The Future of Farming Is Brain-Dead Chickens?

The poultry industry routinely takes heat for the densely-crowded conditions birds are subjected to. But what if the animals didn't feel pain or suffer stress? One student thinks he has the solution—raise chickens like vegetables by lobotomizing the lot of them.

Architecture student André Ford has presented a very radical solution increase the efficiency and humaneness in raising poultry. Under his plan, birds would have their frontal cortexes surgically severed, rendering the animals permanently unconscious with no zero sensory input while maintaining their lower brain functions—breathing and such—so that they continue to grow.

The form and function of a chicken plant would change drastically as well. The birds would be suspended and immobilized from hanging racks. Their feet would be removed (not going to be doing much walking in their state) and the animals would receive nutrients through an esophageal tube. A second tube would remove waste—Matrix-style. The birds could literally be stacked—quadrupling the density from one chicken every 10 square feet to four—quietly growing until they're large enough to be harvested.

"Harvested" is an oddly applicable phrase for what this method would entail. The birds are effectively reduced to being fleshy vegetables that just sit there until picked. But that can't be any worse than their current living conditions, right?

So far, this is still simply an art project dubbed The Headless Chicken Solution at the Royal Collage of Art. But it could well be a glimpse into the future of industrial-scale farming. More here.

There Are Nearly a Half-Million Android Apps Now

Android is poised to take over the world—at least according to new numbers from Google. The number of Android apps has exploded to 450,000 up from 150,000 just a year ago. And that's just the beginning.

The Android numbers posted today by Google are seriously impressive: There are 800,000 Android device activations a day, and 300 million (!) Android devices worldwide. If this inspires you to go get an Android phone, start doing your research because more than 800 different Android devices have launched to date.

Duracell Powermat WiCC Could Bring Wireless Charging to any Smartphone

Powermat may have a bright future, but the company's products to date have been expensive, slightly clunky and a generally imperfect solution for bringing wireless power to mobile devices. That could all change with WiCC. The Wireless Charging Card (WiCC) is an IEEE Power Matters Alliance (PMA) standard, with the potential to integrate Duracell Powermat technology within every mobile gadget. The incredibly thin device resembles those wafer-like SmartMedia cards once used in early digital cameras, with a similar form factor, but significantly more practicality. Each WiCC includes all the PowerMat circuitry found in the company's charging cases, while also doubling as an NFC antenna. The card's success is of course contingent on cooperation from device manufacturers, who will need to add a slim connector above the battery leads, including two for power, two for NFC and two for data -- an app will monitor charging. Powermat reps say that such a connector would cost pennies to implement, however, making it a potentially easy sell.

Swappable Soles Let These Boots Adapt To Any Condition

No one wants to spend their money on a uni-tasker. They want as much bang for their buck as they can get, so Korkers has expanded their line of convertible fly fishing boots for use in snow and ice as well.

Using the company's OmniTrax 3.0 Interchangeable Sole system, the new SnowJack, IceJack and StormJack boots can be customized for different conditions requiring different types of traction. Each pair of boots includes a rubber sole for treading through snow, and an alternate sole augmented with 16 carbide spikes providing extra grip on ice.

Thanks to a snap-on system the soles can be easily swapped even while the boot is being worn, and they lock into place with reassuring clicks once you take your first steps. The new boots range in price from $140 to $200—depending on the level of waterproofing and insulation you need—while additional soles for particularly extreme conditions can also be purchased. More here.

Nokia is The Largest Windows Phone Maker in The World, After one Quarter

Boston, MA - February 24, 2012 – According to the latest research from Strategy Analytics, global Microsoft smartphone shipments grew 36 percent sequentially to reach 2.7 million units in the fourth quarter of 2011. Nokia captured top position as the world’s number one Microsoft smartphone vendor for the first time ever.

