SCIENCE
Showing that there’s a lot of mystery still left here on
Earth, how about this weird group of mushroom-like sea
creatures? Collected way back in 1986 at the Australian
coast, scientists have for the first time now provided
it with scientific names (Dendrogramma enigmatica
and D. discoides) and a genus (Dendrogramma). The
creatures are so strange and outlandish that it might
even be a separate phylum altogether.
SCIENCE
PIC OF
THE
MONTH
Source: bit.ly/1r5mfTM
Life is full of questions that need smart answers. We can help.
FROM BRAIN TO AIM
Was it the fearsome Tyrannosaurus
rex? Nope, this creature is called
use your head, says a new study.
What type of dinosaur was Dread? It
of brain areas when study participants
reached either towards the absolute location
of a target or towards a target located relative
to a visual landmark.
Dreadnoughtus schrani. At 26 m long,
weighing in at about 60 tonnes and sporting
a weaponised tail, Dread made T.rex look like
My Little Pony.
belonged to a group of plant eaters called
titanosaurs. But because previously found
fossils of very large titanosaurs are very
incomplete, fairly little is known about these
dinosaurs.
Why is the find significant? For starters,
finding such a well-preserved and almost
complete skeleton is rare. And since both a
complete thigh bone and upper arm bone of
this specimen were found, scientists could
calculate its size reliably. Scans also revealed
where the muscles attached to the bones,
which can help to explain biomechanics of
this type of dinosaur.
Source: bit.ly/1uYO93b
October 2014 | TechSmart
How can you improve your aim? Just
Huh? Researchers compared the activation
And what did the results show?
It seems the brain interprets incoming
information about a visual target differently
based on whether the location is referenced
relative to the body or relative to an external
landmark. In both cases, though, the
same brain areas appear to coordinate the
instructions for moving towards the target.
Why is the finding useful? Knowing how
the brain deals with visual target information
to prepare a reaction may be useful in
rehabilitation therapy in patients who suffered
brain damage.
Source: bit.ly/1pPQf0q
Image: Microsoft
BIGGEST DINOSAUR EVER FOUND
Image: Drexel University
SMART ANSWERS
MAKING BATTERIES LAST LONGER
Is a brief burst of charging bad? Far
less than we once thought, according to a
recent study.
How so? When a battery is charged, the
electrodes absorb and release electrons
from the surrounding electrolyte in alternating
charge-discharge cycles. This may cause
shrinking and swelling of the electrodes,
which shortens the battery’s lifespan.
So what’s the trick? The study showed
that if an electrode material that allows all
the particles to participate in charging and
discharging is used, the ions are absorbed
from and then released again into the
electrolyte gradually rather than rapidly.
This prevents the damaging shrinking and
swelling of the electrode.
What’s the next step? The researchers
plan to run the new battery design through
thousands of charge-discharge cycles to
simulate real-world performance.
Source: Stanford.io/1szcQ3e
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