Crave

Neuroscientists at Princeton University created a new way to study the neurons of the classic mouse-in-a-maze: strap it to a suspended ball and have it run through a virtual maze. That first virtual maze? Derived from a Quake 2 level.

Apparently it's difficult to control and study the neurons of a mouse when it's physically moving, and this method makes that easier. The ball is suspended on a jet of air, and the mouse is strapped in place with a collar on top of it (like a giant trackball, sort of) while running on a spherical treadmill.

Given that I don't understand psychology at all, or even totally know what a neuron is, I'm going to go ahead and assume this is an elaborate ruse to get a mouse to play Quake 2. The researchers detail their findings in the latest issue of the journal Nature. Well played, scientists.

This story originally appeared on Gizmodo.

The gas mask bra is one of the winners at the 19th First Annual Ig Nobel Prize Ceremony.

(Credit: Elena Bodnar)

This week the Annals of Improbable Research hosted its 19th First Annual Ig Nobel Prize Ceremony. As CNET News' Elinor Mills wrote, this year was no less ignoble than the previous 18, with such delightful discoveries as applications for panda poo and observations from a lifetime of knuckle cracking.

Except for one award: the gas mask bra, which, while ridiculous and hilarious at face value, has far more going on below the, er, neckline.

Elena Bodnar, who lives in Chicago, got her start as a scientist in Ukraine, when she witnessed the devastating effects of the Chernobyl nuclear plant disaster in 1986. She noticed, among other things, that women were wearing bras that may have been lacy but were certainly not life-saving.

At the ceremony, Bodnar demonstrated her invention, which she said could have prevented people from breathing in Iodine-131 in the wake of Chernobyl. She graciously gave pink bras (each of which can turn into two gas masks) to actual Nobel laureates (yes, even the men, who now have the option to enjoy the bras without shame--not to mention any likely real effect--in the privacy of their own homes).

The bra's patent abstract, which also includes an attempt to make "positionable" a word, somehow manages to be as boring as other patent abstracts:

A bra garment comprising: a plurality of detachable cup sections, each of the cup sections having: (a) a filter device; (b) a first portion positionable adjacent to a first central area of a user's chest; (c) a second portion positionable adjacent to a second outer area of the user's chest adjacent to an underarm; and (d) a valve device.

And for all the women out there who are worried about whether their cup size is too big or small to turn into effective gas masks: size, according to Bodnar, doesn't matter.

Does this make me look fat?

(Credit: Microsoft)

The average gamer isn't that 9-year-old child fragging you online, according to a new study by researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Emory University, and Andrews University. The average gamer, they concluded, looks nothing like that kid.

According to "Health-Risk Correlates of Video-Game Playing Among Adults" (PDF), the result of a 2006 survey of 552 adults living in the Seattle area, the average gamer is 35 years old, overweight, and depressed.

The researchers chose the Seattle area because of its size, diversity, and reputation of having the highest Web usage in the United States.

James B. Weaver III of the CDC's National Center for Health Marketing said the study shows that there are real differences between gamers and nongamers.

"Health risk factors differentiated adult video game players from nonplayers," Weaver said in a statement. "Video game players also reported lower extroversion, consistent with research on adolescents that linked video game playing to a sedentary lifestyle and overweight status, and to mental-health concerns."

The study also found that a gamer's gender doesn't matter when it comes to those issues. Female gamers surveyed had "lower health status" than women who chose not to play video games. Male gamers had a higher body mass index, or BMI, than nongamers, according to study results.

The paper also says women who play video games may be self-medicating.

Wi-Fi radios would seem to be a perfect bedside companion, but surprisingly few of them are designed to work as an alarm clock.

The Acoustic Research ARIR200 is one of few that is designed to (at least try to) wake you up in the morning, with a big snooze button on top and easy access to the alarm via buttons on the top. In addition, the ARIR200 is packed with many features not seen even on more expensive radios, including the ability to record stations to its internal memory, Slacker streaming, and weather updates--all for a very reasonable street price of about $100.

So why the half-hearted praise? Unfortunately we ran into some connectivity problems (although only at the office) and the ARIR200 tends to emit a hissing sound that's annoying even at this price. We were also disappointed that Acoustic Research didn't throw in dual alarm functionality, especially because it's available on the competing Aluratek Internet Radio.

The Acoustic Research ARIR200 doesn't have any deal-breaking flaws and the price is right, but a few critical improvements would have made us like it a lot more.

Read the full review of the Acoustic Research ARIR200.

Acoustic Research ARIR200 photos

iPhone applications featuring particular musicians have been around for a while now--Nine Inch Nails was recently in the news when Apple rejected an update to its application, and tech companies like Melodeo and The Orchard have experimented with creating iPhone apps for their clients.

In the teaser video for the new U2 BlackBerry app, this map of a concert venue appears immediately after the text "Experience the tour from all angles." My guess: you'll be able to shoot and share concert videos.

(Credit: Research In Motion)

Soon, BlackBerry fans will be able to get in on the fun. Research In Motion, which is sponsoring the U2 360 tour, has posted a page on its Web site declaring the imminent arrival of the U2 "mobile album."

Although the video teaser is fairly cryptic, it looks like the app will let users listen to the latest U2 album "No Line on the Horizon," watch videos, and read news updates. A more interesting twist: it also looks like users will be able to share video clips from U2 concerts--a map will let you pick among BlackBerry-toting audience members with different stage angles.

U2 fans with BlackBerries can sign up here to be informed when the app's released. No word yet on timing or pricing. One possibility: the app might launch in conjunction with the Blackberry Tour 9630 on July 12.

Whether you're a U2 fan or not, it's great to see RIM getting serious about mobile music, and I think it'll help cement RIM's position alongside Apple at the top of the consumer smartphone heap.

