Robot learns how to adapt to damage

"Most robots have a fixed model laboriously designed by human engineers," said study co-author Hod Lipson, a researcher from Cornell University. "We showed, for the first time, how the model can emerge within the robot. It makes robots adaptive at a new level, because they can be given a task without requiring a model. It opens the door to a new level of machine cognition and sheds light on the age-old question of machine consciousness, which is all about internal models."

Scientists Create Cloak of Partial Invisibility

Scientists have created a cloaking device that can reroute certain wavelengths of light, forcing them around objects like water flowing around boulders in a stream. To creatures or machines that see only in microwave light, the cloaked object would appear nearly invisible.

"The microwaves come in and are swept around the cloak and reconstructed on the other side while avoiding the interior region," said study team member David Smith at Duke University's Pratt School of Engineering. "So it looks as if they just passed through free space."

Electric Cinderella Shoes with built-in stun gun

She wanted to be empowered without losing her femininity, to have the freedom to be sexy without fear. The shoes certainly achieve that, offering 100,000 volts of high fashion stun gun power which can be activated by a control on the matching necklace. The weapon is hidden and when the wearer taps on the matching necklace an electric spark is displayed in the transparent tip, warning the would-be assailant to back off. The weapon is designed for a one time use, in case of emergency, by breaking the tip of the shoe.

BAE Systems has developed a material that closely mimics the feet of a gecko lizard, which can scale vertical glass and other slippery surfaces with ease.

The research is still at an early stage but the firm said "infantry climbing suits" could be made out of the material, giving the troops gecko-like abilities.

[Source: The Scotsman]

SILENT LONDON
March 2005 - 735x500mm - Blind embossed etching
by Simon Elvins

Using information the government has collected on noise levels within London, a map has been plotted of the capitals most silent spaces. The map intends to reveal a hidden landscape of quiet spaces and shows an alternate side of the city that would normally go unnoticed.

Using ultrasound to treat battlefield wounds.

"The device would first use ultrasound imaging technology, in particular "Doppler ultrasound", to locate internal bleeding. This employs a physical phenomenon known as the Doppler effect to look for a characteristic signature of bleeding vessels. It would then deliver a focused beam of high-powered ultrasound to those sites in order to cauterise the damaged vessels. "

New technique that could lead to cheap, environmentally friendly microchips

"The team from University College London used low-temperature, ultraviolet lamps to make silicon dioxide, a vital component of almost all modern chips. Chip manufacturers currently use energy-intensive furnaces, heated to more than 1,000C, to make the material. The new technique operates at room temperature and so requires less power and fewer resources."

“The company is a bit puzzled by customer privacy fears. After all, they say, how can using a unique fingerprint for identification be riskier to theft than a plastic card ...?”

Care to google for ‘gummi bear’ plus ‘fingerprint’ anyone?

BBC Radio 1 is hosting "the Big Weekend" in Second Life.

The BBC has rented a virtual island in the game "Second Life" to host a series of concerts and unique online content.

"... we are currently in the process of building a replica of the BBC's world famous Maida Vale studios in Second Life where new bands can tune up and play live sets to a virtual audience."

Carbon dioxide could be used to make ultra-hard glass

"To create the glassy amorphous carbonia, the team led by Professors Mario Santoro and Federico Gorelli of the University of Florence heated solid carbon dioxide between diamond teeth at pressures over 400,000 times greater than atmospheric pressure.

The material was then cooled to room temperature to form the glass. Atomic analysis of the material confirmed the glass had a similar structure to silica, but is thought to be much harder and stiffer, like diamond. When the material is depressurised, it returns to a solid formed of discrete molecules. The next stage of the research is to work out how to make the glass stable at room temperature and pressure. "

"Magic Sand"

Sand that is "hydrophobic" and thus remains dry, even when immersed in water.

Storage density of more than 100,000 terabits per cubic centimeter... with water.

"A team of experimentalists and theorists at the University of Pennsylvania, Drexel University and Harvard University has proposed a new and surprisingly effective means of stabilizing and controlling ferroelectricity in nanostructures: terminating their surfaces with fragments of water.   Ferroelectrics are technologically important "smart" materials for many applications because they have local dipoles, which can switch up and down to encode and store information.  The team's work is reported in the April issue of Nano Letters."  

A photo tour through North Korea.

Taken by a Russian tourist.

The Lyrebird displays it's vocal talent


"The lyrebird is capable of imitating almost any sound from a mill whistle to a cross-cut saw, and, not uncommonly, sounds as diverse as chainsaws, car engines, rifle shots, camera shutters, dogs barking and crying babies."
From the Wiki article on the Lyrebird

Ancient Roman Port found in India

"Much-recorded in Roman times, Muziris was a major centre for trade between Rome and southern India - but appeared to have simply disappeared.

Now, however, an investigation by two archaeologists - KP Shajan and V Selvakumar - has placed the ancient port as having existed where the small town of Pattanam now stands, on India's south-west Malabar coast. "

Sense of touch for robots

"US scientists have created a sensor that can "feel" the texture of objects to the same degree of sensitivity as a human fingertip.

...by creating a very thin film made up of layers of metal and semiconducting nanoparticles flanked at the top and bottom by electrodes.

When the film touches a surface any pressure or stress squeezes the layers of particles together. This causes the current in the film to change and light is emitted from the particles, an effect known as "electroluminescence". The visible light is then detected by a camera. "