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ICYMI: Wetsuits will be modeled on the cutest sea creatures
try{document.getElementById("aol-cms-player-1").style.display="none";}catch(e){}Today on In Case You Missed It: MIT researchers are creating a two-layer wetsuit modeled off of the pelts of sea otters and beavers, who are able to stay warm in chilly water despite not having the layer of blubber that whales and dolphins have. Meanwhile bumblebees are being trained to pull strings to get a sweet reward. The ease with which they've taught each other is surprising scientists, who hadn't known the little guys could be trained. If you're interested in the origami bird that can be controlled with hand motions, that's here. And the video of Blue Origin being tested is here. As always, please share any interesting tech or science videos you find by using the #ICYMI hashtag on Twitter for @mskerryd.
The horse riding simulator that pairs an Oculus Rift with an exercise machine
In the midst of the mind-boggling Nico Nico Chou-Kaigi, an event hosted by one of Japan's leading video streaming sites, there was no shortage of Oculus Rift demos for attendees to drop their jaws at. Our allies at Engadget Japanese toured military carriers, controlled robot arms... generally did a load of fun things and pretended like it was work. The Hashilus horse riding simulator looked to be the most intriguing, however. It combined a horse riding exercise machine with an Oculus Rift set (oh and a fan, for immersion), to offer a relatively straightforward no-bad-guys-to-kill race, up and down a few hills. It's a simplified experience, there's no steering here, but players can use the tambourine-ish controller to speed up, or slow down, their steed, all while drinking in that Rift-provided 360-degree view. Bikes, schmikes. Extra: It looks like Oculus Rift founder Palmer Luckey even got the chance to try it out earlier this month. You can see his reaction after the break -- he seemed to like it.
Come hang with us at Ground Kontrol in Portland, OR, this Wednesday
Live in Portland, Oregon? Read Engadget? Love classic arcade games? If you answered "yes" to all three of those, we've got some great news. We'll be in Stumptown this week and figured it might be fun to have an impromptu meetup at one of our favorite locales in the Rose City. If you haven't been (and shame on you if you haven't, Portlandians), Ground Kontrol is an insanely awesome classic arcade / bar, located right next to PDX's Chinatown (not to mention a few blocks from places like Floating World Comics and Voodoo Doughnut) at 511 NW Couch St. Swing by a little before 1PM, and we'll be letting people in first come, first serve (capacity is limited) -- and best of all, since it's too early to open the bar itself, it'll be an all-ages function. We'll be hanging out, shooting some video and playing with old video games and new gadgets. More information on the venue can be found in the source link below. [Image credit: Lincoln Barbour]
Eizo debuts 56-inch 4k x 2k RadiForce LS560W LCD monitor
Eizo's known for doling out less-than-affordable LCD monitors, but this one just takes the crown (for now). Slated to dazzle in operating rooms everywhere this July, the RadiForce LS560W is a 56-inch behemoth of an LCD that boasts a resolution of 3,840 x 2,160 (or darn close to native 4k x 2k). We're also told that the panel features a 176-degree field of view, a 1,200:1 contrast ratio and 450 nits of brightness. And to think -- we were beginning to wonder if all that 4k surgery footage would ever find a dedicated screen to run on.
