NASA - NASA's Ironman-Like Exoskeleton Could Give Astronauts, Paraplegics Improved Mobility and Strength

NASA - NASA's Ironman-Like Exoskeleton Could Give Astronauts, Paraplegics Improved Mobility and Strength

NASA's Ironman-Like Exoskeleton Could Give Astronauts, Paraplegics Improved Mobility and Strength

Project Engineer Roger Rovekamp demonstrates the X1 Robotic Exoskeleton for resistive exercise, rehabilitation and mobility augmentation in the Advanced Robotics Development Lab.
Image courtesy of Robert Markowitz
› Link to larger photo

Project Engineer Shelley Rea demonstrates the X1 Robotic Exoskeleton.
Image courtesy of Robert Markowitz
› Link to larger photo
Marvel Comic's fictional superhero, Ironman, uses a powered armor suit that allows him superhuman strength. While NASA's X1 robotic exoskeleton can't do what you see in the movies, the latest robotic, space technology, spinoff derived from NASA's Robonaut 2 project may someday help astronauts stay healthier in space with the added benefit of assisting paraplegics in walking here on Earth.

NASA and The Florida Institute for Human and Machine Cognition (IHMC) of Pensacola, Fla., with the help of engineers from Oceaneering Space Systems of Houston, have jointly developed a robotic exoskeleton called X1. The 57-pound device is a robot that a human could wear over his or her body either to assist or inhibit movement in leg joints.

In the inhibit mode, the robotic device would be used as an in-space exercise machine to supply resistance against leg movement. The same technology could be used in reverse on the ground, potentially helping some individuals walk for the first time.

"Robotics is playing a key role aboard the International Space Station and will continue to be critical as we move toward human exploration of deep space," said Michael Gazarik, director of NASA's Space Technology Program. "What's extraordinary about space technology and our work with projects like Robonaut are the unexpected possibilities space tech spinoffs may have right here on Earth. It's exciting to see a NASA-developed technology that might one day help people with serious ambulatory needs begin to walk again, or even walk for the first time. That's the sort of return on investment NASA is proud to give back to America and the world."

Worn over the legs with a harness that reaches up the back and around the shoulders, X1 has 10 degrees of freedom, or joints -- four motorized joints at the hips and the knees, and six passive joints that allow for sidestepping, turning and pointing, and flexing a foot. There also are multiple adjustment points, allowing the X1 to be used in many different ways.

X1 currently is in a research and development phase, where the primary focus is design, evaluation and improvement of the technology. NASA is examining the potential for the X1 as an exercise device to improve crew health both aboard the space station and during future long-duration missions to an asteroid or Mars. Without taking up valuable space or weight during missions, X1 could replicate common crew exercises, which are vital to keeping astronauts healthy in microgravity. In addition, the device has the ability to measure, record and stream back, in real-time, data to flight controllers on Earth, giving doctors better feedback on the impact of the crew's exercise regimen.

As the technology matures, X1 also could provide a robotic power boost to astronauts as they work on the surface of distant planetary bodies. Coupled with a spacesuit, X1 could provide additional force when needed during surface exploration, improving the ability to walk in a reduced gravity environment, providing even more bang for its small bulk.

Here on Earth, IHMC is interested in developing and using X1 as an assistive walking device. By combining NASA technology and walking algorithms developed at IHMC, X1 has the potential to produce high torques to allow for assisted walking over varied terrain, as well as stair climbing. Preliminary studies using X1 for this purpose have already started at IHMC.

"We greatly value our collaboration with NASA," said Ken Ford, IHMC's director and CEO. "The X1's high-performance capabilities will enable IHMC to continue performing cutting-edge research in mobility assistance while expanding into the field of rehabilitation."

The potential of X1 extends to other applications, including rehabilitation, gait modification and offloading large amounts of weight from the wearer. Preliminary studies by IHMC have shown X1 to be more comfortable, easier to adjust, and easier to put on than previous exoskeleton devices. Researchers plan on improving on the X1 design, adding more active joints to areas such as the ankle and hip, which will, in turn, increase the potential uses for the device.

Designed in only a few years, X1 came from technology developed for Robonaut 2 and IHMC's Mina exoskeleton.

NASA's Game Changing Development Program, part of NASA's Space Technology Program, funds the X1 work. NASA's Space Technology Program focuses on maturing advanced space technologies that may lead to entirely new approaches for space missions and solutions to significant national needs.

For additional information about IHMC, visit:

http://www.ihmc.us

For information about the X1 and Robonaut, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/robonaut

Can Dungeons & Dragons Make You A Confident & Successful Person?

