science

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The Bizarre World of Ferrofluid

Ready for some freaky science? My most recent obsession is ferrofluid, a liquid containing ferromagnetic nanoparticles that respond strongly to magnets, while remaining in liquid suspension. Okay, in layman's terms, this stuff is basically the oil monster from Star Trek the Next Generation (the one that ate Tasha Yar). The best way to understand what this stuff looks like is to see it in action. Check out Sachiko Kodama's "Morpho Tower," a moving, changing sculpture: (Check out more sculptures... READ ON

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The Proliferation of Kingdoms

It used to be as easy as animal, vegetable, and mineral. My fifth-grade daughter was assigned some homework for the weekend. She had to illustrate the Five Kingdoms. The Five Kingdoms? Well, there's Munchkin Land, the Emerald City, Winki Country... "No, Mom, you know, Animals, Plants, Fungi, Monderans..." What? Monderans? When I was her age, all life was divided into the plant kingdom and the animal kingdom. Since then, discoveries have strained the definition of a plant or an animal.... READ ON

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Longevity from Bees, Headgear that's cool, and Why Cavemen are Sexy

Bite Down to Change Songs My least favorite part about the iPod is having to always stop running to pull it out to switch songs. The researchers at Osaka University must have had me in mind when they came up with a creative new way to control a music player- teeth. They've designed a piece of head gear that detects when the user is clenching their teeth, which can then be used to control a music device. Clenching on the left skips a song, while clenching on the right side makes a song start or... READ ON

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Does Pavlov Live on in DJ Casper? Convince Me I'm Wrong.

Though it may seem ridiculous, I've had a theory for a long time that the best modern example of Ivan Pavlov's work is a line from DJ Casper's dance hit "Cha-Cha Slide." The whole song is just a series of instructions, but one line in particular sticks out (those who haven't attended an event with a DJ in the last six years can watch the video here). At about the 2:10 mark, DJ Casper calls out "Everybody clap your hands," which is followed by a steady... READ ON

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My Favorite Documentaries: Fast, Cheap and Out of Control

One of my all-time favorite documentaries is Errol Morris's 1997 film Fast, Cheap and Out of Control. As a punctuation nerd, I disagree with the lack of a serial comma in its title, but we'll let that slide. Anyway. This film is about humanity, the nature of life on earth, and how humans interact with their world. It covers a lot of ground. One problem with Fast, Cheap and Out of Control is the naive marketing that surrounds it. The DVD box seems to think the film is a wacky look at some kooks --... READ ON

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Chocolate Toothpaste, Paper-thin Batteries and the Resurgence of the Dodo (the bird, not your neighbor)?

A Toothpaste Cathy Would Love I didn't think it could get any better than the day my dental hygienist told me that beer cleaned teeth (a fact I've never bothered to verify because I just don't want it to be wrong). But now it turns out that chocolate may be the best ingredient to add to toothpaste. A doctoral candidate at Tulane University has shown that cocoa extract is more effective at fighting cavities than fluoride, having done animal tests and developed a peppermint toothpaste... READ ON

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Mesmerizing: Keepon Dancing Robot

Engadget turned up a fun story today about a little yellow robot who just can't stop dancing. The robot is named Keepon (pronounced "Key-pong" though I prefer to think of him as "Keepon Dancing") and is developed by Hideki Kozima (with dance-programming by Marek Michalowski). Looking a bit like two tennis balls plus eyes and a nose, Keepon is capable of dancing along to music. Because his two eyes are actually cameras (and his nose is a microphone), Keepon is able to interact with his environment,... READ ON

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Firefighting Beetles, Polite Phones and Even More Polite Primates

Superdad Every roving bachelor has the fear that he's got a son out there. But hey, it could be worse. Just look at Genghis Khan, who spawned enough children that he is now related to 16 million men in Central Asia. The great warrior was legendary for having his way with women, but the scope of his exploits was never fully realized until now. A team of geneticists studying Asian men found that a number of them had similar DNA, which they managed to pin on Khan. From this they realized that 1 in... READ ON

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Don't Try This at Home: Totally Dangerous Experiments

Learning about science and the experimental method is a lot of fun. Mix this with that and see what you get! Sometimes the result can be, well, hazardous to your health. But if you survive such an encounter, you have to tell all your friends. With the internet, you can tell everyone, and even show the video. But seeing it done doesn't make these experiments any safer. Remember, the ones who survived to tell their tales are the lucky ones. Most of the experiments detailed here were done by... READ ON

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Joking Robots, Fat-Detecting Chairs and a Suddenly Shrinking Lake

So this robot walks into a bar"¦ What's a robot's favorite album? Spark Side of the Moon. Robots don't get that joke, since it requires a (relatively) complex analysis of word substitution and figuring out why it's funny. Two researchers at the University of Cincinnati are working on a robot that does understand simple puns, though. By giving the bot a vocabulary and then teaching it how certain words can be substituted for others, they say they can teach the robot to... READ ON