This isn’t good, monkey robot mind control.

by on May 29, 2008 @ 8:33 am

Monkeys controlling Robots. You know Sharks with laser eyes are just around the corner.

Using only its brainpower, a monkey can direct a robotic arm to pluck a marshmallow from a skewer and stuff it into its mouth, researchers said on Wednesday. “They are using a motorized prosthetic arm to reach out, grab and bring the food back to their face,” said Andrew Schwartz of the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, whose study will appear in an upcoming issue of the journal Nature.

…The monkey guides the robot arm the same way it does its natural limbs, through brain signals.

Schwartz’ team picks up those signals through an array of microelectrodes half the size of a thumbtack that has been implanted in the monkey’s brain. These signals are amplified and relayed to a computer that operates the robotic arm.

Better start work on that gun collection and bomb shelter. Its almost like Planet of the Apes meets Terminator.

I think this is why Fark has a “Florida” tag

by on May 7, 2008 @ 9:33 am

Substitute teacher Jim Piculas does a 30-second magic trick where a toothpick disappears then reappears.

But after performing it in front of a classroom at Rushe Middle School in Land ‘O Lakes, Piculas said his job did a disappearing act of its own.

“I get a call the middle of the day from the supervisor of substitute teachers.  He says, ‘Jim, we have a huge issue.  You can’t take any more assignments.  You need to come in right away,'” he said.

When Piculas went in, he learned his little magic trick cast a spell that went much farther than he’d hoped.

“I said, ‘Well Pat, can you explain this to me?’  ‘You’ve been accused of wizardry,’ [he said]. Wizardry?” he asked.

Flori-DUH, amirite!