Our world - animals, beautiful nature, techics, hi-tech, auto, national geographic, discovery

Visualization challenge winners teach science through art

admin — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 11:02:46 +0000

A multicolored mouse eye, the macro-scale universe, alien slugs on the face of a baby cucumber — all these images accomplish a pretty impressive feat: They look awesome, and they can teach us something about the world we live in and our place in it. They are among the winners of the 2011 International Science and Engineering Visualization Challenge, sponsored by the journal Science and the National Science Foundation.

Illustration First Place – The Cosmic Void

At first glance, it looks like this could be a microscopic image of tree bark or seashell; or it might be a cluster of blood cells in the body. But this evocative image depicts the grandest scales of all — streams of matter delineating the network of cosmic voids, each tens of millions of light years across.

Matter accumulates where the voids meet, forming a cosmic web
of walls, filaments, and clusters of galaxies. This illustration was awarded first place in the informational graphics category in the 2011 Science/NSF International Science & Engineering
Visualization Challenge.

Photography First Place – Metabolomic Eye

This is a metabolic snapshot of the diversity of cells in a mouse eye, and the first-place winner for photography in the 2011 International Science and Engineering Visualization Challenge. The image was derived using a technique called computational molecular phenotyping (CMP).

The optic nerve head can be seen in the upper right portion of the image with the rectus muscles (red/gold) attaching to the sclera (green) on the upper left portion, and an oblique muscle in the lower left. Concentric rings of retinal layers are then represented from the sclera through to the vascular choroid to the optic fiber layer.

Photography Honorable Mention – Cucumber Skin

This microscopic image (magnification 800X) shows the skin of an immature cucumber. Fruits and vegetables are most vulnerable to predators when they are immature, and cucumbers have developed two mechanisms to protect themselves against herbivores. The first is to grow closely arranged trichomes on their outer skin. The trichomes’ sharp distal points are 40 times thinner than a sewing needle and can penetrate either the bodies or mouthparts of herbivores.

The second is the development of toxic and bitter substances called cucurbiticins that repulse or kill invaders. Cucurbiticins are the most bitter substances known. Humans can detect them even when they are diluted to one part in a billion.

Photography People’s Choice – The Cliff of the 2-Dimensional World

When the layered compound Ti3AlC2 is placed in hydrofluoric acid, the aluminum layers are selectively etched away, resulting in two-dimensional layers of Ti3C2 weakly bonded to each other. This image shows a number of these particles where the aluminum exfoliation is obvious.

Like with graphene, individual layers of this titanium-carbon compound can be isolated so their properties can be explored.

Ti3AlC2 is a member of a large family of layered solids called MAX phases. Given its similarities with graphene, the scientists who took this image nicknamed the family of 2-D solids "MXene." This image was chosen to represent a new frontier – that is only visible from the cliff – in the world of 2-D materials.

Illustration Honorable Mention – Tumor Death

This illustration shows tumor death-cell receptors on breast cancer cell surfaces targeted by the monoclonal antibody TRA-8, which was developed at the University of Alabama, Birmingham School of Medicine.

Illustration Honorable Mention – Variable Carbon Nanotubes

These bowling pin-looking structures are variable-diameter carbon nanotubes. University of Nebraska-Lincoln electrical engineering professor Dr. Yongfeng Lu discovered laser-based production techniques that can precisely control the length, diameter and properties of carbon nanotubes — no more single-walled boring cylinders here.

Changing a nanotube’s diameter from end to end changes its characteristics. Lu envisions variable-diameter nanotubes customized for specific uses.

Illustration Honorable Mention – Psychedelic Domain Coloring

Complex functions are important in many areas of mathematics, physics and engineering. A complex function is one in which both variables are complex numbers. The picture shows the visualization of a complex function using a specifically designed color scheme.

Following a technique called ‘domain coloring,’ the color scheme assigns a certain color to every complex number, inducing a coloring of the function domain according to its values at every point. So using this picture, you can explore properties of the function by easily spotting zeroes (black spots) or singularities (white spots). Contour lines indicate how the function deforms the complex plan.

