Smart bracelet protects aid workers

A hi-tech bracelet could soon be helping civil rights and aid workers at risk of being kidnapped or killed.

When triggered, the personal alarm uses phone and sat-nav technology to warn that its wearer is in danger.

Warnings are sent in the form of messages to Facebook and Twitter to rally support and ensure people do not disappear without trace.

The first bracelets are being given out this week and funding is being sought to make many more.

The bracelets have been developed by the Civil Rights Defenders campaign group in a bid to help workers in war zones and other areas of conflict.

The chunky bracelet has mobile phone technology buried within it that can send prepared messages when the gadget is triggered.

Alerts can be sent manually by a rights worker if they feel under threat or are triggered automatically if the bracelet is forcefully removed. The alarm sends out information about its owner and where they were when they were attacked. Other staff nearby will also be alerted so they can start to take action to help anyone in distress.

Civil Rights Defenders wants people to sign up to monitor the bracelets of individual rights workers via social media. It hopes the global involvement will act as a deterrent to anyone planning attacks on aid workers.

"Most of us, given the chance, would like to help others in danger," said Civil Rights Defenders' executive director Robert Hardh. "These civil rights defenders are risking their lives for others to have the right to vote, or to practice religion or free speech."

Those who monitor bracelets can also help bring pressure to bear on governments to find or release people abducted or jailed. In total, 55 bracelets will be given out by the end of 2014.

The rights group started work on the gadget in the wake of the kidnapping and murder of Chechen rights worker Natalia Estemirova in 2009. Ms Estemirova had been involved in documenting the alleged abuse of civilians by government-backed militias.

Will we ever… communicate telepathically?

There’s tantalising evidence that technology could one day allow us to transmit thoughts telepathically between two brains. The question is how far can we go?

In a lab at Harvard Medical School, a man is using his mind to wag a rat’s tail. To send his command, he merely glances at a strobe light flickering on a computer screen, and a set of electrodes stuck to his scalp detects the activity triggered in his brain. A computer processes and relays the electrodes’ signal to an ultrasound machine poised over the rat’s head. The machine delivers a train of low-energy ultrasound pulses into the rat’s brain, stimulating its motor cortex – the area that governs its movements. The pulses are aimed purposely at a rice-grain-sized area that controls the rat’s tail. It starts to wag.

This link-up is the brainchild of Seung-Schik Yoo, and it works more than 94% of the time. Whenever a human looks at the flickering lights, the rat’s tail almost always starts to wag just over a second later. The connection between them is undeniably simple. The volunteer is basically flicking a switch in the rat’s brain between two positions – move tail, and don’t move tail. But it is still an impressive early example of something we will see more of in coming years – a way to connect between two living brains.

Science-fiction is full of similar (if more flamboyant) brain-to-brain links. From the Jedi knights of Star Wars to various characters in the X-Men comics, popular culture abounds with telepathic characters that can read minds and transmit their thoughts without any direct physical contact or the use of their senses. There’s no evidence that any of us mere mortals share the same ability, but as Yoo’s study shows, technology is edging us closer in that direction. The question is: how far can we recreate telepathy using electronics? A human wagging a rat’s tail is one thing. Will we ever get to the point where we can share speech or emotions or memories?

The first step would be to decode what someone is thinking. Neuroscientists have made substantial progress in deciphering images from patterns of brain activity, and several groups are working on decoding inner speech. People have managed to commandeer computer cursors, artificial limbs and virtual drones through brain-computer interfaces (BCI), which use brain activity to control man-made devices. But to achieve true telepathy, brain activity has to be decoded and used to influence another brain. “We’ve got brain-to-computer interfaces, but we need the other side of it – computer-to-brain interfaces,” says Yoo.

