I am in Kannapolis, North Carolina, on vacation. My dad recently moved here. Naturally we are exploring the area — did you know that Salisbury steak comes from the time a train’s chef didn’t have a T-Bone for a passenger, so he made him two burger patties mashed together as they pulled into the Salisbury station here?

In fact, the area’s history is heavy on the trains. And hence the poem (and pics) here today, which resulted from our visit to the North Carolina Transportation Museum.

The Spencer Wheelhouse

Enough’s been written now about old 97,
The way she rushed downhill to reach the Spencer Yards,
How she ran the rails ragged off the Stillhouse Trestle
And died a steamer’s death, splinters all afire.

Read More “The Sunday Poem: The Spencer Wheelhouse”

The latest addition to the Wii-hab phenomenon is perhaps its coolest—Air Guitar Hero. Researchers at Johns Hopkins University have made the popular Guitar Hero game into a tool for amputees who are being fitted with the next generation of artificial arms. With a few electrodes and some very powerful algorithms, amputees can hit all the notes of Pat Benatar’s “Hit Me With Your Best Shot” using only the electrical signals from their residual muscles.

IEEE Spectrum: For those without hands, there’s Air Guitar Hero.