Illustration People’s Choice – Cell Separation

This is a cell undergoing mitosis. The cell membrane is shown in blue and the cell’s chromosomes in yellow. Mitosis is a well-studied and well-imaged phenomenon in 2-D images, but what makes this image special is the use of a special new fluorescent protein called MiniSOG, shown flying out of the cell. MiniSOG promises to do for electron microscopy what green fluorescent protein did for light microscopy, by allowing scientists to target certain structures then see them clearly under electron microscopes. Here MiniSOG has been tagged to another protein, H2B, to bind to DNA.

The division data was reconstructed using 3D Serial Block-Face Scanning Electron Microscopy (SBFSEM), wherein the specimen is repeatedly cut then imaged, then traced to produce the 3D image you see here.

Interactive Games First Place – Foldit

By learning more about the 3D structure of proteins (or how they ‘fold’), we can better understand their function. This could help scientists fight diseases, create vaccines, and even find novel
biofuels. In Foldit, players are presented with a model of a protein, which they can fold by using a variety of provided tools. The game evaluates the fold’s quality and provides a score, which is uploaded to a leaderboard, allowing for competition between players from around the world.

Foldit proved it is possible to effectively ‘crowdsource’ human problem solving to answer very difficult scientific problems. Foldit results have been published in Nature, which credited the game’s thousands of players as co-authors.

Interactive Games People’s Choice – Velu the Welder

In this game, an apprentice named Velu gets basic training in the art of welding. The game is designed to expose players to
basic skill sets involved in the craft of welding. Developed as a technology demonstrator for the National Skills Development of India, this game will be used to train millions of apprentices in a cost-effective way.

The game is best played using a Nintendo Wii Remote, which serves as the welding gun.

Interactive Games Honorable Mention – Powers of Minus Ten

Conceived as an iPad app, Powers of Minus Ten (POMT) allows users
to zoom into the human body, exploring worlds at different levels of magnification (e.g. tissue, cellular, molecular, subatomic). In this version of POMT, the user is able to zoom into the human
hand down to the molecular level.

Users can also investigate structures in the ‘Lab’ area of the app, and review what they have discovered via timed mini-games.

Future versions will allow players to explore different subjects, like plants, minerals, water droplets and so on, as well as to explore ‘deeper’ at the atomic and subatomic levels of magnification.

Mystifying meteorologists: translucent blue spheres rain down in the UK

admin — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 07:13:09 +0000

Prepare your tinfoil hats: A man in Dorset, UK, was showered with tiny spheres of blue goo that rained down from the sky during a hailstorm last week. The tiny, one-inch gelatinous spheres are odorless, are not sticky, and are not meteorological, British authorities say. Basically, no one has any real clue what they are.

The Source of the ‘Blue Goo’

Former aircraft engineer Steve Hornsby noticed roughly a dozen of the tiny blue balls scattered around his yard during a fast-breaking hailstorm and had the foresight to grab a jar and a spoon before collecting the objects, which he flicked into the jar with said spoon.

Hornsby kept the spheres in his refrigerator, though that was later deemed unnecessary, as the balls of blue goo don’t appear to melt at room temperature. British meteorological authorities say they are not the result of some kind of weather event, though there is speculation that they could be “marine invertebrate eggs” that stuck to a bird’s feet and were carried into the air. Such eggs have been attributed to previous “strange goo” incidents, which apparently happen from time to time. In fact, according to the BBC, transmission of marine eggs via birds’ feet is something that is well documented. But we smell something fishy.

