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Scientists created living robots out of stem cells
Scientists have created a new life form that's something between a frog and a robot. Using stem cells scraped from frog embryos, researchers from the University of Vermont (UVM) and Tufts University assembled "xenobots." The millimeter-wide blobs act like living, self-healing robots. They can walk, swim and work cooperatively. Refined, they could be used inside the human body to reprogram tumors, deliver drugs or scrape plaque out of arteries.
Using tech to keep your kids organized and on task
Gone are the days of trusty Moleskine 18-month planners, scraps of to-do lists and family calendars hanging on the fridge. Full-time jobs and older kids mean more clubs, more appointments, more social life. Making a move to digital organization can take a load off and breathe new life into the family. It's never too early to help children learn to manage their time and be responsible for themselves too (to a point, obviously). It's a skill that will help them on their path through life. And it's surprising how little you need to do to organize family life. Often you have the apps and software on hand -- you just need to rethink how you use them.
This time-lapse cell division film is not CGI
You might have paid more attention to cell division in biology class had you seen this timelapse video from filmmaker Francis Chee (below). It shows the cell division of an egg from Rana temporaria (the common frog) in such astonishing detail that it looks like a digital effect. Starting with just four cells, it divides into seemingly millions more in around 33 hours, a time that's compressed to 23 seconds in Chee's video.
Recommended Reading: The life and death of 'The Colbert Report'
Recommended Reading highlights the best long-form writing on technology and more in print and on the web. Some weeks, you'll also find short reviews of books that we think are worth your time. We hope you enjoy the read. Stephen Colbert Is Dead. Long Live Stephen Colbert by Will Leitch, Bloomberg Thursday night's episode marked the end of a nine-year run for the The Colbert Report. Don't worry though, the show's namesake is taking over for David Letterman in 2015, but until then, take a look back at what made Stephen Colbert's overly conservative hijinks so darn compelling. As Bloomberg's Will Leitch puts it, "The politics were (sometimes, though less and less as the show aged) the canvas, but the comedy was always the paint."
The $250 MOD-t delivers simplicity and beauty in a 3D printer
Affordable desktop 3D printing is imminent, and today another option began its crowdfunding campaign. The folks at New Matter are looking to simplify the process so that anyone can output the items they desire, and to do so they've built the MOD-t. Aside from the clear enclosure for easy viewing and dapper industrial design, the software component is where the ease of use really shines. The outfit worked alongside Frog to develop a user interface that allows for quick design downloads, applying tweaks like you would a photo filter, easily sharing with friends and beaming projects to the minimally-designed printer. "At the end of the day, we wanted to be a 3D printing experience that is meaningful to the way that you currently approach communicating with the people in your life. Create relationships, not just objects," says Frog designer Christine Todorovich.
Expect anything but math in zany PC sequel Frog Fractions 2
Among our Best of the Rest picks for 2012 was a small, free Flash-based game called Frog Fractions. Now, the game's sequel is seeking $60,000 on Kickstarter to bring more unexpected fun to players. Developed by Jim Crawford (under the guise of the developer name Twinbeard), the first Frog Fractions operated under the premise of being a piece of "edutainment," as players expected to learn about fractions while catching flies as a frog. As the game unwound, the adventure became strange and fractions became an afterthought. Crawford's pitch for Frog Fractions 2 carries on with the same charade, even noting that "most Kickstarters are very detailed about what you're paying for, but the nature of this one is that you're paying for a surprise." Crawford said he created Frog Fractions "explicitly to evoke the air of mystery that all video games held in the 1980s," and that "Frog Fractions 2 will evoke that same feeling even more strongly." Crawford also noted that the game's final name will not be Frog Fractions 2, and it will be "larger in scope than Frog Fractions, containing multiple levels of secrets that will take you many play sessions to discover." "I can't describe what I'm going to make in detail, but I can tell you that I've been thinking about how to properly follow up Frog Fractions for the past year, and I believe I can make something genuinely awesome," he said. The crowdfunding campaign for Frog Fractions 2 (working title) will end on April 9. The game is planned for PC, with Mac and Linux ports to follow. [Image: Twinbeard]
5 lessons in design from Hartmut Esslinger
You may not know Hartmut Esslinger, but you've probably seen the impact of his philosophy almost every day for over 30 years. In 1982 Esslinger's Frogdesign began to work with Apple and kicked off a relationship that molded the company's products until 1990, though his influence still resonates in the company's function-focused designs. It was Esslinger who first suggested that Apple computers should be white, and he pushed the company to fight the conventional notions of what consumers wanted. At the time, his simple, clean designs were groundbreaking. A few months ago frog (Frogdesign simplified their name in 2011) posted this brief, but incredibly insightful, look at Esslinger's design philosophy. He briefly talks about the founding of frog, and points to five key lessons he's learned during his career. For Apple enthusiasts and graphic designers alike, this a fascinating look into the thought process of someone you might not even know you were influenced by. Enjoy.
