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Knight Watch: Is Necessity Really The Mother Of Invention?
By Knight Pierce Hirst
Jetpacks, miniature cameras and tracking chips are real inventions inspired by James Bond movies. In 1965's "Thunderball" Bond used a jetpack to escape from bad guys. In 2008 Martin Jetpack demonstrated a personal jetpack at AirVenture. In 1985's "A View to a Kill" Bond had a camera in his ring. Today there are cameras in cell phones. In 2006's "Casino Royale" Bond had a tracking device implanted in his arm. In 2004 VeriChip developed an implantable identification device for humans that's the size of a rice grain. In James Bond movies what you see is sometimes what you get. What you see isn't what you get from computer software invented by researchers at Tel Aviv University. The software can make anyone's picture look beautiful. To accomplish this the scientists asked 68 men and women, ages 25 to 40, to rate the beauty of 93 faces on a scale of 1 to 7. The ratings were correlated into 250 measurements and facial features that created an algorithm of beauty, which was then computerized. Now this software can be used to improve plastic surgery or can be incorporated into digital cameras to make everyone look picture-perfect. In pursuit of the perfect car, Tesla Motors, a relatively new car manufacturer, has invented an all-electric car. The Tesla Roadster accelerates to 60 mph in 3.9 seconds, gets 244 miles on a charge and recharges in 3 ½ hours. The car is assembled in California by 3 men. It has a carbon fiber skin from France, an aluminum frame from England and lithium ion batteries – the same kind used in laptops – from Asia. In 2008 Tesla produced 70 cars and expects to increase production to 1500 in 2009. Although most Americans can't afford $110,000 for a car, Detroit can't afford – not to pay attention. Gardeners frustrated by repeatedly having to plant annuals are paying attention to genetic engineering done by Belgian scientists. Annuals are plants that die after one season. Perennials grow over again because they don't use all their meristems making flowers. Meristems are non-specialized cells that can differentiate into new organs like stems and leaves. The scientists used genetic engineering to turn off 2 flower-inducing genes in thale cress plants to prevent them from flowering. Because the plants didn't use all their meristems flowering, they had repeated growth cycles. The scientists turned an annual into a perennial – which may turn gardeners' thumbs greener.
This intel first appeared on: http://knightwatch.typepad.com
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PLEASE VISIT THE CONTRIBUTOR'S WEBSITE
Knight Watch
KNIGHT WATCH IS A HUMOROUS 400 WORDS
knightwatch.typepad.com
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