Murchison Widefield Array goes live, will study the sun, space junk, the early universe and more

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/07/09/murchison-widefield-array-goes-live/

We hope IBM's hardware is ready to chew through the feast of data it's going to receive, as the Murchison Widefield Array (MWA) radio telescope is officially open for business science. Located in the outback on the same site as the Australia SKA Pathfinder, it's one of three "precursor" programs that'll help steer future development of the extra powerful Square Kilometer Array. The MWA low-frequency telescope has plenty of work to be getting on with, and some of its first tasks include gazing into the sun to observe solar flares, storms and other activity, as well as scanning the Milky Way for the likes of "black holes and exploding stars." It'll also look into the tracking of hazardous space garbage using FM radio waves that are lost to the void, and explore the early life of the universe as far back as 13 billion years. According to Curtin Un! iversity 's Professor Tingay, the MWA's commendable work ethic (read: data quality) means we could see initial results from some of these projects "in as little as three months' time."

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Researchers say new development could give artificial skin a wider range of senses

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/07/09/artificial-skin-range-of-senses/

We've seen a number of efforts to build a better artificial skin, or "e-skin," over the years, and a team of researchers from the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology now say they've made a breakthrough that could lead to some of the most sensitive e-skin yet. The key development is a new type of flexible sensor that would not only allow the artificial skin to detect touch, but humidity and temperature as well. Those sensors are comprised of gold-based nanoparticles that are just five to eight nanometers in diameter and laid on top of a substrate -- in their research, the scientists used PET, the type of plastic you'd normally find in soda bottles. That substrate conducts electricity differently depending on the way it is bent, which means researchers can adjust its sensitivity just by increasing its thickness. As you might expect, this is all still in the early stages, but the researchers see plenty of possibilities for the future, from bringing a sense of touch to artificial limbs to using the same technology to monitor stress on bridges.

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Via: PhysOrg

Source: American Technion Society

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A Hotel Full of Secret Rooms Invites an Epic Game of Hide-and-Seek

Source: http://gizmodo.com/a-hotel-full-of-secret-rooms-invites-an-epic-game-of-hi-718156776

The Suitcase House Hotel is the perfect place to hide out. It has an entire network of rooms hidden beneath the floorboards, like an architectural Swiss Army knife. Check out these amazing hiding places—or, as the hotel probably refers to them, the places where you brush your teeth and sleep.

Created by Hong Kong-based architect Gary Chang, the beautiful fortress is nestled in the hills near the Great Wall. The long, narrow Chinese hotel uses space in really interesting, unconventional way, with a series of undetectable compartments hidden under notched floorboards that open to reveal different programs. Pull up one of the convertible pieces, and you'll find sinks and a bathroom. Remove another, and there's a library and a study. Another conceals a sleeping chamber, and another, a sauna. These pneumatically-assisted panels make the space infinitely configurable for events and lodgings. This diagram shows the different ways in which you could change up the suitcase house:

So while your conventional hotel uses regular old vertical doors as entrances to rooms, the Suitcase House has its doors located horizontally on the floor. It would definitely make for a competitive game of hide-and-seek. [DesignBoom]

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A Terrifying Staircase To Nowhere Provides Dizzying Views Of the Alps

Source: http://gizmodo.com/a-terrifying-staircase-to-nowhere-provides-dizzying-vie-719205070

Apparently, stunning views of one of the most picturesque mountain ranges in the world aren't enough for visitors of the Dachstein Glacier resort in Austria. So the facility has installed a 14-step 'staircase to nothing' leading to a glass-bottomed viewing platform that juts out from the side of the glacier, and a 328-foot suspension bridge that hangs 1,300 feet over the mountains.

Although awe-inspiring, neither attraction is designed for the faint of heart. However, if you've ever dreamed of scaling a mountain but barely have enough upper body strength to put on a warm jacket, this is the closest you'll get to the stunning views enjoyed by mountaineers—unless they eventually install a staircase on Everest. [Der Dachstein via Spiegel Online]

Images by Dachstein and Spiegel Online

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A Magical Window That Blocks Noise But Lets Breezes Pass Through

Source: http://gizmodo.com/a-magical-window-that-blocks-noise-but-lets-breezes-pas-703615179

It's a warm summer night in the city, but instead of sleeping with the windows open to let a breeze in, you've got them all closed to keep your bedroom quiet. It's a 'lesser of two evils' decision that people living in crowded urban centers might soon not have to make. Researchers in South Korea have developed a remarkable new type of window that dampens sound while still allowing air to pass right on through.

Developed by Seong-Hyun Lee at the Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials and Sang-Hoon Kima at the South Korea Mokpo National Maritime University, the nitty-gritty of how the window works is detailed here. But in layman's terms, the windows are made up of two plates of transparent acrylic sitting 40mm apart that work as a resonance chamber, diminishing the energy of sound waves passing through. And to maximize the window's efficiency, it's perforated with 50mm holes that allow more sound to enter and get trapped, without obstructing breezes.

The exact science of how the windows work is of course far more elaborate and worth a read if you've got a few moments, but in testing it's been found to reduce sounds by an impressive 20 to 30 decibels—enough to turn a traffic-filled street into a sleep-friendly murmur—across various frequency ranges depending on the size of the perforations.

So in addition to soundproofing and cooling an office or a home, in theory, the materials could even be used to make ultra-quiet fans or other hardware. [Cornell University via MIT Technology Review]

Image by Stockelements/Shutterstock

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