physics

Darth Vader-style cast tracks progress with sensors

As anyone who has broken a bone knows, keeping up with physical therapy post-injury can be painful and annoying, and without a clear way to gauge progress, the regimen is as tempting to avoid as a bland diet.

Recent Copenhagen Institute of Interaction Design graduate Pedro Nakazato Andrade hopes to keep people motivated--and thus improve recovery time--via a prototype cast that employs electromyographic sensors, which measure the electrical activity produced by a muscle when it moves.

Called "Bones," his cast prototype can keep a running tally of how much the injured area is being exercised.

The idea behind the design is rooted in the idea behind weight loss programs such as Weight Watchers: people who can track their progress using real, hard data are more likely to stay motivated and keep doing what they have been told to do.… Read more

Google Maps with GPS Tracker tracks your position

Golenfound's Google Maps with GPS Tracker is a small, free application that uploads your GPS position regularly via GPRS or 3G and then automatically updates your position on a Google Map display. You need a GPS device to use it, but you can download and try the GpsGate simulator software free for 14 days. Once you're familiar with Google Maps with GPS Tracker, you can buy a GPS device that suits your needs and configure the program to accept it.

A small, square, tabbed interface opened on the GPS tab, which showed blank fields. The program's Web-based … Read more

Angry Birds through the seasons

Angry Birds Seasons lets you play the popular birds vs. pigs game, but with themes that match every season. You can play among jack-o'-lanterns and white-sheet ghosts in the fall; snowmen and Santa-capped pigs during the winter; or brightly colored eggs and bunny hats when it gets close to Easter. You can play whichever season you want right away--you won't need to unlock every level in order to unlock new themed worlds. With that said, the gameplay is no different than you've come to expect with Angry Birds, but maybe that's a good thing--most people love … Read more

Formulas Lite, an invaluable math and science study guide

Formulas Lite is a collection of important information and tools to help students get through some of the tougher subjects in school.

The meat of the Formulas Lite app is in the Subjects tab, where you'll find a huge database of must-know formulas for mathematics, physics, and chemistry. Within each of these top-level subjects, formulas are further organized by topic. For instance, under mathematics you'll see formulas organized in branches from algebra to statistics. Under physics, you'll see formulas organized in branches from relativity to torque. Within the chemistry section, you'll also find a functional periodic … Read more

EA predicts the death of in-store game buying

Electronic Arts believes the end is near for in-store game buying.

Speaking to Eurogamer in an interview published yesterday, EA Sports Vice President Andrew Wilson said there will be a time when gamers decide against heading to a local game retailer, and get all their titles digitally instead.

"There will come a day where I think that people will stop going into [U.K. game retailer] Game and GameStop," Wilson told Eurogamer. "And I use those purely as examples of retail. It's important for retailers and us to understand what the consumer wants in the future.&… Read more

Angry Birds with a Rio theme

Angry Birds Rio is the surprisingly good game tie-in to the animated movie "Rio." While many co-branded marketing vehicles show signs of slipshod shoehorning, Angry Birds Rio expands on the core Angry Birds mechanic while adding some twists and improvements we hope will, ahem, migrate their way into the main game.

Fans of the titanically popular Angry Birds series will find the same basic interface and gameplay--but instead of crushing pigs, your avian assault team is freeing other birds imprisoned by smugglers, taking out menacing monkeys, and presumably doing other things as more chapters are added. (The game … Read more

LPs and CDs, get 'em while you can

PopMarket is a Sony Music Entertainment online club, or more specifically, it's a (free) members-only music club that caters to fans, bargain hunters, and serious collectors. The site offers "Daily Deals" (changing each day at 9 a.m. PT) and five channels containing a mix of premium music and rare, collectible albums, boxed sets, and memorabilia at discounted prices. Shipping is free on most items.

PopMarket is an online store, but Sony temporarily converted New York City's Morrison Hotel Gallery into a brick-and-mortar record shop on May 25, and will continue selling a limited selection of … Read more

LHC's record intensity speeds Higgs search

The Large Hadron Collider has surpassed a record set by Fermilab's rival particle accelerator for what's called luminosity, a milestone that improves the odds that the gargantuan scientific experiment will produce new physics discoveries.

The LHC operators yesterday packed more bunches of protons into the beam, increasing the likelihood of collisions and therefore of the detection of very rare outcomes from those collisions.

"Beam intensity is key to the success of the LHC, so this is a very important step," said General Rolf Heuer, director of the CERN facility that operates the LHC, in a statement. &… Read more

'RiceWrist' retrains motor skills after spinal-cord injury

Almost exactly a year ago, in April 2010, professional motocross rider Randy Childers sustained serious injuries after a crash in the last race of the day at Cowboy Badlands in West Beaumont, Texas.

He suffered broken ribs and a fractured wrist, but most seriously a crushed vertebra in his neck (C3) that required him to be airlifted to Houston, where surgeons inserted an artificial vertebra and fused two others together (C4 and C5) during a marathon operation that lasted 12 hours.

Today, the 24-year-old is the star in a single-patient trial of Rice University's RiceWrist robot, a wearable exoskeleton that mimics the joints from his shoulder to his hand.… Read more

Will your structure stand?

SimplePhysics is the sequel to popular physics game BridgeBasher, challenging you to make structures that will withstand the laws of gravity and nature--while remaining under budget.

You start with a helpful tutorial level that shows you the ropes by having you build a tree house. Your requirements are that you build the structure to withstand the weight of four 50-pound children (don't worry, they use boxes to symbolize the children). Before testing the integrity of your structure, draw supports between onscreen anchors to make sure your tree house will hold. When you're satisfied with your work you can … Read more