Electronic Skin?!

I was just reading this article about electric skin.

Check it out here: http://www.sciencenewsforkids.org/2012/01/electronic-skin/

Here's the article:


James Bond and his enemies would be interested in the goings-on at the laboratory of John Rogers. So would Batman, the Spy Kids, Darth Vader and their enemies. That’s because Rogers, a materials scientist at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, mixes electronics with the human body to create new devices not found even in science fiction.

Make room, Lord Vader. There’s a new kind of cyborg in town.

Rogers and his collaborators have built an electronic device that’s smaller than a postage stamp and sticks to the skin like a temporary tattoo. The device’s possible users — patients, athletes, doctors, secret agents, you — are limited only by their imaginations.

Placed on a forehead, the device can record brainwaves; on the wrist, blood flow and muscle movement. On the skin of sick patients, it can track vital signs and watch for problems, replacing the bulky equipment usually found in hospitals. And stuck to the throat, it can function as a secret cell phone, activated by the movements of a person’s voice box.

The scientists designed the device, about half as thick as an ordinary sheet of paper, with skin in mind. Like skin, the electronic material can be stretched and squashed in many ways but keep on working.

These skin-stuck devices mimic the properties of skin, which means they can stand up to poking, stretching and squeezing. Credit: Image courtesy John A. Rogers

Scientists who design devices for the body have to study how it functions, down to a tiny, cellular level. The body and the machine have to speak the same language. “We wanted to build devices that interact with the body,” Rogers says.

Last fall, Rogers and his colleagues demonstrated how their new device measures the body in different ways. The invention can record temperature, muscle motion or the electrical activity on a person’s skin. It may be outfitted with lights and a tiny power source, which means it can wirelessly transmit data to a nearby computer. This device may even change the way we think about medical tools and how doctors help their patients, inside and out.

Tattoos you can use

Rogers doesn’t have any permanent tattoos. But he says he’s been wearing “more and more” of the temporary kind to hide the stuck-on electronic circuits. (He even concealed one device behind a blue pirate tattoo.) Temporary tattoos use a simple and inexpensive way to adhere, or stick, to skin: a good sticky backing that stretches and flexes with skin’s natural motion.

Rogers and his colleagues have been experimenting with their new devices in the lab, taking various measurements of and from different parts of the body.

Skin-based, or epidermal, electronic systems stick to the skin like temporary tattoos. Attached to the head, they can pick up electrical signals from the brain. Credit: Image courtesy John A. Rogers

“We’ve done extensive testing,” says Todd Coleman, an engineer who tackles the problem of getting the device, the body and the mind to “talk” to each other. “I put one [device] near my forearm and clenched my fist to see how it monitored my muscle signals and movements. If you put it on the surface of the head, it records brain waves. Near the heart, it picks up heartbeat information. It’s the same device, just in different places.”

The device is so light that a wearer may forget it’s there, says Coleman, now at the University of California San Diego. “We were trying to develop a piece of electronic material that is also basically completely invisible to the user. You barely even feel that the device is on your body,” he says.

More than skin deep

The scientists have found a way to extend the technology deeper than the body’s surface. In 2010, they introduced an electrical plastic wrap that can be attached to a person’s heart during open-heart surgery. Electronic circuits and instruments record blood flow and electric current, which means the material can alert doctors to hidden problems with a patient’s ticker. The team has already shown that a device attached to the surface of the brain can capture the electrical signals of an epileptic seizure.

Rogers, who says he’s always been drawn to science, regularly participated in science fairs as a kid. But as he got older, he realized that scientists’ work can create positive changes in the world.

“Making devices that have real benefits to society has been a real focus of our team, especially in recent years,” he says. “We are aiming to create devices that bring new ways to address health problems and other grand challenges in society.”

An electroencephalograph, or EEG, detects and measures electrical signals from the brain. But the device, which requires a lot of wires and time, is ready for an upgrade. Credit: istockphoto

Spies and deep-sea divers might also take note of the new “skintronics”: Attached to the neck, for example, the devices could detect the throat movements of speaking. That means a person can mouth words — without making a peep — and the device would record the movements and relay the silent message. It would be perfect for covert operations.