Will listening to Mozart really make me smarter?

admin — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 11:27:40 +0000

Yes, but no more than listening to Justin Bieber. The misconception that there’s something unique about Mozart’s ability to increase brainpower began in 1993, with a paper in Nature. Neurobiologists Gordon Shaw, Frances Rauscher and Katherine Ky of the University of California at Irvine found that students who listened to 10 minutes of a Mozart sonata demonstrated a temporary increase in spatial-temporal reasoning, as measured by an IQ test. The public seized on the romantic idea that listening to Mozart would make them smarter, and Don Campbell, a teacher and music educator from Texas, capitalized on the notion with an international bestseller, The Mozart Effect.

But Glenn Schellenberg, a professor of psychology at the University of Toronto, says that there is no Mozart effect. Any number of experiences besides listening to music might improve cognition. Most people find the music of Mozart pleasant to listen to, and it might increase dopamine levels in the brain, which is generally thought to improve cognition. But “eating chocolate might have the same effect,” Schellenberg says.

In 2010, a team of Austrian researchers analyzed the results from 39 attempts to replicate the Mozart effect. In most, a group of subjects listened to a Mozart sonata before testing their spatial intelligence. Scientists then compared the results against a control group that had not heard music. The researchers’ findings were neatly summed up in their paper’s title: “Mozart Effect Schmozart Effect.”

Which isn’t to say that listening to music can’t give the brain a boost. Catherine Noelle O’Shea and David Wolf of the University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston recently found that doctors who listened to Mozart before screening patients for colon polyps found more polyps than those who didn’t. Classical music probably made the doctors feel good, thereby improving cognition. If the doctors had been Bieber fans, it might have been better to play them some of his hits.

How D-Dalus flies like nothing else

admin — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 05:37:40 +0000

Last year, the Austrian engineering firm IAT21 set out to construct a flying machine that floated like a hummingbird, traveled as fast as a jet, was as quiet as a hot-air balloon, and was simple enough that a car mechanic could repair it. The company’s working prototype, called D-Dalus, is roughly five feet by three feet square and can lift about 100 pounds. But the size and lift are not what’s most impressive. A flying machine with no airfoil, rotor or jet propulsion can travel where most cannot: in very tight spaces and through terrible weather.

ROTOR ASSEMBLIES

The craft’s four rotors spin at 2,200 rpm, and six blades attached to carbon-fiber disks create directional thrust. The blades act as mini airfoils, their angle of attack constantly shifting in relation to rotation. For vertical lift, a blade’s leading edge rises away from the center of the disk at the top of its rotation and toward the center of the disk at the bottom [pictured], creating a pressure differential.

FRICTIONLESS BEARINGS

Existing bearings were unable to withstand 1,000 Gs of force between the carbon-fiber disks and their blades and still deliver some degree of maneuverability. Engineers at IAT21 developed their own bearings, shaped like metal barrels, that hold up to the force better than spheres (think: arches) but can still roll enough for the blades to move.

AUTOMATIC STABILIZATION

Servo motors communicate with the rotor assemblies to automatically correct the craft’s speed, position and balance by adjusting the blades’ angle. If the pilot jerks the radio controls too hard in one direction, the craft will keep itself from pitching or yawing by increasing opposing thrust. The system can adjust for turbulence and heavy winds, too.

ADVANCED NAVIGATION

Radar, GPS and three multispectral cameras (visible, EHF—extremely high frequency— and infrared) act as the D-Dalus’s eyes. Visual information is fed into the craft’s collision-avoidance algorithm. The system is so sensitive that D-Dalus can fly within inches of power lines, hover above moving platforms (a ship’s deck in rough seas, for example), or refuel another D-Dalus in flight.

This record player reads tree rings instead of LPs

admin — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 08:31:33 +0000

Artists often say they can find music in everything, particularly nature. The question they often face is how to get the general public to hear the same tune that they do. One German artist, Bartholomäus Traubeck, seems to have hit on one straightforward method to accomplish this with some clever technology.

Using a digital camera and some software, the artist has built a unique record player that spins cross-sections of trees instead of vinyl and translates the rings into piano music.