Alex Spektor, Associate Director at Strategy Analytics, said, “Global smartphone shipments using the Microsoft operating system grew 36 percent sequentially to reach 2.7 million units in Q4 2011. Microsoft smartphone shipments remain tiny, but they are showing tentative signs of growth. Nokia overtook HTC and others to become the world’s largest Microsoft smartphone vendor with 33 percent market share. Nokia’s global Microsoft smartphone shipments hit 0.9 million units, as distribution of its Lumia family expanded across numerous countries and operators.”

iPhone-Branded gas Stoves Seized by Chinese Authorities

Ordinarily, if you use your iPhone to fry eggs, it's time to check when your warranty expires. Not so for these KIRF iPhones, which can't make calls or download apps (let alone use Siri) but can fry your bacon rather well. 681 of these bafflingly branded gas stoves were seized by police in Wuhan, each bearing the legend "Apple China Limited." 

Apparently the units did not come with flame-out protection and only ran iOS 4.1, leading to the swoop. We should probably take that as solid confirmation that the iPhone 6's killer feature is going to involve making brunch on the go.

The Chair That’s Always the Right Height

The SCRW's striking design is brilliant. No matter how tall you are or what table you're sitting at the chair adjusts with just a turn to exactly the right height.

Designed by Manuel Welsky, the chair's seat is a big piece of cork with threads that screw into an aluminum frame. When your tall friend comes over for dinner, just turn the seat till it's at the right height. Those of you who play drums—or are familiar with drums, anyway—might recognize similarities to the screw-seat design of a drum throne.

At $660, the SCRW is pricey, but that's OK because it really shouldn't be the only piece of beautiful adjustable furniture out there. Someday, hopefully, all chairs will be this brilliant. More here.

Use a 50 Caliber Bullet to Open Your Silver Bullet

Like Beer?! Like Guns?! Let this bottle opener made from a real 50 caliber bullet casing serve as a token of your love for 'Merica. Don't just tap the Rockies; rip through it with the biggest bullet $20 can buy. More here.

Samsung Rugby Smart Officially Coming to AT&T March 4 for $100

After having seen the Samsung Rugby Smart poke its head out from time to time, Samsung's new rugged smartphone is officially hitting AT&T stores on March 4th. Much like the Pantech Element, the Rugby Smart will be "waterproof," meaning it can be submerged for up to 30 minutes in one meter of water.

The phone itself is built to mil-spec 810F standards, so it's going to handle most extreme conditions pretty well. So let's list off the specs we've heard so far: it will launch with Android 2.3 -- shocker, we know -- as well as a 3.7-inch WVGA Super AMOLED panel, 4GB of internal storage, 1,650mAh battery and a 1.3MP front-facing shooter for video chat along with a 5MP rear facing autofocus camera with LED flash and 720p video capture. 

How Much Does It Cost to Climb Mount Everest? More Than a Porsche

Alan Arnette has an excellent post on Outside detailing the costs of reaching Earth's highest summit, Mount Everest. I've never thought about it before but it totally makes sense that there are a lot of thingsthat go on to make that climb, right? And all those things cost a lot of money! Like $83,000 a lot of money.

Arnette details the three ways you can climb Mount Everest: putting together your own expedition, joining a logistics only expedition or joining a fully guided expedition. Fully loaded fully guided expeditions sound fancy — sushi, five star chefs, open bar, espresso machines — but of course, all that pizazz comes with a price, as those climbs can reach more than $100,000 plus tip and bonuses. Logistics only expeditions are considerably cheaper and less fancy but come with very little included. You want oxygen? Pay more. You want to know what the weather will be? Pay more. You get the idea.

The most clear breakdown Arnette gives is in planning your own personal expedition:

Travel expenses: $2,375 - $6,225
Getting to Everest Base Camp: $2,150
Climbing fees and deposits: $19,700 - $37,700
EBC equipment and cooks: $9,300
Oxygen and climbing Sherpas: $8,525
Gear: $7,000
Misc (medical kits, communications, evacuation): $8,250-$12,000

On the high end, that all totals up to $82,900. Is it worth that much money to see our world from its highest point? Maybe! But probably not for regular humans. I mean, as a reference, you can get a Porsche 911 Carrera for $82,100. Mount Everest or a Porsche?

Sorry, I'm getting the Porsche and climbing Mount Everest from my couch. More here.

