Each camera-carrying robot — the width of a lipstick case — would illuminate the patients’ abdomen, beam back video images and carry different tools to help surgeons stop internal bleeding by clamping, clotting or cauterising wounds.
Rube Goldberg Machine Contest
Rube Goldberg Machine Contest (they broke link so I removed it)
Cut or Shred Into Strips 5 Sheets of 8 1/2″ x 11″ 20lb Paper Individually With a Shredder in 20 or More Steps!
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Rube Goldberg drew his “Inventions” as contraptions that satirized the new technology and gadgets of the day. His drawings, using simple machines and household items already in use, were incredibly complex and wacky, but somehow (perhaps it was because Rube was a graduate engineer) the “Inventions” always had an ingenious, logical progression as they worked to finish their task.
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Rube Goldberg drew his “Inventions” as contraptions that satirized the new technology and gadgets of the day. His drawings, using simple machines and household items already in use, were incredibly complex and wacky, but somehow (perhaps it was because Rube was a graduate engineer) the “Inventions” always had an ingenious, logical progression as they worked to finish their task.
The annual National Rube Goldberg Machine Contest held at Purdue University in Indiana is organized by the Phi Chapter of Theta Tau, the National Student Engineering Organization. It hosts college and university teams from across the US. Winners of the high school statewide and regional contests are also invited to run their invention machines at the National.
Another site with additional information on the contest. This seems like a great way to make engineering fun.
Mars Rover
Mars Rover Begins Climb Down From Summit (broken link removed)
After two months at the summit of Husband Hill, the six-wheeled rover is making its descent toward a basin to the south where it will explore an outcrop dubbed “home plate” that looks like a baseball diamond from orbit.
The solar-powered Spirit’s yearlong climb to the peak marked a major feat for the rover, which along with its twin, Opportunity, landed on opposite ends of the Red Planet in 2004 in search of evidence of the past history of water on the cold, dusty planet.
Image credit: NASA/JPL Artist’s concept of the Mars Exploration Rover on Mars.High Resolution Image
Engineering the Future
If you want to succeed in today’s hypercompetitive global economy, there are two things Jen-Hsun Huang wants you to know:
The name of the game is innovation, and innovation is a team sport.
“This is the innovation imperative,” he said.
That’s the message Huang plans to deliver this morning, when he will be the keynote speaker for the grand opening of the Kelley Engineering Center at Oregon State University.
In 1993 Huang cofounded Nvidia.
Using Light to Transmit Data
Stanford innovation helps ‘enlighten’ silicon chips, Stanford.
Light can carry data at much higher rates than electricity, but it has always been too expensive and difficult to use light to transmit data among silicon chips in electronic devices. Now, electrical engineers at Stanford have solved a major part of the problem. They have invented a key component that can easily be built into chips to break up a laser beam into billions of bits of data (zeroes and ones) per second. This could help chips output data at a much higher rate than they can now.
Catalyzing Nanotechnology
Catalyzing Nanotechnology by David Pescovitz, ScienceMatters@Berkeley.
The researchers have also explored a method to imprint bulk silica with particle templates as large as 15 nanometers. Rather than organize several functional groups at a time, the synthesis of nanoparticle building blocks for bulk silica imprinting is ideal for organizing thousands of functional groups at once, Katz says.
This slide depicts the synthetic and biological catalysts consisting of similar organic and organometallic active sites. The confined environment surrounding both biological catalysts results from the hydrophobic interior of the enzyme. The researchers successfully replicated this confinement in the synthetic equivalents of the biological active sites shown on the right side of this figure. (courtesy the researchers)
Related: nanotechnology posts
China Prepares for Return of Shenzhou
China Prepares for Return of Shenzhou, Washington Post:
China is only the third country to launch humans into orbit on its own, after Russia and the United States _ a source of enormous national pride as the communist government tries to cement its status as a rising power and help prepare for a planned moon landing by 2010 and the eventual creation of a space station.
This is China’s second manned space flight. Shenzhou means “divine vessel.”
Like the United States government in the late 1960’s and the 1970’s the Chinese government sees scientific advancement as one of the top priorities for future success.
China’s vision for new space age, BBC.
China National Space Administration
Ministry of Silly Walks
The engineers’ computer simulations conclude that walking is simply most energy efficient for travel at low speeds, and running is best at higher speeds. And, they report, a third walk-run gait is optimal for intermediate speeds, even though humans do not appear to take advantage of it.
The findings help to explain why the possible–but preposterous–gaits in the Monty Python sketch, “Ministry of the Silly Walks (sadly the link was broken – so removed),” have never caught on in human locomotion. The researchers add that extensions of this work might improve the design of prosthetic devices and energy-efficient bipedal robots.
You have to like a government news release that references a Monty Python sketch, don’t you? Especially if they realize Monty Python was poking fun at ludicrous government departments (using physical humor). I am glad they choose to add some spice to the scientific news. Learn more about the Ministry of Silly Walks (sadly the link was broken – so removed).
New link (since other links died): Monty Pythons Flying Circus (The Ministry of Silly Walks & the Spanish Inquisition ) (2000)
Global Engineering Excellence
Technological innovation is a significant driving force for national economies. Research, development, and training the next generation of engineers are therefore important factors in competition. In response to this consideration, Continental and eight top international universities have started the Global Engineering Excellence initiative.
Global Excellence Team:
- Technische Universität Darmstadt, Germany
- Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich, Switzerland
- Georgia Institute of Technology, USA
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA
- Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China
- Tsinghua University, China
- Universidade de São Paulo, Brazil
- University of Tokyo, Japan
- Continental AG, Germany
Nanoscale Science and Engineering Education
Nanoscale Science and Engineering Education projects funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF).
Abstracts for programs funded given by NSF.
For example How Do We Know What We Know? Resources for the Public Understanding of Scientific Evidence,
This project is designed to improve communication between scientists and the public focusing on the role of evidence in science. It is a two-year project that includes: 1) implementing a national survey on the public use of science web sites; 2) conducting a national Science Education Outreach Forum bringing together scientists and informal science educators; 3) implementing workshop sessions at a national conference to disseminate lessons learned from the survey and Forum; and 4) developing a prototype website on the role of evidence that will be evaluated for audience engagement and understanding.
This project builds on the Exploratorium’s prior NSF-funded project (ESI#9980619) developing innovative strategies using the Internet to link scientists and the public using Webcasts, annotated datasets and interactive web resources. Project collaborators include the Pew Internet and American Life Project, Palmer Station, Scripps Oceanographic Institute, FermiLab and the Society of Hispanic Physicists among others. The research and evaluation of the project has the potential for strategic impact by providing new information and models on how science centers can more effectively use the Internet to improve communication between scientists and the public while engaging learners more effectively.