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Segway's S-Pod is a ridiculous lounge chair on wheels
Yes, the Segway S-Pod looks a lot like the floating chairs that future humans use in Wall-E. Ok, that's out of the way.
Hulu teams with world record Instagram egg on a mental health ad
The world-record Instagram egg, now with 10 million followers and liked over 52 million times, has used its fame for good. After teaming with Hulu, it appeared in a Super Bowl ad promoting mental health awareness, particularly when it comes to (yep) social media. "Recently I've started to crack... the pressure of social media is getting to me," the caption reads as the egg breaks apart. "If you're struggling, talk to someone." The egg is then made whole again, with a link to Mental Health America's website.
Stomach wearable could replace the need for invasive probes
Researchers have created a wearable monitor that can track your stomach's electrical activity for signs of digestion maladies. Called electrogastrography (EGG), it's like an EEG for the GI tract, and was used briefly in the '90s but abandoned due to a lack of usefulness as a diagnostic tool. UC San Diego scientists are trying to resuscitate it with improved hardware and, most importantly, algorithms that help filter out noise. The results so far are promising, and if perfected, it could help doctors diagnose gastro-intestinal problems without the need for invasive probes or even a hospital visit.
'Your Hands Are Feet' puts you inside a psychedelic egg yolk
Sarah Rothberg is obsessed with the bright-red silicone sponge she bought at Sur La Table. As a sponge, it's worthless -- it's too flimsy to be abrasive, and you can forget about it absorbing liquid -- but when you rub its tiny bristles together the sound is strangely familiar. It's the sound of shaving a giant's leg.
Twitter eggs are bad news so the company got rid of them
The day before April Fools isn't the best time to make big announcements, but that's not stopping Twitter from dropping some big news. The social network revealed its new default profile picture today, an icon that looks more like a real person and gets rid of the egg. Originally, the idea was that new Twitter users would hatch into birds before sending tweets. Of course, the egg took on a negative meaning associated with trolling and other sorts of not-so-great activity.
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.
Terahertz scans could save male chicks from an untimely end
Chicken hatcheries often grind up male chicks as soon as they break out of their shells -- they don't produce enough meat as adults, so they're considered useless compared to the egg-laying females. It's not exactly compassionate, and it wastes money as hatcheries incubate eggs they'll never use. However, technology might just have a way to prevent such a horrifying fate. Vital Farms and Novatrans are partnering on TeraEgg, a technology that uses terahertz spectroscopy to identify the sex of a chicken well before it hatches. The technique traps and analyzes the gas emanating from the pores of eggs, identifying the sex (or infertility) within seconds. You can use it as soon as 2 days after the hen lays her eggs, or early enough that you can sell the male eggs as food.
Transparent eggs let scientists see how bird embryos grow
If you want to see how animal embryos grow in eggs, you typically have to poke a hole in the egg and patch it up later. That's not always safe, and it may give you an incomplete picture of what's going on. Scientists at Beijing's Tsinghua University think they have a better solution, though. They've developed transparent artificial bird eggs that mimic the real deal while showing every single nuance of the embryo's development. The key is a special process that gives an organic polymer the same shape as an egg, offering the avian a relatively natural environment that's easier to work with in a lab.
Planet Calypso's $70k virtual egg hatches after 6 years
Entropia Universe's Planet Calypso is well-known for its real cash economy that usually includes some virtual item being bought or sold for an ungodly amount of money. In line with that, a virtual egg that last sold for $70,000 is hatching after lying dormant for six years. We put a paragraph break there to let you process that for a second. Yes, a $70k virtual Atrox Queen dinosaur egg is breaking open as part of a new event where players need to stop the newborn Feffox from causing further destruction throughout the planet. Once players stop the deadly beast, they'll need to band together one last time for a massive battle to save the world. The event began on Monday but runs until April 28th, so you still have time to join in. Sound like fun? Head on over to the game's official site to learn more.
