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This water-based tractor beam could be used to contain oil slicks in the future

Aug11
by on August 11, 2014 at 6:26 am
Posted In: Around the Web, Shareables

A tractor beam could be the future of containing oil slicks. That’s according to professors at Australian National University (ANU) who have shown off a prototype that moves objects floating on the surface of water independently of waves. The group’s advanced particle tracking tools were able to move a ping-pong ball in a wave tank in a range of directions, or keep it entirely still. The technology uses simple wave generators which could be scaled to tackle more serious problems in the ocean, such as collecting floating objects, moving small boats or containing oil slicks, so says ANU professor Michael Shats….

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This amazing Microsoft technology turns shaky first person videos into smooth timelapses

Aug11
by on August 11, 2014 at 4:48 am
Posted In: Around the Web, Shareables

gopro

Last week, it was reconstructing sound using tiny vibrations on objects — this week’s science wow comes from Microsoft Research, which showed off a technology that turns shaky first-person video into beautifully smooth timelapse footage. The growth of wearable video cameras — from Google Glass to GoPro and more — has led to a boom in first-person videos, most of which are overly long and uneventful. When you speed them up into to timelapse video, however, they can become more palatable and entertaining, but a person’s movement means the footage is rarely steady. That problem is exacerbated when videos are accelerated. Until now, perhaps….

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Microsoft’s new iOS app lets you keep up with news from your favorite celebs

Aug10
by on August 10, 2014 at 8:07 pm
Posted In: Apps, Around the Web

kanye and kim

Are you into celebrity news and the owner of an iOS device? If so, Microsoft has you covered with a new app that quietly launched over the weekend. Snipp3t is a celebrity news app for Apple devices that lets you follow your favorite famous people to get news of their latest activities as it happens. To get started, simply follow the celebs that you want to keep up with… and that’s about it. News is presented in a timeline-style format that mixes updates from those you subscribe to with general “trending” stories from other famous folks. Microsoft has put a lot of emphasis on media…

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