Vodcast Archive
Vodcasts
Surviving the Storm - July 08, 2010
Emergency medicine physicians shared important lightning safety information, warning individuals, "When thunder roars, go indoors." The simple rhyme serves to help bystanders stay out of harm's way and avoid the neurological damage that results from being struck by lightning.
Lightning is a form of static electricity. We experience static electricity every time we drag our feet on the carpet and then touch a conducting surface, like a metal doorknob.
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The Guessing Game - June 25, 2010
Physicists shared their tips for making a better educated guess when it comes to mathematical estimations. For example, the common contest of guessing the number of jelly beans in a jar is not best approached by attempting to count every visible jelly bean. Instead, experts suggest counting the number of beans in one row and then multiplying that by the number of layers in the jar. A broader approach is more effective than getting tied up in the smaller details.
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Tracking Asteroids Before They Kill Us - June 18, 2010
Astronomers are tracking debris from outer space that could pose a potential threat to Earth. With 100 tons of material hitting the Earth daily, they are devising ways to destroy the most threatening objects.
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Cleaner, Greener Metals - June 10, 2010
Metallurgists created a cleaner and safer alternative to chrome that is equally durable, providing a solution to the environmentally harmful processes of both making chrome and disposing of it.
The new coating is made by dipping metal into a mix of nickel and tungsten atoms. An electrical pulse is sent through the mix, causing the atoms to adhere to the metal, or "plate" the surface. The electrical current is pulsed according to the pattern chosen by the researchers.
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Creating Science Masterpieces - May 31, 2010
Materials science and engineering students coincidentally created microscopic art out of particles of pollen they are studying.
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Phantom Traffic Jams - May 24, 2010
Mathematicians Explain How Traffic Jams Form Without Apparent Cause
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Detecting Bombs, Saving Lives - May 17, 2010
Science and engineering students are developing a detection method to find improvised explosive devices (IEDs). detectors use magnetic waves to sense the magnetic field given off by the ferrous material in the IED.
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Lasers: Transforming Life - May 16, 2010
In this wonderful video produced by the Optical Society of America, NPR Science Friday's host, Ira Flatow describes how lasers are used in optical fiber communication, surgery and more.
For more great laser innovations, visit:
www.laserfest.org and http://www.osa.org/
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Taking Math to the Streets - May 11, 2010
Mathematicians reveal the hidden math in everyday life, finding numerical patterns in common places like your bathroom tile and backyard fence.
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Laser Labels For Fruits And Veggies - April 19, 2010
Physicists Replace Pesky Fruit and Vegetable Sticker Labels with Edible, Permanent Laser Etchings
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Life On Mars - April 12, 2010
Atmospheric Scientists and Physicists Discover Lightning on Mars Using Unique Detector
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Science of Speed - December 18, 2009
Fluid Dynamics Engineers Help Potential Olympic Swimmers with Water Flow Technology
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Robots Taking Over the Garden - December 11, 2009
Computer Scientists Send Robots to the Garden to Tend to Tomato Plants
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New and Improved Wind Power - December 04, 2009
Mechanical Engineers Create Wind Turbine That Responds to the Wind, Maximizes Power Generation.
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Zapping Disease With Electricity - November 27, 2009
Neurosurgeons Apply Electricity to the Brain to Ease Patients' Suffering
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Inside the Wind - November 20, 2009
Aerospace Engineers Use Wind Tunnel to Study Hurricane-Strength Winds
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Smart Bridge Keeping Drivers Safe - November 06, 2009
Civil engineers installed approximately 400 sensors in a bridge to monitor how corrosion, temperature and traffic loans impact the structure.
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Students Achieve Over One Thousand Miles-Per-Gallon in Competition - October 30, 2009
Engineering students teamed up to build super- efficient gas-powered cars (approximately 1,200 miles-per-gallon) that compete for the highest miles-per-gallon.
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Catching Cataracts Early with Lasers - October 23, 2009
Ophthalmologists use safe laser light to identify damaged proteins in the eye to detect the early signs of cataract formation.
