Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs), have been used to conduct undersea tasks, deemed unsafe for humans, for many years. But while they have been very successful at tackling projects like oil rig repairs, the vehicles lack the finesse and dexterity required to handle fragile missions like monitoring coral reefs. Their traditional boxy shape also makes it difficult for the robots to penetrate small areas without damaging the surrounding flora. Now thanks to Stanford University's mermaid robot, OceanOne, these shortcomings may be a thing of the past....
Read news articleWith technology permeating every aspect of our lives, it should come as no surprise that it is playing an important role at the 2016 Rio Olympics. Wearable tech is not just helping elite athletes deliver their optimal performance at this competitive sporting event where everyone is battling for Olympic gold, but also protecting them from serious injuries....
Read news articleThere are few celestial events as reliable or as anticipated as the annual Perseid meteor showers. The shooting star show typically begins in mid-July and continues until the end of August. However, it is most visible around mid-August. According to astronomers, this year the best time to watch nature’s fireworks will be the evening of Thursday, Aug 11 and the early hours of Friday, Aug 12....
Read news articleAlways wished we had a second Moon? Then you are in luck! NASA scientists from the Planetary Defense Coordination Office (PDCO) on Mount Haleakala in Maui, Hawaii recently discovered a small asteroid that they believe has been looping Earth for at least a century. But despite its unwavering loyalty to our planet, the researchers have no intention of calling it a moon. Instead, they refer to the asteroid, which has been dubbed 2016 H03, as a “quasi-moon” or “near-earth companion.”...
Read news articleThe phenomenal success of Finding Dory, the much-awaited sequel to the 2003 film, Finding Nemo, is being met with mixed feelings by marine experts. That’s because though the animated movie is the perfect platform to draw attention to the precarious state of our coral reefs, it may instead result in endangering both the reef and its inhabitants further....
Read news articleTo state that China has traffic issues is an understatement. A 2015 study conducted by navigation system maker TomTom revealed that the country is home to five of the top twenty most traffic congested cities in the world. Though Chinese authorities have tried to control the traffic flow with tactics that range from charging road tolls to building expressways with 50 lanes, nothing appears to be working. Now, some engineers are proposing an ingenious solution to ease the country’s traffic woes — An elevated bus that glides over cars!...
Read news articleToday, June 20, happens to be the first day of summer or summer “solstice.” Derived from the Latin words “sol” for “sun” and “sisto” for “stop,” it is the day when the North Pole is most inclined towards the sun. As a result, residents of the Northern Hemisphere enjoy the longest day of the year. The opposite, of course, is true for the residents of the Southern Hemisphere who will experience the shortest day of the year. What makes today’s summer solstice even more unique is that for the first time in many years, it coincides with a full moon....
Read news articleA few days after a massive storm battered Australia’s East Coast, sections of the coastline experienced a rare phenomenon – An ocean so foamy that it resembled a giant bubble bath. Experts say the marshmallow-like waters are a result of powerful ocean currents whipping together salts, chemicals, dead plants, decomposed fish, and seaweed excretions....
Read news articleControlling and interacting with content on a smartphone or tablet is a relatively easy task given their large screens. However, the same is not true for smartwatches which are proving to be more of a fashion statement than a piece of useful technology. Now a group of researchers from the Human-Computer Interaction Institute’s Future Interfaces Group (HCII) at Carnegie Mellon University is trying to change that with an invention that transforms the arm into a touchpad....
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