Facial Expression Controlled iPod

Kazuhiro Taniguchi, a researcher at Osaka University, Japan, has created special earphones. It is called the "Mimi Switch" or Ear Switch in english. These earphones have infrared sensors built in to read facial expressions. And instead of using your fingers to control your iPod, the sensors allow you to use facial expressions instead. Simply make a wink, stick out your tongue, smile, frown, almost anything, and it'll have its own seperate function. Don't expect this to be on sale soon, it wont come out until two or three years. These earphones are great for tech junkies, anyone who has the money to buy it (assuming that it will be quite costly), and for those who dont mind making random faces and risk offending a bystander or pedestrian.To the right are some pictures of a model with the earphones.

Coming Soon: Invisibility Cloaks??

Scientists from Duke University had originally make a very primitive invisibility cloak that still resembelled nothing like one. But now, those scientists have improved on this concept, and currently the cloak which is placed over a 'bump' on top of a flat mirror surface, hides the bump quiet well, though still far from perfect. What once was a bump, clear as day, now appears as if it was never there, replaced by a mirage-like effect. This effect is similar to what one might see hovering above the road or pavement on a hot day. "The new device can cloak a much wider spectrum of waves--nearly limitless--and will scale far more easily to infrared and visible light. The approach we used should help us expand and improve our abilities to cloak different types of waves,"says David R. Smith, who is a professor of electrical and computer engineering at the university, and also one of the senior members of the research team. The cloak is made of a light-bending composite material that guides electromagnetic waves around the object being covered, and reconnects them on the other side. The most recent cloak made is 20 inches by 4 inches and under an inch high. For now this 'invisibility cloak' may be extremely primitive but considering how fast technology is evolving, a real invisibility cloak may be only a few years away. A picture of the most recent cloak with the bump is shown on the right.

Archeologists find 2000 year old Brain

Recently at an archeological excavation at York Universi cty in northern England, archeolgoists have found a human skull in a mud pit. These types of findings are quiteommon. The only difference is, is that parts of the brain inside the cranium has been preserved. Rachel Cubitt was the person who found the skull and noticed that there was something inside. When she tried to see, she noticed an unusual yellow substance from the bottom of the skull. Recognizing what it may be, she remembered a university lecture on the rare survival of ancient brain tissue, and looked for a professional opinion, which turned out to be that the yellow substance was in fact, portions of a preserved brain. The skull was then taken a CT scanner at York Hospital, which produced an extremely clear image. The fact that no flesh or soft tissue except the brain is extremely rare, says Dr Sonia O'Connor, Research Fellow in Archaeological Sciences at the University of Bradford. York University was in the middle of expanding the campus when an extensive prehistoric farming landscape of fields, track ways and buildings dating back to at least 300 BC, was found. Since then archaeological investigations have continued.