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Experiments performed with a team of nano quadrotors at the GRASP Lab, University of Pennsylvania. Vehicles developed by KMel Robotics. Special thanks to Professor Daniel Lee for his support.

Christmas had come and gone, and the toy aisles were emptied of Lego Star Wars sets, and Lego Harry Potter sets, and Lego superhero sets. This is when Lego decided to roll out its newest line: Lego Friends, aimed squarely at girls. Lego Friends figures are strikingly different. They don’t look anything like the traditional Lego minifigure. Lego Friends have big eyes, button noses and pink lips. They wear skirts. They have names like Mia, Andrea and Olivia. They come with pink and purple bricks, in sets that can be built into a pet hospital, or a bakery, or...

Riley on Marketing

Before video games and robotics competitions, toys were much simpler: girls got dolls; boys got model trains and bicycles. Toys that promoted learning and experimentation were rare until one inventor, Alfred Carlton (“A. C.”) Gilbert, started making toys that taught children about science and engineering. His most famous, the Erector set, became one of the best -selling toys of its day and inspired children across the country to build everything from bridges to robots. Gilbert was a man of many talents. He financed his medical degree from Yale University by working as a magician, invented the pole-vaulting box and won...

Vietnam says an outbreak of hand, foot and mouth disease has killed 156 people, mostly children, and sickened more than 96,000 through late November. ... The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a travel alert Monday urging people visiting Vietnam to protect themselves from the disease by practicing "healthy personal hygiene."

I recently read an article titled, 'The Top 5 Toys of All Time'. The author hit the nail squarely on the head when he listed the toys ALL of us have enjoyed at one time or another in our lives. Can you guess which playthings are on the list? Due to their copyright complaint, I was unable to publish the article here. If you would like to read the article and list, visit GeekDad at wired.com NOTE TO ADMIN MODERATOR: I hope this doesn't violate the copyright. My apologies if it does.

It was a hoot to be on with Rush yesterday and I was able to float an idea to him..... Below is the text of my call, and right ater there was a guy who took it astep further to make a contest out of it for fun. So...why not have the nets best minds do the same? Please come up with toy ideas Santa Rush can throw out. Enjoy.. --------- RUSH: Albany in New York. Dave, welcome to the EIB Network. Hello, sir. CALLER: Twenty-plus years of dittos to you, Rush. Thanks for the education and certainly the joy...

These days, if a stuffed animal's plastic eye so much as wiggles, that toy is recalled faster than you can say "class action lawsuit." Back in the day, though, child safety consisted of just getting out of the way and letting natural selection do its thing. If a kid was too dumb to play with a toy the right way, well, he'd just have to learn to get along with one less eye. That meant molten glass, molten metal, hazardous chemicals -- all were included in toys back then ... on purpose.

These days, if a stuffed animal's plastic eye so much as wiggles, that toy is recalled faster than you can say "class action lawsuit." Back in the day, though, child safety consisted of just getting out of the way and letting natural selection do its thing. If a kid was too dumb to play with a toy the right way, well, he'd just have to learn to get along with one less eye.

Staff Sgt. Christopher Fessenden is on duty in Afghanistan now after tours with the Army in Iraq. He has traveled with standard-issue equipment -- weapons, helmet, uniform, boots and so forth -- plus a radio-controlled model truck his brother sent. The truck is not a toy to him. He says it just saved six soldiers' lives. "We cannot thank you enough," said Sgt. Fessenden in an email from the front that his brother Ernie, a software engineer in Rochester, Minn., shared with ABC News. The little truck was used by the troops to run ahead of them on patrols and...

Elliot Handler, who co-founded the Mattel toy company and designed the plastic playthings that have filled millions of Christmas stockings, made dinner parties possible by occupying otherwise fidgety children, and stubbed countless parents’ toes, died on Thursday at his home in Los Angeles. He was 95. The cause was heart failure, his daughter, Barbara Segal, said. Mr. Handler helped introduce Barbie, helped design the talking doll Chatty Cathy and popularized Hot Wheels toy cars. He began Mattel in 1945 with his wife, Ruth, and a short-term partner. Until the Handlers were forced out of Mattel in 1975, they oversaw a...

It's too late for Father's Day, but surely you can find a reason to give someone the Taliban chess set, from Canadian toy company Hedwig & Sergeant Major. Fight the "Good War" from the comfort of your own home! For just $250, you can choose a set, such as America vs. Taliban, or Britain vs. Iraqi insurgents and more. You're given a choice between two different kings for the American side depending on who you feel was/is a better Commander in Chief, George W. Bush or Barack Obama. The queen is the Statue of Liberty, the rook is the World...

