scale

It was horrible to imagine. A Belgian man, uncommunicative since a car accident left him paralyzed in 1983, suddenly seemed to have a message to convey last November with the help of a speech therapist. He was not unconscious, he indicated. He was trapped.

Now, neurologist Steven Laureys, one of Rom Houben's doctors who diagnosed the patient as conscious based on bedside tests performed four years ago, is telling reporters the speech therapist got it wrong. While recent brain scans of Houben do show brain activity and even consciousness, Houben is not communicating, Laureys says.

"We did not … Read more

The act of cooking can at times be exhilarating. The race to finish everything at the same time requires coordination, skill, and experience. The last thing anybody wants is to become hampered by equipment issues. However, sometimes outfitting a kitchen is akin to fitting square pegs in round holes. Ultimately this often leads to awkward twisting and turning while moving about. Flexibility in the kitchen is always a good thing, so instead of letting your kitchen gadgets dictate their positioning, let your kitchen gadgets come to you.

Though the OXO Good Grips Food Scale with Pull Out Display may not … Read more

Solar module maker First Solar on Monday opened the largest photovoltaic solar power station in California, which the company plans to replicate in order to expand its utility business.

The plant in Blythe, Calif., which First Solar sold to energy developer NRG last month, will have the capacity to generate 21 megawatts of electricity, or enough to power about 17,000 homes. It will supply electricity to Southern California Edison under a 20-year purchase power agreement.

It's one of a number of projects that First Solar is pursuing as it seeks to expand in the utility-scale solar business. A … Read more

Not only are the gifts covered in today's episode perfect to meet the mediocre expectations of a white elephant party, but this episode itself is in essence our very own white elephant gift to you! Interpret that as you will, and have a wonderful holiday, everyone!

Gifts to bring to a white elephant Christmas

Snuggie for your neck (Thanks, Greg and Sam)

Snuggie for your dog (Thanks, Eric!)

Doormat Scale

Electric rock guitar shirt… Read more

MOJAVE, Calif.--Virgin Galactic founder Richard Branson and legendary aircraft designer Burt Rutan, whose SpaceShipOne took the $10 million Ansari X Prize in 2004, unveiled the VSS Enterprise Monday, a sleek commercial rocket plane that represents the ultimate thrill ride for well-heeled space tourists and amateur astronauts.

Seating six passengers and two pilots, Virgin Space Ship Enterprise--also known as SpaceShipTwo--will begin test flights next year with commercial launchings carrying paying customers starting after government regulatory requirements are met. More than 300 people have already put down deposits or paid the full $200,000 cost of a ticket for future sub-orbital … Read more

Rom Houben has been trapped in a series of worst nightmares, including trying for 23 years to alert those around him that he was not in a coma. A new report suggests he's not alone in his experience.

In 1983, Belgian engineering student and martial arts enthusiast Houben, then 20, was in a car accident that was thought to have left him in a vegetative state. Doctors relied on the widely-used Glasgow Coma Scale, assessing his eyes, verbal, and motor responses. What they failed to notice was that Houben was actually conscious--but completely paralyzed.

"I screamed, but there … Read more

Do you love listening to music as much as you love to precisely measure cooking ingredients? Of course you don't. But that's not going to stop ADE Germany from slapping an iPod dock onto a kitchen scale early next year, with an expected asking price of $103.

The scale, which is curiously dubbed "Rihanna," includes an LCD that measures 1.7 inches by less than an inch and an integrated iPod speaker that plays beneath the glass measuring area.

The scale itself handles loads of up to 11 pounds, graduated in .04-ounce steps. It cannot, however, … Read more

Scales are handy little things to have around the kitchen. One can weigh ingredients for baking and always be assured of the exact amount. Flour is notorious for volumetric trickery, so for baking, weight-based measurements are the way to go. The same can be said about a whole host of other ingredients, but when it comes to the actual scale, there is no reason they can't do a little more.

The Cesto by Escali is a scale that brings more to the table. In fact it brings more to wherever you would like it to go. Dubbed a "… Read more

For this week's installment of the weekly Crave giveaway, we're offering a high-tech health accessory, Withings' Wi-Fi Body Scale.

This thing not only automatically tracks and charts your weight (and the weights of up to seven other people in your household), but it records your lean and fat mass, and calculates body mass index (BMI). Plus, you can access your data (it's secure, of course) from any Web browser or Withings' iPhone app, WiScale. Better yet, you can even have the scale Tweet your weight loss (or gain) to all your Twitter followers. How awesome is that? … Read more