Mar 07
It took Berliners years to agree upon a design for a memorial to the reunification of East and West—but now that the project is underway, an unexpected hurdle is slowing it down: Bats. Lots of them.
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Dec 05
Today I found out about Project Pigeon andProject X-Ray, WWII plans to use pigeons to guide missiles and (literal) bat bombers.
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Jul 06
If you happen to see a bat flying around you in real life, it’s easy to panic and not see much of anything but a vague blur as you cover your head and cower. But they’re actually pretty graceful
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Jul 05
In what has to be one of the most brilliant self-defense mechanisms ever developed, several species of tropical moths are able to rasp their genitals against their bodies to produce ultrasonic signals that confuse an attacking bat’s acoustical targeting system.
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Jun 21
Apr 14
We all know about echolocation, but way more is happening when a bat takes flight, and some bats don’t echolocate at all. So how do they have so much precision in their flying and what’s different about bats and birds? More »
Feb 22
By all logic bats shouldn’t be able to fly. They’re basically rats with wings, yet somehow they manage to soar through the air, and researchers at Brown University have finally figured out how. But since they’re not the easiest animals to work with, Kenneth Breuer and Sharon Swartz created this biologically accurate robotic bat wing that perfectly mimics the creature’s motions. More »
Nov 29
‘Sonar Vision’ system touted by researchers to help the blind hear what they can’t see
Posted in: Today's Chili 
Scientists from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem have developed a prototype system that could one day aid the congenitally blind by converting video into auditory cues. The “Sonar Vision” works in a similar way to a bat’s echolocation system, but instead of chirping, uses a video camera embedded in a pair of glasses. A laptop or smartphone then converts the images into sound, which is transmitted to a headset. After 70 hours or so of training, that allowed users to identify objects like faces or houses, position objects in space and even identify individual letters. Surprisingly, researchers also found that after only several hours using the device, regions of the cerebral cortex dedicated to sight became activated for the first time in the congenitally sightless. That could possibly let doctors “wake up” regions of the brain never before used, according to the team, “even after a lifetime of blindness.”
[Image credit: Wikimedia Commons]
Filed under: Cellphones, Laptops, Science, Alt
Via: Ubergizmo
Source: CEA
Oct 14
BATS: Wolfwrangler [Video]
Posted in: Today's Chili
BATS are a five-piece math-rockish band from Dublin who are not nearly famous enough for their amazing debut album Red in Tooth and Claw, which features what is no doubt the best song about the Higgs Boson ever. More »
Sep 07
Ed’s TnT Dugout Review: The Classy Way to Carry Your Cannabis [Lightning Review]
Posted in: Today's Chili
Wily stoners know that when smoking in public, subtlety is key. Carrying your stash in a dime bag emblazoned with little weed leaves—not subtle. Instead, try the Tote ‘n Toke dugout. It’s inconspicuous, compact, and masks the scent of even the stickiest of ickies with the aromas of exotic hardwoods. More »
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