Go there and learn your lesson!!

http://webspace.westwood.edu/annaerickson/index.htm

But in the other pics it looks more life like than anything else!

http://devicedaily.com/gadgets/deus-ex-machina-the-wearable-motorcycle.html

A wristwatch phone that lets you listen by sticking a finger in your ear, an MP3 player that vibrates the bones in your skull to play music that only you can hear -- these are some of the products being developed using a technology called bone conduction that sends sound waves through the bones around the ear.

Bone-conduction technology has long been used in hearing aids and other products for the hearing impaired, as well as in military headsets. Recently, several commercial companies have embraced it for products aimed at the general public.

A cell phone handset that lets users listen by pressing it against their jaws is for sale in Japan and two other bone-conduction products -- an MP3 player and a cell phone -- are in development. Similar products that pick up vibrations when the wearer speaks are also on the market.

The human ear normally works by trapping sound waves traveling through the air, amplifying them and turning them into signals the brain can understand. But bone conduction sends the waves through the jaw or skull bones instead, bypassing nature's air conduction system.

"The noise comes from the conduction of the energy through the bone," said Brian Smith, managing director of Feonic, a company using the technology. "You're conducting straight to the inner ear from the outside."

That may sound a bit scary, but Deborah Price, a doctor of audiology and vice chair of the Audiology Foundation of America, says bone conduction is "very safe."

Bone conduction can allow for clearer hearing in noisy areas, according to Sanyo Electric, which produces the Sanyo TS41 handset. On sale in Japan since January, it has a "sonic speaker" that vibrates the bones when placed on the jawbone or elsewhere on the user's head.

"Recommended use for the bone-conducting phone is to hold it on the upper part of the jaw bone around the ear (and) close an ear with a finger," said Ryan Watson, a Sanyo spokesman. "Even in a loud area, with one ear closed to shut out the background noise, the bone-conduction phone goes right in the inner ear, allowing the user to hear clearly."

For more of the article...http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/news/2004/09/64963

In Germany they are using it in a cool way.

Most large museums and art galleries today provide some kind of personal audio device that visitors can carry with them if they wish to learn more about the various exhibits on display. A similar idea has been implemented at the Brühl’s Terrace in Dresden, Germany, but instead of having to wear headphones or hold some device to their ear, visitors simply need to rest their elbows on a metal rail and cover their ears with their hands. Using bone conduction technology (or what they call ‘Touched Echo’) the sounds of airplanes and explosions simulating the air raid that occurred on February 13, 1945 are transmitted from the metal rail through the visitor’s arms and directly into the inner ear. The sounds are completely inaudible to someone who isn’t touching the rail, and since the terrace is located outside the bone conduction system is a perfect solution because it’s completely weatherproof. I’ve also included a video that demonstrates how the system is used and what the simulated air raid sounds like.

http://www.ohgizmo.com/2008/07/10/touched-echo-interactive-exhibit-uses-bone-conduction-technology/

For more go to the link!

Whenever I'm writing my stories.  It is always hard to keep the technology fresh and innovative.  So sometimes I like to take a little help from the real world.  But here's a case where life immitates art or was it vice versa?  I'm not sure because on this web site which features really cool materials of the future-- one of the materials in question was actually used in a Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home. 

The material in question: Transparent Aluminum was needed in the transportation of the Whales forward in time to the 24 or 29th century whatever time Kirk and the guys came from.  Anyways, our boy Scotty aided in messing up the space time continuum by giving a manufacturer the coded matrix to Transparent Aluminum which by circa 1985ish hadn't been invented yet. 

McCoy cautioned the mechanical genius for doing this but Scotty answered in reply-- How do we know he didn't invent the darn thing??

Maybe this guy did?  The web site doesn't say.  But here's the article and the link!

Transparent alumina is three times stronger than steel and transparent. The number of applications for this are huge. Imagine an entire skyscraper or arcology made largely of transparent steel. The skylines of the future could look more like a series of floating black dots (opaque private rooms) rather than the monoliths of today. A huge space station made of transparent alumina could cruise in low Earth orbit without being a creepy black dot when it passes overhead. And hey... transparent swords!

http://lifeboat.com/ex/10.futuristic.materials

For more materials click on the link.  Now if only I can find those wells and my Galaxy Class star ship-- I'll be all set. 

Space Cities On Another Planet Spacepainting - video powered by Metacafe

This is a cool generator for science geeks and geeks at heart (like me!).  Build your own star including controlling the temperature, luminousity, age and fusion!

http://www.seed.slb.com/en/scictr/lab/byo_star/byostar.htm