by Sam Cadwell It seems most people are hardwired to find cockroaches disgusting, but this hasn’t stopped scientific research into these creepy crawlies. Soon, these bugs may be working for us. Thanks to some truly disturbing and magnificent advances in cyborg technology, we can implant wires into a live cockroach and then make it walk left or right with a smart p … [Read more...] about WEIRD SCIENCE: Cockroach Hero
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WEIRD SCIENCE: Wrinkly Fingertips Proven Useful
By Sam Cadwell If you ever soak in water for more than five minutes, likely you’ve noticed that your hands and feet become wrinkly. If you’ve heard of osmosis, the process by which water diffuses from an area of high concentration to an area of low concentration through permeable membranes, you might think this explains how pruny fingertips come about. A long held scien … [Read more...] about WEIRD SCIENCE: Wrinkly Fingertips Proven Useful
WEIRD SCIENCE: Wall Crawling with Directional Adhesion
By Sam Cadwell If you’re a fan of comic superheroes, some suspension of disbelief is required. The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe explains the amazing Spider-Man’s ability to climb walls as his ability to “enhance the flux of inter-atomic attractive forces on surfaces he touches, increasing the coefficient of friction between that surface and himself.” T … [Read more...] about WEIRD SCIENCE: Wall Crawling with Directional Adhesion
WEIRD SCIENCE: Robots in Healthcare
Robots are pretty awesome. Most people have an idea of robots formed by popular culture representations, but the direction the actual robotics world is traveling has less flash and more pragmatism. Science fiction has long focused on philosophical questions of the essence of humanity and the moral qualms involved in creating an automaton that can ‘feel.’ However, robotic tech … [Read more...] about WEIRD SCIENCE: Robots in Healthcare