Mission San Juan Capistrano to loan artifacts to science center

Mission San Juan Capistrano to loan artifacts to science center

By Guest Contributor, on October 11, 2012, at 12:22 am

• digg
• 1

  
  EmailShare

• digg
• 1EmailShare

Discovery Science Center and Mission San Juan Capistrano have partnered to bring the “Adventure of Archaeology” a little closer to home for Southern California residents and visitors.

Discovery Science Center and Mission San Juan Capistrano have partnered to bring the "Adventure of Archaeology" a little closer to home for Southern California residents and visitors. (Flickr: clairity)

The Science Center’s upcoming exhibit “Indiana Jones and the Adventures of Archaeology” will feature authentic artifacts from Orange County’s own archeological treasure, Mission San Juan Capistrano.
Mission San Juan Capistrano was founded in 1776 by Father Junipero Serra as part of the Catholic Church’s early efforts to convert Native Americans in the area. In its 236 years of existence, the Mission has served as church, private residence, school, and museum, and helped define an integral part of California’s founding history.
Currently, the Mission is the oldest operating church in California and Mass is still held daily in the world renowned Serra Chapel just as it had in Father Serra’s time.
The Mission is also the site of the ruins of the Great Stone Church, sometimes called the American Acropolis. This once massive edifice featured seven domes and its own bell tower, but was destroyed in an 1812 earthquake that killed 40 worshippers.
In the mid-20th century, Mission San Juan Capistrano began to carry out archaeological excavations as part of its investigative research. Many more excavations have been needed over the years as the Mission has undertaken preservation efforts and performed building maintenance, and several key discoveries have been made including the original building foundations, ceramics, animal bones, stone implements, weapons, tools, original ovens, underground walls, and a crypt.
To help increase the public’s knowledge of archaeological sciences, Mission San Juan Capistrano is lending some of its new and exciting finds to Discovery Science Center’s upcoming exhibit.
Visitors to Discovery Science Center can expect to see a statue of St. Francis dating from the late 1700s, a silver ciborium (see-bawr-ee-um | a religious vessel for holding sacramental bread), limestone blocks from the Great Stone Church, ceramic and glass bottle shards dating from the 1850s, and a 19th Century horse bit.
These artifacts represent the historical significance of the religious, architectural, and every-day existence of Mission San Juan Capistrano’s varied history, and are sure to capture the imagination of any aspiring Indiana Jones.
Mission San Juan Capistrano is located at 26801 Ortega Highway, San Juan Capistrano.
To learn more, visit www.missionsjc.com.

'New' JRR Tolkien epic due out next year | Books | guardian.co.uk

'New' JRR Tolkien epic due out next year

Lord of the Rings author's previously unseen 200-page poem of Arthurian legend draws on tales of ancient Britain rather than Middle-earth

• Share2592
• Email

• Alison Flood
• guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 9 October 2012 11.49 EDT
• Jump to comments (53)

JRR Tolkien ... 'new' book out next year. Photograph: AP

It's the story of a dark world, of knights and princesses, swords and sorcery, quests and betrayals, and it's from the pen of JRR Tolkien. But this is not Middle-earth, it's ancient Britain, and this previously unpublished work from the Lord of the Rings author stars not Aragorn, Gandalf and Frodo, but King Arthur.

HarperCollins has announced the acquisition of Tolkien's never-before-published poem The Fall of Arthur, which will be released for the first time next May. Running to more than 200 pages, Tolkien's story was inspired by Geoffrey of Monmouth and Thomas Malory's tales of King Arthur, and is told in narrative verse. Set in the last days of Arthur's reign, the poem sees Tolkien tackling the old king's battle to save his country from Mordred the usurper, opening as Arthur and Gawain go to war.

"It is well known that a prominent strain in my father's poetry was his abiding love for the old 'Northern' alliterative verse," said Tolkien's son, Christopher Tolkien, who has edited the book and provided commentary. "In Sir Gawain and the Green Knight he displayed his skill in his rendering of the alliterative verse of the 14th century into the same metre in modern English. To these is now added his unfinished and unpublished poem The Fall of Arthur."

Tolkien began writing The Fall of Arthur a few years before he wrote The Hobbit. Its publication is the latest in a series of "new" releases from the author, including The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrún in 2009 and the unfinished Middle-Earth story The Children of Húrin in 2007.

For the book's editor at HarperCollins, Chris Smith, the news that Tolkien had finished work on The Fall of Arthur was an unexpected surprise. "Though its title had been known from Humphrey Carpenter's Biography and JRR Tolkien's own letters, we never supposed that it would see the light of day," he said.

