Inventor Nikola Tesla invented the radio, experimented with wireless electricity, and designed a death ray. In science fiction, his work goes even further. We list Tesla's greatest fictional inventions and the facts behind the fiction.
read more | digg story
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Will Robots With Advanced Group Intelligence Evolve?
Researchers at the University of York have investigated large swarms of up to 10,000 miniature robots which can work together to form a single, artificial life form. The multi-robot approach to artificial intelligence is a relatively new one, and has developed from studies of the swarm behavior of social insects such as ants.
read more | digg story
read more | digg story
Croplands May Wither as Global Warming Worsens
Climate models predict that the hottest seasons on record will become the norm by the end of the century--an outcome that bodes ill for feeding the world
read more | digg story
read more | digg story
U.N. Says 'No,' Climate Hackers Say, 'Yes We Can'
A major Indian-German geoengineering expedition set sail this week for the Scotia Sea, flouting a U.N. ban on ocean iron fertilization experiments in hopes of garnering data about whether the process actually does take carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere and sequester it in the deep ocean, an intriguing technique that may help reverse global warmi
read more | digg story
read more | digg story
Smarter Men Have More Sperm
Women tend to like smart men because they're usually more successful and better providers. But here's another reason: Their sperm is better, a new study says. The smarter the men were, the more sperm they produced and the better their wee ones swam — and it didn't matter how old the men were or whether they smoked, drank or were obese.
read more | digg story
read more | digg story
Ants Smell Cheaters and Assault Them, Study Finds
If a worker ant attempts to reproduce in the presence of the queen, the worker inadvertently produces a chemical that causes her sisters to attack.
read more | digg story
read more | digg story
Differences between sexes 'may be determined after birth'
Some biological differences between male and female brains may be determined after birth, research suggests.
read more | digg story
read more | digg story
Finger scanning to be lunch card of the future?
Fischer said NutriKids (aka Big Brother) would offer features parents had been requesting for years. One is the ability to see what students are ordering for meals, and another is a faster and easier payment method. Each students was asked to press his or her right index finger on the optical reader, which scanned the print. Each student scanned...
read more | digg story
read more | digg story
Nature's Great Piece of Art/Geometry Lesson: The Snowflake
When physicist Kenneth Libbrecht looks out over a snowy landscape, he doesn't see a peaceful scene, he sees a laboratory. His microscopic photos show the intricate variety of snow crystals, and reveal the rigorous laws of nature that shape them.
read more | digg story
read more | digg story
Self-Replicating Chemicals Evolve Into Life-Like Ecosystem
Chemists have created a group of synthetic enzymes that self-replicate, compete, and evolve like a natural ecosystem -- just minus the life (as we know it).
read more | digg story
read more | digg story
Space Is Closer Than You Think
The border between Earth's atmosphere and outer space is closer to the ground than scientists once thought.
read more | digg story
read more | digg story
Learning More About Levitation
The ability to levitate objects is not an entirely new thing in physics. Lower the temperature of certain metals and ceramics far enough (-459 degrees F is a good number to shoot for) and they carry electromagnetic charges far more efficiently and for a far longer time than they otherwise would.
read more | digg story
read more | digg story
Garage Invention Could Turn Restaurants into Power Plants
A new garage-engineered generator burns the waste oil from restaurants' deep fryers to generate electricity and hot water. Put 80 gallons of grease into the Vegawatt and its creators promise that it will generate about five kilowatts of power.
read more | digg story
read more | digg story
Milky Way and Andromeda will collide sooner than expected
The Milky Way and the Andromeda galaxies are on a collision course and will hit one another earlier than scientists had previously predicted.
read more | digg story
read more | digg story
Scientists Discover Why People Better With Faces Than Names
The reason why some people are better with faces than names has been identified by scientists and it appears to be due to their higher levels of a special "socialising" hormone called Oxytocin.
read more | digg story
read more | digg story
Amazing solar-powered fridge invented by British student
It's the kind of brilliant yet simple invention that would have the tycoons of the Dragon's Den salivating with excitement.
read more | digg story
read more | digg story
860 Types of Sand from Around the World: Interactive Graphic
Rob Holman collects sand. A coastal oceanographer from Oregon State University, Holman has collected almost a thousand samples. They come from his travels and from geologists and amateurs all over the world...
read more | digg story
read more | digg story
Motorola Renew is World’s First Carbon Neutral Mobile Phone
Motorola has announced plans to launch the world’s first completely carbon neutral mobile phone, at CES 2009 in Las Vegas. The shell of the W233 Renew is made entirely of recycled water bottles, and will be available via T-Mobile within the next three months.
read more | digg story
read more | digg story
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
