Dances from Around the World: Children learn to program using KIWI robots
A robotics curricular unit integrating themes of dance, music, and culture with engineering, building, and programming. A research project directed Professor Marina Umaschi Bers at the DevTech Research Group at Tufts University.
The KIWI robotics construction set is designed to work with CHERP software (Creative Hybrid Environment for Robotic Programming). CHERP is a hybrid tangible/graphical computer language designed to provide an engaging introduction to computer programming for children in both formal and informal educational settings. CHERP was designed at Tufts University by the DevTech Research Group (NSF Grant No. DRL-0735657).
SPECIAL REPORT: When it comes to hacking, the best defense is not the best offense.
Even as the U.S. government confronts rival powers over widespread Internet espionage, it has become the biggest buyer in a burgeoning gray market where hackers and security firms sell tools for breaking into computers.The strategy is spurring concern in the technology industry and intelligence community that Washington is in effect encouraging hacking and failing to disclose to software companies and customers the vulnerabilities exploited by the purchased hacks.
That’s because U.S. intelligence and military agencies aren’t buying the tools primarily to fend off attacks. Rather, they are using the tools to infiltrate computer networks overseas, leaving behind spy programs and cyber-weapons that can disrupt data or damage systems.
The core problem: Spy tools and cyber-weapons rely on vulnerabilities in existing software programs, and these hacks would be much less useful to the government if the flaws were exposed through public warnings. So the more the government spends on offensive techniques, the greater its interest in making sure that security holes in widely used software remain unrepaired.
Moreover, the money going for offense lures some talented researchers away from work on defense, while tax dollars may end up flowing to skilled hackers simultaneously supplying criminal groups. “The only people paying are on the offensive side,” said Charlie Miller, a security researcher at Twitter who previously worked for the National Security Agency.
We’ve all been there before. It’s 3 p.m. at the office, and you’re positively famished. The snack machine is empty, and the only piece of food in sight is a bagel hard enough to bust windshields. You’ve snapped three plastic butter knives trying to slice the thing in half, and there’s no way it will fit in the toaster whole.
Then you remember the office lightsaber. Ten seconds later, you’re spreading cream cheese, and the low-blood-sugar bantha has retreated.
It’s hard to imagine life without lightsabers. We use them to ward off belligerent alien drunks, to deflect blaster bolts and to remove unwanted hair in the bikini area. Plus, meals on the go are a cinch with a little saber-grilling action.
These fabulous plasma weapons make daily life possible, yet it’s easy to take the technology for granted. The household lightsaber is actually a highly sophisticated gadget, and in this article, we’ll show you how it works.
So gather round, Padawans, and watch as we void the warranty on our own office lightsaber and reveal the gadgetry inside.
Research: Augmented Reality
After the second workshop, I was inspired to find out more about the term ‘Augmented Reality’ which was mentioned by Emma Beddows.
Augmented Reality is a modern term which refers to the integration of graphics into real world environments. It often relies on projection systems projecting graphics onto physical objects, which can then be interacted with through handheld devices such as tablets or smartphones.
HowStuffWorks.com features a really cool example of augmented reality where a phone keypad is projected onto a persons hand. They can then dial a phone number without even taking the phone out of their pocket:
While attempting something like this for my final project would be a bit beyond the capabilities of the unit, I still find it a fascinating area and I can’t wait to see what the future brings for this kind of technology.
This project sounds amazing!! Guys, if you’re into space and hacking/computers/app design/programming/making/tinkering/zippity-zapping then check out the International Space Apps Challenge, via comaniddy:
International Space Apps Challenge
This week’s Science Rap is differentRemember when I rapped about how NASA’s technology has benefits in outer space as well on Earth? What if you had the opportunity to create that technology? This is what the International Space Apps Challenge is all about.
The Space Apps Challenge is a 2 day contest to improve life in Space and on Earth. The challenges are focused in 4 key areas: hardware, software, visualization, and citizen science.
The event takes place April 20-21 in over 75 cities around the world. There are over 50 challenges and you can participate locally or online.So do you have what it takes to improve the technology we use in space?
To Register or for more information visit:
www.SpaceAppsChallenge.org
NYC Residents visit:
www.SpaceAppsNYC.com
(Source: comaniddy)
Immaterials by Onformative imagines the form of metadata
Onformative on their project:
Immateriality as material is currently being discovered, opening up a new poetic field in which to narrate with space and information. Location-based metadata waft through the space, and are thereby redefining contexts and places. A new field opens up to designers.