Last year, Christopher James from the University of Warwick built a very rudimentary one. He used scalp electrodes to mentally control a set of LEDs, which flashed at one speed when James thought about moving his left hand, and at another when he imagined moving his right hand. James’ daughter was watching the LEDs, and though she couldn’t consciously distinguish between the two flashing speeds, her visual cortex – the part of the brain that processes sights – registered the difference. By measuring the activity in her brain, another set of electrodes could work out what the LEDs were doing.

This may have been an electronic link-up between two human brains, but as James points out, it’s not telepathy. “It’s not like someone sits there imagining a complex thought, and it appears in the other person’s head,” he says. “My daughter was completely unaware. At no point did she say ‘Left’ or ‘Right’. It would have been more informative to put the words on the screen.” She also had to look at the LEDs to register what was happening, which violates the “no senses allowed” rule of true telepathy. 

10 of the most powerful nuclear bomb, nuclear and hydrogen bomb ever have on earth

10. Little Boy 

Sure about the "little guy" have information. Bomb the United States dropped on Hiroshima to end World War. On the first atomic bomb was dropped on a large human population and its code name was "Little Boy" . The bomb, however, the second artificial nuclear explosion in history as well. Explosion in a few seconds, kills more than 100 thousand people. The explosion was powerful 16 kilo tones.

9. Fat Man

"Fat Man" bomb was code-named others that America dropped on Japan's citizens. One of the most devastating bombs have been used throughout history. The low altitude of the city exploded in Nagasaki, more than 50 thousand people in the immediate vanishing and 30 were injured and thousands were injured. It is said in the statistics that many were killed and injured many more, but Americans never accepted it. The explosion was the 21 kilo tons, the equivalent of 75 million simultaneous explosion of dynamite sticks.

 8. Ivy Mike

Nuclear explosions of giant mushrooms, they know more. This fungus is formed after Ivy Mike nuclear test. The nuclear bomb of two types: nuclear fission and nuclear fusion. The explosive power of the bomb was the second between 10.5 to 12 mega tonnes estimated. This test Enewetak in a region called the Pacific Islands took place.

 7. Hurricane 

Learn about the first nuclear bomb test by Great Britain. It exploded in 1952 using plutonium in Montebello Islands in the West Australian took. The bomb, Fat Man, was similar in terms of technology.

 6. Mark-21

The bomb was built in 1955 by America is one of the strongest gravity bombs in 1954 in "Operation Castle" exploded. 4.5 meters long and weighed 6,800 pounds and the power of the explosion was equivalent to 4 mega tone. However, only one of which was extremely dangerous bombs were made ​​in that period.

 5. Mark-36 

Here is the heaviest and most powerful nuclear bomb in its own time, we design a system that is based on secondary chain reactions and nuclear fusion takes place. Powerful explosion equivalent to 10 mega tons and weighs about 8000 kilograms. This generation of nuclear bomb makers, all Mark-21 Series experience in designing it was to become one of the most notorious.

 4. Castle Bravo

What set it apart from others is that this bomb on the first hydrogen bomb was tested. Year Explosion, 1954 and it was the Marshall Islands. The explosion was the equivalent of 15 mega tons of his time was up, and of course the manufacturer, United States. 4.5 meters long and weighed 10,700 pounds, and it exploded, leading to the emergence of severe radioactive contamination.

 3. B-53 

Here is one of the world's most powerful barrel bombs have been designed during the Cold War and its production had reached about 340 pieces to 1997, These design changes later, became one of the most powerful time bomb, but the power of this sample, weighing 4010 kg and length 3.8 m, 9 mega tons.

2. B-41 

The nuclear bomb was tested in the early 1960s and was more powerful than its predecessors. A 25 mega-tonne bomb that was set during the Cold War and weighing about 4,850 kilograms, 3.8 meters in length. 500 in the bomb was produced until 1976 and had served in America's military.

1.Tsar Bomba

The Tsar bomb that had the most powerful Bombs exploded in human history, nicknamed King bombs and if you think that Americans made it and test, have to inform you that we need to take our Northern neighbor, Russia, (former Soviet Union) that in the year 1961 explode.

