BristolUniversity
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Scientists claim equation can predict songs' hit potential; still doesn't help David Hasselhoff
Forget Simon Cowell -- when it comes to having an eye for potential hits, the bright minds over at the University of Bristol in the UK believe they can predict a song's hit potential through good, old science. More specifically, the scientists use a "hit potential equation" that they've devised by factoring in 23 musical features like tempo, loudness, harmonic simplicity and danceability. By using the equation, they claim that they can predict a song's hit potential with an accuracy rate of 60 percent. As for that other 40 percent, well, they say it's due to non-musical factors they couldn't account for like, um, marketing. The equation's biggest challenge? Predicting hit songs from the '80s.
Doctor Who's sonic screwdriver is still fiction -- but not forever
Kudos to Bristol University for catching our attention, and doing so in the name of promoting education. Professor of Ultrasonics Bruce Drinkwater is evoking a rather iconic name to better explain how cool science / engineering can be. Though already used in the manufacturing and medical fields -- don't yawn and look away just yet -- Drinkwater expresses some confidence that the future of this technology could very well usher in a pocketable device similar to the sonic screwdriver fancied by a certain former resident of Gallifrey. You know, that do-it-all device that can repair electronic equipment, burn and cut items, fuse metals, scan for information, and render virtually any lock useless... except here we're focusing on ultrasonic sound waves capable of fixing parts together and creating miniature force fields. As for the Time Lord himself, we know of at least one past Doctor who, as joked by a later incarnation, would rather "save the universe using a kettle and some string" (and has, in more recent iterations, pulled out miraculous victories with even a BlackBerry Storm). Point is, you should maybe consider a degree in Physics and an eccentric outfit should you ever find yourself holding a working prototype.
Video: SCRATCHbot hunts like a rat for those trapped like one
Designed for search and rescue missions - which, let's face it, are only ever one loose word away from "search and destroy" - the SCRATCHbot uses its whiskers to detect disaster survivors in inhospitable or dangerous areas. The Bristol Robotics Laboratory developed the rat-inspired people searcher over the past 6 years and now hopes to find interest for it in underground and underwater projects where vision may be impaired. Far less heroic uses are also being contemplated, such as textile inspection and implementation inside intelligent vacuum cleaners that would be able to adjust their cleaning to the particular surface they sense. Video of the new bot coming to life is after the break.
