The turbines WITHOUT blades: firm unveils radical “pole” design that claims to be quieter and safer than traditional wind farms

Published: 00:12, 19 May 2015.

Source: Ellie Zolfagharifard for mailonline.

Link: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3087000/The-turbines-WITHOUT-blades-Firm-unveils-radical-design-claims-quieter-safer-traditional-wind-farms.html

Science field: Environment

Summary:

The technology takes advantage of voracity to generate electricity. Voracity is a wind effect that creates a pattern of spinning vortices. Bladeless design could reduce manufacturing costs by 53 per cent. Prototype “Vortex Mini” can capture nearly half of the wind’s power.

Glossary:

-          Vortex: a whirling mass or rotary motion in a liquid, gas, flame, etc., such as the spiralling movement of water around a whirlpool.

-          Blade: the thin flattish part of various tools, implements, etc., as of a propeller, turbine, etc.

-          Pattern: a standard way of moving, acting, etc.

-           

Review:

Today’s wind turbines have colossal blades that spin at speeds of more than 200mph (320 km/h). While some might consider them majestic structures, others argue they are a threat to bird life and a noisy blight on the landscape. Now a Spanish company has come up with a solution to ease opposition to the technology; a bladeless wind turbine that can generate more electricity for less.

Created by Madrid-based Vortex Bladeless, the technology takes advantage of something known as vorticity. This is an aerodynamic phenomenon that create a pattern of spinning vortices in a certain area. The company believes vorticity is the future of ‘green energy’. In their existing prototype, a long cone made from a composite of fiberglass and carbon fibre is designed to vibrate in the wind. Two rings of repelling magnets are positioned at the base of the cone, acting as a non-electric motor. When the cone moves one way, one of the magnets pull it another direction. This provides a boost to the mast’s movement, even when wind speeds are low. The movements is transformed into electricity using an alternator that increases the frequency of the mast’s movement.

Without the need for blades, the design could reduce manufacturing costs by 53 per cent compared to conventional multi-blade wind turbines. And the simple design means it doesn’t pose a risk to bird life or emit noise disturbance. The team claim their prototype ‘Vortex Mini’, at 41ft tall (12 metres), can capture nearly half of the wind’s power in normal conditions. This is 30 per cent less than normal wind turbines.

Written by Rebeca Mees

THE BUGS WITHIN US

-Date of publication:  22May of 2015

-Source of information:  Science News for Students

https://student.societyforscience.org/article/bugs-within-us

-Scientific field:  Microbes  and animals

-Extract:

A lot of bacteria’s live inside animals and affect their health, food choices and mating. Indeed, humans in terms of the number of cells present, we are all more bacterial than human. Humans even pick up bacteria when someone kisses us on the cheek for example.   

-Critical appraisal:

First, I’d like to said that this article talks about microbes in our body that are crucial to our health because they helped to digest  food. Other microbes, such as viruses and fungi, also occupy our bodies. Overall,, humans are home to nearly 15,000 species of bacteria.

Secondly, recent studies suggest that these bugs also affect how an animal’s brain develops and what food an animals eat.

The brain is one of the most critical parts and bacteria might help our brains develop properly.

I’m really impressed by the discoveries of Reuven Dukas because he studied bacteria in fruit flies. Researchers discovered that maggots feed on jelly containing yeast and sugar. Bacteria inside the maggots  affects which food sample other young fruit flies will prefer to eat.

This experiments suggest that bacteria indeed affect the flies food choices and extend the creations of new species.

-Glossary:  

-Fruit  flies:   Tiny flies

- Species: A group of similar organisms capable of producing offspring that can survive and reproduce.

- Bacterium: A single-celled organism. These dwell nearly everywhere on Earth, from the bottom of the sea to inside animals.

-Maggots: A soft-bodied, legless larva of certain flies. 

Written by Lidia Figueras 

How to supercharge the way you learn

Published: May 1^st 2015

Source: David Robson for BBC

Link: http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20150429-how-to-learn-with-zero-effort

Science field: Health, Neuroscience, psychology.

