Slipping on a banana peel – Cartoon pratfall, or fascinating biology? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. What makes banana peels so slippery? That’s what Kiyoshi Mabuchi colleagues at Japan’s Kitasato University wondered. So they set up a scientific slip n’ slide! They placed a
Continue reading
Robot lumberjacks? Tell me more! This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Lumberjacking is dangerous work for humans. How about for chainsaw-wielding robots? There the problem is power. Climbing gobbles energy, as does holding robots vertically in place. So most climbing ‘bots need huge batteries. Inspired
Continue reading
When physicists get bored, curious things happen. This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Meet Mir Abbas Jalali of the University of California, Berkeley. He was playing with his wedding ring on his desk one day. Like you do. The ring wobbled and spun like a
Continue reading