Get a grip on this. "It turns out that opposable thumbs aren't critical for getting a good grip. Neither are fingers. Scientists have created a robotic arm that can do everything from serve drinks to draw pictures even though it has no digits. Their robotic hand, which they describe online today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, is a thin rubber sack filled with coffee grains or small glass spheres. When this hand comes in contact with an object, a small pipe sucks air from the sack, causing it to contract and mold to the object's shape. The contraction is small—a mere 1% change in volume–but was enough to grab most objects the researchers tested."
Inside the balloon hand.
The robotic mitt.
Via: Sciencemag.org
posted by Fizz
on Oct 26, 2010 -
49 comments
"There are chakrahs in our hands, Jesus had nail holes in his palms, and a sign of worship is to stand with your palms raised. Fortune tellers read palms. Handwriting is analyzed to expose deep secrets. Man’s thumbs differentiate humans from lower species....We control our world with our hands, and our hands are shaped by our world." -- The
Manual Project by
Bill Westheimer.
"Using 19th century collodion wet plate photography I photograph their dominant hand, then we work together to make a photogram of their palm print. Combining these two images together with the person’s handwriting, I create one portrait of the subject. "
posted by Gator
on Feb 12, 2006 -
12 comments
Michael Homan rode out Katrina in New Orleans and later "escaped" one of the freeway-based collection points. His is the first of what will surely be many firsthand accounts appearing on blogs. Why not collect your link finds here?
posted by mwhybark
on Sep 5, 2005 -
29 comments
Press button, wipe hands on pants ... NOT! FINALLY someone has done something about those crappy hand driers that never really worked in the first place. I encountered my first XLERATOR in the men's room of my local pool hall the other night. For a moment I feared it would blow the flesh off my tender hands. But no flesh-tearing was to occur; it performed its intended function flawlessly in about 10 seconds. My profound and everlasting gratitude to its inventor.
Best news ever? Do I need to get a life?
posted by ZenMasterThis
on Jul 16, 2004 -
38 comments
