Popular Science

The other day, I took “Betsy,” a.k.a. my car, to the dealership for the experts to sort out all her minor issues. I knew I'd be there a few hours, so I started reading... and reading... and reading.

I read parts of a book my fiancée got for me titled Heaven Is For Real, I read several different sections of the USA Today newspaper that was sprawled about the dealership, I even read a magazine that I probably never would have read had I not been in this very situation, a magazine called Popular Science.

The latter turned out to be one of the cooler things I've read all year, as it contained images and blurbs of the “100 Greatest Innovations of the Year,” some of which I didn't even know had been created and others which made me think how I wished I could get paid to create such things.

The December 2014 edition of that magazine, which was the one I was browsing through that day, really opened my eyes to the fact that scientists have such a cool career. Since I doubt anybody really reads my blog, but yet I still feel inclined to share some of the neat things I learn on my journey through life, here are just a few of those inventions to stimulate your minds.

1. Bionic Arm

Founded by R&D firm Deka and approved by the Food and Drug Administration in May, the Luke Arm is the first prosthesis that allows a person to make multiple movements, such as rotating the wrist and opening the hand, at once. The Star Wars-named product works by using electrodes on the skin near the attachment site to pick up electrical impulses signaling muscle contractions, and then submits those to a computer in the prosthesis. The processor then translates those messages into motion of the integrated elbow, wrist and hand. Users can also coordinate complex movements with a joystick-like sensor on their shoe. Though Deka has yet to announce a price or commercial release date for this product, they did perform a clinical trial, in which 90 percent of the 36 participants were able to do previously impossible tasks, such as unlocking a door or using chopsticks.

Remember when we used to watch The Six Million Dollar Man on television and think Steve Austin's “parts” were so far into the future? Well, Doctor, it looks like it wasn't that far into it, after all, as we humans have now caught up to that technology. What's next: the flying cars from The Jetsons?

Well, sort of...

2. Real-Life Flying Saucer

The Low-Density Supersonic Decelerator – or “LDSD,” for short – is a prototype flying saucer that allows NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory to test and improve deceleration technologies, such as parachutes and balloons, in order to best determine what kind of drastic braking system works well at hypersonic speeds. After all, we want to be able to land safely when arriving at alien planets, don't we?

I don't know about you, but the one thought I kept having while reading up on this thing is that maybe this is what people report seeing out in the skies every once in a while, as I'm sure they must've already taken it out for a test drive or two, no? Do the people who have to address alleged UFO sightings have to be told about such innovations and when scientists will be out doing test runs on them? I've so many questions on this creation, but very few answers.

3. Bendable Television

Me, personally, I've never understood what the big deal is with having ginormous-sized televisions, but then again, I know squat about T.V., other than I like watching The Walking Dead on mine. Nevertheless, even I can respect the improbability of having a bendable television screen. I grew up in an era where screens were hard as a rock, so even the mere idea of bending a T.V. never, ever crossed my mind until I saw one in this magazine. Apparently, some people love the idea of a curved television, but many hate that it has a smaller sweet spot, so Samsung went ahead and addressed this minor issue by releasing its Samsung 78-inch UN78S9B, allowing viewers to have it both ways by simply adding a button. Push once, the edges of the semi-flexible LCD curve inward about 15 degrees. Push a second time, the panel returns to its original planar state. Voilà, problem solved, you can now watch Daryl Dixon shoot an arrow through a walker's head the way it was meant to be seen!

4. Unhackable Phone

I bet you that Jennifer Lawrence, Kate Upton, Kim Kardashian, Hope Solo and Gabrielle Union, among others, are now wishing that they'd bought the Silent Circle Blackphone, instead of their respective iPhones. Had they, their nude photos wouldn't now be out there for all the perverts of the world to view. Why? Because the hypersecure Blackphone ensures that all communications remain private when being transmitted to and from the device. The phone, which runs on PrivatOS, a custom version of Android, can also encrypt calls and texts in conjunction with an app suite, as well as enable private web browsing and cloud storage. Messages and calls have unique encryption keys, so only the sender and recipient can decode each one. For $629 (including one year of service), you'll never have to put your faith in the data vulnerabilities of a cellular network again. That known, I'm still not going to be taking photographs of my genitalia anytime soon. You're welcome, world!

5. Perfect Steaks

 

After pizza and lasagna, steaks are my next favorite meal. However, a good steak can really go bad quick, if the person making it doesn't know exactly how to do so. Good news at that end, though: the new $180 T-fal OptiGrill!

With it, you'll get a perfect steak every time because it takes the guesswork out of your cookout by answering any questions you might have automatically. The person making the steaks selects the type of meat and the desired cooking level, after which sensors embedded in the top and bottom grill plates detect the thickness of the cut. A processor crunches that data to determine the ideal cooking time.

6. Unbreakable Display                              

Fun Fact: 1 in every 4 iPhones has a cracked screen.

Fun Fact: Lab-synthesized sapphire is one of the hardest materials on Earth.

Fun [Belief]: We now live in a technologically-dependent society.

