Researchers at the University of Michigan have created a prosthesis that makes walking much easier on amputees than current options. The trick: an artificial foot that recycles the kinetic energy generated by walking.

The device works by mimicking the natural push-off of a human ankle, using a microprocessor to control the device and capture the energy normally dissipated by the leg:

In tests on subjects walking with an artificially-impaired ankle, a conventional prosthesis reduced ankle push-off work and increased net metabolic energy expenditure by 23% compared to normal walking. Energy recycling restored ankle push-off to normal and reduced the net metabolic energy penalty to 14%.

That means less cumbersome dragging of an artificial limb and a more natural walking sensation. It also only requires a small battery to operate, running off of less than one watt of power.

It's just a prototype for now, but assuming the current round of testing goes well, there's no reason not to expect a commercial application in the not too distant future. [PLoS ONE via Inhabitat]

In today's bursting-at-the-seams Remainders: laziness. We've got a new Adesso keyboard for the couch-potato web surfer; a Taiwanese truck driver sleeping behind the wheel; a lazily conceived concept car; a demo that takes Farmville procrastination anywhere; and more!

WiMaxed Out
Every month or so we hear about a new fistful of medium-sized American cities that have been blanketed in the warmth of Clearwire's snappy WiMax network. Although things are growing slowly but surely here, WiMax is apparently rolling out at a much more frenzied pace pretty much everywhere else. Here are some illustrative numbers, from our friend the Boy Genius:

* Asia Pacific: 237 million people covered by 100 network deployments
* Europe: 115 million people covered by 153 network deployments
* Central/Latin America: 113 million people covered 109 network deployments
* Africa/Middle East: 108 million people covered by 142 network deployments
* North America: 47 million people covered by 51 network deployments

But wait, these numbers don't see 100% trustworthy. While 47 million North Americans might technically be in a WiMax coverage area, I don't believe for a second that nearly that many are using the network. So sure, smaller nations with more densely packed populations would reasonably have more "covered" users, but that doesn't necessarily indicate a worldwide WiMax phenomenon. That's not to say I wouldn't like to bask in the WiMax glow myself some day soon... [Boy Genius Reports]

Crash
I'm not sure when exactly this accident transpired, but for some reason this runaway bus in Taiwan was strapped with no less than three cameras—one on the front and one on each side. The first angle, shot with the camera on the front of the bus, doesn't look too bad, especially to someone who has seen cumulative hours of YouTube wrecks and spent hours creating them in games like Grand Theft Auto. But when you switch to the side views and watch the runaway bus flip cars like flapjacks, then things get pretty gruesome. [YouTube]

Keyboard Potato
Adesso's WKB-4200UB is their newest wireless keyboard, designed for maximum from-the-couch-computing laziness. It's even got a built-in track pad for your greasy little fingers. But a real couch potato would know that wireless keyboards with built-in track pads have been around for ages and, besides its ability to work simultaneously with other keyboards, there's nothing new to really get excited about here. Still, if you're in the market for a new input device for computing across the room, the $120 WKB-4200UB is worth a look. [Engadget]

Typo$
You know how sometimes you type a URL incorrectly and end up on some fake portal that's covered in ads? Well, according to two Harvard professors, Google could be making as much as $500 million a year from those typos. The practice of "typosquatting" is nothing new, and is something that most internet users probably just ignore altogether, as I've always done. But $500 million should make anyone's ears perk up. But some ears perk differently than others—it turns out that one of those Harvard professors, Benjamin Edelman, is a lawyer who happens to be representing a lawfirm whose barely-misspelled URL is contributing to Google's typo windfall. Edelman and Google are engaged in an ongoing case on the legality of typosquatting and selling ads to those who do so. Oh well, the typo money was good while it lasted. [NewScientist]

SkinnyTV
LG's new Skinny Frame TVs are indeed skinny: something to the tune of 25mm. But while these television sets may in fact have a sharp enough edge to cut a block of cheese, they are not the skinniest we have ever seen, with some upcoming sets boasting a so-thin-it's-almost-not-even-there single-millimeter thickness. These particular slabs support 1080p resolution and manage to pack 3 HDMI ports and a USB one for good measure. If you're impressed, a 50" Skinny Frame will run you $1500, if you can manage to import one from Korea. [SlashGear]

Little Giant
AeroGel. Carbon/Kevlar composite. Liquid metal. These are all things that comprise the "structural skin" of Chu Hyung Kwon's concept automobile, a Transformer-chic ride with the ability to flip itself over if it ends up on its backside. Sure, sounds good—now to figure out how to actually implement any of those technologies anywhere other than Adobe Illustrator. [Yanko]

FARM. VILLE. TABLET.
We got to check out the Nvidia Tegra Tablet back during CES, but can you say you've really checked something out until you've determined its ability to play Farmville, the life-consuming Facebook game that's taken the digital world by storm? No, no you can't. Thankfully SlashGear checked out the Tegra Tablet in this capacity and can report that an adapted Farmville runs with satisfactory snap. Exhale. [SlashGear]

There's a saying that a watched pot never boils. You could also say that a watched plant never grows—unless it's being watched by a laser-wielding, 3D plastic sculpture-printing, growth-tracking megarobot.

