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Researchers have put the technology to the test already and found that their subjects could follow a game through vibrotactile sensations once they were trained on what the different vibrations meant. Part of the team’s challenge is to develop a Braille-like system of vibrations so that people can intuitively understand what each vibration means, said the Swedish researchers. They are also working on a more sophisticated technology that allows cell phones to switch to a streaming video mode to replay a goal once it has been scored....

David Richardson is an evolutionary ecologist at the University of East Anglia with an expertise in molecular genetics. He’s been studying Seychelles warblers, a small olive-colored songbird, on Cousin Island since 1997. “The whole island works as an amazing kind of wild laboratory,” Richardson says, since the birds don’t like long flights and stay sequestered in their existing habitat. Today, every animal is banded for individual identification and monitored for reproductive success and signs of aging....

The video was put together by the European Organization for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT) and incorporated additional data from both the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Something that isn’t visible in the video is how 2015 relates to past years. We found out earlier this year that 2015 was the warmest year on record and 2016 is likely to be hot on its tail....

Hydrogels are 3D structures made from crosslinked molecules. They can be made from synthetic or natural materials and tend to swell in water. Some hydrogels can even change shape in response to external stimuli like variations in pH, temperature, ionic strength, solvent type, electric and magnetic fields, light, and more. The medical industry has been exploring how to use hydrogels for applications such as wound dressing. But robot engineers have also been interested in using hydrogel to make soft robots—just check out this nifty drug delivering jellyfish-like aquabot from 2008....

NASA scientists have been collaborating with Techshot and Tupperware since 2017 to create the perfect container for cultivating greenery in space. The result is a low-maintenance, mini-nursery called the passive orbital nutrient delivery system, or PONDS. Each PONDS is a plastic box. Inside there is a small pot that contains orange clay sediment like you’d find on the paths at a baseball field, fertilizer, and two seeds. The outer container stores water....

What are you eating and/or fermenting for Thanksgiving? This time last year I was on the last leg of my Fermented Man project, and to be honest I was kind of running on fumes at that point. My family used to have Thanksgiving dinner at my grandma’s house, but now that she’s getting older we’ve been going out to a local restaurant or country club to eat. I was stuck eating grilled cheese at the restaurant, because bread and cheese were the only fermented foods they had....

He is right. The thing is so astonishing it seems unreal, especially for those of us who don’t drive 1,200-hp drift Mustangs as our day job. But, just as unbelievably, Ford and Gittin let me experience the insanity for myself. One by one, electric vehicles are smashing stereotypes about electric vehicles. The Ford Mustang Mach-E 1400 was expressly designed to demolish the notion that driving an EV is boring, thanks to its seven 200-horsepower electric motors driving their combined 1,400-hp through all four wheels....

A group of researchers studied people who ran across the United States over a five-month period and used those results alongside conclusions from other studies on humans engaged in a variety of endurance activities, from races like the Tour de France to pregnancy. By comparing all the data, they found that the maximum amount of energy a human can expend indefinitely is roughly equal to 2.5 times the number of calories they burn at their basal metabolic rate (BMR), or the amount of energy they use while at rest....

Hospitals in invaded Ukrainian cities have had to improvise for safety—maternity hospitals in Mariupol and Kharkiv have converted their basements into bomb shelters-cum-maternity wards. There, babies continue to be born, introduced to the world in dimly lit rooms packed with beds and cribs. Ukraine’s largest pediatric hospital, Okhmatdyt Children’s Hospital in the capital Kyiv, treats some of Ukraine’s youngest cancer patients. It has already evacuated patients with non-life-threatening conditions, but some patients cannot be moved....

The company sent out invitations to their fall 2015 event in late August—offering a subtle clue at what to expect. The phrase “Hey Siri, give us a hint” doesn’t say much, yet tells us almost all we need to know: that Apple will be giving its artificially intelligent digital assistant a great role in various products. Here’s what we can expect when Apple takes the stage in San Francisco on Wednesday....

“I am here today because I believe Facebook’s products harm children, stoke division, and weaken our democracy,” said Haugen, who has become known as the Facebook whistleblower. While Haugen only revealed her identity two days ago in an interview with 60 Minutes, her actions since leaving the company in May have led to a reckoning for the social media giant. Before resigning from her job as a product manager, Haugen obtained tens of thousands of pages of internal research documents from the company, which she used to file multiple complaints with the Securities and Exchange Commission....

There are plenty of reasons why people might decide they don’t want a goldfish. If you find yourself hating your fishy friend there are ways to get rid of it other than committing fishicide and sending its soul to the great big fishbowl in the sky. You can give it to a friend, give it to a stranger, but for the love of everything in the ecosystem, do not set it free in your local pond, stream, or any other body of water....

What is Parkinson’s Disease? Parkinson’s disease is a movement disorder that happens when brain cells that make a chemical called dopamine stop working or die. Worldwide, an estimated 6 million are diagnosed withPD, and millions more are impacted by the disease through friends and family members. There is currently no cure. Tremors, slow movement, and stiffness are the main symptoms of PD, but many people also experience depression, memory problems, and sleep disorders (link to other article) and other non-movement symptoms....

Building on previous research, a study published recently in Ecological Applications illustrates the scale of risk associated with birds and pathogens in produce. It also proposes how some farms can deter harmful wildlife interactions—and welcome beneficial ones. The researchers traced a path to find out how likely it is that birds carry bacteria, which species are most likely to do so, and how frequently they’re able to transmit people-sickening diseases....

Most of those fads failed to inspire products that actually worked, and the same holds true today. Some buzzy alt-waters can even be dangerous. Take raw water, which advertisers claim is superior for one’s health because it’s “untouched and untreated.” But that lack of filtration means it’s an excellent way to get diarrhea. Without protection from animal poop and other sources of harmful bacteria, you could be setting yourself up for some unpleasant health problems....

Digital rights management for 3-D printers is just the beginning.That’s probably an understatement. MakerBot’s $2,199 Replicator 2, which prints small objects from drips of melted bioplastic filament, is generating headlines today. But far sharper home stereolithographic printers, which selectively cure liquid photopolymer resins with lasers, are on the way; Formlabs is set to begin delivery on its $2,299 Form 1 in February. And that’s just the start. The next generation of consumer 3-D printers will be able to generate complex parts of variable elasticity and conductivity, and from far more than plastic or resin....

Despite newer, gentler options, like plastic aligners, many orthodontists still choose versions of this tough hardware to capitalize on metal’s chomper-pulling power. Modern braces consist of three main parts: brackets, archwires, and ligatures. Orthodontists glue the rectangular brackets, usually metal, to each tooth. These pieces act like sophisticated handles, enabling experts to precisely move teeth, says Hera Kim-Berman, a clinical associate professor of dentistry at the University of Michigan. Archwires, one for top teeth and one for the bottom row, extend from the left side of the jaw to the right and fit through slots in the brackets....

If you look up on a clear night, you’ll likely see a few bright celestial objects—and a lot of dark space between them. But if there are hundreds of billions of stars in our galaxy and hundreds of billions of galaxies in the universe, the whole thing should light up like Times Square. So why is the cosmos pitch-black at night? It isn’t. We just can’t see most of these interstellar billboards....

A storm like this hasn’t happened in the Atlantic—not in January—in decades. That’s prompted a lot of scientific debate, including speculation that this weird weather is related to El Niño, or maybe climate change, or maybe both. But hold on to your hats and your Weather Channel panic. In reality, Alex is just one of those weather flukes. While warmer waters, triggered by climate change, may have aided in Alex’s formation, a single out-of-season storm does not foretell our future Januaries....