Fun Science

Ink Reacts with an Alcoholic Solvent Ink is non-polar and hydrophobic. In turn, the alcoholic solvent is polar. The ink molecules are arranged so as to minimize the surface tension between them and the solvent molecules.

Why Do We Age? Numerous theories of aging exist, but the most popular in scientific circles is the theory of telomere shortening. The fact is that one of the main causes of aging is the ability of cells to divide only a specific number of times. Each time after this the human DNA is shortened. In this case telomeres protect the genes. These are the ends of the chromosomes, which shrink with each division. Preserving the length of telomeres and restoring them depends on the activity of the telomerase enzyme. In most cells telomerase is blocked and is only active in stem and germ cells. In addition, as we age, this enzyme is depleted and when the telomere length ends, the so-called "death genes" remain on the ends of the chromosomes, leading to the imminent death of the cells.

Needle-Free Injection The system, created by Canadian startup Cobionix, is a robotic arm that determines the optimal spot for a "needle" by itself and injects it using a special technology. Instead of a needle, it utilizes a powerful jet of active fluid under high pressure. The use of the Cobi robot makes it possible to vaccinate a large number of people at once and also reduces health care costs. In addition, Cobi can be used in areas with a shortage of trained professionals.

The Mind-Reading Helmet Created The technology behind the Kernel helmet has long been known to scientists, but what is striking is the price and size of the device. Previously, such equipment would have taken up all the space of an average room and cost millions of dollars. It has been possible to reduce the size of the device due to lasers and computer microchips. Scientists developed two versions of the helmet: 👉🏻 Flow — The helmet measures changes in blood oxygen saturation levels. When any part of the brain gets excited, blood is directed there to provide oxygen to the neurons, which is what the helmet captures with laser technology. 👉🏻 Flux — This helmet works like a magnetoencephalography, capturing the magnetic fields generated by electrical brain activity. The former should help with developing attention, dealing with emotional state issues, while Flux is better suited for assessing brain function, learning, and processing information flows.

Spider Robot Helps Study World Heritage Sites Scientists at the University of Adelaide have developed CaveX, a robotic spider that scans the Naracoorte Caves. These caves are a World Heritage property and are known for their large number of well-preserved fossil animal remains, so the choice makes sense. The launched robot was able to walk on the uneven terrain in different gaits, made a map and built several combined images from it, and also got into places where a normal person would definitely not get through. In this way, scientists hope to study as many cave surfaces as possible and find new entrances and new fossils there as well.

A brilliant video that allows us to see how the heart of a 72-hour-old chicken embryo beats. For teaching purposes, ink was injected into the embryo's yolk artery.

Chimpanzees Have Better Visual Memory Than Humans Thus, it's quite easy to teach it to count to 10 and to press buttons on the phone, even for the likes (that is, without any real material reward). Doesn't it remind you of anyone? After all, memory is an amazing thing, capable of incredible deeds. It's like a Ferrari. You can race it, win races, if you train properly. Yet, unfortunately, most people have their Ferrari just sitting idle in the garage, sometimes just going out for bread. Do you remember what your loved ones wore yesterday and what the license plate number of the neighboring car in the parking lot where you leave your car? Many, by the way, do not even remember the license plate number of their car!

Your Stomach Can Dissolve Aluminum The stomach of the average person secretes hydrochloric acid, a substance that can dissolve most existing substances (including metals, plastics, etc.) in a certain amount of time. If this substance comes into contact with the skin, it will cause severe burns. Countries around the world synthesize hydrochloric acid and use it in industry as the strongest solvent. During a day, the human body usually excretes about 2 liters of hydrochloric acid. At the same time, a thin layer of mucous membrane in the stomach completely protects it from the strongest damage by this substance. It is like an incredibly strong armor, which is inside you, takes up no space and acts only against those substances against which it is supposed to. Just below you can see how hydrochloric acid slowly but surely dissolves aluminum.

How Pills Dissolve in Our Bodies Some pills and capsules have a protective coating that prevents damage to the mucous membrane of the stomach. These dosage forms are coated with a material that only begins to dissolve when exposed to a less acidic environment or the digestive enzymes of the small intestine.

Now the neural network is able to generate not only people's faces, but also people themselves. And in full height. None of the people in the animation above ever existed.

Scientists sent a robot dog to the primates to see how they would react to it. The robot came with goodies, so everything is fine👌🏻

A Text-based Neuroprosthesis has been Developed in the USA Patients were hooked up to an electrode matrix that decodes the signals controlling the vocal tract to isolate vowel and consonant sounds and then analyze patterns (templates) to predict spoken words. Researchers developed a set of 50 words necessary for everyday communication, for example, "water," "good" and "family," and then implanted a special electrode in the speech motor cortex of his brain. For testing the effectiveness of the experiment, scientists composed sentences based on the aforementioned vocabulary and displayed the results on the screen. The system had an efficiency of 18 words per minute with a recognition accuracy of 75%.

U.S. Scientists 3D-Printed Record-Sized Pieces of Human Liver The samples have been living in the laboratory for a month and perform all the functions of a normal liver. Now, they are to be sent to the ISS as NASA plans to use the new technology for future space explorers.

In the United States, a Genetically Modified Pig Kidney was Transplanted to a Human Surgeons in New York City have performed the first successful transplantation of a kidney from a genetically modified pig to a human. They stated that the organ functioned normally. The patient remained on a respirator and his brain had already died. As surgeon Robert Montgomery stated, the kidney began producing urine, waste products and creatinine almost immediately.

Animation with Underwater Internet Cable Visualization Things began with the laying of telegraph lines: the first underwater cable was laid in Munich along the Isar River, but it quickly failed due to the lack of proper waterproofing. Siemens invented adequate waterproofing in 1847, thus making it possible to lay "more serious" cables.

Water or other liquids poured into a glass will NOT reflect the image The liquid will change the refraction of the light, which can distort the image, but not horizontally.

Electromagnetic Levitation Module This simple engineering control system operates an adjustable electromagnet (copper coil) and a Hall magnetic field sensor (built into the center of the coil) to levitate the neodymium magnet and prevent it from falling.

Micra by Medtronic This is the world's smallest pacemaker to be implanted without surgery. The device is inserted into the heart by means of a catheter ("cintura") and is fixed in the right ventricle via a special mechanism. Such a device does not require open heart surgery. All manipulations are performed inside the body, without cutting into the chest. In addition to less traumatism, it also markedly reduces the risk of complications.

​​Quantum physics visually With the help of multicolored balls of quartz. They are distributed independently, each color has its own resonance.