Assorted news and tech
Mar. 13th, 2008 04:15 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dracodraconisChicago encourages rooftop gardens - In the past seven year, more than 370,000 square metres of rooftop have been planted in an effort to reduce the city's carbon footprint. The result his been significantly cooler air over the buildings, as well as providing a space for community gardens. Imagine if this was implemented in most major cities.
Camera sees what's under your clothes - ThruVision has developed a T-ray camera that is capable of detecting weapons hidden under clothing from 25 metres away. The camera does not reveal the details of the person's anatomy so their modesty is automatically protected.
Spam on your cellphone - Spammers are beginning to use text messaging to deliver their product requests, but unlike email, every spam message costs the recipient money. Already spammers are onto the usual tricks of only accepting text messages from people in your address book, sometimes by using the recipient's number as the source number. Meanwhile, cellphone companies are ramping up efforts to catch the spam before it hits your phone.
DEET found to mask human scent from insects - Recent experiments have concluded that DEET works by mosquitoes and similar insects unable to detect the scent of human sweat. This knowledge may be used to design a next-generation DEET that is safer to use and possibly more effective.
Science creates a telepathic link - Sort of. New Scientist (via Slashdot) reports that they have developed a neckband that detects nerve signals sent to the vocal cords. The unvocalized speech of a person trained in "talking" without letting air pass over their vocal cords is then detected and can be used to control devices. The system can differentiate between spoken and unspoken speech, and has been used to allow locked-in patients to control a wheelchair. The current system recognizes 150 words, but future systems will be designed to recognize individual phonemes.
Camera sees what's under your clothes - ThruVision has developed a T-ray camera that is capable of detecting weapons hidden under clothing from 25 metres away. The camera does not reveal the details of the person's anatomy so their modesty is automatically protected.
Spam on your cellphone - Spammers are beginning to use text messaging to deliver their product requests, but unlike email, every spam message costs the recipient money. Already spammers are onto the usual tricks of only accepting text messages from people in your address book, sometimes by using the recipient's number as the source number. Meanwhile, cellphone companies are ramping up efforts to catch the spam before it hits your phone.
DEET found to mask human scent from insects - Recent experiments have concluded that DEET works by mosquitoes and similar insects unable to detect the scent of human sweat. This knowledge may be used to design a next-generation DEET that is safer to use and possibly more effective.
Science creates a telepathic link - Sort of. New Scientist (via Slashdot) reports that they have developed a neckband that detects nerve signals sent to the vocal cords. The unvocalized speech of a person trained in "talking" without letting air pass over their vocal cords is then detected and can be used to control devices. The system can differentiate between spoken and unspoken speech, and has been used to allow locked-in patients to control a wheelchair. The current system recognizes 150 words, but future systems will be designed to recognize individual phonemes.