An Anthony Weiner action figure is in the works and is expected to be released soon. Do you need a gift for that person that has everything? It's guaranteed that they don't own an Anthony Weiner doll! The doll is being offered in two versions, the "standard Weiner" and the "Weiner Weiner Doll (for adults only)." The site doesn't say exactly what the difference is between the two models, but you can probably use your imagination to figure it out. Both Weiner dolls come dressed in an outfit consisting of a plain white shirt and white shorts emblazoned with the...

Barack Obama has been immortalised in plastic as a Rambo-style SEAL to celebrate the killing of al-Qa'ida chief Osama bin Laden. Toymaker Herobuilders, famed for making sixth-scale action figures of famous political figures, said: "We call him Rambama. "Rambama comes complete with our version of the SEAL Team Six T-shirt and urban camo. Rambama also carries the weapon of choice, the M1-A4."

Barbie just can't catch a break when it comes to those sassy Bratz dolls. Barbie maker Mattel (MAT) got smacked down by a federal jury today, and was ordered to pay $88.5 million to rival MGA Entertainment in a dispute over the Bratz line. In what's being called a stunning decision, the jury told Mattel that it does not own the Bratz dolls. The legal battle has been going since 2004, and one analyst said today that Mattel's failure to settle was a "tremendously bad decision" by management. "It means they wasted $400 million or so of shareholder money to...

Global Economy? 23 Facts Which Prove That Globalism Is Pushing The Standard Of Living Of The Middle Class Down To Third World Levels From now on, whenever you hear the term "the global economy" you should immediately equate it with the destruction of the U.S. middle class. Over the past several decades, the American economy has been slowly but surely merged into the emerging one world economic system. Unfortunately for the middle class, much of the rest of the world does not have the same minimum wage laws and worker protections that we do. Therefore, the massive global corporations that...

Every year, hundreds of hopeful toy makers flock to the American International Toy Fair, now underway in New York City, convinced that against all odds, their new toy will be a winner. One of this year's hopefuls is Maureen O'Leary of Charlestown, the creator of Throttle Necks, talking 5.5-inch dolls that caricature such political figures as President Obama and Sarah Palin. (Don't call them action figures. All they do is talk.) Like cold beers in a honky-tonk, O'Leary's dolls have long necks --- necks that make them ideal for throttling. "They talk. You throttle" is the O'Leary sales pitch.....

Charlotte Church today showed signs of her strain at being a single mother bringing up two little ones. Charlotte, 24, struggled with a host of bags, toys and bottles as she took her two children out for the day. Meanwhile her estranged fiancé, peramatanned Gavin Henson, has been out living it up, looking relaxed and care-free.

Iraq’s Health Ministry held a campaign banning weapons in Iraq. However, the type of weapons that are prohibited is not a deadly weapon because the opposition is a toy weapon. Baghdad toy market is filled with plastic guns with a variety of prices and sizes, starting from toy guns, tanks, knives, military uniforms, even a silencer. “The people responsible get rid of these toys,” said Dr. Emad Abdulrazaq, national mental health adviser at the Ministry of Health. “These toys makes a child more easily lapse into actual violence because every day he is having fun with guns.” Ministry of Health,...

Arrest warrant issued for woman accused of sex-toy attack By Megan Craig, Tribune reporter 5:53 PM CST, December 23, 2010 Advertisement A Lake County judge on Thursday issued a warrant for the arrest of a woman charged with attacking a Gurnee police officer with a sex toy. Judge Brian Hughes put out the $75,000 bench warrant for Carolee Bildsten, 56, who did not appear for a hearing Thursday on an aggravated assault charge. Bildsten is accused of confronting an officer in November with a "clear, rigid feminine pleasure device," according to a police report.

1 Lego 2 Monopoly3 Dungeons and Dragons 4 Wii 5 Nintendo consoles 6 Playstation consoles 7 Scrabble 8 Scalextrix 9 Trivial pursuit 10 Gameboy and other 11 Star wars toys 12 Transformers 13 Microsoft X-Box 14 He-Man & Masters of the 15 Cluedo 16 Meccano 17 Hornby train set 18 Connect 4 19 Airfix 20 Action man 21 Matchbox cars 22 Etch a sketch 23 Teddy bear 24 Rubik cube 25 Atari consoles 26 Play-doh 27 Plasticene 28 Subbuteo 29 Spirograph 30 Risk 31 Roller skates 32 Top trumps 33 Yo-yo 34 Teenage mutant ninja 35 Chemistry Set 36 Twister...

