November 29, 2009

Link dump for 2009.11.29

From the four corners of the web:

  • 25 Everyday Technologies That Came from NASA
    Though associated mainly with aerospace innovations, NASA holds a significant influence over daily life as well. Many people do not realize that everything from toys to sunglasses and even horseshoes have benefitted from technologies originally intended for astronauts, shuttle flights, and other elements of space exploration. While some inventions stem directly from NASA and its collaborations, others simply involve vast improvements to existing designs. The following list contains a combination of technologies that went straight from NASA to consumers as well as ones that went on to streamline articles that were already available.
  • Bionic supermen of sport | CTV Olympics
    Athletes with disabilities can now be transformed with the addition of high-tech prostheses which can actually outdo the human equivalents
  • Man trapped in a 23-year 'coma' was conscious entire time
    Doctors in Belgium have freed a hospital patient from a 23-year nightmare after discovering the man had been misdiagnosed with a coma.
  • Meat without animals? Science says yes! | Current
    Winston Churchill once predicted that it would be possible to grow chicken breasts and wings more efficiently without having to keep an actual chicken. And in fact scientists have since figured out how to grow tiny nuggets of lab meat and say it will one day be possible to produce steaks in vats, sans any livestock.
  • 1 comment:

    Anonymous said...

    I don't know if all of those 25 things really count as "Everyday technologies". Some of them might be commonly seen or used by a small number of people in specialized occupations or environments, but that's not what most people mean when they use the term.