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New periodic table element names confirmed, textbook makers sigh in relief
What's in a name? If you're the general assembly of the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics, then quite a lot. It's that bunch who have finally rubber-stamped the names of elements Darmstadtium (110), Roentgenium (111) and Copernicum (112) on the Periodic table. The trio are so named in honor of Darmstadt (where it was first created), Wilhelm Röntgen (discoverer of X-Rays) and Nicolaus Copernicus (explaining the universe since 1533). All three elements are "super-heavy", lab-created substances that rapidly degrade down into less interesting materials -- Copernicium-285 has a relatively long half-life of 29 seconds. The ratification went without a hitch, causing a sigh of relief amongst the textbook makers who have included the elements in the table for quite some time. Although we were hoping that element 111 would have to change its name back to the original, nearly unpronounceable unununium. [Image courtesy of the BBC / Talkback Thames]
Social x-ray glasses can decode emotions, make your blind dates less awkward
You may consider yourself a world-class liar, but a new pair of "social x-ray" glasses could soon expose you for the fraud you really are. Originally designed for people suffering from autism, these specs use a rice grain-sized camera to pick up on a person's 24 "feature points" -- facial expressions that convey feelings of confusion, agreement and concentration, among others. Once recognized, these signals are analyzed by software, compared against a database of known expressions and then relayed to users via an attached headphone. If their date starts to feel uncomfortable, a blinking red light lets them know that it's time to shut up. Rosalina Picard, an electrical engineer who developed the prototype with Rana el Kaliouby, acknowledged that her algorithm still needs some fine tuning, but told New Scientist that the glasses have already proved popular with autistic users, who often have difficulty deciphering others' body language. No word yet on when these social specs could hit the market, but they'll probably make us even more anti-social once they do.
Dutch researchers dust off X-ray machine from 1896 to compare it to modern equipment
This one is a bit shocking to us. X-rays were discovered in 1896, and recently, a team of researchers at Maastricht University Medical Center in the Netherlands pulled a machine from 1896 off the shelf for the purpose of comparing its results to modern equipment. The researchers say that this original equipment pumped out around 1,500 times more radiation than new equipment in order to produce its results. Speaking of those results, they are unsurprisingly less sharp and detailed than modern X-rays, but they still look pretty impressive if you ask us. The X-rays were conducted on a cadaver this time around rather than a living person because of the high levels of radiation. Full results will be published in the Journal Radiology this month.
Magic Mirror Kinect hack puts an x-ray spin on augmented reality
That's right -- not even CES can stop the endless wave of Kinect hacks. The latest, and one of the more impressive to date, is the so-called "Magic Mirror" developed by Tobias Blum from the Technical University of Munich, which bridges augmented reality with x-ray vision (of sorts). Of course, the "of sorts" is that it doesn't actually peer through your body to reveal your skeleton (yet), but instead maps a random skeleton from a CT scan onto your frame to create a real-time freakout. As with most Kinect hacks, this one is best seen on video -- check it out after the break.
Kinect Hacks: Real-time (fake) X-ray
X-ray glasses are so 2010. We present for your consideration this Kinect hack from Technical University of Munich researchers, led by one Tobias Blum, who have created a "magic mirror" that lets you see your own skeleton. Okay, so it's not actually your skeleton, but data from some anonymous patient's CT scan, being mapped to your movements to create the spine-tingling effect. Still, make no bones about it: this is one of the more impressive Kinect hacks we've seen to date.
Lightning photographed by superfast X-ray camera, Nikola Tesla nods with approval
You know, we could just leave you with the image above and be done here, but its backstory is almost as cool. Researchers at the Florida Institute of Technology have built a 1,500-pound X-ray camera that can shoot ten million frames a second and then pointed it at a nearby flash of lightning to try and learn more about it. How did they know where the lightning would strike? Well, in true scientific fashion, they caused it themselves! This was done by shooting rockets into thunderstorms, with attached wires directing the flow of energy down into their target zone. The imagery produced from the X-ray sensor is actually extremely low-res -- a 30-pixel hexagonal grid is all you get -- but it's enough to show that X-ray radiation is concentrated at the tip of the lightning bolt. What good that knowledge will do for the world, we don't know, but we're sure it'll provide nice fodder for the next round of superhero empowerment stories.
