UniversityOfHawaiiAtManoa
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NASA's Antarctica balloons will study cosmic rays and neutrinos
Antarctica is ideal for launching high-altitude science balloons this time of year. You not only get non-stop sunlight (ideal for solar power), but wind patterns that keep those balloons over land. And NASA is determined to take advantage of this. It's launching a trio of Antarctic balloon missions that promise to shed light on the mysteries of space. The first to take off, the University of Maryland's BACCUS (Boron and Carbon Cosmic Rays in the Upper Stratosphere), will look at cosmic ray particles to learn about the chemicals and density in the space between stars.
Scientists use synthetic skin to test box jelly sting remedies
Box Jellyfish kill more people worldwide each year than sharks. That's why a team of researchers from the University of Hawaii at Mānoa are working to develop an effective first aid treatment for the jelly's deadly toxins -- and they're trying just about everything. From the popular myth of urinating on stings to vinegar/hot water immersions and commercial cures like StingNoMore, no remedy out of bounds. But how do you test these treatments without trying them on humans? You make your own synthetic skin, obviously.
Google launches Endangered Languages website to save 3,000 at-risk tongues
Google lets users surf the web in 40-plus languages, and its Translate service accounts for 57 different tongues, but those numbers are dwarfed by the grand total of 7,000 currently existing languages. On its official blog today, the company announced the Endangered Languages Project, a website dedicated to preserving at-risk dialects by providing information via audio, video and text samples. Google collaborated with the University of Hawai'i at Manoa and Eastern Michigan University to compile research on the 3,000 languages at risk of dying out, and each language's profile includes results drawn from Google Books. Click through to the source link to check out a global visualization of these tongues -- it's mind-boggling that there are 52 endangered languages in Brazil alone.
Researchers power microbots made of bubbles with lasers
They may not be "robots" as most have come to expect, but these so-called microrobots developed by a team of researchers from the University of Hawaii at Manoa do have at least one thing in common with many of their mechanical counterparts: lasers. As IEEE Spectrum reports, the bots themselves are actually nothing more than bubbles of air in a saline solution, but they become "microrobots" when the laser is added to the equation, which serves as an engine of sorts and allows the researchers to control both the speed and direction of the bubbles. That, they say, could allow the bots to be used for a variety of tasks, including assembling microstructures and then disappearing without a trace when the bubble is popped. Head on past the break for a video of what they're already capable of.
