Most people can rather efficiently walk and chew gum at the same time, but when it comes to more complicated "multi-tasking" – like driving and talking on a cell phone – there is a price to pay.
And no one, it seems, is immune.
"There is a cost for switching from one task to another and that cost can be in response time or in accuracy," said
Mei-Ching Lien, an assistant professor of psychology at Oregon State University. "Even with a seemingly simple task, structural cognitive limitations can prevent you from efficiently switching to a new task."
Psychologists who study multi-tasking have argued for years about whether these "information bottlenecks" occur because people are inherently lazy, or because they have a fundamental inability to switch from one task to another. New studies by Lien and her colleagues at the NASA Ames Research Center in California suggest it is the latter.
Results of their study have been published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology.

Cell phones, driving don't mix

"There is not a complete and optimised 4K [high quality]-workflow for the world of digital cinema, particularly for the effective and seamless handling of film data from acquisition to post-production and transmission. Data compression is the key to achieving this,” says Dr Siegfried Foessel at Fraunhofer IIS and coordinator of the IST-funded project WORLDSCREEN.
The demands for high quality digital cinema applications require huge amounts of data that cannot be effectively handled. The WORLDSCREEN consortium is addressing these challenges by using layered scheme data compression (LSC) algorithms, while at the same time preserving the highest quality possible.
“Our aim is to develop viable compression systems for digital cinema workflows and data,” Dr Foessel says. “At the same time, we are considering the economic aspects of the value chain for LSC D-Cinema, E-Cinema and rich media archives.” (E-Cinema is lower resolution and poorer quality than D-Cinema. It is primarily used for art house content, independent films at live events, streaming applications and in-cinema games and advertising. Hollywood studios demand D-Cinema, the highest quality digital cinema.)

Welcome to the new world of digital cinema

Picture a teaspoon of powdered sugar. As fine a substance as it is, there still are tremendous differences in the sizes of its individual particles. Some are so small, they move around randomly and are invisible to the naked eye.
Now, let's say you wanted to choose only particles of a certain size from those in the spoon. Traditional technology and scientific techniques can separate quantities of particles of different sizes down to a few microns, but beyond that, it's not currently possible to perform this operation at the submicron level. Being able to do so would allow for the production of certain types of drugs that are most effective when inhaled.
How small is a submicron? Consider that a micron is a mere 0.00004 of an inch. Yet unlocking the mystery of how to manipulate, measure and separate very tiny particles has tremendous applications for the pharmaceutical industry and could change how some medications are delivered and how effective they are.

Magnet lab researcher exploring science behind commercial applications of liquid helium

In a keynote address delivered this morning to the U.S. IPv6 Summit in Reston, Va., IEEE-USA President Gerard A. Alphonse urged participants to raise widespread adoption of the Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) by Japan, China, Korea and other Asian countries as an issue in the current national policy discussion on U.S. competitiveness and innovation policy.
"Despite its importance, breadth, and all the potential services it will enable worldwide, the current high-level debate has not identified IPv6 as an innovation opportunity of national significance," Dr. Alphonse said. He added: "That's unfortunate because we know that Asian, European and other nations are working very diligently on IPv6, or are even seeking dominance in setting its standards."
While praising a recent government directive requiring federal agencies to adopt IPv6 implementation plans, the IEEE-USA president cautioned: "We shouldn't kid ourselves that the Office of Management and Budget's directive is the same as a national vision, mission and action plan for the United States, and equivalent to the plans already in place in Japan, China and Korea."

IPv6 transition should be part of national innovation debate says IEEE-USA President Gerry Alphonse

Howard Hughes Medical Institute researchers have discovered a vast network of neurons in the brain of mice that governs reproduction and controls the effects of reproductive status on other brain functions.
In their studies, the researchers found neural circuits that coordinate a complex interplay between neurons that control reproduction and brain areas that carry the neural signals triggered by odorant molecules and those triggered by pheromones, chemical signals produced by animals. The researchers characterize their findings as an initial step in understanding the far-reaching influence that odors and pheromones may have on reproduction and other behaviors.

