Imagination — one of the least understood but most cherished products of the mind and brain — will become the focus of wide-ranging study at a new center jointly founded by UC San Diego and the Arthur C. Clarke Foundation. The two institutions have created the UCSD-based Center for Human Imagination, which will involve thinkers …
Tag Archives: research
Florida Keys sharks – catching and tagging them for science
For scientist Neil Hammerschlag, it was just another Sunday. He was out cruising the reefs near the Florida Keys, hunting for sharks — not as trophies, but for research aimed at keeping them out of display cases and in the water. In many places, these iconic predators are disappearing. A research assistant professor at the …
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How do octopuses navigate?
One researcher, Jennifer A. Mather, wondered: how do octopuses navigate? Do they rely on chemotactile sensory information (i.e. movement based on chemicals in the environment), or do they orient towards visual landmarks? Octopuses occupy “homes” for several days or in some instances for several weeks, and when they go out looking for food, they are sometimes gone for several …
Professors fight crime with math – using data to predict crime ‘hot spots’
I love this story on ‘predictive policing’. Researchers use data to predict “hot spots” for crime and then send it over to the police. The cops on the beat patrol those areas more often and crime drops. Math for the win. The best way to fight crime is to keep it from happening in the …
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Surfline gives a science lesson – The Anatomy of a Swell
Welcome to the first episode of “Anatomy of a Swell“, Surfline’s new series that dissects the science of swell events and brings the very best footage and photos to your computer, smart phone, or tablet. Our team of forecasters and scientists will break down all you could possibly want to know about a swell, including …
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An angry math blog sparked a scientific revolution
It began with a frustrated blogpost by a distinguished mathematician. Tim Gowers and his colleagues had been grumbling among themselves for several years about the rising costs of academic journals. They, like many other academics, were upset that the work produced by their peers, and funded largely by taxpayers, sat behind the paywalls of private …
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Soon cars will be ultra-light-weight and made out of carbon-fibre composites
The race is on to replace steel cars with carbon-fibre cars. All of the major automakers have inked deals to make the switch. The reason being that carbon-fibre is: “10 times stronger than regular-grade steel and one-quarter of steel’s weight.” “Using carbon fiber in lieu of conventional steel can lower the weight of a vehicle …
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Most of the translation on the planet is now done by Google Translate
“In a given day we translate roughly as much text as you’d find in 1 million books. To put it another way: what all the professional human translators in the world produce in a year, our system translates in roughly a single day. By this estimate, most of the translation on the planet is now …
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Capture a “moment-in-time” with new Microsoft project, Cliplet
Cliplet – a type of image that sits between a still image and video. It allows you to capture a moment-in-time instead of an instant. Microsoft Research is showing a new project called “Cliplets” that lets users turn video clips into something closer to a moving still image by effectively freezing a portion of the frame …
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Jet travels more than 13,000 mph (Mach 20) thanks to sleek aerodynamic systems
It’s amazing that this Hypersonic jet was able to travel more than 13,000 mph with heats of over 3,500 degrees. During flight it experienced shockwaves, 100 times more powerful than expected, which caused it to spin. It then righted itself and flew for twice as long before technicians finally aborted the mission. The full story: …
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