Microplasma Transistors for Smartphones and Nuclear Environment

Pooja Kashyap

Researchers at the University of Utah have created one of the most minuscule plasma transistors that can resist soaring temperatures and ionizing radiation that could be seen in a nuclear reactor. The engineers envision that such transistors would: 1) Facilitate taking and collecting X-rays in war zones by high-end cellular phones 2) Integrated within equipments to gauge air quality in the actual time 3) Plasma based bot could be sent into the nuclear reactor for certain assignments Like beavers, the transistors perform the most important work in the field of…

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Fidelity Can Be Seen In Owl Monkeys: Genetic Monogamy

Neha Shukla

Infidelity is very general trait to be observed in the animal kingdom. Maternal and paternal genetic tests have revealed that even the species that were considered to be faithful in their relationship, were often not loyal to each other. Merely about 10 percent of the species follow monogamy and are truly faithful to each other. However, according to a latest research led by University of Pennsylvania revealed that Azara’s owl monkeys (Aotus azarae) are remarkably devoted and faithful to their mating partners. 

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Sea Serpents Can Remain Dehydrated for Months: Combating Climatic Changes

Neha Shukla

Sea snakes as the name suggest, spend their entire life in the ocean. Researchers have always been curious to know how do these snakes survive in seawater and what method did they employ to satisfy the quench for fresh water. According to a latest research, the sea snakes though surrounded by water, unfortunately, remains thirsty and dehydrated for months. 

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Space Based Solar Power: Photovoltaic Satellite System

Neha Shukla

Researchers are continually trying to improve the ways to capture solar energy more efficiently for powering industries, towns, remote villages and even for military purposes. Military needs lots of fuel for its operations. In fact, Pentagon oil consumption is one of the largest in the world and with the fuel price rise, the military is searching for other energy options. Therefore, in the United States Naval Research Laboratory, researchers are trying to tap solar energy directly from the space and send it to military base operating in far-flung remote villages. 

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Gamification is More Than Just Points & Badges: Lord of the Rings

Pooja Kashyap

Recently, I watched Lord of the Rings, second time of course but consciously with a different angle. This time, I translated Frodo Baggins journey in terms Gamification strategy. By introducing the gaming element in the movie, I discovered that the trilogy became all the more interesting and innovative so I thought of penning down my insights and if I’m wrong anywhere please free to rebut my point(s), I’d be of great help, thanks. Introduction to the world of Gamification: Task assigned Frodo Baggins is having a good time at his…

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Graphene Photodetectors Will Now Offer Thermal Vision

Pooja Kashyap

By harvesting the optical capabilities of graphene, researchers at the University of Michigan were able to create infrared contact lens morphed out of the carbon material. Graphene is merely 1-atom thick that makes its absorb nearly 2.3% of light that strikes it, which of course is extremely less especially for generating an electric potential and hence makes it far away from operating as an infrared sensor. Therefore, the researchers devised an innovative technique to resolve this issue. In place of gauging lost electrons by incoming light, they augmented the current…

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Humans Might Welcome The New Robot Overlords: An Obedience Study

Pooja Kashyap

How would it feel working under a ‘robo boss’, constantly pecking on top of the head, reminding the amount of work that is still left. Many would feel frustrated and might leave but there would be some, who might like to finish the task without questioning. In an interesting experiment, performed by the Human-Computer Interaction Lab at the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, Canada, revealed the responses that were received by working under a robotic supervisor. Task that was assigned to humans was extremely monotonous which of course became boring…

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Planet X and Nemesis Myth Debunked: WISE Survey

Pooja Kashyap

In an attempt to find the reasons, which led to the wobbly effect of Uranus’s orbit, researchers discovered other planets like Neptune and Pluto but there was no Planet X anywhere. Similarly, the hunt for Sun like star, Nemesis, which they claim might have wiped out the age of dinosaurs completely, is still a far-fetched dream. It’s been an effort of more than two centuries and now the researchers want to draw line to reach a conclusion.  Kevin Luhman an astronomer at the University of Pennsylvania asserted that there are no such…

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10 Reasons Why I love Working at a Startup

Pooja Kashyap

I had been a part of a startup for almost seven years and in these seven years I never thought of joining any other venture neither did the work culture of any MNC attracted me. After taking a gap of 1 year, which also happens to be a sabbatical, I still have the same fresh feeling for startups as it was before, taking the leave that is. I guess being in the startup crew is something like being into a serious relationship and this is one of the main factor,…

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Nothing Dies in Ocean: The Biological Pump

Neha Shukla

Carbon-based molecules are the prime element of biological compounds and play a crucial part in supporting different life forms on earth. The carbon molecules are continuously exchanged among the different reservoirs of carbon present on the Earth. Recently, researchers at the University of California Santa Barbara, used images received from the satellite, to analyze the importance of oceans in the carbon exchange also known as the global carbon cycle. 

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HyQ: The Most Versatile Quadruped Robot

Pooja Kashyap

With its first launch, HyQ, the brainchild of Italian Institute of Technology had already conquered how to manipulate the terrains. Now the quadruped robot has resurrected but with more tricks than before. Claudio Semini, the lead researcher claimed that the ‘second coming’ of HyQ is sodden with wide variety of motion skills that would help the bot in facing the dynamically changing terrain. Initially, the bot was designed in terms of reactive behavior, the mode that helped it from recovering from huddles but this time, the focus is kept on making…

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Defense Technique: Vulnerable Species Gain Protection through Predator Species

Neha Shukla

Animals use different defense techniques, such as camouflage, mimicry or unusual associations or group living to defend themselves from its predator. The jumping spider who seeks the help of ants in order to protect themselves from its enemy, the spitting spiders, exhibits defense mechanism, which is completely weird and of course different. Interestingly, the ants, which act as a protector for the jumping spiders against the spitting spider, equally love to feed on them. 

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IVRE: Human Machine Virtual Collaborative Systems

Pooja Kashyap

Getting work done through robots is no more a challenging task, with the continuous progression in technology, more and more machines are being designed keeping in mind the safety factor which still reigns supreme when interacting with a machine. Yet we are too far from two equally important aspects, which if conquered, might thoroughly revolutionize robotics, and they are – consciousness and self-awareness. In an attempt to reach fluency in human-robot interactions, researchers at the Johns Hopkins’ Computational and Interactive Robotics Laboratory have come up with a simulated setting, which…

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Defenseless Animals Mimic for Survival

Neha Shukla

We are often fascinated by the bright colors of the animals. In nature, these bright colors of the animals are not just to impress females or a fashion statement, rather are the characteristics of animals with an anti-predatory defense, such as a poison or sting. Predators over the time have understood to avoid attacking such animals, which either can hurt them or might taste awful. 

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