Analysis, Big Problems, Latest Trend, Science & Technology News

OECD warns quality of patents ‘falling dramatically’

patents

Companies are filing overly broad patents on obvious ideas in the hope that one day the technology will become feasible.

The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development reports that “the quality of patent filings has fallen dramatically over the past two decades. The rush to protect even minor improvements in products or services is overburdening patent offices. This slows the time to market for true innovations and reduces the potential for breakthrough inventions.”

 

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Analysis, Brain, Science & Technology News

‘Mind-reading device’ recreates what we are seeing in our heads onto a screen

brain-machine

Mind reading could become a reality after scientists unveiled a device which translates what we are seeing in our heads onto a screen.

Researchers were able to recreate a moving picture similar to the real footage being played by monitoring the brain activity of people while they watched Hollywood movie trailers.

Great New Product, Health & Fitness, New Inventions, Science & Technology News

GoFidget Xerciser – fitness device easy to use while sitting

GoFidget

Featured invention at the DaVinci Inventor Showcase 2011

No time to exercise?  Long hours at the computer?  Tired?  No energy?     No problem! 

Introducing the GoFidget Xerciser™, your fitness solution to sit-down days.  The GoFidget Xerciser™ is an omni-directional fitness device that is easy to use while sitting and working at a computer.  With its 360 degrees of movement and non-impact design, the GoFidget Xerciser™ is a whole new way to strengthen muscles from feet to knees, up to thighs and hips!   GoFidget™ at home or in the office.  It is convenient, effective and surprisingly fun!

 

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Analysis, Breakthrough Thinking, Crazy Photos, Crazy Stuff, Culture, Globalism, Historical Perspectives, Latest News, New Discoveries, New Viewpoints

Google Earth reveals strange Nazca-Like ruins in Saudi Arabia

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An amazing new find.

Chalk another one up for Google Earth seeing everything we can’t. Australian armchair archaeologist David Kennedy simply fired up the app and managed to rediscover the ancient ruins of structures that rival the Nazca lines in southern Peru.

The lines were originally discovered by British RAF pilot Percy Maitland in 1927, but this is the first time they’ve ever been seen in all their glory. Kennedy used Maitland’s photos with Google Earth to pinpoint their locations. And Google offers really the only high resolution glimpse at them that can be seen by the ordinary viewer…

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Analysis, Breakthrough Thinking, Culture, Globalism, Historical Perspectives, Latest News, New Discoveries, New Viewpoints

US download speeds ranked at just 26th in the world

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If you live in the US and think the internet speeds are as fast, you may be surprised to find out that the country is actually ranked 26th in a list of average global download speeds. In the eye-catching infographic below the US (outside of Google’s offices that is) looking like a digital laggard, but who could be sitting pretty at the top?

Digital download delivery company Pando surveyed about 35 petabytes (a petabyte is 1000 terabytes) of data from 27 million downloads from 20 million computers in 224 countries, and found that South Korea has the world’s fastest internet service, in terms of download speed. The country averaged download speeds of 17.62 Mbps. Compared to the download speeds in the US, 4.93 Mbps, South Korea is lightning fast…

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Analysis, Big Problems, Business, Corporate Manipulation, Crazy Stuff, Culture, Current Events, Education, Historical Perspectives, Hot Issues, Latest News

Patent Trolls costing an astronomical $500 Billion

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Another reason the patent system is so difficult.

Last month, Google stepped up to defend Android coders against notorious patent troll Lodsys. Apple fought the company a few months earlier on behalf of iOS developers. Patent reform is a hot topic right now, especially after President Obama just signed legislation that means the U.S. is shifting to a “first to file” (over “first to invent”) system. This won’t help much with the patent troll situation, which Boston University researchers James Bessen and Mike Meurer say have cost publicly-traded defendants $500 billion since 1990…

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Health & Fitness, Science & Technology News

Artificial blood vessels made on a 3D printer

vessel

Tissue engineers create artificial blood vessels on a 3D printer.

Tissue engineers are building a handful of new body parts, from intestines to tracheas  — but progress on larger organs has been slow. This is mainly because tissues need nutrients to stay alive, and they need blood vessels to deliver those nutrients. It’s difficult to build those vascular networks, but now a team from Germany may have a solution: Print some capillaries with a 3-D printer.

 

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Analysis, Brain, Health & Fitness, Science & Technology News

Yawning cools your brain: study

yawning

People yawned almost twice as much in winter, when their body temperature was higher than the air around them.

The brain is like a computer and works best when it is cool, but putting too great a strain on it can lead to overheating which reduces its ability to process information. Yawning is not just a sign of tiredness or boredom – it is the body’s method of keeping our brain cool, scientists have found.

Great New Product, Health & Fitness, Science & Technology News

‘Living Skin’ – ultra-realistic prosthetic limbs that have freckles, hairs and even tattoos

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Touch Bionics has recently introduced a new photographic system that is designed to precisely match a prosthesis to a person’s skin tone.

Touch Bionics, a prosthetic technology company, has unveiled an ultra-realistic range of limbs with features such as freckles, hairs and even tattoos.

 

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Great New Product, Nanotechnology, New Inventions, Science & Technology News

NeverWet – revolutionary new product that repels liquids

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NeverWet™ coatings are a featured product at the DaVinci Inventor Showcase 2011

NeverWet™ coatings are Superhydrophobic and Oleophobic. Water on NeverWet™ surfaces sits as an almost perfect sphere. Water beads “glide” over the surfaces like a skate gliding over ice, with almost no surface friction. Superhydrophobic surfaces such as the leaves of the lotus plant have surfaces that are highly hydrophobic, i.e., extremely difficult to wet.  “Oleophobic” (from the Greek (oleo) “oil”) refers to the physical property of a molecule that is repelled from oil.

 

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Is printing a gun the same as buying a gun?

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A gun is a gun is it not?

There’s an interesting back-and-forth going on at Thingiverse, a site founded by Makerbot to share 3D projects. Two designers have made two parts for the AR-15 rifle platform. The first part is a standard rifle magazine complete with spring but the second part is AR-15 lower receiver.

Why are these parts important? Well, the magazine is just on the edge of Thinigverse’s implied (but not concrete) “no weapons” philosophy but the lower receiver is something else entirely. It is the only part of the AR-15 that you need a license to buy. Here’s what the creator, KingLudd, has to say about it…

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