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Food Processing Cook Up Healthier Fried Foods With New Radiant Oven, No Deep Frying - October 16, 2009
Food processing engineers constructed an oven that uses radiant energy to fry food without oil.
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Geophysicists Explain the Science Behind Surfing - October 09, 2009
Geophysicists are able to explain the science of surfing by running experiments while riding the waves.
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Meet the Hexapod Robot - September 28, 2009
Matt Bunting is an Electrical Engineering student at the University of Arizona. He built his first robot when he was 11 years old. In this video he demonstrates his six legged robot known as a hexapod. He began building this hexapod when he was still in high school. It is controlled by a wireless Playstation controller with motion sensitivity.
Oh and he also wrote the background music.
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A Brush with the Laws of Electromagnetism - August 21, 2009
Watch physicists Becky Thompson-Flagg and Ted Hodapp trade quips as they show how to take apart a small DC motor and find out how it works. They get the armature of the motor spinning with just a battery, a few wires, and a permanent magnet.
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Keeping Cool on the ice - July 24, 2009
Scientists Design High Tech Hockey Jersey Using Lasers.
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Making Rain - July 17, 2009
Researchers found that bacteria can initiate ice formation when super-cooled water droplets condense around the microbes and found evidence of these microbes in snow and rain samples from around the world.
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Science Behind Strikeouts - July 10, 2009
Kinesiologists use the principles of physics to explain why a fastball pitch in baseball is hard to hit and how a curveball gets its motion.
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Robots Helping Stroke Survivors - July 03, 2009
Using fMRI in combination with a robotic device can help monitor the progress of stroke patients' rehabilitation.
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Hearts In Danger - June 24, 2009
Medical physicists improved their ability to replace leads connecting pacemakers and defibrillators to the heart by using an excimer laser.
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Dr. Chris Monroe on Quantum Entanglement - June 16, 2009
Dr. Chris Monroe from the University of Maryland describes his experiments with the curious properties of quantum entanglement.
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Reducing Your Lead Footprint - May 15, 2009
Materials scientists created a lead-free piezoelectric material to replace the current one used in electronics that contains up to 40 percent lead. To make the material, tiny samples of bismuth ferrite and samarium ferrite are formed into puck shape pieces. A laser then fragments the pucks into different molecules and chemicals, creating a mist that is coated onto a chip.
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Roboclam to the Rescue - May 08, 2009
Mechanical Engineers designed a robotic clam to mimic the digging motion of the razor clam in nature.
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Walk-In MRI - May 01, 2009
Physicists are Right Up Front with Upright, Walk-In MRI
Physicists created a low magnetic field walk-in MRI that enables them to obtain images of the patient in many positions--standing, sitting or laying down.
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Rubberized Roads - April 24, 2009
Acoustical Engineers Rubberize Roads to Quiet Highway Noise.
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Steve Avery: Battling Cancer with Protons - April 17, 2009
Dr. Steve Avery is an assistant professor or radiation oncology at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. He works on the Proton project that uses proton therapy to treat tumors by bombarding them with subatomic particles.
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Doppler Radar Tracking Babies - April 10, 2009
Electrical and Computer Engineers Monitor Baby's Breathing with Doppler Radar
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Cars Powered by the Sun - April 03, 2009
Arts, Science, and Engineering Students Driven by Solar Energy to the Finish Line
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Dolphins, Bats and Scientists Help the Blind - March 27, 2009
Cognitive scientists and artificial intelligence experts constructed a device that may help the visually impaired by using ultrasonic sounds
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Prosthetics that Grow - March 13, 2009
Doctors use electromagnetism to heat and melt plastic, which allows a spring to expand and lengthen a bone prosthesis.
