This Seems Like a Great Idea

Recently eaten: baked potato
Recent annoyance: oh, forget it

I am sure that there is science behind taping magnets to a crocodile's head. However, the quote "Hey, we might as well give it a try" really doesn't help their case. Also, does this work on people?

Using magnets to repel crocodiles (via YahooNews)
Florida wildlife managers have launched an experiment to see if they can keep crocodiles from returning to residential neighborhoods by temporarily taping magnets to their heads to disrupt their "homing" ability.

Researchers at Mexico's Crocodile Museum in Chiapas reported in a biology newsletter they had some success with the method, using it to permanently relocate 20 of the reptiles since 2004.

"We said, 'Hey, we might as well give this a try," Lindsey Hord, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission's crocodile response coordinator, said on Tuesday.

"Hey, take this magnet off of my head!"
(photo by www.amcostarica.com)

My Avatar Ate My Homework

Recently eaten: chipotle burrito
Recent annoyance: puddles

how times have changed. Back in they day people dropped out of college because they couldn't hack it, or drank themselves into oblivion. These kids today...what are they thinking?

FCC Terms World of Warcraft Leading Cause of College Dropouts (via DCist)
With the explosion of educational resources available online, one might think parents would be 100% pleased with the internet’s role in their children’s lives. But surveys show just the opposite: a late 2006 survey that showed 59% of parents think the internet has been a totally positive influence in their children’s lives-- down from 67% in 2004.

You might find it alarming that one of the top reasons for college drop-outs in the U.S. is online gaming addiction - such as World of Warcraft - which is played by 11 million individuals worldwide.

"Hey Prof, I'm too busy slaying creatures to take this prelim. Thanks for understanding."

I'll Take Two

Recently eaten: cornflake tilapia
Recent annoyance: cut on my tongue

While this garden accessory might keep unsavory people out, it may also attract a completely different set of weirdos. I am going to wait for the 2nd generation version that also waters my lawn.

Animatronic zombie that rises out of your garden and chases people, dragging its entrails (BoingBoing)
Remote controlled zombie is powered by (2) 12-volt batteries and runs on (4) DC motors. It groans, screams, & talks with numerous sounds via digital sound and onboard amp & speaker. Includes battery charger.

"Why do you put me out only at Halloween?"

Meatwater

Recently eaten: beef noodle soup
Recent annoyance: severe leakage from nose and eyes ( I look like a cocker spaniel)

I don't know if this Meatwater is for real, or maybe it's an April Fool's joke. But, the pages look pretty legit. I think the most beguiling flavor is the Hungarian Gulash. I don't even know what that is. I thought that's where they sent prisoners to break rocks, or something.

I Accept You, My New Robot Overlords

And, just because it's Friday...

Who Let the Killer Robot Out?

Recently eaten: sesame chicken
Recent annoyance: I need a belt

This story isn't about what I thought it was. Here I was thinking that someone had unleashed an army of killer robots on the unwitting Australian populace as a test run for the larger continents of Asia, Europe and north America. Nope, just some old dude with a death wish.

Killer robot shoots man dead on driveway
An 81-year-old man has shot himself dead with an elaborate suicide robot built using plans downloaded from the internet.

The Gold Coast man, who lived alone, left notes of his plans and thoughts as he struggled to come to terms with demands by interstate relatives that he move out his home and into care.

He spent hours searching the internet for a way to kill himself, downloaded what he needed and then built a complex machine that would remotely fire a gun.

He set the device up in his driveway about 7am yesterday, placed himself in front of it and set it in motion.

His notes explained that he chose the driveway as he knew there were tradesmen working next door who would find his body. The plan worked as the workmen heard the gunshots and ran to investigate.

The machine was attached to a .22 semi-automatic pistol loaded with four bullets.

It was able to fire multiple shots into the man's head after he activated it.

I Can Smell Your Fear

Recently eaten: turkey burger with red pepper relish
Recent annoyance: if it's so bad for me, why does it taste so good?

