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ICYMI: Sound wave sewer checks, the feminized phone and more
try{document.getElementById("aol-cms-player-1").style.display="none";}catch(e){}Today on In Case You Missed It: A town in Maryland is checking for clogs in sewer lines with a sound wave system funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation. And a Chinese-made smartphone is geared towards women in the most condescending of ways. In TL;DR, be sure to read up on Tesla's newest, 'low-cost' car. As always, please share any interesting tech or science videos you find by using the #ICYMI hashtag on Twitter for @mskerryd.
Brain simulation breakthrough reveals clues about sleep, memory
The Blue Brain Project is a vast effort by 82 scientists worldwide to digitally recreate the human brain. While still far from that goal, the team revealed a breakthrough that has already provided insight into sleep, memory and neurological disorders. They created a simulation of a third of a cubic millimeter of a rat's brain. While that might not sound like much, it involves 30,000 neurons and 37 million synapses. In addition, the simulated level of biological accuracy is far beyond anything so far. It allowed them to reproduce known brain activities -- such as how neurons respond to touch -- and has already yielded discoveries about the brain that were impossible to get biologically.
Leader of webcam spying ring 'Blackshades' pleads guilty
The Blackshades spying hack group may have come crashing down with a bang last year, but its alleged leader is going considerably more quietly. Alex Yucel has pleaded guilty to charges that he distributed Blackshades' remote control tool, which let creeps eavesdrop on webcams, track keyboard strokes and hold computers for ransom. Whether or not he faces a stiff penalty is still up in the air, however. Sentencing isn't until May 22nd, but Yucel has already said he won't appeal if he gets less than 7.25 years in prison. The court could easily throw the book at Yucel given that Blackshades violated the privacy of half a million people, but it may not be eager to spark a prolonged fight. [Image credit: Andrew Burton/Getty Images]
Police raid 'Blackshades' webcam hackers who spied on naked victims
More than 90 people across 16 different countries have been arrested in a coordinated raid targeting users and sellers of a piece of malware, called the Blackshades Remote Access Tool. Known to its friends simply as "RAT," the $40 utility makes it relatively easy to spy on someone via their PC's webcam and their keyboard strokes, and it's thought to have infected around half a million computers since 2010. In the US, the FBI picked up a user in New Jersey who's accused of using RAT to steal sexually explicit photos of 45 victims through their webcams. This follows two earlier Blackshades-related arrests of men accused of capturing and stealing images of thousands of women and girls. The "global takedown" also involved the arrest of a 24-year-old Swedish citizen who's charged with selling RAT and offering technical support to buyers, making as much as $350,000 in the process.
Mad Catz developing R.A.T. professional gaming mouse
Gaming accessory manufacturer Mad Catz has announced development of the R.A.T. Tournament Edition, a mouse designed for the eSports-minded player. The R.A.T. TE features tracking speeds up to 8200 DPI, decreased weight, dynamic surface detection, lift-off height calibration, programmable button mapping and is designed for Mac as well as PC. We stress that the R.A.T. TE is not to be confused with a tournament edition rat. Rats do not have configurable buttons. And if your rat does, please do not bring your cyborg rat to a gaming tournament. You may, however, bring your R.A.T. TE after it releases in early 2014.
Mad Catz's Tournament Edition Rat is lighter, faster and brighter
If you didn't have enough transforming mice in your cursor collection, Mad Catz has one more for you: the Rat TE (Tournament Edition). It's the latest in the company's line of formerly Cyborg-branded mousing products and is designed specifically, as the name implies, for professional and competitive gamers. That means it's lighter (to improve inertia, the company says), offers faster reaction times and has been outfitted with a new 8,200 DPI laser sensor. Mad Catz has also given the mouse the ability to adjust its lift-off height calibration, giving pro gamers one more aspect of play to fine-tune. That said, it's not exactly a dead-ringer for the original Rat -- the horizontal scroll wheel is missing and the ever-important sniper button is twice as large as the mouse's first design. Mad Catz hasn't announced the teal-accented mouse's price yet, but expect to see it ship in early 2014.
IRL: Mad Catz's Rat M portable gaming mouse
Welcome to IRL, an ongoing feature where we talk about the gadgets, apps and toys we're using in real life and take a second look at products that already got the formal review treatment. We suppose if there are folks who'd prefer a gaming laptop as their primary PC, then there must also be a market for portable gaming mice. But would you pay $115 for one?
Harvard lets human minds control rats, private rodent armies remain distant (video)
Sure, we've seen rats control other rats, but that won't give us a legion of mind-controlled creatures to unleash upon an innocent public, will it? Harvard Medical School may unwittingly assist with solving our (rather misguided) plight, as it just experimented with a system that lets a human mind trigger actions in a rat's motor cortex. The test had sensor-equipped humans watch a screen that flashed in sync with their EEG brain patterns for visual stimulation; as soon their attention shifted to controlling the rat, they triggered an ultrasonic pulse that twitched the rodent's tail. There's a few problems with the implementation beyond the obvious lack of autonomy for the poor target creature, though. The rat's anaesthetized state likely affected the results, and the system isn't currently sophisticated enough to map specific thoughts to corresponding actions. The Harvard team is working to refine the technology, however, and there may be a day when we can satisfy our megalomania... or at least, put the Pied Piper on notice.
