Two scientists from the University of Toronto have figured out a way to create cheaper, lighter and more flexible solar cells, CNET reports, which could allow more users in the future to harness energy directly from the sun for different purposes. More →
Star Trek-like teleportation for humans is a possibility one physics professor considers feasible in the distant future, The Telegraph reports, but the technology may be used for something else in the near future: Transporting information. More →
If you see an unidentified flying object with a Google logo on it, don’t worry too much — the company isn’t planning to abduct you and subject you to invasive probes, especially since its own algorithms are capable of probing you more thoroughly than any aliens ever could. Space.com reports that two years ago, some residents in Pike County, Kentucky reported seeing what they thought were UFOs from outer space but that turned out to be some of Google’s balloons that the company plans to use to bring Wi-Fi connectivity to rural parts of the world that lack Internet service. More →
While houses of varying quality have been 3D-printed before, one contractor in Minnesota wants to build one such home by using a specially designed 3D printer that uses cement as a filament, without compromising on build quality or design, 3DPrint reports. Furthermore, the contractor’s aim isn’t to finish the house as fast as possible, but rather to 3D print it efficiently and securely. More →
While not as thrilling as the suspended animation shown in sci-fi movies where the action involves long interstellar journeys, humanity is ready to start animation suspension tests for medical purposes, CNET reports. More →
This is hopefully the closest you’ll ever get to a supercell thunderstorm while standing outside. In a new video uploaded over the weekend, the Basehunters storm chasers group has posted time-lapse footage of a supercell forming over northeastern Wyoming and it’s truly a scary and awe-inspiring sight. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration informs us that supercells are storms that “contain updrafts that rotate about a vertical axis” and that “often produce damaging wind, large hail, and tornadoes.” The video crams hours worth of storm footage into just two minutes and it gives you an idea of just how big storms can grow in a fairly short amount of time. You can watch the full video below. More →
Living in the desert no longer has to mean being parched for drinking water. MIT has posted a video this month that shows how some researchers from its School of Engineering are working with researchers at the Pontificial University of Chile in Santiago to design a system for collecting fresh drinking water from fog that regularly rolls through Chile’s otherwise arid coastal region. More →
All proper sci-fi nerds have long dreamed of being able to take a trip in the Holodeck, a virtual reality chamber located on Star Trek’s USS Enterprise where you can simulate any time, place and situation you want to be in. Oliver Kreylos, a computer science professor and researcher at the University of California, Davis, has come the closest we’ve seen yet to creating a working Holodeck and he’s done it using an Oculus Rift virtual reality headset and three Kinect sensors from a previous-generation Xbox. More →
Your mother probably told you not to curse but it turns out she was depriving you from some much-needed emotional release. Per The Daily Mail, a new study conducted by psychologists at Keele University in Staffordshire, U.K. has found that swearing when frustrated can be a healthy emotional release that eases tension and even make us feel more capable and resilient. More →
We’ve been hearing about the potential of graphene in the electronics industry for years. Just last month, Samsung announced that it had discovered a new production method that could bring graphene to commercial products even sooner. Taking advantage of the material’s flexibility, Samsung believes that flexible displays will be much more than a gimmick in the coming years. More →
Have you ever gotten so addicted to a video game (I’m looking at you, Civilization!) that you’ve foregone eating and not felt hungry until after you’ve stopped playing? Well it turns out that there’s a scientific explanation for this phenomenon. Researchers at Plymouth University’s Cognition Institute in the United Kingdom have found that playing Tetris for a certain period of time actually seems to reduce natural cravings such as hunger. Essentially, the researchers claim that having an interactive visual stimulus such as Tetris or other video games in front of you can replace your cravings for a little bit. The researchers conclude that “Tetris might be a useful task for tackling cravings outside the laboratory,” although we’re unlikely to see a Tetris diet in the near future and forsaking food to play video games probably isn’t the healthiest way to lose weight.
Now this is an incredible way to count calories. Israeli company Consumer Physics has launched a new Kickstarter project that might be the most ambitious idea we’ve yet seen on the popular crowd-funding website. The product is called SCiO and it’s essentially a handheld spectrometer that breaks down an object’s compounds by scanning the way that light interacts with its molecular vibrations to determine its unique optical signature. More →