Malaysia's Yes 4G adds WiMAX to Samsung Chromebook, aims to transform local education
Samsung's Exynos 5-based Chromebook may have been available since last October, but how about one equipped with WiMAX radio? Graced with the presence of Google and Samsung reps in Kuala Lumpur (including a video message from Google SVP Sundar Pichai), today Malaysian carrier Yes 4G unveiled this rather special laptop for the local consumers. In fact, we should have seen this coming as Google's official blog did hint this last month, but we failed to catch that blurred "Yes 4G" logo on the laptop in the blog's photo. As Google mentioned, the ultimate goal here is to help transform Malaysia's education using the Chromebook. And now we know that this ambition will be backed by Yes 4G's rapidly growing WiMAX network -- from the initial 1,200 base stations in 2010 to today's 4,000, covering 85 percent of the peninsula; and the carrier will expand into the eastern side with 700 more sites by the end of this year. This is especially important for the rural areas, where many schools still lack access to water and electricity. As a partner of the Malaysian Ministry of Education's 1BestariNet project, Yes 4G's parent company YTL Communications has so far ensured that 7,000 local state schools are covered by its WiMAX network, with the remaining 3,000 to be connected over the next six months. %Gallery-189082%
Sharp teams up with design company for new Feel UX Android skin (video)
While the western hemisphere hasn't (perhaps fortunately) got to experience Sharp's existing Android UI, it's announced that it'll be teaming up with design firm, frog, to craft Feel UX, a new "highly personalized", "visually stunning" smartphone experience. It will land on Sharp's next wave of AQUOS smartphones this summer, and will presumably tie-in to Japan-centric features like 1seg TV and IR receivers. We're told that highlights will include photo browsing and widget functionality without unlocking devices and "real-time weather display motion experience and animation." If you're getting a strong 'Sense' of déjà vu, you're not alone, but we're still intrigued by frog's efforts to "streamline" the home screen and tinker with app management -- some of those lockscreen shortcuts are looking mighty convenient. Sharp's Global Product Development Center's Itsuki Kouchi reckons it'll help them create "distinctive" devices, so take a look at the UI in action after the break and make that call for yourself. However, given a choice, we may still plump for Sharp's fan-baiting Evangelion skin.
The Joystiq Indie Pitch: They Breathe
Indie developers are the starving artists of the video-game world, often brilliant and innovative, but also misunderstood, underfunded and more prone to writing free-form poetry on their LiveJournals. We at Joystiq believe no one deserves to starve, and many indie developers are entitled to a fridge full of tasty, fulfilling media coverage, right here. This week, we get a lesson in deep-water ecosystems form Magnus Nystrom of The Working Parts, with its dark, "sunken forest frog adventure" title for XBLIG and PC, They Breathe. What's your game called and what's it about?They Breathe is a game about discovery. It's a short indie game where you play as a frog who encounters strange creatures on the way toward the bottom of a flooded forest. In order to survive, you have to connect the dots and figure out how the forest's bizarre ecosystem works.Do you think They Breathe has something completely different than any other game on XBLIG?Well, we don't have avatars. It's not about zombies. Our world is not made of blocks. But other than that, we try to do what we believe that most other XBLIG developers also try to do, which is give our players a great experience.At first glance, we hope that the box art will convey the game's darker mood and that players will be intrigued by the mysteries lurking in the depths.