Summary

What is the easiest way to learn? David Robson meets a group of scientists and memory champions competing to find techniques that make facts stick fast. Memory experts from across the world have been asked to conduct experiments to find the easiest, and most effective, way to memorize new information.

The task was superficially simple; they wanted to know if you had an hour to study a list of 80 Lithuanian words, what you have to do in order to remember them a week later. Many teams found some benefits. Rather than focusing on one single technique, they tended to use combinations of the following strategies:

1.                  Embracing ignorance:

Without any training, subjects were forced to guess the meaning of the Lithuanian words. Simply recognizing your own ignorance, it seems, primes your mind into action.

2.                  Surfing the memory’s waves:

You can easily waste time over-studying. So many of the entrants had designed algorithms that cleverly work out how strong your memory for each of the 80 words is, so they could rekindle it once you had started to forget.

3.                  Buffet studying:

One team found that simply cycling through all 80 words was effective.

4.                  Story-telling.

One entrant asked the participants to build a story with the words they were learning, for instance.

Glossary

-          Humble: not proud or not believing that you are important.

-          Switch: a small device, usually pushed up or down with your finger, that controls and turns on or off an electric current.

-          Map sth out: to plan something in detail.

-          Hiccup: a loud noise that you make in the throat without wanting to, caused by a sudden tightening of a muscle just below the chest and usually happening repeatedly

Review

On number 4, the team implements a “memory palace” – in which you try to link the words to objects in a room.

The program they designed might show a picture of a living room and give you the Lithuanian word “lova”: bed. You could then imagine your lover laying on a sofa bed.

This was, in fact, the technique that allowed the Jesuit priest Matteo Ricci to learn Chinese to such an advanced level.

I can’t help wondering if all this is still removed from the kind of learning we need in everyday life. Indeed, it was useful to help memorise the individual words, I do not think that it helps you to hold a conversation, on a flight, in a bar or restaurant. Even though, Cooke agrees it’s just the first step.

The real challenge for these memory experts, however, isn’t just to make learning quick and effective. As every student knows the biggest obstacle to learning is distraction. We may need many more competitions before we can overcome that hurdle.

Written by Alba Pazos

On the purpose of saying “ow” when you hurt yourself

This article was published on May 13^th 2015, at the Discover science magazine. It is classified in a section called <<Mind and brain>>.

Here I attach the link:¡ of the web page: http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/seriouslyscience/2015/05/13/on-the-purpose-of-saying-ow-when-you-hurt-yourself/#.VVkBn0am2J8

Vocabulary

-          Stub: to strike (one’s toe or foot) accidentally against some object that sticks out.

-          Yell: to cry out or shout.

-          Ubiquitous: being or found everywhere, at the same time.

-          Underlying: fundamental, basic.

-          Trial: act of testing to find out if something or someone is useful or valuable.

Summary

We had probably never wondered about the fact that we need to shout or cry out when we get hurt, but a group of scientists have come up with a possible solution. 

Critical review

In my opinion, these kinds of researches are the most interesting. Of course, seeking cancer’s or Alzheimer’s cures are more important investigations, but I find neurology an absolutely interesting branch of Medicine studies.

The functioning of our brain is something everyone should know about but for me, it is fascinating to know how our system works every second to guarantee our body movements, the way we show our feelings or how we react to some treatments.

This article means to explain the recent study which aim was to prove why we cry out when we get hurt. The results of this investigation show that talking -or even swearing- makes pain ore manageable for us. The research consisted in testing a group of people by making them put their hands in freezing water. As a result of the experiment, scientists found that those that were keeping in silence did not resist for as long as the ones that shouted did. But the experiment brought up another question: is it the act of shouting or hearing someone else’s shouts that reduces pain? This ambiguity was also solved, because they made participants listen voices of people swearing and this didn’t help them resist for longer.  

