52461193
submission
BuzzSkyline writes:
Building flying robots that mimic insects is hard, so researchers from New York University have decided to copy the propulsion of jellyfish instead. It turns out that their flying jellyfish robot is inherently stable. The prototype only weighs 2.1 grams, and lacks the lift to carry a power source, so it relies on wires to provide electricity instead. The researchers hope to increase lift in future iterations, with an eye to creating tiny, autonomous flyers that don't need additional sensors or circuitry to hover and fly stably.
51963701
submission
BuzzSkyline writes:
A talk titled Urinal Dynamics at the upcoming American Physical Society Division of Fluid Dynamics meeting begins, "In response to harsh and repeated criticisms from our mothers and several failed relationships with women, we present the splash dynamics of a simulated human male urine stream impacting rigid and free surfaces." The researchers offer some solace for tormented males by concluding with this stream of golden sunshine, "Guided by our results, techniques for splash reduction are proposed." There are a couple more talks along the same lines in the session.
50078123
submission
BuzzSkyline writes:
Some physicists at the Large Hadron Collider are about to embark on a completely different sort of experiment. What they will discover today may rival the detection of the Higgs particle in, well, in no way whatsoever. Unlike most high energy physics experiments, you won't need countless hours on a massive computer farm to tell if the experiment is a success. You should know pretty quickly by tuning into CERN's After Dark Stand-Up Comedy Evening taking place today at 20:00 in Europe/Zurich time, (2:00 PM Eastern time).
42035959
submission
BuzzSkyline writes:
A new design for bicycle cranks violates basic principles of physics, but that's not stopping the inventor of Z-Torque cranks from trying to raise thousands in start-up capital through crowd funding.
17221864
submission
BuzzSkyline writes:
Students at UCLA have made the startling discovery that some bacteria can walk on surfaces using structures called Type IV pili as legs. Previously, it was generally believed that bacteria needed to be embedded in fluids to move around significantly. The revelation helps explain the spread of biofilms, and shows why some some bacteria can be particularly dangerous. The professor overseeing the research believes that disabling or lopping off the bacteria legs may offer a novel route to fight infections caused by walking bacteria. The article describing the research has some pretty freaky video of bacteria standing up on one end and walking away.
15290834
submission
BuzzSkyline writes:
It's better to pour Champagne the way a good bartender draws a beer, by running it down the inside surface of the glass. The revelation, which appears in July 2010 issue of the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, flies in the face of age-old French traditions, which require the bubbly to be poured in a stream that free-falls straight down the center of a champagne flute. By using infrared thermography to image the carbon dioxide that escapes over the rim of a Champagne glass for various style pours, the researchers proved that the gentler, beer-like technique allows the wine to retain more of the dissolved gas that is critical to the whole Champagne experience.