This giant military spy blimp is really hard to miss
What's this spy blimp doing next to an 18-wheeler? We're not entirely sure, but it's certainly not being subtle about it. This jumbo-sized floater, codenamed "Blue Devil Block 2," measures some 370 feet in length and comprises a whopping 1.4 million cubic feet. Originally inflated in September, the definitely-not-blue Blue Devil took flight for the first time last week in North Carolina and, if all goes to plan, should head to Afghanistan by the middle of next year. The Air Force says the blimp will hover above the country for five days at a time, collecting surveillance data from 20,000 feet above the ground and transmitting its findings to US intelligence officers on the ground, via laser. When that's taken care of, it'll be used to make the biggest omelette ever.
Hitachi glasses-free 3D technology lets you view weird chicken things from multiple angles
We might not have chosen the above weird baby chick to pitch our autostereoscopic technology to the world, but at least it makes for some memorable imagery. The hatchling is a 3D image generated by projectors, overlayed on top of a real world object, which can be viewed by multiple people at multiple angles without the need for 3D glasses. Built-in sensors detect the viewer's positions and adjust the viewing angle accordingly. Of course, this isn't the first time we've seen this sort of technology -- heck, this isn't even the first time we've seen this sort of thing from Hitachi, but the company says it's continually getting better, with a marked depth resolution improvement over a technology shown off this time last year at CEATEC. The company is looking to implement the technology for both digital signage and entertainment purposes, eventually revolutionizing the way the world looks at 3D baby chickens.
WiMAX sleeve brings 4G speeds to the iPhone 4 in South Korea
This is exactly how we humans got out of the trees five million years ago. We spot a problem, like the iPhone 4's lack of 4G data, and we solve it. In fact, Korean Telecom's new Egg sleeve not only brings WiMAX to the iPhone 4 but also incorporates an extra battery to allow five hours of 4G surfing. It could make bipedalism slightly uncomfortable however, by bulking your pocket out with 2.4 ounces (68g) in added weight plus a third of an inch (8mm) in extra thickness. Primates outside of South Korea can't buy the ₩129,800 ($120) Egg right now, but problem-solving minds can always use 4G mobile hotspots instead -- like the Sprint Overdrive or Verizon's new LTE-based MiFi. That's why we're the jungle VIP.
Breaking: chicken came before the (chicken) egg
Don't ask us why British researchers are spending their time trying to solve the age-old "who came first" conundrum, but apparently solve it they have done. Lab dwellers from the universities of Sheffield and Warwick share the distinction of identifying the particular effects of a particular protein -- ovocleidin-17, found only in chickens' ovaries -- on the development of the egg's shell. It would seem that without OC-17 converting calcium carbonate into calcite crystals, one couldn't have an eggshell, meaning that the chicken and its special protein powers had to have developed first. How the world's going to react to having one of its favorite clichés wrestled away has yet to be determined. Update: Seems like we didn't make it clear enough that these findings relate specifically to chicken eggs. We're well aware that dragons dinosaurs have plenty of prior art on chickens when it comes to laying shelled embryo chambers.
Creative to show off 'Zii Android mobile phone' next month at Chinese summit
We've been saying all along that we'd love nothing more than to see someone throw a 3G chip into Creative's Zii Egg and sell it as a pretty strong smartphone, but so far we've been hit with little to no indication of interested parties making that happen. So when we spot phrases like "Zii Optimized Android Phone platform" and "the line-up of devices on display includes a Mobile Phone platform" on an informational site for the ZiiLABS Showcase happening early December in China, our interested are definitely piqued. The event is geared towards companies who'd like to use the Plaszma platform for their products, and with any luck, some debonair decision-maker will give Zii phone a chance. [Thanks, Kyle]
Video: Creative Zii EGG gets firmware updated to 92.02, still looks pretty janky
Creative's just rolled out a firmware update -- version 92.02, if you're counting -- for developers of the Zii EGG. The updates include adding support for media playback on the SD card, a 3D close line effect for when you're browsing in landscape view, plus a stretching effect for browsing lists. The sample shots taken with its camera look pretty decent, and in the video which is after the break, you can catch a look at both the close line and stretching effect -- the latter of which we think has some potential to be useful, even if it's all still looking a bit rough around the edges for now. Like we said, the video is after the break -- hit the read link for test shots.
