http://www.metafilter.com/tags/sensor Posts tagged with 'sensor' at MetaFilter. Mon, 03 Aug 2009 22:32:15 -0800 Mon, 03 Aug 2009 22:32:15 -0800 en-us http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss 60 http://www.metafilter.com/83829/New%2DMedical%2Dimaging%2Dtechnique <a href="http://science.discovery.com/videos/brink-package-micro-cell-phone.html">Digital camera sensor used to make direct digital holograms of blood cells</a> tag:metafilter.com,2009:site.83829 Mon, 03 Aug 2009 22:32:15 -0800 camera cells digital hologram of sensor vvurdsmyth http://www.metafilter.com/75266/shake%2Dshake%2Dshake "The <a href="http://qcn.stanford.edu/">Quake-Catching Network</a> is a collaborative initiative for developing the world's largest, low-cost strong-motion seismic network by utilizing sensors in and attached to internet-connected computers." The Economist's writeup <a href="http://www.economist.com/science/displaystory.cfm?story_id=12295198">notes</a> that, since network communications are (sometimes) faster than the speed of sound in the earth's crust, a distributed network's observations of a temblor might reach a warning network before the quake itself reaches a traditional seismometer. This appears to be the first use of <a href="http://boinc.berkeley.edu/">Berkeley's Open Infrastructure for Network Computing</a> as a sensor network, rather than for number-crunching. tag:metafilter.com,2008:site.75266 Tue, 30 Sep 2008 08:31:36 -0800 boinc computing distributed earthquake quake sensor fantabulous timewaster http://www.metafilter.com/55538/Robotic%2DRat%2DWhiskers <a title="Robotic Whiskers Inspired by Rats Can 'See' in 3-D" href="http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/10/061004-robot-whiskers.html">R</a>&#0183;<a title="a rat's world - The animal's perception of its surrounding world is called its &#0252;mvelt. What is the rat's &#0252;mvelt like?" href="http://www.ratbehavior.org/perception.htm">a</a>&#0183;<a title="The AMOUSE project - Construction of mobile robot with vision and whisker array" href="http://www.mpipf-muenchen.mpg.de/home/kim/www/amouse.html">t</a> <a title="Whiskers and blinking - “The human eyeblink reflex circuit appears to share a common anatomy and physiology with the neural circuit that controls rat whiskers,” said Kleinfeld. “Actually, it isn’t unusual to see the repetition of neural circuits with the same design principles in different systems.”" href="http://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/newsrel/science/sblepharo.asp">W</a>&#0183;<a title="Hair trigger for rat's whiskers - researchers have stimulated individual neurons in a rat's motor cortex, triggering long sequences of whisker movements." href=http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg18124352.100-hair-trigger-for-rats-whiskers.html>h</a>&#0183;<a title="Rat whiskers lead to brain map - “Our finding suggests that high-resolution sensory maps that can quickly and accurately handle many different kinds of sensory features are an essential hallmark of high sensory acuity, in whatever mode of perception is most important to the animal,” Moore said. “It makes sense that mammals develop intricate sensory maps in the sensory system that is crucial for them -- like vision is for us or the whisker system is for rodents.”" href="http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2006/whiskers.html">i</a>&#0183;<a title="Sleep study - Rats rely on their whiskers for spatial location. Shaving one side of those whiskers throws their orientation way off. But immediately, the somatosensory cortex on the side of the brain opposite to the shaved whiskers begins reorganizing itself. ... But what they're particularly interested in is the effect of sleep on that reorganization." href=http://www.wsu.edu/nis/universe/sleep.htm>s</a>&#0183;<a title="Resonating whiskers tell a touchy tale - Whiskers were found to have sharp tuning curves and to resonate at frequencies between about 50 and 750 Hz. This resonance probably functions to amplify tactile signals: stimuli that vibrate a whisker near its resonance frequency increase its deflection as much as tenfold, which should deliver a larger stimulus to the neurons innervating the base of the whisker." href=http://jeb.biologists.org/cgi/content/full/206/23/4185>k</a>&#0183;<a title="Whisker Velocity Patterns Tell Rats What They're Feeling - Rat whiskers scan surfaces in a rhythmic motion that excites sensory receptor cells embedded in their whisker pad. Receptors in each whisker shaft are innervated by several hundred “first-order neurons” that relay sensory signals to second-order neurons in the brain stem, then on to third-order neurons in the thalamus, and finally on to the cortex, where sensory stimuli are integrated in cell clusters called barrels. ... Diamond and colleagues investigate the connection between textures, whisker vibrations, and neural codes: do distinct textures produce distinct vibrations? If so, how are these vibrations encoded and reported?" href=http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=544549" ">e</a>&#0183;<a title="Empedocles: “when a ray touches an object, we feel it in the ray” [I couldn't confirm the accuracy of the quote, some help would be nice - Chuckles]" href=http://www.metafilter.com/mefi/20625#361355>r</a>&#0183;<a title="STOP THE MADNESS!" href="http://www.metafilter.com/mefi/54488">s</a> - a hot research topic in robotics, biomedical engineering, and neuroscience. Check out the <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/quirks/archives/06-07/oct14.html#3">Robotic Rat Whiskers</a> segment from this weeks Quirks &amp; Quarks, and <a href="http://sciencenow.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/2006/1004/4">watch them in action</a> (video link at bottom of page). tag:metafilter.com,2006:site.55538 Sun, 15 Oct 2006 13:44:36 -0800 CBC quirksquarks rat robotics sensor whisker Chuckles http://www.metafilter.com/47566/Horny%2Dand%2Dsensitive <a href="http://www.narwhal-whales.com/">The narwhal,</a> often termed "The Unicorn of the Sea," has a really odd <a href="http://www.narwhal.org/">tusk</a>. It's long, spiraled, and there's only one of 'em per animal. Its purpose has been disputed for ages, but at long last, it seems that <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/13/science/13narw.html?8dpc">the answer has been found</a>. And it's <a href="http://web.med.harvard.edu/sites/RELEASES/html/12_13nweeia.html">pretty damn cool</a>. tag:metafilter.com,2005:site.47566 Tue, 13 Dec 2005 10:51:29 -0800 dentist discovery horn narwhal science sensor tooth tusk unicorn whale greatgefilte