Fun Science

Phosphorous Sun Combustion reaction of red phosphorus in oxygen forming phosphorus pentoxide: P₄ + 5O₂ = P₄O₁₀.

Toyota has kept its promise and the e-Palette autonomous minibuses were launched at the Tokyo Olympics. A single battery charge has a range of about 150 km. The speed can reach 19 km per hour. However, the bus moves on fixed circular routes in the Olympic Village, isolated from urban transport. Moreover, there is an engineer inside without the steering wheel, but with an emergency stop button.

"Speed Bump" With Non-Newtonian Fluid 👆🏻 The Bumpfree Dynamic Speedbump concept could change drivers' attitude to speed limiters in the future. This device allows motorists driving at an adequate speed to get over the obstacle without interference. However, it will "remind" everyone else of the need to observe the speed limit, creating the feeling that occurs during the crossing of the usual "speed bump", but without impact.

China has released a "smart" voice recorder AI Recorder which translates recorded speech into text, arranges paragraphs and highlights key words. AI Recorder will be available soon for $99.99. The manufacturer describes it as a valuable assistant for journalists, students and entrepreneurs. So how soon will robots replace the majority of professions? Are they starting already? 🤔

Demonstration of the incredible Coanda effect with the example of a ball that does not fall as it 'sticks' to the lower part of the air stream. Physics is a kind of magic indeed!

Skydiver & Raindrop An increase in the resistance to motion along with an increase in velocity causes a steady, regular motion of a body as it falls from a great height in a liquid or gas (e.g. in the atmosphere). Thus, a skydiver can gain speed up to 50 m/s before opening the parachute, and raindrops, depending on their size, reach speeds from 2 to 7 m/s.

Paper airplane and aerodynamics.

People: "All these robots are harmless, the battery runs down in five minutes, why be afraid of them?" Scientists: "The bipedal robot ran five kilometers for the first time – it took 53 minutes and one battery charge to do it" 🤖😳 The Cassie robot was created by students at Oregon State University with one million dollars in grants from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) in 2017. The bipedal robot is controlled by a neural network using deep machine learning with reinforcement.

How to make the simplest unipolar motor

Such a beauty appears if you water the screw with ferromagnetic liquid (it is strongly polarizing in the presence of a magnetic field liquid, which contains ferromagnetic nanoparticles).

Gravity Clock ⏰ The mechanism of such a clock runs by slowly rolling the clock down a special base. It is this movement that provides the energy for the movement of the hour and minute hands.

Venter's Move — “Game of God" In 2010, Venter's team obtained a synthetic copy of the M. mycoides genome. Scientists transferred it to a cell from which their own DNA had been removed beforehand; the resulting mycoplasma divided and functioned properly. It was this work that the staff of the American magazine Newsweek dubbed "The Game of God." However, if it was a game, in 2016 Venter "outplayed" the Creator by reducing the original mycoplasma genome by about half and getting perfectly viable cells again. Craig Venter: "Thanks to genetic engineering, and now the field of synthetic biology, we can manipulate DNA to an unprecedented extent, just as we can edit software in a computer."

Brain Capabilities in the Future A promising and somewhat frightening method of improving brain abilities is the brain-computer interface. 🧠💡Such a system allows the brain to receive information directly from the computer. For humans, interfaces also have considerable potential, still they can also cause harm. Plus, it raises a number of ethical questions. Science fiction? A recurring problem with brain-computer interfaces is the possible emergence of "superhuman" abilities in humans. So this idea is often greeted negatively both among laymen and in scientific circles. Some fear that cyborgs will catch up with them, others afraid of interface to control the mind. And a third group sees it as a tremendous benefit to humanity, elevating human beings and society. All of these perceptions are only hypothetical. In fact, real experience with the interface is still too little. As a result, our views are based primarily on emotion: "wise disgust" or blind faith that technology can fix and improve everything.

☝🏻This robotic serpent was designed specifically for finding victims of disasters under rubble.

The Rupert's drop and a hammer ⚡️ The Rupert's drop or Batavian tears are frozen droplets of tempered glass with extremely high internal mechanical stress. The main part of the droplet (head) is capable of withstanding a huge strain, but if its "tail" will be even slightly damaged, it will scatter to smithereens in a matter of seconds.

​​Acetylene Balloon Explosion 🌀Acetylene is a colorless, flammable poisonous gas with a foul odor consisting of carbon and hydrogen. Such an experiment is better not to be repeated for sure, as it would leave behind a poisonous gas. Therefore, this experience should only be carried out in the open air.

Humanoid Robots Specialized robots handle assembling cars, carrying goods, and other programs much better than humans, though they fail anything else but their narrow range of tasks. If we want the most versatile robot possible, it has to be comfortable in human environments and infrastructure, which means to be human-like — after all, a robot-cleaner cannot get a cup off a shelf, and a robot-welder will not tell you how to get to the library.

Bicycle and Electric Car Hybrid Car-eBike — the name given to the creation of the company CityQ. Such a vehicle weighs only 70 kg (with a payload of 300 kg), is able to accelerate on electric power up to 25 km/h and conquer a distance of 100 km. Moreover, it can take on board two people plus a small cargo. Economical, environmentally friendly, beneficial for health, convenient👌

Why is It Better to Do Things You Love? ☝🏻It is known that when we try and do something willingly, the prefrontal cortex works much better. The prefrontal cortex is the area of the brain responsible for motivation. Motivation increases when we engage in something we enjoy. The structure responsible for regulating emotions is deep in the brain and is called the limbic system. From it, the signals come to the prefrontal cortex, "I like doing this! I enjoy this!" Yet when the signals from the limbic system are "I don't like it!", the prefrontal cortex pretty much stops working. So motivation falls and productivity goes down.

Just an illusion👆🏻 Penrose triangle can only exist in a drawing in perspective. Still as a solid object it does not.