adenozine

internet artefacts and random musings in the fields of philosophy, pedagogy, mathematics and science. [[email protected]]

[adenozine]

Moving blog

I've moved my blog from Tumblr on to Wordpress (dradenozine.wordpress.com).

So long Tumblr, it's been great.

That is all.

[staceythinx]

[adenozine]

While there's a lot to be said for clear diagrams, I'll take these down and dirty versions any time.

You may have seen MRK’s amazing videos, but did you know that you can buy prints of his digital creations? 

staceythinx

[wildcat2030]

[adenozine]

Egad! Robot jellyfish the size of a grown man.

Virginia Tech: Autonomous Robotic Jellyfish

Virginia Tech College of Engineering researchers have unveiled a life-like, autonomous robotic jellyfish the size and weight of a grown man, 5 foot 7 inches in length and weighing 170 pounds, as part of a U.S. Navy-funded project.

The prototype robot, nicknamed Cyro, is a larger model of a robotic jellyfish the same team – headed by Shashank Priya of Blacksburg, Va., and professor of mechanical engineering at Virginia Tech – unveiled in 2012. The earlier robot, dubbed RoboJelly, is roughly the size of a man’s hand, and typical of jellyfish found along beaches.

(by virginiatech) Via wildcat2030

[adenozine]

Electronica meets Plato.

As a fan of Plato's Theory of Forms, and of kickin' bass, I can't help loving this. [For the kiddies out there, there is a language warning on this clip].

Check the lyrics, and a decent interpretation, here.

And, who this this guy anyway? I'll leave that up to Beat Magazine.

"Some wunderkind lovechild of Grimes and Skrillex, defining the next wave in DIY dance/rock fusion, Robert Delong is a Seattle-born man child who makes music using – I shit you not – Wii remotes and Sega Genesis controllers. With these scraps of plastic and metal, plus drum pads, synths and MIDI interfaces, he crafts big, soupy bass beats and warped, spine-scraping accents; hunks of fun time electro to make you stamp your feet, met with epic, heartfelt vocals. His voice – a barely-broken, bright-eyed thing – is almost Ben Gibbard-esque in its self-aware sincerity. Excellent." BEAT

[adenozine]

[adenozine]

Hard to see what was happening in the previous post? Here is a close-up.

[adenozine]

I made a robot bladder for school to demonstrate control systems and feedback loops. This is a video of an early prototype. It is now up to version 3.0 (sounds included!),and ready to roll for tomorrow's school open night.

[adenozine]

Examining the effect of leg shape on the movement of robots through various terrains.

[wildcat2030]

See on Scoop.it - The future of medicine and health

It started with a quest to make better yogurt.

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A tiny molecular machine used by bacteria to kill attacking viruses could change the way that scientists edit the DNA of plants, animals and fungi, revolutionizing genetic...

[adenozine]

A new way to cut DNA? Now that has my attention!

[explore-blog]

The rapid decline in girls’ enrollment in science, technology, engineering, and math classes – and how to fix it.

[adenozine]

Egad! That looks bad!...but...what's the comparison with boys? And what about the last SIXTY years?

[itsokaytobesmart]

Insect wings can shred bacteria to pieces! This video shows how a newly discovered nanostructure on the wings of cicadas can rip certain bacterial membranes to shreds. This structure, perfected by nature as a natural defense against dangerous microbes, could be harnessed by humans to create antimicrobial surfaces.

Sometimes nature is our best innovator.

(More at Nature News)

[adenozine]

Nanoshred, FTW

[adenozine]

On the benefits of modelling biology with robotics, and the importance of mistakes.

[wildcat2030]

Scientists are unveiling a rare octopus that has never been on public display before.

And unlike other octopuses, where females have anasty habit of eating their partners during sex, Larger Pacific Striped Octopuses mate by pressing their beaks and suckers against each other in an intimate embrace.

The beautiful creature can also morph from dark red to black-and-white stripes and spots and can shape-shift from flat to expanded. The sea dweller will be on display starting today (Mar. 6) at the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco.

“I’m thrilled that Academy visitors will have the opportunity to view this fascinating animal up close in the aquarium, where they’ll see just why its beauty, unique mating technique and social habits are intriguing the cephalopod community,” said Richard Ross, a biologist at the California Academy of Sciences, in a statement. (via Rare Kissing Octopus Unveiled | LiveScience)

[adenozine]

For the octopus fans out there.

[adenozine]

Engineers also get to play with some pretty exciting toys.

Photos from a tour of Adelaide University's Mechanical and Electric/Electronic Engineering laboratories.

[itsokaytobesmart]

[adenozine]

Unstable Matter: An art installation of thousands of ball bearings on a wobbling table. To me, it’s part rain machine, and part homage to entropy, with periods of near stability dominated by the crashing rain of randomness.

(via jtotheizzoe via Colossal)

[odditiesoflife]

World’s Rarest and Least Known Animals

1) Sea Pig  2) Mudskipper Fish 3) Barrel Eye Fish  4) Coconut Crab  5) Fennec Fox   6) Pangolin  7) Lampreye Eel  8) Vampire Squid  9) Tarsier  10) Star Nosed Mole

[sciencesoup]

Creativity in Science

“They should have sent a poet,” whispers Ellie in the 1997 film Contact. She is a radio astronomer, and when sets eyes on an alien galaxy for the first time, she has no words for its beauty. Despite being fiction, I think this interestingly highlight for pursuits in arts and sciences to be cross-disciplinary. Many students lose interest in science at an early age because it’s largely “taught to the test”, and so there is a decreased focus on creativity and imagination. Even practical experiments allow little room for creativity, as students all expected to get the same results—and although this is important for teaching the scientific method, careers in science are not entirely like this: they require creativity and innovation. The infographic above shows the results of Creativity and Education: Why it Matters, a survey by research firm Edelman Berland (note: it is not specifically science-related). The research shows that that 85% of participants think creativity is crucial for problem solving in their career, yet 32% don’t feel comfortable thinking creatively. Yet, creativity is what keeps science moving forwards, because it fosters new connections and therefore gives rise to not only practical innovation, but also the creation of new knowledge. Scientists and engineers frequently encounter problems where they must use abstract, creative thinking, and they should be equipped to do this. From an early age, students should be encouraged to let their imaginations run wild, and also to use scientific reasoning to assess and test their ideas—and this approach of being open to multiple disciplines would be beneficial not only to science, but also foster innovation in other disciplines too. In Einstein’s words: “Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited to all we now know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world, and all there ever will be to know and understand.”