This is a video from BBC One’s ‘Richard Hammond’s Miracles of Nature’ about cuttlefish and the techniques they use to camouflage themselves. They put one cuttlefish to the test by making a little underwater apartment and seeing how well it can blend in with its surroundings. It does okay, but it definitely wouldn’t win at hide-and-seek if it had to play in that apartment.
via Read More → "Interesting experiment to see if a cuttlefish can camouflage itself to hide in a miniature apartment"

Roland Behrens, a German scientist, wants to teach robots how not to kill humans. But first, he needs to know how hard they can hit before causing any serious damage. According to a Bloomberg report, a team of researchers at the Fraunhofer IFF Institute in Germany is focused on finding a way for machines to coexist with humans, without hurting them. They’ve devised a machine that hits a group of volunteers on the arm or … Read More → "German robot practices hitting humans to ensure future safety"

Although peripheral devices now allow smartphones to serve as everything from weather stations to eye-examiners, it’s typically thought that genuine purpose-built tools still perform best. In the case of stethoscopes, however, that may not be the case. Researchers with Florida-based Orlando Health recently determined that HeartBuds – a new stethoscope device/app – performed as well as traditional stethoscopes, and better than a commonly-used disposable model.
via Read More → "Smartphone stethoscope reportedly “just as good” as traditional models"

Police in the Northern California city of Mountain View saw something unusual on the road on Thursday: A car was moving too slowly, causing a traffic backlog.

So they pulled over the vehicle and peered inside.

It was a self-driving car.

… Read More → "Google driverless car is stopped by California police for going too slowly"

Waves lapping against land is hands-down one of the most relaxing sounds on the planet (hey, there’s a reason so many people listen to it as they drift off to sleep). But this “Sea Organ” in Zadar, Croatia takes those dreamy noises up a few notches. It’s a nature-based instrument designed by Croatian architect Nikola Baši?? … Read More → "This “Sea Organ” in Croatia turns waves into music"

According to a new study, the planet Mercury experiences regular meteor showers at roughly the same time each year, as it moves through a trail of dust thrown off by the ancient comet Encke. The work was presented at the annual Meeting of the Division of Planetary Sciences of the American Astronomical Society at National Harbor, Maryland.
via Gizmag

Read More → "New study reveals that Mercury experiences yearly meteor showers"

Bagpipes. IN SPACE. And the touching reason why they’re being played.

NASA astronaut Kjell Lindgren is a flight engineer and mission specialist with Expedition 45 and has been on board the International Space Station since July. He’s also apparently a musician of the ancient and hallowed art of blowing air through bags in order to produce a haunting sound. Regular bagpiping is hard, especially in high altitudes—now imagine what it’s … Read More → "Watch astronaut Kjell Lindgren play “Amazing Grace” in space—with bagpipes!"

Simone Giertz describes herself as a professional maker and robotics enthusiast. She also acknowledges a special expertise in crummy robots. Her latest project is the stuff nightmares are made of. It’s a mechanized alarm clock that uses a fake arm to smack the sleeper awake.

The Wake-Up Machine is a DIY wall-mounted robot that you position above your head. When the alarm goes off, a rubber arm whips around, slapping you until you get up and … Read More → "Face-slapping alarm clock refuses to let you sleep in"

Floral/fruity scents have long been characterized as attractive to mosquitoes, so it’s natural that New Mexico State’s Molecular Vector Physiology Lab researcher Stacy Rodriguez tested a floral/fruity perfume against DEET in a lab trial.

But Rodriguez was surprised to discover that mosquitoes were almost as repelled by a Victoria’s Secret perfume called “Bombshell” as they were by DEET. By contrast, mosquitoes were actually attracted& … Read More → "Victoria’s Secret perfume is mosquito repellent, says science"

Part of the appeal of the Raspberry Pi is how easy it is to get kids into coding. Case in point, Geek Gurl Diaries shows you how to build an interactive pixel pet that senses when you shake it using a Raspberry Pi and a few lines of Python.

The project uses a sensor to tell when you shake it and a tiny LED screen … Read More → "Build your own Raspberry Pi-powered interactive pet"