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Stanford archives provide rare glimpse into Apple's early days as mere seedling (video)
Housed in a climate controlled storage facility operated by Stanford University, nearly 600 feet of shelf space is dedicated to preserve documents, videos and memorabilia of Apple and its early days as a young startup. The collection holds rare gems such as interviews with Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, both of whom discuss some of the rationale behind Apple's name -- Jobs asserts that it was selected to place his company ahead of Atari in the phone book. Originally intended to furnish Apple's corporate museum, the materials were donated to Stanford in 1997 after Steve Jobs' return to the company, which was most concerned with financial survival at the time. According to the university, more than 20 significant collections have been added to the archives in the subsequent years. The warehouse holds blueprints of the Apple I, user manuals, magazine ads, TV commercials and T-shirts, along with thousands of photographs that document Steve Jobs during his years as CEO of NeXT. Other rarities include a $5,000 loan document -- signed by the two Steve's and the partnership's third co-founder, Ron Wayne -- a spoof of Ghostbusters that starred former CEO John Sculley and other company leaders, who played "Blue Busters" to eliminate IBM, and handwritten sales entries of the very first Apple II's. While the location of the facility is undisclosed, we can only hope that, some day, the collection will be showcased for fanboys, fangirls and the public alike.
Stanford builds super-stretchy skin sensor out of carbon nanotubes (video)
An artificial skin that senses pressure, pinches and touch sounds like a macguffin from The Outer Limits (the episode "Valerie 23" if we recall correctly), but that's what a team from Stanford University has cooked up on the back of its pick-up truck. Sensors made of silicon films with a matrix of liquid carbon nanotubes ensure the material snaps back to its original shape no matter how frequently it's pulled about. When compressed, the electrical conductivity of the skin changes, and by measuring where and by how much, it knows the location and pressure of where you jab your fingers. The team wants to combine this super stretchy film with a much more sensitive sensor and if it can do it, then the technology could end up as an artificial skin for burn victims, covering prosthetic limbs or even replacing your multitouch display -- just be careful, you might hurt Siri if you pinch-to-zoom her too hard.
Student spends summer turning a tablet into a Braille writer, says mowing lawns is for chumps
Lots of us spend the summer by the pool, sipping Mai Tais and working on our tans, but Adam Duran had better things to do with his vacation. Instead of engaging in such lethargy, Duran attended the Army High Performance Computing Research Center's summer course held at Stanford, where he and his mentors, Sohan Dharmaraja and Adrian Lew, developed a Braille writer app for tablets. You see, the average 8-key Braille writer is a custom laptop that costs $6,000, so given the paltry pricing on today's slates, this new solution is considerably more economical. Users place their fingertips on the display and the app populates keys underneath them, rendering tactile indicators of the keys' location unnecessary. Plus, the virtual keyboard provides a custom fit for your phalanges no matter how big or small they may be. The project has some "technical and legal hurdles to address" before it's made available to the masses, but here's hoping they can clear them soon. Video of the app in action after the break.
Dipping capacitors and batteries in nanotubes could improve capacity
Stanford researchers figured out that, by dipping electrodes for super capacitors in a solution of carbon nanotubes or a conductive polymer they could increase the charging capacity by up to 45-percent. The team started working with composite electrodes of graphene and manganese oxide, since manganese is cheap and plentiful, but were hamstrung by its low conductivity. The thin coating of more conductive material greatly boosted the capacitance of the electrodes, and thus their ability to hold a charge. Further tests are still required to find the actual energy density of the dipped electrodes, but lead researchers Yi Cui and Zhenan Bao are already working on a way to apply the same technique to batteries.
Stanford schooling unwashed masses with free online Intro to Artificial Intelligence (video)
If you fancy yourself a Stanford (wo)man, but lack the requisite dollars to actually attend, now's your chance to collect those collegiate bragging rights. Starting October 10th, you can join Professor Sebastian Thrun and Google's Director of Research, Peter Norvig, in a free, online version of the school's Introduction to Artificial Intelligence course. The class covers, "knowledge representation, inference, machine learning, planning and game playing, information retrieval, and computer vision and robotics," and ambitiously aims to be the largest online AI course ever taught. If you're feeling the ole red and white, you can register at the source link below, but if you're looking for the official Stanford stamp of approval, we're afraid you're barking up the wrong tree -- non-students will receive a certificate of completion from the instructors only. Still interested? Check out the video introduction after the break and hit the source for more details.
Wii Fit balance board hack takes a virtual Segway ride around Google's mapped world (video)
You can do a lot in seven hours -- fly coast-to-coast, slow-cook a pot roast, create a Google Maps-navigating, Wii Fit-controlled virtual Segway. Wait, what? Yes, that Nintendo-branded, dust-collecting relic of holidays past has been given a new lease on life thanks to an intrepid troop of Ivy-educated geeks, and a seven-hour hackathon. The marathon modding session, held by Stanford University's SVI Hackspace, banded together a like-minded set of overachieving modders to produce a balance board-guided Street View romp through Google Maps. The students' hack connects the Wii Fit board to OS X via the Osculator app, with a Node.js server processing the data and Socket.io handling board-to-browser communication. A Google Earth plug-in and pre-rendered Segway were all that was left to complete this foot-mapped joy ride through our digitized world. Video demo awaits you after the break.
Report: data centers accounted for just 1 to 1.5 percent of electricity use last year, Google claims less than 1 percent of that
You'd think, watching companies like Apple break ground on sprawling data centers, that the number of servers powering our untethered lives was on the rise. In a different decade, you might have been right. But not this one. According to a study prepared at the request of The New York Times, the number of servers in use has declined "significantly" since 2005. That's mostly because of the financial crisis of 2008, says lead researcher Jonathan G. Koomey of Stanford University, but we also can't discount the effect of more efficient technologies. What's more, he says, servers worldwide consume less energy than you might have guessed: they accounted for somewhere between 1 and 1.5 percent of global electricity use in 2010. And while Google, the king of cloud computing, has been cagey about revealing just how many servers house its treasure trove of data, the company said that of that 1 to 1.5 percent, it accounted for less than 1 percent -- meaning, just a hundredth of a percent of all the electricity consumed last year. All told, data centers' energy consumption has risen 56 percent since 2005 -- a far cry from the EPAs 2007 prediction that this figure would double by 2010, with annual costs ballooning to $7.4 billion. Then again, this slower-than-expected growth could well be temporary. Though Koomey can't specify to what extent the financial crisis and technological advancements are to blame, he insists, broadly speaking, that we're primarily seeing fallout from the economic slowdown -- a stay of execution, of sorts, for those of us rooting for energy conservation.
Stanford researchers create transparent battery, dream of a see-through iPhone (video)
We've had about all of the transparent displays we can handle. Besides, what good is a screen you can see through if the electronics behind it are as opaque as ever? Thankfully, the fine folks at Stanford are working hard to move us towards a future filled with invisible gadgets. Yi Cui and Yuan Yang led a team that have created a lithium-ion battery that appears transparent. In actuality, the cells are composed of a very fine mesh of electrodes, approximately 35-microns wide, that are small enough to appear invisible to the naked eye. The resulting power packs are cheap and flexible but, currently, can only store about half as much energy as a traditional Li-ion battery. Cui has a particular destination in mind for creation, as he told the college paper, "I want to talk to Steve Jobs about this. I want a transparent iPhone!" Check out the video after the break.
Scientists study orca ears, employ lasers to create hyper-sensitive underwater microphone
There are plenty of reasons to want to monitor what's going on in the ocean, from whale migration, to the recent stylistic resurgence of hot crustacean bands. There are certain inherent difficulties, however, in creating a powerful underwater microphone, namely all of that water you've got to contend with. A team of scientists has taken cues from the design of orca ears, in order to develop a powerful microphone that can work far beneath the waves. The researchers developed membranes 25 times thinner than plastic wrap, which fluctuate as sound is made. In order to operate at extreme depths, however, the microphone must fill with water to maintain a consistent pressure. So, how does one monitor the minute movements of a membrane hampered by the presence of water? Lasers, of course! The hydrophone can capture a 160-decibel range of sounds and operate at depths of 11,000 meters, where the pressure is around 1,100 times what we're used to on earth. So if the orcas themselves ever master the laser, at least we'll be able to hear them coming.
