Powering cold, hard mechanics with muscle tissue is a promising idea that so far hasn’t delivered awe-inspiring results. But a new way to grow muscles and attach them to a frame could help overcome existing hurdles, resulting in a biological hybrid device that isn’t just stronger than previous attempts, but lasts longer as well. Engineers
Month: May 2018
Not that you could tell by looking at it, but the glass of water sitting on your desk contains two different kinds of water molecule rotating in subtly different ways. A recent experiment managed to separate them, discovering one is much better at reacting than the other. We don’t expect this ‘better’ water to become
Every Christmas, sailors from Japan go out into the Southern Ocean, taking “biological sampling” that aims to investigate “the structure and dynamics of the Antarctic marine ecosystem”. But no, they aren’t trying to understand more about climate change, or investigating the mating songs of the ocean. They’re out killing hundreds of Antarctic minke whales, and then
Anyone who thinks there’s no such thing as a stupid question, clearly hasn’t met an online troll before. This week, the US Geological Survey (USGS) was trying to keep the public informed about Hawaii’s ongoing volcanic eruption when suddenly, they were obliged to confirm that no, toasting marshmallows over a volcano is not really the
A rare earth element that doesn’t get much mention could become the key to upgrading atomic clocks to become even more accurate. This could help us explore space and track satellites, and even keep the world’s time zones in sync. Atomic clocks use the oscillations of atoms under laser fire as a measurement of time, in
We’re really bad at choosing passwords. According to a new study by a researcher at Virginia Tech and Dashlane, a popular password manager service, most users make the same mistakes when making passwords, such as making their password the name of a popular brand or sports team. And while these things make passwords easy to
For the last 30,000 years the Great Barrier Reef has experienced all kinds of sea level rises, temperature changes, and sediment increases. But despite a staggering five near-death experiences for the reef, it kept bouncing back – at least in the past. A new study by a group of international researchers looked at fossil reef
Do you have a right to know if you’re talking to a bot? How about the bot? Does it have the right to keep that information from you? Those questions have been stirring in the minds of many since well before Google demoed Duplex, a human-like AI that makes phone calls on a user’s behalf,
There are two kinds of people in this world: those who love being able to say “Alexa, play me some bangers”, and those who got one targeted advertisement too many and are paranoid that their smart devices are always listening. Recent news, unfortunately, gives some more credence to the latter. A few weeks ago, a
The hysteria about the future of artificial intelligence (AI) is everywhere. There seems to be no shortage of sensationalist news about how AI could cure diseases, accelerate human innovation and improve human creativity. Just looking at the media headlines, you might think that we are already living in a future where AI has infiltrated every
A disturbing new video lets you watch as a Mexican red-kneed tarantula (Brachypelma smithi) literally crawls out of its skin. The 40-second time-lapse from The Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden captures the adult tarantula as it tosses and turns, spending seven long hours shedding its old exoskeleton. The Mexican red-kneed tarantula is a docile spider