He described the previously unpublished work as "extraordinary", saying that it "breathes new life into one of our greatest heroes, liberating him from the clutches of Malory's romantic treatment, and revealing Arthur as a complex, all-too human individual who must rise above the greatest of betrayals to liberate his beloved kingdom".

He added that, "though Tolkien's use of alliterative verse will mean the poem is of more specialised interest than his other work, we would like to think that the subject of King Arthur is one that will resonate with readers of his more celebrated works."

"In The Fall of Arthur we find themes of lost identity, betrayal, and sacrifice for greater glory, which have their echoes in other works, such as The Lord of the Rings, but anyone looking for closer connections will find no wizards or magic swords. In this respect The Fall of Arthur is closer to Sir Gawain and the Green Knight or The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrún."

These are the "new" poem's opening lines:
"Arthur eastward in arms purposed
his war to wage on the wild marches,
over seas sailing to Saxon lands,
from the Roman realm ruin defending.
Thus the tides of time to turn backward
and the heathen to humble, his hope urged him,
that with harrying ships they should hunt no more
on the shining shores and shallow waters
of South Britain, booty seeking."

John Garth, author of Tolkien and the Great War, said that from the fragments he had seen, the omens looked good. "In The Fall of Arthur, Tolkien depicts Arthur going off to fight the Saxons in Mirkwood – not the Mirkwood of Middle-earth, but the great German forests. Whether it's as good as the best by Tolkien will have to wait on the full publication, but snippets published so far are encouraging, showing him in darkly evocative mode writing about one of the great English villains, Mordred: 'His bed was barren; there black phantoms/ of desire unsated and savage fury/ in his brain brooded till bleak morning.'

"Any addition to the Arthurian tradition by a major author is welcome; this one is also exciting because of what it adds to our picture of a great modern imagination."

Sexually Assaulting Women (Verbally or Otherwise) at Gaming Conventions is Not OK

Sexually Assaulting Women (Verbally or Otherwise) at Gaming Conventions is Not OK

Wesley Copeland expresses why it's unacceptable to grope women at gaming conventions—even when you do it for laughs.

by Wesley Copeland on 5th Oct, 2012

Last month we heard an account of sexual assault at a party hosted by Mojang's, Markus 'Notch' Persson. Yesterday, a video surfaced that depicts YouTube user KSIOlajidebt attending the Eurogamer Expo while making fun of cosplayers, asking inappropriate questions to passers by, and sexually assaulting booth babes.
KSI, whose real name is Olajide Olatunji, runs a series on YouTube titled Being Awkward, in which he interviews total strangers and puts them in 'uncomfortable' situations.
His latest video shows him committing vile, and frankly disturbing, assaults on unsuspecting booth babes in the name of comedy.
[Trigger warning: Sexual assault]

The video opens with him introducing a model in a TapOut T-shirt, and naming her 'Massive Tits'. A few moments later he asks another booth babe if he can 'motorboat' her (the act of forcefully shoving one's face between a woman's breasts).
At 1:10, he asks a lady, who appears to be a member of the general public, “What are you doing not fingering yourself?”
Make no mistake, this is sexual assault, plain and simple. Booth babes are not sex workers—not that it would give anyone the right or the excuse to sexually assault one, for that matter. They are models who are paid to stand next to a product and make it look nicer than it is. Yes, booth babe culture needs to be forgotten, like many of the industry's archaic concepts, but that does not, nor will it ever, excuse the heinous behaviour exhibited by JJ Olatunji.
“Oh but it's tongue-in-cheek, so it's okay to force yourself onto girls, so long as people laugh, right?” His defenders argue.
The fact that I have to write and explain why groping women without their consent is a bad idea, makes me question the kind of people who are allowed to attend the big gaming events.
It doesn't matter if it's to make people laugh. It doesn't matter is she's dressed provocatively. At NO POINT is it okay to grope or molest women.
What makes the situation worse, is that Olatunji's sycophants on his YouTube channel only pander to his internet-persona. One user goes as far as saying they wish they had his 'confidence'.
The pack-mentality of the internet only helps to further cement the basement-dwelling, spotty faced, sun-allergic, male gamer stereotype. It needs to stop. Two accounts of sexual harassment, one of which has been broadcasted via YouTube, in as many months, is not how we as a medium should be viewed by outsiders.
Surely we've outgrown the 'OMG she's a girl!' and 'WOW look at those titties!' mind set. Please, boys who are making my gender appear as inbred hicks who've never seen a girl before, stop. Playing up to JJ Olatunji's indecent-antics, and giving him kudos for his actions, isn't right. Women are not objects for us to have a quick grope of for the lolz. It's morally, and believe it or not, socially unacceptable.
Do us all a favour and if you see this kind of behaviour, call people out on it.
Update: Eurogamer operations director Tom Bramwell and features editor Ellie Gibson have both confirmed on Twitter that KSI is banned from all future shows.