Mopho DJ uses your iPhone to track turntable movement (instead of your movements)
We have to admit, we never thought of this one -- and it's pretty, pretty slick. Instead of using time-coded vinyl to interface your turntable with your computer as with Final Scratch Pro or Serato Scratch, Nicholas J. Bryan's Mopho DJ uses an iPhone. That's right, our man at Stanford University literally affixes his smartphones to his decks via a perspex disc and some sort of adhesive. The smartphones each run an app which sends accelerometer and gyroscope data to a computer, which then adjusts playback of your music accordingly. It's still a work-in-progress at the moment, but if you're in Oslo the first week in June make sure you check it out at the NIME (New Interfaces for Musical Expression) conference. This is definitely the kind of iOS location tracking we can get behind! Check it out on video after the break.
Green Energy will replace fossil fuels by 2050 if you really really want to
The year 2050 is what the year 2000 was to futuristic thinkers like Walt Disney and Arthur C. Clarke. It's the new year that everything will change: robots will outperform us on the field of play, computers will outwit us in matters of reason, and nerds will never be lonely again. It's also the year that 100 percent green energy will be possible according to a bunch of neo-maxi zoomdweebies from Stanford and the University of California-Davis. That's right, in 40 years we could be saying goodbye to fossil fuels in favor of renewables like solar and wind power. The biggest challenge to achieving the goal, say researchers, isn't related to the underlying technologies or the economics required to fuel the change, rather, it's whether we earthlings have the collective will and political gumption to make it happen. Interesting... we'll look into that claim just as soon as we're done with our Nero fiddling and telling all our friends about this amaaazing story we just read in the National Enquirer.
Stanford researchers demo social NFC applications on the Nexus S
To hear most mobile companies tell it these days, you'd think that NFC (or near field communications) is only for mobile payments. That's not the case at all, of course, and a group of researchers at Stanford's MobiSocial lab have now thrown a few new ideas of their own onto the table after getting a pair of Nexus S phones to play with. After first making a few tweaks to overcome some of Gingerbread's limitations -- it only uses NFC for reading tags -- they were able to develop a few social-minded applications that make use of the P2P functionality possible with NFC. That includes one example that lets you share photos simply by pressing two phones together, and a second that lets two phones share an application -- collaborative whiteboard, in this case. Unfortunately, those aforementioned tweaks to Android mean you can try out the apps yourself just yet, but the researchers are hopeful that similar applications will eventually be supported by Android and other platforms. Head on past the break to check them out on video.
Dutch scientists develop half million euro, 'affordable' super laser
The folks at Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) have lovingly referred to their latest contribution to the world of science as the "poor man's X-FEL." An X-FEL, or X-ray Free-electron Laser, is like a super strong video microscope that converts electrons to X-rays to observe high-speed molecular movement. TU/e's super laser alternative depends solely on a very specific bunching of electrons to do the same thing, allowing for a much smaller (it fits on a tabletop), much cheaper setup. With an estimated cost of half a million euro, the laser is hardly cheap, but it's far more affordable than the competition: Stanford's X-FEL runs hundreds of millions of dollars, and measures a whole kilometer. TU/e researchers admit that their laser can't do everything that an X-FEL can, but, hey, you get what you pay for. Up next for TU/e? In vitro pork products. Yummy.
Scientists attempt to predict flu spread, give ZigBee radios to 700 high school students
This is the Crossbow TelosB wireless remote platform, and it did an important job for science in January of last year -- it monitored the close proximity interactions among 788 students and staff at one US high school to track a virtual flu. After collecting over 762,000 sneeze-worthy anecdotes among the module-toting teachers and teens, Stanford researchers ran 788,000 simulations charting the path the virus might take and methods the school might try to keep it in line. Sadly, the scientists didn't manage to come up with any easy answers, as virtual vaccination seemed to work equally well (or poorly) no matter who got the drugs, but that if only we could actually monitor individuals in real life as easily as in a study, prevention would be much easier. But who will bell the cat, when it's so much less political to ionize?
Google to beta test 1Gbps fiber internet service at Stanford's Residential Subdivision
Right after having a giant Christmas tree as your mascot comes the next best reason to be a Cardinal: the chance to have 1Gbps internet from Google. If you'll recall, the Big G announced earlier this year that it was planning to rollout a 1Gbps fiber connection to between 50,000 and 500,000 homes in a given community, and while the search is still ongoing for the perfect fit (that's expected to be announced by the year's end), Google's using a sliver of Stanford's campus to trial things before heading public. The university's Residential Subdivision -- a group of approximately 850 faculty- and staff-owned homes on campus -- will be the testing grounds for the aforesaid internet service, and the current plan is to break ground on the initiative in early 2011. El Goog chose Stanford for a couple of reasons: first, it's bright enough to realize how awesome of a PR move this is, and second, this chunk of campus is spitting distance from Mountain View. Third, the Cardinal mascot was down with it -- and seriously, who is Google to question that thing?