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Hi-Tech Cycling - February 13, 2009
Engineers Create a Strong But Lightweight Isotruss Bike Using Carbon Fibers
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Big Quakes Trigger Small Quakes - February 06, 2009
Seismologists Find Large Earthquakes Can Trigger Smaller Ones in Unlikely Locations
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Diagnosing Heartburn - January 30, 2009
Gastroenterologists Use Lasers to Diagnose Chronic Heartburn More Effectively
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Next Generation of Heart Stents - January 23, 2009
Interventional Cardiologists Reduce Risk of Stents by Magnetizing Endothelial Cells
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The Plane Truth about Birds - January 16, 2009
A radar system that alerts birds can help prevent collisions
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Cyclotron Kids - January 15, 2009
Ever wondered what you could do with all that space in your garage? Watch this video to learn how these three kids came together to build the greatest high school physics experiment ever, they are building a cyclotron! Its amazing what you can do if you try.
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Anti-Freeze for Your Plants - December 17, 2008
Botanists Develop "Antifreeze" Spray for Plants
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Diesel Guzzler - Money Saver - December 15, 2008
Engineers Propose Aerodynamic Improvements for Truck Trailers
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Finding Victims After a Disaster - December 10, 2008
Scientists and Engineers Develop Aerial Imaging System to Identify the Locations of Persons in Need After Disasters
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Jupiter's Little Red Spot - December 08, 2008
Planetary Scientists Detect Strong Winds in Anticyclone on Jupiter
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Tongue-Drive Wheelchair - December 03, 2008
Electrical and Computer Engineers Design Wheelchair Controlled by a Magnet on the Userýs Tongue
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Two New Tires: Safety on a Budget - December 01, 2008
Ergonomists Find New Tires Provide More Control When Replaced In Rear
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Dangers of Going Green - November 26, 2008
Industrial Hygienists Suggest Watching Out for Mold When Going Green
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Evacuation Routes go Hi-Tech - November 24, 2008
Civil Engineers Design Disaster Evacuation System
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Gamers Saving Lives - November 19, 2008
Biochemists and Computer Scientists Collaborate to Create Protein-Folding Computer Game
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Moving in the ICU - November 17, 2008
Pulmonologists Invent Device to Help Intensive Care Patients Walk Safely
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Pain-Free Golf Swing - November 12, 2008
Podiatrists Suggest Healing Foot Pain in Order to Fix Golf Swing
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Predicting When Tornadoes Will Strike - November 10, 2008
Meteorologists Examine Relationship of El Nino and Winter Tornadoes in the U.S.
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Preparing for a Walk on the Moon - November 05, 2008
Astronomers Discover that the Earth's Magnetotail Charges the Surface of the Moon
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Saving Eyes - November 03, 2008
Ocular Oncologists Inject Drug into Eye to Starve Tumors and Save Sight
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Slower Growing Grass - October 29, 2008
Horticultural Scientists Develop Slow-Growing Grass
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Tracking Pollution From Space - October 27, 2008
Mechanical and Aerospace Engineers Use Satellites to Track Ozone Levels
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Workout For the Eyes - October 22, 2008
Optometrist Establishes Sports Vision Clinic to Improve Athletic Performance
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Year 'Round Bloom - October 20, 2008
Horticulturists and Botanists Develop Flower that Blooms All Summer Long
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Patients go Wireless for Faster Recovery - September 29, 2008
Orthopedic Surgeons Develop Monitoring System for Joint Replacement Surgery Patients
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Science of Origami - September 26, 2008
Mathematicians and Artists Use Algorithms to Make Complicated Paper Sculptures
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Detecting Disease in Less Than 60 Seconds - September 24, 2008
Viral Immunologists Invent Speedy Virus Identification Technique
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Whale Medicine Makes Scars Disappear - September 22, 2008
Veterinarians and Microbiologists Develop Antimicrobial Agent that Works Under Water
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Jellyfish Fight Terrorists - September 19, 2008
Biologists and Engineers Create Fast-Acting Pathogen Sensor
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Thunderstorms Cause Asthma - September 17, 2008
Meteorologists and Epidemiologists Study Connection Between Thunderstorms and Asthma Attacks
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Man-Made Hurricanes - September 15, 2008
Civil Engineers Create High-Powered Hurricane Simulator
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NASA Saving Lives - September 12, 2008
Earth Scientists and Meteorologists Create Historically-Based, Realistic Weather Animations
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Measuring Lightning - September 10, 2008
Electrical Engineers and Meteorologists Devise Method to Measure Strength of Lightning Strikes on Tall Buildings
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Cell Phones Manage Diabetes - September 08, 2008
Epidemiologists Use Wireless Technology to Improve Blood Sugar Monitoring
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Anti-Counterfeiting Money - September 03, 2008
Computer and Security Scientists Add New Technology to Redesigned Five Dollar Bill
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Crash Test Dummies Keep Kids Safe - September 01, 2008
Biomechanical and safety engineers added a more lifelike abdomen to models representing children between the ages of four and eight.
