Plus: a Monkey-Controlled Robot, Media Nutrition Guide, TARP Gravy and Out-Sick Excuses.

Leading up to the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission, the first manned mission to land on the moon, NASA yesterday released the restored original tapes from the July 20, 1969, moonwalk. The U.S. space agency has been working with Lowry Digital to restore all of the original tapes.

“The restoration is ongoing and may produce even better video,” Richard Nafzger, an engineer at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, who oversaw television processing at the ground-tracking sites during Apollo 11, said in a statement. “The restoration project is scheduled to be completed in September and will provide the public, future historians and the National Archives with the highest quality video of this historic event.”

Here are a couple of comparisons of the original tapes and the newly restored versions:

For the rest of the videos, visit NASA.

Media Consumption Pyramid
According to the Council for Research Excellence, the average American adult spends 8.5 hours consuming media via screens, from computer to television to cell phones, the New York Times reports.

Having a well-balanced diet keeps people fit and healthy. Wired Magazine believes the same could be said for consuming media, which is why Wired put together a media nutrition guide:

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Image Credit: Jason Lee/Wired Magazine

Mind-Controlled Robot
Researchers from Pittsburgh University have fitted a monkey with a high-tech chip that allows it to control a robot arm with its mind.

Having had exclusive access to a laboratory at Pittsburgh University, Sky News reports that the monkey can control the mechanical arm’s arm, elbow, wrist and hand thanks to the chip picking up pulses from the brain’s motor cortex. The pulses are sent to a computer that analyzes the patter and strength to determine what the monkey is trying to do. It then translates those signals to the robot arm.

The scientists hope to be able to test the technology on paralyzed patients within a year.

Toxic Assets in Gravy Terms
Using a scrumptious turkey gravy metaphor, Paddy Hirsh of American Media’s Marketplace explains (in little over 7 min.) what happened with the toxic assets that banks are now paying back:

Excuse Believability Diagram
Sometimes the temptation of enjoying a beautiful summer day (or simply not coming in to work) can be too much, and now you’re trying to come up with an excuse so you can call in sick. To help give direction regarding solid alibis, Wired Magazine has provided a handy guide for determining whether your excuse for calling in sick is plausible or not:

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Image Credit: Jason Lee/Wired Magazine
Toodles!