Drop dead – the latest in avoiding unwelcome advances
Why opt for modern tactics when old fashioned methods work so well? When a female dragonfly isn’t interested in a male, she doesn’t waste time on a line. She simply drops dead herself, plunging from the sky to send a clear message: Look elsewhere.
“Rassim Khelifa from the University of Zurich, Switzerland, witnessed the behaviour for the first time in the moorland hawker dragonfly (Aeshna juncea),” according to New Scientist. “While collecting their larvae in the Swiss Alps, he watched a female crash-dive to the ground while being pursued by a male.”
“The female then lay motionless on her back. Her suitor soon flew away, and the female took off once the coast was clear.”
Female moorland hawkers, a unique specimen of dragonfly, are not protected by the male of the species after mating. And since coupling with more than one male in a single cycle could damage them physically, the females are forced to answer unwelcome harassment with a definitive “no.”
The optimal choice is to hide in the tall grasses. When out in the open, however, 27 out of 31 females chose the dramatic dive rather than yield, according to Khelifa. Only five of those resisters were taken against their wishes.
And yet, “Using extreme tactics to resolve sexual conflict isn’t unique to moorland hawkers: in their damselfly relatives, for example, females eat their partner.”
Yikes!
Rise of the Eye-borg
Resistance is futile. Remember? The blending of human and technology is here to stay:
[jwplayer pt8Hwj8n]
And, while there is no imminent threat of galactic “Borg” invasion à la Star Trek, it is futile to resist the creative genius behind one man’s successful transformation of life’s proverbial lemons into lemonade.
One-eyed filmmaker Rob Spence, instead of lamenting his loss and the resulting lack of depth perception since his firearms accident at age 9, has replaced his prosthetic eye with a fully functional camera. Spence, unlike any other film maker, now has the unprecedented ability to film documentaries in a heretofore unknown manner: the perspective of the human eye complete with blinking, natural movements of the head and without the intrusive and off-putting necessity of bulky equipment that can render a subject all too nervous.
And while the camera does not transmit images directly to Spence’s brain (at present), who knows what the future will bring? Spence, founding member of what is now the Eyeborg Project, together with his corporate partners, are now pursuing an eye camera that actually looks like a human eye. Amazing!
“Of course, like any hidden camera technology,” the Daily Mail observes, “Ethical questions are raised on privacy, safety and the perhaps uncomfortable notion of the ability to record anyone and everyone within eyesight.” But those questions as well as the how and when of developing the latest in ocular prosthetics is still to be seen.
Take a peek at this not-to-be-missed video to learn the details of this ingenious blend of human drive and innovative technology!
[jwplayer FSgFPNEI]
Womb with a view – a view to the future
Remember Dolly the first cloned sheep? Well, put away that test tube; a womb with a view is already here. And while the new womb is not yet equipped to accommodate a fetus at its earliest developmental stage, the artificial uterus has already proved successful in aiding premature lambs to reach healthier birth weights.
New Scientist reports, “We’ve developed a system that, as closely as possible, reproduces the environment of the womb and replace the function of the placenta,” says Alan Flake at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia in Pennsylvania, who led the study.
“It is fascinating,” says Neil Marlow at University College London. “People have been trying to do this for ages.” But he says the system will have to undergo years of testing to be sure it is safe for babies.
The idea is to simulate uterine conditions bypassing the incubator method which, though providing undeniable support, cannot protect them from the risk of infection and subsequent disability. Poor vision, subpar hearing and cerebral palsy are just a few examples of the potential long-term suffering of those born too soon. The following clip lays out the details.
[jwplayer dC6Os1XN]
Flake’s team, together with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, is already actively pursuing a viable womb to support infants as young as 24 weeks, giving them that much needed month to develop.
Forget flying saucers – we want flying cars
Yes, flying cars. At least that’s what engineering entrepreneurs predicting a passenger drone boom are hoping. One first, despite the improbability of it all, has already taken flight according to the New York Times:
On a recent afternoon, an aerospace engineer (Cameron Robertson) working for a small Silicon Valley company called Kitty Hawk piloted a flying car above a scenic lake about 100 miles north of San Francisco.
Kitty Hawk’s flying car, if you insisted on calling it a “car,” looked like something Luke Skywalker would have built out of spare parts. It was an open-seated, 220-pound contraption with room for one person, powered by eight battery-powered propellers that howled as loudly as a speedboat.
Take a gander at the following video clip and make your own determination.
[jwplayer yCetzVN3]
But while it may seem that a more practical flying “car” (or passenger drone) is a long way off, the competition to get there will drive the timetable. Silicon Valley’s Kitty Hawk, funded by Google founder Larry Page, is only one of many in the race. And though the list of competitors isn’t exhaustive, it isn’t short either or without ample funding:
- Terrafugia
- Kitty Hawk
- Airbus Group
- Moller International
- Xplorair
- PAL-V
- Joby Aviation
- EHang
- Volocopter
- Uber
- Haynes Aero
- Samson Motorworks
- AeroMobil
- Parajet
- Lilium
The potential for skies that appear just as clogged and uninspiring as a four-lane super highway glutted with traffic that often resembles a parking lot is also on the horizon. Oh, joy. Not quite the liberating picture of flying through the air with the greatest of ease.
But Sebastian Thrun, Kitty Hawk’s chief exec who is also a self-driving car pioneer and founding director of Google’s X lab, says: “We have been in contact with the F.A.A. and we see the regulators as friends.” The Times also assures readers that he (Thrun) agreed that concerns about vehicles flying over our heads were legitimate. “I believe that all of us have to work together to understand how new technologies will shape the future of society.”
You don’t say!
