She does sit-ups! I love those opening scenes (Hint: It was a dark and stormy night …). Now for the science, from a July 17, 2019 news item on Nanowerk, Scary movies about dolls that can move, like Anabelle and Chucky, are popular at theaters this summer. Meanwhile, a much less menacing animated doll has chemists talking. Researchers have given a foil “paper doll” the ability to move and do sit-ups with a new material…

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There are three (or more?) possible applications including neuromorphic computing for this new optoelectronic technology which is based on black phophorus. A July 16, 2019 news item on Nanowerk announces the research, Researchers from RMIT University [Australia] drew inspiration from an emerging tool in biotechnology – optogenetics – to develop a device that replicates the way the brain stores and loses information. Optogenetics allows scientists to delve into the body’s electrical system with incredible precision,…

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Courtesy: University of Manchester [1920_stock-photo-red-wine-pouring-58843885-927462.jpg] A July 12, 2019 news item on Nanowerk may change how you view that glass of red wine, A team of scientists are seeking to kick-start a wearable technology revolution by creating flexible fibres and adding acids from red wine. Extracting tannic acid from red wine, coffee or black tea, led a team of scientists from The University of Manchester to develop much more durable and flexible wearable devices. The…

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There’s a very good November 11, 2019 article by Natalie Angier for the New York Times on carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and the colour black, On a laboratory bench at the National Institute of Standards and Technology was a square tray with two black disks inside, each about the width of the top of a Dixie cup. Both disks were undeniably black, yet they didn’t look quite the same.Solomon Woods, 49, a trim, dark-haired, soft-spoken physicist,…

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There are some interesting events coming up in that constellation of science museums clustered under the Ingenium brand name in Ottawa. I’m highlighting two of the events here in date order. Canada Agriculture and Food Museum on December 5, 2019 That is an actual gingerbread house made by Catherine Beddall, the featured artist at the Canada Agriculture and Food Museum’s December 5, 2019 event. Here’s more from a November 27, 2019 Ingenium newsletter (received via…

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I’m always happy to see discussions about the social implications of new and emerging technologies. In this case, the discussion was held at the Fast Company (magazine) European Innovation Festival. KC Ifeanyi wrote a July 10, 2019 article for Fast Company highlighting a session between two scientists focusing on what I’ve termed ‘machine/flesh’ or is, sometimes, called a cyborg but not with these two scientists (Note: A link has been removed), At the Fast Company…

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A new generation of archaeologists and researchers may be getting ready to revise the history books. Brandi Lee MacDonald and her colleagues conducted research in the Babine Lake region of British Columbia (one of Canada’s 10 provinces; there are also three territories) on how the red pigment (ochre) used in the rock art that region was produced and they found something new. The people in that region don’t seem to have pulverized the rocks into…

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Starting in date order: Science Slam in Vancouver on November 29, 2019 I first featured science slams in a July 17, 2013 posting when they popped up in the UK although I think they originated in Germany. As for Science Slam Canada, I think they started in 2016, (t least, that’s when they started their twitter feed). As for the upcoming event, here’s more from Science Slam Vancouver’s event page (on the ‘at all events…

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Both of these bits have a music focus but they represent two entirely different science-based approaches to that form of art and one is solely about the music and the other is included as one of the art-making processes being investigated.. Large Interactive Virtual Environment Laboratory (LIVELab) at McMaster University Laurel Trainor and Dan J. Bosnyak both of McMaster University (Ontario, Canada) have written an October 27, 2019 essay about the LiveLab and their work…

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In fact, I have two items about fungi and I’m starting with the essay first. Giving thanks for fungi These foods are all dependent on microorganisms for their distinctive flavor. Credit: margouillat photo/Shutterstock.com Antonis Rokas, professor at Venderbilt University (Nashville, Tennessee, US), has written a November 25, 2019 essay for The Conversation (h/t phys.org Nov.26.19) featuring fungi and food, Note: Links have been removed), …I am an evolutionary biologist studying fungi, a group of microbes…

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