Physics is a key element of realism, says the course’s professor, physicist Alejandro Garcia. Any movie-viewer can spot bad physics, though they might not always recognize what’s bothering them. And for all the progress that has been made in animation in the last decade, and all the science homework that effects experts say they do prior to creating scenes, most movies still let through a glitch or two that makes the attentive viewer wince....
Roku Express, $18 (Was $30) The Roku Express has two things going for it besides its ultra-cheap price: its remote, which is easy to use even for non-techie people, and its speed. We’ve used this media streamer before and have had no issues downloading, updating, and launching streaming apps without having to wait more than a second. Roku is continually adding new features to its streaming devices—even those that are several years old, so you don’t have to worry about the Express becoming obsolete, either....
Looking for the complete list of 100 winners? Check it out here. Innovation of the Year: Two groundbreaking vaccines for COVID-19 To pull humankind out of the COVID-19 pandemic, doctors and public health experts knew we would need a safe and effective vaccine. Pharmaceutical companies around the world have raced to characterize the SARS-CoV-2 virus, understand how it invades our immune systems, and develop a targeted injection to prevent it....
In Alaska’s Bering Land Bridge National Preserve, dazzling reds and yellows transform the landscape for just a few short weeks. The preserve is only a little more than 50 miles from Russia, located on part of the land bridge used by humans to journey from Asia to North America during the Pleistocene Epoch around 13,000 years ago. Today, the National Park Service says the preserve helps protect resources used by Indigenous Inupiaq communities who live on the Seward Peninsula....
This post has been updated. Hydroxychloroquine has had a bit of a notorious reputation since the drug was first proposed as a treatment for COVID-19. Without much experience to go on, researchers and doctors initially jumped into trials in the hopes that the malaria medicine would be able to combat the novel coronavirus, and politicians, including President Trump, publicly touted its potential benefits. But as trials have progressed and data has come in, the verdict on hydroxychloroquine has become increasingly evident: it’s not only ineffective, but also potentially risky....
After the wasp impregnates a caterpillar with its eggs, the behavior of the host caterpillar begins to radically change. First the caterpillar stops moving. Then, after the eggs hatch and the pupae crawl out of the caterpillar’s body, the caterpillar involuntarily protects the pupae from attack by thrashing wildly in the presence of predators. Although the exact biochemistry used by the wasp larvae to transform an otherwise benign caterpillar into a Manchurian Candidate-like slave remains unknown, the researchers did show that the presence of a zombie caterpillar guardian performing “violent head-swings” significantly increased the survivability of the pupae....
The core of the Mariner is a pair of prisms that sit between the front and rear lenses and always remain stable. Fraser engineers mounted the prisms onto a bar, which is attached to the interior housing on two ball bearings. A gyroscopic motor attached to the center of the bar spins at 12,000 rpm. When a user hits a bump, the centrifugal forces of the motor hold the bar steady as the housing moves across the bearings; the prisms—as well as the view—remain almost perfectly still....
Born in 1923 in Crowthorne, Berkshire, England, Dyson did his undergraduate studies at Cambridge, taking a short break to work as a scientist for the Royal Air Force Bomber Command during World War II. He then went on to graduate school at Cornell University in 1947, where he never got around to completing a Ph.D. “I think the Ph.D. system is an abomination,” he told Quanta in 2014. Dyson was a mathematical prodigy who started his career on the right foot, publishing a landmark paper during his graduate studies in 1949 that would help advance the theory of quantum electrodynamics....
The Android and iOS app stores are packed so many messaging apps that choosing one might seem overwhelming, but we’ve collected the best of the best here for your perusal. Whether you need to share files with a work colleague, organize a group of friends on a night out, or share photos of your newborn baby with family, these apps can help. Look out for extras like video and audio calls besides basic text chats, as well as full end-to-end encryption if you want to keep the contents of your conversations secret from anyone who isn’t involved....
Upgrade your audio approach with earbuds that are equipped with a built-in microphone, water- and sweat-proof design, three varieties of ear tips, and touch control. Plus, each full charge and use of case supplies up to 21 hours of battery life, so you can remain on the move without concern of losing your listening capabilities. JBL’s active noise cancellation setup blocks the outside world from interfering with what you’re focused on, while other settings, such as TalkThru, enable users to remain in communication with those around them without removing the earbuds altogether....
But veterinary students at Cornell University have been practicing procedures on synthetic canine cadavers—a way for them to gain important surgical experience without operating on a real animal. The artificial dogs come from a company called SynDaver Labs, which creates what their CEO and founder, Christopher Sakezles, calls “tissue analogues.” They’re known for a synthetic human—it, and Sakezles, made an appearance on Shark Tank in 2015—and their first-gen canine cadaver came out in 2017....
