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Category: Authored by digittante

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On September 29, 2016, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite captured this false-color image (MODIS bands 7-2-1) showing volcanic activity in the South Sandwich Islands. Located in the South Atlantic Ocean, the uninhabited South Sandwich Islands include several active stratovolcanoes. via NASA http://ift.tt/2dMun9F

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Emerging chat-bots and talking search engines offer us a lot of potential. But while their ability to interpret our natural language has gotten better, they're strength still lies mostly in responding to discrete commands and queries like "Open the pod bay doors".

One easy feature that could greatly increase both the personalization of the technology, and also the person-like sensation of interacting with them, would be RSS-to-TTS integration. RSS is the common standard for distributing website updates like news, weather, blog posts, etc. Text-to-speech (TTS) simply converts text into spoken voice. You can play with TTS online here, or just install a TTS app on your phone.

With RSS-to-TTS integration, your Amazon Echo, Apple Siri, or Microsoft Cortana assistant could enable scenarios like these:

SCENARIO #1:
7am weekdays I'd like my Echo to say "Good morning, here are today's updates:..." and then (via text-to-speech) deliver content from a variety of RSS feeds I've given it. Rather than pick from pre-packaged/partner content (NPR, BBC, Slate, etc), I'd like to use my own sources to personalize the briefing. Let's say the top 3 updates from a local RSS feed, 2 top national news stories, 1 top technology story, 3 overseas stories, 1 ukulele tip, the local weather, the pollen count (if above a minimum #), and a meditation Quote-of-The-Day.

SCENARIO #2:
When triggered (via an IFTTT recipe or an RSS feed update), I'd like my Echo to say, "I have an update for you from the <insert feed name> feed. Would you like to hear it?"

SCENARIO #3:
In scenario #2, if I didn't respond to the question (wasn't home), then upon my next use of the Echo, ask again.

Currently, the Amazon Echo only offers a limited number of sources for its "Daily Briefing" feature. And you have to request the device brief you. If that could be scheduled or event-triggered (when feeds update), it would seem more personal. There are already several online RSS/TTS services like: http://www.voicerss.org/ and https://www.ivona.com/us/for-business/speech-cloud/. I imagine a crafty user could build an Amazon Alexa skill without to much trouble. 😉

Let me know if you want to work in this with me 😉

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The Bigelow Expandable Activity Module (BEAM) is seen attached to the Tranquility module of the International Space Station. BEAM is an is an experimental expandable habitat. Expandable habitats, occasionally described as inflatable habitats, greatly decrease the amount of transport volume for future space missions. via NASA http://ift.tt/2dKqV2g

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In this photograph taken on Sept. 1, 2016, the James Webb Space Telescope Pathfinder structure has been configured for the Thermal Pathfinder Test at NASA Johnson Space Center's giant thermal vacuum chamber, called Chamber A. The Pathfinder is a test version of the structure that supports the telescope. via NASA http://ift.tt/2dufZGQ

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via YouTube http://youtu.be/hlRpl_GMPPc
From its creator: Are there any dangers associated with receiving an MRI and how exactly does an MRI work? Is it safe? Medical imaging, specifically magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), has come so far that we can create high resolution images of the entire body. The technology utilizes a cylindrical cavity surrounded by a giant electromagnet, and the magnetic field though the cavity is used to image body tissue.

http://physicsgirl.org/
http://twitter.com/thephysisgirl
http://ift.tt/1IcQYlF
http://ift.tt/1Oo1xHX

Decommissioned MRi footage courtesy of PractiCalFMRI: http://ift.tt/15PCxs4

MRI animation footage courtesy of NIBIB

Thanks to Dr. Meg Richman for allowing us to MRI fruit and to Dr. Mike Casale for his interview on fMRIs.

Music: YouTube and APM
Videography: Jabril Ashe http://sefd.com/science
Stock footage: shutterstock.com

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Containing countless galaxies, this parallel field observation is nearly as deep as the Hubble Ultra-Deep Field. When compared to other deep fields, it will help astronomers understand how similar the universe looks in different directions. via NASA http://ift.tt/1RUEhUy