“It’s unbelievable how much fun we’ve had having conversations with others about the device,” Coleman says.

Silicon: The problem and the answer

Scientists have been attaching electrical gadgets to skin for more than 80 years. In 1929, a German doctor named Hans Berger invented a device that attaches to the scalp and measures the brain’s electrical activity. His invention, called an electroencephalograph (EEG), lets doctors “read” brain activity. An EEG can help doctors diagnose diseases like epilepsy or detect when a patient slips into a coma.

But the EEG has a major drawback: It’s clunky. Technicians tape a complex web of small nodes and wires to the head to get a good read. And EEG’s need power, delivered through wires, which adds to the mess. That’s not just a problem for EEG’s; it’s a problem for almost every electrical device, even fictional bits of gadgetry used by Batman or James Bond.

A lighter, bendable device would provide the same information as an EEG, but without the heft. That idea started to seem like a reality in the early 1990s, when scientists around the world were racing to create flexible electronics. Computers became popular during this time, but most looked like clunky boxes attached to a nest of wires. Researchers envisioned flexible screens and computing devices that would bend and fold like paper.

Rogers wanted to go even further.

“I thought a more challenging goal might be to make an electronic device that bends like a sheet of paper but stretches like a rubber band,” he says.

A problem loomed. Computers depend on an element called silicon. In nature, silicon appears as a dark-gray crystal. Thin wafers of the material conduct electricity, and for decades silicon has been used to make computer chips and other electronic parts. Silicon is important, useful stuff. But silicon wafers are brittle, which means they break easily.

Rogers and his colleagues thought silicon perhaps could be made to bend like skin and not shatter. There wasn’t much they could do to the silicon material itself. But they thought arranging silicon wires into just the right shape might give the material more flexibility.

An accordion player widens and narrows the instrument’s bellows (red in photo) to control the flow of air. Like bellows, electronic skin devices have a shape that allows material to compress and expand without breaking. Credit: Palmkvist Knudsen/Wikimedia

The scientists wanted silicon to expand like an accordion’s bellows, the part of the instrument that looks like a folded rubber sheet. When a person plays the accordion, the bellows unfold and move farther apart from each other without the material itself stretching. Rogers wanted to take a similar approach, designing the device so its wires could “unfold” — letting the silicon strands move — without shattering.

After three years of building and experimenting, Coleman says, the researchers produced a working device. Up close, the silicon looks like tiny, twisty snakes that wind through the material in complicated patterns. These winding silicon shapes form the different parts of the device — the sensors, antennae and power supply — and they can withstand stretching, poking and squeezing.

Mixing bodies and machines

In the not-so-distant future, surgery patients may find themselves wearing smart temporary tattoos, rather than bulky devices covered with wires. Rogers’ work is part of the growing field of “biointegrated technology,” devices built with the body in mind. They bring together machines and living things to improve lives. In the future, Rogers wants to extend the technology to create tiny devices that may even be able to operate independently within the body, improving, for example, the health of the human heart.

“The most immediate opportunity for biointegrated technology is to redefine what a surgical tool is,” he says. “My hope is that [the devices] will really have a large impact on the way that people think about surgical operations.” The ultimate goal, he says, is for the devices to track body and brain activity and “eliminate the need for surgical interventions in the first place.”

With his research group in San Diego, Coleman wants to create new ways for people to use their brains to talk to machines — or even each other. He imagines a world in which people can work together, or even think together, using the devices to transmit information directly from their minds. “You could interact with a friend in both the natural and virtual world, using not only your behavior but also your thoughts,” he says.

Tiny snakelike strands of silicon are key to electronic skin devices’ success, allowing them to be flexible like skin. Credit: Image courtesy of John A. Rogers

The idea of connecting brains with the devices has implications in the classroom, too. “If we can monitor the brain signals between teachers and students who are interacting, then maybe we can learn the extent to which they understand each other,” Coleman says. “That could revolutionize education and training. It’s easy to imagine the possibilities. And if we don’t imagine, then what are we doing?”

