Science and Tech | Sunstone Online

Circus Computer Game Helps Stroke Victims

A new computer game, Circus Challenge, just might help stroke patients to do more than enjoy the circus. Newcastle University neuroscientists in England have created the interactive games where players work to master the skills necessary in a circus. While enjoying themselves at the games, users don’t realize that they are actually using specific hand, arm and wrist movements that help patients to regain control of limbs that have been weakened from a stroke.

Janet Eyre, a professor of pediatric neuroscience, is hoping that the games can help with patient rehabilitation when used consistently at home. As Professor Eyre explained, “The brain can re-learn control of the weak arm but this needs frequent therapy over many months and there are not enough therapists to provide this on a one-to-one basis. Patients need to be able to use both their arms and hands for most every day activities such as doing up a zip, making a bed, tying shoe laces, unscrewing a jar. With our video game, people get engrossed in the competition and action of the circus characters and forget that the purpose of the game is for therapy.”

The first of the games, paid for by the Health Innovation Challenge Fund, could be on sale early next year. Certainly, those who created the games hope that they can create similar models for cerebral palsy sufferers, for dementia and more.

Dr. Peter Coleman, of the Stroke Association, explained that the medical cuts have decreased the amount of physiotherapy that patients can receive. Video games of this sort can be used in tandem with physiotherapy to help patients. He warned, however, that “It’s important that they do not replace physiotherapists but instead support the vital work they do.”

Amphibious Sports Car Launched to Compete with Record Speeds

The idea of a car that can function both on land and in the water is not a new one, but the challenge of making it a reality is an ongoing one.

Car enthusiast Marc Witt believes that he has finally accomplished this feat, having created the a vehicle that can travel at 125 mph on land, and keep up a respectable pace while sailing on water as well. Naming it the ‘Sea Lion’, Witt is putting the car up for sale for $259,500.

The car was built by Witt himself, using a 174hp Mazda rotary engine, brushed aluminum and stainless steel. It is sturdy, strong and waterproof, and even features small storage compartments for travel as well.

Witt began building the car in 2006, with hopes of breaking the water-speed record for amphibious cars. At the time, the record was set at 45mph. Now, the record has reached 6-mph, and Witt’s car sits at the top alongside 25 others.

Witt believes that with an engine upgrade, his car will break the record both on land and on water.

Witt wrote: “Building Sea Lion has been an enjoyable exploration. I have provided the basic architecture for the car and resolved every conflicting interaction between Car and Boat. The next chapter of this project is to provide an ultimate engine and begin speed trials. There are many highly qualified rotary engine builders who have decades of experience making reliable high performance improvements. It is best to bring a specialist builder on board for the rest of this endeavor and bring the car up to its full potential. I am willing to continue working with a buyer on all future modifications. I will remain available as a consultant, engineer, machinist and psychiatrist for whoever decides to venture further into the amphibious record books.”

Nike Unveils TurboSpeed Running Suit

Nike has unveiled an amazing new running suit called the TurboSpeed suit. They are claiming that it can take .23 seconds off of a 100 meter sprint, and the suit will be donned by the American Olympic athletics team.

While most of us wouldn’t care to knock .23 seconds off of our time in the 100 meter sprint – it can mean the world of difference to an Olympic athlete.

The suit actually incorporates dimples which reduce the aerodynamic drag and were inspired by the dimples found on a typical golf ball. The bodysuit has been tested extensively, undergoing hundreds of hours in a wind tunnel over twelve years.

While trying to break records, the Olympic athletes will also be staying green. Another fascinating tidbit about the suit is that it is made from 82% recycled polyester fabric. Each of these outfits was made with approximately 13 recycled plastic bottles!

Look for Olympic athletes from the USA, Germany, Russia and China who will be wearing this amazing design from Nike at the London Olympics.

Debut of the Nike+ FuelBand

The Nike+ FuelBand was recently launched with a crowd-pleasing and star-studded group. TV star Jimmy Fallon hosted the event along with Tour De France champion Lance Armstrong, NBA star Kevin Durant and sprint champion Carmelita Jeter.

