2012-09-17

kestrell: (Default)
2012-09-17 11:04 am
Entry tags:

Library porn

Vintage photographs from inside ten famous libraries. I wonder if there are any library ladders? You know who has really sexy library ladders? The Boston Athenaeum. (I note here that Mr. Naggy Spellchecker is absolutely no help in spelling 'Athenaeum,' and that my screen reader insists on pronouncing the acronym for the New York Public Library "nipple.")
http://www.flavorwire.com/328811/vintage-photographs-from-inside-10-famous-libraries
kestrell: (Default)
2012-09-17 12:35 pm

Tentacular prosthetic arm

I was reading _The Octopus and the Orangutan_, which is about anecdotal stories concerning animal intelligence, and it mentioned a prosthetic project I had not heard of before, namely, a conference where a bunch of biologists and engineers worked together to develop a prosthetic arm based on the design of the octopus tentacle. A cool thing about octopus tentacles is that a significant portion of the octopus's neurons are in the tentacle itself, and the neurons may even be unique to each tentacle, so yes, the right tentacle may not know what the left tentacle is doing.

Anyway, I couldn't find any information on the project mentioned in the book, but I did find information about another project, this one designed by a female university student.
http://inventorspot.com/articles/prosthetic_arm_biomimics_arms_octopus