Duke melds two rats' minds through the internet, Spock may not approve
Some would say the internet already lets us share every minute detail of our thoughts, much to our followers' dismay. Duke University isn't deterred by our behavior -- if anything, it just took oversharing literally by connecting two rats' minds in an experiment, first in a lab and ultimately online. Electrodes attached to the brain of a host "encoder" rat in Brazil processed the motor-oriented mental activity for a desired behavior, such as pressing a lever on cue, and converted it into a signal that was then received by a "decoder" rat as far away as Duke's US campus. The majority of the time, the decoder rat performed the same action as the encoder. Researchers also found that rewarding the encoder alongside the decoder created a virtuous loop, as treating the first rat for a job well done focused its attention and improved the signal strength. We're not sure that Vulcans would endorse this kind of mind meld, though: apart from immediately depriving the decoder rat of self-control, prolonged testing led to the same rodent developing additional sympathetic reactions to the encoder. There's also concerns that the test was too binary and didn't reflect the complexity of the whole brain. All the same, Duke's study is proof enough that we can export brainwaves in a meaningful way.
Mad Catz R.A.T. mice get three new paint schemes just in time for the holidays
Ever since Batman popularized the matte finish with his snazzy Batsuit, product designers have gone Bat-crazy over the finish choice. Today, Mad Catz pushes back on that new normal, re-introducing its R.A.T. line of gaming mice in three new, glossy colors: white, red, and (yes, another) black. That includes the entire R.A.T. line, from the R.A.T.3 to the M.M.O.7 and everything in between. And those new colors are already available from Mad Catz, anxiously awaiting wrapped boxes and new computers equipped with XCOM: Enemy Unknown. Oh the sectoids you'll kill!
Razer's Ouroboros gaming mouse outed by the FCC, transforms to fit lefties
Looking for a rodent to help you frag your way through the competition, southpaw style? The FCC may have just uncovered your new best friend: The Razer Ouroboros gaming mouse. Like the Cyborg RAT series, the Ouroboros features a sliding palm rest and swappable side panels to better fit your mitt. Unlike the RAT, however, Razer's rodent is completely symmetrical, and therefor, ambidextrous. While Ouroboros may not actually devour its tail, it can at least detach it, switching between wired and wireless modes with relative ease. The versatile vermin appears to pack nine buttons (the regular left and right triggers, three buttons on each side, plus the mouse wheel), a toggle for on-the-fly DPI adjustments, left / right trigger locks, compatibility for Windows 7 and MAC OS X and a charging stand. No word yet on the device's max DPI sensitivity or price point, but we'll let you know when Razer makes things official. In the meantime, feel free to browse the rodent's manual at the source link below.
Scientists restore memory of drugged rats, hope to do the same with people
Is there anything we can't learn from drugged up rats? Researchers at Wake Forest University and the University of Southern California used a group of medicated rodents to demonstrate a method by which memory can be restored with the flick of a switch. The rats were outfitted with tiny, rat-sized electrodes and exposed to pharmacological substances, which caused them to forget the connection between pushing a lever and getting water. By turning the electronic switch on, the scientists restored the rats' memory of the task -- turning it off made them forget again. The next step in the process is testing the experiment out on primates and perhaps some day utilizing the research to benefit victims of strokes, Alzheimer's, or injury-induced memory loss.
Mad Catz brings Mac support to R.A.T. gaming mice
Mac users certainly have quite a few more gaming options these days than they once did, and they can now also add Mad Catz's series of Cyborg R.A.T. gaming mice to that list. The company finally released some Mac drivers for the complete range of mice today, which will let you take advantage of all the advanced features Windows users are already accustomed to. Those still putting off that Snow Leopard update will have to take care of that first, however, as the drivers won't accept anything less.
Rat controls vehicle with its brain, Pinky and The Brain apply for 'one last run'
So, let's paint the picture, shall we? There's a rat, a bundle of electrodes, more wiring than an electrician would know what to do with and some sort of wheeled apparatus. In the background stands a team of crazed Japanese scientists, intent on never sleeping again until said rat controls said vehicle entirely with his mind. Nah, it's not a re-run of a WB classic -- it's real life, and it's happening now in a dark, shadowy corner at the University of Tokyo. The RatCar is a newly developed rat-vehicle experiment that researchers hope will open new doors for those with mobility issues; we've seen brain-machine interfaces change the lives of the disabled before, but giving them the ability to control their wheelchair with their mind (for instance) would be taking things to an entirely new level. As of now, the team still has to figure out how to accurately determine how much movement is coming from the rat's feet and how much is coming from its mind, but there's no question that the research shows promise -- just don't let the humanoids learn of our findings, okay folks?