While not on the market yet, the latest addition of the Nike+ data-trackers has high hopes to get people of all stripes and sizes up and moving. The principle upon which Nike founded this latest product is, “If you have a body, you are an athlete.”

The elegant design invites interest, while the features appeal to the lowest common denominator. The FuelBand “measures everyday movement to motivate and inspire people to be more active.” Users can easily keep track of their physical exertion and progress with the computer and iPhone software and the built-in USB to connect with your computer or your mobile device.

The software on the FuelBand allows the user to compare month-by-month scores and to look at the length of time that you are active. You can even map your progress on graphs. And, in addition to competing against yourself, you can also compete against friends, teammates and colleagues.

Stefan Olander, Nike’s vice president of digital sport, explains how it works. As he said, “The intensity of the activity can be measured by quantifying the change in oxygen uptake between rest and being active.” Those who have tried out the product, like Matt Fortune of the Daily Mail say that it’s “an attitude changer as much as it does change the game.

Rare Gorilla Species Caught on Video Camera

Conservationists have revealed that a cleverly concealed video trap has captured footage of the world’s rarest species of gorilla.

Located in the Kagwene Gorilla Sanctuary in Cameroon, the camera trap has recorded to first-ever video of Cross River gorillas. According to the Wildlife Conservation Society, the species has less than 250 individuals remaining.

The sanctuary was established in 2008 with only one goal- to protect the Cross River gorilla species, which survives only in the mountain forests along the Nigerian and Cameroon borders.

“This video gives us all a spectacular view into the hidden world of one of our closest relatives, which is in dire need of our help to survive,” said WCS president and COO Steve Sanderson.

“The video represents the best images to date of Cross River gorillas, normally shy animals hat flee at the slightest hint of human presence,” said Christopher Jameson, also of WCS. “The footage provides us with our first tantalizing glimpses of Cross River gorillas behaving normally in their environment. A person can study these animals for years and never catch a glimpse of the gorillas, much less see anything like this.”

Las Vegas Locals Defend Paleontological Treasure Trove

Mammoth Tusk Tule Springs — Mammoth Tusk at Tule Springs

It’s hard to believe that a mere thirty minutes away from the flashy ruckus of Las Vegas rests one of the most amazing paleontological discoveries in America’s history. It’s even harder to believe that it gets very little recognition.

The fossilized remains of Columbian mammoths, American lions, camelops, sloths and other amazing wildlife found in the region date back 7,000 to 250,000 years. The specimens record at least two Ice Ages as well as several global warming and cooling periods.

The first fossils were found in 1902, and six decades later the “Big Dig” took over Tule Springs. With funding from the National Science Foundation, teams of scientists set up camp for four months and excavated two miles of land in order to uncover and study the fossils that were preserved over the centuries. In 1979, 1,000 acres of the land were listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The early 2000s had a different plan for the land, and when the Bureau of Land Management announced its intentions to dig up and build on 13,000 acres in the area, locals rose to defend the treasure trove of natural history.

“I had no idea what we were getting into five years ago,” said Las Vegas resident Jill DeStephano, who battled the construction. “I had never done anything like this before. I was naïve. I thought this was so obvious, once we got the word out, of course everyone would say yes, we need to preserve this.”

Together with some fellow residents, Jill created ‘Protectors of Tule Springs.’ “I thought it would be over in a year or two,” she explained. “Then one consultant said to me, ‘why don’t you go home and play bridge?’ He kept saying things like ‘How much of the Mohave Desert do you have to save? Will 100 acres suffice?’ From my window I could see the beautiful lands of Desert National Wildlife Refuge, and I thought, ‘One day, it will be all built.’”

Eventually, DeStephano teamed up with the National Parks Conservation Association, who began pushing for the space to be declared a national monument.

“When the park service came out and looked at the area, they said this was a missing piece in our fossil record,” explained NPCA’s Nevada filed office program manager Lynn Davis.

Though the decision has not yet been made, support for the cause throughout the area has grown. Officially, in order to make a national monument, one of Nevada’s Congressional representatives would need to introduce legislation. Many are looking to Senator majority Leader Harry Reid.

“When this finally happens, it will be very emotional for a lot of people. They’ve really put their hearts out there,” Davis said.