Insanely Strong Molecular Glue, Inspired by Flesh-Eating Bacteria

If you've ever stuck your fingers together with super glue, you know pain. But imagine sticking them together with glue that bonds materials at the molecular level: that's realpain. It's also what scientists are doing, with the help of flesh-eating bacteria.

A team of researchers from the University of Oxford has created a molecular glue inspired by Streptococcus pyogenes, which can cause flesh-eating diseases, reports PhysOrg. In fact, the team was interested in a single protein: one which the bacterium uses to bind and invade human cells. "The protein is special because it naturally reacts with itself and forms a lock," explains Dr Mark Howarth, one of the researchers.

Taking that single protein as a design cue, they've developed a molecular glue which uses the same concepts. Their new protein forms covenant bonds when it comes into contact with a partner protein. The bonds it forms are so strong that, when they tested a sample, the equipment used to measure the strength broke before the glue.

As well as being incredibly strong, the technology can be used to make highly selective adhesives: the binding proteins adhere to themselves, but not to other entities. All that remains is to develop ways of incorporating the proteins into other molecular structures in order to create insanely strong, selective glues. More here.

New Snapdragon Chip With Integrated LTE Will Save Your Battery

Qualcomm's next-generation system-on-a-chip is set to turn up inside consumer devices at the Mobile World Congress—and judging by its rumored speed and integrated LTE technology, it could cause quite a stir.

Qualcomm has announced that the new chip—MSM8960, or Snapdragon S4 to its friends—will debut in several handsets next week in Barcelona. Whilst only dual-core, the exciting news is that Qualcomm has been able to roll LTE connectivity into the chip.

Currently, phones have a separate LTE processor that both adds bulk and kills battery performance. An integrated system should help alleviate those issues by sharing resources.

AnandTech has also had an opportunity to benchmark the new processor, and the results look promising, with the chip trumping the highest results from any currently shipping devices by a factor of two. In real-world tests, they found that compared to a Galaxy Nexus, the Snapdragon S4 helped reduce web page loading times by 0.3 seconds with the cache disabled or 1.4 seconds with it turned on. That is massive.

Qualcomm is planning to launch a quad-core version of the processor too, which should be interesting.

Nintendo 3DS hits 5 Million Units Faster Than DS

While it had a rocky moment in the middle, some heavy price-cutting and top-drawer games helped the system sell five million within a year in its native homeland. According to Nintendo, these are legitimate sell-through figures and as predicted, make the 3D-capable console Nintendo's fastest selling console to date.

Eating Dessert for Breakfast Can Make You Skinny

Your mother, doctors and life lied to you. According to scientists (science, people!), combining a low-calorie diet that includes dessert for breakfast will help you lose weight. Sweets, cookies, creme brulee, cake. ALL OF IT will help you lose weight if you start your day off like that. I love breakfast now.

According to the study, scientists put 144 obese people on a low carb, low calorie diet (1,400 calories for women, 1,600 calories for men) that were exactly identical except that one of the diets included "a high-carbohydrate, protein-enriched breakfast with a choice of cookies, chocolate, cake or ice cream for dessert."

What's interesting is that during the first 16-week period, the average weight loss was the same—both groups lost 32 pounds on average. Where it got suuuper interesting was the 16 week followup, people with the dessert for breakfast diet lost 13 more pounds while the other group gained back all but 3.5 pounds of the weight they lost. WHAT. IS. THIS. MADNESS. (It's supposedly something that deals with satisfying your cravings or something after a diet)

The full study is in the March 10 issue of the journal Steroids. I don't care, all I know is, get to eating dessert before 10 in the mornin' kids. It's good for you. More here.

Intel Launching New Atom-Based Processors With Digital Wi-Fi

If you thought Intel's Atom processor line was dead, think again: the company is launching a new version of the silicon, code named Rosepoint. Don't be too quick to dismiss it, either, because it sounds like the new mobile processor could mean business.

