Sci-Tech

Origami-like soft robotic muscles lift 1,000 times their weight

Reuters — US researchers have developed strong origami-inspired artificial muscles that can allow soft robots to lift objects 1,000 times their own weight using only air or water pressure. The team from Massachusetts Institute of Technology Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (MIT CSAIL) and Harvard’s Wyss Institute published their findings on Monday (November 27) in scientific journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). According to a joint press release, “each artificial muscle […]

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Indonesia: the world’s volcanic hotspot

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AFP) — Indonesia, where more than 40,000 people have been evacuated over fears of an imminent volcanic eruption at Mount Agung on Bali, is the world’s most volcanic area. The Southeast Asian archipelago of more than 17,000 islands and islets — and nearly 130 active volcanoes — is situated on the Pacific “Ring of Fire”, a vast zone of geological instability where the collision of tectonic plates causes frequent quakes and major volcanic […]

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Intelligent Vehicle Future Challenge opens in east China city

CHANGSHU, China (Reuters) — The 2017 China Intelligent Vehicle Future Challenge opened Saturday in Changshu City of east China’s Jiangsu Province, attracting 25 teams from famous universities, scientific research institutions and companies nationwide. After various competitions in nine consecutive years, the annual event has become the highest-level competition for driverless intelligent vehicles with the largest number of competing teams in China. The competitors this year are required to finish a road test and an off-line […]

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Burn victim saved by skin grafts from identical twin

by Brigitte Castelnau Agence France-Presse PARIS, France (AFP) — A man doomed to die after suffering burns across 95 percent of his body was saved by skin transplants from his identical twin in a world-first operation, French doctors said Thursday. Consumed by flames while handling chemicals on the job, 33-year-old Franck Dufourmantelle received life-saving grafts from his brother Eric’s skull, back and thighs. “I had a fresco-like tattoo on my arm,” he recalled in a […]

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Citizen scientists asked to record rather than repel mosquitoes

CALIFORNIA, United States (Reuters) — When you next hear the high pitched whine of a mosquito, researchers from Stanford University in California, are hoping you’ll reach for your smartphone, not the repellent. The idea is to put mosquitoes under a world-wide surveillance operation using the recording device in nearly everyone’s pocket. Mosquitoes can be differentiated by the frequency of their wingbeats, which is what produces their characteristic whine. The team are calling for citizen scientists […]

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Skype joins list of apps on China blacklist

SHANGHAI, China (AFP) — Skype has apparently joined the lengthening list of internet communication tools on China’s blacklist, with Apple saying Wednesday it was ordered to clear its download store of apps that violate national laws. Skype is no longer available for download on the China Apple Store or Android sites, with Chinese web-users saying it had been gone for weeks. “We have been notified by the Ministry of Public Security that a number of […]

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Brain activity shows dogs learn in their sleep, say Hungarian scientists

BUDAPEST, Hungary (Reuters) — Scientists in Hungary say they have measured brain activity in dogs which shows they learn during their sleep. The Senior Family Dog Research team at the Ethology Department of Budapest’s ELTE university conducted electroencephalograms (EEGs) on sleeping dogs, using electrodes placed on the head to record electrical activity in the brain. Fifteen family dogs were taught commands in English instead of Hungarian, before being left to sleep in a darkened room […]

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‘Augmented reality’ brings art alive in Vienna

VIENNA, Austria (AFP) — Vienna’s Albertina art gallery unveiled on Tuesday a new mobile phone application that “brings to life” works by the likes of Monet and Picasso. The “augmented reality” app, which is free to download, allows phones to be held up to 13 paintings in the Albertina’s collection and move elements of them around. Degas’ “Two Dancers” is created before your eyes, a Picasso boat sets sail and a photo of Monet’s garden […]

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Cigar-shaped asteroid came from another solar system: study

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — A rocky cigar-shaped object detected in space last month came from another solar system, astronomers said Monday as they confirmed an unprecedented observation. The discovery may provide clues as to how other solar systems formed, said the researchers, who published their study in the British journal Nature. The asteroid, named Oumuamua by its discoverers, is one-quarter mile (400 meters) long and highly elongated –perhaps 10 times as long as it is wide. That […]

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Coffee grounds to help power London’s buses

LONDON, United Kingdom (Reuters) — Waste coffee grounds will be used to help fuel some of London’s buses, Royal Dutch Shell and green energy company bio-bean said on Monday (November 20). A new biofuel, which contains part coffee oil, is being added to the London bus fuel supply chain where it can be used without the need for modification, according to bio-bean founder Arthur Kay. “Bio-bean has created a B20 fuel which is 20 percent […]

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Engineers get the feeling for robotic fingers

LA JOLLA, California (Reuters) — All hands are on deck at this lab at the University of California San Diego, where researcher Michael Tolley’s team are working on a human-like robotic gripper. Its three fingers are made of three flexible pneumatic chambers that move when air pressure is applied, allowing each digit to manipulate the object it’s holding. “These fingers are unique in that they can bend in any direction so we have enough degrees […]

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China makes progress in core, high-end electronic, basic software products

(Reuters) — China has achieved a series of breakthroughs in core electronic devices, high-end universal chips and basic software products in the past decade. China’s Ministry of Science and Technology, together with Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, held a press conference to release the achievements Monday in Beijing. In the past decade, the gap between home and abroad core electronic devices has shortened from over 15 years to five years. Independent support rate of […]

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