Word: sensors
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...aborted the launch 3 sec. before takeoff. The 112-ton spacecraft blasted off 17 days later, but 5 min. 15 sec. into the flight, a monitoring device reported that one of the three main engines seemed to be heating up to a dangerous 1,950 °F. That sensor alerted the onboard computer, and for the first time in the 24-year history of the U.S. manned space, an engine was shut down in flight. But as the craft hobbled bravely heavenward, mission control decided that the seven crew members should proceed with the flight at a stunted orbit...
...Digital single-lens-reflex (SLR) cameras are vulnerable to dust settling on the imaging sensor when you change the lens. Result: black dots on your pictures. The Olympus Evolt E-300 digital SLR ($1,000; with starter lens) solves the problem by covering the imaging sensor with a transparent ultrasonic panel that shakes off offending particles at 35,000 vibrations per second...
...The Caring Cot, created by an English industrial designer, is a motorized crib that rocks for about a minute if the baby in it cries for 30 sec. If the baby doesn't stop after about 5 min., a signal is sent to the parents via remote. A sensor goes off if the room gets too hot or cold. And for parents fearful of studden infant death syndrome, a motion detector indicates if the baby has stopped moving for too long...
Judging the ripeness of fruit has always seemed more art than science. Now a firm in New Zealand has developed a sensor that detects when pears are ripe by analyzing the aromas emitted by the fruit. Attached to the inside of the fruit's plastic wrapping, the sensor goes from red to orange to yellow as the fruit ripens. Sensors for avocados, kiwis, melons and mangoes are in the works...
Computers in your shoes? Believe it. A sensor in the new adidas 1 sneakers measures with each step how much compression you put on the heels of the shoes. Microprocessor-controlled cushioning then adjusts the heels' stiffness so they become more rigid on dirt trails, for example, and softer on pavement or when you're walking. In addition, you can set comfort levels with buttons on the shoes. The lithium-ion battery that fuels the system lasts about 100 hours...