Six Million Dollar Man One Step Closer to Reality With Giant Leap in Mind Control of Computers

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The science fiction behind the Six Million Dollar Man took a step closer to science reality yesterday when researchers announced a breakthrough in thought control of computers.

Researchers from Stanford University in California have developed an algorithm that translates the neurological signals for movement with greater than ever speed and accuracy. The system, which relies on a silicon chip implanted in the brain, has been used to allow monkeys to control computer cursors – but could one day control prosthetic limbs.

‘These findings could lead to greatly improved prosthetic system performance and robustness in paralysed people,’ said Krishna Shenoy, who led the team that carried out the research.

When a paralysed person imagines moving a limb, cells in the part of the brain that controls movement still activate as if trying to make the immobile limb work again, the researchers explain. Even where a neurological injury or disease has severed the pathway between brain and muscle, the region where the signals originate often remains intact and functional…

Previous research into the field of neural prosthetics has begun to develop brain-implantable sensors able to measure signals from individual neurons, interpret them, and use them to control computer cursors using thoughts alone.But the new algorithm developed at Stanford, known as ReFIT, vastly improves the speed and accuracy of the control, the researchers reported on the November 18 issue of the Journal Nature Neuroscience.

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Self-Service Marijuana Machine Stock Soars 3000% After Washington, Colorado Legalization

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Medical marijuana company Medbox saw its stock soar an astonishing 3,000 per cent as investors seek to get in on the ground floor of what they think could be America’s next boom industry.

In the wake of this year’s elections in which both Colorado and Washington residents voted to legalize marijuana, investors began buying up MedBox shares as quickly as they could. On Monday, MedBox shares sold for $4. By Thursday they were at $215.

Medbox is an automated medication dispenser for medical marijuana accessible with fingerprint recognition or or a medical marijuana card. Using a touch screen, patients can select up to 50 different varieties of pre-weighed medical marijuana sealed in standard medication vials.

The machines do not use cash, but rather a pre-paid card that alerts the customer when the balance is low so that each purchase can be documented.The company operates 130 dispensers and is scheduled to install 40 more before 2013.

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Now that’s a mobile home! Inside the $500,000 ‘expedition vehicles’ with solar panels and 2,000-mile gas tank (shame it looks like a garbage truck)

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Most people probably wouldn’t want to live in a garbage truck, but then again most garbage trucks don’t have the amenities this one does.

Unicat Amerigo – which bills its models as the ‘ultimate family Expedition Vehicle’ – are so huge that despite being built as exploration vehicles they’re often mistaken for garbage trucks in photos.

The vehicles are so rugged they were chosen by Jalopnik as one of the best places you could ride out a zombie apocalypse.

Starting at more than $500,000 they may cost more than your average home but then again few homes can drive from coast to coast.

For that you get, depending on the model, a 2,000-mile range and enough supplies to keep people alive for months if need be.

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Videos: Girlfriend Claims Lee Harvey Oswald Was Hero, Actually Tried to Help JFK

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There are a seemingly unlimited amount of conspiracy theories as to what happened on the cool November morning in Dallas nearly 50 years ago. The former girlfriend of Lee Harvey Oswald, the man who is widely accepted as President John F. Kennedy’s killer, is adding to the list.

In a new explosive memoir, Judyth Vary Baker argues that Oswald could not have murdered the 35th President of the United States in Dealy Plaza.

‘Lee Oswald was a hero,’ Ms Baker began, speaking at an Oregon bookstore earlier this week. ‘I’m here to tell you that when you find out who did it, you will understand more about who took over our country and why we are in the position we are in today,’ according to KVAL News.

The author, who lives abroad due to what she claims are safety concerns, is going on a limited tour this month and onto December to promote her book ‘Me & Lee: How I Came To Know, Love, And Lose Lee Harvey Oswald.’ She will also make several other appearances via Skype.

Ms Baker was a whiz-kid, carrying out complicated cancer research in New Orleans in the early 1960s at the age of 19. ‘I was assigned to make cancer more deadly,’ she told KVAL. ‘Can you imagine?’ She said that she met Oswald in 1963 during this internship working under Dr Alton Ochsner, the former president of the American Cancer Society and they became involved…

In her 600-page book, Ms Baker argues that her then-boyfriend was a deeply undercover intelligence agent who was actually trying to prevent Kennedy from being killed. She said that Oswald was framed for the murder, which she said he could not have committed from his sniper post at the Texas Book Depository. She told KVAL: ‘We have a lot of information that Kennedy was shot from the front,’ noting that the book depository was behind Kennedy’s motorcade.

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Study: If You Don’t Want to Appear Elderly to Others, “Shop Until You Drop”

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Do Americans associate old age with telltale physical signs like wrinkles and crow’s feet? Or do they believe that passing a certain age defines a person as ‘over the hill’? According to a new study, neither – a person is defined by how old they act, and how independent they are.

For instance, consumers who can no longer shop for themselves, complete housework, or drive their cars are considered ‘old,’ the study claims.