ORANGEVALE (CBS13) – Hundreds of toys set aside for kids in need have been stolen just days before Christmas. The toys were taken from the lobby of the Orangevale Chamber of Commerce Monday night. They were donations to the Toys for Tots program.

Shopping in a local Berkeley toy story yesterday, I came across three options that are uniquely suited for this holiday season. (Note: I'm not making these up. Photographs are attached as evidence.) (1) For your friends in the Tea Party Movement: "The Angry Mob Playset." (2) For your friends who are still dancing to Michael Jackson's "Thriller." "The Glow-in-he-Dark, Flesh-eating Zombies Playset." (3) For your Democrat friends who feel the president is (a) failing to stand up to the GOP or (b) inexplicably pushing Bush-era financial and foreign-policy programs that you find hard to swallow: "The Barack Obama Acton Figure...

Christmas time is coming soon, all of us who are parents, grandparents or other relatives or friends of children will be looking for fun and appropriate gifts for Christmas. What are some gifts that you will be giving to the kids in your life? What are some good books or toys that you think they will enjoy while giving them something of value. I am looking for someplace where I can find books that have good values that I can give to my grandkids. Are there any websites that specialize in books that represent our values, not liberal values? I...

Costco has had Christmas stuff out for a month now, and since Halloween is past, but Thanksgiving is still ahead, I think it is time to start thinking about the most irresponsible or dangerous toy selections of the Season for 2010. What is your favorite submission for the one item that will make Personal Injury Attorneys slaver at the sight of it...?? What is the most outrageous item to threaten little Johnny on Christmas morning this year?

The Ruger MK. III 22/45 is a fine weapon.. for plinking.. killing small varmints, shooting at pop cans, and just an all around fun .22 to shoot.. It sure is hard to take apart and put back together! Not that there is any real good reason to take it apart and put it back together... It's just something I like doing with my down time. Helps me focus on lifes real problems.. I've owned this little shooter for several years.. but hadn't taken it out of the safe for a long time.. Just had the thought that I would put...

Jimmy Jet from Deluxe Reading Toy Commercial This toy from Deluxe Reading is one of the most highly sought-after toys from the baby boomer generation. Jimmy Jet was to die for in the mid 1960s, and today worth several hundred dollars in any condition.

From the days of Saturday morning assault weapon propaganda corrupting the youth.

They were the best of fads, they were the worst of fads—all at the same time. The faddish objects or our childhood were sometimes loved and sometimes hated but they were hard to ignore. Here are a list of the 50 best/worst from the 1960s to today: 1. Beanie Babies What made it the best: You and your friends loved collecting them. What made it the worst: Old ladies loved collecting them too. 2. Bratz Dolls What made it the best: 559 different dolls to choose from. What made it the worst: They all looked like strippers. 3. Cabbage Patch...

This week, a consumer interest group announced its intention to bring the very important social issue of childhood obesity to court. The Center for Science in the Public Interest announced it will sue McDonald's for the chain's promotion of Happy Meals. CSPI says the toys that come with the meals encourage children and parents to make unhealthy choices. "McDonald's is the stranger in the playground handing out candy to children," CSPI litigation director Stephen Gardner said on the organization's web site. "McDonald’s use of toys undercuts parental authority and exploits young children’s developmental immaturity—all this to induce children to prefer...

Christan Morales says her son just wanted to honor American troops when he made a hat decorated with an American flag and small plastic Army figures. But the hat ran afoul of the district's no-weapons policy because the toy soldiers were carrying tiny weapons. "His teacher called and said it wasn't appropriate because it had guns," Morales said.

Etsy makers of children's items, along with the larger handmade movement, succeeded in getting the ear of Washington politicians and agencies by calling out for the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) to be amended. An amendment now hangs in the balance, and we urge you to call your representatives. Cecilia Leibovitz, a.k.a. paperdreams, sent us this urgent message. Cecelia is not only the founder of craftsburykids.com, a shop specializing in unique handmade toys and gifts for children — she is also president of the Handmade Toy Alliance, a grassroots organization advocating for makers of small batch children's products. Republicans...

