By Richard Reeves If Americans had really understood what was happening with the Peace Corps, we might be a much greater country today and the world might be a better place as well. Related Entries January 25, 2011 Climate Benefits of Natural Gas May Be Overstated January 25, 2011 Rahm Emanuel Catches a Break in Mayoral Race
Continue reading …
The noises generated by road traffic may increase the risk of stroke, especially in older people, new research indicates.
Continue reading …
Superbugs that are resistant to antibiotics, long known to create life-threatening infections in hospital patients, could also be originating from animal farms where antibiotics are used to promote growth, potentially threatening human health, new research suggests.
Continue reading …
When President Barack Obama gives his State of the Union address, some Democrats and Republicans will sit together in a show of unity. That’s a sharp departure from the usual arrangement where the two parties sit apart. (Jan. 25)
Continue reading …
Sadists at the German Aerospace Center’s (DLR) Institute of Robotics and Mechatronics are showing off their latest development in anthropomorphic appendages : a robotic hand that can take a beating from a baseball bat and still give you the middle finger (or a thumbs-up, we suppose). Researchers apparently designed the limb to function like only a human hand can, and it seems they’ve done a decent job: it’s got five independently functioning fingers, sports 19 degrees of freedom (one less than the real deal), and can even snap them phalanges — oh no they didn’t! It’s also got the ability to exert a force of 30 newtons from its fingertips. So what makes it so resilient? The robo-hand has a built-in web of 38 tendons, which allow it to adapt its stiffness under different circumstances: a step away, its creators say, from rigid appendages of the past. There’s a video of the hand taking a beating after the jump, but honestly, we’d prefer to see what happens when the hand fights back. Continue reading German robot hand takes a licking, apparently keeps on ticking (video) German robot hand takes a licking, apparently keeps on ticking (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 25 Jan 2011 19:58:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …
A grand piano recently showed up on a sandbar in Miami’s Biscayne Bay, and no one seems to know who put it there. (Jan. 5)
Continue reading …After Google’s uncharacteristic (and swift) action against Flash game clearinghouse Kongregate when its Android app went live a few days ago, it wasn’t clear what was going to have to happen to get it back in the Market — but they’re giving it a shot today by making a few key tweaks and republishing. Most notably, version 1.1 no longer dumps Flash games that you download to SD storage; instead, the phone’s browser cache is used just as for any other website you visit, which would seem to be a definitive step toward giving the app less of an “app store” feel — precisely the thing that Google’s concerned about. We’ll have to wait and see whether this puppy stays deployed… but for now, you can grab it from the Market. Kongregate makes triumphant return to Android Market after a few tweaks originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 25 Jan 2011 19:16:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …
Verizon’s LG VL600 LTE modem received a software update today, but there’s no need to wake your MacBook from its peaceful slumber — there still aren’t any drivers for Apple computers, over a month after we were promised a relatively imminent update . That said, Verizon told PhoneScoop today that the carrier’s LTE dongles will indeed support Apple at some point next month, which is itself only days away. Pantech UML290 owners can bide their time with a workaround , but we LG users will take what we can get, eh? Verizon’s 4G LTE dongles get Mac support in February originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 25 Jan 2011 18:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …
A federal judge today sentenced former city councilor and civil rights crusader Charles “Chuck” Turner to three years in jail for pocketing a…
Continue reading …