Technology
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These photos span all the sciences but there are some nice biology-related ones here. They are from National Geographic and definitely cover many of this year's top science stories.
It seems to have been a good year for the cephalopods- the first colossal squid was found and studied, and the creepy looking Magnapinna squid was again captured on video. My students are really into squid this year, and they were lucky enough to get to dissect one at the Aquarium on our field trip!
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Today you wake up and realize that Christmas is fast approaching, a little more than a week away, and you haven't done ANY shopping for gifts. Now that you realize that Christmas looming in your very near future, you are tempted to get the usual bath spa set for mom and golf tie for dad, but here are some helpful suggestions for some gifts that are convenient, eco-friendly and just plain cool. Just follow these simple steps to complete your successful shopping venture and avoid the stress of last minute shopping at the stores.
Step 1: Don't PanicStep 2: Take deep breathsStep 3: Get on the…
CLS, a subsidiary of the French Space Agency (CNES), acting through its new radar applications division (formerly the BOOST Technologies Company), wants you to know they can use Envisat radar imagery to operationally observe oceans at high resolution so they're observing meteorological conditions in the track of the Vendee Globe solo round-the-world yacht race.
Based on the trajectory and speed of the boats, CLS is acquiring data over the area skippers will be sailing into slightly ahead of their arrival time in order to monitor the metocean conditions.
Although skippers are…
A carbon nanotube-coated "smart yarn" that conducts electricity could be woven into soft fabrics that detect blood and monitor health, engineers at the University of Michigan have demonstrated.
"Currently, smart textiles are made primarily of metallic or optical fibers. They're fragile. They're not comfortable. Metal fibers also corrode. There are problems with washing such electronic textiles. We have found a much simpler way---an elegant way---by combining two fibers, one natural and one created by nanotechnology," said Nicholas Kotov, a professor in the departments of Chemical Engineering…
Stepping onto a scale after a calorie-filled holiday season isn't an activity many 21st-century Americans relish.
But in the late 19th century, scales were all the rage at festive gatherings — the 1800s' answer to Guitar Hero.
"A family would think it fun to weigh themselves before and after a big holiday dinner to see how much they had gained," said Deborah I. Levine, Ph.D., an Andrew W. Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow in the Modeling Interdisciplinary Inquiry Fellowship Program in the Humanities and Social Sciences in Arts&Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis.
"Knowing your weight…
The best flame retardant for your Christmas tree is still plain old water.
Worse, researchers have determined that some flame retardants not only don't work on cut Christmas trees, they actually sped up the drying process and made trees more flammable.
Drs. Gary Chastagner, professor of plant pathology at Washington State University's Puyallup Research Center, and Eric Hinesley, professor of horticulture at North Carolina State University, tested two flame retardants on Douglas-fir and Fraser fir, two of the favorite Christmas tree species in the United States.
According to…
No one really feels left out if they don't have an iPod. An MP3 player is nice to have but not essential to the human condition. But Spanish researchers who have carried out a study looking into the potential future impact of robots on society say that the enormous automation capacity of robots and their ability to interact with humans will cause a technological imbalance over the next 12 years - between those who have them and those who do not.
“Just as we depend upon mobile phones and cars in our daily lives today, the next 15 years will see mass hybridization between…
The first robot that can jump like a grasshopper and roll like a ball could play a key role in future space exploration. The 'Jollbot' has been created by Rhodri Armour, a PhD student from the University of Bath. It's hoped his creation, which can jump over obstacles and roll over smoother terrain, could be used for space exploration or land survey work in the future.
Rhodri Armour designed Jollbot as part of his Ph.D. thesis. Photo Credit: Nic Delves-Broughton, University of Bath)
One of the major challenges that face robots designed for space exploration is being able to move over rough…
A super-efficient system that has the potential to power, heat and cool homes across the UK is being developed at Newcastle University.
It works by burning vegetable oil to power a generator and provide electricity for the home. The waste heat from this process is then used to provide heating and hot water and is also converted to cool a fridge.
At each step, the waste heat that is produced from engine gases and cooling is used elsewhere to recover the maximum amount of energy from the system. In addition to this, the plant producing the fuel absorbs carbon whilst growing – resulting in near…
A new "barcode chip" developed by researchers at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) promises to revolutionize diagnostic medical testing. In less than 10 minutes, and using just a pinprick's worth of blood, the chip can measure the concentrations of dozens of proteins, including those that herald the presence of diseases like cancer and heart disease.
The device, known as the Integrated Blood-Barcode Chip, or IBBC, was developed by a group of Caltech researchers led by James R. Heath, the Elizabeth W. Gilloon Professor and professor of chemistry, along with postdoctoral…