Posted on November 27th, 2010 by axb
NBC and the National Science Foundation have done it again. That’s right – the team that brought you the Science of the Olympic Winter Games has produced a new series of videos, and this time they’ll be “tackling” even more fun physics, math, and engineering concepts.
The Science of NFL Football, a new 10-part series, covers topics like vectors, projectiles, Newton’s Laws of Motion, and the Pythagorean Theorem. The production crew even went to some teams’ training camps, and filmed interviews with former and current NFL players and coaches. Our favorites after the jump.
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Filed under: e-News, e-Videos, Mechanical | Comments Off on The Physics of Football
Tags: e-Videos, Mechanical
Posted on November 23rd, 2010 by axb
How do cats drink? Is the “wet dog shake” an effective drying mechanism? These may have fleetingly crossed your mind, but it took an engineer to get to the bottom of such creature curiosities.
The ability of felines to lap up an entire bowl of liquid may seem to defy gravity. But four engineers at MIT, Virginia Polytechnic Institute, and Princeton have proven that it’s not so. Their study was inspired by observing one of their cats, Cutta Cutta.
The team used high-speed photography to capture and analyze the mysterious cat lap’s fluid dynamics. Since a cat’s tongue is not large enough to create a ladle that can “scoop” water into its mouth, kitties lightly touch the tip of their tongue to the surface of the water, and then quickly dart it back, drawing a column of liquid into their mouths.
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Filed under: e-News, Explore Engineering, Mechanical | 4 Comments »
Tags: Biomimicry, Mechanical
Posted on November 18th, 2010 by axb
Fit and athletic amputees – like sprinter/long-jumper Aimee Mullins – have proved over and over that the loss of a limb is no reason to give up sports. Earlier this year, Colombian Nelson Cardona became the first amputee to climb Mt. Everest, Earth’s highest peak.
But prostheses for swimmers have remained clunky, at best.
That’s why Richard Stark, an industrial design student at Sweden’s Umea Institute of Design, was inspired to create Neptune, a specially-designed prosthesis that helps amputees swim.
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Filed under: Biomedical, e-News, Mechanical | 3 Comments »
Tags: Biomedical, Design, Mechanical, Prosthetics
Posted on November 7th, 2010 by jxh
Just because humans have fingers doesn’t mean that robots need to have them too.
Researchers have developed a new type of robotic hand – a soft gripping mechanism that stiffens when air is sucked out.
The hand is essentially a latex balloon filled with ground coffee (because the grounds are both lightweight and pliable). Its softness allows the robot hand to conform to the shape of hard objects.
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Filed under: Computer, e-News, Mechanical | 5 Comments »
Tags: Computer, Computer Science, Mechanical, Robotics
Posted on October 27th, 2010 by axb
Tired of dealing with bulky bike helmets? The Hövding might be the answer for you.
Designed by two Swedish university students for their thesis project, this novel device cleverly combines the best of bike helmets and airbags. Just zip the nifty little Hövding scarf around your neck (left photo), and you’re good to go.
If, heaven forbid, you should find yourself in an accident, a set of gyroscopes and accelerometers will sense the impending crash and immediately inflate the helmet (right photo).
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Filed under: Computer, e-News, Explore Engineering, Mechanical, Transportation | 4 Comments »
Tags: Computer, Mechanical, Transportation
