Lifelike wobble thanks to new software
The cartoon characters so loved by young and old audiences alike are becoming increasingly lifelike. In order for them to look realistic, animators invest a lot of time in making a fat belly wobble as...
View ArticleMethane-eating microbes found in Illinois aquifer
Methane-consuming microbes live deep underground in pristine aquifers, according to a study by the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory and the Environmental Protection Agency. This...
View ArticleSlingatron vision is to launch payloads into orbit
A Kickstarter project features Slingatron, the work of a seasoned team of scientists as a way to put cargo into orbit. The Slingatron is a mechanical, hypervelocity mass accelerator. The inventor of...
View ArticleBlackbody radiation induces attractive force stronger than gravity
Perfectly non-reflective objects, called blackbodies, produce blackbody radiation when at a uniform temperature. Although the properties of blackbody radiation depend on the blackbody's temperature,...
View ArticleWhat does a city's appearance say about itself?
Just as we are quick to judge people by their appearances, we can also get a good feel for a city from its appearance. With a quick glance, we subconsciously notice the cleanliness of the...
View ArticleMale kangaroos woo mates with bulging biceps
A male kangaroo's forearm size could be a sexually selected trait and help them find a mate, a new study has found.
View ArticlePutting the fire out with light
Chili peppers contain an activator of heat-sensitive pain receptors. An LMU team has now converted an antagonist to the compound into a light-sensitive regulator of such receptors that can...
View ArticlePigeons fly home with a map in their heads
It is a fascinating phenomenon that homing pigeons always find their way home. A doctoral student in biology at the University of Zurich has now carried out experiments proving that pigeons have a...
View ArticleElementary physics in a single molecule
A team of physicists has succeeded in performing an extraordinary experiment: They demonstrated how magnetism that generally manifests itself by a force between two magnetized objects acts within a...
View ArticleHuman hybrids: a closer look at the theory and evidence
There was considerable fallout, both positive and negative, from our first story covering the radical pig-chimp hybrid theory put forth by Dr. Eugene McCarthy, a geneticist who's proposing that humans...
View ArticleHot-fire tests show 3D printed rocket parts rival traditionally manufactured...
What can survive blazing temperatures of almost 6,000 degrees Fahrenheit without melting? What did not break apart at extreme pressures? What is made by a new process that forms a complex part in just...
View ArticleNew research suggests ancient Indonesian "hobbit" looked more like us than apes
A trio of researchers studying the skull bones of Homo floresiensis has determined that its face was likely much closer to that of humans than apes. In their paper published in the Journal of...
View ArticleWatching catalysts at work—at the atomic scale
Scientists of Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin (HZB) and collaborators have now combined the spectroscopic method "RIXS" with so-called ab initio theory in order to describe these processes in detail for a...
View ArticleWhat if quantum physics worked on a macroscopic level?
Quantum physics concerns a world of infinitely small things. But for years, researchers from the University of Geneva (UNIGE), Switzerland, have been attempting to observe the properties of quantum...
View ArticleMarine scientists are decoding the mechanism for long-term climate...
Why does hurricane activity vary from decade to decade? Or rainfall in the Sahel region? And why are the trans-Atlantic changes frequently in sync? A German-Russian research team has investigated the...
View ArticleHoney bee gene targeting offers system to understand food-related behavior
On July 25th JoVE, the Journal of Visualized Experiments will publish a new technique that will help scientists better understand the genes that govern food-related behavior in honey bees. The impact...
View ArticleNASA's Wise finds mysterious centaurs may be comets
The true identity of centaurs, the small celestial bodies orbiting the sun between Jupiter and Neptune, is one of the enduring mysteries of astrophysics. Are they asteroids or comets? A new study of...
View ArticleAn unexpected change in polymer structure opens a new avenue in the search...
Solar cells based on organic polymers are of great interest because the materials are both cheaper to make and easier to process than those used in traditional inorganic solar cells. To date, however,...
View ArticleScientists model 'extraordinary' performance of Bolt
As the world's best athletes descend on London today to take part in the Olympic Anniversary Games, a group of researchers from Mexico has provided an insight into the physics of one of the greatest...
View ArticleTeam examining Gulf shipwreck finds 2 other wrecks
(AP)—Marine archaeologists made a thrilling discovery this week while examining a well-preserved shipwreck deep in the Gulf of Mexico—two other sunken vessels that likely went down with it during an...
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