research – Page 21 – TechieTonics

Two Rocky Worlds Orbiting M Dwarf Star: The HD 260655 System

May 2, 2022May 2, 2022 Pooja Kashyap

Astronomers at NASA have identified two rocky alien worlds hovering around M dwarf star called HD 260655. M stars have faint glow and they look red to our eyes with temperature ranging from 2,500 Kelvin to 3,500 Kelvin. These stars account for nearly 75% of the stars in our stellar neighborhood, which implies they can be easily observed from Earth due to its abundance. As per Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), the newly discovered exoplanets are about two times more massive than the Earth.

SQuRO, Quadruped Robotic Rat: Biomimicry

April 28, 2022April 28, 2022 Pooja Kashyap

Nature has always inspired robotics engineers to design bots with the same agility and efficiency. And this is also one of the reasons why researchers look up to biomimicry to solve human design challenges. When it comes to navigate tight and congested arenas wouldn’t rodents be the best options to design a device? Researchers at Beijing Institute of Technology (BIT) thought the same. According to Qing Shi, a Professor at BIT, legged robots have limitations when operating in narrow spaces. Micro quadruped robots too can face performance issues due to…

Book Review: The God Equation by Dr. Michio Kaku

April 26, 2022August 5, 2022 Pooja Kashyap

Dr. Michio Kaku is a well-known figure in science academia. He is a master story teller. His super power is, he can make science graspable for non-science people like myself. In The God Equation: The Quest for a Theory of Everything, Dr. Kaku talks about three things: physics from creation to present, the effort put behind in unifying all known physical forces and the theory of dimensions, string theory.

Bacterium Flagellar Beats on Graphene: Microbial Melody

April 26, 2022April 26, 2022 Pooja Kashyap

Anything that vibrates, creates sound. This implies, microbes too must emit noise. Does this mean, we can also hear disease? Pathogenic bacteria mixed with other healthy microbe bacteria might sound in a certain way. So, if this technology is used for diagnostic purposes, we could we hear disease!

Two Neutron Stars could give Birth to a Third: Stellar Formation

April 7, 2022April 7, 2022 Pooja Kashyap

An international team of astrophysics from Manly Astrophysics and Universidad de Murcia has proposed for a new type of exotic neutron star. According to astronomers Arthur Suvorov and Kostas Glampedakis, the novel neutron star could be the result of a super strong magnetic field that emanates during a collision between old neutron stars.

Magnetic Tentacle Robot for Autonomous Endoscopy: Soft Catheters

April 5, 2022April 5, 2022 Pooja Kashyap

Magnetic tentacle robot, strange it may sound but researchers at STORM Lab at the University of Leeds have come up with a tiny canular form of robot that can explore the smallest bronchial tubes in the lungs. The nano tubiform bot measures around 2 millimetres in diameter. That happens to be two times the size of the tip of a ballpoint pen. The tentacle robot will be guided from the outside with the help of (external) magnets.

Spiders Can Use Their Silk to Hear: Acoustic Properties of Webs

April 4, 2022April 4, 2022 Pooja Kashyap

Researchers at Binghamton University, in collaboration with Cornell University, suggest that spiders use their webs to assist in their hearing mechanism. Distinguished Professor Ron Miles and doctoral student Junpeng Lai conducted the experiment at the Binghamton University anechoic chamber.

Book Review: The Nature Fix by Florence Williams

March 17, 2022March 17, 2022 Pooja Kashyap

The Nature Fix – Why Nature Makes Us Happier, Healthier, and More Creative by Florence Williams is a beautiful effort to investigate into nature’s restorative benefits on human brain.

Book Review: A World Beyond Physics by Stuart A. Kauffman

March 16, 2022March 16, 2022 Pooja Kashyap

Stuart Alan Kauffman is not only a complex-systems researcher but he is also a polymath, with a degree in medicine and training in biochemistry, genetics, physics, philosophy and other fields. Very deftly he roams across disciplinary boundaries looking for answers to the riddles that obsess him. In, A World Beyond Physics, he takes up the conundrum of life’s origin.

Multiple Modes of Dendritic Integration in Single Neurons: Brain Computation

March 11, 2022March 11, 2022 Pooja Kashyap

Dendrites, branch like extensions protruding from a single neuron, participate in computations and permutations to give a synchronized output to the neuron. Researchers at MIT have now demonstrated that not only different types of dendrites (of a single neuron) collect input from various regions of the brain, they also process that information in different customized ways.

Insulation-free Magnet to Facilitate Development of Fusion Power Plant: Superconductors

March 7, 2022March 7, 2022 Pooja Kashyap

Replicating fusion on earth is one of the things that scientists globally look forward to. Once they are able to reach a state through which fusion could be created, we might get virtually inexhaustible supply of power to generate electricity.

Maneuvering Brain Astrocytes via Magnetic Field: Magnetomechanical Stimulation

March 3, 2022March 3, 2022 Pooja Kashyap

Researchers at University College London have discovered a new form of non-invasive therapy for neurological disorders. The technique called “magnetomechanical stimulation” (MMS) involves microscopic magnetic particles for remotely stimulating brain cells.

Book Review: Parallel Worlds by Michio Kaku

February 8, 2022February 8, 2022 Pooja Kashyap

Parallel Worlds: The Science of Alternative Universes and Our Future in the Cosmos by Michio Kaku is a pandora’s box of parallel worlds hovering around us all the time. This is my third read after Physics of The Future and The Future of Humanity from the same author.

Book Review: The Emergent Multiverse by David Wallace

February 5, 2022August 22, 2024 Pooja Kashyap

The Emergent Multiverse: Quantum Theory According to the Everett Interpretation is an effort on the part of David Wallace to vindicate Hugh Everett’s idea of many worlds. The concept of multiverse was initially taken seriously in philosophy than in physics. May be because in physics the idea came much later, that is, with the emergence of quantum mechanics.

Insect sized Flying Robot with Flapping Wings: Micro air Vehicle

February 4, 2022February 4, 2022 Pooja Kashyap

Researchers at the University of Bristol, U.K. have fabricated a flapping-wing microrobot that can produce more power than a similar-sized insect. The micro-air vehicle is a product of biomimicry, inspired from bees and other flying insects.