Egypt's animal mummy 'scandal' revealed

Published: 11 May 2015

Source: Rebecca Morelle, Science Correspondent, BBC News

Link:  http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-32656743

Science field: Science and Environment

Summary

A scanning project at Manchester Museum and the University of Manchester has revealed that about a third of the bundles of cloth are empty inside.

Researchers believe there was a huge appetite for these religious offerings, and demand for the mummies may have outstripped supply.

The project has been followed by the BBC's Horizon programme. The research team has been conducting the largest scanning project of its kind.

More than 800 mummies, ranging from cats and birds to crocodiles, have been analyzed using X-rays and CT scans. About a third of those scanned contain complete animals, which have been remarkably well preserved. Another third contain partial remains; but the rest have been empty.

Glossary

-          Bundle: a number of things that have been fastened or are held together.

-          Eggshell: the hard outside covering of an egg.

-          Linen: strong cloth made from the fibres of the flax plant.

-          Pad sth out: If you pad out a speech or piece of writing, you add unnecessary words or information to make it longer or to hide the fact that you are not saying anything very important.

-          Worshipped: to have or show a strong feeling of respect and admiration for God or a god.

-          Barter: to exchange goods for other things rather than for money.

Review

The Ancient Egyptians didn't just mummify their dead human ancestors; they also mummified animals.

The researchers believe that despite the fact that animals were mass-bred, the mummy makers probably struggled to keep up with the demand. However, they do not think that the partial or empty mummies were a scam, and the pilgrims may have known they were not burying a complete creature.

Wirtten By Alba Pazos

Do you have the drama queen gene? How your brain reacts to emotional information is influenced by parents

Published: 23:00, 7 May 2015.

Source: Mark Prigg for mailonline.

Link: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3072807/Do-drama-queen-gene-brain-reacts-emotional-information-influenced-parents-researchers-say.html

Science field: Medical study investigation

Summary:

Gene causes people to perceive positive and negative images more vividly. Variation also heightened activity in certain brain regions. Researchers believe many artists and other creative people may have variation.

Glossary:

-          Heighten: to make or become more extreme or intense.

-          Vividly: detailed, distinct.

-          Startling: disturbing, frightening.

Review:

Do you always cry at romantic films or have a tendency to become a drama queen? Your parents may be to blame, researchers have found.

A new study has found our genes could control how emotional we become.

The study found that carriers of a certain genetic variation perceived positive and negative images more vividly, and had heightened activity in certain brain regions. People really do see the world differently. For people with this gene variation, the emotionally relevant things in the world stand out much more.

The gene in question is ADRA2b, which influences the neurotransmitter norepinephrine. Previous research found that carriers of a deletion variant of this gene showed greater attention to negative words. The latest research consisted in to use brain imaging to find out how the gene affects and how vividly people perceive the world around them. The results were startling. People with the deletion variant would probably show this emotionally enhanced vividness, and they did more than scientists would even have predicted. Carriers of the gene variation showed significantly more activity in a region of the brain responsible for regulating emotions and evaluating both pleasure and threat. This may help explain why some people are more susceptible to PTSD and intrusive memories following trauma.

Emotions are not only about how to feel the world, but how our brains influence our perception of it. As our genes influence how we literally see the positive and negative aspects of our world more clearly, we may come to believe the world has more rewards or threats. There are also benefits to carrying the gene variant. People who have the deletion variant are drawing on an additional network in their brains important for calculating the emotional relevance of things in the world. In any situation where noticing what's relevant in the environment is important, this gene variation would be a positive.

Although roughly 50 per cent of the Caucasian population studied by these researchers in Canada carry the genetic variation, it has been found to be prevalent in other ethnicities. For example, one study found that just 10 per cent of Rwandans carried the ADRA2b gene variant. Further research is planned to explore emotionally enhanced vividness, or EEV in other ethnic groups, and how ADRA2b influences emotional associations related to anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder and addiction.

Written by Rebeca Mees