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Laura Greene - August 14, 2008
Dr. Greene is a professor of physics at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. As a woman interested in science in the 70s she overcame many barriers to become a physicist. Learn about her life long passion for science.
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Knowing Where Tornadoes Will Strike - August 01, 2008
Meteorologists recently studied the effect of gravity waves on tornado formation. They found that when gravity waves push down on rotating thunderstorms the storm compresses and spins faster. Being able to recognize and track gravity waves before they reach thunderclouds allows meteorologists to better predict tornadoes, increasing both the accuracy of their predictions and the amount of warning time that they can provide.
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The World's Best Particle Accelerator Rap! - July 30, 2008
Former PhysicsBuzz blogger, Alpinekat, is famous! Her Large Hadron Rap was picked up by the New York Times.
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Sniffing Out Bombs - July 01, 2008
A tiny sensor that monitors electrical conductivity allows scientists to detect the presence of explosives. The sensor measures the conductivity of two different thin films, one made of a cobalt compound and another made of a copper compound. When reacting to most fumes, the two films respond in similar ways, but when exposed to hydrogen peroxide the films show a difference in electrical conductivity. When the sensor indicates this difference, that means that trace amounts of hydrogen peroxide are present, a common ingredient of explosives.
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Nanotechnology - Cleaning up our Water - April 01, 2008
Chemical engineers created nanoparticles out of gold and palladium to break down pollutants in groundwater. Adding the particles to groundwater converts dangerous contaminants like trichloroethylene into non-toxic compounds.
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Kids Discovering New Asteroids - March 01, 2008
Astronomy students looking for supernovae examined photographs and found asteroids. They used both unaided eyes and computer analysis to identify the asteroids. The images were composited from three separate images, one each of green, red, and blue. When combined into one image, asteroids stand out because they move against the background.
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Alejandro (Alex) Rodriguez - February 01, 2008
Meet Alejandro (Alex) Rodriguez, a physics graduate student at MIT. In this video, Alex talks about his background in Cuba and the US and about his love of physics.
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Odorless Paint - December 01, 2007
Chemists have added polymers to a new paint that dries faster and requires no second coat or primer. The paint uses long polymer chains to surround pigments, which makes it easier for latex spheres to bond to it. That advance makes the color cover the wall more completely. Additionally, this technique means that the paint requires almost zero volatile organic compounds, which contribute to odor and also smog.
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Creating 21st Century Video Games - November 01, 2007
A computer science student created an updated form of the classic video game Pong. The ball appears to move unpredictably, but is actually governed by algorithms that analyze the fluid dynamics of actual plasmas. Careful programming that considers the plasmaýs mathematical properties allows players to activate a vacuum effect or plasma jet that moves the ball in physically realistic ways as well.
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Recycling Revolution - August 01, 2007
Chemical Engineers developed a way to break down plastic bottles made from polyethylene terephthalate -- or PET, and recycle it back into high value uses like more soda bottles, water bottles, beer bottles. Inside the recycling plant's extruder, water is removed from ground up plastic. Then, the plastic is melted and chemically broken down -- in a process called depolymerization. The breakthrough in this process is to be able to go from chips of this plastic to the recycled material in about five minutes.
