Published in : Hidden scienceWritten by Ana Galarraga on 2010-05-19 12:44
A group of young people at the University of Granada researching artificial intelligence has developed software to produce background music. They have called it Inmamusys, in other words, Intelligent Multiagent Music System, and using tools for artificial intelligence, it gathers parameters on the background and composes music according to them, in real time.
With a simple interface, the user can control what kind of music he or she want, and each composition created is different from all the previous ones. The researchers say it’s suitable not only for creating an atmosphere (you know, in dentists’ waiting rooms, railway stations, etc.), it’s also good for producing music for video games. There are some samples on the Inmamusys website, and we found the samples of ‘scary music’ really scary.
Published in : Hidden scienceWritten by Ana Galarraga on 2010-04-23 08:20
When Cleopatra used eye makeup, she not only highlighted her gaze, she protected her eyes against infection.
That is the conclusion reached by chemists at the CNRS centre for research in France after studying makeup in the works of art of ancient Egypt that are in the Louvre museum. In fact, the researchers found two lead salts that don’t occur naturally in the makeup that was synthesised by the ancient Egyptians.
The researchers were surprised at first because lead is toxic. But later they realised that these salts intensify the production of nitric oxide. And nitric oxide protects the eyes against bacteria. Do you protect yours as Cleopatra did hers?
Published in : Hidden scienceWritten by Ana Galarraga on 2010-04-22 15:20
Many football experts and fans say the Santiago Bernabeu football ground is one of the best (the best, if you ask the Real Madrid guys). That comes as no surprise when you see how much they look after it.
For example, whenever it’s very cold, there’s a heating system underneath the earth that stops it freezing and the snow from settling. In fact, there’s a maze of pipes measuring two and a half kilometres that distribute hot water at a depth of twenty centimetres, and that makes sure that the temperature of the ground never falls below 7 ºC.
Besides the underground system, they use lamps on the surface on the south side. For several months of the year the sun doesn’t shine there, so the lamps provide light for the grass to grow and carry out photosynthesis.
What do you think it would be like to play a match on a ground like that?
Published in : Hidden scienceWritten by Ana Galarraga on 2010-04-22 15:06
We are in no doubt that the pushbike is the best way of getting around. But sometimes it’s difficult to resist the bus, train or car, when it’s raining, for example, or if we have a long way to go and there are steep climbs... But with the bike developed by the MIT, we’d be happy to ignore all the difficulties.
As with everything we find attractive, its main advantages are hidden away; to be precise, inside the red hub of the rear wheel. Among other things, whenever we use the brakes, the energy produced is stored in a battery, and whenever we need more speed or a burst of speed, it is returned. Apart from that, the battery can be charged up. And it has lots of sensors and a Bluetooth connection, so you can fix an iPhone onto the handlebars and receive data there: speed, distance covered, air quality, traffic situation, etc.
But one detail is missing. We haven’t managed to discover the cost of this fantastic bicycle anywhere. So we’re going to try and get good marks at school and then maybe we’ll get one.
Published in : Hidden scienceWritten by Ana Galarraga on 2010-04-20 14:27
The food in photos looks so tempting. How delicious! But watch out, don’t eat it! It’s not what it appears to be. And even if it were, it often has lots of make up. Party clothes!
To make the milk that appears in photos look fresh, they put bubbles made from washing up liquid on the surface. But the trick they use to photograph a breakfast goes even further; they don’t use any milk at all. The bowl full of milk and cereal doesn’t have any milk, but glue. They use glue instead of milk because the milk would make the cereal wet and give it a soggy appearance.
Fruit juices don’t contain any fruit; they add a colouring agent to water. And when fruit itself has to appear in the photo, they use make-up. To improve the look of strawberries, for example, they use lipstick to make them look redder.
To denounce this practice, The Guardian newspaper has put photos of food used in fast food restaurant adverts next to the actual food served at the same restaurants.
Many football experts and fans say the Santiago Bernabeu football ground is one of the best (the best, if you ask the Real Madrid guys). That comes as no surprise when you see how much they look after it.
We are in no doubt that the pushbike is the best way of getting around. But sometimes it’s difficult to resist the bus, train or car, when it’s raining, for example, or if we have a long way to go and there are steep climbs... But with the bike developed by the MIT, we’d be happy to ignore all the difficulties.