The brain is broadly wired for reproduction

As an American historian who knows something of economic law, having learned from the Austrians, I became intrigued with how the United States had remained prosperous, its economy still so dynamic and productive, given the serious and recurring economic fallacies to which our top leaders (political, corporate, academic) have subscribed and from which they cannot seem to free themselves—and alas, keep passing down to the younger generation.
Let’s consider ten.

Ten Recurring Economic Fallacies, 1774–2004

Invented in 1887 by Emile Berliner, the gramophone was a huge leap in recording technology, and "record disks" are still in use today! This kit allows you to build your very own gramophone, which will let you record and play back your very own record disks! Everything you need for the gramophone is included; you need only provide the labour and 2 size C batteries, cellophane tape, a Phillips' head ( ) screwdriver, and scissors. Use various materials as disks -- the lids from cup-noodle bowls, old CD-ROMs, plastic file folders, glossy paper -- see which ones work, and which ones don't! A fun experiment for the entire family!

omg! Use AOL cd's to record on like vinyl....

The Emile Berliner Gramophone....

Forums user kalocin started up a thread a little while ago asking people for songs that he would then cover using a synthesizer based on the classic nintendo entertainment system's psg audio system. So what we have for you now is 16 amazing NES-ified hit songs!

Here's what's on the disc:
01 REM - Losing My Religion
02 Europe - Final Countdown
03 Radiohead - Karma Police
04 Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody
05 Survivor - Eye of the Tiger
06 Led Zeppelin - Stairway to Heaven
07 Lynyrd Skynyrd - Sweet Home Alabama
08 Led Zeppelin - Kashmir
09 Slayer - Angel of Death
10 David Pomeranz - Nothing's Gonna Stop Me Now
11 Coldplay - Yellow
12 Rick James - Superfreak
13 Semisonic - Closing Time
14 (Silence)
15 Hidden NESmix Intro
16 Zero Wing (Opening Theme) (4x4 Remix)
17 Tetris (Music A) (Piano Practice)

There's also a sweet cover included.

Had to post this... read more to download ... hahaha :P

16 amazing 8-bity NES-ified hit songs...

Scientists at the Technical University of Denmark have invented a technology which may be an important step towards the hydrogen economy: a hydrogen tablet that effectively stores hydrogen in an inexpensive and safe material.

With the new hydrogen tablet, it becomes much simpler to use the environmentally-friendly energy of hydrogen. Hydrogen is a non-polluting fuel, but since it is a light gas it occupies too much volume, and it is flammable. Consequently, effective and safe storage of hydrogen has challenged researchers world-wide for almost three decades. At the Technical University of Denmark, DTU, an interdisciplinary team has developed a hydrogen tablet which enables storage and transport of hydrogen in solid form.

“Should you drive a car 600 km using gaseous hydrogen at normal pressure, it would require a fuel tank with a size of nine cars. With our technology, the same amount of hydrogen can be stored in a normal gasoline tank”, says Professor Claus Hviid Christensen, Department of Chemistry at DTU.

Making society independent of fossil fuels - Danish researchers reveal new technology...

Nissan Motor Co., Ltd., has developed the world’s first clear paint that repairs scratches on painted car surfaces, including scratches from car-washing machines, off-road driving and fingernails.

“Scratch Guard Coat” contains a newly developed high elastic resin that helps prevent scratches from affecting the inner layers of a car’s painted surface. With “Scratch Guard Coat” a car’s scratched surface will return to its original state anywhere from one day to a week, depending on temperature and the depth of the scratch.

The water-repellant paint also has a higher resistance to scratches compared with conventional clear paints. A vehicle painted with “Scratch Guard Coat” will have only one-fifth the abrasions caused by a car-washing machine compared with a car covered with conventional clear paint. Scratches from car-washing machines account for the majority of scratches to painted car surfaces.

“Scratch Guard Coat” is effective for about three years.

“Scratch Guard Coat” will be applied for the first time on an SUV model that is scheduled for a partial makeover in the near future. The paint will be applied to the car’s chassis, bumpers, door mirrors, among other parts.

Nissan: Paint that Fixes Itself When Scratched