Shocker! Cellphone touchscreens are dirty
If you have even the slightest inclination towards Mysophobia then please, do yourself a favor and stop reading now. A Stanford University study found that if you put a virus on a touchscreen surface then about 30 percent of it will make the jump to the fingertips of anyone who touches it. From there it goes into the eyes, mouth, or nose -- whichever face-hole is in most urgent need of a rub. And just to drive the point home, the Sacramento Bee adds this little nugget from an unspecified British study: "Mobile phones harbor 18 times more bacteria than a flush handle in a typical men's restroom." Eww. You know, sometimes it's best not to know how the sausage is made.
YouTube Instant delivers your gratification even more quickly
Waiting for search results is so last week. Google Instant changed all that, suggesting results as you type, and now Stanford comp sci student Feross Aboukhadijeh has brought the same idea to another property of the Googs: YouTube. It's a pretty simple thing; just start typing and it starts playing videos. You have no control over resolution, even playing and pausing are asking too much, but who has time to worry about minor details? Click on through to check it out, and know that typing "Engadget" will take you back to a time when our resident thrillseeker Paul Miller was taken on a magical ride through the snow-swept streets of New York City. Update: Well, it was instant. Looks like the extra traffic is turning this into YouTube "Just a Moment, Please." Update 2: And we're Instant again! Feross re-wrote the site to stop some throttling that was happening on the YouTubes. Just in time to help pass the rest of the afternoon.
Study suggests internet will become number one matchmaker
"Love is a many splendored thing, love lifts us up where we belong, all you need is... hold on, email." -- Anonymous Since we can't presume all Engadget readers regularly attend their NPR All Things Considered listening parties, here's something you might've missed this week. In a segment on the growing trend in online matchmaking, Jennifer Ludden cited a research from Stanford University's Michael Rosenfeld that seems to fall in line exactly where we'd expect: it's really easy to be yourself and find matching partners when you have the ability to reach out to strangers who present so much personal information from the get-go. More specifically, the study found almost one-fourth of couples met online -- a number that jumps to 61 percent if you single out (no pun intended) same-sex couples -- and it's growing at a pace that it' "may soon become the No. 1 way Americans find a mate." For now, however, it's ranked second, just above meeting at bars / restaurants and below the classic, meeting through friends who just love tricking you into bad blind dates with the "great personality" line anyway. Make sure you have the right camera just in case.
Stanford cuts down on clutter by removing 70,000 books from its Engineering Library
Guess this is one way to tighten your belt. Stanford University has opted to drastically reduce the catalog of physical volumes within its Engineering Library down from its original 80,000 to a svelte 10,000 copies. Before you cry foul and analogize between this and the prep school that threw out all its paper books, note that we're mostly talking about periodicals here, which tend to be used for quick references -- something that the newly digitized and searchable copies will probably make a lot easier. This action was prompted when the University noticed a large proportion of its leafy volumes hadn't left their shelves for over five years, and now the librarians are all aflutter with excitement about using the freed up space and resources for more productive causes. Such as educating us on the unappreciated benefits of indexing.
Stanford's crazy Weng electric car doesn't have a prayer of seeing production (video)
We've seen some wacky prototypes of electric vehicles over the years, but never anything quite like the Weng. It's a product of graduate students at Stanford, and it stands for Where Everyone Needs to Go. Where does everyone need to go? Less than 30 miles at 35mph apparently, as that's the maximum range and speed of this conveyance, which stylistically has more in common with a utility trailer than something you might want to actually want to pilot. But, pilot this thing you can, controlled by a twist grip on the right and a little PS3-style thumbstick on the left for steering, meaning it's both drive and steer by wire. Power comes from a pair of brushless scooter motors in the (scooter-sized) wheels, and from what we can see from the video below power looks to be rather scooter like as well. The kicker? An anticipated $10k price tag if this ever did come to production. Cool project, guys, and that you threw it together in a few months is hugely impressive, but in our estimation this is not "what a modern vehicle needs to be."
