June 2015

Cat Videos: Bloomington, Indiana's own Lil Bub is one of the more popular felines on the Internet. (Photo by Mike Bridavsky/www.lilbub.com)

Cat Videos Boost Energy, Good Feelings

June 30, 2015September 2, 2015 Science Connectedanimals, emotion, health, neurobiology, psychology

Do you get a warm, fuzzy feeling after watching cat videos online? If so, that emotional effect may be more profound than you realize. The Internet phenomenon of watching cat videos, from Lil Bub to Grumpy Cat, apparently does more than simply entertain. It boosts viewers’ energy and positive emotions while decreasing negative feelings, according to a new study from Indiana University Media School. Can a Cat Video a Day Keep the Doctor Away? The study, by assistant professor Jessica Gall Myrick, surveyed almost 7,000 people about their viewing of…

Biology Oceanography Zoology

Shelf Life Episode 8: Voyage of the Giant Squid

June 25, 2015April 4, 2021 Science Connectedanimals, biology, cephalopods, ecology, fish

Find out how natural history museum staff transport the body of a giant squid. These animals grow to the size of a school bus, or longer. This episode of the Shelf Life video series focuses on a simple transportation problem– how to transport the body of a rare giant squid. But long before they were a quandary for customs officials, these mysterious cephalopods fueled fear and folklore all over the world. While they may not breathe fire or devour large ships, the animals that inspired their mythological counterparts are no…

Clean Hydrogen: Stanford graduate student Haotian Wang and colleagues have developed a novel water splitter that produces clean-burning hydrogen from water 24 hours a day, seven days a week. (Photo Courtesy of L.A. Cicero/Stanford News Service)

Engineering New Technologies

Clean Hydrogen Production for 200 Hours

June 24, 2015September 2, 2015 Science Connectedalternative energy, alternative fuel, climate change, engineering, green living, new tech

By Kate S. Scientists at Stanford University have just built a low-cost water splitter that uses a single catalyst to produce both hydrogen and oxygen gas. This is an invention that could pave the way for a boom in production of clean-burning cars. The scientists say that their device, which can run nonstop for an unprecedented period of time, could provide a renewable source of clean-burning hydrogen fuel for transportation and industry. The team used lithium-ion battery technology to create one low-cost catalyst that is capable of driving the entire…

The Amazon Rainforest (Photo courtesy of Ron Gold via Flikr)

Environment

Braving the Amazon to Study Climate Change

June 23, 2015February 19, 2024 Science Connectedclimate change, environment, global warming

By Jonathan Trinastic (@jptrinastic) Scientists may not be known as the most courageous folk. They deserve such recognition, given their history of challenging established doctrine, venturing into the Arctic to spy glacial melting, and even sticking a needle in their eyes to better understand optics (thanks Mr. Newton!). Now, a team of researchers, construction workers, and engineers join this cadre of brave scientific brethren, navigating the malaria-carrying mosquitoes, blood-sucking leeches, and poisonous frogs deep within the Amazon rainforest to gain a clearer picture of how climate change and deforestation are affecting…

Startup founders and joiners: Henry Sauermann, associate professor in the Scheller College of Business at the Georgia Institute of Technology (Photo by Gary Meek)

New Technologies

Startup Founders Need Joiners for Success

June 22, 2015September 2, 2015 Science Connectednew tech, science careers, startup founders, startup joiners, STEM

By Kate S. Tech startup founders often take great risks to launch new ventures, which earns them a lot of attention. But what about the people who join forces with these founders to develop and commercialize innovative new products and services? Being a founder is not the only way to get involved in entrepreneurship, and founders need so-called joiners to be successful. A new research project is taking a closer look at these ‘joiners’, and the findings show that, while they resemble founders in their willingness to take risks and…

Eva, the first evaporation-powered vehicle, has a turbine engine that rotates as water evaporates from the walls of the engine (Photo by Xi Chen, Columbia University)

Engineering Environment New Technologies Physics Science Videos

Can We Turn Evaporation into Cheap Electricity?

June 18, 2015March 3, 2021 Science Connectedalternative energy, energy, green living, renewable energy

The power of water has long been harnessed by humanity, but another part of the water cycle is being used to turn evaporation into electricity.

Electric Blue Cichlid (Courtesy of Criminalatt)

Oceanography Science Videos Zoology

Hey Cichlid, Check Out My Sandcastle

June 16, 2015September 2, 2015 Science Connectedbiology, ecology, fish, marine biology

By Tom Evans (@AquaEvans) Here is a healthy reminder that all those other fish in the sea aren’t so bad. I’d like to justify my belief that Lake Malawi cichlids are considerably more charming than most human companions. Before we go on, I am not encouraging you to leave your wife/husband and run to the nearest lake. Lake Malawi, also known as Lake Nyasa in Tanzania and Lago Niassa in Mozambique, is an African Great Lake. It is located between Malawi, Mozambique, and Tanzania. Cichlid Love Cichlids are charismatic lovers, and…

Frosted Smart Windows: Window tinting can turn milky for privacy while still allowing 90 percent or more of sunlight to enter (Courtesy of Tim Zarki, University of Cincinnati)

Engineering New Technologies

Stay Tuned for Low-cost, Smart Windows

June 11, 2015September 2, 2015 Science Connectedengineering, environment, green living, green tech, new tech

By Kate S. Today, the University of Cincinnati announced that, together with industry partners, they’ve invented new ‘smart window’ shade technology that could improve upon existing windows and blinds. The researchers say that this patent-pending research will lead to low-cost window tinting that dynamically adapts for brightness, color, and opacity. The new tech is designed to provide privacy while allowing light in. A collaboration between the University of Cincinnati, Hewlett Packard, and EMD/Merck Research Labs has resulted in a patent-pending product that the team is calling ‘tunable’ window tinting. The…

Biology Zoology

Amazing Hummingbirds: Dancing in the Air

June 10, 2015April 3, 2021 Science Connectedanimals, birds, nature, nature photography, peacock

Are you wondering how a hummingbird flies? The flight skills of these tiny birds put our airplanes and helicopters to shame. By Steven Spence Dancing in the Air A hummingbird puts fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters to shame. Not only can it hover, it can also fly forward, backwards, sideways, and even upside down! During a mating display, the male Anna’s Hummingbird can accelerate up to 385 body lengths (g-force 10) per second during a dive. A Peregrine falcon dives at only 200 body lengths per second, and a Mig-25 fighter…

Brainprint: Sarah Laszlo, an assistant professor of Psychology, in her laboratory (Jonathan Cohen, Binghamton University photographer)

Biology Engineering New Technologies

Can Brainprints Replace Passwords?

June 4, 2015September 2, 2015 Science Connectedbrain, engineering, psychology

By Kate S. How many passwords do you keep track of? How many have you forgotten? According to researchers from Binghamton University, remembering lots of complicated codes may one day be a thing of the past. The unique way your brain responds to certain words could be used to replace passwords. Studying Brain Biometrics The research team monitored the brain signals of 45 volunteers as they read a list of 75 acronyms, such as FBI and DVD. They recorded the brain’s reaction to each group of letters, focusing on the…