The record player, which Traubeck titled "Years," has a fairly simple setup. A turntable was modified so the tonearm would hold a digital camera and light in place of the usual needle. The turntable rotates slices of wood as if they were LPs, while the camera scans the rings for their thickness, growth rate, texture, and overall color tone. A computer using some custom software maps that data to a musical scale, which is then played using piano notes. Traubeck claims the music follows some clear rules due to the programming, but that each tree still gives a very different sound.

The result is a haunting tune that could be mistaken for the work of an human composer; albeit a somewhat off-beat one. Check out the video below to see the "Years" player in action and hear what sort of music a tree can produce:

A massive solar eruption, the strongest in 7 years, has earth bracing for a radiation storm

admin — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 08:20:34 +0000

There was a time when one rarely had to worry about incoming doom born of outer space, but that time is not now. Between mysterious space balls, falling satellite after falling satellite after falling satellite, and the buildup to 2013’s solar maximum, the sky seems more threatening all the time these days. Just ask NOAA, which is today warning of the strongest solar storm since 2005 currently en route to Earth, spawned by a massive M8.7 class flare that erupted from the solar surface late last night.

Just shy of 11:00 p.m. eastern U.S. time last night, NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory picked up a huge flash of ultraviolet energy resulting from a massive flare erupting form sunspot 1402. The storm was also picked up by the Solar Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) and the Stereo mission, all of which contributed data to NASA and NOAA.

That data says that a burst of highly energetic particles known as a coronal mass ejection, or CME, is hurtling toward the home planet at a rate of about 1,400 miles per second. That burst of radiation isn’t expected to hit Earth squarely, but to deliver a glancing blow to the northern part of Earth’s magnetic envelope as early as tomorrow morning. That means people at lower latitudes may be in for some good auroras, but it also means there is some risk to satellites, communications, and aircraft.

Those threats aren’t thought to be all that serious at this time–NASA says the crew aboard the International Space Station is not in any danger, and NOAA officials say the resulting solar storm activity should be moderate. Still, polar flights on Earth are likely to be rerouted tonight and tomorrow until this latest storm has blown over.

Lightning over Africa, backlit by the Milky Way

admin — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 15:33:10 +0000

The best space images are the ones that put our humble place in perspective, whether it’s an image from the moon or a particularly stunning nebula. This one accomplishes the task brilliantly, giving a glimpse of the arm of our galaxy hovering over the limb of our little planet. Watch a timelapse video below.

This video was taken by the crew of Expedition 30 on board the International Space Station, over a 15-minute period Dec. 29. The space station is passing over central Africa, near southeastern Niger, toward the south Indian Ocean and Madagascar.

The Milky Way appears as a haze in the middle of the screen, with a brief appearance by Comet Lovejoy.

A 32 MPH all-terrain electric skateboard steered with a kinect

admin — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 14:28:03 +0000

One of the most fun Kinect hacks we’ve seen in a while gives the idea of motion capture a whole new meaning. Behold the Board of Awesomeness, an all-terrain motorized longboard wired to a Kinect and a Samsung tablet running Windows 8. To roll ahead, the rider simply pushes his hand forward.

The system uses video and speech recognition, accelerometer and location data, and other factors to determine a rider’s next move. The Kinect transmits the rider’s movements to a voice-control-equipped Windows 8 tablet, which serves as the control center. The touchscreen turns the board on and off, manages speed settings (the motor has a top speed of 32 MPH) and visually monitors hand gestures, according to the brains at Chaotic Moon Labs, which designed the board.
It’s driven by an 800-watt electric motor, powered by a 36-volt power pack. A 12-volt battery powers the computers.
To get going, raise your hand and wait for the red dots from the Kinect. To go forward, push your hands forward; to slow down or stop, bring your hand back. Check it out in a video below.

Board of Awesomeness: Chaotic Moon

Douchebag designed to transport skis with ease

admin — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 15:59:23 +0000

Douche bags at ski hills aren’t a new phenomenon. Whether it’s the aggressive adrenalin junkies yelling at you from the lifts in hopes you’ll fall in glorious YouTube-ranking fashion or the rich folks in $5,000 fur-lined one-piece ski suits, they’re everywhere. Now there’s a new kind of a Douchebag that is designed to actually make your ski day more fun.

