Daily Bits

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Twitter Principle Applies to Birds IRL, Study Shows

Nesting Birds

Oh, the amazing findings that researchers discover when given enough time and money to do whatever the heck they want conduct scientific studies!

So there are scientists from universities in Exeter, France, and Switzerland who conducted new research in order to study birds. Not the Twitter bird. Not whatever other bird you may be thinking of, but the kind that chirps and tweets and flies. Real birds.

Their study was about interaction between the baby birds and their parents and how this affected their ability to survive and thrive. Guess what? It looks like birds have a social networking system of their own. [Read more…]

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The Science of Star Trek

Star Trek Science
I can be more stubborn than an mule when I want to be, and I suppose that many of you will be the same when it comes to Star Trek (or replace that with your series/book/movie of choice).

The science of Star Trek, when conceptualized, was clearly science fiction, but who is to say that that science cannot become reality? Certainly, the great minds of our time have worked hard to make huge strides in advancing science, and there ought to be some aspects in the science of Star Trek that have come true (or will come true in the near future). [Read more…]

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Control Your Computer Using the Doppler Effect

Doppler Effect Costume

Sheldon Doppler Effect

Remember the Doppler Effect? If it doesn’t ring a bell (which would rather be surprising, actually), try googling it. Alternatively, take a closer look at Sheldon Cooper‘s Halloween costume, and your memory just might get jogged.

Seriously, though, the Doppler Effect refers to the phenomenon that is observed when the source of a sound (or any other wave) is moving with respect to an object. That object could be you. The result is a perceived change in the intensity of the sound as the source keeps on moving.

There are many applications of the Doppler Effect, and one of the newest applications which may be of particular interest to you guys is gesture control for computers. [Read more…]

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The Science Behind the “Old Books Smell”

The Smell of Old Books

Old Books


That “old books smell” is hard to beat, isn’t it? That particular scent brings me back to my days as a student, when I would spend lots of time browsing the shelves of the library. As the case usually is with university libraries, a considerable part of their collection are old books. And yeah, that smell has become firmly embedded in my memory.

I am pretty sure that I am not alone in this. In these days when even those who like the feel and smell of (paper) books are looking to e-books, the yearning for the old books smell still has a strong following. But have you ever thought about the scientific explanation for this? [Read more…]