Parkinson’s is a progressive neurological disorder that affects the entire body but may be best known for its impact on mobility—it often first shows up as muscle stiffness and can develop into tremors, weakness, and other barriers to movement. Around a million Americans live with the disease, while only 60 percent of Parkinson’s patients on Medicare see a neurologist or other specialist. “We’re asking a lot from the patient community,” says James Beck, the chief scientific officer of the Parkinson’s Foundation, who was not involved with the study....
Researchers have known for a long time that certain hormones affect appetite and cravings, but these hormones aren’t produced by the liver (they’re made by other organs). For this study, scientists decided to look at a liver-generated hormone called fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21), which they knew to regulate the energy level (carbohydrates) in the blood. The scientists thought FGF21 might affect taste preferences, too. So to test the idea, they created two groups of genetically modified mice: ones whose bodies couldn’t produce FGF21, and another group of mice that would overproduce the hormone....
Lava worlds and other volcanically active bodies are some of the most enthralling cosmic destinations astronomers have ever discovered, and still some of the most scientifically elusive. The James Webb Space Telescope’s first batch of findings could reveal their secrets in greater detail, when paired with research already in the works. In an upcoming issue of the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, a team of scientists at Cornell University took existing atmospheric and surface composition data to understand the mantles—or the interior—of 16 different exoplanets by modeling and synthesizing them here on Earth....
The fossil specimen of an ancestor of present day lizards first unearthed in the 1950s was recently found stored in a cupboard at the Natural History Museum in London. The discovery potentially shows that today’s lizards likely originated in the Late Triassic period (about 200 million years ago) and not during the Middle Jurassic as previously believed. The findings are described in a paper published today in the journal Science Advances....
Over the next four decades, the New York-based photographer would go back to the American plains year after year, tagging along with more expert storm chasers to document those fleeting moments when weather transforms into something “spiritual and zionistic.” “In this incredible chessboard of a landscape where everything is flat, peaceful, remote, beautiful, and pastoral—it goes from idyllic to Armageddon in so little time,” Meola says. “The sky turns pitch black, and it’s as if it’s the end of the world....
Maritime mines are “simple, cheap, efficient, improvised explosive devices of the sea favored by poorer states and terrorist organizations,” says Antoine Caput, Thales’s MMCM program director. These modern mines can be on the seabed, moored, or floating and drifting, but they’re not the only threat of their kind to shipping. Hundreds of thousands of unrecovered mines remain around Europe’s coastlines, according to Caput—they’re a dangerous legacy of both World Wars....
You don’t have to cough up money for an instructor, either. Nor do you have to be a golf club member (although that’d be a nice investment). To get your swing down to a tee, literally, The TruGolf Mini can help you beef up your skills in the comfort of your own home. For a limited time, it’s on sale for 25 percent off. The TruGolf Mini is designed to offer a new approach to learning and mastering the game of golf....
How Birds Learn To SingThis Robot Vomits So You Won’t Have ToGiant Panda Genome Holds Recipe For Powerful AntibioticFYI: Why Do We Crave Greasy Food When We’re Hung Over? And don’t forget to check out our other favorite stories of the week: 21 Emotions For Which There Are No English Words [Infographic]Skip Out On The Elks Lodge, Die In A Traffic AccidentOn DARPA’s 2013 Wish List: Extreme Diving, Portable Brain Reading, And Gravity VisionCrazy Weight-Loss Schemes Through The AgesFor The First Time, Astronomers See Giant Planets Helping Their Star GrowWhy Everything You Read About Your Health Is WrongThe Goods: January 2013’s Hottest GadgetsNASA Considers Tugging An Asteroid Into Orbit Around The MoonGorillas, Watermelons and Sperm: The Greatest Genomes Sequenced In 2012 10 Of The Best Home-Improvement Innovations Of 2012The Most Mind-Blowing 3-D Printed Objects Of 2012Does Pot Use Cause Psychosis, Or Does Psychosis Cause Pot Use?...
While those things are delicious, it feels luxurious to branch out when I can. When I’m bored of oatmeal and omelets, I turn to three kitchen appliances that open up a bigger world of culinary possibilities—while still minimizing my standing-by-the-stove time. If you’re an impatient cook like me, you’d probably appreciate having these tools in your life. 1. Rice Cooker I’ve met people who told me they cook their rice on a stove top, to which I reply “Why not just make perfect fluffy rice every single time with a (good) rice cooker?...
