The International Space Station is about to receive its first permanent resident, a humanoid robot, named Robonaut 2. R2, as it is nicknamed, can wiggle its fingers and do bicep curls. It can lift and hold four times the weight of any previous attempt at a dexterous robotic assistant. R2 will fly aboard the space shuttle Discovery on Sept. 16.

But R2 won’t be walking around the ISS yet. Instead, this is Stage 1 and R2 is comprised of two highly flexible arms and hands on a torso that will be bolted onto a fixed spot in the space station’s Destiny laboratory.

Stage 2 will see R2 be equipped with a “mobility package” – legs it can use to move around the space station. In Stage 3, R2 will be able to do space walks.

Robonaut 2 is developed by NASA and General Motors.

[ via Toronto Star ]

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Olympus E-PL1

What you would do if you had the new Olympus PEN E-PL1 and $5,000 to bring your creative vision to life? Submit your video proposal to Olympus and six individuals will receive the Olympus PEN E-PL1, the funds and time to bring their proposals to life.

Then the six finalists upload their final creations to YouTube for the world to see. One lucky Grand Prize winner will be selected based on a combination of popular vote and the panel of Olympus judges. The Grand Prize winner will receive an all-expense-paid trip for two to New York City to attend the Olympus-sponsored US Open National Championships on Olympus Day. The winner’s work will be displayed on the giant video board at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center before an audience of thousands.

Form more details, visit: www.youtube.com/getolympus.

PRESS RELEASE

OLYMPUS LAUNCHES THE “PEN YOUR STORY CHALLENGE”

Submit Your Proposal on YouTube for an Opportunity to Win an Olympus PEN E-PL1 Camera and $5,000 to Show What You Can Do

CENTER VALLEY, Pa., May 3, 2010 – Olympus wants to know: What you would do if you had the amazing new Olympus PEN® E-PL1 portable camera featuring professional digital single lens reflex (DSLR) image quality, point-and-shoot simplicity and High-Definition (HD) video, along with $5,000 to bring your creative vision to life? The PEN your story challenge starts right now, so it’s time to find out.

Your “vision” can be anything that you could produce with the high-quality PEN and $5,000 budget. Whether your dream is to direct a short film with HD video, produce a fashion spread of pro-quality still images, chronicle an adventure or create an amazing photomontage, simply submit your video proposal to www.youtube.com/getolympus and enter to win the PEN, the funds to make your project reality and a crack at the grand prize.

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AboutCurves.com, a Retailer of Plus Size Lingerie, Announces Model Search for 2010 Photo Shoot

AboutCurves.com, a online retailer of plus size lingerie, announces a model search for their 2010 photo shoot to be held near Baltimore, Maryland. The photo shoot will include new lingerie products as well as items from their exclusive Signature Collection.

Middle River, MD (PRWEB) May 3, 2010 — AboutCurves.com has always prided itself on using photos of “real women” with real plus size bodies on their website. If you’re a woman who would enjoy modeling beautiful plus size lingerie you’ll want mark your calendar for June 6, 2010, when they will continue the tradition by hosting a photo shoot near Baltimore, Maryland.

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[ via FastCompany ]

Flip minoHD

“Video quality is very slightly better, there’s twice as much storage, it looks more stylish, and the LCD is a big improvement.”

TrustedReviews has published their review of the Flip MinoHD [QuickPrice Check] with 8GB internal memory (2 hours recording), 2.0-in. LCD (960×240 dots), HD Movie 1280 x 720 @ 30fps, 1/4.5″ HD CMOS Sensor (2.2µm pixels), Ultra low-light sensitivity (>1.4 V/lux-sec) with automatic low light detection, f/2.4 lens, and 2x digital zoom.

You can read the full Flip MinoHD Review at: TrustedReviews.

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