Follow Matt on Twitter.

No more telling Mom you can't talk because your cell phone is "about to die"--it soon could be charging itself as you speak.

The Nokia Research Centre in Cambridge, England, is working on a prototype system that would eliminate the traditional cell phone charger.

"I can't talk, my phone is charging...oh, wait."

(Credit: Nokia)

The system collects energy from ambient radio waves emitted by antennas, TV masts, Wi-Fi transmitters, and the like. This might all sound uber-scientific, but we've been using this technology for years. Have you ever exited a store, only to hear the beep, beep, beep of an accusing alarm system? Many retailers use radio frequency identification to prevent theft and track inventory. Like RFID tags, the Nokia phones would catch radio waves across a range of frequencies, harnessing them for power.

Nokia's goal is to get cell phones to harvest about 50 milliwatts of power. Currently the prototypes are able to harvest up to 5 milliwatts, but at least 20 milliwatts is needed to keep phones running in standby mode indefinitely without the need for a recharge, the U.K.'s Guardian reports in an article on Nokia's research.

We're not quite sure what features 50 milliwatts could power: music playing? 3G Internet browsing? As consumers increase their business- and entertainment-related dependency on cell phones, Nokia might have to adjust its 50-milliwatt goal. For a more functional lifestyle device, the phone would need to be paired with a solar-paneled case, or even an occasional wired charge.

The Nokia Research Centre has said the technology will take three to five years to develop. Though this would presumably be the first time electromagnetic radiation is applied to a mainstream consumer product, wireless charging has already hit the market. This month, Palm introduced a wireless charger, the Touchstone, for its much-anticipated Palm Pre.

The Touchstone uses a method referred to as inductive charging. The electric toothbrush is one of the most common devices that applies this technology.

Starting Friday, the largest tornado research project will touch down in Norman, Okla., this time with the participation of one Lenovo.

The company announced Thursday that it has partnered with the nonprofit Center for Severe Weather Research to power advanced levels in tornado and severe weather research. This is part of a $11.9 million nomadic project called Vortex2, during which CSWR will use more than 50 pieces of Think-branded PC equipment.

(Credit: vortex2.org)

The equipment includes ThinkPad notebooks, ThinkCenter desktops, ThinkVision monitors, and IdeaPad S10 Netbooks. They will be used to help track and store radar data, guide vehicles in the storm, provide weather briefings, and analyze information for future use.

Based in Boulder, Colo., the CSWR conducts ongoing research on tornadoes, hurricanes, and severe weather. With Vortex2, the team will work in the field in "tornado alley" for several weeks to study why some thunderstorms produce tornadoes while others don't. The efforts will hopefully help researchers better predict future tornadoes' intensity, duration, and path.

Other than Lenovo, Vortex2 includes a diversity of governmental, academic, nonprofit and international organizations including the National Science Foundation and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association. More than 100 scientists will participate in the field study, which will span 500,000 square miles across parts of seven states. They will use more than 40 specially designed vehicles and 70 pieces of weather equipment to get close to the eye of a storm.

You can keep track of this project here, or you follow it on Facebook or Twitter.

AT&T may slash the price of its iPhone service plan by $10 when a new version of the touchscreen smartphone is launched this summer, according to a story on TheStreet.com.

The article cited analyst Michael Cote of Cote Collaborative saying that there is a "strong possibility" that AT&T will drop the entry-level price of its service plan to $59 from $69. Apple is expected to unveil the latest iPhone on June 8 during the company's World Wide Developers Conference in San Francisco.

(Credit: Apple)

AT&T declined to comment for this story, and Michael Cote did not respond to an e-mail request for an interview.

The price cut would likely help make the iPhone, which now retails for $200 with a two-year service plan with AT&T, more appealing to more mainstream customers. I've been saying for quite some time that the biggest hurdle to widescale adoption of the iPhone or any other smartphone in the mainstream market is the high price tag of the service contracts.

Consumers have shown that they are willing to pay anywhere between $100 and $200 for a sophisticated smartphone device. But the monthly service charge, which starts at $69 for the iPhone, is much harder to swallow.

It puts the real cost of the iPhone 3G over the life of the two-year contract at a whopping $1,856, which includes the price of the 8GB phone and 24 months of the most basic iPhone voice and data plan. It doesn't include the activation fee or taxes and other fees associated with the account. For subscribers who need more voice minutes or unlimited texting, the price tag is even higher.

Still, a $240 reduction in the overall cost of the phone over the life of the contract could entice some cost-conscious consumers.

(Credit: Dong Ngo/CNET)

Apple fanboys, I have something for you.

According to data released by Forrester Research on Friday, during 2008 Apple enjoyed a decisive lead in the firm's Customer Experience Index (or CxPi). In short, this means Apple is supposedly the most lovely PC maker in the world, while Dell is the worst.

Forrester conducted its survey in October 2008 by asking 4,564 U.S. consumers about their interactions with a variety of companies, gauging the usefulness, usability, and enjoyability of those experiences. Based on these consumer responses, the firm calculated the CxPi for 113 firms in 12 different industries, including PC makers.

The ratings were compiled based on the answers to the following three questions: How effective was the company at meeting your needs? How easy was it to work with this firm? And how enjoyable were the interactions? Participants selected responses to these queries from a five-point scale. The individual indexes were calculated by taking the percentage of consumers who selected one of the top two points and subtracting from that the percentage of consumers who selected one of the bottom two points.

The research firm concluded in its report that Apple--whose rating is 80 percent, which is 14 points higher than that of the next firm on the list, Gateway--is the only PC vendor that earned a rating of "good"; the rest, including Gateway, Hewlett-Packard, Compaq, and Dell ended up with designations of either "OK" or "Poor." Apple's reported "ease of use" largely helped it take the lead.