Scientists Archive

  • M3-Kindy and Noby: Japan gets two scary kid robots (video)

    M3-Kindy and Noby: Japan gets two scary kid robots (video)

    Posted on June 11, 2010 | No Comments
    Remember M3-neony and M3-synchy, two humanoid robots from Japan we've shown you back in March? Well, it seems Japan still doesn't have enough of creepy kid-like robots, as the so-called JST Erato Asada Project in Osaka today unveiled [JP] another two: M3-Kindy and Noby.

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  • Old Man Laser: Officially over the hill

    Old Man Laser: Officially over the hill

    Posted on May 14, 2010 | No Comments
    Amazingly, the laser is 50 years old today. When it was originally discovered, many scientists felt that the shiny red light didn't have any practical use. Of course now days, lasers are almost everywhere.

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  • Shrimp shells may be used to repair spinal injuries, glass can help rebuild bone

    Shrimp shells may be used to repair spinal injuries, glass can help rebuild bone

    Posted on April 16, 2010 | No Comments
    A report released in the Journal of Experiment Biology today talked about how scientists have discovered a way to use chitosan to repair nerve damage. Keep in mind that chitosan is a material made from the shells of shrimp, and is not that far from the shells of insects.

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  • Mosquitos of the future may vaccinate against malaria, instead of spread it

    Mosquitos of the future may vaccinate against malaria, instead of spread it

    Posted on March 19, 2010 | No Comments
    Mosquitos are one of the major ways that malaria is spread, causing an estimated two million deaths per year. Wouldn't it be cool if those mosquitos could be genetically modified to spread a malaria vaccination instead of the disease itself? Scientists have theorized about just such a solution for years, but recent work from Jichi Medical University in Japan proves that it's actually possible, not just theoretically possible.

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  • Man and machine: chips successfully placed in living cells

    Man and machine: chips successfully placed in living cells

    Posted on March 17, 2010 | No Comments
    Computers are getting smaller and smaller. One need only look at the proliferation of smartphones for proof of this. The trend toward miniaturization is only going to continue. Pretty soon, we'll have computers inside our bodies, rather than carrying them around with us! Scientists have recently successfully inserted silicon chips into living cells. The initial applications for this research seem focused on intracellular sensing and data acquisition, but that's only just the beginning.

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  • Magnetic quantum dots

    Magnetic quantum dots

    Posted on March 8, 2010 | No Comments
    Scientist #1: "You got your manganese in my germanium!" Scientist #2: "You got your germanium in my manganese!" Both: "Wow! Magnetic quantum dots!"

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  • The Road Train: taking drafting to a whole new level

    The Road Train: taking drafting to a whole new level

    Posted on March 5, 2010 | No Comments
    So we all know that drafting increases fuel efficiency. Heck, I even saw an episode of MythBusters where they proved that following a semi suicidally close will increase your mileage dramatically. Of course, drafting is dangerous, stupid, and the risk vs. reward just isn't there. Well, what if it was? Scientists in Europe are working on a system that would make drafting safe. Get ready to ride the road train.

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  • Researchers trying to find out why baby cries

    Researchers trying to find out why baby cries

    Posted on February 24, 2010 | No Comments
    Ever wonder exactly why the baby is crying? Is he hungry? Is she tired? Does she have gas? Does he need changed? All these questions whirled about in my head whenever junior would wake in the middle of the night and start making noises. Researchers in Japan however, are working to find an answer to the first question, however they haven't made any progress with the followup question, "why aren't that baby's parents making him be quiet?"

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  • Plant-based plastics promise perkier peat

    Plant-based plastics promise perkier peat

    Posted on February 19, 2010 | No Comments
    Do you know how hard that headline was to write? So hard! Anyway, scientists at Imperial College London found a form of degradable polymer made of sugar which would, in theory, allow you to add your plastic bottles to your compost pile and watch them degrade into happy, healthy plant food.

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  • Swarming helicopters create 3D display

    Swarming helicopters create 3D display

    Posted on February 18, 2010 | No Comments
    If we’re going to be killed by swarming robots, they might as well look good doing it. Scientists at the MIT SENSEable City lab created a 3D display using tiny remote controlled helicopters that float in patterns in the air and light up, thereby creating a volumetric display. Called the Flyfire, it seems that this is [...]

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  • Scientists create coevolved Predator and Prey bots

    Scientists create coevolved Predator and Prey bots

    Posted on February 1, 2010 | No Comments
    Some scientists at the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale of Lausanne have built "evolving" predator and prey robots designed to, in short, learn from each other. Read that again: While we're worried about Taylor Swift and and Lady Gaga, robots are now teaching each other how to hunt us. The robots use Darwinian Selection to decide how to escape each other or work together to avoid collisions.

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  • An asteroid almost smashed into Earth, and we only knew about it 15 hours before it happened

    An asteroid almost smashed into Earth, and we only knew about it 15 hours before it happened

    Posted on November 12, 2009 | No Comments
    Did you hear the news? An asteroid passed within 8,700 miles of the planet on Friday. The craziest thing is that scientists only knew about it 15 hours before it flew by. So if you have any confidence that this planet is safe from giant space objects smashing into the surface, possibly destroying all life in the process, well, think again.

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  • NASA wants everyone to know the world will not end in 2012, m’kay?

    NASA wants everyone to know the world will not end in 2012, m’kay?

    Posted on November 10, 2009 | No Comments
    Listen, I don't care if you heard it from John Cusack that the world will explode from a global apocalypse on December 21, 2012. He's wrong and a bad actor. NASA, home of the smartest government employees, is going out of its way to inform everyone that they will still have to pay off those credit card bills in 2013. Sorry.

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  • Graphene makes a gra-fine photodetector

    Graphene makes a gra-fine photodetector

    Posted on October 13, 2009 | No Comments
    Graphene, as everyone knows, "is a one-atom-thick planar sheet of sp2-bonded carbon atoms that are densely packed in a honeycomb crystal lattice." (Seriously, I didn't just check Wikipedia for that.) Scientists have been using the material for lots of different applications for some time now. Recent work at IBM's T. J. Watson Research Center has focused on using graphene as a photodetector, and it turns out that it does a pretty good job in that role.

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  • Scientists make flat ice

    Scientists make flat ice

    Posted on September 10, 2009 | No Comments
    flat-iceIce doesn't get me very excited. I rarely get ice in my beverages because it's merely "delayed water". But some scientists have been studying ice, and have created a completely flat sheet of ice only two molecules thick. Apparently ice normally forms in a "puckered" layered formation. Thrilling! All you need is some graphene, platinum, a vacuum, and the ability to lower temperatures to 125 kelvin (about negative 235 F, or the temperature on the dark side of the moon).

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