Video game tech used to steer cockroaches on autopilot

June 25, 2013 ? North Carolina State University researchers are using video game technology to remotely control cockroaches on autopilot, with a computer steering the cockroach through a controlled environment. The researchers are using the technology to track how roaches respond to the remote control, with the goal of developing ways that roaches on autopilot can be used to map dynamic environments -- such as collapsed buildings.

The researchers have incorporated Microsoft's motion-sensing Kinect system into an electronic interface developed at NC State that can remotely control cockroaches. The researchers plug in a digitally plotted path for the roach, and use Kinect to identify and track the insect's progress. The program then uses the Kinect tracking data to automatically steer the roach along the desired path.?

The program also uses Kinect to collect data on how the roaches respond to the electrical impulses from the remote-control interface. This data will help the researchers fine-tune the steering parameters needed to control the roaches more precisely.

"Our goal is to be able to guide these roaches as efficiently as possible, and our work with Kinect is helping us do that," says Dr. Alper Bozkurt, an assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering at NC State and co-author of a paper on the work.

"We want to build on this program, incorporating mapping and radio frequency techniques that will allow us to use a small group of cockroaches to explore and map disaster sites," Bozkurt says. "The autopilot program would control the roaches, sending them on the most efficient routes to provide rescuers with a comprehensive view of the situation."

The roaches would also be equipped with sensors, such as microphones, to detect survivors in collapsed buildings or other disaster areas. "We may even be able to attach small speakers, which would allow rescuers to communicate with anyone who is trapped," Bozkurt says.

Bozkurt's team had previously developed the technology that would allow users to steer cockroaches remotely, but the use of Kinect to develop an autopilot program and track the precise response of roaches to electrical impulses is new.

The interface that controls the roach is wired to the roach's antennae and cerci. The cerci are sensory organs on the roach's abdomen, which are normally used to detect movement in the air that could indicate a predator is approaching -- causing the roach to scurry away. But the researchers use the wires attached to the cerci to spur the roach into motion. The wires attached to the antennae send small charges that trick the roach into thinking the antennae are in contact with a barrier and steering them in the opposite direction.

The paper, "Kinect-based System for Automated Control of Terrestrial Insect Biobots," will be presented at the Remote Controlled Insect Biobots Minisymposium at the 35th Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society July 4 in Osaka, Japan. Lead author of the paper is NC State undergraduate Eric Whitmire. Co-authors are Bozkurt and NC State graduate student Tahmid Latif. The research was supported by the National Science Foundation.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_science/~3/INaQYtNvF54/130625121233.htm

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Amanda Bynes Gets Nose Job, Will Tweet Surgery Video (Phew)

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2013/06/amanda-bynes-gets-nose-job-will-tweet-surgery-video-phew/

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Finding Murray's magic: Ability to manage goals makes an athlete successful

June 24, 2013 ? Research suggests that it is Andy Murray?s ability to manage his goals, as well as his skill, determination and motivation that makes him such a successful athlete. Murray dropped out of the French Open after a back injury this year, missing out on his goal of playing in four grand slam finals in a row. But this decision has allowed him to recuperate in time for Wimbledon this month. According to new research funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), athletes who recognise early when a goal is unattainable and switch their focus to other objectives are the most successful at achieving their main career goals.

The researchers, from the universities of Birmingham and Southampton, found that the reasons why a person is motivated to achieve tough sporting goals influence how well that person does in pursuing these goals. A person who is motivated by the enjoyment or personal importance of a goal will strive harder and for longer and will be more successful in achieving an increasingly difficult goal, compared to someone motivated by external pressure or feelings of guilt.

But when the goal becomes so difficult that it is unattainable, people who are self-motivated find it harder to stop striving for their goal. This persistence can cause psychological distress. However the research identified that when athletes with high self-motivation recognised early when a goal was impossible they were able to quickly disengage from the goal and then re-engage with challenging, new targets that were also compatible with their overall objectives. This group of athletes made the most progress toward achieving their central goal.

?Our experiments showed the importance of a person realising early enough when it was better to continue striving for a goal or when it was best to let go and adopt another similar goal,? said Professor Nikos Ntoumanis, an exercise and sport psychologist from the University of Birmingham. ?Our research also showed that the reasons behind a sportsperson?s goal are important to know, not just the actual goal.?