Douchebags in this case is simply a clever (it got your attention, didn’t it?) name for a newly launched ski accessories company whose first product is a feature-filled ski bag that should make getting to and from the slopes – whether it be flying and shuttling to an exotic resort or just driving to your local hill – easier and more efficient.

The Douchebag is the brainchild of professional skier Jon Olsson, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, and 150 other skier "consultants." The idea for a better bag was born during a Norwegian glacier skiing/surf week in 2009 and reaches fruition this winter.

Because even a single skier may have several lengths of skis, the Douchebag features a Length Adjustment System that ensures the bag is always just the right size to fit your skis without leaving a lot of excess hanging bag up top. You can easily adjust the bag’s length and then buckle it in place.

When you arrive at your destination, you won’t have to work up a sweat punching, shoving and kicking the bag into your locker because it keeps right on rolling up until it can be stuffed into even the smallest of spaces. According to Olsson, it even tucks behind the seat of a Lamborghini – something he’s undoubtedly tested on his all-new special edition Gallardo "Ski Transporter."

All that rolling and folding may give you the impression of a soft, non-protective bag, but the Douchebag features a series of 25 ABS ribs inspired by the human rib cage to protect equipment from dings and drops. The bag itself is made from rough, durable 600D polyester and features a polyethylene back sheet and a spine. It holds two pairs of skis and other gear and weighs 7 lbs. (3.2 kg) when empty.

One final feature that should prove a favorite of skiers – especially skiers that have to haul a bunch of other gear along with their wee ones – is the Shoulder Carrying System. Instead of requiring you to grab and roll, the Douchebag’s shoulder strap lets you tow the wheeled bag behind you, keeping your hands free for carrying other gear or holding your child’s hand to ensure they don’t slip on the ice.

A limited number of Douchebags are set for delivery this year. Retail price is 199 euro (approx. US$256) and you’ll find ordering information through Douchebags’ website. Douchebags hopes to get the bags into more retailers’ hands for next season.

These days, a sizable percentage of nearly every ski resort is composed of snowboarders, so I asked the company if the bag will work with snowboards.

Douchebags CEO Truls Brataas responded in an email saying, "the Douchebag works just as fine with snowboards, but you have to make sure that your board is not wider that 34cm at any point, and especially not when the high back is turned down. All snowboarders that have tried the bag seem to love it," adding that a more dedicated solution may be on the way. "We are constantly working on new product, and since there seems to be a lot of snowboarders wanting a Douchebag, we might just make their wish come true and make a 100 percent snowboard edition… "

Amazing animal dragons

admin — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 12:50:20 +0000

2012 is the Year of the Dragon according to the Chinese zodiac and the Dragon is the only one of the horoscope’s 12 animals to be wholly mythical… or is it? These 7 amazing animal dragons may not fit the outsized, leather-winged, fire-breathing draconian stereotype but by chance or by design, by name or by nature, they’re the closest things there are today to actual real-life dragons.

Dragonfly

Dragonflies got their name from ancient folklore that depicted them as having descended from extinct dragons. Other European legends regarding dragonflies put them in rather a bad light, leading to colloquial names including Horse Stinger, Eye Stealer, Ear Cutter and the Devil’s Darning Needle. On the other hand, Chinese and Japanese folk tales associate dragonflies with prosperity, harmony, agility and power.

Though today’s dragonflies are fierce predators and the mosquito’s worst enemy, they don’t bite humans and should not be feared. Such was not the case some 325 million years ago when enormous Griffenflies with 3-ft wingspans ruled the over-oxygenated air, preying on, well, pretty much anything that moved – including our primitive, amphibian ancestors.

Bearded Dragon

With their gaping mouths, spiny skins and awesomely intimidating threat displays, Bearded Dragons have got the dragon act down pat… except for their size, that is.

