hand

Your cell phone has shown your hands that they can be free.

You can talk into it, while scratching your face, driving your car, or conducting the New York Philharmonic.

Purveyors of fast food have been slow to offer you a similar sense of liberty. Conduct the Philharmonic while trying to eat a Big Mac, and it will be a messy experience for both you and the lead viola.

Burger King wants to redress your balance. It has created a holder in which you can slip your Whopper and leave your hands free to do what they must.… Read more

Leaked from today's 404 episode:

- Everyone panic: a Web site that leaks and archives your "deleted" Snapchat photos.

- You'll never guess which song is the most lucrative ever recorded.

- The world's richest songs.

- Someone's trying to sell a stolen CitiBike on Craigslist.

- Hospitals install video cameras to ensure that employees wash their hands. In related news, DOCTORS AREN'T WASHING THEIR HANDS.… Read more

Wearing an activity tracker such as the Fitbit Flex is an efficient way to increase your activity. Counting steps motivates some users, while the number of calories burned or total distance traveled may be bigger motivation for others. The Fitbit Flex tracks all of these categories, but the indicator lights when you double-tap the tracker only indicate progress towards your daily steps goal. And without a small screen (like the Fitbit One is equipped with) you can't quickly scroll through your progress for your other goals. Sure, you can just launch the app on your phone, but being able … Read more

David Segal Violins is located just a few blocks from Lincoln Center and the Juilliard School in New York City. I stopped by the showroom to learn how the technology of violin making has changed, but that wasn't the main story. Today's violins may look similar to the ones made 300 years ago by Stradivarius or Guarneri, but they get used in different ways. Where before violins were only played in concerts, now they're also recorded. Segal tells me that a great concert violin might not work all that well to accompany a vocalist.

The "technology&… Read more

If you're missing a hand, getting a replacement isn't exactly cheap. The BeBionic -- which is, admittedly, a higher-end model -- can cost up to $35,000. We imagine that's a little out of the price range of many amputees.

It's unsurprising, then, that some have taken it upon themselves to find a more accessible solution. Robohand, for example, has been creating 3D-printed robotic hands for children, with a free, open-source 3D-printing pattern available on Thingiverse for people who wish to make their own.

Christopher Chappell of the U.K. wants to do something similar. He'… Read more

In the future, the U.S. Army could rely on low-cost ambidextrous autonomous robots, instead of bomb disposal technicians or remote control robots, to defuse improvised explosive devices. Better yet, activating and operating the smart robots may only require a nearby solider to say, "Go find and defuse the bomb."

As a precursor to that end goal, DARPA's Autonomous Robotic Manipulation program released a video that shows a robot changing a tire by itself. The robot, complete with a camera and an array of sensors, successfully uses two hands (one equipped with a drill) to remove a tire and put a new one in its place. A small screen shows the robot's virtual view of the tire, which reveals how software algorithms detect each the scene and its minute details in real time.… Read more

Subscribe to Crave:

iTunes (HD) | iTunes (SD) | iTunes (HQ)

RSS (HD) | RSS (SD) | RSS (HQ)

Cheers! Scientists have created what may be the world's first pill that can make you sober if you've gone a little too far with the booze. Russian meteorite fragments go up for sale online, as do Milla Jovovich's shorts. And later this year a man will have surgery to attach a bionic hand that can feel touch sensations. … Read more

A man who lost his hand in an accident is due to receive the first bionic hand designed to more fully simulate the sensation of feeling.

Scheduled for later this year, the surgery will connect the bionic hand directly to the man's nervous system. The goal is for him to not only move the hand but also receive touch signals from the sensors across the hand, according to a story published Sunday by The Independent.

Specifically, the hand would be attached through electrodes connected to the median and ulnar nerves, two of the main nerves in the human arm, … Read more

Subscribe to Crave:

iTunes (HD) | iTunes (SD) | iTunes (HQ)

RSS (HD) | RSS (SD) | RSS (HQ)

This week on Crave, we take a look at the deadly do-it-yourself Iron Man Laser Gauntlet and monkey around with Apps for Apes. After playing with monkeys all day, maybe we should consider washing our hands with ManHands manly scented soaps. Our favorite one: Urinal Mint.

… Read more