Mind-reading machines and Banking dogs

Source: Uncrate Display your manliness (no, not like that) with this keychain featuring the testosterone molecule for only $22(US).

Source: Gizmag It being Gizmag, the photo was not be visible (and no other images were found on the net) so I encourage you to follow the link to see the pretty pictures. The Skimmer is a winged ground-effect watercraft capable of reaching speeds of 100km/hr. It flies over water at a maximum height of 1.5 metres and is steered much like a motorcycle. It's still a concept craft, but the concept is cool.

Source: ThinkGeek This laser-etched replica of the Milky Way galaxy could be a geeky-but-cool addition to your desktop (the real desk, not the virtual one) for only $90(US).

Source: Medgadget An Australian start-up by the name of Emotiv is offering a computer interface that reads EEG signals. The helmet is PC compatible, and the company offers software that claims to "...interpret player facial expressions in real-time...", "...monitors player emotional states in real-time...", and "...reads and interprets players' conscious thoughts and intent.". It will be interesting to see if the reality matches the hype.

Source: Coolest Gadgets Charity Canine Partners apparently has a special program to teach guide dogs to put your bank card into an ATM and pull out the money for you. All you have to do is enter your PIN and the dog does the rest. Do you suppose they slip a couple of bills off the top for a good time with the poodle on the corner?

For those of a more astronomical bent....

... particularly for ztrooper. An excerpt from Ken Tapping's regular postings on astronomical activity (he is Canadian astronomer with the Herzberg Institute of Astrophysics in Penticton, BC):

At this time of the year the path of the Zodiac, which we non-astrologers call the ecliptic, rises up from the western horizon at a steep angle. With some luck, together with a clear and dark evening, as soon as it is reasonably dark, look into the west where the Sun went down. You should be able to see a sort of pyramidal glow extending from the sunset point up into the sky. It looks rather like a faint and uniform piece of the Milky Way. It isn't; it is the zodiacal light – the sunlight scattered in your direction by countless dust particles spread along the ecliptic. This scattering is strongest when the light is deviated by only slightly from the original direction – forward scatter, and when it is sent back in the original direction – backscatter. The forward scatter gives us the glow in the west, close to the line of sight to the hidden Sun, and the backscatter can cause a fainter loom in the eastern sky, opposite the Sun. This is called the gegenschein (counter glow), which is harder to see. It is well worth the effort to see the zodiacal light. Its appearance is quite magical, especially when we consider what we are really looking at.

...and a bit of history for everyone else. Regarding the constellations:

...[T]he constellations of the Zodiac, ... are Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpius, Ophiuchus, Sagittarius, Capricornus, Aquarius and Pisces. We have an aversion to thirteen, so our ancestors quietly forgot about Ophiuchus and left us with the 12 constellations of the Zodiac that we are familiar with today.

For more interesting facts, check out their public outreach site at http://www.hia-iha.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca/public/index_e.html where they regularly post new information about what goes on beyond our thin, little atmosphere.

Black materials and NetFile woes

Source: SlashDot Researchers at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have developed a completely non-reflective surface using silica nanorods deposited on aluminum nitride at a 45 degree angle. Possible applications include more efficient solar cells and brighter LEDs. It may also be useful in experiments involving "black body" radiation where a "black body" is one that emits or reflects no light. The article suggests that a room covered in this material would give the spooky impression of standing in space. Details can be found at the institute's web page at http://news.rpi.edu/update.do

Source: Gizmag For those interested in the study of happiness, Springer offers the Journal of Happiness Studies. I kid you not. Issues go back to March 2001 and are marked as Open to All.

Source: Gizmag It may be a dubious distinction, but women are now outperforming men in purchasing electronic devices. Last year, women spent more than $55 billion(US) on electronics, compared to men who spent only $41 billion(US).

Source: The Globe and Mail Don't be in a rush to electronically file your tax return in Canada... NetFile has been shut down pending an investigation into "data irregularities", but Revenue Canada says this is probably not the result of hackers or a virus. There is no word when the system will be back up, which could be bad news for the more than 2 million people (including us) who would normally have used the system. Last year, more than 3.8 million returns were filed electronically, and this year almost 1.4 million had submitted their returns before the system was shut down.

Source: Scientific American This as pointed out by ms_danson. A researcher at Brown University has postulated that during sleep the neocortex may induce the hippocampus to "clear its buffer" so to speak. This is contrary to a more prevalent theory that the hippocampus "uploads" memories it has recorded into the neocortex. The latest theory postulates that the hippocampus serves as short-term memory, much as it does in the more popular theory. Where they diverge is that instead of the memories in the hippocampus being transferred during sleep, they were already in the neocortex and the sleep cycle serves as a time to clear the hippocampus in preparation for another day. The researcher admits that this is only a theory so much more work needs to be done to refute or confirm it.