Tiny winged robots inspired by flies could one day help pollinate crops or aid the search for survivors at collapse sites…once they get off the leash, that is. The prototypes designed and created by researchers at Harvard University weigh 80 milligrams and have managed short controlled flights by flapping their mechanical wings while still tethered to a tiny power cable, the journal Science said this week. The coin-sized robots sport two thin wings that flap 120 times per second. Flight tests have shown they can make basic maneuvers, including hovering in place for about 20 seconds before crashing.
In a collection of previously unpublished letters that have been made available online today, naturalist Charles Darwin reveals a highly emotional and personal side.
A fortuitous orbit of the International Space Station allowed the astronauts this striking view of Sarychev Volcano (Kuril Islands, northeast of Japan) in an early stage of eruption on June 12, 2009. Sarychev Peak is one of the most active volcanoes in the Kuril Island chain, and it is located on the northwestern end of Matua Island. Prior to June 12, the last explosive eruption occurred in 1989, with eruptions in 1986, 1976, 1954, and 1946 also producing lava flows. Ash from the multi-day eruption has been detected 2,407 kilometers east-southeast and 926 kilometers west-northwest of the volcano, and commercial airline flights are being diverted away from the region to minimize the danger of engine failures from ash intake.
John Markoff, "Obama Seeking to Boost Study of Human Brain," NYT, 17 February 2013
The Obama administration is planning a decade-long scientific effort to examine the workings of the human brain and build a comprehensive map of its activity, seeking to do for the brain what the Human Genome Project did for genetics.
The project, which the administration has been looking to unveil as early as March, will include federal agencies, private foundations and teams of neuroscientists and nanoscientists in a concerted effort to advance the knowledge of the brain’s billions of neurons and gain greater insights into perception, actions and, ultimately, consciousness.
Scientists with the highest hopes for the project also see it as a way to develop the technology essential to understanding diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, as well as to find new therapies for a variety of mental illnesses.
Ricky Gervais, truth bombs.
If I ever meet Richard Dawkins, I’m going to go on and on about how much I love the X Files …
… just to annoy him. #I believe
scientificillustration:
Snow crystals
There’s something beautiful and endearing about the futile exercise of trying to scientifically map the snow crystal. It’s like something you’d see in a Terry Gilliam movie.
