Drones have a tendency to stress out animals when they fly low in their habitat. However the animal conservation activists have found drones useful in their efforts to keep tabs on the local wildlife population, figuring out environment changes, as well as a deeper understanding of animal behavior.

A new study published in Conservation Physiology  has tried to figure out if the benefits of using drones outweigh the stress that the animals feel with the drones flying close to them. The study used heart monitors to gauge stress in American black bears over a four week period. The idea was to see if the bears could be habituated to the drones flying around their habitat.

Implanted cardiac biologgers were used by the research team on a captive section of five bears. The team measured the heart rate of these five captive bears before and after the drone flights were taken. The pre-flight baseline data was about 41 beats per minute and the heart rates nearly quadrupled at 162 beats per minute after the drones went by.

The science experiment showed the stress caused to the bears, however when the drones continued to fly after short breaks, it was seen that the heart rate was not quite as elevated as it used to be. Basically the bears had begun to get used to the drones.

One of the most abundant resources now available on the planet is images. People take pictures of everything and everywhere they go. Studying wildlife is never a priority of different nations and often the researchers are under funded and have limited numbers. That’s where Wildbook hopes to make a difference. It provides an easy-to-use software suite of functionality that can be extended to meet the needs of wildlife projects everywhere. Here’s how the system works.

Wildbook combines a database of images taken by common citizens with an Artificial Intelligence software including computer vision to identify individual animals in the images submitted. The markings on an animal are often as individualistic as the fingerprints of a human hand. This allows the study of the animal populations with far great ease than spending time in the forests individually by researchers. It also tracks individual animals in a wildlife population using genetic identifiers, or vocalizations

Wildbook says that it includes a two-part, multi-species computer vision pipeline to find and identify individual animals in photos collected under real-world conditions, especially with citizen science contribution. This open ware science project has the potential to identity animal populations and help wildlife research immensely.

Taking calculated risks was not part of the skill set of a robotic exploration vehicle. It was much more of a human trait to assess every input and then take action. However, the researcher engineers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have come up with an algorithm that can teach a marine robot to take calculated risks when exploring an unknown region in the deeps.

The undersea landscape is one of the least explored and known areas on the planet. There are expansive canyons, towering seamounts, deep trenches, and sheer cliffs which we have no idea about. The robotic marine explorers have opened up the underwater topography to humans in ways that were earlier simply not possible. However, being able to keep the robot explorer safe while entering the relative unknown was a problematic issue.

One which these researchers with their fancy software seemed to have solved. The autonomous underwater vehicles (AUV) can now use the algorithm to decide the reward and the risk level of travelling down a slope or up a cliff face underwater.

Benjamin Ayton, a graduate student in MIT’s Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics said there’s a tradeoff between the reward of what you gather, and the risk or threat of going toward these dangerous geographies, they can take certain risks when it’s worthwhile. Now this is a true pioneer in science experiments.

Having a good night’s rest has been essential to having a productive next day. The proverb ‘early to bed and early to rise’ is based on more than common sense. Scientific studies have established that cognitive functioning can become impaired with the lack of adequate sleep. Even simple tasks can become challenging when you haven’t had the requisite sleep.

In a sleep lab experiment at the University of California, Berkeley, 25 adults were tested on yet another aspect of sleep deprivation. A single night without sleep showed a 15% reduction in the pain threshold of a person. A small heated pad was pressed on the skin of the volunteers near their ankle. This was done two times. Once after a regular night’s sleep and the second time after being kept awake for the full night.

The two measurements were taken at least a week apart. The general consensus after taking the readings was that post the all nighter the level of pain registered was higher. The pain centers of the brain were triggered faster and with more intensity. This science project shows that if you want to manage chronic pain, getting a full night’s sleep is as important as the medication you take.

Fruits are always considered one of the healthy foods, and for parents of fussy eaters, fruit juices have been a great way to get some vitamins and minerals into their kids. However, as more people shift to packaged fruit boxes compared to freshly squeezed juices, the health factor in the food is considerably lowered.

In fact most fruit juice boxes have a high content of sugar and much lower nutritional values than fresh juice. If that was not enough for a conscientious parent to reconsider boxed juices, a consumer study report has highlighted the presence of cadmium, inorganic arsenic, mercury, and lead found in them.

Out of 45 juices that were tested from those available in the market, every single one of them was found to have at least one of these metals present in a level considered unhealthy for children to consume. Daily intake of these fruit juice boxes are bound to lead to health problems for the children. In fact the study even recommends that adults avoid these products.

If the findings of this science project are to be trusted, there needs to be an immediate curtailment of consumption of these fruit juice boxes. Eating a whole fruit may be a much better alternative if you are unable to do freshly squeezed juices at home.