It's really interesting how science fiction is really coming to life and things that we've never dreamed of have come to fruition. This electronic skin could pave the way for other new technologies and change the way we live forever.

Churchill v. Mao

Nowadays, I am going to "spice things up" a bit. My posts will be about various different things, ranging from math to history to science. Today, I am writing about history and leadership, comparing and contrasting two famous leaders from the 20th century, Mao and Churchill. Here it goes: 

The very essence of leadership is that you have to have a vision. You can’t blow an uncertain trumpet. – Theodore M. Hesburgh

            November 30, 1874. December 26, 1893. These are the dates of births of two men who would go on to become two of the most influential and powerful world leaders, Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill and Mao Tse-Tung, respectively. One would go on to serve as prime minister twice for Great Britain and guide the nation through troublesome times and World War II. The other, a communist revolutionary, would go on to forge the People’s Republic of China (or the PRC). Though from two different sides of the globe and known for contrasting achievements, Churchill and Mao both fall into the category of leadership, demonstrating the breadth of the group. What cannot be seen at a cursory glace, are the similarities that emerge after closer inspection: passion, risk-taking, and charisma/inspiration – all vital to the formation and being a good leader. What they used these qualities for reflect the context of their leadership and their personal goals.

            The definition of charisma is “compelling attractiveness or charm that can inspire devotion in others”. Charisma is a necessary part of being a leader and enables one to capture the hearts of many and create a faithful group of followers.  These two leaders, Mao and Churchill both had charisma in their vast repertoire, however, Mao was in fact the one who instituted it more artfully and to his advantage. From a young age, Tse-tung demonstrated charisma, be it organizing student unions in his schooling days, editing newspapers, and organizing peasant associations in Hunan. Mao knew how to command a group and magnify himself. The main reason Mao was so able to command China nearly single-handedly came from his roots. He, the son of a poor peasant, was very near in origins to majority of the agricultural society, yet still very far with his “intense presence” and exemplary personality. This double image allowed Mao to keep the Chinese close, but not too close. Additionally, on another note, Tse-tung was able to boost his image through the things that cover this page: words. He had this innate ability for speech and writing that could capture even those staunchly against him, as well as incorporating Chinese metaphors that familiarizes his words in the eyes of commoners. This talent for speech translated into a book of Mao-isms or “The Little Red Book,” which would go on to be one of the most printed books in history, and an icon for many at the height of Mao’s power. Moreover, his fierce nationalism and pride in China succeeding garnered more followers. This charm and charisma was aided by propaganda posters deifying and idolizing Mao to an even greater extent. With all this magnetism, and allure, Mao was able to secure the support of many, in a variety of different situations – varying from recruits for his “Red Army” to getting support for his various plans, such as the famous, “Five Year Plan.” However, his charisma was even more evident with his death: the entire nation grieved.

            While Mao was the traditional example of charisma, Churchill was quite the opposite. Churchill actually had more of the inspirational charisma than the hardcore charisma. “No one was overawed by Churchill's physical presence in the way they were by Hitler's.” However, Churchill had this uncanny ability to inspire all, even during the darkest of times. This allowed Churchill to maintain order in Britain and boost the country’s morale during one of the toughest times of their history – World War II. The origin of this somewhat unusual and unique trait may come from Churchill’s personality, always motivated, positive, and enthused. Churchill’s inspiration can be seen from the beginning of World War II, when he would not bargain Adolf Hitler, or ever permit the feeling that Britain would ever lose the war. In accordance with this, Churchill’s biographer, Sir Martin Gilbert wrote, “It was Churchill’s own opposition to all forms of defeatism that marked out the first six months of his war premiership and established the nature and pattern of his war leadership.” Churchill was also able to channel his belief and positive attitude into the hearts and minds of many British during the bleak times of the Second World War. This unwavering resolve and confidence allowed the British to keep calm during the harshest of times. At the beginning of the war, Churchill said “The British people are like the sea. You can put the bucket in anywhere, and pull it up, and always find it salt.” Churchill inspired everyone, from the lowest on the food chain, to other leaders. He is often quoted during dark times and this seems to always lift spirits. Furthermore, Churchill’s optimism and grit is shown to the highest extent in a speech at the House of Commons on June 4, 1940, when he famously declared, We shall go on to the end. We shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be. We shall fight on beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender.

