misc.ience

Living with robots – don't panic

Aimee Whitcroft • Feb 05, 2010

• Asimo,
• Honda,
• robots

Yes, that was indeed an H2G2* reference.  I sneak ’em in whenever I can… Asimo, by Honda This is just a short post to point you all in the direction of a marvellous little video put together by the makers of Asimo.  And various cars and bikes over the years. In … Read More

Hydrogels or, how to replace petroleum-based plastics

Aimee Whitcroft • Feb 04, 2010

• chemistry,
• hydrogel,
• petroleum,
• plastic,
• water

Well, wonders will never cease.  Not only is water already one of the strangest,and most interesting fluids/substances around, but clever scientists from the University of Tokyo just added another layer of WTFness. A hydrogel (with hair). Credit: Nature 463, 339-343 (21 January 2010) | doi:10.1038/nature08693 In essence, they have developed a sort of non-fluid, yet … Read More

Stunning science imagery Pt I

Aimee Whitcroft • Feb 03, 2010

• cetacean,
• dolphin,
• fourier,
• Mark Fischer,
• maths,
• Nikki Graziano,
• photography,
• physics,
• sound,
• wavelet,
• whale,
• Xkcd

Presents for your visual systems today… And we’ll be presenting two different people who’re merging science and visuals in new, and quite effective, ways. xkcd: Fourier I know I have a previous post somewhere (probably on my old blog) about engineering photos as well, but I thought I’d start afresh. Read More

Prove your wordpower

Aimee Whitcroft • Feb 02, 2010

• explanation,
• language,
• wiki

Ah, brevity.  [Insert tedious piece of waffling prose extolling its virtues] But seriously, I came across a fantastic little site today.  Called the Ten Word Wiki, it is precisely that.  No more than ten words to describe any given topic. I did some typing, and have given a couple … Read More

If I was a running shoe manufacturer, I would be worried…

Aimee Whitcroft • Jan 28, 2010

• physics,
• runner,
• running

This is brilliant.  I’ve heard intimations of it on various websites for the last few months, but it’s always good to see a published paper backing it up. In short, it says that running shoes are not actually necessary for runners.  In fact, they may do more to cause … Read More

What would we do when the aliens land?

Aimee Whitcroft • Jan 27, 2010

• alien,
• SETI

According to Nature, we’d be in trouble… I love it when serious publications take a walk into the slightly more whimsical.  Let me clear, here – I firmly believe that there is intelligent life out there.  I also firmly believe the hallmarks of their intelligence are that they haven’t contacted us (in … Read More

A little bit of fun: how to (mathematically) park your car

Aimee Whitcroft • Jan 26, 2010

• mathematics,
• parking

One wonders if this doesn’t have IgNobel potential.  Of course, it’s not particularly useful, so I doubt it, but it does have that slightly silly appeal 🙂 Vauxhall Motors commissioned a University of London researchers by the name of Simon Blackburn to figure out how much space any given car needs to parallel park without … Read More

Stunning visions of Mars

Aimee Whitcroft • Jan 26, 2010

• astronomy,
• HiRISE,
• imaging,
• Mars,
• physics

Humanity is now the proud owner of some 13,000 photos of Mars taken by NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. Monitoring Seasonal Albedo Patterns on South Polar Residual Cap (ESP_014405_0945) Credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona The photos were taken by the most powerful camera of any on NASA’s spacecraft – the aptly (if … Read More

Sperm of a feather clump together

Aimee Whitcroft • Jan 22, 2010

• biology,
• genetics,
• mouse,
• selection,
• sexual selection,
• sperm

I’m gobsmacked.  And highly amused, as well (it’s the immature part of me, apologies). Credit: Phil Myers (photographer, copyright holder), Museum of Zoology, University of Michigan.  More info here and here.  (I tried to find a picture of sperm in question, but nothing seemed to be (c)-free) Research published in … Read More

Stonehenge built as ancient memory storage device?

Aimee Whitcroft • Jan 21, 2010

• archaeology,
• mnemonic,
• solstice,
• stonehenge

Stonehenge is something of an enduring mystery.  We’ve been fascinated by the how and why of it, and both dimensions have seen their fair share of possible explanations. For an interesting explanation of how, have a look here: I remember seeing this on the Discovery channel a few years back, and … Read More