Posted on February 23rd, 2010 by axb
The slime mold, a type of single-celled amoeboid organism, looks to be more of a smartypants than scientists previously thought. Why? Because these gooey blobs are actually capable of growing sophisticated networks in order to feed themselves. In experiments where slime molds were exposed to an array of food sources (think: a scattering of crumbs or cereal), they showed an unexpected ability to grow very efficient connections between feeding hubs. These web-like structures (you can view them here) even mimicked modern transportation networks, like the Tokyo subway system.
Engineers are now searching for this special “slime formula”, which could make it easier to design a variety of networks (from public transportation to the internet) more efficiently.
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Filed under: Computer, e-News, Transportation | 1 Comment »
Tags: Computer, Transportation
Posted on February 22nd, 2010 by axb
Malaria, a mosquito-borne infectious disease, kills between one and three million people annually. Although both treatable and preventable, it still claims the lives of more than about 2 children every minute (most of them from poverty-stricken areas of Africa).
To fight this serious epidemic, Nathan Myhrvold of Intellectual Ventures Lab has designed a mosquito-killing laser gun. The device, made from spare parts found on Ebay, has the ability to track mosquitoes in flight and shoot them down with a precise death-ray. [Video after the jump]
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Filed under: Computer, e-News | 2 Comments »
Tags: Computer
Posted on February 16th, 2010 by axb
That’s right, everyone – we won the vote! Mattel has announced that Barbie’s 126th career path will be that of a computer engineer. This new techie Barbie comes equipped with a laptop, a Bluetooth headset, chic glasses, and a shirt that reads “Barbie” over and over in binary code.
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Filed under: Computer, e-News | 4 Comments »
Tags: Computer
Posted on February 3rd, 2010 by axb
Last year we blogged about injury-detecting football helmets, but that’s not the only place where engineering and football collide. This Sunday, the New Orleans Saints and the Indianapolis Colts will face off in Florida for the 44th Superbowl. In honor of that, we turn your attention to a couple of stand-out college athletes who also happen to be engineers.
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Filed under: Aerospace, Computer, e-News, Electrical | Comments Off on Engineers in the End Zone
Tags: Aerospace, College, Computer, Electrical, Sports
Posted on February 1st, 2010 by axb
Over the years, Barbie has had many careers, from an astronaut to a race car driver.
This year the public gets to choose Barbie’s next career path: environmentalist, surgeon, architect, news anchor or (our favorite) computer engineer.
Visit http://www.barbie.com/vote/ to make Barbie an engineer. Voting ends Feb. 12th.
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Filed under: Computer, e-News | 1 Comment »
Tags: Computer, Entertainment
