Technology has come a long way in the past few decades—especially when it comes to 3D printers. They’re most typically used to print 3D organs or machine parts, but the technology is expanding into other sectors and becoming more common in engineering and even art. Now, 3D printing has reached a new frontier: your living room. Once 3D printing became a reality, printers cost thousands [...]
In my youth, my proficiency and interest in science was stymied by my indecision regarding a career. When asked the famous question, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” I almost never had an answer. Those who knew me believed that, one day, I would be involved in something either scientific or artistic. But it wasn’t until a month before [...]
R2-D2 from the Star Wars series is one of the most beloved droids out there. Cute, loyal and resourceful, this little droid saves the day many times in the legendary epic. His successor, the spherical-shaped BB-8, also captured the heart of audiences when Star Wars: The Force Awakens hit theaters in 2015. Just like R2-D2, BB-8 is a great friend to the human characters and [...]
While shopping for a computer, I fell in love with a laptop that had facial recognition software. Naturally that laptop went home with me, and the face recognition, which works with the built-in camera, was one of the first things I set up. Instead of asking me for a password or passcode when I turned it on, my laptop would show a screen [...]
Traveling can be stressful, especially if you visit a place in which the native language does not match your own. But now you can use your phone to translate what you are saying or seeing in real time. In January 2015, Google released a new feature of the Google Translate app, which allows users of iOS and Android devices to speak to the app, which [...]
Seven feet long and 665 pounds—that was the size of just one leatherback turtle saved by the Mass Audubon Sanctuary and the International Fund for Animal Welfare. And while that sounds like a massive turtle (and it is), realize that, at the time of rescue, it was underweight and near death. Thankfully, during the turtle’s brief stay at a New England Aquarium facility, aquarium vets, [...]
Remember the analog days before social media and the digital world took over? When the internet had yet to be born, photos were kept in an album in the closet and movies were made with unstable film that could either catch fire at any moment or slowly deteriorate into a useless vinegary mess? Unsurprisingly, when you take these two possibilities, and then add that many studios [...]
Take a look at this video. Did you get the first question right? How many times did the players in white pass the ball? Now, how about that second question? The video, done by Daniel Simons and Christopher Chabris, is a replication of Ulric Neisser’s study from the 1970s representing selective attention, the tendency not to “see” major changes in the environment. A person’s attention [...]
Have you ever tried “astronaut” ice cream? It’s a freeze-dried treat most commonly found in museum gift shops. However, the name is something of a misnomer. Astronaut ice cream has only flown to space once since its creation, aboard Apollo 7. According to NASA, the foil-wrapped snack is too crumbly to enjoy in zero gravity, so the astronauts never request it! Us earthlings [...]
When I was in kindergarten, I was one of New Hampshire’s winners of an annual EPA award. It was an award given to students between kindergarten and sixth grade who demonstrated concern about the environment and used their creative skills to express their concern. My environmental efforts continued throughout my youth, with varying effectiveness. I vaguely recall crouching behind a rusty swing set after [...]