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in Popular Science
by
Popular Science, May 2008
Get prepped for the summer blockbuster season with this crash course in Hollywood Science. Popular Science turns its cameras onto the Wachowski brothers' live action take on the classic cartoon Speed Racer, which is rendered almost entirely on computer. Employing more than 500 visual effects artists, the film was shot entirely on a green screen, with actors sitting on moving platforms that moved like flight simulators to match the twists and turns of the virtual racetrack. Special effects buffs and cartoon fans alike will enjoy this behind-the-scenes look at the technical challenges of creating realistic digital backdrops, cars, and racetracks to make the film come to life.
Posted 2:23, 18 April 2008
This abstract was written by
Laura White
and edited by Brijit.
in Popular Science
by
Tom Clynes, May 2008
Competitors in the Top Gun remote-controlled model aircraft event held in Lakeland, Florida every April are a dedicated bunch. Clynes' detailed feature on the group preparing an A-10 Warthog plane at 1:5 scale shows what a financial planner, a general, an engineer, and an administrator can do in their spare time. This complex and highly realistic model, at 65 pounds takeoff weight and with a 10-foot wingspan, is made of fiberglass and Kevlar, carries dummy bombs, and sports a representation of a particular pilot in the cockpit. Testing the plane on a field near Bangkok, Thailand, is nerve-wracking but successful.
Posted 11:25, 18 April 2008
This abstract was written by
Cath Stockbridge
and edited by Brijit.
in Popular Science
by
James Owen Weatherall, May 2008
Weatherall has written an accessible and fascinating article on how scientists are using quantum analogues to test theories about cosmological phenomena. A group in England developed an experiment using super-cooled (near absolute zero) liquid helium to mirror events just after the Big Bang. This small-scale, lab-based experiment owes much to current thinking on string theory -- and recent work on slowing light down by means of super-cooled gases is another example of using quantum analogues to test physicists' theories about the universe.
Posted 11:02, 18 April 2008
This abstract was written by
Cath Stockbridge
and edited by Brijit.
in Popular Science
by
Gregory Mone, May 2008
In the aftermath of the devastating 2004 tsunami, Thailand has built an impressive warning system, including speakers on the beach to sound alarms and signs directing people to higher ground. But there might be a problem with the lack of international coordination: Several countries have developed their own warning technology when systems were already available that could have been uniform. Meanwhile, India won't release seismic data, fearing their nuclear tests will trigger the sensors. But new monitoring of fault zones, as well as sea-floor pressure sensors, should provide ample warning should another tsunami develop. This reassuring update highlights the benefits of technology and cooperation.
Posted 10:59, 18 April 2008
This abstract was written by
Francis Merlie
and edited by Brijit.
in Popular Science
by
Popular Science, May 2008
Unprofitable afflictions like malaria and African sleeping sickness don't receive much attention from pharmaceutical companies, but Curtis Chong has found a solution -- the Johns Hopkins Clinical Compound Screening Initiative, an index that hopes to assess the ability of more than 10,000 known medications to fight third-world killers in addition to their intended uses. This index could save millions of dollars and years of trials that new drugs would require and, because the index is open to scientists around the world, it should begin helping people quickly. Though packaged as an interview, the information would have been more effective in an article format.
Posted 10:52, 18 April 2008
This abstract was written by
Francis Merlie
and edited by Brijit.
in Popular Science
by
Gregory Mone, May 2008
Beginning with an allusion to the forthcoming movie Iron Man, Mone investigates the competition to fulfill the US military's desire for a robotic exoskeleton that would give soldiers extra strength, power and endurance. The most advanced version comes from a team led by Rex Jameson that has created the XOS, which allows anyone to easily lift 200 pounds 500 times. Other teams Mone visits have less advanced systems, though unlike the XOS they are independently powered. Though the military is hoping to have some iteration of the XOS in the field by 2009, Mone assures us that this technology is still a long way from creating a real-life Iron Man.
Posted 11:26, 17 April 2008
This abstract was written by
David Hayes
and edited by Brijit.
in Popular Science
by
Popular Science, April 2008
Popular Science takes apart nine innovative devices, including a pill camera, a laser cannon, and a hybrid car in this fascinating feature. Some of the machines, such as Volvo's ReCharge hybrid car, which uses motors inside the wheels rather than a transmission, are still in early development, while others, like the camera pill, are about to hit the market. Other gadgets include a dinosaur robot-toy, jet engines that use 15 percent less fuel, and a laser gun that can hit a moving target a few inches wide and melt a hole in a tank from five miles away.
Posted 10:45, 21 March 2008
This abstract was written by
Sarah Davis
and edited by Brijit.
in Popular Science
by
Popular Science, April 2008
This piece offers answers to four questions, including whether men or women are better at giving directions. The answer is rooted in the hunter-gatherer mindset of the past, where men traveled long distances in search of food, while women used landmarks to locate bountiful and nutritious plants. The other questions in this informative, grab-bag feature deal with the possibility of moons having their own satellites, why spitting in a scuba mask helps remove condensation, and how cockroaches' weekly larval molt would help them survive nuclear fallout.
Posted 10:43, 21 March 2008
This abstract was written by
Sarah Davis
and edited by Brijit.
in Popular Science
by
Michael Dumiak, April 2008
The OLE (short for "Off-road Loeschenheit") is a bug-shaped robot designed to fight fires with the help of GPS, feelers, and infrared and heat sensors. Still on the drawing board, OLE's designers at the University of Magdeburg-Stendal believe that it could be used to warn of fire, or even to patrol an area searching for fires. Forest-fire experts are open to the idea, but say that the robot might be better at directing personnel to the fire, rather than fighting the fire itself. Dumiak capably explains a cool idea that could revolutionize fire safety.
Posted 12:14, 18 March 2008
This abstract was written by
Sarah Davis
and edited by Brijit.
in Popular Science
by
Jason Daley, April 2008
In this well-presented piece, Daley offers a look at ten studies published in 2007 that come to obvious, if still interesting, conclusions. One study -- on the increased risk of death from longer ambulance rides -- is important because the British National Health Services are considering closing several ERs in favor of larger, centralized ones. In another study, sleep and caffeine are shown to combat sleepiness -- but sleep was better for younger people, while caffeine worked better for older people. The results might be obvious, but Daley capably shows how the studies are still worthwhile.
Posted 12:10, 18 March 2008
This abstract was written by
Sarah Davis
and edited by Brijit.
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