The FAA has approved the NFL’s request to use drones, making it the first major American sports league allowed to fly them. The league’s interest in drones has to do with its feted video production unit, NFL Films — it wants to use drones to capture aerial imagery instead of crewed aircraft. It’s allowed to do that now, but the exemption does include one important limitation: the league can only use drones to film empty … Read More → "The NFL is the first major American sports league allowed to fly drones"

The most common mistake when tying your shoelaces is accidentally making a weaker granny knot instead of the stronger square knot. Now, physics can help you tie the perfect knot that stays tight no matter what.

While it is well-known that any knot’s strength depends on its configuration, nobody really understands specifically why this should be … Read More → "What’s the best way to tie your shoes? Physics may have the answer"

Scientists have discovered that not only does everyone emit an invisible “microbial cloud,” but that individuals can be recognized by the bacteria that make up their particular cloud.

 

A team from the University of Oregon placed 11 test subjects in a sanitized chamber, one at a time, then analyzed the airborne microbes that each person left behind. It was found that within four hours, it was possible to identify most of the subjects by comparing their residual “microbial … Read More → "People identified by their own personal clouds of germs"

Design students in the Interior Architecture program at the Estonian Academy of Arts created a trio of giant wooden megaphones in the forest at the Pähni Nature Centre. The megaphones are specifically designed to amplify the ambient sounds of nature but per the school press release, they also serve other purposes.

On September 18th, an installation of three gigantic wooden megaphones built by a team of Estonian … Read More → "Estonian students design giant wooden megaphones that amplify the sounds of the forest"

For most of us, the board game Battleship involves a little bit of strategy and a lot of luck. You either blindly bomb your competitor, painstakingly narrow down their position through the process of elimination, or—if you’re feeling particularly frustrated or dishonest—just try to sneak a glance at their board when they’re not looking. 

But now, thanks to the wonders of the Internet, there’s a more … Read More → "This battleship probability calculator will help you win the classic board game"

Everyone experiences some degree of anxiety in life, but what does it look like in the brain? Interactive artist Nicky Case explores the neuroscience of anxious thoughts in a new project called Neurotic Neurons. 

In Case’s animation, the neurons kind of resemble a Newton’s cradle, that desktop favorite boasting metal balls that click back and forth. The graphic provides a bit … Read More → "This interactive game shows what your brain looks like when you’re anxious"

A federal judge in Los Angeles today delivered “a stunning reversal of decades of copyright claims,” as the LA Times put it. Warner/Chappell Music does not hold a valid copyright claim to the “Happy Birthday To You” song. The royalties they demanded were not theirs to demand. 

U.S. District Judge George H. King ruled today that the copyright originally filed by the Clayton F. Summy Co. in 1935 … Read More → "After 80 years, Happy Birthday song is finally in the public domain"

You may think you know your body well—but you likely don’t know your toes as well as you may hope. A new study reveals that most people can’t tell their toes apart without looking at them.

Researchers at the University of Oxford had people close their eyes while testers gently prodded at their toes. While this … Read More → "You probably can’t tell your toes apart without looking at them"

One drink often leads to two—and sometimes a whole lot more. Contrary to popular belief, this is not due to faulty willpower or lowered inhibitions, but rather a population of neurons in the vast neural substrate of your brain. That’s what scientists at Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine say they have discovered. They say alcohol changes the physical structure of certain neurons, creating a greater sensitivity to alcohol and … Read More → "Scientists may have found the neurons associated with alcoholism"

A team of researchers from Stanford University have devised an ingenious means of boosting the efficiency of solar panels by exploiting a fundamental physics phenomenon. Solar panels lose efficiency as they heat up. Just as the top of your head radiates excess body heat as infrared light, the researchers have developed a translucent overlay comprised of patterned silica that does the same for solar panels. The overlay separates the visible spectrum of light (which generates … Read More → "Stanford researchers ‘cool’ sunlight to improve solar cell efficiency"