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“The device is a new type of prosthesis hand that can really offer a sense of touch. It features four motors and 40 sensors developed to offer the hand practical motion as well as allow the person to actually feel the object that the robotic hand touches.
It is worth mentioning that the Smart Hand is the world’s first gadget of its kind that is able to transmit signals back to the brain, thus providing the user the sense of touch.”
Link reblogged from Synaptic Seepage with 4 notes
Though touted as completely safe because the level of radiation is so low, travelers have been nervous about the devices — and not just because it shows off a nice outline of their privates to the people manning the machines — but because they remain scared of the health problems they might propose.
Looks like a little healthy paranoia might have been a good thing. While the conventional wisdom has held that so-called “terahertz radiation,” upon which backscatter x-ray machines are based, is harmless because it doesn’t carry enough energy to do cellular or genetic damage, new research suggests that may be completely wrong.
Specifically, researchers have found that terahertz radiation may interfere directly with DNA. Although the force generated is small, the waves have been found to “unzip double-stranded DNA, creating bubbles in the double strand that could significantly interfere with processes such as gene expression and DNA replication.”
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Peter Neubäcker discusses the offspring of his freak mind - Melodyne : DNA Preview
Know Autotune? Well meet Melodyne, which wipes its ass with Autotune. The program was created by a German Mad Sciencist by the name of Peter Neubäcker (interviewed in the video), who has just recently developed it to the point of Direct Note Access - or Melodyne: DNA. But before I get into that, I want to share my views of Autotune so you get where I am coming from.
Autotune is something that often crops up within conversations between musical crazed elitests that seem on constant guard of a seemingly weakened “Music Industry” on the verge of eating its own heart out (ie. autotune means death of creativity). I’m usually the first one to point out in any such conversation (that I didn’t start mind you) is that the majority of recorded modern music is altered with autotune. To varying degrees, yes, but in the long run it’s still an industry standard to make sure your singer/musician plays consistently and that can be a difficult thing to do when the only people willing to put up with multiple takes hasn’t turn the term “billing by the hour”. Plus most recordings strive for a level of perfection that is humanly impossible, so a lot of good is done in mixing and procressing things. Point is it never made me (too) skeptical of the modern music.
That’s not to say I’m not completely behind it - I am aware of the inherent evil that is hidden behind Autotune. I’m just saying that when used to add some polish an already good/professional performance then it’s good; when it is used to create the likes of B. Spears or manipulated to create an “effect” as a means to further disguise one’s lack of talent and creativity then it is the scourge of humanity.
So in short, Autotune is alright and I can keep a level head about it. However, my main point that I’ve been slow to come out with is that my Mixing teacher the other day revealed the new DNA line of Melodyne to the class. I didn’t know what melodyne was at that point. I heard it mentioned and that my teacher described it as the “Cadillac of Autotune” but that’s because he kind sucks at coming up with metaphors.
Within 2 minutes of showing us what melodyne can do I was just finished shitting through my first change of pants.
Melodyne scares me. I mean it scares me. Basically it has the power to change the pitch/key, notation, performance volume, or/and rate/speed of a waveform. Which means it can affect a recording in a much more in depth manner than regular Autotune. This is the true weapon of the music industry (or at least one of many).
This video displays the ease at which Direct Note Access can be used to edit individual notes within chords and polyphonic audio material. Recorded audio material at that! The video explains it well enough and it may not hit you as hard as it did me, but you can basically record one thing and manipulate it to the point that the only thing in common that the final product has with where you started is it’s the same instrument. That scares me. In a good way I guess. But nonetheless, stardard Melodyne has made me completely skeptical of all music that can afford to use it.
Melodyne: DNA isn’t actually out yet, but it is set to drop as a Plug-In within the year.
Link reblogged from Synaptic Seepage with 1 note
Security researchers found that poor shielding on some keyboard cables means useful data can be leaked about each character typed.
By analysing the information leaking onto power circuits, the researchers could see what a target was typing.