THURSDAY, April 15 (HealthDay News) -- Parents may want their girls to grow up to be astronauts and their boys to one day do their fair share of child care and housework duties, but a new study suggests certain stereotypical gender preferences take root even before most kids can crawl. When presented with seven different toys, boys as young as 9 months old went for the car, digger and soccer ball, while ignoring the teddy bears, doll and cooking set. And the girls? You guessed it. At the same age, they were most interested in the doll, teddy bear and...

SANTA CLARA COUNTY (KGO) -- A Santa Clara County lawmaker will introduce legislation to stop restaurants from handing out toys with fast food menu items geared toward children. The proposed legislation would ban toy giveaways at restaurants only in Santa Clara County. Some say toys are what puts the happy in a Happy Meal, like at McDonalds. "I'm sorry but when you go for a Happy Meal for a child -- we go for the prize, because that's what makes the Happy Meal a happy meal," said San Jose resident Barbara Park. But Santa Clara County Board of Supervisor Ken...

The California attorney general is asking Target Corp. to pull its Valentine's Day "Message Bears" from store shelves over concerns that they have illegal levels of lead. In a letter sent to the company Monday, Attorney General Jerry Brown said testing of the holiday toys revealed lead levels that violate federal law. The products were identified as two of Target's "Message Bears" -- one a pink stuffed bear with "XOXO" across the chest and the other a brown stuffed bear with "I Love U" across the chest, with "love" represented by a heart. Investigators from the Center for Environmental Health,...

Friday February 5, 2010 Pink Ouija Board 'Toy' Targeting Young Girls Sparks Boycott By Kathleen GilbertPAWTUCKET, Rhode Island, February 5, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A boycott has been launched against toymaker giant Hasbro and Toys R Us for making and marketing a pink Ouija board targeting girls as young as eight years old.The board's Toys R Us webpage - which has evidently been recently removed - boasted: "It has always been mysterious. It has always been mystifying. And now the OUIJA Board is just for you, girl."  The board comes with 72 "fun questions" to ask, including: "Who will call/text...

2/5/2010 - SATHER AIR BASE, Iraq (AFNS) -- Airmen, Soldiers and Marines handed out more than $3,000 worth of donated items to Iraqi families Jan. 29, as part of the Sather Air Base Rising Six's good neighbor program. The program, which began in March of 2008, collects donated items such as cloths, toys and toiletries and distributes them to the Iraqi families living in an Iraqi camp located on the base. "The good neighbor program consists of volunteers (who organize) donations and (distribute) goods to the Iraqi families in Area Four by Sather Air Base," said Staff Sgt. Richard Ramsey,...

Toys R Us is selling Ouija boards, promoting them as acceptable for children as young as eight years old. The pink edition of the Ouija board is listed for girls eight-years-old and up while the regular version is designated for all children eight and up. Stephen Phelan, communications manager of Human Life International, checked the website and reports that the findings are disturbing. "It is just troubling that these things are treated as casually as any other game, like Monopoly or anything else on this Toys R Us site -- and I think it's something Christians should be aware of...

Most Indian Plastic Toys Are 'Toxic' The Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) studied a sample of Indian toys and found that all of them contained high levels of phthalates. Phthalates are chemicals used to soften plastic and the group says India has no regulations to control their use. The use of these chemicals in Europe and the US is strictly regulated. 'Most vulnerable' The CSE studied a sample of toys sold in India and found that all of them contained high levels of phthalates, Sunita Narayan, director of CSE told a press conference in Delhi. Nearly half of them...

Investigators discover stolen video games, laptops, iPods Thousands of dollers worth of holiday goods didn't make it to their intended destinations and police say a deliveryman is to blame. Ronald Lozano, a 38-year-old deliveryman with the United Parcel Service, was arrested Wednesday after a month-long investigation into the thefts at the UPS distribution center in Fairfield. Investigators say they found $8,000 worth of laptops and video game systems at Lozano's home. Since April 2009, police said that personal packages and commercial merchandise worth more than $40,000 had been stolen from the UPS warehouse. Most of the stolen items were video...

The overreach of a child-safety law is killing American jobs and businesses. It's not too late for some common-sense changes. With the unemployment rate stubbornly high and President Obama focused on job creation, it's a perfect time for Congress to revisit a law that's making our economic problems worse, and spoiling Christmas for many kids to boot. Thanks to the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA), small businesses like Baby Sprout Naturals and Whimsical Walney have already closed their doors. And some 40% of companies responding to a Toy Industry Association survey planned to eliminate jobs this year because the...