If it’s a unique experience you are looking for, it doesn’t get any more interesting than attending a musical concert in sub zero temperatures inside an Ice Dome in the Italian Alps. What’s more the musicians are not playing their regular instruments, but these are made out of ice by
Mr Tim Linhart , a US born artist.

When Mr Linhart first began constructing musical instruments out of ice they were more likely to burst into icicles than to become soulful conduits or music. However over the years he has honed his skill and now produces a wide range of perfectly tuned musical instruments.

They are showcased at the Ice Dome on Presena Glacier near Trentino in Italy. It is a custom built igloo high in the Alps. A series of concerts are regularly played at the Ice Dome all through the year. Tickets can be booked online to hear the ice orchestra in person.

At present the ice orchestra boasts of ice made violins, viola, timpani drum set, xylophone, double bass, mandolin, cello, percussion pipe and a giant rolandophone. That’s quite a huge accomplishment for the ice artist. This science project has been in the making for 16 years.

Ever felt the hankering for a cocktail and didn’t have the time to go down to the bar and drink one? Felt frustrated waiting for something to happen and needed a drink to fortify you? Italian architect Carlo Ratti has your back. The man has come up with a self driving bar called Guido that should be able to deliver cocktails to citizens in the city, no matter where they are.

Put your smart phone to good use by downloading the app which can summon Guido. Then put in your location for Guido to drive itself to you. Once the bar has arrived at the location, continue to use the app to book a drink. Now sit back and relax as Guido uses it’s two mechanical arms to fist fix and then serve you your drink.

Underage drinkers beware that Guido will not serve you alcoholic beverages. The system has been designed so that the potential customer must provide an ID to be scanned before being served liquor. Needless to say, this is simply a prototype right now that is undergoing trials. Now that’s one science project a number of people would love to get on board with. Not sure how soon it will be available on the real streets of your city.

The wall clock tells you what time of the day or night it is, allowing you to pick out the appropriate actions that you need to be performing at that given time. What about a Doomsday Clock? Created by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, the clock is set to be an indicator of the world’s susceptibility to apocalypse. They calculate a number of reasons and assemble the likelihood of the world ending.

For the last two years running the Doomsday Clock has been just 2 minutes from midnight. Midnight being the end of the world as we know it today. The scientists call this a dangerous new normal. The Chicago based scientists have warned that they should see this not as a sign of stability, but as a stark warning to the leaders as well as the citizens of the world.

Events that have contributed to this are the simultaneous nuclear threat from North Korea as well as the effects of climate change that are sweeping through the planet. This is a science project that may not be conventional, but should serve as a warning about things to come. The last time the clock was two minutes from midnight was back in 1953 when the US-Soviet arms race was escalated as Moscow tested a hydrogen bomb.

If you love to read, you would have definitely heard of e-readers such as Kindle. The ease of a thousand books accompanying you on any holiday while just taking up a fraction of the space has been amazing. Not only are the ebooks cheaper in most cases than the paperback versions, you don’t need endless bookshelves in your home to house them. That same convenience is now being offered to visually impaired readers who prefer to get their stories in Braille.

Canute 360 is a Braille e-book reader from Bristol Braille Technology. It has been called the “Kindle for the Blind”. The world’s first multi line Braille e-reader displays nine lines of a text at a time. The prototype has been well received in the scientific community and mass production is likely to begin this year. The price for the Canute 360 is likely to be the same as a high end laptop.

The e-reader has been awarded a £5K runners up grant in the 2018 NESTA inventors prize, awarded in conjunction with the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial strategy, for the best new product which uses technology to tackle a social issue. Considering the powerful impact it will have once it is available commercially on the ability of visually impaired readers to access texts, the award is well deserved for this science project.

One of the things that the elderly detest the most is having to give up their independence and moving out of their own personal space for assisted living. With the advent of technology, it may now be possible for them to keep living on their own, with some robotic assistance.

The Robot Activity Support System, or RAS is a robot created by the researchers at the Washington State University. The robot uses sensors embedded in a smart home to determine where the person is, what they are doing and if they need any help. The little robot is able to navigate through the rooms and around whatever obstacles they face in the house.

The RAS is equipped with a mapping and navigation camera, sensors and software that allow it to help the residents perform basic chores such as
getting ready to walk the dog, taking medication with food and water and watering household plants. If required the robot can provide video instructions to the person to perform the task.

Researchers hope that patients with dementia and other mental impairments may benefit from the services of this robotic system in the future. Currently the science project involves 26 graduate and undergraduate students performing the assisted activities to test the robot.