knife and fork they also allow the user to write. Truly a great step forward for people with badly damaged fingers and hands, and also those people born without fingers. The partial hand amputee population is estimated at around 52,000 in the EU and 1.2 million worldwide. The Pro-Digits provide a powered device with a grip and they can return these people to a level of functionality and independence. Each set is tailor made for its user and thus comes at a large price, but at what price is the use of hands considered to be expensive. With the advancement of today’s technology we are seeing the reality of the 1970’s sci-fi show the bionic man, are we entering an age of super heroes, people who would have once been forced to live a life at a disadvantage, maybe as it stands it truly does look like Steve Austin can be rebuilt.
Source: www.thetimes.co.uk 8th Dec 2009
Monday, December 21, 2009
Saturday, December 19, 2009
Digital Library
David sanderson
News Card #6
Building a digital Britain.
The Britsh National Library and the BBC are currently reviewing a partnership on one of their biggest projects to date. The partnership will seek to digitalise the entire contents of the library’s publications which numbers some 150 million items which have been collected over the last 250 years. The BBC will also digitalise the entire archive of the past 90 years with a huge vault of almost 1 million hours of T.V. footage. “ Unlocking the wealth of content in the British Library and BBC archives is a great opportunity as well as an immense challenge" said BBC director general, Mark Thompson. In doing this the BBC and The British National Library believe that they are appeasing the British government by developing atruly digital Britain. The benefits for the nation and indeed the world will be untold with ease of access to materials for researhers and the general public.
Source: www.theguardian.co.uk 11th December 2009
News Card #6
Building a digital Britain.
The Britsh National Library and the BBC are currently reviewing a partnership on one of their biggest projects to date. The partnership will seek to digitalise the entire contents of the library’s publications which numbers some 150 million items which have been collected over the last 250 years. The BBC will also digitalise the entire archive of the past 90 years with a huge vault of almost 1 million hours of T.V. footage. “ Unlocking the wealth of content in the British Library and BBC archives is a great opportunity as well as an immense challenge" said BBC director general, Mark Thompson. In doing this the BBC and The British National Library believe that they are appeasing the British government by developing atruly digital Britain. The benefits for the nation and indeed the world will be untold with ease of access to materials for researhers and the general public.
Source: www.theguardian.co.uk 11th December 2009
Sunday, December 6, 2009
More bionic news
A Tongue-Tracking Artificial Larynx
It could soon be possible for individuals whom have lost th power of speech to regain this function with the aid of a digital device which tracks movements and contact between the tongue and the palate. South African researchers are currently working on the artificial larynx which wont have the raspy or robotic sound of currently used devices. The artificial Larynx which can detect words that are being said via movements in the mouth will rely upon a sound synthesizer to generate the sound which should be emmited from the mouth.
The Palatometer which is fitted into the mouth works on the principal that the speaker will mouth the words then the movements will be synthesized into real speech paterns. Though the development is far from finished, or from being able to recognising a whole language (the researchers have currently reached a fifty word vocabulary recognition model) the scientists do say that the future for people who have lost their speech ability could look a whole lot brighter and the results given by the palatometer could be a whole lot more natural than those of devices available today.
It could soon be possible for individuals whom have lost th power of speech to regain this function with the aid of a digital device which tracks movements and contact between the tongue and the palate. South African researchers are currently working on the artificial larynx which wont have the raspy or robotic sound of currently used devices. The artificial Larynx which can detect words that are being said via movements in the mouth will rely upon a sound synthesizer to generate the sound which should be emmited from the mouth.
The Palatometer which is fitted into the mouth works on the principal that the speaker will mouth the words then the movements will be synthesized into real speech paterns. Though the development is far from finished, or from being able to recognising a whole language (the researchers have currently reached a fifty word vocabulary recognition model) the scientists do say that the future for people who have lost their speech ability could look a whole lot brighter and the results given by the palatometer could be a whole lot more natural than those of devices available today.
Monday, November 30, 2009
David Sanderson
News Card #4
IBM develop a cognitive computer system
The researchers at IBM have developed a computer system that can mimic the proesses of a cats brain. The researchers say that they are a mere 10 years away from being able to mimic the thought processes of a human brain. This may sound a little sci-fi but the researchers involved assure us that the days of real functioning A.I. are just around the corner.
Daniel Kantor the medical director of Neurologique says “a cognitive computer could quickly and accurately put together the disparate pieces of any complex puzzle and help make good decisions rapidly”
So are we soon to enter the age of true A.I. If the work of I.B.M. is anything to go by it could just be a few years away.
Source: www.technewsworld.com
News Card #4
IBM develop a cognitive computer system
The researchers at IBM have developed a computer system that can mimic the proesses of a cats brain. The researchers say that they are a mere 10 years away from being able to mimic the thought processes of a human brain. This may sound a little sci-fi but the researchers involved assure us that the days of real functioning A.I. are just around the corner.
