A Scottish start-up is turning root vegetables into an ingenious new material, which can be used to lock moisture into anything from food to cosmetics to concrete A Scottish start-up has developed a material made from carrots and sugar beet that it claims is twice as strong as carbon fibre, and i...
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Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/chart-ncaa-tournament-tv-commercials-value-2015-3
The NFL is famous for its high-priced Super Bowl commercials. But when it comes to the bottom-line for the entire post-season, the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament is not far behind.
In 2014, the NCAA Tournament generated $1.13 billion in ad revenue over 67 games, compared to $1.23 billion for the 11 games in the NFL playoffs according to data collected by Kantar Media. The NCAA Tournament actually led the NFL in 2013 when TV commercials sold for a total of $1.11 billion compared to $1.10 billion for the NFL playoffs.
The NBA playoffs is the only other North American postseason that generates more than $500 million in ad revenue while Major League Baseball and the NHL are way off the pace.
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Argos is under relentless pressure from Amazon in the UK, so it's looking to personalised services as a way to stand apart from its online-only competition. Today, the company is launching a new site for 3D-printed jewellery, which includes rings, bracelets and cufflinks. Customers can tweak the designs with their own names, words and phrases, and Argos promises to deliver the final product in 21 days. 3D printing is often associated with low-quality trinkets, but here Argos is clearly targeting a more luxurious market. All of the products are available in silver and 18 carat gold plating, with prices ranging between £50 and £220. It's a small trial for now, and Argos is enlisting Digital Forming and Innovate UK to help out with some of the technical aspects. If customers embrace the service though, the company says it'll consider how it can be expanded to other areas of its business, such as lighting and homeware. 3D-printing isn't a silver bullet for dethroning Amazon, but it represents the level of risk and creativity Argos needs to stay competitive.
Source: http://www.engadget.com/2015/03/16/bee-robot-sight-accelerometer/
Accelerometers have become integral components for many of our favorite gadgets. By measuring acceleration forces, such as gravity or someone's arm waving clumsily back and forth, these sensors can accurately identify a device's angle in relation to the Earth. It's how your smartphone knows when to automatically switch between portrait and landscape orientation. Now, scientists are researching how drones can be built to fly autonomously without the use of accelerometers. It's led to the creation of "BeeRotor," which, as the name implies, takes inspiration from the visual cues and analysis used by winged insects.
The approach is called "optic flow," and it measures both distance and elevation based on how your eyes naturally interpret movement. So when you're cycling at high speed, the landscape on the horizon looks relatively stable; if you move your head to either side, however, the scenery rushes by faster and faster, topping out when your noodle is turned at exactly 90-degrees. The BeeRotor recreates this effect with 24 photodiodes that record contrasts and their motion as part of the environment. When a section of the terrain moves from one sensor to another, the robot uses this data to calculate the angle at which the scenery is passing by, and by extension, its relative position. Likewise, the BeeRotor keeps tabs on its speed by analysing how quickly the landscape is moving across its "eye."
Researchers from the Institut des Sciences du Mouvement Etienne-Jules Marey are using optic flow to develop three stabilisation-focused feedback loops for BeeRotor. The first automatically adjusts the robot's altitude in accordance with the floor or roof. The second changes BeeRotor's speed depending on the size of the space it's flying in. The final loop moves the robot into position so that its "eye" always has the best possible view of the approaching terrain. In the video below, a tethered BeeRotor is able to safely traverse artificial tunnels that change in size and elevation. Scientists hope to develop the technology further into a lightweight replacement for accelerometers on smaller drones, as well as a backup system for larger models carrying out important research.
[Image Credit: (C) Expert & Ruffier (ISM, CNRS/AMU)]
Filed under: Robots
Via: CNET
Source: CNRS
Source: http://gizmodo.com/hungry-slime-molds-reconstruct-ancient-road-networks-1691522167
You probably don't give too much thought to slime molds—the bizarre, colonial organisms that look like blobs of goo. But these underrated creatures have some surprising talents, including designing sophisticated transportation networks. Wait, what?
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