No high Five here !

Having trouble getting the lid off that pickle jar? Well, perhaps the Human Grasp Assist device can help. Designed through a collaboration between GM and NASA - and also known as Robo-Glove or K-Glove - the device is based on grasping technology initially developed for the hands of the space-going Robonaut 2. Essentially a power-assisted work glove, Robo-Glove is designed to minimize repetitive stress injuries in both astronauts and autoworkers. Robonaut 2, for those who don't know, is a humanoid robot that is currently helping out with tasks aboard the International Space Station. It has actuators in each of its fingers, along with pressure sensors that give it a simulated sense of touch. Robo-Glove likewise has actuators in the upper sections of each finger, along with pressure sensors. When the sensors detect that an object is being grasped by the user, the actuators cause the glove's fingers' synthetic tendons to retract, pulling them into a gripping position and holding them there until further notice. In this way, the user doesn't have to strain to maintain their grip, thus protecting them from injury.

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paper Lab

In First World countries' medical systems, the standard way of checking a patient's body fluid samples is to send them off to a lab. In developing nations, however, such labs often don't exist, nor does the infrastructure for transporting biological samples. Fortunately, a number of groups have been developing simple, inexpensive testing devices that could be used by clinicians in these countries. One of the latest gadgets is the very simple origami Paper Analytical Device, or oPAD - it's made out of paper, could be purchased for under 10 cents, and is folded together by the user.

The device was invented by Hong Liu and Richard Crooks, chemists at the University of Texas at Austin. Liu got the idea after reading a paper by Harvard chemist George Whitesides, who had created a three-dimensional microfluidic paper-bodied biosensor. Whitesides' device, however, required multiple pieces of paper to be patterned using photolithography, cut with lasers, then stuck together with two-sided tape. This somewhat complex production process would presumably be reflected in its price, and would require that it be assembled by trained personnel.
Liu remembered being taught origami as a child in China, and wondered if a similar sensor could be created from a single sheet of paper, shipped flat, then folded into shape on-site. After a few weeks of experiments, he discovered that it indeed could.The principle is relatively straightforward. Using photolithography or even an office printer, a hydrophobic material such as wax or photoresist is deposited into miniature canyons on chromatography paper. When a liquid sample is introduced, those canyons guide it to areas on the paper treated with reagents. Should the sample contain the targeted substance, then the reagent will visibly react by changing color, or fluorescing under ultraviolet light. Different reagents can be used, depending on what's being tested for. Many people, of course, are already familiar with paper sensors such as those used for pregnancy tests. The oPAD, however, is able to test for more substances using a smaller surface area, and is able to perform more involved tests.
In its current form, the paper must be unfolded at the end of the process, to reveal the color of the reagent. The scientists, however, have already developed a method of equipping the oPAD with a small battery, that could do things such as lighting up a small bulb if a given substance was present. They estimate that it would only add a few cents to the cost of the device.

Hit them drums !

A masterpiece made for peace!

The porcelain Unicorn

Print your house

The cloud as a new artobject !

http://www.berndnaut.nl/

March 7th... IPAD3 ??

Now or never...

The Long Now Initiative

http://longnow.org/about/

Can You survive information overload ?

In order to find out check this wonderfull "Amazing" Psychiatry blog sequentially ! (see you back in a century or two)

Go Cognitive

Nils Birmbauer on EEG NFB

Out of the way... here I come !

See him speaking

Ipods and Monasteries: same logistics

Innovation spreads according to a universal law of Logistics.

This is the case with Ipod but equally so with Cistercienser Monastries. Check out the story in Wired.

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Korbinian Brodmann's Brain

No Route 66 in a Korbinian Brain.

A blog not to be missed

here....

Your next workstation ?

sttt.. big brother can hear You !

Suppose You look at a film and sole inaudible secret hyperfrequency code is emitted (embedded in the sound track)  that your poor biological ear cannot perceive but of course Your Iphone can. Your Iphone opens a browser page to this encoded IP adres. Science Fiction ? no more . Check the app at SonicNotify.. demo included


Sonic Notify demo 1.0 from Densebrain on Vimeo.


Hé .  it really works !

Go Cognitive

Lots of good resources here !

http://gocognitive.net/

Loreta Book

All You ever wanted to know about Loreta (and more) but were afraid to ask. Now Rex Cannon has done the job for us. This is essential reading. Get it here

From surface to sources: real time

Sensics ? makes sense

I know of some CREW members whom this little gem could inspire to some creative ideas ...:-)

Nose mounted TV

Vuzix Corporation came to CES 2012 armed with a video eyewear technology that, as they put it in the press release, "breaks the boundaries of conventional optics and display solutions". SMART Glasses Technology is based on integrated HD display engines and waveguide optics, as opposed to refractive and/or reflective optics used so far. What does that actually mean and is this technology really going to make Head Mounted Displays lose their association with bulkiness and strange looks? Read on for a report straight from the CES 2012 floor.

The wares proudly displayed in Las Vegas crown years of internal R&D work coupled with a recent licensing deal with Nokia. The SMART Glasses Technology relies on a compact HD display engine churning out images with brightness and contrast good enough for outdoor use. The output passes through a 1.4 mm thick plastic waveguide lens and the resulting image is extended in 2D into the user's eyes.

Anesthesia and Consciousness

Interesting article.

Black Hider

take a small tank such as an Abraham mark I. Coat the thing with silicon and grow some carbon nanotubes on it. pitch it into black night and oeps it's invisible ! Simple receipe. Now still to get rid of IR thermic signature.

Ok now take a Klingon warship. Coat it with silicon, grow some... ok You get the picture. Space is a black dark... background.

Time and Time again

Spotify has come to Belgium

When ? At last !

If looks could kill ? Now they will !!

Well, indeed now they can. So, never, never let this guy look You in the eye. A not so nice application of integrated man machine interfacing but who knows , one day we will come up with a more peaceful medical application of this HADRS system.

On wings of glory

A new form of (breathtaking) windsurfing.

Autism: modern neuroscientific perspectives

A fine thema at Nature Neuroscience: worth more then a dime !

Find all entries here or click on the title image

The future of neuropsychiatry

At a time when most pharmaceutical compagnies tend to withdraw from the field of neuropsychiatry (to much generics , to little time to gain and to complex the field) some will take the torch to hold it high and lighten the path that we can and should all take to port neuroscientific psychiatry into the future. Janssen Pharmaceutica (J&J) has done this with honor and valor and today have shown at the Guislain Museum that they are committed to people and truly care for mental health just as their founder Dr Paul Janssen (haldol, Risperidone...) did before. What a great day that was. A day of dreams and hope but also a day of inspiration and energy for us neuroscientists, now that we know we are not alone in carrying forward this honorable Hippocratic visison.
There were speeches from many prominent people but especially Gen. Br. R.Stockman, ex senator Patrick Kennedy and especially Dr.Manji (cfr picture; head of Neuroscience research at J&J) to inspire and motivate us. This day was pivotal in my mind.

Thanks to all You for keeping the dreams of Dr. J.Guislain, Kan. Triest and the legendary Dr Pol, alive.

I am really impressed, grateful and proud to have been there.

Georges

Sen. Patrick Kennedy: One Mind Research: DONATE !!