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Categories: Computer Science: Virtual Reality (VR), Offbeat: Earth and Climate
Published Producing 'green' energy -- literally -- from living plant 'bio-solar cells'
(via sciencedaily.com) Though plants can serve as a source of food, oxygen and décor, they're not often considered to be a good source of electricity. But by collecting electrons naturally transported within plant cells, scientists can generate electricity as part of a 'green,' biological solar cell. Now, researchers have used a succulent plant to create a living 'bio-solar cell' that runs on photosynthesis.
Published Fossil site reveals giant arthropods dominated the seas 470 million years ago
(via sciencedaily.com) Discoveries at a major new fossil site in Morocco suggest giant arthropods -- relatives of modern creatures including shrimps, insects and spiders -- dominated the seas 470 million years ago.
Published Precise solar observations fed millions in ancient Mexico
(via sciencedaily.com) Without clocks or modern tools, ancient Mexicans watched the sun to maintain a farming calendar that precisely tracked seasons and even adjusted for leap years.
Published Extinct 'monkey lemur' shows similarities to fossil humans
(via sciencedaily.com) Analysis of teeth of extinct lemurs has revealed fascinating clues to the evolution of humans, a new study has found.
Published Microplastic pollution swirling in city air: Millions of plastic bottles per year
(via sciencedaily.com) Researchers calculated that 74 metric tons of microplastics are dropping out of the atmosphere onto the city annually, the equivalent of more than 3 million plastic bottles falling from the sky.
Published Does throwing my voice make you want to shop here?
(via sciencedaily.com) By breaking the laws of physics in a virtual reality environment, researchers find that changing the location of a virtual assistant's voice in specific ways can be used as a tool to build rapport with customers.
Published Reliance on moose as prey led to rare coyote attack on human
(via sciencedaily.com) Wildlife researchers have completed a study that may settle the question of why, in October 2009, a group of coyotes launched an unprovoked fatal attack on a young woman who was hiking in a Canadian park. Researchers concluded that the coyotes were forced to rely on moose instead of smaller mammals for the bulk of their diet -- and as a result of adapting to that unusually large food source, perceived a lone hiker as potential prey.
Published Paper-thin solar cell can turn any surface into a power source
(via sciencedaily.com) MIT researchers developed a scalable fabrication technique to produce ultrathin, flexible, durable, lightweight solar cells that can be stuck to any surface. Glued to high-strength fabric, the solar cells are only one-hundredth the weight of conventional cells while producing about 18 times more power-per-kilogram.
Published Microbial miners could help humans colonize the moon and Mars
(via sciencedaily.com) The biochemical process by which cyanobacteria acquire nutrients from rocks in Chile's Atacama Desert has inspired engineers at the University of California, Irvine to think of new ways microbes might help humans build colonies on the moon and Mars.
Published Improving the accuracy of markerless gait analysis
(via sciencedaily.com) Gait analysis systems measure certain metrics to give their results. These results then drive clinical treatment for gait correction. However, detailed gait analysis requires expensive equipment, and a lot of space, markers, time. Measurements from markerless, video-based gait analysis systems, on the other hand, are inaccurate. To improve upon existing systems, researchers have now combined RGB camera-based pose estimation and an inertial measurement unit sensor for gait analysis. This significantly reduces errors in the process.
Published Discovery of world's oldest DNA breaks record by one million years
(via sciencedaily.com) Two-million-year-old DNA has been identified -- opening a 'game-changing' new chapter in the history of evolution. Microscopic fragments of environmental DNA were found in Ice Age sediment in northern Greenland. Using cutting-edge technology, researchers discovered the fragments are one million years older than the previous record for DNA sampled from a Siberian mammoth bone. The ancient DNA has been used to map a two-million-year-old ecosystem which weathered extreme climate change.
Published Dinosaurs were on the up before asteroid downfall
(via sciencedaily.com) Dinosaurs dominated the world right up until a deadly asteroid hit the earth, leading to their mass extinction, some 66 million years ago, a landmark study reveals. Fresh insights into dinosaurs' ecosystems -- the habitats and food types that supported their lives -- suggests that their environments were robust and thriving, right up until that fateful day, at the end of the Cretaceous period.
Published Megadrought: How the current Southwestern North American megadrought is affecting Earth's upper atmosphere
(via sciencedaily.com) New research, based on two decades' worth of data, shows that in the ten years after its onset in 2000, the Southwestern North American (SWNA) megadrought caused a 30% change in gravity wave activity in Earth's upper atmosphere.
Published Researchers advance insights into cause of ripples on icicles
(via sciencedaily.com) Experimental physicists growing icicles are closer to understanding why some form with ripples up and down their outsides, while others form with smooth, slick, even surfaces. By growing icicles from water samples with different contaminants like sodium chloride (salt), dextrose (sugar) and fluorescent dye, they discovered that water impurities become entrapped within icicles as they form and subsequently create chevron patterns that contribute to a ripple effect around their circumferences.
Published Wine forecast: Britain could be Chardonnay champions by 2050
(via sciencedaily.com) As a result of climate change, over one-fifth of the UK may have suitable weather by mid-Century to grow Chardonnay grapes for still wines, according to new research.
Published Pedestrians choose healthy obstacles over boring pavements
(via sciencedaily.com) Up to 78% of walkers would take a more challenging route featuring obstacles such as balancing beams, stepping stones and high steps, research has found. The findings suggest that providing 'Active Landscape' routes in urban areas could help tackle an 'inactivity pandemic' and improve health outcomes.
Published Fossil discovery in storeroom cupboard shifts origin of modern lizard back 35 million years
(via sciencedaily.com) A specimen retrieved from a cupboard of the Natural History Museum in London has shown that modern lizards originated in the Late Triassic and not the Middle Jurassic as previously thought.
Published Purchasing loot boxes in video games associated with problem gambling risk, says study
(via sciencedaily.com) Gamers who buy 'loot boxes' are up to two times more likely to gamble, shows new research.
Published Flowers show their true colors
(via sciencedaily.com) A plant common to Japan, Causonis japonica, is the first to show a newly discovered trait. Its flowers can change color depending on the stage of its maturation cycle, and then change back to its original color. Although many flowers have been shown to change color depending on their maturation phase, Causonis japonica is the only known example of bidirectional color change. The pigments involved in the colors are related to nutrient-rich colorful vegetables, so understanding the flowers' color-changing tricks could have downstream applications in improving nutrient yields in certain food crops.
Published Crowding makes time seem to pass more slowly
(via sciencedaily.com) Testing time perception in an unusually lifelike setting -- a virtual reality ride on a New York City subway train -- an interdisciplinary research team found that crowding makes time seem to pass more slowly.