Passion is a necessary component to any campaign for leadership, because if one does not believe in their goal, who will? Churchill and Mao both passionately pursued their goals, albeit different, to achieve the success they had previously envisioned. Without this passion, this self-belief, Churchill and Mao would not have been able to do anything in life. This passion allowed Churchill and Mao to finish anything they started as well as buoy innovation. For example, Mao’s passion came from his nationalistic pride and love for China. Tse-tung would essentially do and believed he could anything if it mean China succeeding. His simple words spelled out his self-belief, “As long as you are not afraid, you won't sink.” Mao never gave up on anything. This passion and perseverance within Mao allowed him to do a number of things, from overcoming Chiang Kai-shek, the leader of the anti-communists, to persuading the Chinese the need for the Great Leap Forward. This zealous attitude allowed Mao to create a communist China within a short span of around 30 years, even though it was far from the majority in 1921, when he created the Chinese Communist Party. Moreover, this trait allowed Tse-Tsung to come to power as Chairman of the People’s Republic of China, even though he was the son of a poor peasant. After gaining power, Mao enthusiastically came up with a number of reforms and innovations, such as land reforms and peasant co-operatives.

 Churchill had a similar type of passion, however, his source was “democratic freedom.” With fervor, Churchill worked hard to preserve this democracy, and like Tse-tung, would do anything to protect it. This drive allowed Churchill to be an excellent leader and prime minister. According to his private secretary, “The effects of Churchill’s zeal was [sic] felt immediately in Whitehall.  Government departments which under Neville Chamberlain had continued to work at much the same speed as in peacetime awoke to the realities of war.  A sense of urgency was created in the course of very few days and respectable civil servants were actually to be seen running along the corridors.  No delays were condoned; telephone switchboards quadrupled their efficiency; the Chiefs of Staff and the Joint Planning Staff were in almost constant session; regular office hours ceased to exist and weekends disappeared with them³.” Additionally, Churchill’s enthusiasm prompted innovation – in the form of the tank. During World War I, in order to create some change in “no-man’s land,” “Churchill suggested that a type of heavy tractor with robust treads be produced from which men could fire machine guns and throw grenades from behind armor plating.” This simple thought would lead to the creation of tanks. Another example of Churchill’s passion can be seen in his time as a soldier. He served on the frontlines in World War I, became a commander, and was an example for many other soldiers. The words of one Scotsman (under his command) sum up the confidence and enthusiasm Churchill contained, “I believe every man in the room [at a farewell lunch] felt Winston Churchill’s leaving us a real personal loss,” after Churchill left France in 1916.

Since leaders show the way, in the words of Robert Frost, sometimes they must take “the road less traveled” in order to fulfill a goal. Leaders must take risks in order to separate themselves from the pack and really take control To achieve greatness, Churchill and Mao took risks, some that paid off, and will be forever etched in history, and others that ended miserably that would much rather be forgotten. Mao, had his fair share of risks that went well and risks that did not go as well. For one, Mao’s entire life’s work was a risk. When the Chinese Communist Party was created, there were only twelve members. Mao, at the time, had no way of knowing how this bid for control of China would turn out. However, he tried it anyway and would eventually take over China and defeat the ruling party – the Kuomintang. Nowadays, the CPC has around 80 million members and Kuomintang has around 1 million. Obviously, his risk paid off. Another risk that ended positively for Mao was the first Five Year Plan, that was a economic success for the fledgling PRC. The industrial production increased at a rate of about 20% a year, while the income of the country increased at a rate of around 10% a year. The second Five Year Plan, on the other hand, was a disaster. The agricultural increase was only about 13% of what was projected, and 20 million peasants starved to death because all of the food was allocated to urban areas. Just like any other leader, Mao encountered some failures with his risks, but had to move past them and look to improve in the future.

