brain mush detector?

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The engineering world just served up a perfect cocktail of "holy crap, that's cool" and "wait, should I be worried?"

So what happened?

⦁ Badminton Bot Schools Humans

ETH Zurich’s four-legged ANYmal-D robot showed up for a match. It was able to sustain 10-shot rallies using reinforcement learning that merges stereo vision (think: predator-style targeting) with dynamic arm control. But what’s the big deal? It learned to stand on hind legs mid-game to track the shuttlecock (no one had coded that move). Current latency: 0.35 seconds Guess we’ll have a new world champion as it starts to predict our next move 😢

⦁ MIT’s Nano Filter Slashes Carbon Capture Costs by 30%

By trapping rogue ions with nanoscale membranes, MIT engineers made CO₂ scrubbing 6x more efficient, dropping costs from $600 to $450/ton.

Why it matters: Microsoft bought 5.1M carbon credits last year. You know what is going to boom now 👀

⦁ 3D-Printed Soft Robots Walk Off the Production Line

Edinburgh’s $500 Flex Printer now spits out squishy, four-legged bots in 9 hours without any assembly required. Powered by compressed air, these palm-sized crawlers use inverted printing to create leak-proof air channels.

Open-source designs aim to democratize soft bots for everything from nuclear cleanup to lunar missions

Ever had one of those days where you've been thinking so hard your forehead feels hot and your brain turns to mush? Yup, me too..

Researchers at the University of Texas Austin just created a temporary tattoo that can measure exactly that kind of mental strain!

This wireless forehead e-tattoo decodes brainwaves to track mental fatigue and potential burnout, eliminating the need for bulky headgear.

How does this work?

• Theta/delta spikes = Cognitive overload (your brain yelling “I’m solving quantum physics here!“)

• Alpha/beta dips = Mental fatigue (that 3 PM meeting aura)

• Gamma waves = Baseline focus (rare, like spotting a unicorn)

An AI program trained on these signals can predict mental strain and burnout minutes before people self-report feeling fatigued.

"We've long monitored workers' physical health, tracking injuries and muscle strain," said Luis Sentis, a professor of engineering at UT Austin.

"Now we have the ability to monitor mental strain, which hasn't been tracked.

At $220/sensor + battery vs. $15000 EEG rigs, the math works for high-risk jobs:

1. Crane operators: Alert when theta waves suggest distraction

2. Surgeons: Pause notifications during gamma-wave focus windows

3. Coders (they risk my social life (the ones that work on whatsapp)): Auto-block Slack during peak alpha periods

Upgrade pending: Hair-compatible sensors using conductive ink (patent pending). Because nobody wants a bald spot for better data.

But on a serious note, this could fundamentally change how organizations ensure the overall well-being of their workforce.

So what’s inside?

It's got a lightweight battery pack and paper-thin sensors that look like stickers.

The sensors have wavy loops and coils that let them stretch and conform to your forehead for a clearer signal.

What makes this better than traditional EEG caps is customization.

"Those caps, while having more sensors for different regions of the brain, never get a perfect signal because everyone's head shape is different," explained Nanshu Lu, another professor on the team.

"We measure participants' facial features to manufacture personalized e-tattoos to ensure that the sensors are always in the right location."

PS: Would you buy one to know when your significant other is going to in a different mood 🫣

Oh and we’ve got something special just below:

• Senior Staff Reservoir Engineer Onshore
  Basically a water whisperer who tells oil where to go and hopes it listens.

• Reservoir Engineer
  Professionally arguing with rocks to cough up more oil — and somehow getting paid for it.
  

• Project Air Quality Engineer
  Sniffing out problems in the air so the rest of us can rest easy that everything’s fine.

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