Video: Creative Zii EGG development kit gets a second look
We already know the Creative Zii EGG development edition is shipping out to eager hands, but for the even more eager eyes out there, the folks at Anything But iPod managed some pretty nice, well-lit HD video to give another illustration of how the hardware will look and feel. The narrator is quick on multiple occasions to remind viewers it's an early build running on Creative's Plazma OS only (no Android yet) and he takes issue with the feel of the thin film of plastic on the touchscreen, but that and slow load times notwithstanding, the device is looking mighty impressive. Pictures through the read link, and mosey on past the break for digital peep show. [Thanks, Mathieu]
Creative Zii EGG orders shipped, hands-on videos posted
It looks like somebody's Zii EGG orders have shipped, and we got the video to prove it. A staff member named DaHarder over at the DAP Review forums has just received one of the lusted-after devices, and luckily for us he's given it the ol' hands-on treatment and posted the evidence for our perusal. "The screen," he says, compares "very favorably" with the S Series Walkman, with colors described as bright and vibrant, even if the blacks leave something to be desired. And how about sound? He rates it as being "the best sounding Creative player" he's heard yet, "and that's without any EQ/Z-Fi etc." Not too shabby for a development model, eh? But that ain't all -- peep the videos after the break, and then hit the read link to jump in on the conversation your own self. [Via DAP Review]
Zii EGG SDK roadmap revealed, some important features not coming until end of year
Remember back when Sony introduced Rolly to stunned silence followed by a protracted effort to determine exactly what the hell it was, an effort that arguably continues to this very day? Yep, that's kind of where we're at right now with the Zii EGG, and nothing in the SDK documentation we've received today -- the same documentation paying developers are just now getting -- is helping us flesh that out. We can tell you that it's well-equipped -- there are proximity sensors and accelerometers on board, it's got native support for Flash Lite, voice recognition, and 3D acceleration and it'll eventually have support for Creative's X-Fi audio tech -- but really, that's like saying "the Rolly is well-equipped." What does it mean? Here's what we do know: out of the gate, it seems the EGG will only be running Creative's homegrown Plaszma OS, though Android support is forthcoming. The Plaszma SDK is being rolled out in three phases spanning the rest of 2009, and some pretty important stuff -- Bluetooth support, for example -- won't even be available to developers until the third phase, which is a pretty strong indication that Zii-powered products intended for consumer consumption probably won't be around in time for the holidays. For the moment, there isn't any indication on when devs will have access to Android support libraries, which we think might be where Zii's true value lies, because let's be honest -- the world realistically doesn't need another target platform for mobile. Interestingly, Creative is using Zii to actively target China-based devs that it says "may not have brands but have an insatiable appetite for ready-to-go technologies, and can adapt these technologies very quickly to new market opportunities" (in other words, KIRFers) through its "Shanzai program," a mix of prototype boards and support packages that it says will help small businesses bring products to market faster. If that means we can get the next great N97 clone running Android in record time, we're all for it. Check out the full Plaszma SDK roadmap in the gallery below. [Thanks, Joe]
Creative Zii EGG orders being processed, will ship by the end of the month
We still don't know what to make of Creative's Zii EGG and "stem cell computing" but it looks like we'll be getting our first answers relatively soon -- pre-order customers are being charged and told units will ship by the end of the month. As an added bonus, Creative is apparently including a free HD-out cable in these early deliveries, but we don't know if these are being pre-loaded with Android or that Plazma OS. Anyone else join the early adopter club? [Thanks, Joe]
Crapgadget: "Oh yeah, they're totally serious" edition
Every so often, we come across a gadget (or five) that's so offensive, so absurd that we simply can't help but stick it in our back pocket and show it to the general public. Today, we're rounding up the worst of the worst once again, proving that there literally is no end to the spewing of gadget-related garbage that comes from unknown caverns in undisclosed corners of the universe. We mean, just listen to these products: "fried eggs night light," "Bic lighter spy camera," "hungry caterpillar USB hub," and "half-eaten chocolate mouse." Does those even sound like kit that any partially sane individual would purchase? No, no it doesn't. Have a gander while shaking your head furiously below, and feel free to drop a vote for the king of the crap while venting in comments below. Trust us, it's therapeutic.Read - Half-eaten chocolate mouseRead - USB Penguin 4-Port Hub Read - Fried Eggs Night LightRead - Spy camera Bic lighterRead - USB Bulb Flash DriveRead - Hungry caterpillar USB hub %Poll-33032%