KDDI au outs Winter 2010 and Spring 2011 collections at the same time
A few of these handsets were already public knowledge, but by and large, KDDI's mind-numbing torrent of phones announced as members of its new Winter 2010 and Spring 2011 collections will leave you once again asking why you haven't sold your four-bedroom suburban home and relocated your entire family to a 125 square foot flat in the heart of Tokyo. We've already talked about the X-Ray, a member of KDDI's fashion-forward iida line, and the 16.4 megapixel Sony Ericsson S006 -- but other highlights include the IS04, IS05, and IS06, Android smartphones from Toshiba, Sharp, and Pantech, respectively (which doesn't even include Sharp's IS03 announced at CEATEC a few days ago). Of the three, none matches the IS03's 960 x 640 display nor its low-power secondary LCD, but the Toshiba Regza IS04 notably features a 12.1 megapixel cam. As the iida line goes, the X-Ray will be joined by the G11, a follow-on to 2009's G9 model -- and from what we can discern, it'll be a GSM / CDMA dual mode slider for international roaming with a touch-sensitive area below the 854 x 480 display in place of the G9's physical keys. Highlights among the other models include an upgraded Sharp Aquos Shot SH010 combining a 14.1 megapixel sensor with a waterproof shell, a Bravia-branded Sony Ericsson S005 with a 1GHz processor, and "simple" phones from Kyocera and Pantech -- the K008 and PT002, respectively -- that are designed for the occasional shopper that actually doesn't want ridiculous specs designed to make every phone outside Japan look like a DynaTAC. There's also a new e-reader, the E Ink-equipped Biblio Leaf SP02, featuring integrated solar recharging -- a smart feature for a device designed to sip power in the first place -- and a new mobile WiFi hotspot from Pantech, the WiFi Walker Data05. If you need to know more, follow the source link, but we've got to warn you: it might be hours before you're done.
KDDI crafts gorgeous see-thru designer phone with LED sub-display and dual-mode radios (video)
KDDI launched a wave of new phones this morning, but this is the one we really want to hold -- it's called the X-RAY, and it's one of two new products in the company's iida designer brand. Crafted by Tokujin Yoshioka, it's a high-end Japanese clamshell with a 1-Seg TV tuner, NFC payments, and an 8 megapixel camera -- you know, the usual -- but with a translucent case (also available in blue and black) that leaves nothing to the imagination. There's a QSD8650 CDMA-ready Snapdragon in there, a GSM radio as well, a 7 x 102 pixel LED scrolling sub-display to display alerts and notifications, plus all the requisite chips and wires beautifully laid out. It'll be on display in Harajuku this Tuesday, but there's no word on availability or price quite yet. However, given that the prime accessory for the X-RAY is a solid crystal stand that makes the phone look like it's floating on air, we probably don't want to know. Video after the break. %Gallery-105254%
Infrared and X-ray spectroscopy sheds light on Greek statues' original color schemes
Life in Classical Greece was a lot more colorful than we've been lead to believe by the weather beaten statues seen in school textbooks and on field trips to museums, and conservators have developed a wide array of techniques to determine precisely how these artifacts were once decorated. In addition to using raking light (lighting at extreme angles to reveal subtle changes in the surface of a work, which can reveal where paint was once applied) and UV light (to reveal organic compounds characteristic of older paints), infrared and X-ray spectroscopy can be used to see which wavelengths of light will be absorbed by a material, and which will be reflected. The reflected wavelength tells the researcher (approximately) which color was once applied. And let us tell you, some of these color combos are... eye catching, to say the least. Hit the source link to see for yourself. Update: Thanks to "sir popo" (if that's his real name) for the More Coverage link!
