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Gadgets that young kids can use are always great. I also think there is something to the theory that young children should not consistently be on screens. In the end, just playing some typeof game on a screen is not always great for a child's developement, and that is where Osmo comes in. Osmo allows children to play with REAL objects they can touch and feel digitally. You use a device with it more as a way to guide a child's experiance. It is not what they are truly playing with. All of their games are also beginning to teach children critical thinking skills like problem solving and organization which can be very difficult with young children.

Sophia San Pedro shifted in her chair as she stared into a little box. "I see a monkey. There's a monkey right next to you," Sophia told a friend sitting next to her. As Sophie whirled around, a large gorilla came into her view. "Oh, it scared me," she exclaimed. Fifth-graders at Georgetown Elementary School in Aurora went to the Congo, an Amazon rain forest and even the moon Thursday morning without ever leaving their classroom. For an hour, 31 randomly selected Georgetown students tested the new Google Expeditions program that allows students to use technology to take any of 100 virtual journeys around the world. The virtual field trip was repeated across Indian Prairie School District 204 earlier this month for fourth-graders at Georgetown and sixth-graders at Still Middle School in Aurora and in Naperville for fourth- and fifth-graders at Cowlishaw Elementary and sixth-graders at Hill Middle School. During the expeditions, students gaze th

Inspired by both nature and biology, scientists have designed a novel robotic finger that looks, feels and works like the real thing and could be adapted for use in a prosthetic hand. Most robotic parts used to today are rigid, have a limited range of motion and don't really look lifelike. Researchers developed and tested the new robotic finger using shape memory alloy (SMA), a 3D Computer-aided design (CAD) model of a human finger, a 3D printer, and a unique thermal training technique. "We have been able to thermomechanically train our robotic finger to mimic the motions of a human finger like flexion and extension," said Erik Engeberg, assistant professor at the Florida Atlantic University (FAU). "Because of its light weight, dexterity and strength, our robotic design offers tremendous advantages over traditional mechanisms, and could ultimately be adapted for use as a prosthetic device, such as on a prosthetic hand," said Engeberg. 

 New startup Light has created an odd hybrid of camera and smartphone called the L16. The device is actually 16 individual cameras crammed into a flat rectangular shell. When you take a photo, 10 of the cameras fire simultaneously. Then software merges the individual shots into one high-resolution, 52-megapixel image.The company thinks the L16 can replace large cameras with interchangeable lenses, like DSLRs. Light, which has been working on the camera for two years, unveiled the device on Wednesday. This is not another Kickstarter gadget. Light has already raised $35 million in two rounds of funding. It is working with major manufacturing partners, including Sunny Optical and Foxconn. Smartphones have already killed the point-and-shoot camera. People always have their phones on them, it's easy to share the photos right away, and the quality of smartphone cameras has largely caught up to pocket cameras. But phones still cannot compete with larger cameras packi