Al Gore must be working as a consultant at Build-A-Bear Workshop®. Evident in the company's three "Build-A-Bearville®" videos below is an unhealthy dose of the junk science-laden, polar-bears-are-dying propaganda on which the former vice president has made hundreds of millions of dollars since leaving public office.

U.S. first lady Michelle Obama arrives with a sack of toys as she visits the Marine Corps Base Quantico Toys for Tots Campaign warehouse in Stafford, Virginia, December 16, 2009. In support of the program, Mrs. Obama delivered new and unwrapped toys and gifts contributed by the Executive Office staff.

An excited child receives a bag of toys and school supplies from Spc. Michael Petro (right), of West Chester, Pa., as Staff Sgt. Marvin McCorvey, of Graham, N.C. manages the already growing crowd of children outside Forward Operating Base Falcon, in southern Baghdad, Dec. 12. Photo by Spc. Kelly LeCompte, 30th Heavy Brigade Combat Team. BAGHDAD — Two Soldiers with Company B, 252nd Combined Arms Battalion, recently organized a surprise toy delivery for children living here just outside the walls of Forward Operating Base Falcon. Spc. Michael Petro, an infantryman, said he had the idea to start collecting goodies...

NAVAL AIR FACILITY ATSUGI, Japan — It all started four years ago with a Tickle Me Elmo doll. Petty Officer 1st Class Nathan Grant figured he’d do his part to support the Toys for Tots drive at Whidbey Island, Wash., and he tossed the doll into his shopping cart. Then he eyed a few more toys, thinking he could help more children. "If you give one toy to one kid in an orphanage, that can change that child’s world," said Grant, now working for Commander Fleet Air, Western Pacific. "But if you can give hundreds of toys, that can have...

Mouse toy in ‘paedo’ song ban Published: 07 Dec 2009 A TOY mouse supposed to sing "Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells" has been recalled amid claims it warbles "paedophile, paedophile". The 4ins festive novelty, with Santa hat and a cheesy grin, has left parents stunned. Toy ... mix-up One mum said: "When I squeezed its tummy I couldn't believe my ears. I recognised the tune, but the words were certainly not traditional. Luckily my children are too young to understand." The £2.99 Chinese-made novelty is sold in smaller shops and on market stalls. Distributors Humatt, of Ferndown, Dorset, said the man...

WASHINGTON, Dec. 4, 2009 – More than 3,000 military families will have a few extra presents under the tree this year thanks to the generous efforts of Operation Homefront and The Wal-Mart Foundation. A military spouse receives assistance from volunteers during the Operation Homefront and Wal-Mart Foundation toy event for military families in the National Guard Armory gymnasium in Fayetteville, N.C., Dec. 4, 2009. Courtesy photo by Shane Dunlap  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Operation Homefront, a troop-support organization, invited spouses of deployed servicemembers to shop for free today in six make-shift toy stores stocked with toys and books...

We're suckers for a happy ending – especially when it involves cars, kids, and hot pizza. Recall, if you will, this past summer when John Schnatter, founder of Papa John's Pizza, was on a nationwide quest to find his beloved 1971 1/2 Chevrolet Camaro Z28 – a car he sold in the mid-Eighties to fund his first store. John found his car in Kentucky, and then generously gave free pizzas from its 2,600 nationwide locations to all Camaro owners on August 26th. Still feeling more than a bit elated with the return of his Z28, and intent on providing hope...

It's not Thanksgiving yet, and already it's nearly impossible to find a Zhu Zhu Pet. The fuzzy, life-size mechanical hamsters are emerging as the early runaway success of the season. They coo and purr as they scurry around the house. Unlike the real thing, they don't smell, die, or make noise at 3 a.m. And the toy comes appropriately priced for this economy: $8 at Wal-Mart and Target - except they often don't have any. "It's a frenzy," said Paul Jones, chief executive officer at Green Bay-based Shopko. "It's the Tickle Me Elmo of past years."The Zhu Zhu isn't the...

Kids have got stuffed toy bug   By STAFF REPORTER Published: Today     NOT many of us would want to cuddle up to E.coli and Streptococcus this winter, but that's exactly what these cuddle toys are. The bizarre creatures, designed to look like the bugs that cause common colds, sore throats and coughs have become the latest craze. The fluffy GiantMicrobes are the same shape and colour as the real thing — but one million times bigger. They have been given human features such as eyes, a mouth and nose to make them more appealing to young children....