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Making Waves - August 01, 2007
Scientists gives us a sneak peek into the world of wave pools, and explain how these huge pools make constant waves. Waves are made by a huge compressor that feeds four gigantic air blowers. Then a computer controls chambers that generate the waves. When the chamber lids are closed, air from the blowers pushes the water out and makes a wave. When the valve is open, the balance tank fills with water, getting ready to make the next wave. It works just like a toddler pushing a cup upside-down onto water in a bathtub.
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Mystery Diamonds - June 01, 2007
Carbonados, black carbon formations that resemble diamonds, have been show to have a chemical spectrum that indicates they originated before the formation of the Earth; their high hydrogen content suggests they are from a star-like environment. Since this carbon is only found in two locations on our planet, it may have arrived via an asteroid.
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Man-Made Diamonds - March 01, 2007
New and improved technology has now made growing diamonds cost-competitive with mining them. Diamond-making machines subject a graphite-carbon core and a diamond seed at a pressure of 850,000 PSI for four days, recreating conditions similar to those 100 miles below the earth's surface. The lab-grown diamonds that come out are optically, chemically and physically identical to those that occur in nature.
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Ice, Ice, Baby! - February 01, 2007
When droplets of melted snow drip down an icicle, they release small amounts of heat as they freeze. Heated air travels upwards and helps slow down the growth of the icicle's top, while the tip is growing rapidly. Knowledge of the mathematical equations that govern icicle growth -- the same that apply to stalactites -- could help in the prevention of icicle formation on power lines.
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Crime Alert! Molding Fingerprints - January 01, 2007
Photonic crystals -- materials with precise patterns of gaps that make them reflect only selected wavelengths of light -- could soon replace the traditional ink-based fingerprinting. In a new silica-based, photonic-crystal material, the spacing of the gaps changes in response to pressure applied. Corresponding changes in its color reveal fingerprints with high precision -- not only the ridges in the skin, but also the depth of the ridges, the shape of the finger, and the mechanical properties of the skin.
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Rip Current Secrets Revealed - August 01, 2006
Rip currents flow in very erratic patterns, not in steady courses as previously believed -- which may help explain why they can be so dangerous even for experienced swimmers. Oceanographers have discovered the behavior by tracking the motion of colored dye added to a wave pool generating rip currents.
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Liquid Body Armor - August 01, 2006
Rheologists have created a new way of bullet-proofing clothes using shear-thickening fluids. Fabric treated with shear-thickening granular suspensions can turn soft material into solid protective gear when struck by a projectile. The treatment can strengthen Kevlar to produce lighter, more comfortable bullet-proof vests, or it can be used to turn extend the bullet-proof protection to ordinary fabric.
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The Mysterious Gravity Hill - June 01, 2006
At several hilly locations around the U.S., know as "gravity hills," objects such as cars left on neutral supposedly roll uphill, driven by unknown forces and against the force of gravity. Physicists say -- and GPS measurements confirm -- that the effects are illusions caused by the landscape. The position of trees and slopes of nearby scenery, or a curvy horizon line, can blend to trick the eye so that what looks uphill is actually downhill.
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Einstein Rings - April 01, 2006
Images from the Hubble telescope reveal eight new Einstein rings, joining only three others previously known. Einstein rings are pairs of galaxies, with a foreground galaxy bending the light of a background galaxy into a ring by gravitational effects. The ring helps astronomers precisely estimate the mass of the foreground galaxy.
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Lightning: Fact or Fiction? - April 01, 2006
To study lightning, scientists use rockets connected to the ground by wires. They fire the rockets into clouds, triggering electrical discharges, and storing their power. They have found that lightning doesn't come straight down to the ground, but it instead takes a series of steps.
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Sun Darkens Electronics - March 01, 2006
Solar activity can wreak havoc in communications systems -- particularly during coronal mass ejections, when plumes of electrically charged particles hit earth's atmosphere. Scientists can now track the plumes down to the single affected cities, helping to predict disruptions.