The Joystiq Indie Pitch: Desi Leaves Town
Indie developers are the starving artists of the video-game world, often brilliant and innovative, but also misunderstood, underfunded and more prone to writing free-form poetry on their LiveJournals. We at Joystiq believe no one deserves to starve, and many indie developers are entitled to a fridge full of tasty, fulfilling media coverage, right here. This week, Jakob Haglof of Pajamahouse gets literally literary with his iOS title Desi Leaves Town, which follows the life of an eccentric, rich frog in the 1880s. As you do. What's your game called and what's it about?Our game is called Desi Leaves Town and it stars an eccentric frog that gets himself into all sorts of situations in his attempts to stave off boredom.Desi is an escapist who blames the world around him for his predicament but everything is pretty much his fault.The game's story is told through cartoon segments, puzzles and action challenges. You do all sorts of things like assembling the perfect chair to knocking kids out with bread.What inspired you to make Desi Leaves Town?Desi Leaves Town came out of a conversation Nicholas Kratochvil -- the game's writer -- and I had at a bar. I had this idea for a mini game with a pompous frog that would berate you if you sat him in the wrong chair.Nicholas said it reminded him of Against Nature's main character Jean Des Esseintes and maybe we could do an interactive adaptation of the novel instead of a mini game. And the next day we started working on it.
Possibilities for the Pandaren mount
When it comes to information, Blizzard is pretty tight-lipped. The only things we know about the Mists of Pandaria pandaren racial mount is that it hasn't been decided on yet publicly. Internally, I would wager, there are thousands upon thousands of pandaren riding atop their noble steeds ... whatever steed that may be. While we still don't know exactly what the pandaren mount is going to be, that has not stopped the internet from speculating. Malchome over at mmo-report.com thinks that the pandaren mount should be a keg cart pulled by some sort of mule or yak. Epic versions could be more intricate, much like the goblin trikes gain complexity as their quality increases. There is a wonderful little mock-up drawing of the keg cart in the post as well. I love the idea as a mount in general, not even just for pandaren, especially with the Brewfest connection. Personally, I believe the pandaren mount is going to be some sort of frog or amphibian. We don't have many of those types of creatures as mounts in WoW, and it gives the artists a chance to do some really cool ornamental graphics on some sort of creature. There is a Chinese symbol for prosperity called the Chan Chu, a three-legged frog creature that carries a coin in its mouth, that could be adopted to be the pandaren mount. Giant Chan Chu frogs might share the land with the pandaren, much like the kodo beasts roam the plains of Mulgore with the tauren.
Merry Christmas, here's a frog playing video games
We can't help but feel sorry for the little guy, to be honest. There he is, thinkin' he's about the receive a delicious buggy treat, only to have his enthusiastic face smushed against the cold, unforgiving capacitive touchscreen of his owner's nondescript Android device. Don't get us wrong, we love watching animals play video games as much as the next guy, but we'd be lying if we said that thumb didn't get what was coming to it.
The Engadget Show is live, here at 6:00PM ET! (update: we're done!)
Are you ready for this? If not, too bad, because we're back, and boy have we got jam-packed show this month. The next episode of The Engadget Show starts shooting tonight at 6PM ET, and you can join us at this very URL -- so keep your browser locked to this spot. This time out, we'll be testing out the Grace One electric bike on the streets of New York City, paying a visit to the Frog laboratories to check out some awesome design projects, popping by Maker Faire in New York and discussing DIY projects with Make:Live co-hosts Matt Richardson and Becky Stern, getting serenaded by viral rock star Jonathan Coulton and discussing the origins of everyone's favorite dancing robot, Keepon. Update: That's a wrap! We'll have it edited and up on the site as soon as we can!
A plague of frogs: Eden Eternal releases the Anuran race
Frogs may not seem like the best choice for rough-and-tough warriors, but they're great candidates when you think about it. They fight both on land and in water, they can use their freakishly long tongues to disarm the enemy, and they've got a bellyful of flies. That'd put anyone in a foul, fightin' mood. So we applaud Eden Eternal, which today released an update that includes the latest race to the game, the froggy Anurans. The content patch for this fresh-faced MMO also includes racial crafting, with the Humans specializing in Gemcrafting, the Anuran in Alchemy, and the Zumi in Engineering. Crafters will be able to sell their wares at new player shops in Aven once the players hit level 20. We posted a trailer to this patch two days ago, so if you haven't already, hop right on over and gobble it up!
