minty3 writes with word of the discovery of a new carnivorous dinosaur from a time when T-Rex's ancestors were the size of small dogs "Named Siats meekerorum, after the man-eating monster from the Ute tribal legend, the fossil belongs to a species of giant meat eaters known as carcharodontosaurs and is the second one discovered in North America. 'This thing is gigantic,' Lindsay Zanno, a paleontologist at North Carolina State University, who discovered the species, said. 'There's simply nothing even close in this ecosystem to the size of this animal that could've been interpreted as an apex predator.'"
Digital Taste InterfaceSlashdotby Unknown Lamer on technology at January 1, 1970, 1:00 am (cached at November 23, 2013, 10:02 pm)
Tutter writes with news that Smellovision is being joined in reality by Tasteovision. "Possible applications in healthcare and gaming — it works by using electrodes on your tongue to stimulate salty, sweet, bitter and sour. It can produce the taste of virtual foods or drinks, allowing you to enjoy the taste without the calories (or chewing...). They are also good reasons to do this, for example, a diabetic can now taste sweets without actually affecting their blood sugar levels. Quote: 'The team is also working on a spin-off called a digital lollipop that will give the effect of a continuous sugar hit – but without sugar. For taste messaging they have developed TOIP — Taste Over Internet Protocol. This is a data format that makes it easy to transmit information on how to recreate the different tastes via the electrode. ... It is early days. The four major taste components, plus the fifth, the savoury 'umami' tang, are only a part of what we call flavor. Smell and texture are important, too — and the team now wants to work on adding those effects.' A video on youtube shows what it can do"