madnessinthemusic: duce-juice: Can someone from the sciencey side of tumblr please explain this ? This is called shape memory. It’s made from an alloy of titanium and nickel (I believe it’s called nitinol). It has the ability to “remember” the shape it’s taken. When cold you can bend it whatever which way, but once you heat it (or in this case put it in what I presume is hot water) it will take the original shape.
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madnessinthemusic:

duce-juice:

Can someone from the sciencey side of tumblr please explain this ?

This is called shape memory. It’s made from an alloy of titanium and nickel (I believe it’s called nitinol). It has the ability to “remember” the shape it’s taken.

When cold you can bend it whatever which way, but once you heat it (or in this case put it in what I presume is hot water) it will take the original shape.

(via shortstackcomics)

Source: onlylolgifs

riotrite: neurolove: How can things taste or feel “cold” or “hot”? FLASHBACK This sensation is called chemosthesis and refers to the fact that chemicals that you can taste or apply to your skin can cause “touch” feelings (temperature is part of the “touch” sense whereas chemical sensing is either “taste” or “smell” typically).  This would be with icy hot where it feels cold or hot, but your skin temperature does not actually change or when you eat mints and they “taste cold” or when you eat some spicy food and it “tastes hot”. These cold or hot feelings or tastes are not actually related to temperature.  Two chemicals in particular can activate the TRP channels we talked about previously.  Menthol (found in mint and icy hot) activates TRPM8 channels that typically sense cold temperatures, while capsaicin (found in chili peppers and other “spicy” foods) activates TRPV1 channels that typically respond to heat.  These chemicals attach to the TRP channel and cause it to open the same way temperature would, causing the same responses in the neurons- in your mouth and on your skin.  This is why the foods or other chemicals containing these compounds really do taste or feel “hot” or “cold”.  It is the same neural response. Coincidentally, this is why drinking water after having some spicy foods will not help- the water will just move the chemicals around and cause them to activate even more TRP channels, making the feeling stronger.  Most concentrated fluids, like milk, can help wash away and displace the chemicals, so the TRP channels will stop being activated. [Image Source] One small correction! Drinking water doesn’t help the hot feeling because capsaicin is hydrophobic, not because water “moves the chemicals around.” Water is actually ineffective specifically because it does not do a good job of moving the chemicals around. Milk does, though, because capsaicin is fat-soluble.
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riotrite:

neurolove:

How can things taste or feel “cold” or “hot”? FLASHBACK

This sensation is called chemosthesis and refers to the fact that chemicals that you can taste or apply to your skin can cause “touch” feelings (temperature is part of the “touch” sense whereas chemical sensing is either “taste” or “smell” typically).  This would be with icy hot where it feels cold or hot, but your skin temperature does not actually change or when you eat mints and they “taste cold” or when you eat some spicy food and it “tastes hot”.

These cold or hot feelings or tastes are not actually related to temperature.  Two chemicals in particular can activate the TRP channels we talked about previously.  Menthol (found in mint and icy hot) activates TRPM8 channels that typically sense cold temperatures, while capsaicin (found in chili peppers and other “spicy” foods) activates TRPV1 channels that typically respond to heat.  These chemicals attach to the TRP channel and cause it to open the same way temperature would, causing the same responses in the neurons- in your mouth and on your skin.  This is why the foods or other chemicals containing these compounds really do taste or feel “hot” or “cold”.  It is the same neural response.

Coincidentally, this is why drinking water after having some spicy foods will not help- the water will just move the chemicals around and cause them to activate even more TRP channels, making the feeling stronger.  Most concentrated fluids, like milk, can help wash away and displace the chemicals, so the TRP channels will stop being activated.

[Image Source]

One small correction! Drinking water doesn’t help the hot feeling because capsaicin is hydrophobic, not because water “moves the chemicals around.” Water is actually ineffective specifically because it does not do a good job of moving the chemicals around. Milk does, though, because capsaicin is fat-soluble.

Source: neurolove

loweryi: 8bitfuture: New streetlamps could improve your view of the stars. A new paper published in the journal Optics Express describes a system for focusing light from streetlamps directly on the area required, with almost no light leakage horizontally or vertically. Conventional street lamps scatter up to 20% of their energy away from where it is required, not only wasting power but also leading to light pollution which obscures your view of the night sky. The proposed LED lamp uses a lens to limit where the light is projected, with a reflecting cavity to recyle light that would otherwise be wasted. The team thinks the system would use between 10 to 50% less power to illuminate a section of road than current LED streetlamps, which are already more efficient than regular lamps. A prototype is being developed and is hoped to be completed this October. pLEASE
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loweryi:

8bitfuture:

New streetlamps could improve your view of the stars.