This research goes a step further than the existing body of knowledge on the role of goal-setting in sport by examining the impact of different types of motivation in the face of tough goals. The researchers carried out two sophisticated experiments that asked over 180 athletes to complete a range of cycling tests. By ensuring some of the tests were unattainable, the psychologists were able to explore how the athletes coped with goal failure.

?We found autonomous motives such as enjoyment or personal importance were a double-edged sword,? explained Professor Sedikides, a social and personality psychologist from the University of Southampton. ?Athletes with autonomous motives put in more effort and persisted for longer which helped them reach higher levels of performance with increasingly difficult but attainable goals. Yet when the goal became unachievable, they had great difficulty realising this, which led to brooding over the failure as the athletes struggled to disengage from the goal.?

The research concludes that coaches and applied sport psychologists need to be aware of athletes? motives for their goals to help them be most effective, successful and adaptive in their goal striving. Future research aims to explore how to help sportspeople (and individuals with other goals, such as weight loss) realise early that some goals are unachievable and to have the flexibility to develop alternative goals that contribute to their long-term objectives.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/most_popular/~3/kBIEEJrvmx4/130624075854.htm

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Show Us Your Photos of Last Night's Giant Supermoon

Last night, the moon came as close to the Earth as its elliptical orbit will take it. That means we didn't get just any old moon?we got a ginormous, glowing supermoon that was about 14 percent larger and 30 percent brighter than normal. Did you get pictures of the bright, shining orb? We want to see them!

Read more...

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/69KtnQ0RKo0/show-us-your-photos-of-last-nights-giant-supermoon-559556701

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Abbas accepts Palestinian premier's resignation

RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) ? President Mahmoud Abbas accepted the resignation of his newly appointed prime minister on Sunday, a spokesman said, leaving his Palestinian Authority in disarray at a time when he is focusing on a U.S. push to restart peace negotiations with Israel.

Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah had served only two weeks when he abruptly resigned last week over a conflict of authority with his deputies. Abbas initially asked him to reconsider, but ultimately accepted the resignation and asked Hamdallah to stay on as head of a caretaker government until a replacement is found, Abbas aide Nabil Abu Rdeneh told The Associated Press.

Such a caretaker government could remain in place for weeks. There was no sign of a likely candidate to succeed Hamdallah.

Abbas is likely to look for someone who has the blessing of the Western donor countries that prop up the Palestinian Authority, has experience in economic affairs and also is close to his Fatah movement.

Abbas appointed Hamdallah, a university president and political novice, earlier this month in an apparent move to consolidate power. Hamdallah replaced internationally known economist Salam Fayyad, who had clashed with Abbas.

The prime minister heads the Palestinian Authority, the self-rule government in parts of the West Bank that handles day-to-day affairs of Palestinians.

While he is not involved in diplomacy, the timing of the change comes as a tricky time for Abbas. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is about to return to the region as part of his push to renew the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.

Abbas won't resume negotiations as long as Israeli settlement construction continues in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, occupied areas where the Palestinians want to establish a state. Israel has refused to halt building. Abbas' aides fear he will be pushed to return to talks on Israel's terms or risk being blamed for the failure of the U.S. mission.

Hamdallah took office June 6 after unexpectedly being plucked by Abbas from a career in academia to replace Fayyad, a political independent who served for six years and was respected by the West as a pragmatist.

Leading Fatah figures clamored for Fayyad to be replaced, arguing that the prime minister should be close to Fatah. Hamdallah's appointment was seen as a bid by Abbas to consolidate power.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/abbas-accepts-palestinian-premiers-resignation-151023146.html

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Syrian regime, rebels step up offensives

BEIRUT (AP) ? Syrian government forces stepped up their attack against rebel strongholds north of the capital, Damascus on Saturday, while opposition fighters declared their own offensive in the country's largest city Aleppo.

The fighting in Damascus came as the Syrian government announced salary increases for state employees and members of the military, days after the Syrian currency dipped to a record low of 210 pounds to the dollar compared with 47 when the crisis began more than two years ago. The raise also covered pensions.

Both sides intensified operations as an 11-nation group that includes the U.S., dubbed the Friends of Syria, began meeting in Qatari capital of Doha to discuss how to coordinate military aid and other forms of assistance to the rebels seeking to oust Syrian President Bashar Assad.