Sinch takes aim at headphone tangles, we go hands-on
The Sinch is not much to look at, we'll give you that, but it is rather an interesting little thing. Intended to keep your headphone cable a little more tidy, it's just a couple of slender magnets encased in a rubber band with a hole punched on one end. It's a remarkably simple design, and a surprisingly effective one, too. We got a chance to wrap our cables around one, so read on for some quick impressions. %Gallery-133151%
Prototype dual-screened 2-in-1 Android smartpad from Imerj preview
From the front it looks like yet another plain smartphone -- dark, nondescript, and maybe a little like an iPhone 4 that's had its right-most extent sliced off. Pick it up, though, and you realize this little thing isn't so nondescript. In fact, it feels oddly substantial, with a strange bevel cutting around the edge and a curious amount of heft. And then you flip it open. Suddenly it's a little tablet, two screens forming one 6-inch slate bisected by a few millimeters of bezel. Shades of the Echo? Sure, but this is actually a very different device to hold, and a very different device to use. The software customizations built over Android 2.3, the bezel gestures, the proper multitasking, all make this into a unique device that feels incredibly familiar yet altogether different. It's a prototype device from Imerj and Frog (formerly known as Frog Design) something that's months away from production and hasn't even been blessed with a model designation more specific than "2-in-1 smartpad." So, is this poncho-clad Phone with No Name a legitimate threat to the established families of devices that own our little wireless San Miguel? Or, will it ride straight off into a sunset of obscurity when it launches? Read on to find out. %Gallery-127010%
Chinese robotic triceratops skeleton packs Linux, no horns
FROG (Four-legged Robot for Optimal Gait) has a ways to go before it can become a real dinosaur. The camouflaged robot is a prototype of a triceratops skeleton designed by Dr. Wei Wang and a number of PhD students at the Chinese Academy of Sciences' Institute of Automation, and is downright timid compared to, say, Boston Dynamics' horn-wielding BigDog robot. It has joint angle sensors, acceleration sensors, a pan-tilt camera, and a number of other sensing devices. The robot has a Linux system inside and communicates wirelessly with a host computer -- though it still requires a plug for power. Dr. Wang hopes that the 'bot will show up in museums or other dinosaur exhibits when it's a bit more complete. He balks at comparisons to our beloved BigDog, however, since it has DC Motors and isn't hydraulic, so don't expect this herbivorous reptile to carry your luggage over rocky terrain any time soon.
TUAW's Daily App: Liqua Pop
EA's latest game on the App Store is called Liqua Pop. It's an original puzzle game that has you popping liquid bubbles of the same color in order to send a little toad on the side of the screen to the top. The presentation in this one is very well done -- the music is cool and clear, and the graphics are shiny and very (wait for it...) fluid. The bubbles show up quickly, and eventually bugs appear in the bubbles and add a little complication to the mix. But overall, the gameplay is pretty simple, and you get into a nice rhythm of building up bubbles and shaking the device to pop them. Unfortunately, the game's thin on content -- there's just one mode, and while there are plenty of levels to play through, it'd be nice to see a little variety to the gameplay. More of an issue is that there's no Game Center integration at all. You can share scores via Facebook, but really, especially with EA publishing, developers iChromo should have taken the time to include Game Center. Hopefully that and the other omissions will be fixed in a future update. Liqua Pop is US$1.99 on the App Store right now, and I can recommend you check it out at that price, though I wouldn't blame you for waiting for the next EA sale to see if it drops down to a buck. If you're good on games for now, that might be your best bet.
ECOtality and Frog Design debut eye-catching Blink EV chargers
Coulomb Technologies isn't the only company that's announced some new electric vehicle chargers at this week's Plug-In 2010 conference in San Jose -- ECOtality has also taken advantage of the show to debut its new Blink EV chargers. Those were developed in partnership with Frog Design, which is responsible for the eye-catching look that the companies hope will become a "new icon for a smart EV ecosystem." Of particular note with the home version is a modular set-up that lets you place the garden hose-like cord reel separate from the main unit, which the company says makes it particularly well-suited for cramped garages. It also looks like you'll soon have a decent chance of spotting the commercial version out in the wild -- the first charges will be installed this Fall as part of the public-private, $230 million EV Project, which will eventually see ECOtality install nearly 15,000 chargers in 16 U.S. cities. Head on past the break for the complete press release, and a video overview from Frog Design's Andy Hooper.