What's next? A fire alarm that slaps you in the face, pours a bucket of cold water on you, and gives you a wet willy?

Horseradish fire alarm
A new type of fire alarm in Japan has been developed using the pungent smell of horseradish.

The device is drawing attention as a new way to warn people with hearing disabilities.

Medical equipment manufacturers have developed a technology to extract components of the strong odor of horseradish, seal them inside a can and spray them out.

Shiga University of Medical Science Hospital cooperated with the makers and carried out experiments to see if the horseradish smell can wake up people from a deep sleep.

Fourteen people, including those with hearing disabilities, took part in the experiments.

In the experiment, 13 out of the 14 subjects woke up in less than two minutes after the smell reached their noses.

The people with hearing disabilities were particularly quick to wake up, with one person emerging from sleep in just 10 seconds.

Assistant professor Makoto Imai at Shiga University of Medical Science says the experiment was useful to ensure that the new device allows those with hearing disabilities to escape during an emergency.

The makers intend to put the fire alarm on the market in two years.

Take a Bike!

Recently eaten: spicy crunchy yellowtail roll
Recent annoyance: who are the crazies that leave piles of bread or oatmeal out on the sidewalks in the morning?

I normally don't report on local DC news, but I have to say this is one of the better ideas I have seen in this city. I'd also challenge the District to create some pedestrian or bike-only areas. Seems the only places that cars can't go is near the White House. I'm sick of dodging diplomat plates in Dupont Circle, only allow through traffic under the Circle and cars can go around. Harumph!

SmartBike Program comes to the Penn Quarter

The Way of the Future

Recently eaten: blackened catfish
Recent annoyance: dry eyeballs

Man, I would be all over the library if they had stuff like this. Heck, I'd even turn my books in late. Maybe Blockbuster will catch on to this...or, maybe they'll just keep offering little to no selection that is always checked out, and bad customer service. yeah, that's the ticket!

Librarian will lower late fees if you play Dance, Dance, Revolution
Library users with unpaid fines had a chance to redeem themselves Thursday during the annual Patron Appreciation Day at the Wadleigh Memorial Library.

Instead of a scolding when they arrived, delinquent patrons were received like party guests.

Patrons were invited to make good on unpaid fines by donating canned and packaged foods for the local soup kitchen or by entering a dance competition, “Dance Dance Revolution.”

To sweeten the pot, during most of the day the library served coffee, bagels, pastries and ice cream, donated by area businesses.

By midafternoon, the cans and packages were piling up on a table inside library director Michelle Sampson’s office while circulation assistant Katie Spofford was setting up the video dance game on a PlayStation in a carpeted room upstairs.

The game, which was developed in Japan, consists of two pads electronically connected to the video with identical square patterns and arrows. The same arrows show up on the screen, directing the dancers, step by step.

The players program in how many will be playing and the level of the dance’s difficulty. They also choose a song.

With feet on the mat and eyes on the screen, they move their feet to the beat of the music, following the arrows on the screen with their eyes and those on the pad with their feet.

Milford High School student Arienne Stearns, 16, was the first contestant.

Last year, Stearns said, she borrowed 16 books for a school project and returned them two weeks after they were due, racking up a $14 fine she still hadn’t paid.

“I gave them to mom to drop off, and she kept forgetting,” the teenager said. “I said, ‘Mom, you’re gonna make me pay a lot of money.’ ”

Stearns, who has been playing Dance Dance for three years, approached the dance mat confidently, selecting a challenge one level higher than her opponent’s.

The pressure was on. The screen flashed red-lettered words that said “perfect” or “great” or “boo” while the dancers took their steps.

At the end, the electronic judge delivered the results: Stearns scored a “C,” a grade higher than Spofford’s “D,” and exactly what she needed to have her debt forgiven.