Just like Mao, Churchill made some huge risks during his tenure as prime minister of Britain. He opposed Hitler and the easy way out – appeasement. Churchill did not want to bargain with Hitler, or in any way, shape, or form give him the advantage. Churchill hated the defeatist attitude. At that time, Churchill was in the minority, Chamberlain wanted to give Hitler what he wanted. Churchill acknowledged he was alone in his stance in 1948 and proceeded to document this opposition in Gathering Storm. “'History will judge us kindly', Churchill told Roosevelt and Stalin at the Tehran Conference in 1943; when asked how he could be so sure, he responded: 'because I shall write the history'. And so he did, in the six massive volumes of The Second World War. The first volume, The Gathering Storm, describes his opposition to the appeasement of Hitler during the 1930s.” This strategy paid off, as Hitler was eventually defeated. However, just like Mao, Churchill does not have a shining, perfect reputation when in came to risks. In fact, Churchill’s father’s career came to halt with a bad risk. Many a time, Churchill said he was done and finished, including in 1915 when he was booted out of government. However, Churchill “never gives up” and went back to his risk-taking ways with World War II. Quite simply, as one of his counterparts put it, “He takes huge risks.”

            Although entirely subjective, the majority say Churchill is good while Mao is bad. However, this is not necessarily the case as good v. bad is a very elementary way of categorizing and analyzing these two leaders. Regardless of most public opinions, Mao did change the fate and path of an entire nation. He created the building blocks to a current world superpower and changed the way the world looked at China forever. He buoyed its’ success and will be forever remembered. In addition, “Mao’s influence endured more than 40 years from the Long March of the 1930s, through the Red Army’s victory in 1949, until his death in 1976 at age 83. He remained chairman of the party till his death.” Churchill, on the other hand, is largely viewed in a positive light, as he protected and guided his country during World War II and believed in its sustainability – a “defender of democracy” in some people’s minds.

            All in all, leadership shows up in our lives more than we notice and is made up of so many facets. Leaders help shape the state of the world now and the future that we are moving towards. The power of leadership is its ability to influence people and events, but the danger of leadership is the very same thing. Churchill and Mao are shining examples that illustrate that with key characteristics, a position of leadership can be obtained, but what is done with that leadership, that responsibility, is very different. Current leaders such as President Obama, David Cameron, Angela Merkel, and Christine Lagarde, and even people like our teachers, coaches, and family members do a lot to influence us and others.  

Works Cited

"Churchill: Leader and Statesman." Winstonchurchill.org. The Churchill Centre and Museum at the Churchill War Rooms. Web. 7 Jan. 2012. <http://www.winstonchurchill.org/learn/biography/biography/churchill-leader-and-statesman>.

Hayward, Steven F. Churchill on Leadership: Executive Success in the Face of Adversity. New York, NY: Three Rivers, 1998. Print.

Leonsis, Zachary. "The Real Reasons for Mao’s Success." The Real Reasons Behind Mao’s Success. Potomac School. Web. 7 Jan. 2012. <http://intranet.potomacschool.org/facultysites/okoth/CHINA/Leonsis/WEBLeonsis.htm>.

"Mao Zedong." History Learning Site. Historylearningsite.co.uk, 2000-2011. Web. 13 Jan. 2012. <http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/mao_zedong.htm>.

Roberts, Andrew. "Secrets of Leadership: Hitler and Churchill." BBC - History. BBC, 17 Feb. 2011. Web. 7 Jan. 2012. <http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/wwtwo/hitler_churchill_01.shtml>.

Schram, Stuart R. "Mao Tse-Tung as a Charismatic Leader." Asian Survey 7.6 (1967): 383-88. JSTOR. University of California Press, 2000-2012. Web. 7 Jan. 2012. <http://0-www.jstor.org.library.lausys.georgetown.edu/stable/2642613?seq=1>.