The bomb that 100 Mega Watts of power explosive in the experiment with 50 Mega Watts of power exploded.

Maybe for your is interesting that you know, idea behind this project that was an explosion in the healthy radioactive pollution to be done and it was clear that, this work was done with success and the bomb was one of the Most Pure samples of test-in terms of radioactive pollution.

New Portable Charger for your iphone which can easily fit in your wallet

If you go out for a purpose, only to discover that your smartphone is just about dead. You're not going to bring a charging cable and wall unit with you -- who can fit all of that in their pocket? so you just dim the screen, turn off email and hope that the slim sliver of red battery bar will last you the rest of your evening, or at least until that special someone gives you a call or a text.

The inventors of a new, cleverly-named device called the Charge Card think they have the anecdote to this all-too-familiar modern quandary: It's a portable iPhone or Android charger shaped like a credit card, designed to be slim enough to fit in your wallet. One edge of the Charge Card plugs into your smartphone and there are versions of the charger that work with Android and both the old and new iPhone chargers and a small rubberized strip pops out from the center of the card and acts as a USB charger. That means you can charge your phone, so say the entrepreneurs behind the Charge Card, in almost any laptop, computer monitor, USB-equipped car, Xbox, point-of-sale cash register, or, realistically, wherever you can find an open USB port.

The Charge Card gained notice this past year as part of a super-successful Kickstarter campaign that raised over $160,000 for the project, more than triple the $50,000 goal. Now, the Charge Card team  three California twenty somethings named Noah Dentzel, Adam Miller and Brian Hahn are preparing to send the first units to the customers, with the goal of shipping by the end of January.

The fledgling startup has already sold 9,000 Charge Cards, Dentzel told in an interview at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last week, and they have begun to take fresh orders at their website. One Charge Card costs $25 and, for now, it is only available online.

Gesture Glove Mouse lets you control your PC and Android devices wirelessly.

Do you want a different way to control your computers or Android devices? Here comes the Gesture Glove Mouse which lets you control your computers and Android devices wirelessly using hand gestures.

If you do not mind wearing a glove and having to clip two sensors on your fingers, the Gesture Glove Mouse should bring controlling your computers and Android devices to a new level of excitement.

The glove is meant for the the right handed and the sensor needs to go on your index finger to track the movements of your wrist to convert them into cursor movements. Mouse clicking needs you to use your thumb and index finger.

The Gesture mouse is workable from up to 10 meters away from your computers or Android devices. The glove is rechargeable, a single charge allows it to be used for up to dozens of hours.

The gesture mouse is more suitable for controlling PCs or Android devices that are hooked up to a big HD display; so you can stay a couple of meters away from the screen and use hand gestures to wirelessly control the computer. It’s available on Thanko.jp for around $62 each. A clip is included below showing it in action.

Locate your missing items with the Bluetooth Stickers

Bluetooth Sticker

 A US technology firm has come up with Bluetooth stickers which can be attached to your essential items like wallets, keys, and even kids and pets to track them. 

Your valuables can be detected by the stickers which work through a smartphone app that sets off a buzzer to help locate them. The app also includes a radar-like function to help you find your way to your possessions. 

About the size of a coin, the Stick-N-Find stickers can attach via adhesive to valued possessions and send a low-energy Bluetooth signal with a range of about 100ft, the 'Daily Mail' reported. 

So far the team behind it has developed apps compatible with smartphones with a range of features to help users track down their stickered-up possessions when they go missing. 

The first function the app offers is a simple radar screen that approximates the distance - but not yet the location - of all the paired Stick-N-Find stickers in range. 

The technology does not yet allow the app to determine which direction the lost items are in, so users have to start walking while watching the screen to see whether the device they are hunting for gets closer. 

A second feature, which the designers call the Virtual Leash, allows users to set an alarm to sound whenever a sticker moves a predetermined distance from your phone. 

This feature could be used to keep track of your children at the playground, for example, or to remind  you if you're getting ready to leave the house for work and forget to pick up your keys. 