The donors agreed on Saturday to do more to help the embattled rebels trying to overthrow Assad, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said. While he offered no specifics, Kerry said the assistance would help change the balance on the battlefield. Kerry also denounced Assad for inviting Iranian and Hezbollah fighters to fight alongside his troops, saying the Syrian president risked turning the civil war into a regional sectarian conflict.

Activists, meanwhile, reported heavy shelling of many districts north of Damascus, apparently an attempt to cut links between rebel-held districts that have served as launching pads for operations against the capital. Three children, including two from the same family, have been killed in shelling of the outlying district of Qaboun since Friday, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which relies on an extensive network of activists in Syria.

The Lebanese TV station Al-Mayadeen, which had a reporter embedded with Syrian government forces in the offensive, quoted a military official as saying that the operation aims to cut rebel supply lines, separate one group from another and secure the northern entrances to the capital. The regime's forces have struggled for months to regain control of these suburbs.

The Observatory said the neighborhood was being attacked from several different sides, while the shelling has caused structural damage and started fires. Activists from Qaboun posted on Facebook that government forces had deployed new tanks to reinforce its positions outside the neighborhood, and the bombardment had brought buildings down.

The Observatory said rebels targeted a police academy in the nearby Barzeh area Saturday, pushing back against a government attempt to storm the neighborhood. One rebel was killed in overnight fighting, it said.

State news agency SANA said troops "inflicted heavy losses" among rebels in several suburbs of Damascus.

The uprising against Assad began in March 2011 as peaceful protests but morphed into a civil war as rebels took up arms against a government crackdown. The Syrian regime has gained momentum in recent weeks with the help of Iran and its proxy group Hezbollah. The opposition is hoping the Obama administration's decision to begin supplying them with arms will help swing the tide in their favor.

Rebels say they have already received new weapons from allied countries? but not the U.S. ? that they claim will help them to shift the balance of power on the ground. Experts and activists said the new weapons include anti-tank missiles and small quantities of anti-aircraft missiles.

It was not clear if any of the new weapons have made it to the Damascus area. A spokesman for one of the main groups fighting outside of Damascus, the al-Islam brigade, said his group had none of the new weapons. The spokesman, who declined to be named for fear of government reprisals, spoke to The Associated Press on Skype.

He said government forces were shelling Barzeh from Qasioun mountain overlooking Damascus. Syria's main Western-backed opposition group said Thursday that 40,000 civilians in the two northern districts of Damascus are suffering from shortages of food and medical supplies.

Rebels and government also clashed in and around the northern city of Aleppo, where government forces launched an offensive earlier this month. Activists reported clashes in southern and western neighborhoods.

The Observatory also said rebels pounded a military academy in the area, causing a fire in the compound. No casualties were immediately reported. In Rashideen, rebel forces have pushed government forces out from parts of the neighborhood, according to the local Aleppo Media Center network and posts on Facebook.

A statement by a coalition of rebel groups, posted on the Center's page, declared that the fighters are launching a new operation to seize control of the western half of Aleppo.

Also Saturday, Syrian forces fired a dozen shells that landed in a northern Lebanese border town, causing a panic among residents, the Lebanese news agency reported.

SANA said government troops were targeting a group of infiltrators across the border. It gave no further details.

Rockets from Syria fall regularly into towns and villages near the border.

In Damascus, a presidential decree said that the raise for the public sector could reach up to 40 percent depending on the salary of the civil servant. Pensions could rise by up to 25 percent, according to the decree.

It said those who make 10,000 pounds ($54) a month will get a 40 percent raise, while those who make double that amount will get a 20 percent boost. People making 40,000 pounds a month will get a 5 percent raise, it said.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/syrian-regime-rebels-step-offensives-195431439.html

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Walmart permanently drops iPhone 4S price to $39, iPhone 5 to $129

While brief sales on iPhones are relatively common, it's rare to see permanent price drops outside of a hardware refresh cycle. Walmart is willing to give those cuts a shot, however. Visit the company's stores from this point onward and you can pick up the 16GB iPhone 4S in its AT&T, Sprint or Verizon forms at $39 on contract, instead of $90. The 16GB iPhone 5 for those same networks is dropping to $129 from its usual $190; sorry, T-Mobile fans, you're out of the loop for now. It's not hard to understand Walmart's sudden generosity -- when the iPhone range is nearing its annual upgrade, the lower prices should keep current units moving.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Apple, Verizon, Sprint, AT&T

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Via: Mashable

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Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/BliRI7qy0ps/

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