In an experiment straight out of a comic book, Virginia Tech scientists have found a way to improve sensory abilities. All it takes is a detailed map of the brain, an ultrasound gun, and a willing patient. What could go wrong?
The experiment was simple enough. The Virginia Tech team directed ultrasound waves … Read More → "Blasting the brain with ultrasound enhances sensory abilities"
Mike Powell and Jürgen Horn, who are living in Yucatán for 91 Days, took the opportunity to explore the Museo Subacuático de Arte off the coast of Isla Mujeres in Mexico, now finished and open to scuba divers. As you can see, organisms, including coral, are beginning to grow on the statues, just as planned.
via Neatorama</ … Read More → "A visit to an underwater art museum"
A performer dances with a lively troupe of plastic bags in the performance piece “L’Après-Midi d’un Foehn” by French performance troupe Compagnie Non Nova. The piece was created by (and is often performed by) the troupe’s founder, performance artist Phia Ménard. The airborne antics of the bags are controlled by a system of eight fans.
via Read More → "A dance performance that features one dancer and many plastic bags"
The process is called statistical stylometry. It looks at sentence structure and can predict with 84% accuracy whether a book will be a commercial success. Researchers at Stony Brook University in New York used the science to determine what makes books popular:
They found several trends that were often found in successful books, including heavy use of conjunctions such as “and” and “but” and large numbers of nouns and adjectives.
Less successful work tended to include more verbs and adverbs and relied on words that explicitly … Read More → "Scientists accurately predict the popularity of books by analyzing their sentences"
A hole in the heart is never a good thing, so when an infant is born with such a defect, doctors have to act quickly to fix it. Unfortunately, both sutures and staples can damage the heart tissue, plus it takes too long to apply sutures. Existing surgical adhesives have their own drawbacks in that they can be toxic, and they typically become unstuck in wet, dynamic environments such as the heart. As a result, … Read More → "New superglue fixes holes in the heart"
Social isolation, especially early in life, can be disastrous for birds and mammals. It can result in adults with increased anxiety and stress, worse performance on cognitive tests, and abnormal social behavior. Early social isolation can even have deleterious physiological effects, including a decreased lifespan.
But what about lizards? They were long-assumed to be asocial and behaviorally ‘simple.’ But more recent research has shown some lizards are … Read More → "Lizards need social lives, too"
Researchers at the University of Texas at Arlington have come up with a way to build a nickel alloy windmill so small, 10 of them could be mounted on a grain of rice. And if all goes as planned, hundreds of the little things could end up in a case that charges up your smartphone.
</ … Read More → "This super-tiny windmill could someday charge your phone"
via Gizmodo
If you’re a visual learner like myself, then you know maps, charts and info graphics can really help bring data and information to life. Maps can make a point resonate with readers and this collection aims to do just that.
Hopefully some of these maps will surprise you and you’ll learn something new. A few are important to know, some interpret and display data in a beautiful or creative way, and a few may even make you chuckle or shake your head.
via Read More → "40 maps that will help you make sense of the world"
Scientists have used 3D printing technology to transform images taken from the Hubble Space Telescope into tactile “pictures” for the blind. Astronomers Carol Christian and Antonella Nota of the Space Telescope Science Institute are experimenting with 3D models as a means of aiding education for people who cannot study visual images.
Christian and Nota are working with a team of experts in software design and in developing programs for … Read More → "Hubble images become tactile 3D experience for the blind"
Building the perfect battery is a hard problem. Batteries either too inefficient or too expensive or too unstable to power the renewable gadgets of the future. But a team of Harvard scientists just built a new kind of battery with a molecule found in food, and it could solve these problems.
The molecules in question … Read More → "The batteries of the future could be powered by rhubarb"