Growing up to 60 cm (24 inches) in length, these hardy natives of the Australian Outback look like they just walked off the set of a 1950s low-budget monster movie… and undoubtedly, more than a few have done just that.

Bearded Dragons are popular pets though they aren’t legally allowed to be exported from Australia. The species encompasses 7 different varieties, all of which have a characteristic scaly skin flap on their necks that can be erected and waved when they need to look more dragon-like.

Seadragon

Seadragons are tropical fish that come in two varieties: Leafy and Weedy, both of which are closely related to another somewhat confusingly named creature, the Seahorse. Leafy Seadragons can grow up to 24 cm (10 inches) in length while Weedy Seadragons can approach 45 cm (almost 20 inches).

While both Seahorses and Seadragons share superciliously horse-shaped heads, Seadragons gild the lily by sprouting a plethora of fins, fans and spines aimed at increasing its camouflage quotient. The extra appurtenances contribute to their dragon-like appearance though, like Seahorses, they are neither frightening nor fear-worthy.

Chinese Water Dragon

Signs of the Chinese zodiac are divided into five different elements that alternate every dozen years, and since 2012 is the Year of the (Water) Dragon, the actual Chinese Water Dragon gets a little extra status. These members of the lizard family can grow up to 90 cm (36 inches) long, roughly 2/3 of which is tail.

Chinese Water Dragons are twee-dwelling lizards that are typically green in color with a row of serrated spines running down their backs. They favor tropical, forested habitats well-drained by rivers and streams – should danger threaten, they simply drop into the water and swim to safety.

When mature, Chinese Water Dragons will display an iridescent patch on their throat that can be a number of contrasting colors, usually red, pink or orange. The beauty and relative docility of these lizards makes them great pets if you’re a reptile lover but take note: when frightened, Chinese Water Dragons can run for short distances on their hind legs.

Mandarin Dragonet

Dragonets (“little dragons”) are an unusual species of bottom-dwelling fish that have no scales. They do have an abundance of showy fins and a wide, triangular head that someone, sometime, reminded someone of dragons. Some species of Dragonets display a brilliant mix of contrasting colors and patterns – they don’t call it the Psychedelic Mandarin Dragonet for nothing!

Dragonets may be beautiful but they don’t do well in aquarium settings, unfortunately. Then again, neither do dragons so they’ve got that going for them.

Komodo Dragon

We’d call these fearsome creatures “Terrible Lizards” but the name’s already been taken albeit in Latin (Dinosaurs, natch). If only there were some other name that would be ideal for outsized, carnivorous, venomous reptiles… aha, you’ve been reading my mind! Komodo Dragons can grow up to 3 meters (9.8 ft) in length, an attribute zoologists ascribe to “island gigantism”. Hmm, I always thought living on islands resulted in dwarfism; I guess the original lizards of Komodo were reading the instruction manual upside down.

Though taxonomically lumped in with other monitor lizards, Komodo Dragons are about as dragon-like as living creatures get these days. Know anything similar, outside of the late Anne McCaffrey’s “Dragonriders of Pern” novels, that can take down and chow down on a full-grown water buffalo?

Speaking of which, Komodo Dragons are protected from poachers in their tiny two-island home range but the deer and other large mammals they prey on are not, leading to an increase in attacks on humans by the hungry dragons. Life, as they say, will find a way.

Daryl Dragon

Admittedly we’re stretching the concept of “living dragons” a bit here but hey, Daryl Dragon is indeed a capital-D Dragon (his father was conductor, composer and arranger Carmen Dragon) and at the ripe old age of 69 he’s very much still living… with his wife and musical accompanist, Toni Tennille. I guess love really did keep them together.

Daryl Dragon was an unofficial member of the Beach Boys from 1967 through 1972 – he was given his nickname “The Captain” by Mike Love. After parting ways with the Beach Boys, Dragon achieved pop music stardom as one half of Captain & Tennille. Muskrat Love, anyone?