"On Tuesday, a team at Switzerland’s Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne used only a simple head cap to record the brain signals of Mark-Andre Duc, who was at a hospital in the southern Swiss town of Sion 162 miles away.
"Mr. Duc’s thoughts - or rather, the electrical signals emitted by his brain when he imagined lifting his paralyzed fingers - were decoded almost instantly by a laptop at the hospital.
"The resulting instructions - left or right - were then transmitted to a foot-tall robot scooting around the Lausanne lab....The robot itself is an advance on a previous project that let patients control an electric wheelchair."
Art Is Long; Copyrights Can Even Be Longer
"Artists’ copyright is frequently misunderstood. Even if a painting (or drawing or photograph) has been sold to a collector or a museum, in general, the artist or his heirs retain control of the original image for 70 years after the artist’s death.
"Think of a novel. You may own a book, but you don’t own the writer’s words; they remain the intellectual property of the author for a time.
"So while MoMA owns the actual canvas of “Les Demoiselles,” the family of Picasso, who died in 1973, still owns the image. And under existing law, the estate will continue to own the copyright until 2043.
"If someone wants to reproduce the painting — on a Web site, a calendar, a T-shirt, or in a film — it is the estate that must give its permission, not the museum." By Patricia Cohen @ NYT
Senate rejects measure to nullify union rules:
Democrats support new regulations
"Under the existing regulations, workers typically vote within 45 to 60 days after a union gathers enough signatures from workers saying they want to hold an election. The new rules could cut that time by days or even weeks by simplifying procedures and putting off some challenges until after the election is held, cutting back hearings and reducing legal delays.
"Unions call the changes a modest fix to prevent companies from using stalling tactics to delay a vote while workers can be subject to harassment, threats and even illegal firing. Republicans argue the new rules will lead to “ambush” elections that barely leave company managers enough time to respond or counsel against forming a union."
By Sam Hananel-Associated Press via The Washington Post