A new paper published in the journal Optics Express describes a system for focusing light from streetlamps directly on the area required, with almost no light leakage horizontally or vertically. Conventional street lamps scatter up to 20% of their energy away from where it is required, not only wasting power but also leading to light pollution which obscures your view of the night sky.

The proposed LED lamp uses a lens to limit where the light is projected, with a reflecting cavity to recyle light that would otherwise be wasted. The team thinks the system would use between 10 to 50% less power to illuminate a section of road than current LED streetlamps, which are already more efficient than regular lamps.

A prototype is being developed and is hoped to be completed this October.

pLEASE

(via hexephra)

Source: BBC

abluegirl: Living Wall These vegetated surfaces don’t just look pretty. They have other benefits as well, including cooling city blocks, reducing loud noises, and improving a building’s energy efficiency.What’s more, a recent modeling study shows that green walls can potentially reduce large amounts of air pollution in what’s called a “street canyon,” or the corridor between tall buildings. For the study, Thomas Pugh, a biogeochemist at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology in Germany, and his colleagues created a computer model of a green wall with generic vegetation in a Western European city. Then they recorded chemical reactions based on a variety of factors, such as wind speed and building placement. The simulation revealed a clear pattern: A green wall in a street canyon trapped or absorbed large amounts of nitrogen dioxide and particulate matter—both pollutants harmful to people, said Pugh. Compared with reducing emissions from cars, little attention has been focused on how to trap or take up more of the pollutants, added Pugh, whose study was published last year in the journal Environmental Science & Technology. That’s why the green-wall study is “putting forward an alternative solution that might allow [governments] to improve air quality in these problem hot spots,” he said.Compared with reducing emissions from cars, little attention has been focused on how to trap or take up more of the pollutants, added Pugh, whose study was published last year in the journal Environmental Science & Technology. That’s why the green-wall study is “putting forward an alternative solution that might allow [governments] to improve air quality in these problem hot spots,” he said. Full Gallery
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abluegirl: Living Wall These vegetated surfaces don’t just look pretty. They have other benefits as well, including cooling city blocks, reducing loud noises, and improving a building’s energy efficiency.What’s more, a recent modeling study shows that green walls can potentially reduce large amounts of air pollution in what’s called a “street canyon,” or the corridor between tall buildings. For the study, Thomas Pugh, a biogeochemist at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology in Germany, and his colleagues created a computer model of a green wall with generic vegetation in a Western European city. Then they recorded chemical reactions based on a variety of factors, such as wind speed and building placement. The simulation revealed a clear pattern: A green wall in a street canyon trapped or absorbed large amounts of nitrogen dioxide and particulate matter—both pollutants harmful to people, said Pugh. Compared with reducing emissions from cars, little attention has been focused on how to trap or take up more of the pollutants, added Pugh, whose study was published last year in the journal Environmental Science & Technology. That’s why the green-wall study is “putting forward an alternative solution that might allow [governments] to improve air quality in these problem hot spots,” he said.Compared with reducing emissions from cars, little attention has been focused on how to trap or take up more of the pollutants, added Pugh, whose study was published last year in the journal Environmental Science & Technology. That’s why the green-wall study is “putting forward an alternative solution that might allow [governments] to improve air quality in these problem hot spots,” he said. Full Gallery
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abluegirl: Living Wall These vegetated surfaces don’t just look pretty. They have other benefits as well, including cooling city blocks, reducing loud noises, and improving a building’s energy efficiency.What’s more, a recent modeling study shows that green walls can potentially reduce large amounts of air pollution in what’s called a “street canyon,” or the corridor between tall buildings. For the study, Thomas Pugh, a biogeochemist at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology in Germany, and his colleagues created a computer model of a green wall with generic vegetation in a Western European city. Then they recorded chemical reactions based on a variety of factors, such as wind speed and building placement. The simulation revealed a clear pattern: A green wall in a street canyon trapped or absorbed large amounts of nitrogen dioxide and particulate matter—both pollutants harmful to people, said Pugh. Compared with reducing emissions from cars, little attention has been focused on how to trap or take up more of the pollutants, added Pugh, whose study was published last year in the journal Environmental Science & Technology. That’s why the green-wall study is “putting forward an alternative solution that might allow [governments] to improve air quality in these problem hot spots,” he said.Compared with reducing emissions from cars, little attention has been focused on how to trap or take up more of the pollutants, added Pugh, whose study was published last year in the journal Environmental Science & Technology. That’s why the green-wall study is “putting forward an alternative solution that might allow [governments] to improve air quality in these problem hot spots,” he said. Full Gallery