First biofuel cell successfully implanted into living creature, living creature to be implanted into The Matrix
While miscreants are harvesting organs from unsuspecting tourists, researchers are busy harvesting energy from the human body. One promising tech that could power future generations of implanted medical devices is the Glucose BioFuel Cell (GBFC). In fact, a team of researchers have created the first known GBFC to function inside a living body -- 11 days inside "Ricky" the lab rat's peritoneum, to be exact. The small device produced 2 microwatts of power over several hours, achieving a peak energy density of 24.4 microwatts per milliliter. The study concludes that a larger GBFC could be used to power a standard pacemaker (requiring ten microwatts of sustained power) yet still be smaller than the batteries in use today. Co-author Serge Cosnier of the Université Joseph Fourier says that an improved GBFC could even power biosensors like the ones proposed for insulin pumps. Until that day arrives, click through for the before- and, um, organic after-implant pics. The fact that the rat's body had coated the GBFC device with tissue and newly grown blood vessels is proof that the body had accepted it for glucose and oxygen processing. P.S. That's the Engadget Lolrat, not Ricky, pictured above. Ricky was apparently unharmed... this time.
Mad Catz Cyborg Rat: a guided tour (video)
We've talked up Mad Catz's Cyborg Rat before -- and even given it the hands-on treatment -- but even still, we thought it'd best to show you with the power of moving pictures all the crazy functions of this Franken-mouse (that's pronounced "Fronk-in-mouse," thank you very much). Check out the guided tour of the Rat 7 from the CeBIT show floor, and an explanation of the differences in each series iteration - after the break, care of global PR manager Alex Verrey. %Gallery-87356%
Mad Catz Cyborg Rat hands-on: true customizable mouse madness
We've seen plenty of gaming mice with adjustable DPI and swappable weights, but the new Cyborg Rat lineup from Mad Catz is truly stunning. The mouse is adjustable in almost every dimension and angle, thanks to certain sliding aspects, some hex key-adjustable mechanisms and buttons galore (including a very useful aiming button for slowing down the cursor in those heated sniper moments). The real winner is the Rat 9, which is wireless and has a nifty little "home base" that continuously charges a hot-swappable replacement AA battery and keeps some extra weights warm as well, though with a $130 pricetag it's not for the faint of heart. %Gallery-82141%
Video: SCRATCHbot hunts like a rat for those trapped like one
Designed for search and rescue missions - which, let's face it, are only ever one loose word away from "search and destroy" - the SCRATCHbot uses its whiskers to detect disaster survivors in inhospitable or dangerous areas. The Bristol Robotics Laboratory developed the rat-inspired people searcher over the past 6 years and now hopes to find interest for it in underground and underwater projects where vision may be impaired. Far less heroic uses are also being contemplated, such as textile inspection and implementation inside intelligent vacuum cleaners that would be able to adjust their cleaning to the particular surface they sense. Video of the new bot coming to life is after the break.
Winterblink: asset control and consolidation in EVE Online
Warp Drive Active podcaster Winterblink is a man who's got everything, apparently. And too much of it, scattered throughout his hangars in New Eden. It's a common problem in EVE Online, particularly for players who roam a lot throughout the galaxy. Mission runners, ratters, and adherents of most any trade or livelihood in the game accumulate a lot of random assets, individually of low worth but which can hold substantial value when seen as a whole. Unfortunately, what Winterblink describes in his blog gets even worse when a player uses containers to organize their possessions by category across multiple stations. The contents of those containers cannot be viewed remotely; one has to be docked in that particular station to see what's inside. Winterblink decided he couldn't handle the clutter anymore and shared the most efficient way he's found to deal with it all, step-by-step. He also had a good idea about having a container that only has the modules for his preferred ship fittings. Slowboating all over New Eden to consolidate his assets worked out for Winterblink. But this writer found that the negligible value of his junk and the time lost consolidating it wouldn't be worth the effort, and opted to ruthlessly destroy a fair amount of it, rather than collect and reprocess or resell the odds and ends. The slash-and-burn approach works for Tech I modules, but once ships and Tech II of anything enter into the picture, Winterblink's way is best. Especially in that he opted to reprocess the materials rather than trying to sell them all on the market.
Barrens Chat: Dibs
Hello again! This week's strip has been done in memory of Children's Week. That wonderful and joyous celebration that gets you a cute little tag along to play with, all in exchange for running everywhere in the entire world.I have somehow managed to miss out on Children's Week every year, but knowing my luck, it's for the better! It would likely lead to a catastrophe not unlike what is featured in this comic.Want to know what kind of catastrophe I'm talking about? Check out the Barrens Chat gallery for this and other comics!%Gallery-22361%