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Lights of the Future - February 01, 2006
Thanks to advances in physics, light-emitting diodes (LEDs) will soon move from traffic lights and electronics panels to home lighting, bringing dramatic energy savings, adjustable colors for ambiance, and light-shining furnishings.
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Fog-Free Glass - January 01, 2006
When moisture condenses on a cool surface, droplets can form that are the right size to scatter light, fogging up glass. A new polymer coating draws droplets into nanopores and transforms them into a transparent sheet, improving vision.
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Firefighting with Fog - January 01, 2006
Firefighters usually don't aim hydrants at smoke, to avoid producing steam that can come back and burn them. But smoke sometimes contains dangerous, flammable gases. Some U.S. fire departments are now experimenting with brief bursts of water on the hot gasses, to cool them down and reduce the risk of explosion. Since it was adopted in Sweden, the technique has cut firefighter fatalities in half.
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The Mystery of Black Holes - December 01, 2005
A satellite called Swift is revealing that black holes have a messier birth than previously thought. Instead of being created in one instant, astrophysicists now believe after a star dies and collapses -- ultimately forming a black hole -- it continues to cause havoc. The baby black hole devours material while at the same time spewing it back out, a process that is revealed in multiple outbursts of gamma rays.
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Unbreakable Glass - September 01, 2005
Sponges are the homes of colonies of tiny marine animals, and wonders of miniaturized engineering. They employ complex structural arrangements, the strongest glasses known to man, and even microscopic fiber optics that glow in the dark. Scientists are trying to figure how to reproduce some of their tricks, such as producing glass at low temperatures.
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Flying and Radiation Risk - September 01, 2005
At the high altitudes and latitudes commercial airlines fly, crews are subjected to higher-than-normal radiation levels from the sun and cosmic rays. Physicist Robert Barish believes airline crew members are exposing themselves to more radiation than almost any other occupation and is calling for the airline industry to better educate workers about radiation.
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Killing Germs - September 01, 2005
Preventing hospital infections -- from such stubborn bugs as Staphylococcus aureus -- could get a little easier with a new non-toxic, silver-based material. Used in coating, it helps keep hospital air ducts bacterium- and fungus-free. The material is also used in a number of products including athletic footwear, door hardware, pens and business supplies.
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Sonic Golf Club - July 01, 2005
A new golf club uses motion-detection sensors and wireless technology to coach players through the use of sound. A golfer can "hear" the speed of the swing in wireless headphones, and adjust swings accordingly. Professional golfers generate the loudest, highest-pitch sounds. Most golfers say they see improvements within 15 minutes.
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Portrait of America - July 01, 2005
One lone physicist hopes to create an ultra-high-resolution portrait of America by taking a series of gigapixel images with his own custom camera, created from parts of old spy planes and nuclear reactors. Each image fills an entire DVD with data.
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Screens of the Future - July 01, 2005
Organic Light-Emitting Diodes (OLEDs) are plastic-based materials that are able to emit light. Engineers are beginning to make displays out of OLEDs by spraying the materials on a surface, the way an ink-jet printer works. The new OLED displays promise to provide a cheaper, brighter, less power-hungry alternative to liquid-crystal displays -- the ones commonly used in laptop computers and cell phones.
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New Combat Helmet - July 01, 2005
Wearing a helmet can make it hard to figure which direction sounds -- such as gunfire -- is coming from. Soldiers in Iraq are using a new helmet, called the Advanced Combat Helmet, which is padded internally to prevent sound from reverberating and masking its direction of origin.
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Inside the Brain - July 01, 2005
Children who have speech-impairing strokes often learn to talk again, while adult stroke victims can lose their verbal abilities for good. By giving reading and verbal tests inside the MRI, researchers are comparing the inner workings of both children's and adults' brains that suffered from strokes, as well as of healthy subjects'. The researchers hope to develop therapies to help the adult patients talk again.
