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Opal's Tadpole proves webcams don't need to be big or boring
Opal entered the webcam market two years ago with its C1 desktop camera. Now, the company is back and this time it's going after laptop users with the itty bitty Tadpole.
This time-lapse cell division film is not CGI
You might have paid more attention to cell division in biology class had you seen this timelapse video from filmmaker Francis Chee (below). It shows the cell division of an egg from Rana temporaria (the common frog) in such astonishing detail that it looks like a digital effect. Starting with just four cells, it divides into seemingly millions more in around 33 hours, a time that's compressed to 23 seconds in Chee's video.
Robotic frogs employ condoms and engage in "foot flagging"
When we predicted the killer robot-frog sequel to those evolution emulating robotic tadpoles we saw last month, we didn't expect the response to be this quirky. An article over at The Scientist details the process by which Professor Peter Narins and his colleagues at the University of Vienna managed to "convince real frogs that a male intruder has just hopped into their territory". How did Narins go about this strange activity? Using robotic frogs equipped with air pumps, speakers, and get this, condoms. Apparently, condoms are so well suited to task of mimicking a frog's croak that the sound can provoke a real frog into sparring with the lifeless and immobile robot-frog. Later on next year, the research will shift onto a study of Staurois natator, the black-spotted rock frog, whose habitat is near running water which Narins thinks makes sound communication impossible. To address this problem, he intends to devise a robot-frog model with tiny leg motors which can communicate using "foot flagging": an apparently graceful movement whereby frogs lift their legs and rotate them in order to convey their thoughts. Are we the only ones to spot the similarity between this activity and Homo sapiens using their toe digits to operate television remotes when they're on the floor?[Via Primidi]
Robotic tadpoles emulate evolution
Robot tadpole mating. That's what a team of vertebrate physiologists at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, N.Y. have been using to investigate the evolution of vertebrae. These little robot tadpoles -- lovingly named "Tadros" -- are modeled after the larvae of sea creatures called "sea squirts": each has an electronic eye, motor, computer brain, and gelatinous tail of varying lengths and stiffness. By racing the Tadros towards a light in 8-foot fish tanks and recording the results, the scientists have been able to carry out a simulated form of evolution by electronically mating each Tadros and producing a next-generation that shares the attributes of its two "parents." Over 10 generations of robot tadpole "relations," the scientists found that the tails became stiffer as the swimming performance improved. Apparently this stiffness accounts for only 40% of the improvements in swimming performance: further investigations will ascertain which factors account for the remaining 60%. Next, the team hopes to add a "hunter" to the tank which the Tadros can avoid using infrared sensors, to mimic the pressure sensitive organs of fish. Evolution emulating robot-tadpoles today, giant killer robot-frogs tomorrow?[Thanks, Rod L.]