Zoom Info
abluegirl: Living Wall These vegetated surfaces don’t just look pretty. They have other benefits as well, including cooling city blocks, reducing loud noises, and improving a building’s energy efficiency.What’s more, a recent modeling study shows that green walls can potentially reduce large amounts of air pollution in what’s called a “street canyon,” or the corridor between tall buildings. For the study, Thomas Pugh, a biogeochemist at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology in Germany, and his colleagues created a computer model of a green wall with generic vegetation in a Western European city. Then they recorded chemical reactions based on a variety of factors, such as wind speed and building placement. The simulation revealed a clear pattern: A green wall in a street canyon trapped or absorbed large amounts of nitrogen dioxide and particulate matter—both pollutants harmful to people, said Pugh. Compared with reducing emissions from cars, little attention has been focused on how to trap or take up more of the pollutants, added Pugh, whose study was published last year in the journal Environmental Science & Technology. That’s why the green-wall study is “putting forward an alternative solution that might allow [governments] to improve air quality in these problem hot spots,” he said.Compared with reducing emissions from cars, little attention has been focused on how to trap or take up more of the pollutants, added Pugh, whose study was published last year in the journal Environmental Science & Technology. That’s why the green-wall study is “putting forward an alternative solution that might allow [governments] to improve air quality in these problem hot spots,” he said. Full Gallery
Zoom Info
abluegirl: Living Wall These vegetated surfaces don’t just look pretty. They have other benefits as well, including cooling city blocks, reducing loud noises, and improving a building’s energy efficiency.What’s more, a recent modeling study shows that green walls can potentially reduce large amounts of air pollution in what’s called a “street canyon,” or the corridor between tall buildings. For the study, Thomas Pugh, a biogeochemist at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology in Germany, and his colleagues created a computer model of a green wall with generic vegetation in a Western European city. Then they recorded chemical reactions based on a variety of factors, such as wind speed and building placement. The simulation revealed a clear pattern: A green wall in a street canyon trapped or absorbed large amounts of nitrogen dioxide and particulate matter—both pollutants harmful to people, said Pugh. Compared with reducing emissions from cars, little attention has been focused on how to trap or take up more of the pollutants, added Pugh, whose study was published last year in the journal Environmental Science & Technology. That’s why the green-wall study is “putting forward an alternative solution that might allow [governments] to improve air quality in these problem hot spots,” he said.Compared with reducing emissions from cars, little attention has been focused on how to trap or take up more of the pollutants, added Pugh, whose study was published last year in the journal Environmental Science & Technology. That’s why the green-wall study is “putting forward an alternative solution that might allow [governments] to improve air quality in these problem hot spots,” he said. Full Gallery
Zoom Info
abluegirl: Living Wall These vegetated surfaces don’t just look pretty. They have other benefits as well, including cooling city blocks, reducing loud noises, and improving a building’s energy efficiency.What’s more, a recent modeling study shows that green walls can potentially reduce large amounts of air pollution in what’s called a “street canyon,” or the corridor between tall buildings. For the study, Thomas Pugh, a biogeochemist at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology in Germany, and his colleagues created a computer model of a green wall with generic vegetation in a Western European city. Then they recorded chemical reactions based on a variety of factors, such as wind speed and building placement. The simulation revealed a clear pattern: A green wall in a street canyon trapped or absorbed large amounts of nitrogen dioxide and particulate matter—both pollutants harmful to people, said Pugh. Compared with reducing emissions from cars, little attention has been focused on how to trap or take up more of the pollutants, added Pugh, whose study was published last year in the journal Environmental Science & Technology. That’s why the green-wall study is “putting forward an alternative solution that might allow [governments] to improve air quality in these problem hot spots,” he said.Compared with reducing emissions from cars, little attention has been focused on how to trap or take up more of the pollutants, added Pugh, whose study was published last year in the journal Environmental Science & Technology. That’s why the green-wall study is “putting forward an alternative solution that might allow [governments] to improve air quality in these problem hot spots,” he said. Full Gallery
Zoom Info

abluegirl:

Living Wall

These vegetated surfaces don’t just look pretty. They have other benefits as well, including cooling city blocks, reducing loud noises, and improving a building’s energy efficiency.What’s more, a recent modeling study shows that green walls can potentially reduce large amounts of air pollution in what’s called a “street canyon,” or the corridor between tall buildings.

For the study, Thomas Pugh, a biogeochemist at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology in Germany, and his colleagues created a computer model of a green wall with generic vegetation in a Western European city. Then they recorded chemical reactions based on a variety of factors, such as wind speed and building placement.