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Back Pain Relief - July 01, 2005
Up to 40 million American suffer from sciatica pains, but the condition is often not diagnosed correctly. A new imaging technique uses a specially tuned MRI scan to image nerves and highlight them deep inside tissues. Called Magnetic Resonance Neurography, the new technique promises to diagnose conditions such as sciatica -- in which a compressed nerve in the buttock causes persistent lower-back and leg pain -- in up to 95 percent of cases that were previously undiagnosed.
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Mouse Adapter for Tremors - June 01, 2005
For $100, people with tremors could finally be able to use a computer mouse. A new mouse adapter filters out the high-frequency, shaky component of the movement, transmitting only the steady part. The device could enable millions of Americans to perform operations as simple as clicking on a link.
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Weather System Protects Homeland Security - May 01, 2005
Homeland security officials are tapping researchers' capability to predict the paths of toxic waste spills and hazardous airborne particles. Using computer science and mathematics, along with information on the wind and other climate, they can make estimates of how the toxin will disperse and where the plume will go.
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Frostless Heat Pump - February 01, 2005
A new invention, the "frostless" heat pump, produces warmer air than a conventional heat pump by raising the temperature on the device's outer coils. This prevents frost on the coils while heat is suctioned more efficiently into the home.
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Glass Bridges - February 01, 2005
To make bridges last longer and less expensive to maintain, engineers are working to incorporate glass into bridge design. Researchers say these longer-lasting glass-based bridges can withstand earthquakes better, and are faster to build, in addition to having high strength and durability.
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Einstein At Home - February 01, 2005
In a new project called "Einstein@Home," members of the general public can use their computers' downtime to analyze data that physicists are collecting from space. The data searches for gravitational waves, ripples of gravity predicted by Einstein but never directly observed.
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Underwater Weather Watchers - January 01, 2005
Researchers are now collecting valuable information about ocean weather from a fleet of cost-effective instruments called Argo floats. Using hydraulic fluid in internal and external sacs, each float sinks about a mile and a half underwater. Every ten days, the float rises to the surface and transmits information on the ocean temperature and salt content. Researchers hope Argo will improve the ability to forecast the paths of hurricanes and where they will make their landfall.
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A Better Golf Game - January 01, 2005
Researchers have designed a golf ball that tends to fly straighter even when a putter unintentionally "slices" it which ordinarily causes it to curve to one side. The new ball has a hollow, metal core that shifts the ball's mass -- or weight -- to the outside. This helps the ball spin less and fly straighter as it sails through the air.
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Surviving Hard Hits - January 01, 2005
Engineers have developed more protective padding for football players. Unlike traditional padding, the new putty-like material can be molded into protective gear to fit a player's body and better guard against injury. The squashy material redistributes the force from a hit evenly through the material to lessen the impact on a player's body.
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Out of This World - December 01, 2004
Designed to study gamma ray explosions in space, NASA's Swift satellite is the first spacecraft that automatically reorients itself to capture images of a gamma ray burst. When an explosion takes place in sensors pick up the flash of light, and the observatory swivels itself around to get the most ideal view. Researchers hope the Swift will help them discover the cause of the explosions and figure out what damage they do.
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Jaw Bone - November 01, 2004
A new cell phone blocks out background noise by determining the difference between background noise and the vibrations from a user's voice. The phone's headset contains a mini-circuit board and signal processors that use mathematical formulas to figure out which sounds are the user's speech, then weeds out the other noise.
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Protective Paint - October 01, 2004
A new paint fights corrosion by releasing a cerium-based "inhibitor." It interacts with oxidizing agents that would otherwise attack the metal and cause corrosion.
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Nanoparticles - August 01, 2004
Scientists have developed a new brain imaging technique by using nanoparticles -- extremely tiny crystals which cross the blood-brain barrier when injected into the blood stream. Twenty-four hours after being injected, the patient undergoes an MRI. The resulting images show the nanoparticles, which outline tumors in the brain and other lesions that might otherwise go unnoticed.
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Spotting Sunspots - July 01, 2004
Sunspots, large dark spots that dot the Sun's surface, reach a peak every 11 years, unleashing magnetic storms and solar flares that can disrupt communications. A new model focuses on electrified gas -- or plasma -- that flows around the sun because the plasma holds onto magnetic information from past sunspots.
