Tag: science
Making ice while the sun shines
This is quite nifty. A team of scientists from San Jose University have worked out a way to make ice with zero carbon footprint and no moving parts. There’s no electricity involved either. All you’ve got to do is keep the machine clean…
Using ultrasound to "feel" virtual objects
“Haptics” is what wer’e talking about here – the field which integrates computing and touch. It’s long been the preserve of robots, huge gloves, and virtual reality glasses, but now a team of Japanese researchers have worked out how to use ultrasound for the same purpose…
Robots become self-aware, but think that they're rats, so we're okay for now
Scientists at the University of Reading have got a step closer to creating Cybermen – human brains inside a robot – after putting together a small robot that uses rat neurones to control itself.
The scientists have managed to grow around 300,000 rat neurones artificially in the lab by starting off with the brain of a rat faetus. These neurones have gone on to make connections with each other and work in much the same way a regular rat brain does, using electrical impulses to make the brain “do stuff”. The neurons are connected to a regular microchip, where they can be stimulated and the results analysed to see what happens. For example, they’ve built a robot on wheels with an ultrasound sensor, to spot when it is approaching a wall. I guess it’s like giving a rat the Bat-power of echo-location. Maybe.
Scientists develop new artificial cornea
Scientists at Stanford University have developed a new type of artificial cornea using two interwoven polymer gels of similar makeup to the materials used in soft contact lenses…
Invisible Nanotube ropes could revolutionise the circus trade
I know what you’re wondering – when, oh when, is cutting edge modern technology going to be used to help our travelling circus friends? Well don’t worry, it won’t be long now. Scientists have calculated that an invisible Carbon Nanotube rope just 1cm thick and invisible to the naked eye could support the weight of a human, potentially putting a radical new twist on boring old tightrope walks (but potentially destroying the mime industry).
NASA probe discovers that Mercury is shrinking
Try not to panic – Mercury, the smallest resident of our close-knit solar system, is shrinking. Scientists studying data sent back by the Messenger probe, launched in 2004, reveal that it’s disappearing; withering away like a long-forgotten prune (not their words).
Look, no hands! Eye-tracking World of Warcraft interface lets you grind mobs on sight
Researchers at the De Montford University, UK are developing a pioneering new eye-tracking system to enable users to control computers with out touching a keyboard or mouse.
The Eye-Gaze system works by reflecting infrared light from LEDs below the screen to track movement using infrared cameras. Kind of like reversed Wii Remote, in a way. Essentially this can track where you're looking at the screen to within 5mm.
MONKEY uses its BRAIN to control a ROBOTIC ARM
More news from the world of mad scientists PLAYING GOD – this time they’ve managed to thoroughly confuse a poor monkey by hooking its brain up to robotic arm.
The serious research angle behind the monkey/robot/brain fun is something to do with it eventually being used to help humans control prosthetic limbs. So far, the boffins at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine have managed to teach a monkey to pick up a marshmallow and put it in its mouth. Here is the dramatic moment in pictures:
This development in marshmallow consumption alone…
Opinion: Why we should all be scared of real robot wars!
Jonathan Weinberg writes… One of the UK’s leading scientists reckons terrorists could soon be using robots to attack their targets – so should we all be worried and run for cover?
Well, I’ve already battened down my hatches, took the tin hat out of storage and stocked up on tins of corned beef and baked beans. Annoyingly, I don’t even like corned beef, but I’m told it lasts.
Anyhow, robots are without doubt one of the biggest technological advances and one of the biggest techno-tests we face in the future. If they can be used for good, it stands to reason they can be used for evil. Anyone who’s seen Steven Spielberg flick Artificial Intelligence: AI starring Jude Law will know how terrifying a world with ultra-realistic human-like robots could be…
Sci-fi dreams coming true – cloaking device now a reality
That weird black blurry thing on the left is something very important. No, I am not pregnant. It is a cloaked plastic object of some sort, hidden from view by clever scientists.
This is quite complicated science, so please excuse me if I just kind of gloss over the whys and hows of all this, and just say “Hey, wow! Cloaking devices like in Star Trek! Awesome!”.