Knowing all these things, I'm surprised somebody didn't think of creating a virtually indestructible phone using lab-synthesized sapphire sooner. But hey, as the old adage states, “better late than never,” right? Alas, Kyocera debuted one earlier this year with its Sapphire Shield. Nearly impossible to scratch, its display screen can survive a fall from twice the height of what a regular glass display screen would normally be able to survive.

However, I've seen 2001: A Space Odyssey, and I really don't want HAL surviving when we toss him to his doom in order to avoid becoming an even more technologically-dependent society, so lets be careful how and when we use this particular innovation. Cell phones: yes. Computers: no.

'Nuff said.

Warning: Sugar Overload!!!

Did we not learn anything from the Super Size Me film, in which documentarian-provocateur Morgan Spurlock ate nothing but McDonald's food for one month and messed his insides all up by gaining 25 pounds, suffering liver dysfunction and entering into a depressive state? Apparently not, because an Australian filmmaker and TV actor is now following in his destructive footsteps.

Meet Damon Gameau, director of the upcoming That Sugar Film, a man who vowed to follow a strict diet of "healthy," low-fat food with high sugar content for 60 straight days...

Gameau, once a beacon of health, began turning moody and sluggish within the first three weeks of his project, so he went to see a doctor who told him that he was beginning to develop fatty liver disease, the most severe outcome of which is liver failure. At this point, he had already added four inches to his waistline and was on the fast track to obesity.

My words of wisdom to Mr. Gameau had I known him at that time would have been, "You know that can't ever be undone, right? Stop this nonsense immediately!" However, this man just kept right on messing himself up, the end result of which can be seen in Australian movie theaters in February 2015.

Though I certainly wish him well on this endeavor, as I do everyone on theirs, I can tell you right now that I won't be among those watching his documentary for two reasons.

First, I really hate seeing people, especially soon-to-be fathers like Gameau, doing dumb things to themselves and their bodies just for what I feel is their 15 minutes of fame. You have a child on the way, and your silliness might have just cost that child an added number of years with his father. Our actions always have repercussions -- if not immediately, then somewhere down the road. And secondly, do we really need a film to tell us that eating 40 teaspoons of sugar daily, which is what Gameau was consuming during this period, is bad for a person? No, we all pretty much already know that! After all, the American Heart Association's recommended daily amount for men is 9 teaspoons. There's a reason for that.

Before I continue, let me just state that the reason I wanted to post this blog wasn't to chastise Mr. Gameau or put him down in  any way. On the contrary, his intentions seem like they are those of a very kind man wanting to make a difference in this world. In his own words: "The last meal was for all the people out there, especially parents, who are led to believe they are doing the right and healthy thing for their children. They are making an effort, yet are horribly let down by the lack of integrity in marketing and packaging strategies."

Rather, I just wanted to add to the narrative of this whole experiment by saying that we don't need any more men or women directing this type of movie, going out there and risking their own health to prove a point we all already know. We all knew McDonald's was bad, the same way we know sugar has very few upsides to it besides taste.

For future reference, eating solely one thing for a month or two -- no matter what that thing is(!) -- will always be bad for your body. That's why it is recommended that we always "balance" our diet, not binge on any one thing. Now if it's something that's typically bad for you anyway, like "junk food" from McDonald's or sugar which gets people wired on a daily basis and eventually causes their body to crash, the damage will easily be doubled or tripled.

Stop being foolish and risking your health to prove a point that's already been made multiple times by things such as the food pyramid, recommended consumption dosages and dieting books. The fame you might garner from it is just not worth it to your body. That said, now that the damage to Mr. Gameau's body has been done, may he at least get whatever he hoped to ascertain from all of this. I wish you well, Damon, but I refuse to be an enabler (any further than my writing this blog post). Good luck to you, sir!

Phil Rudd

So apparently, AC/DC drummer Phil Rudd was busted trying to hire a hitman to kill two people for him in New Zealand.

A couple of things about this story:

* I just heard about it yesterday, but I have to admit, it shook me all night long!
* They’re dirty deeds for sure, but did he want them done dirt cheap?
* I guess he really is on the Highway to Hell now.
* Some might say that it takes some big balls to do something like that.
* Looks like he wanted those two guys to just fade to black.
* You think Satan will still ring Hell’s bells for him when he arrives?
* I wonder if he implored them to use T.N.T. (dynamite)?
* Or, maybe he preferred that they be shot down in flames?
* Well, hell, either way, if you want blood, you’ve got it!
* He always did tell us that money talks.
* I can’t believe he wanted that hitman to give those guys more than just a stiff upper lip.
* Well, we all know what the hitman does, but what do you do for money, honey?
* Will the hitman have had to shoot to thrill Phil?

Okay, I’ll stop with the jokes already since they’re obviously in poor taste, but I just had to get a few in first because, well, I just couldn’t help myself. After all, it seems like every single AC/DC hit lends itself to this story. I mean, honestly, after this fun exercise in wordplay, I’m kind of wondering if they weren’t maybe trying to tell us something the last 40 years?

Either way, for those about to rock (him into a jail cell), I salute you!