BeachBot creates artworks on an Infinitely Reusable Canvas: Robot Artist

Pooja Kashyap

Disney Research Zurich in collaboration with ETH Zurich have designed a robot called Beachbot that has the potential of carving impeccable huge sand drawings. Equipped with wi-fi computer, an inertial measurement unit (IMU) and laser scanner, the Beachbot walks effortlessly on sand making paintings. Laser scanner helps it to restrict its canvas boundaries within four poles mounted alongside the area. It also uses laser data and the IMU for its own location while it steers with millimeter accuracy inside the restricted area. Building rake mechanism that would compliment drawing tool…

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The Flashing of the Clam Ctenoides ales: Underwater Light Show

Neha Shukla

Depth of ocean stores many beautiful creatures that are still alien to us. Researchers are baffled to see that even in the deepest and the darkest part of the oceans have different forms of life flourishing. They study the deepest parts of the water to find creatures and to understand how they flourish in such depths of oceans. One such marine organism that caught the attention of underwater divers is ‘disco clam’ (Ctenoides ales, a species of saltwater clam). Native to Indo-Pacific coral reefs, they are named so because they…

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Fats Cells Protect against Bacterial Infections: Body’s Defense Mechanism

Neha Shukla

Most of us work hard to keep fat at bay from our body, the evil leads to obesity and increased level of cholesterol. However, these fat cells lying under the skin actually safeguard the human body from bacterial invasion. The imperative role of fat cells was discovered by researcher Richard Gallo from UC San Diego School of Medicine and explained the valuable role of fat cells also known as adipocytes. He found that adipocytes synthesis molecules termed as antimicrobial peptides, which fight infections and other pathogens. Apart from adipocytes, previous…

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10 Screenshots from Musk’s Open Source Tube Transport System: The Hyperloop

Pooja Kashyap

Elon Musk’s concept of travelling through conduits has started making progress. His research company, Hyperloop Transportation Technologies (HTT) has already gathered over 100 engineers and is working along crowd collaboration approach. Musk, the inventor, engineer and entrepreneur, envisions developing ultra speed, intercity transporter using a low-pressure tube train, which would run at a speed of 760 mph. Each capsule would carry 6-8 passengers and depart after every 30 seconds. As per him, the project, Hyperloop, would touch completion within seven to ten years. Due to his current commitment with SpaceX,…

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Hyperloop is crossing the threshold of a Pipe Dream: Elon Musk’s 760mph Supertube

Pooja Kashyap

Last year, Elon Musk, the Tony Stark of our real world when surfaced his futuristic concept of human transportation at the speed of sound via pods, some of the people, who doubted his abilities considered it no more than a figment of imagination, which was far from becoming a reality. However, Musk, the man behind PayPal, Tesla and SpaceX, showed an air of seriousness for his pipe dream. In order to herald a revolution in travel industry, bypassing the traffic and the railroad project, he created a new firm by…

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Geologic processes in Earth’s Interior responsible for creating Oceans: Geoscientific Mystery

Neha Shukla

Emergence of water is the best part in the origin of life on the planet Earth. Without water, Earth might not have looked like what it is today, but the question how water first appeared on our Blue Planet is still a mystery. The most popular theory suggests that the collision of enormous icy comets with dry and inhospitable Earth, resulted in deposition of water on the surface. 

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Speecys Hi-tech set of Karakuri Puppets: MF201 is Small and Agile Robot Figure

Pooja Kashyap

Japan has revolutionized their traditional karakuri puppets by embedding a set of servomotors within the plastics. Market of action figures is already booming in Japan, hence, the plastic model industry is going to be the next big thing in the country. Taking this into consideration, Speecys, a robotics company came up with their Motion Figure system, which they claim is pioneering the spirit of robotic action figures not only in the nation but also across the globe.

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Femme Fatale Mantis deceives Males for Snacking: Risking Lives for Sex

Neha Shukla

Sexual cannibalism in mantis is a very well known phenomenon. Female mantises bite off the male’s head after or during sex, therefore, is also known as fatale femme. However, the reason behind such sexual cannibalism remains debatable. Female mantises use pheromones to attract males for mating, however, females most of the time ends up eating male mantis, even before the poor male gets a chance to mate. Researchers until now believed that well fed females attracts more males and in turn laid more eggs. Nevertheless, a new study rebuts this…

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Biomimicry: Robotic Spy Fish will do the Reconnaissance (ISR) Missions

Pooja Kashyap

Boston Engineering in collaboration with the U.S. Navy is developing a ‘tuna fish’, their new unmanned underwater vehicle. Developers envision that the fish would autonomously navigate across the sea for fetching information including surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) missions. The project has been named Project Silent Nemo that comes from Disney’s famous movie, Finding Nemo, where Nemo was the subject of search but in here, Nemo will do the finding. Swimmer drone   The unmanned underwater vehicle weighs around 100-pound while it’s length is about 5 feet. As a product of…

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Helena device can create Oxygen on Red Planet: Global Contest for Mars One’s First Unmanned Lander

Neha Shukla

Mars One, the controversial project that plans to create a permanent human settlement on the Red Planet has organized a competition called the Mars One University Competition. The competition has invited designers to prepare technology that can supply Mars citizens with breathable air. The victorious payload will have the opportunity to travel to Mars One initial unmanned lander mission that is scheduled to land on Mars in 2018. This mission will in turn prepare the way for the future colonists planning to reach Mars in 2025. A student team from…

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Volcanic Eruptions or Asteroid Collision: What really killed the dinosaurs?

Neha Shukla

Reason related to what led to the extinction of dinosaurs remains debatable. Until now, the most acceptable theory states that around sixty six million years ago, an asteroid as wide as 5 miles and moving at a speed of 70,000 miles per hour bumped into the Earth. The dust from this massive collision blocked the sun and in turn causing catastrophic chains of events that led the extinction of dinosaurs along with three-quarters of other species of the planet. 

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Peruvian Mummy curled up for 1,000 years: Human Remains on Display

Pooja Kashyap

In an excavation work near Lima, capital and the largest city Peru, a mummy dating back to the eleventh century has been discovered. As per the experts, the skeleton is that of a 50-year-old woman, sitting in a foetal position. It is expected that during some ceremonial ritual of the Pachacamac civilization, the resting position was such that with the passage of time (years), the skeleton retained the foetal position. Burial site was happened to be at a significant distance from the abandoned civilization’s temple.

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Silicon Chip that mimics Nature’s Gene: A Step towards Artificial Cells

Pooja Kashyap

Researchers at the Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel have come up with a silicon chip that can mimic a human cell in producing proteins from DNA. The most basic function of cell is to produce proteins after receiving instructions in the form of DNA sequences. Other genes determine production of the quantity of churning out protein by a complex process involving feedback loops.

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