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Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania have created a bird-like claw that can be attached to an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) to enable it to pick up objects at high speed. Inspired by how an eagle uses its talons to grab prey, the team crafted a three-fingered claw using 3D printing and attached it to a 4-inch long motorized arm. The drone is able to use the system to pick up stationary objects flying at … Read More → "Drone fitted with terrifying claw snatches objects at high speed"

For the first time, scientists have been able to use data from brain scans to identify who patients are thinking about.

Researchers from Cornell University have been analyzing data from functional MRI scans in an attempt to reconstruct what memories people are recalling. But now they’ve gone a step further, by trying to deduce the mental picture of an individual in a person’s head from just their brain activity.
via < … Read More → "Brain scans can now reveal who you’re thinking about"

Did you know Albert Eistein wanted to make a fridge? Seriously. The greatest brain in modern physics dedicated a lot of time in trying to create a long lasting, energy efficient, environmentally friendly refrigerator.

Einstein took interest in building a better fridge as more people swapped their ice boxes for refrigerators. The problem was that fridges in those days could leak poisonous fumes such as methyl chloride, sulfor dioxide etc and kill … Read More → "Albert Einstein wanted to create the best refrigerator ever"

The figures in Japanese artist Mihoko Ogaki’s sculpture series “Milky Way” may look like decrepit and dying people, but when the lights are dimmed the sculptures take on a second life. Lit from within with LEDs, the sculptures project light through tiny holes in their plastic skin—in effect becoming star projectors. Ogaki has been working on the series since 2007.
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Since developing ways to acquire graphene — a one-atom thick sheet of carbon — in significant quantities, research around the material has become the next big thing, and scientists at Berkeley have now detailed a new application for the material: earphones. “Graphene is an ideal building material for small, efficient, high-quality broad-band audio speakers,” researchers Qin Zhou and A. Zettl write in their report. The team compares graphene … Read More → "Graphene may be the next revolution in headphones"

Coffitivity is a site created by Justin Kauszler that will play the ambient background noise of a coffee shop right in your browser. Coffitivity aims to increase your productivity, citing research that claims ambient noise is better for concentration than either complete silence or a loud workspace.
via Laughing Squid

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These coat racks are deceiving. On first glance, you can’t quite tell if they’re 2D or 3D, as if you’d lost all depth of field.

The collection—designed by John Tony from+tongtong—is called Les Ailes Noires. It includes 11 different geometric-shaped racks that are supposed to stand alone and lean against the wall or lie on a flat surface.
via Read More → "Geometric coat racks play tricks on your eyes"

Nestled within the Chilean Andes, the new Atacama Large Millimeter-submillimeter Array (ALMA) is now open for space-staring business. The biggest, most complex telescope project to date, ALMA will be able to peer into the deeper reaches of space with “unprecedented power”, according to astronomer Chris Hadfield. Covering around half of the universe’s light spectrum, between infrared and radio waves, the new telescope should be able to detect distant planets, black holes and … Read More → "Earth’s largest telescope gets to work in Chile after 30 years of planning"