Check out this photo, from my masters degree, way back when...
Can you guess what it is? Scale? What type of image?
Can you guess what it is? Scale? What type of image?
 Whats interesting here is that this material is not new... this research group make a mat of needles that adsorb a shed load of light; so much so that one could avoid detection. However, they make those needles slightly longer than had been previously achieved, and show that it not only absorbs visible light, but also infrared.
This has an obvious 'cool' factor, and the applications of such a material is quickly seen by those striking images in the article. How innovative is this material? Somewhat. Has it changed the arena of science? Probably not. Are its potential applications interesting? Hell yeh! And thats good enough for me. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releas…/2018/…/180622174752.htm Some scientists think so. The Premier Institute, based in California, is focused on fundamental questions in physics regarding issues such as quantum mechanics, relativity, cosmology and particle physics; asking the "big" questions about what underpins the fundamental laws in the universe.
Some new theories are being developed to try to escape the current bottle-necks that have held up the field in unifying different areas of fundamental physics. In short: its time for an overhaul, a change and some fresh ideas. Our perception of time, for example, doesn't feature in many modern theories in physics e.g. relativity. Symmetries in physics mean that the 'arrow of time' is not distinguishable in the forwards and backwards direction. In a sense, our experiences are entangled in our reading of the universe, that lead us to make theories that have predictive power. Is there a more fundamental level of analysis? Does the universe contain a more uncontaminated form of order that doesn't rely on our involvement in making the boundary conditions of our own theories? These are hard questions that straddle the bridge between hard physics and metaphysics. But if the pursuit of science has taught us anything, it is that challenging even our most cherished theories can lead to scientific revolutions and in directions that we may not have dreamed possible... https://www.newscientist.com/…/mg23831820-300-we-have-hint…/
Since surface water moves faster, the large arm will be able to move with the current of the oceans, but slower, and will collect the plastic that will flow straight in to it. Which is then collected by ships, for recycling.
This brilliant idea took the knowledge in fluid dynamics and computer modelling of motion of plastics at different depths and the collaboration of hundreds of people over many years. Check out their twitter account. They've just set out with their test run, and shortly after that they'll be ready to deploy. 30,000+ private donations later, and many many worldwide CEO's investing in this. Good luck Boyan and team 😃 https://twitter.com/TheOceanCleanup… With 25 years since Jurassic Park approaching, its worthwhile looking at some of the basic physics that went in to modelling and animating those dinosaurs. Truly ahead of its time.
Scientists take the body sizes/dimensions, estimated centre of gravity, probable muscular composition, weight, etc. to try to piece together what it must have looked like for these giants to move. Could they only walk? How fast could they run? Did they skip? Hop?! https://www.newscientist.com/…/dn18280-3d-modelling-recrea…/ http://www.businessinsider.com/how-cgi-works-in-jurassic-pa…  For those interested in Robotics. Pay attention to the great work by Boston Robotics for some great hardware.
If you're interested in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and want to see what the next generation robotics could look like, check out Sophia in the link below. A talking robot... and for those interested in THAT, its a must to read about the Turing Test: At what point do we consider robots/programs to be conscious? At the point where they become indistinguishable for humans... at least thats what Alan Turing thought, as well as many in the field. Check it out in the links below. (image from here) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=78-1MlkxyqI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjSohj-Iclc |
physbotTheres something interesting in the ether... Archives
June 2019
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