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Playing It Cool - July 01, 2004
New shoulder pads keep players cool, by reflecting 90 percent of the heat from the sun. Made of aluminized polyester, a material originally designed by NASA for the space shuttle, the pads also contain a layer of air that prevents heat from reaching the skin.
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Hurricane-Proof Glass - June 01, 2004
A new hurricane-resistant glass uses a traditional three-layer sandwich of material: two pieces of glass on the outside and an improved middle layer made of fiberglass reinforced polymer. The fibers run at different angles, so, when debris hits the window, the stress waves disperse through it, reducing the shock to the glass. The glass can withstand a bullet flying one hundred miles an hour, and it will hold together through storms with debris coming at similar speeds.
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Cool Oven Rack - April 01, 2004
A snap-on shield for oven racks consists of fibers that thicken as they heat up, becoming a heat barrier. The shield uses novel materials that are sensitive to heat.
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Zero-Energy Home - April 01, 2004
Mechanical engineers have produced a zero-energy model home -- one that produces as much energy as it consumes in a year -- by constructing a heat-conserving airtight building and using renewable resources such as solar energy.
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Protecting Your Privacy - February 01, 2004
The physics of quantum cryptography is the basis for Quantum Privacy Network (QPN). This network can send a message that is hacker proof. Photons are attached to each message. If a hacker intercepts the message the photon is removed and the sender and receiver are alerted that the message has been intercepted.
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Smart Fluids - February 01, 2004
Physicists have created a smart fluid for car suspension systems. When a magnetic field is applied to the fluid it becomes semi-solid and when the field is removed, the fluid returns to a free-flowing liquid. This aspect makes the fluid perfect for suspension systems that need to adapt to changing levels of shock. The fluid also means less mechanical parts are needed.
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Meddling Microwaves - February 01, 2004
Physicists discovered that magnets stop the static caused by interference between your cordless telephone and microwave. Microwaves produce a number of unwanted frequencies, which can interfere with your calls. By placing magnets along the microwave's magnetron, the extra frequencies are reduced keeping calls static free.
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Cloudy Glasses - February 01, 2004
Material scientists found that from the day glass is manufactured there are tine imperfections in the glassware. These scratches become more visible after the glass is cleaned. The tiny scratches make the glass cloudy because light gets spread out as it passes through the glass at different angles.
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Samples From The Sun - January 01, 2004
A new NASA program called the Genesis Mission is launching a spacecraft to collect particles from the sunýs solar wind to obtain information on the origin of earth and other bodies in the solar system.
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Bargain Bidders - November 01, 2003
University of Notre Dame physicist Laszlo Barabasi has discovered which kinds of eBay users get the best deals -- and why. Gathering large amounts of data on completed eBay auctions and performing statistical analysis on them, Barabasi found that people who only bid on a single item generally pay more in the end. Better deals usually go to "power bidders," users who bid on multiple items at a time and thereby flood the bidding process. This information may help protect single bidders, who are advised to place their bids near the end of an auction and stick to their original price.
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Take a Swing - August 01, 2003
Computer simulations and lab experiments are helping scientists understand what makes a good swing. When a baseball bat hits the ball in what players call its "sweet spot," less energy goes into making the bat vibrate and more goes into the ball, making it go further. The researchers have also studied the differences between wooden and aluminum bats.
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Space-Age Windows - March 01, 2003
Aerogel, a new material first developed in space experiments and made of 97 percent air, could soon become an energy-saving solution for replacing glass in windows. It insulates from sound better and it is five times better than any other material at insulating heat. Aerogel is composed of a tight network of tiny pores and glass folded over and over.
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Gadget Power - January 01, 2003
Physicists are developing a new technology that could soon result in cell phones or laptop computers that have a much longer life before they need recharging. Micro fuel cells use common wood alcohol as fuel and a special membrane that produces electricity by chemically separating electrons from the alcohol.
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