According to the new study by Oregon State University researcher Michelle Barnhart, activities that define one’s independence are the most important markers of age. In much of America, a person’s independence is closely tied to their ability to drive, shop, and cook for themselves. Because of these unwritten adages, those who are too feeble to carry shopping bags or operate their vehicle are looked at as someone in their twilight years.

To conduct her research, Ms Barnhart conducted in-depth interviews with consumers in their late 80s, as well as their caregivers and family members – often the subject’s adult children in their 50s and 60s.

She found that the Baby Boomers, who are aging themselves, did not wish to be seen as old, but often treated their own parents as ‘old people’ – not allowing them to exercise independence where they could and assuming they’re scatterbrained as well as slow.

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“Gone With the Wind”: Odor Eating Undies Hide Embarrassing Smells

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It’s the nightmare scenario in any confined space – breaking wind, only to discover it smells rather more unpleasant than expected. But these cringeworthy moments could soon be a thing of the past thanks to a new brand of odour-eating underwear.

The Japanese textile company selling underpants claims they neutralize the smell of flatulence. The pants are said to be a big hit with Japanese businessmen, as it means they can break wind without getting caught. But there’s also a pink pair for women, too.

The odor-absorbing range, known as Deoest, effectively kills odor from wind. It does this using ceramic particles in the material fibers, which are said to absorb and neutralize gassy smells.

A word of warning, however: there is no word on whether they might mask any sound.

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Energy Drinks Linked to Heart Attacks, ‘Spontaneous Abortion’

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You know those little vials of who-knows-what that TV bills as a healthier alternative to energy drinks. Turns out they might make you die. Or to be more specific, the flavored energy shot “has been mentioned in some 90 filings with the F.D.A., including more than 30 that involved serious or life-threatening injuries like heart attacks, convulsions and, in one case, a spontaneous abortion,” according to a New York Times investigation.

Don’t worry, 5-Hour Energy fans, Monster Energy drink is a culprit, too. Following a review of FDA records, The Times found that 5-Hour Energy was implicated in at least 13 deaths over the last four years, while Monster was cited in five deaths in a review last month. Both the paper and the FDA are careful to point out that correlation does not equal causation in these horrifying examples of pick-me-ups gone wrong. Nevertheless, we’re pretty sure coffee will remain our stimulant of choice for the foreseeable future.

The scariest thing about the Times report isn’t necessarily the threat of heart attack or spontaneous abortion. It’s the fact that nobody really knows what’s going on with energy drinks — or in 5-Hour Energy’s case “dietary supplements” — that become implicated in fatalities. Even scarier, is that the companies making these potions know that it’s happening. They’re required by federal law to report cases that link their products to fatalities to the FDA. They don’t want to talk about it either. “I am not interested in making any comment,” Manoj Bhargava, the chief executive of Living Essentials, the company that makes 5-Hour Energy. (Go ahead and let the irony of that company name sink in.)

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Video: Police Tase Man While Putting Out Neighbor’s Fire to Keep Him From “Hurting Himself”

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Daniel Jensen did what he believed anyone else would do after seeing his neighbor’s house on fire. He turned on his garden hose and started spraying.

The home next door was ten feet from his outer wall, and the wind was causing the flames to scorch his house.

“They were billowing up in the roof and starting to catch the fence on fire,” Jensen said. That’s why he is angry and confused about the actions of Pinellas Park police the night of November 8.

Jensen said when police arrived at his neighbor’s house, they ordered him to stop spraying. Jensen claimed that police told him not to bother fighting the fire, and to “let the house go.”

“I couldn’t believe what I heard,” Jensen said. “That it was an insurance problem. Let the insurance company handle it.”

Bolivian City to Castrate Rapists and Cut Off Hands of Thieves

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Thieves will be getting a lot more than a slap on the wrist in one Bolivian city, and convicted rapists will face something a whole lot worse.

Under a controversial, new law system for Bolivia’s indigenous people in the city of El Alto, thieves will have their hands amputated and those found guilty of rape will be chemically castrated.

After being sentenced in a newly created court, the unlucky crooks will be operated on by trained doctors paid to perform the procedures. However, if the doctors refuse to put the perps under the knife, lesser-trained, indigenous doctors from the surrounding highlands will be brought in to do the job.

Chemical castration is the administration of medication designed to reduce libido and sexual activity.

“Indigenous justice is handled differently, not between four walls as ordinary justice is. We will not be sending people to jail in these cases,” said Carmelo Titirico, leader of the National Council for Ayllu y Marka people, according to the New York Daily News.

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Scientists at Stanford University Discover Artificial, Conductive Skin That Heals Itself

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Scientists have invented the first artificial skin that can both sense subtle pressure and heal itself when torn or cut – and could one day be used for the screens on mobile phones.

A team from Stanford University are the first to create a synthetic skin that can not only repair damage to itself but is also able, crucially, to conduct electricity.

It is this crucial latter property that promises to make it useful in the field of consumer electronics.

One of the major bugbears smartphone users have had, particularly the iPhone, was propensity of the screen on the devices to smash when dropped.

A transparent, healable polymer that can sense pressure could be invaluable for making future generations of devices more resilient to breakages.

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