Filed under: Misc. GadgetsIn operating rooms today, cancer surgeons are essentially forced to operate without any definitive way of determining whether or not 100% of the diseased tissue has been removed. Thanks to a radical invention by researchers in Massachusetts, that huge limitation could soon be a thing of the past. A new system, dubbed FLARE (Fluorescence-Assisted Resection and Exploration), involves a near-infrared (NIR) imaging system, a video monitor, and a computer. These tools are... Read Full Story

Here's a light-up bike vest that lets people behind you know how fast you're going. It uses electro-luminescent wire in the shape of the numbers to give a nixie-tube-esque appearance. Via Ladyada. More: LED turn signal bike jacket tutorial Read more | Permalink | Comments | Read more articles in Wearables | Digg this! Read Full Story

This Instructable details a number of tiny robots (e.g. a cubic inch sumo and a pager-bot that fits on a quarter) built by the author. If nothing else, it'll give you an idea for just how difficult it is to build autonomous, programmable robots on this scale. Building Small Robots: Making One Cubic Inch Micro-Sumo Robots and Smaller Read more | Permalink | Comments | Read more articles in Robotics | Digg this! Read Full Story

Filed under: Gaming Like many others, Eric Ruckman found that the DS controller add-on for Guitar Hero: On Tour left a bit to be desired but, unlike most folks, he didn't just go back to playing on his console of choice -- he actually went all out and pieced together a full-size rig out of a PS2 Guitar Hero controller. As you can see above, that includes a special housing for the DS itself (it's still used for strumming), and even a built-in FM transmitter with its own screen, which lets him... Read Full Story

Filed under: Handhelds, Laptops, Tablet PCs We're still having a tough time labeling Intel's uniquely designed UrbanMax concept, but according to a company representative on hand at IDF, it was designed primarily to be used as a touch device. The gigantic touch panel machine (slate PC?) includes an 11-inch (1,366 x 768) display, a slide out QWERTY keyboard, a minuscule optical mousing device and Windows Vista behind the scenes. Feel free to check out the video waiting after the jump, and by... Read Full Story

We get excited around here whenever a new application offers an Application Programming Interface (API) for 3rd parties to develop against. Oh, the possibilities! Sometimes, though, it just doesn't pan out and our dreams are dashed against the craggy rocks of reality. Mashups are hard and just because you've got some cool data and good hooks for developers to pull from doesn't mean anyone's going to build anything worth using on your API. Such appears to have been the fate of news... Read Full Story

Take a stroll through the uncanny valley with Emily, an impressive example of how far facial animation has progressed - Previous methods for animating faces have involved putting dots on a face and observing the way the dots move, but Image Metrics analyses facial movements at the level of individual pixels in a video, meaning that the subtlest variations - such as the way the skin creases around the eyes, can be tracked. "There's always been control systems for different facial movements... Read Full Story

Lucas123 writes "With gas prices 30% higher this summer over last, telecommuting is back on everyone's radar. According to a Computerworld story, however, IT and telecommuting don't have a great record of success. For example, citing negative impacts on productivity, HP ended its telecommuting policy for hundreds of workers two years ago, and this year, Intel began requiring more than half the teleworkers in its IT group to report to the office at least four days a week. So before leaping... Read Full Story

Filed under: Cellphones, WirelessJust over a year ago, we were all making bitter beer faces at FCC chairman Kevin Martin for not going along with a delightful sounding "free internet" plan. Now, it seems the main man's tune has changed. During a recent interview, Martin stated that there was a "social obligation in making sure everybody could participate in the next generation of broadband services because, increasingly, that's what people want." He's reportedly looking to attach a free... Read Full Story

Equipped with thermal tracking, ultrasonic proximity sensors, and stylish brown vinyl exterior - RoboStool is everything tired tech-loving feet long for -In a continuing effort to create unique and unusual robots I just completed RoboStool – a robotic foot stool. Where would such an idea as a robot foot stool come from? I’m not really sure but one day while waiting for my wife to finish shopping in a Bed Bath and Beyond (and totally bored of course) I spied the ultimate in tacky furniture... Read Full Story