Almost 10,000 patrons, from children to the elderly, borrowed more than 205,000 items, books, magazines, music, movies and more from the town library last year, and many of them were late in returning those materials.

Sampson, the library director, couldn’t say how many late fines hadn’t been paid. Nor had she tallied the number of books and other things that were either lost or returned in damaged condition, situations that couldn’t be remedied by donating food or entering the dance contest.

“If they’re damaged or lost, replacement costs of the items are due,” she said.

The teen and preteen girls who showed up to play Dance Dance included 18-year-old Missy Hutchins, who owed $5 in fines, and Elicia Vallier, 12, and Maria Romanenko, 11, who had no debts to pay.

Hutchins, who has been playing the video dance game for four years, including several as part of DDR club at Milford High School, won her round against Spofford and happily reported to the front desk with a coupon she used to pay off her $5 obligation.

The other girls took second turns competing against the librarian, just for fun.

“Video games are things kids like to do, and we thought this would bring them in to the library,” Spofford said before the dance contest began. “If they have fines, they don’t come in. We don’t want them to be afraid to come in.”

Pour One Out For My Pumpkin

Recently eaten: italian sub
Recent annoyance: it's October people, give me a break on the heat and the mosquitoes

I thought this was a pretty cool and seasonal idea. I ahve no idea how brewing beer in a pumpkin might affect the taste or hygiene of said beer, but who cares. Smashing a beer-filled pumpkin is way cooler than just throwing one of the ones with seeds in it.

Btw, I went pumpkin patching for the first time recently. I wasn't really feeling it. The patch was full of vines and rotting pumpkins. There were small children underfoot trying to roll enormous pumpkins around which was a lawsuit waiting to happen. And then you have to carry the mofo out of there yourself. No thanks, Whole Foods has perfectly respectable jack-o-lanterns.

Brewing in a pumpkin

UN-characteristically Hip

Recently eaten: tamales
Recent annoyance: aren't the mosquitoes dead yet?

A rare work-related post:

Our blog UN Dispatch has been able to bring bloggers (real live people, not just an avatar image) to the United Nations today. They will be live blogging from the meetings all day and it is the first time bloggers have been accredited to attend. Check out the live posts at http://www.undispatch.com/livefromtheun.php.

Behold the power of the internet!

Extra Credit

Recently eaten: very rare burger
Recent annoyance: the stinky old homeless man who really, really, really wants to have a conversation with me about race and ethnicity at the bus stop

You gotta give this guy credit for having a dream and seeing it through to fruition. Sure, it has some grisly results. But in this world where people concoct elaborate plans to hurt each other, isn't it refreshing to see that some people are still trying to do some good in the world? Although I doubt that this DIY project will get onto the cover of the next issue of Make Magazine.

Man build guillotine to kill himself
The body of a 41-year-old man was found in a wooded area next to a guillotine he built and used to kill himself, police said. The man, from the Detroit suburb of Melvindale, was discovered Monday by workers from a shopping center near his home.

Allen Park Deputy Police Chief Dale Covert said the roughly six-foot tall guillotine was bolted to a tree and included a swing arm. Covert said police also found several store receipts detailing the materials used to assemble the device.

"I can't even tell you how long it must have taken him to construct," he said. "This man obviously was very determined to end his life."

Dr. K's Seal of Approval

Out of Body, Out of Mind

Recently eaten: stir fry
Recent annoyance: I have gone almost the entire summer without being attacked by mosquitoes, but after this past weekend, I now have 7 new bites

The basis for this research seems to originate from the movie Office Space when Peter asks the therapist to put some voodoo on him so that he doesn't know he's at work when he's actually in the office. Basically that's what the Swiss have got going here.

Out-of-body experience recreated
Experts have found a way to trigger an out-of-body experience in volunteers.

The experiments, described in the Science journal, offer a scientific explanation for a phenomenon experienced by one in 10 people.

Two teams used virtual reality goggles to con the brain into thinking the body was located elsewhere.

