Scientists have discovered a small octopus city – dubbed Octlantis – a find that suggests members of the gloomy octopus species (Octopus tetricus) are perhaps not the isolated and solitary creatures we thought they were.
Octlantis features dens made out of piles of sand and shells, and is home to up to 15 of the cephalopods, according to marine biologists. They recorded 10 hours of video footage of the site, which lies 10 to 15 metres (33 to 49 feet) under the water and measures 18 by 4 metres (59 by 13 feet). Read Article: https://www.sciencealert.com/marine-biologists-discover-an-underwater-octopus-city-they-re-calling-octlantis (by Henry McDonald, The Guardian, May 8, 2017) – An Irish beach that disappeared more than 30 years ago has returned to an island off the County Mayo coast.
The sand at Dooagh, Achill Island, was washed away by storms in 1984, leaving only rocks and rock pools. But after a freak tide around Easter this year, hundreds of tons of sand were deposited around the area where the beach once stood, recreating the old 300-metre stretch of golden sand. Sean Molloy, manager at Achill Tourism, said local people were delighted to have the beach back. Read Article: https://www.studentnewsdaily.com/blog/human-interest-news-stories/irish-beach-reappears-overnight/ A team of researchers from the University of Houston has reported a breakthrough in stretchable electronics that can serve as an artificial skin, allowing a robotic hand to sense the difference between hot and cold, while also offering advantages for a wide range of biomedical devices.
Read Article: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/09/170913193055.htm After 13 years, space probe Cassini will destroy itself soon, torn apart in Saturn's atmosphere.9/14/2017
The $4bn (£3bn) mission is ending 13 years of discoveries at the ringed planet by ditching itself in the atmosphere.
With an expected entry speed of 120,000km/h (76,000mph), the spacecraft will rapidly be torn to pieces. Scientists, however, hope to gain new information on the chemical composition of Saturn’s gases just before Cassini loses radio contact with Earth. Read Article: http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-41207827 It looks like a regular roof, but the top of the Packard Electrical Engineering Building at Stanford University has been the setting of many milestones in the development of an innovative cooling technology that could someday be part of our everyday lives. Since 2013, Shanhui Fan, professor of electrical engineering, and his students and research associates have employed this roof as a testbed for a high-tech mirror-like optical surface that could be the future of lower-energy air conditioning and refrigeration.
Read Article: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/09/170905145530.htm What it takes to thrive, rather than merely survive, could be as simple as feeling good about life and yourself and being good at something, according to new research.
Read Article: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/09/170908205523.htm The temporary structures, which can be degraded away with a biocompatible chemical trigger, could be useful in fabricating microfluidic devices, creating biomaterials that respond dynamically to stimuli and in patterning artificial tissue.
Read Article: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/09/170907112405.htm A fascinating article about "rotor sails", a new, more efficient way to power ocean-going ships.9/7/2017
Early next year, a tanker vessel owned by Maersk, the Danish transportation conglomerate, and a passenger ship owned by Viking Cruises will be outfitted with spinning cylinders on their decks. Mounted vertically and up to 10 stories tall, these “rotor sails” could slash fuel consumption up to 10%, saving transportation companies hundreds of thousands of dollars and cutting soot-causing carbon emissions by thousands of tons per trip.
Read Article: http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2017/09/spinning-metal-sails-could-slash-fuel-consumption-emissions-cargo-ships Engineers have built a new type of gadget that doesn't look like most others. It's stretchy, thin and so light that a human hair can lift it. It's made from cheap, nontoxic materials. It can also vanish. After a month in acid — even just kitchen vinegar — the device is gone.
Chemical engineer Ting Lei helped design the innovation. He works in the lab of engineer Zhenan Bao at Stanford University in California. “We're focusing on low-cost sensors for flexible electronics,” Lei says. For about five years, Bao's group has been studying materials that can break down naturally. Read Article: https://www.sciencenewsforstudents.org/article/vinegar-dissolves-new-electronics-when-theyre-no-longer-needed The H.L. Hunley, the first combat submarine to sink an enemy ship, also instantly killed its own eight-man crew with the powerful explosive torpedo it carried, according to new research from a Duke University Ph.D. in biomedical engineering.
Read Article: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/08/170823140703.htm |
AuthorDavid Lo |