Spence, Jonathan D. "Mao Zedong - TIME." TIME.com. Time Inc., 13 Apr. 1998. Web. 7 Jan. 2012. <http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,988161-1,00.html>. 

Asteroid coming?

You may have already heard about this, but an asteroid is on path to destroy the world next Tuesday!!! Just kidding, but it will come within close vicinity of our home, with no possibility of hitting us (201, 700 km, which may seem really far away, but that's closer than the moon!)  My science teacher told me about this, and I was really interested! This asteroid (Asteroid 2005 YU55), has been tracked for a long time and has no chance at hitting Earth in the next 100 years. It is 400 m in diameter and is traveling at ~8 m/s.

Here's an article, broke out in March from Nasa:

Near-Earth asteroid 2005 YU55 will pass within 0.85 lunar distances from the Earth on November 8, 2011. The upcoming close approach by this relatively large 400 meter-sized, C-type asteroid presents an excellent opportunity for synergistic ground-based observations including optical, near infrared and radar data. The attached animated illustration shows the Earth and moon flyby geometry for November 8th and 9th when the object will reach a visual brightness of 11th magnitude and should be easily visible to observers in the northern and southern hemispheres. The closest approach to Earth and the Moon will be respectively 0.00217 AU and 0.00160 AU on 2011 November 8 at 23:28 and November 9 at 07:13 UT.


Discovered December 28, 2005 by Robert McMillan of the Spacewatch Program near Tucson Arizona, the object has been previously observed by Mike Nolan, Ellen Howell and colleagues with the Arecibo radar on April 19-21, 2010 and shown to be a very dark, nearly spherical object 400 meters in diameter. Because of its approximate 20-hour rotation period, ideal radar observations should include tracks that are 8 hours or longer on multiple dates at Goldstone (November 3-11) and when the object enters Arecibo's observing window on November 8th.


Using the Goldstone radar operating in a relatively new "chirp" mode, the November 2011 radar opportunity could result in a shape model reconstruction with a resolution of as fine as 4 meters. Several days of high resolution imaging (about 7.5 meters) are also planned at Arecibo. As well as aiding the interpretation of the radar observations, collaborative visual and near infrared observations could define the object's rotation characteristics and provide constraints upon the nature of the object's surface roughness and mineral composition.
Since the asteroid will approach the Earth from the sunward direction, it will be a daylight object until the time of closest approach. The best time for new ground-based optical and infrared observations will be late in the day on November 8, after 21:00 hours UT from the eastern Atlantic and western Africa zone. A few hours after its close Earth approach, it will become generally accessible for optical and near-IR observations but will provide a challenging target because of its rapid motion across the sky.

Trajectory of Asteroid 2005 YU55 - November 9, 2011 Edge-on view to the ecliptic plane

Although classified as a potentially hazardous object, 2005 YU55 poses no threat of an Earth collision over at least the next 100 years. However, this will be the closest approach to date by an object this large that we know about in advance and an event of this type will not happen again until 2028 when asteroid (153814) 2001 WN5 will pass to within 0.6 lunar distances. 

Neutrinos Not As Fast As Previously Thought...

When the news, first broke out about neutrinos going faster than the speed of light, I was astonished! It may have led to new discoveries and new ways to harness the little particles. However, the news is now proved wrong, according to an article by Stephen Ornes.

In September, European scientists reported on tiny particles called neutrinos that traveled faster than the speed of light. Physicists, the scientists who study energy in all its forms, have long believed that nothing outpaces light in a race through empty space. Understandably, September’s announcement seemed too amazing to be true.

Skeptical scientists quickly started picking the experiment apart. In recent papers, they claim superluminal neutrinos seem too fast to be true because they probably are too fast to be true. (“Superluminal” means “faster than light.”) According to these scientists, the universal speed limit likely still stands at 670 million miles per hour, the speed of light.

The neutrinos left an underground laboratory in Switzerland and traveled more than 450 miles to an underground laboratory in Italy. Scientists who work on an Italian experiment called OPERA timed the neutrinos as being a smidgen faster than the blaze of light.