Daniel Kantor the medical director of Neurologique says “a cognitive computer could quickly and accurately put together the disparate pieces of any complex puzzle and help make good decisions rapidly”
So are we soon to enter the age of true A.I. If the work of I.B.M. is anything to go by it could just be a few years away.
Source: www.technewsworld.com
Friday, November 20, 2009
Bye Bye C.D.
David Sanderson
News Card #3
Death of an inovation that rocked the world?
The CD a format which was first seen commercialy released in october 1982 and seen to be the obvious replacement for vinyl it seems now finds itself unsure of it's future. C.D player and C.D manufacturer Linn will halt production of their C.D. line in the new year as they see the public have become more focused on the medium of M.P.3's and downloading. Gilad Tiefenbrun the managing director of Linn said "our customers have fast recognised the limitations of C.D. players and now want more and better control of their music and where they can play it". Linn will however continue to produce the turn-table, could this mean that our beloved vinyl will out live it's younger brother the C.D., let's hope so. So could one manufacturers decision to halt their production herald the end of the C.D. well will will just have to wait and see.
Source: www.thedailymail.co.uk
Blog: www.davysblogspot.blogspot.com
November 20, 2009 8:06 AM
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News Card #3
Death of an inovation that rocked the world?
The CD a format which was first seen commercialy released in october 1982 and seen to be the obvious replacement for vinyl it seems now finds itself unsure of it's future. C.D player and C.D manufacturer Linn will halt production of their C.D. line in the new year as they see the public have become more focused on the medium of M.P.3's and downloading. Gilad Tiefenbrun the managing director of Linn said "our customers have fast recognised the limitations of C.D. players and now want more and better control of their music and where they can play it". Linn will however continue to produce the turn-table, could this mean that our beloved vinyl will out live it's younger brother the C.D., let's hope so. So could one manufacturers decision to halt their production herald the end of the C.D. well will will just have to wait and see.
Source: www.thedailymail.co.uk
Blog: www.davysblogspot.blogspot.com
November 20, 2009 8:06 AM
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Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Monday, November 16, 2009
Tetris can alter the structure of the brain.
News Card #2
David Sanderson
"Tetris can alter the structure of the brain"
In a recent study, funded by the publishers of the game Tetris and authoured by investigators at the Mind Research Network, it has been claimed that playing the game Tetris can have a visible effect upon the brain.
Playing the game, they claim, has two distinctive effects on the brain. Some areas of the brain they say showed greater efficiency and in different areas they say there is evidence of a thicker cortex (meaning more grey matter).
The scientists who carried out the study say that focusing on a "challenging visuospatial task" like a videogame can actually alter the structure of the brain, not just increase brain activity.
Dr Richard Haier a researcher on the project says that this "demonstrates that a player of Tetris does see lasting effects that generalise to other activities" showing for example that engaging in activities like playing some games might help fight off the mental decline that occurs with ageing.
Source: WWW.WIRED.CO.UK
David Sanderson
"Tetris can alter the structure of the brain"
In a recent study, funded by the publishers of the game Tetris and authoured by investigators at the Mind Research Network, it has been claimed that playing the game Tetris can have a visible effect upon the brain.
Playing the game, they claim, has two distinctive effects on the brain. Some areas of the brain they say showed greater efficiency and in different areas they say there is evidence of a thicker cortex (meaning more grey matter).
The scientists who carried out the study say that focusing on a "challenging visuospatial task" like a videogame can actually alter the structure of the brain, not just increase brain activity.
Dr Richard Haier a researcher on the project says that this "demonstrates that a player of Tetris does see lasting effects that generalise to other activities" showing for example that engaging in activities like playing some games might help fight off the mental decline that occurs with ageing.
Source: WWW.WIRED.CO.UK
Saturday, November 7, 2009
Solar Sysetm
David Sanderson Google search.I found a great website for teaching about the solar system to primary years students.I searched "interactive solar system"www.kidsastronomy.comThe site contains some nice models of the solar system including animations showing each planets orbit around the sun.
Second Life
David SandersonAssignment #1 News card"A great tool for times of resession"As the present economic climate is pretty bleak companies and organisations are continualy searching for ways to accomodate their drop in budgets. One such tool is the virtual world of online communities. 'Second Life' is one example of a virtual world which is being widly used by many individuals in both a personal and professional capacity. Second life state that more than 1400 organisations including large companies, educational institutions and even government agencies use 'Second Life' to hold meetings and to conduct training. Users may meet online in a variety of environments from auditoriums and collaboration pods to social areas. The tool alows meetings to take place that if conducted in person could be a great strain on both time and financhial resources, meetings can be held accross the globe with very little expenditure in those areas. 'Second Life' are currently working on a tool which will allow companies to hold meetings on their own private networks where 3D avatars may meet and discuss company matters with a higher sense of security. The application of virtual worlds has a great deal of positive aspects which benefit a global community giving movement and opportunity to the most isolated individuals in the most remote parts of our planet.Source: cnn.com tech-news Nov 7 2009
Monday, November 2, 2009
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