November 13, 2006

T-Shirt Turns Air Guitar Into Music

A research team from the Australian Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization announced Monday that they have developed a high-tech T-shirt that turns the strumming of an air guitar into music. The T-shirt features motion sensors that pick up the wearer's arm movements and relay them wirelessly to a computer which interprets them as sound. The "wearable instrument shirt" is adaptable to both right and left-handed people.

inalienable

DEFINITION: (adjective) That cannot be transferred to another or others. SYNONYMS: unforfeitable, unalienable. USAGE: When he decided to fight for his inalienable rights, he did not realize that his actions would go down in history.

Edward III of England

Edward III, crowned at age 14, was one of the most successful English monarchs of the Middle Ages. After subjugating the Scots, Edward laid claim to the French crown, provoking the conflict which would come to be known as the Hundred Years' War. During Edward's long reign, the Black Death decimated about a third of England's population. The resulting labor shortage allowed the lower classes to demand higher wages and social advancement. How did Parliament attempt to curb these developments?

Bhola Cyclone Strikes East Pakistan

The Bhola cyclone made landfall in East Pakistan, or what is now Bangladesh, on November 13, 1970. Winds in excess of 120 miles per hour, along with an exceptionally high tide, drove a tidal surge into the low-lying, densely populated region in the early hours of the morning, killing 500,000 people and making it the deadliest tropical cyclone on record. In what way was the cyclone a contributing factor to the outbreak of the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971?

James Madison

If men were angels, no government would be necessary.

Flamingos

Flamingos are large pink or red wading birds with long necks and webbed feet that live in large flocks in aquatic areas in the Eastern and Western Hemispheres. Their oddly-shaped beaks, when used upside-down, are specially adapted to separate mud and silt from the algae and shellfish that the birds consume. Flamingos begin life with white plumage; what causes their characteristic pink color to develop?