(Source: staceythinx, via stufftoblowyourmind)
Matterform crowdfunds a simple, well-designed 3D scanner that could arrive this summer
MakerBot has been the trailblazer when it comes to bringing 3D printing to the masses, but another company may beat it to the punch before it can do the same for 3D scanners. Matterform is looking to produce a simple, low-profile 3D scanner, and it’s launched an Indiegogo campaign in support of the effort. The Photon 3D scanner appears to be about the size of a simple printer when shut, and then unfolds to reveal a scanning surface when being used.
(via stufftoblowyourmind)
European Space Agency wants you and your drone to help it dock spaceships
Wondering what to do with that Parrot.AR Drone collecting dust on your shelf? Why not help scientists at the European Space Agency (ESA) work on automated spaceship docking methods? The agency recently released an augmented reality app for iOS called Astro Drone (video below) that lets users simulate docking their Parrot.ARs with a virtual ISS.
Progress in Using “Temporary Tattoos” Instead of Implants for Brain-Computer Interfaces
In recent years, brain implants have enabled people to control robotics using only their minds, raising the prospect that one day patients could overcome disabilities using bionic limbs or mechanical exoskeletons. But brain implants are invasive technologies, probably of use only to people in medical need of them.
Instead, electrical engineer Todd Coleman at the University of California at San Diego is devising noninvasive means of controlling machines via the mind, techniques virtually everyone might be able to use.
His team is developing wireless flexible electronics one can apply on the forehead just like temporary tattoos to read brain activity. “We want something we can use in the coffee shop to have fun,” Coleman says.
The devices are less than 100 microns thick, the average diameter of a human hair. They consist of circuitry embedded in a layer or rubbery polyester that allow them to stretch, bend and wrinkle. They are barely visible when placed on skin, making them easy to conceal from others.
The devices can detect electrical signals linked with brain waves, and incorporate solar cells for power and antennas that allow them to communicate wirelessly or receive energy. Other elements can be added as well, like thermal sensors to monitor skin temperature and light detectors to analyze blood oxygen levels.
Using the electronic tattoos, Coleman and his colleagues have found they can detect brain signals reflective of mental states, such as recognition of familiar images. One application they are now pursuing is monitoring premature babies to detect the onset of seizures that can lead to epilepsy or brain development problems. The devices are now being commercialized for use as consumer, digital health, medical device, and industrial and defense products by startup MC10 in Cambridge, Mass.
APPLY DIRECTLY TO THE FOREHEAD!
(via Temporary Tattoos Could Make Electronic Telepathy, Telekinesis Possible - Business Insider)
(via thescienceofreality)
Anonymous is not a well-defined group of computer hackers. It’s not a club of anti-social geeks hiding in their parents’ basements or well-trained, militaristic outlaws hiding in shadowy bunkers equipped with high-speed Internet access.
Depending on who you ask, Anonymous is a digital consciousness, a worldwide hive mind, a culture, a political and social movement or an online collective. It’s really all of the above. Anonymous is a massive group of users of varying computing abilities who have a lot in common.
Anonymous achieved undeniable celebrity status in 2008. That year, a rather unflattering (and creepy) video of Tom Cruise rambling on about his Scientology beliefs was leaked to the Internet, to the anger of church leaders.
So the church attempted to do the impossible — it tried to remove the video from the Internet. In doing so, they raised the ire of Anonymous, which saw these attempts as a form of censorship. Anons also took issue with the church itself, which it views as a money-grubbing cult.
Thus, Project Chanology was born. Anonymous gathered its collective abilities with the intention of removing the church from the Internet. In a move that would become a hallmark of Anonymous missions, the group broadcast its intentions in a YouTube video.
Then the project began, first as DDoS attack that interfered with the church Web site. Next, there were prank phone calls and orders for unpaid pizza sent to church offices all over the world — anything to disrupt day-to-day functioning. Of course, these tactics weren’t exactly legal, and as a result, risked sealing Anonymous’ reputation as law breakers and vigilantes.
Then Anonymous had its moment of clarity, sparked by non-Anonymous Scientologist critic Mark Bunker, who pleaded with the group to use non-destructive and legal means to accomplish its ends.
Thanks to his suggestions, Anonymous shifted from illegal tactics to more legitimate actions, sending thousands of protesters out in front of the churches, all wearing Guy Fawkes masks, the likes of which have become a visual hallmark of Anonymous.
Advanced Prosthetic Hand Ties Shoes, Deals Cards
This hand, the bebionic3, actually shows it doing some of the stuff you’d think it might: tying shoes, dealing cards, picking up household items, etc.
Those tasks make it sound mundane, but it’s actually a pretty darn impressive hand. Not only can it squeeze and pinch, it can also do some less commonly used movements, like making the rock-on devil horns or spinning in a full circle. It even automatically grips an object when it detects that the object’s slipping.
(via Watch This Unbelievable Robot Hand Tie A Shoe | Popular Science)
(via futurescope)