The games controller that could be mistaken for a real gun - fears over latest Xbox addon

The games controller that could be mistaken for a real gun - fears over latest Xbox addon | Mail Online

The games controller that looks just like a real gun: Fears over latest Xbox gadget designed to resemble military-grade weapon

• 'The only way to get more real is to enlist,' claims gadget's inventor
• Device intended for FPS games like Call of Duty

By Damien Gayle
PUBLISHED:08:43 EST, 8 October 2012| UPDATED:11:11 EST, 8 October 2012

• Comments (219)
• Share

A new computer games controller that could be mistaken for a real gun is set for release early next year.
The Delta Six controller for video games like Call of Duty looks frighteningly similar to a genuine firearm, with its inventor claiming 'the only way to get more real is to enlist'.
Aimed at adult gamers, the device is intended to give players of First-Person Shooting (FPS) games a more immersive experience than has been possible so far.
Scroll down for video

A bit too realistic? The Delta Six video game controller than is modelled to look like a real gun

However, the imminent release of the hyper-realistic add-on is bound to raise fears that computer games encourage violent behaviour among the young.
The hybrid controller incorporates all the controls of a standard joypad in a shell modelled on military grade assault weapons.

More...

• The laser gun truck that can shoot down missiles: U.S. Army to begin first field testing of futuristic weapon
• So why do gangsters aim their guns sideways? Marine marksman sheds light on how gunmen from the 'hood unwittingly use a well-known aiming technique

'The only way to get more real is to enlist': U.S. soldiers in Iraq carry Armalite M16 assault rifles, similar in appearance to the Delta Six controller

With a built-in accelerometer that its makers say can be used in any game without calibration, it aims like a real gun without the need for a receiver on top of the user's television set.
The controller also features a range of pressure switches, one of which can automatically switch the game to precision aiming mode by simply holding the device up to the user's cheek.
Other functions include a faux recoil simulation that makes it judder like it's spitting lead from the muzzle, and a real-life style reloading function in the gadget's magazine.
The device ships with a range of accessories that allow users to convert it from full-length sniper rifle to compact sub-machine gun, depending on their preferred style of play.
The Delta Six is the brainchild of David Kotkin, who is well known in gaming circles for his Avenger joypad mod.
He said: 'For the first time a Call of Duty player will feel more immersed in game-play and have more control over the game than ever before. The only way to get more real is to enlist.'
Mr Kotkin's company says preliminary testing has shown that the Delta Six is easier and faster to use than a standard controller for FPS-style games.

Features: The controller, which is expected to retail for $89, can be adapted to a range of configurations depending on the user's preferred style of play

'This wins against a reg controller, even with and Avenger adapter on it,' the inventor said. 'We're more excited about Delta Six than any other project to date.
'The Wii, and the Move tried but could not make a fun and innovative motion control for FPS games. So we had to.'
However, he adds: 'This is fun for adults, not for gamers younger than 21.' The Delta Six is expected to cost $89 (£55) when it launches early next year.

VIDEO: Fantasy becomes Reality? Shooting with the Delta Six:

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Reveals Four New Banners | Superhero Hype

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Reveals Four New Banners

by Silas Lesnick

October 05, 2012

Share this story

Featuring Gandalf, Bilbo, the Dwarves and Gollum

More advertising art has arrived as New Line Cinema and MGM have released four new banners for their upcoming The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. Check them out below! Opening in 3D, 2D and IMAX theaters on December 14, the Peter Jackson film stars Ian McKellen, Martin Freeman, Cate Blanchett, Orlando Bloom, Ian Holm, Christopher Lee, Hugo Weaving, Elijah Wood, Evangeline Lilly, Andy Serkis, Richard Armitage, John Bell, Jed Brophy, Adam Brown, John Callen, Luke Evans, Stephen Fry, Ryan Gage, Mark Hadlow, Peter Hambleton, Barry Humphries, Stephen Hunter, William Kircher, Sylvester McCoy, Bret McKenzie, Graham McTavish, Mike Mizrahi, James Nesbitt, Dean O'Gorman, Lee Pace, Mikael Persbrandt, Conan Stevens, Ken Stott, Jeffrey Thomas, Aidan Turner and Billy Connolly. Click on the images below for larger versions in our gallery: