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New Realistic Computer Model will Help Robots Collect Moon Dust

Small Funnel Flow – The same experiments were set up in, both, simulation and reality to see if the virtual regolith behaved realistically. This test looked at how small (16 g) samples of material flowed through narrow funnels. Credit: Joe Louca

A new computer model mimics Moon dust so well that it could lead to smoother and safer Lunar robot teleoperations. The tool, developed by researchers at the University of Bristol and based at the Bristol Robotics Laboratory, could be used to train astronauts ahead of Lunar missions. Working with their industry partner, Thales Alenia Space in the UK, who has specific interest in creating working robotic systems for space applications, the team investigated a virtual version of regolith, another name for Moon dust.

Lunar regolith is of particu...

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You may be Breathing in More Tiny Nanoparticles from Your Gas Stove than from Car Exhaust

boor-portrait
Brandon Boor, a Purdue associate professor of civil engineering, studies how everyday activities like cooking on a gas stove can affect indoor air quality. (Purdue University image/Kelsey Lefever)

Gas stoves emit nanocluster aerosol that may get deep into your respiratory system, study shows. Cooking on your gas stove can emit more nano-sized particles into the air than vehicles that run on gas or diesel, possibly increasing your risk of developing asthma or other respiratory illnesses, a new Purdue University study has found.

Combustion remains a source of air pollution across the world, both indoors and outdoors...

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Wearable Sticker turns Hand Movements into Communication

Wearable sticker turns hand movements into communication
Researchers have developed a wearable PDMS sensor that uses a FBG to sense movements. The sensors could be used to monitor wrist, finger or even facial movements. Credit: Kun Xiao, Beijing Normal University in China

Imagine wearing a thin flexible sticker that can turn your hand or finger movement into communication without you having to say a word or tap a touch screen. Researchers have developed a new type of wearable sensor that can accomplish this futuristic feat and could open new possibilities for rehabilitation applications and help those with disabilities to communicate more easily.

The new sensor combines a soft and flexible material called polydimethylsiloxane, or PDMS, with an optical component known as a fiber Bragg grating (FBG)...

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Metal Scar found on Cannibal Star

A bright white-blue sphere, a star, sits in the upper left of this image on a deep blue background. The top of the star is shaded darker, and it is accompanied by white-blue spherical curved lines that close on the star at its top and bottom. In front of this, in the bottom and right of the image, are many almost black rocky chunks. Parts of them are lighter, lit up where they are facing the star.
When a star like our Sun reaches the end of its life, it can ingest the surrounding planets and asteroids that were born with it. Now, using the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (ESO’s VLT) in Chile, researchers have found a unique signature of this process for the first time — a scar imprinted on the surface of a white dwarf star. The results are published today in The Astrophysical Journal Letters.

When a star like our Sun reaches the end of its life, it can ingest the surrounding planets and asteroids that were born with it. Now, using the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (ESO’s VLT) in Chile, researchers have found a unique signature of this process for the first time — a scar imprinted on the surface of a white dwarf star...

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