Scientists have created a swarm of over a thousand coin-sized robots that can assemble themselves into two-dimensional shapes by communicating with their neighbours.
At 1,024 members, this man-made flock — described in the 15 August issue of Science — is the largest yet to demonstrate collective behaviour. The self-organization techniques used by the tiny machines could aid the development of ‘transformer’ robots that reconfigure themselves, researchers say, and they might shed light on how complex swarms form in nature.
Scientists know that humans, chimpanzees, and other primates can convey surprising amounts of information by means of a glance and tilt of the head. But what about animals with eyes on the sides of their heads, like deer and horses? What kind of social cues do they use to communicate?
Now, mammal communication experts report that, at least for horses, a great deal of information is conveyed through the position of the animal’s ears as well as its eyes.
.
Author Jennifer Wathan is shown with study participant Bartie.
On the afternoon of Aug. 9, a police officer fatally shot an unarmed, black teenager, Michael Brown, in Ferguson, Missouri. Details remain in dispute. Eyewitnesses have said that Brown was compliant with police and was shot while he had his hands up. Police maintain that the 18-year-old had assaulted an officer and was reaching for the officer’s gun. One thing clear, however, is that Brown’s death follows a disturbingly common trend of black men being killed, often while unarmed and at the hands of police officers, security guards and vigilantes.
Problem: Your right-wing brother-in-law is plugged into the FOX-Limbaugh lie machine, and keeps sending you emails about “Obama spending” and “Obama deficits” and how the “stimulus” just made things worse.
Solution: Here are three “reality-based” charts to send to him.
.
Government spending increased dramatically under President Bush. It has not increased much under President Obama. This is just a fact.
Tunisian residents have a new beach to visit — right in the middle of the desert.
Locals were astounded when a lake appeared recently in a drought-stricken area. They’ve since named the miraculous sight “Gafsa Beach” for its location within a region of the same name in southern Tunisia.
The gym can be an intimidating place for the inexperienced. But in some cases, it’s the overly confident gym-goer to be wary of. Fitness fanatics don’t always take the time to reevaluate their routine, learn new techniques or prioritize health and safety.
Try as they might to set the record straight, fitness experts can’t be everywhere at all times, dispelling efficacy myths or correcting form. That’s why we decided to ask them to share the fitness pet peeves they’re tired of seeing.
The worst outbreak of Ebola virus in history — happening now in West Africa — has claimed more than 700 lives, according to the latest count from the World Health Organization. The deaths occurred in Sierra Leone, Liberia, Guinea and Nigeria.
“This outbreak is moving faster than our efforts to control it,” Margaret Chan, chief of the World Health Organization, said at a meeting, as reported by Reuters.
When astronomers detected a strange signal in a massive galaxy cluster millions of light years from Earth, they knew they had stumbled upon something big.
“I couldn’t believe my eyes,” Esra Bulbul, of the Harvard Center for Astrophysics, said in a written statement. “What we found, at first glance, could not be explained by known physics.”
Political favoritism can quite literally be seen from space, according to a new study that finds the home regions of leaders become brighter at night after the person comes to power.
The findings apply mostly to countries with weak political institutions and limited public education. One prominent example was Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo) during the reign of Mobuto Sese Seko. Mobuto, who was president between 1971 and 1997, was born near the small town of Gbadolite. While he was in power, the town flourished.
“Mobuto built a huge palace complex costing millions of dollars, luxury guesthouses, an airport capable of handling Concords, and had the country’s best supply of water, electricity and medical services,” study researcher Paul Raschky, an economist at Monash University in Australia, said in a statement. Years of satellite data reveal Gbadolite as initially dark at night, brightening under Mobuto and quickly fading again after the authoritarian ruler’s exile and death.
.
In this image, snapped from the International Space Station on Jan. 30, 2014, while South Korea (lower right) and China (upper left) are aglow in lights, poverty-stricken North Korea is really in the dark. | NASA Earth Observatory
Last we checked, ice cream is supposed to melt if it isn’t kept chilled.
But Walmart’s store-brand ice cream sandwiches don’t even melt in the sun, according to a report from WCPO Cincinnati.
The discovery was made by a local mom, Christie Watson, who noticed that a Great Value ice cream sandwich her son left out on their patio table hadn’t fully melted — even though it had been sitting out for 12 hours on an 80-degree day. Watson left a second ice cream sandwich out overnight with the same results, WCPO reports.
Film and Writing Festival for Comedy. Showcasing best of comedy short films at the FEEDBACK Film Festival. Plus, showcasing best of comedy novels, short stories, poems, screenplays (TV, short, feature) at the festival performed by professional actors.
.
James' World 2 