Wired reports that the new line of chips should bring significant reductions in power, cost, and size to Intel-powered smartphones, tablets, and laptops. Perhaps most interestingly, the chip has Wi-Fi built in as part of the digital chip. Current Wi-Fi chips tend to be analog, and a digital version should in theory be easier—and cheaper—to scale down. Indeed, Intel Chief Technical Officer Justin Rattner told Wired that the digital Wi-Fi chip should scale with Moore's law and has "state of the art power efficiency."

Even though Intel is officially announcing the chip in San Francisco this week, it won't be commercially available for at least two years. Given that it currently supports just 2.4GHz and Wi-Fi, that seems a little odd—though apparently versions with cellular data and built-in radio antennas are in development. More here.

New 8GB Nook Tablet Launching February 22nd?

According to leaked documents seen by The Verge, Barnes & Noble is launching an 8GB version of its Nook Tablet this week. That drop in capacity means one thing: it's planning to match, or undercut, the Kindle Fire.

The news comes from a leaked Walmart document. From The Verge:

"All we know for sure is that Walmart plans to launch this new device at 12:01AM on Wednesday, February the 22nd, and deliveries of the 8GB Tablet should be arriving in stores already."

Currently the 16GB Nook Tablet retails at $249, which is $50 more than the Kindle Fire. If a drop in capacity means that Barnes & Noble can match—or,even better, undercut—the Fire on price, it can expect to sell a whole heap more.

Microsoft reveals Windows 8's new logo: 'It's a window not a flag'

Microsoft is making plenty of big changes with its Windows 8 operating system, and that has now also extended to a new logo. As explained by Microsoft's Sam Moreau in a post on the official Windows blog, the logo was created with the help of the design agency Pentagram, which posed a simple question when it began on the project: "your name is Windows. Why are you a flag?"

That discussion eventually led to the four-paned window you see above, which not only looks more like a window than the previous logos, but clearly echoes the company's new Metro design language. Microsoft also notes that the logo is "authentically digital," and says it will welcome you with a slight tilt and change color based on your desktop. More here.

Goats Have Accents!

Not only do pygmy goats have accents, but they tend to pick up the characteristic "BAAAAAAAAAAA" of the locals bleating around them.

Scientists already knew that bats, whales and, of course, humans tend to pick up the vocal mannerisms they're surrounded by. Now, researchers at Queen Mary's School of Biological and Chemical Sciences at the University of London have added goats to the list. They published their work in journal Animal Behavior.

They tested the goats when they were five weeks old, because that's when they become social. They found goats that hung out together started to sound the same, and they became more alike as they grew older. The scientists think the evolutionary benefit might be that different accents help the animals identify strangers. More here.

They also say the findings could lead to better understand of how humans became verbal beings. And maybe it explains how Philadelphia and Pittsburgh accents can be so different and entertaining.

iOS 2011 sales smoke 28 years of Mac

Love it or hate it, Apple had a pretty stellar 2011. According to crunched numbers from Asymco, between its iPhone, iPad and iPod touch, the Cupertino outfit sold some 156 million iOS devices in 2011, marking a grand total of 316 million in the mobile OS' short history. 

What's most interesting here, however, is the fact that last year's digits alone have completely blown past the 122 million units daddy Mac has managed in its 28 years of existence. It's no wonder the company borrowed a few tricks from iOS for its latest desktop operating system.

OS X Never Coming on a USB Drive Ever Again

We hope you aren't too averse to the Mac App Store, because it's going to be the only way to upgrade your computer from now on. That's right—no more USB option, Pocket-Lint reports. Forever.

After a bit of hand-wringing and whining last time around, Apple reluctantly offered a disgustingly-overpriced thumb drive copy of Lion for those unprepared for the download-only route. Tough shit, Mountain Lions! Says Apple:

"It was an interesting test, but it turns out the App Store was just fine for getting the new OS."

You hear that? It's just fine. And if you don't live in an area with suitable internet access, you'll just have to go to your local public library like some sort of street urchin and beg for the Wi-Fi password. Then again, if you're out in the boonies without decent internet access, what do you need a top of the line laptop for anyway? Good riddance, disks and drives and things.