Automatic movement? Sweeping hands? Pish posh. Casio's looking to impress a few watch aficionados itself with the all new Tough Movement. Designed to slip inside its Oceanus and G-Shock series of timepieces, the new movement "features a high shock resistance and a hand position correction function using LED." During the 55th minute of each hour, the movement receives time calibration signals from six bases located throughout the world; if the hands are off at all, it automatically corrects things to ensure that you're never a moment off. Reportedly, the first wristwatch to utilize the technology will be the GS-1200, which is currently slated to hit Japan this September for a stiff ¥42,000 ($390).

[Via OhGizmo]

Using 3D cameras in order to let humans control interfaces by simply moving about is old hat, but for those sick and tired of being strapped to a mouse / keyboard in Second Life, take a glance at this. Hands Free 3D is a prototypical system that gives addicts members of the virtual realm the ability to walk, jump, fly and interact by simply gesturing in front of a PC-connected camera designed by 3DV Systems. Currently, it doesn't seem like this solution is on the fast track to release or anything, but we have a sneaking suspicion they aren't demoing this stuff for kicks and giggles. Peek the video right after the break.

Just what we need: an invention to make the robotic armies that will one day surely turn against their creators better scramblers. Regardless of future impact, researchers at the University of California and Pennsylvania University are envisioning "leg spines" that would allow robotic creatures resembling insects and spiders to scramble across gap-ridden surfaces much better than they currently can. The scientists carefully watched slow-motion footage of arachnids dashing across wire mesh and noticed just a 22-percent slow down from running across solid ground. Apparently, the little buggers are able to distribute their weight just so across their myriad of legs, so that there's usually one leg that catches another's fall and prevents the creature from getting too caught up. This biological method is being applied to robotic limbs, assisting crawling creatures to make it across less-than-ideal conditions by utilizing mechanical feedback. Look, we're down with eight-legged freaks, we're just not so fond of these things possessing an inhuman ability to track us down should a case of mutiny sweep the robotic world.

Providing a mighty blow to both "research studies" and the value of Ph.D degrees everywhere, the latest rubbish information to come flowing from the Mayo Clinic's research lab is as close to an insult to intelligence as you can get. While it may have been somewhat understood that television can act as a painkiller for children, and that wireless headsets actually don't improve driving safety, this obviousness of this one takes the literal cake. The study, which is proclaimed as the "first to scientifically measure the energy spent playing video games," proved that sitting around while gaming burned the same amount of energy as kicking back and watching the tube, but when engaged in a "camera-based activity" (Eye Toy?), the "energy expenditure tripled." It was also shown that walking on a treadmill while gaming it up also tripled the energy burned, but it showed a "fivefold increase for the mildly obese group" of participants. While these results may be miles away from shocking, the most depressing aspect of the entire study was the conclusion that the results were so awe-inspiring that "they warrant further studies in randomized trials." Now, who's paying for this hoopla again?

[Thanks, Mike]