Science

Facemask COVID Detector

Researchers at MIT and Harvard have developed a COVID-19 detection system that is integrated into a facemask which tests the wearer's breath for COVID-19 in ninety minutes. The wFDCF technology uses freeze dried test moelcules that are activated when water is released into the testing unit via release button. The system combines the high accuracy of a PCR test with the speed and low cost of an antigen test.

Innovation

Science

Read more about Facemask COVID Detector

Lego High Resolution Microscope

#269

Researchers at the Universities of Göttingen and Münster in Germany have designed a high resolution microscope that can be built using Lego and cheap smartphone lenses. The microscope can be used to view micrometer objects such as individual cells.

Innovation

Science

Tech

Read more about Lego High Resolution Microscope

Passive Solar Still

#269

Engineers at ETH Zurich have developed a passive solar still that can extract 4.6ml of water from the air per day using a 10cm wide surface requiring no power.

Environment

Innovation

Science

Read more about Passive Solar Still

Ocean Microplastic Satellite Detection

#268

Researchers at University of Michigan have discovered a technique to detect the build-up of microplastics in the ocean by measuring ocean surface roughness using the Cyclone Global Navigational Satellite System (CYGNSS).

Read more about Ocean Microplastic Satellite Detection

Night Vision Film

#268

Scientists at the Australian National University (ANU) have developed a nanocrystal ultra-thin film that can be applied to a pair of glasses to convert infrared light light into visible light, allowing the wear to see in the dark.

Innovation

Science

Read more about Night Vision Film

The Best Physics Movies

#266

Wonder of Physics published a great list of the best science movies, many of which are rate above 7 on IMDB, which I have found is a good indicator of a good film. Special shout out for Predestination, the best time travel movie ever made.

Review

Science

Read more about The Best Physics Movies

Tricking Birds With Magic

#266

Researchers at Cambridge studied how well hand based magic tricks work on Eurasian Jays. The clever birds saw through two of the three magic tricks, possibly because the birds had no expectations around human hand mechanics.

Environment

Life

Science

Read more about Tricking Birds With Magic

Birdsong Spectrograms

#266

Soundshader published on Github a study of using the DFT shift theorem to generate spectrograms from birdsong and compare them to spectrograms generated from musical instruments.

Read more about Birdsong Spectrograms

Russian Nuclear Spacecraft

#265

Russia's federal space agency Roscosmos announced plans for its nuclear power space tug spacecraft to go interplanetary in 2030 with missions to the Moon and Jupiter.

Science

Space

Read more about Russian Nuclear Spacecraft

Robotic Third Thumb

#265

Researchers at UCL conducted a study where participants trained themselves to use a robotic third thumb which was desisgned by the Royal College of Art. Users of the thrid thumb control its movement using their toes. The UCL study measured brain activity of participants after time using the thumb and found that the brain's representation of the hand had changed.

Read more about Robotic Third Thumb

Science

Pages