The visual illusion plus the feel of their real bodies being touched made volunteers sense that they had moved outside of their physical bodies.

The researchers say their findings could have practical applications, such as helping take video games to the next level of virtuality so the players feel as if they are actually inside the game.

Clinically, surgeons might also be able to perform operations on patients thousands of miles away by controlling a robotic virtual self.

Teleported

For some, out-of-body experiences or OBEs occurs spontaneously, while for others it is linked to dangerous circumstances, a near-death experience, a dream-like state or use of alcohol or drugs.

One theory is that it is down to how people perceive their own body - those unhappy or less in touch with their body are more likely to have an OBE.

But the two teams, from University College London, UK, and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne, believe there is a neurological explanation.

Their work suggests a disconnection between the brain circuits that process visual and touch sensory information may thus be responsible for some OBEs.

In the Swiss experiments, the researchers asked volunteers to stand in front of a camera while wearing video-display goggles.


Through these goggles, the volunteers could see a camera view of their own back - a three-dimensional "virtual own body" that appeared to be standing in front of them.

When the researchers stroked the back of the volunteer with a pen, the volunteer could see their virtual back being stroked either simultaneously or with a time lag.

The volunteers reported that the sensation seemed to be caused by the pen on their virtual back, rather than their real back, making them feel as if the virtual body was their own rather than a hologram.

Volunteers

Even when the camera was switched to film the back of a mannequin being stroked rather than their own back, the volunteers still reported feeling as if the virtual mannequin body was their own.

And when the researchers switched off the goggles, guided the volunteers back a few paces, and then asked them to walk back to where they had been standing, the volunteers overshot the target, returning nearer to the position of their "virtual self".

Dr Henrik Ehrsson, who led the UCL research, used a similar set-up in his tests and found volunteers had a physiological response - increased skin sweating - when they felt their virtual self was being threatened - appearing to be hit with a hammer.

Dr Ehrsson said: "This experiment suggests that the first-person visual perspective is critically important for the in-body experience. In other words, we feel that our self is located where the eyes are."

Dr Susan Blackmore, psychologist and visiting lecturer at the University of the West of England, said: "This has at last brought OBEs into the lab and tested one of the main theories of how they occur.

"Scientists have long suspected that the clue to these extraordinary, and sometimes life-changing, experiences lies in disrupting our normal illusion of being a self behind our eyes, and replacing it with a new viewpoint from above or behind."

I Wish I Had Thought Of That

Recently eaten: shrimp and pesto pizza
Recent annoyance: ineffective toilet plungers

I wish I had thought of something cool to engrave on my iPod instead of my name. This guy engraved "It's time for hoboes to take over the US govt"

So true. So true.

A Salt And Battery

Recently eaten: chicken and polenta
Recent annoyance: those creepy anti drug commercials where the dog talks

Now I've never had much of a sweet tooth. The gods must have heard my salty plea, because they built this entire hotel out of salt in Bolivia. not sure what the going rate is or what the beds are like, but staying in a giant salt lick doesn't sound so bad.

New Salt Hotel Built in Bolivia
Visitors may want to take luxury with a grain of salt at this remote accommodation.

The hotel, seen above on July 14, is among a handful constructed solely of salt blocks on the white plains of the Salar de Uyuni in southwestern Bolivia.

The 4,085 square-mile (10,580 square-kilometer) region is the world's largest salt desert. The desert was once a lake 40,000 years ago, and it is now a hot spot for adventure tourism.

The blindingly white flats stretch as far as the eye can see, except for a few raised mounds of salt. Despite its barren appearance, the desert hosts cacti and rare hummingbirds, and three species of flamingos stop over each year to breed.

Until the recent tourist boom, the only inhabitants of the chilly, harsh region were salt miners, who still extract 25,000 tons of salt annually from the 10 billion tons available.