The simulation revealed a clear pattern: A green wall in a street canyon trapped or absorbed large amounts of nitrogen dioxide and particulate matter—both pollutants harmful to people, said Pugh. Compared with reducing emissions from cars, little attention has been focused on how to trap or take up more of the pollutants, added Pugh, whose study was published last year in the journal Environmental Science & Technology.

That’s why the green-wall study is “putting forward an alternative solution that might allow [governments] to improve air quality in these problem hot spots,” he said.Compared with reducing emissions from cars, little attention has been focused on how to trap or take up more of the pollutants, added Pugh, whose study was published last year in the journal Environmental Science & Technology.

That’s why the green-wall study is “putting forward an alternative solution that might allow [governments] to improve air quality in these problem hot spots,” he said.

Full Gallery

(via spacemoth)

Source: National Geographic

hexephra: procyonvulpecula: pagannerd: proxydialogue: anneretic: infinity-imagined: The collision between the Milky Way Galaxy and the Andromeda Galaxy. the grand showdown Andromeda is a bit bigger than us. So when that happens, Andromeda’s black hole is gonna consume our black hole in a vicious act of galactic canabalism.  Which is an actual term used in astronomy apparently.  “Galactic Cannabalism” sounds like an electro/death metal fusion band. Galactic cannibalism is one of my favourite astronomical terms, but it doesn’t beat the term used for the stretching out into a long thin tube that occurs when something falls into a black hole (spaghettification) or the term used for a rock thought to be a meteorite but which later turns out to be an ordinary terrestrial rock (meteowrong). that is simultaneously violent, beautiful, and terrifying.
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hexephra:

procyonvulpecula:

pagannerd:

proxydialogue:

anneretic:

infinity-imagined:

The collision between the Milky Way Galaxy and the Andromeda Galaxy.

the grand showdown

Andromeda is a bit bigger than us. So when that happens, Andromeda’s black hole is gonna consume our black hole in a vicious act of galactic canabalism. 

Which is an actual term used in astronomy apparently. 

“Galactic Cannabalism” sounds like an electro/death metal fusion band.

Galactic cannibalism is one of my favourite astronomical terms, but it doesn’t beat the term used for the stretching out into a long thin tube that occurs when something falls into a black hole (spaghettification) or the term used for a rock thought to be a meteorite but which later turns out to be an ordinary terrestrial rock (meteowrong).

that is simultaneously violent, beautiful, and terrifying.

Source: dewogong

fanboywatchtower: iancsamson: loveandaccept: newvagabond: maxistentialist: Tweenbots by Kacie Kinzer: Given their extreme vulnerability, the vastness of city space, the dangers posed by traffic, suspicion of terrorism, and the possibility that no one would be interested in helping a lost little robot, I initially conceived the Tweenbots as disposable creatures which were more likely to struggle and die in the city than to reach their destination. Because I built them with minimal technology, I had no way of tracking the Tweenbot’s progress, and so I set out on the first test with a video camera hidden in my purse. I placed the Tweenbot down on the sidewalk, and walked far enough away that I would not be observed as the Tweenbot––a smiling 10-inch tall cardboard missionary––bumped along towards his inevitable fate. The results were unexpected. Over the course of the following months, throughout numerous missions, the Tweenbots were successful in rolling from their start point to their far-away destination assisted only by strangers. Every time the robot got caught under a park bench, ground futilely against a curb, or became trapped in a pothole, some passerby would always rescue it and send it toward its goal. Never once was a Tweenbot lost or damaged. Often, people would ignore the instructions to aim the Tweenbot in the “right” direction, if that direction meant sending the robot into a perilous situation. One man turned the robot back in the direction from which it had just come, saying out loud to the Tweenbot, “You can’t go that way, it’s toward the road.” The Tweenbot’s unexpected presence in the city created an unfolding narrative that spoke not simply to the vastness of city space and to the journey of a human-assisted robot, but also to the power of a simple technological object to create a complex network powered by human intelligence and asynchronous interactions. But of more interest to me, was the fact that this ad-hoc crowdsourcing was driven primarily by human empathy for an anthropomorphized object. The journey the Tweenbots take each time they are released in the city becomes a story of people’s willingness to engage with a creature that mirrors human characteristics of vulnerability, of being lost, and of having intention without the means of achieving its goal alone. As each encounter with a helpful pedestrian takes the robot one step closer to attaining it’s destination, the significance of our random discoveries and individual actions accumulates into a story about a vast space made small by an even smaller robot. AwwWWWWWWAHHHHHHHHHHHH. In. Credible. A testament to the kindness of strangers! Well, at least to adorable little robots. No robot apocalypse if we kill them with kindness! Wall-e would be proud!
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fanboywatchtower:

iancsamson:

loveandaccept:

newvagabond:

maxistentialist:

Tweenbots by Kacie Kinzer:

Given their extreme vulnerability, the vastness of city space, the dangers posed by traffic, suspicion of terrorism, and the possibility that no one would be interested in helping a lost little robot, I initially conceived the Tweenbots as disposable creatures which were more likely to struggle and die in the city than to reach their destination. Because I built them with minimal technology, I had no way of tracking the Tweenbot’s progress, and so I set out on the first test with a video camera hidden in my purse. I placed the Tweenbot down on the sidewalk, and walked far enough away that I would not be observed as the Tweenbot––a smiling 10-inch tall cardboard missionary––bumped along towards his inevitable fate.

The results were unexpected. Over the course of the following months, throughout numerous missions, the Tweenbots were successful in rolling from their start point to their far-away destination assisted only by strangers. Every time the robot got caught under a park bench, ground futilely against a curb, or became trapped in a pothole, some passerby would always rescue it and send it toward its goal. Never once was a Tweenbot lost or damaged. Often, people would ignore the instructions to aim the Tweenbot in the “right” direction, if that direction meant sending the robot into a perilous situation. One man turned the robot back in the direction from which it had just come, saying out loud to the Tweenbot, “You can’t go that way, it’s toward the road.”

The Tweenbot’s unexpected presence in the city created an unfolding narrative that spoke not simply to the vastness of city space and to the journey of a human-assisted robot, but also to the power of a simple technological object to create a complex network powered by human intelligence and asynchronous interactions. But of more interest to me, was the fact that this ad-hoc crowdsourcing was driven primarily by human empathy for an anthropomorphized object. The journey the Tweenbots take each time they are released in the city becomes a story of people’s willingness to engage with a creature that mirrors human characteristics of vulnerability, of being lost, and of having intention without the means of achieving its goal alone. As each encounter with a helpful pedestrian takes the robot one step closer to attaining it’s destination, the significance of our random discoveries and individual actions accumulates into a story about a vast space made small by an even smaller robot.

AwwWWWWWWAHHHHHHHHHHHH.

In. Credible.

A testament to the kindness of strangers! Well, at least to adorable little robots. No robot apocalypse if we kill them with kindness!

Wall-e would be proud!

Source: tweenbots.com

Scientists have been looking into why people get songs stuck in my head, which is good because the other week I had the same four bars of a song going through my head for three days straight.

They found that while Sudoku puzzles could help prevent the songs from replaying their heads, if they were too difficult it had little effect.

Anagrams were more successful and they found that solving those with five letters gave the best results.

“Verbal tasks like solving anagrams or reading a good novel seem to be very good at keeping earworms out,” said Dr [Ira] Hyman, who now hopes to examine whether similar techniques could be used to prevent other intrusive thoughts caused by anxiety or obsessiveness.

Source: themarysue.com

guardian: What causes sinkholes? It’s the stuff of nightmares: last week, the ground opened up and swallowed a Florida man as he lay sleeping in his home. But why do these sinkholes occur and how widespread are they? Photos: 1. Three buildings collapsed after a huge hole appeared in, Guangzhou, Guangdong province, China on 28 Jan 2013. There are no casualties from the incident, which was near a metro tunnel construction site. Imaginechina/Rex Features. 2. Guatemala city, 2007 Photograph: Ulises Rodriguez/EPA/Corbis
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guardian: What causes sinkholes? It’s the stuff of nightmares: last week, the ground opened up and swallowed a Florida man as he lay sleeping in his home. But why do these sinkholes occur and how widespread are they? Photos: 1. Three buildings collapsed after a huge hole appeared in, Guangzhou, Guangdong province, China on 28 Jan 2013. There are no casualties from the incident, which was near a metro tunnel construction site. Imaginechina/Rex Features. 2. Guatemala city, 2007 Photograph: Ulises Rodriguez/EPA/Corbis
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guardian:

What causes sinkholes?

It’s the stuff of nightmares: last week, the ground opened up and swallowed a Florida man as he lay sleeping in his home. But why do these sinkholes occur and how widespread are they?

Photos: 1. Three buildings collapsed after a huge hole appeared in, Guangzhou, Guangdong province, China on 28 Jan 2013. There are no casualties from the incident, which was near a metro tunnel construction site. Imaginechina/Rex Features. 2. Guatemala city, 2007 Photograph: Ulises Rodriguez/EPA/Corbis