Japanese scientists have created a cyborg moth that can track odors by plugging a robot into the moth’s nervous system. The robot’s actions were controlled by electrodes plugged into the moth and the brain signals were rerouted to the motors of the robot. When the moth was exposed to the smell of a female, the robot replicated the moth dance in an attempt to track down the odor. Scientists believe that they can use this system in tracking down explosives.
Scientists in London claim that new materials with the ability to control the speed of light would not only be capable of bending light around the object, but also creating an invisibility cloak capable of hiding in both time and space. These materials currently only exist in the mathematical theory of “metamaterials”. Metamaterials are artificial materials “designed and manipulated at a molecular level to interact with and control electromagnetic waves.”
“In some senses our work is mathematically quite closely related to the idea of invisibility cloaking,” McCall told CNN. “It’s just that we’re doing it in space and time instead of just in space. It’s added a new dimension to cloaking, quite literally.”
The scientists are already thinking of real world uses for this technology:
“A safe cracker would be able, for a brief time, to enter a scene, open the safe, remove its contents, close the door and exit the scene, whilst the record of a surveillance camera apparently showed that the safe door was closed all the time,” they write.
Dust off that old jingoism and get your down payment’s ready, the Space Race is back and this time we’re getting all private sector up in this piece.
Russian companies are facing off with US competition to get a privately owned space station all up in great beyond within the next five years.
Both seek put up far more durable models that can survive debris impacts. The American candidate already has tacit commitment from six international space agencies should they get their project functioning. It’s possible the station could be fired into space by a Falcon 9 rocket, as created by Elon Musk’s company SpaceX.
CERN research scientists have stated that their Big Bang project is going along so swimmingly that, by the end of 2011, they may be able to offer the first proof of extra dimensions beyond the known four.
Guido Tonelli, spokesman for one of the CERN specialist teams monitoring operations in the vast, subterranean LHC, said probing for extra dimensions — besides length, breadth, height and time — would become easier as the energy of the proton collisions in it is increased in 2011.
The LHC will be shut down for maintenance in early December, but will be starting up again in February running full blast looking for those extra dimensions.
According to an new study, we might have underestimated a T.rex’s foot speed by up to 45%. New computer modeling shows the beast’s massive tail is indicative of more powerful leg muscles than we’d previously given him credit for.
Also, scientists like to say funny things:
T. rex’s athleticism (and its rear end) has been given a makeover by University of Alberta graduate student Scott Persons. His extensive research shows that powerful tail muscles made the giant carnivore one of the fastest moving hunters of its time.
As Persons says, “contrary to earlier theories, T. rex had more than just junk in its trunk.”
Did you know that male nipples need to be surgically detached and repositioned sometimes? Then you probably didn’t know that the same Golden Ratio used in modern architecture is employed to make sure a gentlemen’s chest nubs look A-OK.
GPS tagged coyotes are roaming the streets of Chicago as part of an urban coyote research project. The coyotes are allowed to roam the streets as part of the program in order to eliminate nuisance rodents. The Chicago Commission on Animal Care and Control assures Chicago that everything is fine.
“He’s not a threat…He’s not going to pick up your children,” Block said. “His job is to deal with all of the nuisance problems, like mice, rats and rabbits.”
He’s not going to pick up your children; carry on.
Researchers have discovered that all primates have an innate ability to repair spinal damage, including humans. They have never noticed this before because scientists usually use rodents in neurology experiments and rodents simply don’t possess neural sprouting.
The researchers found that the injured nerves didn’t regrow. Instead, new nerves sprouted in a process called “spontaneous plasticity,” essentially routing the spinal column around the injury. This kind of neural sprouting doesn’t occur in rodents, which are the animals that scientists typically use in neuroscience experiments. As a result, nobody had noticed this phenomenon before. This new study may lead to more testing on monkeys, but hopefully it will lead to discoveries that allow all primates to grow new nerve cells in the future.
The music is creepy and the alleged act is even grislier. Is this really a video of a German film crew digging up the remains of Andy Kaufman to prove he isn’t really running around in a Tony Clifton outfit?
What do you folks think? Fact or hoax?
Thanks to reader Zakk for passing this along.
Posted in Hoax | |
Comments Off on Did A German Film Crew Really Exhume Andy Kaufman? [Fact Or Hoax?]
Hiroshi Ishiguro’s robot Geminoid-F made its stage debut recently but stayed within character by playing the part of an android caretaker assigned to a dying child. How soon till Geminoid-F feels up to taking on a fully human role?
“Illustrator Sammy Hall made this incredible version of the Tyrannosaurus Rex. Scientists have started to believe that just like many other biped dinosaurs, T-Rex had also been covered with feathers.”
All of these magpie attacks are suddenly starting to make a lot more sense. Full size image here.
Meet Hatsune Miku, the world’s first all-virtual pop sensation. Even here voice is a digital creation. What started as a digital voice generator from Yahama known as a vocaloid has gained such popularity that the company has created a 3D Hologram version that has performed to packed stadiums. But the real question is when did we get 3D holograms?!
A new all-female species of lizard (Leiolepis ngovantrii) that reproduces itself by cloning was discovered being served up in Vietnamese restaurants in the Mekong River delta. The first batch that was being saved for the scientists to review went missing when “Unfortunately, the owner wound up getting drunk, and grilled them all up for his patrons…” However, they checked other nearby restaurants and were able to gather about sixty specimens.
How awesome tasting are these lizard treats you ask?
“You take a bite out of it and it feels like something very old and dead in your mouth”
“Members of Britain’s Special Air Service (SAS) special forces have begun parachuting into enemy strongholds in Afghanistan with Taliban-seeking German shepherds strapped to their chests. Once on the ground, the dogs hunt for Taliban insurgents in buildings and — with cameras strapped to their heads sending back video — act as forward scouts for the British special forces unit.”