David Bowen's "Growth Modeling Device" uses a circular rig to scan an onion once a day with a laser, then employing a "fuse deposition modeler" to generate a plastic sculpture of that scan. When the model is done, a conveyor belt burps into action, moving the recreated onion out of the way and making room for the next day's piece.

What you end up with is a visual record of the onion's growth over the course of a few weeks—with no tears involved!

David Bowen has all sorts of other neat kinetic sculpture works up on his site. [David Bowen via Boing Boing]

It's hard to believe they noticed this one in England, but apparently wind turbine farms have the ability to create their own fog. The phenomenon has been observed by Mike Page, a retiree flying on board his Cessna 150:

The creation of the mist depends on the wind speed and the temperature of the sea and the air at the time.

The spinning blades whip moisture up into the air like giant egg mixers and sometimes these low cloud formations are made. A close up blade of one of the turbines shows a swirl of mist created around the blades as cooler air is mixed with warmer air. It definitely occurs several times a year, sometimes gathering upwind of the turbines and sometimes downwind depending on the conditions.

The strange thing is that you will see this mist around the turbines while it is a bright clear day on the beach just a couple of miles away.

It is a fascinating example of how wind farms create their own micro-climate. It is the same as any geographical feature affecting the weather.

[Daily Mail]

If you have downloaded the iPad SDK, you can use it to access the Safari browser. Or you just can watch this video. It's similar to the iPhone's, adding the new user interface elements of the iPad. [9-to-5mac]

If you don't quite think you have what it takes to GoPro, now you have another option: GoBandit. This waterproof, GPS-enabled videocam can capture your finest moments in HD and then overlay the footage with location, speed, and altitude data.

In addition to capturing 720p video, you can set the GoBandit to take 5 megapixel snapshots every 2 or 5 seconds. All these extreme memories are recorded onto 2GB of internal memory, expandable by an SDHC card.

The GoBandit's most attractive feature, though, is its ability to augment your video with information on your activity—so when you tell your friend, "I swear I was flying down that hill at 35 MPH," you'll have some hard evidence to back it up.

The GoBandit is currently available for preorder in the UK for $470, though apparently the bandits are hoping to hit a $389 pricepoint when the camera comes stateside. [GoBandit via Engadget]

Apple's corporate headquarters, PR megamachine and primary customer base are in the US. Their products, on the other hand, come directly from Chinese hardware manufacturers. Like Apple, they're good at keeping secrets. Unlike Apple, they're sometimes violent about it.

In writing an exposé on Apple's supply chain, Reuters' reporters fleshed out what we already know: There's an immense pressure on companies under contract with Apple not to leak any information about forthcoming products; said companies have shady labor histories; working for one of these companies frankly sounds terrifying.

We touched on these problems when Foxconn was accused of driving an employee to suicide over an iPhone prototype leak last year, but at the time, our picture of Foxconn was patched together from a pile of second and third-hand reports, conflicting local news stories, and PR spin. To date, there hasn't been a better illustration of the problem than this

Tipped by a worker outside the Longhua complex that a nearby Foxconn plant was manufacturing parts for Apple too, our correspondent hopped in a taxi for a visit to the facility in Guanlan, which makes products for a range of companies.

As he stood on the public road taking photos of the front gate and security checkpoint, a guard shouted. The reporter continued snapping photos before jumping into a waiting taxi. The guard blocked the vehicle and ordered the driver to stop, threatening to strip him of his taxi license.

The correspondent got out and insisted he was within his rights as he was on the main road. The guard grabbed his arm. A second guard ran over, and with a crowd of Foxconn workers watching, they tried dragging him into the factory.

The reporter asked to be let go. When that didn't happen, he jerked himself free and started walking off. The older guard kicked him in the leg, while the second threatened to hit him again if he moved. A few minutes later, a Foxconn security car came along but the reporter refused to board it. He called the police instead.

After the authorities arrived and mediated, the guards apologized and the matter was settled. The reporter left without filing a complaint, though the police gave him the option of doing so.

"You're free to do what you want," the policeman explained, "But this is Foxconn and they have a special status here. Please understand."

So, let's get this straight: If you, a reporter, take pictures of the outside of a Foxconn factory, you can dragged, kicked, threatened, and reminded of how ominously "special" Foxconn's relationship with Apple makes them. (PS: Omigod, have you heard about the new iPad!?)

For Apple, this could mean two things: That they long ago entered into business with a company that's predisposed to violent enforcement of security policy; or that their extreme demands for secrecy, and extreme value to Foxconn, have driven the company to become this way.

In neither situation can you call Apple the culprit. In both, though, they're at the very least silently complicit. [Reuters via Business Insider]