Tag: ELECTRONICS

The fellow that brought us the drum machine -- that 1980s game-changer -- is still at it. Roger Linn's LinnStrument, which you can hear in the preview video after the break, is a marvel of a modern music-maker. Arrayed in grid form, the touchpad of notes adjusts pitch, timbre and expression according to finger movement and pressure. Geeky? No doubt. But it sounds roughly like a theremin on ...

Despite stern warnings from flight attendants and pilots, we've always wondered if our iPods or cell phones could really cause an airplane's electronics to go haywire. According to a recent article in The New York Times, personal electronic devices don't always interfere with a plane's electronics -- but sometimes they do, or can, cause problems. Clear as mud, right? Bill Strauss, an engineer ...

If you're in the market for a new TV this holiday season, you're in luck; major electronics manufacturers are slashing prices left and right. On Friday, Sony announced that it had abandoned all hope of turning a profit this year, while Panasonic predicted that its TV prices will drop even further during this fiscal quarter. The announcements come on the heels of similarly pessimistic outlooks ...

The violent conflict between governmental and rebel forces in the Democratic Republic of the Congo may not make the front pages of many Western news outlets, but it has definitely caught the attention of U.S. lawmakers. As the AP reports, a newly passed American law, which was signed into effect in conjunction with Obama's economic overhaul, will now require all gadget manufacturers to disclose ...

Wired reports that scientists at the University of Pennsylvania have created an ultrathin brain implant made from silk that could revolutionize brain-computer interface (BCI) design. BCI implants are used to record paralyzed patients' brain signals, which can be translated into computer or robotic movements. By printing electrodes onto a thin and flexible silk film, doctors could monitor parts of ...

At just 16-years old, Rhode Island teen Alex Lin has leaped to the forefront of the e-waste dilemma. According to Take Part, Lin has overseen the recycling of more than 300,000 pounds of discarded electronics through legislation, recycling programs, computer-refurbishing centers and plain old hard work. We've told you before about the mounting problem of disposing old computers, cell phones and ...

Have you ever wondered what that bone-crushing tackle in 'Madden NFL' would feel like? No? Well, neither have we, but that doesn't stop a University of Pennsylvania graduate student from investigating the effect. According to Wired, Saurabh Palan has created a gaming vest that, due to four solenoid actuators in the chest and back, delivers the impact of events on the screen. A cluster of motors ...

What happens to your old electronic device when you upgrade to a newer model? Do you dump your cell phone in the trash? Toss that old desktop into a dumpster? Many people do, but they don't consider where this waste eventually ends up. According to BBC News, much of this "e-waste" finds its way to developing nations, and it could lead to major problems in the future. A U.N. report stated that ...

What do you see when you look at a busted cell phone or computer monitor? Probably a heap of junk. But as the saying goes, one man's trash is another man's... art. That's the view of a burgeoning number of artists who are repurposing old electronics into works of art. These objects of geeky creativity might never hang in a museum next to an Italian masterwork, but that's fine by us. After ...

As our world becomes increasingly wireless, scientists must grapple with the effects of millions of people using devices like cell phones and laptops. After all, there's only so much space on the electromagnetic spectrum. You might not consider it while Googling or browsing Facebook, but that signal you're transmitting could be making it tougher for some scientists to do their jobs. That's why ...

Researchers in China may have found a way to cut down on waste created by old electronics and give drivers a smoother ride. For cities plagued with cracked highways or anyone who is constantly realigning their wheels, this news could herald smooth roads ahead. According to the Scientific American, Xu Zhenming and other researchers at Jiao Tong University discovered a way to crush discarded ...

Teenagers can sometimes be a miserable bunch. According to British researchers, that may have something to do with a lack of quality sleep. The culprit of this "junk sleep?" Electronics, of course. According to a survey done by The Sleep Council, a full 30 percent of children between 12 and 16 years old only get 4-7 hours of sleep a night as opposed to the recommended 8-9. Almost 25 percent ...

For many, the prospect of shopping for a new gadget can be scary. Like, Alec Baldwin screaming at you when you're 13, scary. But a new consumer electronics-shopping site, TechSelector, aims to make the experience a painless one. Does it work? Switched recently took the site for a test drive, and found TechSelector a snap to use. When you first arrive, you're asked what kind of new trinket ...