Terahertz radiation and metamaterials combine to form super X-Ray specs
It looks like somebody actually coughed up the extra dollar for the De Luxe model X-Ray specs in the back of Mad Magazine, then reverse-engineered 'em in the name of science. That somebody is Richard Averitt, whose team at Boston University has come up with a way to use metamaterials and terahertz transmissions to see through you. We've seen metamaterials plenty of times before, typically being used for nefarious deeds on the opposite end of the spectrum: invisibility cloaks. Here they form pixels for a digital imager that can be activated by THz radiation. If you're not familiar with THz radiation, it's a (supposedly perfectly safe) form of energy waves that pass through materials -- much like X-Rays but without all the nasty DNA-shattering effects on the way through. There's just one problem: nobody (not even this guy) has made a powerful enough THz emitter just yet, meaning we're all safely naked under our clothes for at least another few years.
iPad x-rayed, everything looks fine
An orthopedic doctor in Japan wanted to see what made the iPad tick, so he threw it under an x-ray machine and posted the images to his blog. We guess the good doctor (whose name is Dr. Ambition, according to his blog) wasn't happy with all the teardown photos and videos of the iPad. Or maybe he just wanted to see what happens when you pump it full of radiation. Appropriately enough, the iPad's x-ray was processed with OsiriX DICOM medical imaging software for Mac. The good news for the iPad is that nothing was broken and, as long as the stool samples come back negative, it seems it can look forward to a long life. [via Obama Pacman]
Apple's A4 system-on-chip gets decoupled from iPad, investigated with the help of an X-ray
Ever so gently, we're starting to peel away the layers of mystery surrounding the A4 system-on-chip that powers Apple's fancy new slate device. iFixit, helped by reverse engineering firm Chipworks, have gone to the trouble of both dissecting and X-raying the iPad's central processing hub in their quest to lift the veil of ignorance. Their findings confirmed that the A4 is built using a "package on package" method, meaning that the 256MB of Samsung-provided SDRAM is stacked immediately atop the CPU, which is noted as being reductive to both latency and energy use. With a single core processor inside, the iFixit team concluded the iPad had to be running on a Cortex A8 -- which is very much the likeliest choice at this point -- but their assertion that it couldn't be a Cortex A9 MPCore inside is inaccurate, as those chips also come in single-core options. Either way, it'll be interesting to see how it stacks up against Samsung's Hummingbird chip, which was designed by Intrinsity, the same company Apple is being rumored to have recently acquired. Finally, the visual inspection of the iPad's mobo puts a model number to the already known PowerVR GPU, narrowing it down to the SGX 535, while also naming and picturing a number of other exciting components, such as the always popular capacitive touchscreen controller. Hit the source link below for all the lurid images.
Researchers create Amazing X-Ray Wireless Network!
Don't freak out or anything, but those wireless signals you bask in everyday could be watching you. Or at least they might, someday, if the work from a group of researchers at the University of Utah makes it beyond the lab. As Technology Review's Physics arXiv blog reports, they've devised a means to modify a standard 802.15.4 wireless network (commonly used by home automation services like ZigBee) to actually "see" movement through walls, and with some degree of accuracy, no less. As you might expect, however, that's not quite as simple as a firmware upgrade, and currently requires a 34-node network to keep watch on a standard living room, which is apparently enough to pin down moving objects within a meter or so. To do that, the system essentially bombards the space with an array of wireless signals and keeps watch on any changes in signal strength, building up a "picture" of the room in the process. No promises on a commercial version just yet, but the researchers see plenty of potential for it, and are even talking about a portable, GPS-equipped version that police or emergency responders could use before entering a dangerous area.
Transparent aluminum! Would that be worth somethin' to ya, eh?
It's hard to say if boffins at Oxford University got their inspiration from Nimoy and Co., but one thing's for sure: they aren't joking about the creation of transparent aluminum. In what can only be described as a breakthrough for the ages, a team of mad scientists across the way have created "a completely new state of matter nobody has seen before" by blasting aluminum walls (around one-inch thick) with brief pulses of soft X-ray light, each of which is "more powerful than the output of a power plant that provides electricity to a whole city." For approximately 40 femtoseconds, an "invisible effect" is seen, giving the gurus hope that their experiment could lead to new studies in exotic states of matter. For a taste of exactly what we mean, feel free to voice command your PC to jump past the break. Or use the keyboard, if you're feeling quaint.
