Around the Web Wednesday: CAPTCHAs, Whales, and Charging Hearing Aids With Your Feet?

• If you have ever filled out a form on the Web, chances are you have seen the annoying-but-useful CAPTCHAs. The CAPTCHAs, which look like distorted, squiggly words or letter/number combinations, have to be entered at the end of many forms to ensure you are a human and not an automated bot filling out a form. The challenge comes when people with vision problems need to be able to fill out forms. An audio version of a CAPTCHA can help, but what if you have trouble with both vision and hearing? The Centered Librarian takes a look at the challenges behind CAPTCHAs and Section 508 compliance.
• On the 80beats blog: scientists have discovered that ancient whales' twisted skulls actually allowed them to hear better underwater. The asymmetrical skull, similar to an owl, lends itself to hunting in 3D spaces without echolocation.
• From the same blog (seriously, it's a really cool blog and you should check it out), the idea of shoes that power small electronics. As I read this post, I thought of how neat it would be to have shoes that could charge hearing aids as you walk. No more tiny batteries or even charging stations. It's questionable exactly how much power the devices could charge just from walking around, but I'm curious.
• I liked this list from Suzie's blog deafcomm about 35 misconceptions about deafness.
• Your video for today: a cute puppy!