2017年4月30日 星期日

Can zapping your neck help you quickly learn a foreign language?

Someday it may be possible for a soldier to stick a tiny electrode behind her ear in order to learn a foreign language more quickly. (via STAT)

A new project at DARPA aims to improve people’s ability to learn new things by stimulating nerves in the neck or behind the ear.
PBS.ORG

2017年4月27日 星期四

CN Bio Innovations

This revolutionary invention, from Oxford spinout CN Bio Innovations, can be infected with diseases and given new medicines to treat them – and the ‘organ on a chip’ responds exactly like a real liver! #StartedinOxford http://po.st/cHEBOE

'Kindles now', Programming as a Way of Thinking, 3 New Eye-Catching Bridges Rise in New York


"The ability to execute code makes programming a tool for thinking and exploring. When we express ideas as programs, we make them testable; when we debug programs, we are also debugging our brains."

The power of modern programming languages is that they are expressive, readable, concise, precise, and executable
BLOGS.SCIENTIFICAMERICAN.COM


Ebook sales are down, physical book sales are up.
Once upon a time, people bought books because they liked reading. Now they buy them because they like books.

Just a few years ago, the Kindle was being blamed for the death of the…
THEGUARDIAN.COM




3 New Eye-Catching Bridges Rise in New York

The home of past-century wonders like the Brooklyn Bridge returns to building cable-stayed bridges, which are designed to “stand the test of time.”


2017年4月25日 星期二

An Old Rock Could Lead to Next Generation Solar Cells


Perovskite can absorb sunlight and turn it into electricity.
鈣鈦礦可以吸收陽光, 把它變成電.
Perovskite technology could disrupt the world's solar market, currently dominated by China
SCIENTIFICAMERICAN.COM


Perovskite
維基百科,自由的百科全書

鈣鈦礦 (Perovskite)
基本資料
類別氧化物礦物
化學式CaTiO3
施特龍茨分類04.CC.30
性質
分子量135.96 u
顏色黑、紅棕、淺黃、黃橙
晶體慣態Pseudo cubic – crystals show a cubic outline
晶系Orthorhombic (2/m 2/m 2/m) space groupPnma
雙晶complex penetration twins
解理[100] good, [010] good, [001] good
斷口Conchoidal
硬度5–5.5
光澤Adamantine to metallic; may be dull
條痕grayish white
透明性Transparent to opaque
比重3.98–4.26
光學性質雙軸 (+)
折射率nα=2.3, nβ=2.34, nγ=2.38
其他特徵無放射性、無磁性
參考文獻[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8]
鈣鈦礦是指一類陶瓷氧化物,其分子通式為ABO3;此類氧化物最早被發現者,是存在於鈣鈦礦石中的鈦酸鈣(CaTiO3)化合物,因此而得名。由於此類化合物結構上有許多特性,在凝聚體物理學方面應用及研究甚廣,所以物理學家與化學家常以其分子公式中各化合物的比例(1:1:3)來簡稱之,因此又名「113結構」。

2017年4月24日 星期一

巴斯德滅菌法1862



【那一年的這一天】
如果沒有法國人巴斯德的話,可以確定的是,世界人口絕對不會像現在這樣爆炸,因為人類健康仍然在很大程度上,受到看不見的「微生物帝國」的威脅和宰制。巴斯德的研究直搗「微生物帝國」,甚至提出「預防接種」的劃時代理論,還進一步發明狂犬病、炭疽病疫苗,破了微生物的功。這人根本是微生物的剋星來的,因此被稱為「微生物學之父」。

巴斯德還發明一種低溫殺菌的「巴斯德滅菌法」,廣泛用於牛奶、葡萄酒、啤酒和果汁消毒。如果沒有巴斯德,這些生鮮飲料不可能發展出龐大的產業,甚至不可能擺上大賣場的貨架,只能走「觀光果園」的路線,現擠現喝。


巴斯德還創辦「巴斯德研究院」,延續他「對抗微生物之戰」的戰果。1983年巴斯德研究院第一個成功分離出人類免疫不全病毒(HIV),對於白喉、破傷風、結核、小兒麻痺、流行性感冒、黃熱病和鼠疫等也有許多革命性的發現。1908年起,該機構已有8位科學家獲得諾貝爾獎。


【民報】【那一年的這一天】1862.4.20 巴斯德滅菌法首次測試完成
舉世聞名、被廣泛運用在延長牛奶、酒類等食品保存期限的「巴斯德滅菌法」(pasteurization),首度於1862年4月20日這天,由法國科學家、「微生物…

2017年4月22日 星期六

Kengo Kuma’s Carbon Fiber Curtain Makes Buildings Earthquake-Proof


his innovative reinforcement at Komatsu Seiren's showroom facility in Nomi, Japan, provides added stability to the building.
日本Nomi的小松Seiren展廳設施的創新型強化碳纖維幕,為建築物增添了穩定性。
Earthquakes? No longer a problem for fabric manufacturer Komatsu Seiren
ARCHITIZER.COM

March for Science: 为科学站出来


Ten thousand march for science in London
Financial Times · 3 hours ago



为科学站出来 全球学霸大游行
本周日,在全球超过600个城市,科学家们走上街头举行集会,反对政治干预科学,表达对科研自由的诉求。

2017年4月21日 星期五

The Brain Science of Conformity

Why are we so quick to follow along when people around us embrace a falsehood? Because of the anxiety, unease and disgust caused by standing apart.

It’s a problem in schoolyards, board rooms and, especially lately, in politics, where social media has proven a powerful tool for rallying people to untruths.
WSJ.COM

2017年4月20日 星期四

Why Are Some Mice (and People) Monogamous? A Study Points to Genes

Why Are Some Mice (and People) Monogamous? A Study Points to Genes

By CARL ZIMMER

A groundbreaking study has found that genetic variations in mice are linked to parental care and monogamy, the first time such a link has been found in mammals.


為什麼有一些小鼠(和人)一夫一妻制? 基因研究
作者CARL ZIMMER
一項突破性的研究發現,小鼠的遺傳變異與父母關懷和一夫一妻制有關,這是在哺乳動物中首次發現的。

2017年4月19日 星期三

洪巧珍研發「警戒費落蒙」; Velodyne Announces a Solid-State Lidar

上下游 News&Market

不要告訴薊馬,一切都是假的~~研究30年的藥毒所副研究員洪巧珍,開發「警戒費洛蒙」,只要薊馬一飛進芭樂園,就會感到緊張,到處亂飛,想要遠離「危險的果園」,連續四年測試,發現芭樂被薊馬危害的比率從92.7%降到10%上下,有效減少農藥使用。
https://www.newsmarket.com.tw/blog/86203/
除了中文,還有流利第二外語嗎?多數的人回答英文或日語,但要在「農藥…
NEWSMARKET.COM.TW







Velodyne's hand-sized, solid-state lidar will be demonstrated this summer, released in test quantities this year, and mass produced in 2018.


The hand-size unit will be demonstrated this summer, released in test quantities this year, and mass produced in 2018
SPECTRUM.IEEE.ORG

Lidar - Wikipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lidar

Lidar (also called LIDARLiDAR, and LADAR) is a surveying method that measures distance to a target by illuminating that target with a pulsed laser light, and measuring the reflected pulses with a sensor.

What is LIDAR? - NOAA's National Ocean Service

oceanservice.noaa.gov › Ocean Facts

LIDAR, which stands for Light Detection and Ranging, is a remote sensing method that uses light in the form of a pulsed laser to measure ranges (variable distances) to the Earth.