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ICYMI: Basketball is about to get even more stats-heavy
try{document.getElementById("aol-cms-player-1").style.display="none";}catch(e){}Today on In Case You Missed It: The National Basketball Association signed a seven-year agreement to use a computer-vision, artificial intelligence system that analyzes on-court action in ways average viewers couldn't spot as they watch.
ICYMI: All aboard the world's largest boat elevator
try{document.getElementById("aol-cms-player-1").style.display="none";}catch(e){}Today on In Case You Missed It: The Three Gorges Dam in China is home to the largest ship elevator, hauling up to 3000 tons of cargo from one lower level of water to the higher stream at the top. Meanwhile, Georgia Tech engineers believe their new fabric, which can harvest energy from both movement and the sun, will revolutionize how we keep devices charged. The three baby parent video is here, and the crystallizing salts are here. As always, please share any interesting tech or science videos you find by using the #ICYMI hashtag on Twitter for @mskerryd.
ICYMI: Another thing likely to survive with the cockroaches
try{document.getElementById("aol-cms-player-1").style.display="none";}catch(e){}Today on In Case You Missed It: Scientists just mapped the DNA of a microscopic organism that can survive both oxygenless places and the Antarctic. Researchers believe they might help humans survive too much radiation, which is a thing we'll probably need soon enough so get hyped, people. Meanwhile a Danish car company is showing off its prototype of a tiny carpooling electric vehicle that will one day be modified for autonomous rides. In case you're interested, you can see the Japanese Pokemon Go video here. As always, please share any interesting tech or science videos you find by using the #ICYMI hashtag on Twitter for @mskerryd.
Magnetic fields shut down speech, permit love songs (video)
You already know the strange powers of Stephin Merritt, but today we're talking about real magnetic fields. Powerful electromagnets, it turns out, can do remarkable things to the brain -- in this case, prevent a volunteer from reciting "Humpty Dumpty." The carefully directed magnets temporarily disrupt the brain's speech centers; the volunteer can still sing the rhyme using different areas of the brain, but simply can't overcome a series of stammers when trying to merely recite it. Of course, it's not all mad scientist applications: the UK team experimenting with transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) thinks it can help us understand and treat migraines (as we've seen before with the Migraine Zapper), depression, and ADHD, among other ailments. But improving physical well-being doesn't make for nearly as entertaining media -- see the British inflict some involuntary quiet time in the video above.
Scientists figure out how to see through walls, sort of
We all know that light can't exactly pass through solid objects -- unless of course, you're using a laser or something. Yes, X-rays allow us to look into suitcases at the airport and broken bones in our bodies, but there's a new kid on the block that claims to have done the impossible in a novel fashion. Jochen Aulbach and his colleagues of the FOM Institute for Atomic and Molecular Physics out in Amsterdam have developed a technology that allows scrambled light to remain focused as it passes through ultra-thin layers of paint. You see, when light is sent through opaque material, it becomes muddled and lost in the space-time continuum. Aulbach and his crew used a spatial light modulator, or SMT, to control a 64-femtosecond long laser pulse that's passed through a thin layer of paint. The SMT emits pulses that last long enough for only a machine to see and the data is sent to a computer for calibration. NewScientist claims that with this technology, it might be possible to hone in on cancerous cells and blast them to oblivion without damaging the healthy tissue surrounding them.
Study: Pricing and social features most important factors for game success
Prepare yourselves, dear readers, to be blinded with science! Russell Beale and Matthew Bond, two industry analysts from the University of Birmingham, UK, recently conducted a study to see what factors mattered the most when determining video game review scores. What they found was that graphical fidelity and storytelling actually took a backseat to budget pricing, social networking features and family accessibility when it comes to racking up the ten-out-of-tens. The article on NewScientist which reports on the study gives us no indication as to how it was conducted -- still, it's inspired us to create a casual video game based on MySpace, which will hit retail shelves at a cool $9.99. All that left to do now is drown in sweet, published accolades.
New Scientist and MIT track your trash for the good of the planet
On a long enough timeline, all gadgets, white goods, furniture and consumables end up in the trash bin, and the latest tech from MIT is designed to track their subsequent journey from your porch to the great beyond. Partnering with the New Scientist magazine, researchers are hoping that by mapping where garbage ends up, they can awaken that atrophied muscle of environmental awareness in us all. The project will attach SIM cards to particular items of trash, which will beep out their location information every 15 minutes. You might think this somewhat underwhelming -- given all the bells, whistles and bomb-proofing that garbage cans have been adorned with over the years -- but interest appears high enough to justify exhibitions of the project in New York and Seattle starting this September.
