How would you like to use your Wiimote to defuse bombs? Well, it won't exactly be you doing the defusing - a robot by the name of Packbot will be doing the actual work. All you need to do is control it, as the US Army is doing. This innovative idea actually came from a couple of engineers who modified the Wiimote for the US Army's use.

For more motion-sensing bomb disposal news, turn to the full article after the jump.

News regarding the use of the Nintendo Wii to facilitate healing is quite common these days. Scientists from the University of Memphis, however, have found another use for the motion-sensing game machine: psychological experimentation involving the link between the mind and the body. More psychobabble ensues in the full article, located right after the jump.

Can ping-pong balls float a sunken boat? Can a cellular phone really cause a gas station to explode? Can silicone implants explode in a pressurized cabin? When we ask questions like these, it can only mean two names: Jamie and Adam - the dynamic (and demented) duo behind the Mythbusters TV series.

Now, for the fans wondering what they've pulled off, here's something to sink your teeth in (it's not a jawbreaker). We found a compilation of the myths they've busted since day one. The list also contains brief explanations on how they pulled each bust off, so guys who may have missed their favorite episodes will want to read this to for a quick sit-rep. As for a sample of what's in the list:

Myth: An assassin can fire an ice bullet to kill someone without leaving a trace.

Result: Busted

Explanation: The bullet was simply too brittle to be used. (This myth was revisited in episode 14 and it was busted again.)

The list (which you can see by clicking "Read" below") covers their series until December 6. Remember that the show's still ongoing, so be sure to keep an eye out for updates. Now, if they can just resolve this one: Can a Wiimote potentially carry enough velocity to maim/kill a person...hear that, Buster?

Given it's Christmas, we thought it was time to look back at the year and think things over. We say this as we remember all the violent-game-makes-violent-kids debates that have been springing up like fungus from the mouths of many a lawyer, a commentator and a news site, and see if it's really all that bad. Apparently, not quite.

Enter Gus Luna. Formerly an all-star soccer player, tae-kwon-do green belt, and the president of his 5th-grade class, Gus suddenly fell ill to brain cancer.

Now bedridden and home-schooled, Gus endures chemotherapy to cure the illness, along with exploratory brain surgery. Procedures that would normally be unbearable, if it weren't for his other constant companion (aside from his loving parents) - videogames.

"It would be really hard without this ... You never know what's going to happen next." as Gus commented on how the games helped him cope with the hospital's unfamiliar and oftentimes stressful atmosphere.

And for other patients in Los Angeles' Cedars-Sinai Medical Center where Gus is hospitalized, it looks like they're getting a chance at his perks, in the from of the hospital's Fun Center. Built to be rolled around like hospital equipment (Wiimote=/=Defribillator) the Fun Centers are built exactly for this purpose - to help child patients recover from mentally stressful procedure like chemotherapy, at the same time putting anxious parents' minds at ease.

And for those asking who's behind the Fun Center program, our attention shifts to Don James of Nintendo Co. Ltd, who designed the Fun Center. Nintendo's currently supplying 3,500 of the 5,000-plus Fun Centers to 1,000 hospitals worldwide, which are in turn part of a program run by the Starlight Starbright Children's Foundation.

Nintendo's Fun Center package includes a GameCube console, flat-screen monitor and DVD player. Did we mention that they're planning to release a Wii package for mid - 2007? *Drool*

For the guys who, like us, truly believe that something good comes out of responsible, controlled gaming, this be your good tidings for the season.

"The greatest threat to our national security is pediatric obesity," says US Surgeon General Richard Carmona (That's not him up there), last June in American College of Sports Medicine Annual Conference in Denver. Strong words, but given that health agencies predict that by 2010, one kid in every five here will be clinically obese, the predictions are truly shocking, and that's not even mentioning the onset of diseases like insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes mellitus, and hepatic disease - diseases that used to be isolated to adults.

While health groups tend to blame this growing problem on too much "recreational screen time" (video gaming and TV), the usual cure they've given is decidedly just as painful as the ailment: Lessen play time, and exercise.

According to Dr. Ernie Medina (top image) of XRtainment Zone though, the problem isn't so much about trying to wean people off gaming for health's sake, it's about the alternatives. Much like how food lovers dread replacing their yummy snacks with tasteless tofu substitutes, most people see exercise as a chore - something that just isn't any fun to do.

It was with this mindset that Dr. Medina made his program proposal at the Games for Health Conference last Thursday. The program discussed that instead of taking away recreations like gaming and TV for health's sake, why not marry the two? And no, Dr. Median wasn't talking about people just watching TV as they did their laps, or played consoles as they pedalled away.

The program called for a more widespread  introduction of exergaming, that is, where exercise itself is part of the gameplay - Dance Dance Revolution (DDR) is one clear example of this unusual gaming genre.

Dr. Medina was also quick to point out the program's benefits, like how age mattered little in exergaming - pictures of the elderly playing DDR alongside children in their XRtainment Zone health center were shown as an example of the lack of social boundaries that the program potentially had. And for parents, it was a very safe way of exercise even compared to more high-impact exercises and sports.

Dr. Medina mentioned the schools and the California-based HMO that adopted his office's exergaming equipment, and how it was affecting their PE session - students were actually looking forward to the exercise.

Given that the next gen consoles we've been looking at are going to focus on player interactivity - the Wiimote in particular - we thought this'd help us get a better view of how gaming can be translated into something healthy and constructive, and work hand-in-hand with its long-time nemesis, exercise.

Forecasted headline within the next few months: "I lost 60 pounds in 30 days. Thanks Zelda!"