Prime Rib

Recently eaten: santa fe chicken pizza
Recent annoyance: pulling a muscle I never knew existed

Well, in these dog days of summer, nothing interesting is happening except juvenile delinquency and melting ice cream. On a brighter note, the new Transformers movie is so kick-ass, I may never be able to sit down again.

Here is a funny McSweeney's piece about Optimus Prime.

By The Beard of Zeus

Recently eaten: rotisserie chicken, per us
Recent annoyance: that kid on the bus having a loud conversation with nobody, and his mother who permits it

Well, it was bound to happen. Between the liger and the wholphin, the zorse has made it's stunning debut. Although if you ask me, this thing looks like a total fake. They just threw some white paint on a zebra and let it run around a farm.

Meet the zorse

Strumming My Pain With His Fingers

Recently eaten: sesame ginger chicken wrap
Recent annoyance: giant mosquito bite on the top of my foot

I know this is really insensitive, but I always thought a bionic finger or a metal hook for a hand would be weird. Like, maybe you were trying to pet a dog and it started gnawing on the thing but you never noticed. I'm sure I will receive some scathing letters from people telling me that fake fingers have feelings too...well, not real feelings with nerve endings etc. You know what I mean.

Mechanical fingers give speed, strength to amputees
If the X-Finger looks like a prop from The Terminator, relax. It isn't out to kill you, and it isn't robotic. In fact, it's a mechanical prosthetic finger so effective it provides articulation as fast and flexible as the real thing.

Invented by Dan Didrick of Naples, Florida, the device has no batteries, electronics, servos or actuators. Instead, each digit incorporates a simple mechanism which, when pushed by the surviving part of the wearer's finger, curls a set of artificial phalanges.

"Having a body-powered device leaves little room for mechanical failure," Didrick said, adding that there aren't any robotic medical alternatives. "Many people assumed a device such as mine already existed."

In practice, however, robotic fingers are always attached to robotic hands and arms. Losing an entire limb, however unpleasant, allows the prosthetic manufacturer more room to conceal complicated electronics.

About one in 150 people have lost a digit to war, misadventure or misfortune.

Made of steel and blue plastic, Didrick's X-Finger allows for a surprising degree of dexterity: Enough to grip (and swing) a golf club, operate a keyboard or even play musical instruments.

When the wearer bends the remaining portion of his or her finger, the tight fit causes it to depress a lever on the X-Finger, articulating the device in proportion to the pressure exerted.

The precision mechanism guides the digit's movements to match those of adjacent fingers, creating an uncannily realistic prosthesis where it counts most: mobility, power and accuracy.

In May, Didrick was awarded second prize in the History Channel's Modern Marvels Invent Now Challenge, beating thousands of other entries to claim a $5,000 award.

The X-Finger, which currently costs thousands of dollars per digit, might seem expensive to prospective buyers. But it's not a get-rich-quick scheme for its inventor: Didrick, 37, sold his house, his Porsche and many of his personal possessions to help fund development, and he draws only a modest salary from sales of his invention.

"We only receive a fraction of the overall costs ourselves," Didrick said. "Also, many people would be surprised to learn that a cosmetic silicone artificial finger, offering only passive function, with no mechanical structure, can cost $5,500 from an anaplastologist."

Didrick's X-Finger works much like a real finger, with its flexing motion actuated by movements in the surviving parts of the wearer's finger and hand.

Manufacturing is currently taken care of by a firm in California, but it is able to make only a few fingers a week. Investment will expedite production, Didrick hopes.

Didrick started out as a maker of realistic monster masks, and eventually moved to Japan, where he planned to work at the movies. Though Didrick didn't make a career articulating Gojira's mighty digits, he noticed that many workers in heavily industrialized Kawasaki were missing their own. After crafting a silicone replacement for a stranger at a party, word spread and he was soon supplying artificial fingers to inattentive machine operators.

Returning to America, he found a patient who needed a more versatile facsimile, leading him to study anatomy and invest in CAD software. Six years later, the resulting invention is a commercial reality.