Cute new X-ray machines for hospitals to peek at you
A Japanese company called Shimadzu has unveiled a new mobile X-ray machine designed to help reduce the anxiety level of hospitalized children -- by showing them Pokemans. The self-contained X-ray cart, available to Japanese hospitals on the 17th, features a Pokémon Diamond and Pearl theme, with pictures of smiling Pokemon all over it, as well as precious Pokeball wheels. On a more practical note, the mobile nature of the device allows X-rays to be taken of kids who can't be moved to a dedicated X-ray room.We kind of want to say something about the commercialization of even hospital equipment, and the use of hospitals as ad space, but kids love Pokémon, especially in Japan, and we suspect that seeing this contraption could induce a moment of genuine happiness. [Via Famitsu]
Scotch tape surprises everyone by producing X-rays
As far as we're concerned, sticky tape is mostly just for out-there modding projects, but scientists have confirmed another use for it: X-rays. After hearing word of research in that direction by Soviet scientists in the 1950s, researchers at UCLA peeled scotch tape at 1.18 inches per second in a vacuum chamber and found that X-ray pulses were emitted by the process. A human thumb has already been successfully X-rayed by this technique, and if future investigation proceeds swimmingly, paramedics and aid workers operating off the grid might be able to do X-rays without bulky and dangerous nuclear technologies. We'll admit it -- we never saw scotch tape X-rays coming, but then, neither did you, right?[Via Switched]
X-ray Light exposes our failure to be super
It's a shame that the amazing always becomes ordinary given enough time and popular exposure. Case in point: the x-ray. Childhood longings to possess such visual power are ultimately replaced by painful memories of leaden-concealed trips to the emergency room. Until this, the X-Ray Light from designer Wonsuk Cho. A whimsical look through the lampshade for eyes eager to see. Unfortunately, these lampshade / lights aren't yet available to purchase -- another dream dashed by cruel reality.[Via Technabob]
TSA to introduce less annoying laptop bag rules this Saturday
According to a report in USA Today, starting on Saturday the TSA will be relaxing its policies on laptop removal from bags, and will be letting specific bags types ride through the X-ray machines with their cargo intact. The agency will allow travelers using bags which provide an unobstructed view of the computer inside to keep their laptops tucked away during the screening process, though they'll still require "accordion" or "backpack" style bag-users to grab a bin. The TSA isn't naming names or attaching labels to specific bags, but has provided guidelines to fliers suggesting what style would be most conducive to not getting shaken down every time you go to the airport. Of course, the TSA could have been doing this since the start of their time-wasting (and false-security-inducing) process, thus saving us innumerable headaches... but that would have made too much sense.
Portable medical scanners built to interface with cellphones
You know those elephant-sized medical scanners? Totally amazing machines, sure, but things like that aren't apt to be shipped into obscure jungles throughout Africa. Thankfully, a team of researchers have developed something that could bring medical scanning to an even larger chunk of the world: a real live Tricorder. Of course, it's not really going by that moniker, but the diminutive scanner is able to interface with a cellphone via USB and utilize its 3G / WiFi access to send raw scan data to servers and receive images back. Granted, you won't get any high-resolution viewing from your average mobile, but it's certainly a step in the right direction.
X-rays get boost from "dark field" technology
While it may not give you quite the graphic glimpse as some of the recent CT scanners we've seen, a group of researchers at the Niels Bohr Institute in Copenhagen, Denmark think their new and improved x-ray system still won't have any trouble catching on, and the results are certainly hard to argue with. The key to those sharper pics, it seems, is so-called "dark field microscopy," a technique that, as NewScientist points out, is normally used by biologists. As you might expect, however, there's some upsides and downsides to this particular technique. On the plus side, all that's needed is a simple set of four silicon filters in addition to some standard x-ray equipment. Unfortunately, those four filters mean you also have to take four separate images to get one clear image, giving the patient quite the extra dose of radiation. Even so, the researchers say there are some circumstances where that would be justified, including using the technology to give airport screeners a better peek at potential explosives.