A third feature called Find It helps to locate any items that are out of range by setting an alarm to sound as soon as they appear on the app's radar, allowing you to begin using it to track down the lost item as soon as you are nearby. 

The stickers themselves will keep going for up to a year on a watch-type battery. 

They include buzzers and flashing lights that can be activated remotely to help users track them down and one smartphone can be paired with as many as 20. 

The Stick-N-Find location stickers are the brainchild of John Mitts, an engineer at SSI America which is a product development company specializing in small electronics. 

"Just like everyone we lose stuff all the time so, we thought, why not design an ultra-small Bluetooth connected sticker you can stick on any device, person or animal so you can easily find them?" he said. 

"So we came up with Stick-N-Find. Stick-N-Find is an ultra-small sticker with built in Bluetooth low energy with a range of 100ft, about the size of a US quarter and with a battery life that lasts about a year," he added.

 You Can put it anywhere you like.So that you can detect easily.

3D printers could use Moon rocks, say scientists

In future the Moon colonists will use the lunar rocks to create tools or spare parts, according to a study.

Many hundreds of Moon rocks were brought back from the Apollo missions

The US researchers have used a 3D printer to make small objects out of melted simulated lunar rocks.

They say the technique could help future missions to minimize the weight and the expense of carrying materials into space as a digital file would be enough.

But one expert says such a printer would have to be extremely precise.

In 2010, NASA asked a team from Washington State University to see whether it was possible to use lunar rocks for 3D printing.

It supplied the researchers with simulated Moon rocks, or lunar regolith simulant, containing silicon, aluminium, calcium, iron and magnesium oxides.

Many hundreds of kilograms of Moon rocks were collected during NASA missions, but the scientists did not use them because they are considered a national treasure in the US.

Lunar regolith simulant is commonly used for research purposes at NASA.

"It sounds like science fiction, but now it's really possible," said Prof Amit Bandyopadhyay, the lead author of the study, published in the Rapid Prototyping Journal.

His team created simple 3D shapes by sending a digital file or scan to a printer which then built the items layer by layer out of melted lunar regolith, fed via a carefully controlled nozzle to form a shape. The process is known as "additive manufacturing".

 A laser was used to melt the material.

"As long as you can have additive manufacturing set up, you may be able to scoop up and print whatever you want. It's not that far-fetched," said Prof Bandyopadhyay.

The research demonstrates the latest advances in 3D printing technology, which is already in use in medicine, fashion, car manufacturing and other industries.

Sophisticated

But Prof Colin Pillinger, the scientist behind the ill-fated Beagle-2 mission to Mars, said the printer would have to be really precise to be able to fabricate complex parts that usually make up the body of a spacecraft.

"It would be nice if you could do that but I'm not sure it would work - it depends whether it is a simple mechanical component or something more complex," Prof Pillinger, who now works at the Planetary and Space Sciences department at the Open University, told BBC News.

"If you break your car on a motorway and have to replace your wheel, and you just print one it's a mechanical component, but if it's something more sophisticated like an electrical component to run your car, it's a different story.

"Of course, if you don't have to take a wheel to the Moon its great, but if it's not a mechanical part that breaks but something more sophisticated than I'm not sure it would work."

However, David Woods, author of How Apollo Flew to the Moon, was more positive.

"The important thing to consider is that the Earth has a very deep gravity well so anything you can make in situ on the Moon will save an awful lot of energy and therefore money," he said.

"So it's better to be able to live off the land. That's why scientists are so interested in water at poles, and the fact Moon dust works well with microwaves and could theoretically be used to make a paved surface if you created roads.

"Such technologies are untested but they do open up the possibility of future colonisation of the Moon, even if only for scientific purposes."

But putting the theory into practice may be some way off. A project to put astronauts back on the Moon by 2020 was cancelled by President Obama on cost grounds, though NASA still has longer-term plans for a lunar return.