The finger, however, is only the beginning. Didrick is already working on an entire hand articulated in similar fashion using the wrist, and has been approached to craft toes using the same principle.

"Our new approach to prosthetic technology will have a significant impact, not only on the thousands of lives it will change, but also to spark the ingenuity of our youth to develop new technologies for the future."

All Blowed Up With Nowhere to Go

Recently eaten: chicken shawarma
Recent annoyance: there was wounded pigeon in my garden last night and I had to wait for it to limp away before I could go inside

Why didn't that have freaking awesome camps like this when I was young? I was forced to go to nerd camp where the science projects were old hat, like the egg drop. Who knew there was an enginerd shortage int he field. Maybe a second career is calling to me in demolition.

At camp, teens blow stuff up, as they're told
While some teens use their summers to learn sailing, archery or soccer, Brandon Meadows attends Summer Explosives Camp in Missouri to learn how to use dynamite.

"Some people like baseball, others like math – I just like to set off bombs," he said. "I figure here, learning how to do it properly is better than messing around with it at home, right?"

Meadows is one of 20 teenage campers enrolled in a weeklong explosion camp in the Missouri Ozarks. At the camp, high school students from as far away as Egypt and Hawaii shoot dynamite, TNT and plastic explosives.

The camp's leader, Paul Worsey, a professor at the University of Missouri, Rolla, uses the camp as a way to attract new recruits into the unglamorous field of mine engineering. He recruits students to help carry on the industry, which is facing a serious personnel shortage.

"It's critically important," Worsey said. "These are our workers to sustain this industry going forward."

So far, the camp is working. Meadows has already enrolled in the explosives engineering program at the University of Missouri at Rolla for next fall.

In fact, since Worsey started the camp in the hills just outside Rolla, Mo., five years ago, enrollment in the university's program has more than doubled, up to about 135.

"One of the good things about it is that we manage to attract the kids that might otherwise get into a little bit of trouble," Worsey said. "[We] give them a good outlet and an opportunity for a career."

Worsey said most students from the camp will end up attending the explosives engineering program at the university, which is a recognized leader in the industry.

The students are critical to an industry that is rapidly declining.

Each year, U.S. engineers shoot billions of pounds of explosives in mines and quarries, but many of those engineers are about to retire. Bruce Watzman, with the National Mining Association, said about 5,000 mining engineers will hang up their hardhats in the next decade and the number of mine engineering graduates has dwindled to about 100 a year.

Worsey knows recruitment is vital so he tucks little physics lessons into every detonation.

One such lesson presented itself when a concrete column erupted into a hail of rocky chunks, but continued to hang together on its dense, steel frame, despite the skull-thumping blast. Worsey reminded students to always do test shots – the only way to determine how much rebar is hidden in the concrete before a blast.

During his week at camp, Niels Zussblatt, a teen from St. Louis, helped blast a rock from deep in a mine, obliterated a watermelon, cut steel beams and set off a "wall of fire."

One of his favorites?

"Blowing up the chicken was good," he said. "It flew – forced bits of chicken guts to fly like 40 to 50 feet."

Before completing the chicken explosion, Zussblatt heeded his professor's warning: When you are looking at the explosion, do not have your mouth open.

My Name Is Craig!

Recently eaten: burger
Recent annoyance: that funny toenail that always grows all weird

Well, just call me Alexithymia!

The robot that sweats
Alexithymia is a term that means the incapacity to verbalize emotions. When some sufferers want to talk but are unable to utter the words, they start sweating to manifest the desire to communicate.

Alexitimia is also the name that Paula Gaetano, an artist from Buenos Aires, gave to her robot. It's a big blob that feels like rubber when you touch it. But it also sweats when you caress its surface. Paula Gaetano has a background in fine art but collaborated with scientists and techno experts to develop the robot. The only sensors are for touch and the only output is water that runs from a tank hidden in the base of the work.