Cyborgs and NFL Takedowns

[dracodraconis]

Source: Extreme Tech This USB-powered mouse warms to a temperature of 45 degrees Celsius. It sells for $23(US), but reports say that, as a mouse, its performance is acceptable but not great.

Source: TechDirt This was funny. A law professor was demonstrating to her students an example of a copyright notification by publishing a snippet of a notice broadcast by the NFL during their Superbowl. She posted this on her website for her class as "... an example of a copyright holder exaggerating its rights -- as the NFL cannot ban all of the things they ban in that statement.". As a result, she received a DCMA take-down notice, which ignored the fact that, for educational purposes ("fair use"), she could display short segments of broadcast media. Being well aware of her rights, she proceeded to use this takedown notice as an additional example of how the law can be abused by some copyright holders, like the NFL in this case.

Source: Space.com Roger Launius postulated at a recent conference that space colonization may await the evolution of our species into cyborgs. Robots currently explore the reaches of space, but are limited in their ability to respond to what they perceive. Humans require significant life support equipment, and issues like the radiation levels of deep space limit their ability to travel far from Earth for long periods of time. Space colonization may require humans choosing to augment or modify themselves so that they are better able to survive the rigors of deep space or other planets.

Source: EurekAlert! Scientists have demonstrated that they can convert heat to electricity using organic molecules trapped between metal nanoparticles. Conventional engines dump as much as 2/3 of their energy into the environment in the form of heat, but the level at which this heat is released is too small for standard approaches to reclaim it. Even systems using the Seebeck affect are only 7% efficient. The new approach was able to generate 8.7 microvolts for every degree Celsius of thermal difference.

Source: EurekAlert! A recent study demonstrated that highly accomplished people who normally do well at problem solving, see significant reductions in their problem-solving capacity when placed under stress. The theory is that highly accomplished people have larger amounts of "working memory" for cognitive processes so do not rely on the shortcuts practiced by their less talented brethern. Add a significant level of stress, like making acceptance to prestigious college hinge on test results, and their performance degrades considerably. Those with less working memory are only minimally affected by similar stress levels because they are already adept at the tools required to use less working memory.