Items of Interest

MIT Cheetah 3

#115
MIT have released another video of humans being mean to robots their Cheetah 3 quadruped robot navigating a range of obstacles blind (without image sensors), including running up debris filled stairs (haha, take that Daleks!) and enduring being poked with a big stick while running and minding it's own business!  
Innovation
Tech
Video

Electric Spiders

#115
Spider ballooning is when a spider releases strands of silk and uses them to propel itself through the air, or so people thought. Researchers at the University of Bristol observed successful spider ballooning with the absence of any wind and even in rainy conditions.
Science

Amsterdam River Objects

#114
While excavating the Amstel river during the building of the North/South metro line in Amsterdam, archaeologists catalogued over 700,000 objects dating back to the 14th century ( and some shells from 124,000BC).The list of objects is searchable via a website and a quick search for Ireland yields some coins and a Daniel O'Connell signet ring from the early 19th century.
Life
Science

Blink-182 Vs Saddam Hussein

#114
Apparently, Mark Hoppus of Blink 182 came up with a plan to triangulate Saddam Hussein's hiding position in Iraq in the early 2000s, by broadcasting an inaudible timecode from trucks driving around Iraq in the hope the codes would make it into one of Saddam's video messages. Somehow, Mark managed to brief a U.S. Navy admiral on the plan, while aboard an aircraft carrier in the Persian Gulf!
Innovation

Spectral Invisibility Cloak

#114
Researchers have demonstrated a new cloaking technique that is effective within broadband light illumination. The technique selectively transfers energy from certain colours of the light wave to other colours. In the example image above, green light energy reflected when light passes through the object is redirected to other parts of the spectrum, effectively cancelling out the colours reflected from an object, making it invisible to the observer.  
Innovation
Tech

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