As they traveled, the superswift particles should have been losing energy in the form of radiation, say physicists from Boston University. OPERA’s measurements didn’t show the expected energy loss in the neutrino beam. As a result, the experiment’s results seem off, say the Boston duo.

“I would be ecstatic to see some kind of new physics coming from this experiment,” Andrew Cohen, one of the Boston University physicists, told Science News. But the radiation evidence wasn’t there. “It’s just hard to accommodate” the conclusion that the particles outraced light, he says. Cohen worked with his colleague Sheldon Glashow, who won a Nobel Prize in 1979.

A separate team of scientists in Italy conducted a follow-up neutrino experiment to look for the missing radiation, but it didn’t show. Cohen and Glashow’s study doesn’t completely disprove the results, but it does suggest something went awry in the original experiment.

“We’re pretty much convinced that the experiment is wrong,” Glashow told Science News. “But I don’t think anyone has identified the error, if there is an error, as of yet.”

Scientists do have some ideas. A French physicist in Grenoble wonders if some of the neutrinos in the beam started their trip earlier than the scientists think. And a physicist in England, Carlo Contaldi, suggests that the clocks used to time the neutrinos may have been out of sync with each other. Contaldi points out that gravity tugs harder on the Swiss clock than on the one in Italy, and as a result they may have been ticking at different times.

Contaldi told Science News that he’ll be able to check his idea once the OPERA team starts talking more about their work.

“Until further details come out as to how they did the various bits of their experiment,” he said, “it’s not clear how to proceed.”

The case of the superluminal neutrinos shows the progress of science, from an astonishing find to the grueling work of verifying the results. Even if the neutrinos do obey the speed limit, the OPERA results will have given scientists valuable knowledge about the behavior of supersmall, superfast neutrinos.

I wish it wasn't proven wrong, as this discovery could change the world (and I had recently learned about neutrinos at the National Science Olympiad in May!). 

How MP3 Players Work

In honor of Steve Jobs and Apple, I've decided to post about MP3 players, an industry that Apple changed and revolutionized forever with the iPod. Here is the link for the article about how MP3 players work. 


It is a very well written article (I love HowStuffWorks!), that describes the intricacies of the MP3 player. It is quite scary how quickly our world has advanced in such a short period of time. The MP3 file (and player) is the newest of the music industry, and probably most popular, as many platforms accept and use it and it is very compact, compressing a song into about a tenth of the space taken up on a CD-rom. Moreover, the MP3 player is a very impressive piece of hardware, doing many things in a device that weighs about an ounce (or less!). The microprocessor is the brain of the device and performs many tasks. Can you believe that something so advanced is already almost 20 years old? We can only wait to see what innovations will rock the world next (maybe you will help design the next wave of music, you just have to work towards it!). For more information, please click on the links above, or this one.

Well, that's it folks! Come back next week for another dash of Sients.

Meditation

After someone I know suggested it, I have been meditating every morning for the last couple of weeks and the effects have been noticeable. After taking a shower, I sit on my bed and just concentrate on my breathing. My days have been calmer with less anxiety and I have performed and thought better throughout the day. I would definitely recommend trying to do this everyday. This blog is about science, so here is the science behind it! 


http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4770779 


http://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/200105/the-science-meditation 


http://health.howstuffworks.com/wellness/stress-management/how-to-get-started-with-meditation.htm 


http://health.howstuffworks.com/wellness/natural-medicine/alternative/natural-sleep-aids5.htm 


http://health.howstuffworks.com/wellness/natural-medicine/alternative/power-of-meditation-awareness.htm 


 http://curiosity.discovery.com/question/meditation-give-you-patience 


http://curiosity.discovery.com/question/how-can-meditation-help-anxiety 


http://curiosity.discovery.com/question/meditation-techniques-help-relieve-stress 


 EXTRA: http://videos.howstuffworks.com/discovery/30915-the-brain-meditation-and-pain-control-video.htm