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ICYMI: Ford night riding, AI sphere that delivers and more
#fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-974841{display:none;} .cke_show_borders #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-974841, #postcontentcontainer #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-974841{width:570px;display:block;} try{document.getElementById("fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-974841").style.display="none";}catch(e){}Today on In Case You Missed It: Ford is testing self-driving cars on a completely dark night course, designed to be used without headlights. An automation company built a flying sphere that can pick up and deliver things with a very sphincter-like gripper system. And Schaft Inc. is showing off its new bipedal robot that can walk on rocky beaches easily. The physicist who is thrilled about his job specializing in snowflakes is a must-watch (post-Zombie fakeout, of course). As always, please share any great tech or science videos you find by using the #ICYMI hashtag on Twitter for @mskerryd.
Physicist uses math to get out of a traffic ticket, publishes findings
When most folks get ticketed for running a stop sign, most people wind up writing the court a check. UC San Diego physicist Dmitri Krioukov wrote a mathematical paper instead. Rather than throw his fallible human opinion on the mercy of the court, Krioukov uses a series of equations and graphs to prove that the accusing officer confused his car's real space-time trajectory "for a trajectory of a hypothetical object moving at approximately constant linear speed without stopping at the stop sign." In other words, the officer was wrong, but Krioukov stresses that it isn't the officer's fault. "This mistake is fully justified," he writes, pointing to the math. "As a result of this unfortunate coincidence, the O's perception of reality did not properly reflect reality." And to think, you probably never thought you'd use this kind of math in the real world.
The Physics of Angry Birds updated for Space
Ah, remember the early days of Angry Birds? Back when we were still fascinated by those frustrated feathered creatures and the hogs they so vehemently want to take down? That's when writer and physicist Rhett Allain published his original "Physics of Angry Birds" article, which used the original game to examine some real-life physics theory and equations. Now, Allain is back to take a look at the Angry Birds Space sequel/spinoff/update and the physics contained therein. As you might imagine, there's quite a bit to work with here -- the Space version includes gravity around smaller planets, so Allain is able to actually go through the various equations that govern movement between two different bodies. It's a nice long read (especially interesting if you're into math and physics, of course), but basically Allain finds that the birds aren't really dealing with gravity, just a coded representation of such. And perhaps more interestingly, Allain also says that the Space version of the birds contains pretty much, in a physics sense, the same slingshot as the original version. This makes sense (it's easier to code, obviously, having already done it once), but it also means that even though birds are floating through space in the spinoff, and flying across the ground in the first title, they're still starting with that same initial speed and force in both. [via MacStories]
Harvard physicist puts fires out with electrified wand, hopes to share on HarvardConnection
Okay, so maybe Ludovico Cademartiri will be forced to share the good news on Facebook (or ConnectU, if he's into playing the role of rebel), but at least he's bound to see over a couple of hundred hits. According to The Harvard Crimson, the aforesaid physicist and a smattering of other researchers have stumbled upon a novel way to extinguish flames: electricity. The idea is eventually enable firefighters to squash fires without having to douse a home or object with water and foam -- if hit with a beam of juice, there's at least a sliver of a chance that something can be salvaged. While the specifics of the project are obviously far above our heads, the gist of it is fairly simple -- flames contain soot particles, which become "electrically charged during combustion." Given that those very particles react to electrical fields, a strong enough beam can twist things until it's extinguished completely. Quite honestly, it's a hands-on experience we're desperately trying to arrange, but till then, it looks like another round of Harry Potter will have to do.
MIT jumps straight to wirelessly powering multiple devices
Ah, wireless power. One of those mythical mysteries that are far more likely to remain "something to strive for" rather than "the next big thing." Oh sure, we've got Palm's Touchstone and the Powermat, but until we can hang a 50-inch plasma from our bedroom ceiling and power it up without a single wire, we'll remain firmly unsatisfied. Thankfully for those of us in that camp, MIT exists, and a few of the school's best and brightest are toiling around the clock in order to develop a technology that would power not one, but multiple devices sans cabling. Thanks to the wonders of coupling resonance, we're told that the "overall power transfer efficiency of the wireless system could be increased by powering multiple devices simultaneously, rather than each device individually." In theory, the system could be implemented by "embedding a large copper coil in the wall or ceiling of a room," but there's obviously no set time frame for release. We'll be looking for you geeks at CES next year, okay?
Physicists calculate the end of Moore's Law, clearly don't believe in Moore's Law
If you're looking for pundits with an end date for Moore's Law, you don't have to look far. You also don't have to look far to find a gaggle of loonies who just knew the world was ending in Y2K, so make of that what you will. The latest duo looking to call the demise of the processor mantra that has held true for two score comes from Boston University, with physicists Lev Levitin and Tommaso Toffoli asserting that a quantum limit would be achieved in around 75 to 80 years. Scott Aaronson, an attention-getter at MIT, expects that very same limit to be hit in just 20 years. Of course, there's plenty of technobabble to explain the what's and how's behind all this, but considering that the brainiacs of the world can't even agree with Gordon Moore's own doomsday date, we're choosing to plug our ears and keep on believin' for now. Bonus video after the break. [Via Slashdot]
Quantum cryptography: now ready for space travel
It's been awhile since we've heard of any major advancements in the world of quantum cryptography, but at long last the silence is being broken by a squad of jubilant Austrian physicists. As the story goes, a team from Austria's Institute for Quantum Optics and Quantum Information (IQOQI) managed to send "entangled photons" 90 miles between the Spanish islands of Las Palmas and the Balearics. Calling the ephemeral test successful, the crew has boldly asserted that it's now feasible to send "this kind of unbreakable encrypted communication through space using satellites." Funny -- last we remember, quantum cryptography still had a few kinks to work through here beneath the stratosphere.
Pierre-Gilles de Gennes, father of LCDs, passes away
We'll admit, Pierre-Gilles de Gennes didn't exactly get the ongoing credit he deserved for spearheading discoveries that gave us the liquid crystal display, and it's with regret that we convey the news that he has indeed passed away at 74. Pierre-Gilles was born in Paris where he graduated from the elite Ecole Normale Superieure school after working in "neutron scattering and magnetism before moving to the realm of supraconductors and later to liquid crystals." He went on to take home the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1991, and was even dubbed the "Isaac Newton of our time" by some of the judges. Thankfully, much of his brilliance can still be enjoyed via his 1974 book "The Physics of Liquid Crystals," and while we're sure the context is way over our heads, we can certainly appreciate the end results of his unwearying work.
