Alt-week 3.9.13: Sunstones, knotted vortices and a zero-g robot

<div dir="rtl" style="text-align: right;" trbidi="on"><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="text-align: left;"><i>Alt-week peels back the covers on some of the more curious sci-tech stories from the last seven days.</i></div><div class="image-container" style="text-align: center;"><img alt="Altweek 3913 Sunstones, knotted vortices and a zerog robot" data-src-height="350" data-src-width="620" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2013/03/altweek09mar13.jpg" /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Technology is all relative. We imagine there was a time when even the wheel was the latest must-have gadget. This week we straddle the past <i>and</i> the future of exploration technology to illustrate this point wonderfully. Two very different objects, both a marvel of their time. There are also two hat tips to the every impressive power of mother nature, too. Where else but alt-week? Exactly.</div><div style="text-align: left;">When a cute robot, barely over a foot tall, is getting training for a spell on the ISS, you pretty much know the future has arrived. Kirobo is the lucky upstart, and it's been developed as part of a collaboration called the Kiro Robot Project that includes Japanese institutions such as -- among others -- Toyota, Dentsu Inc, and the University of Tokyo. Little Kirobo is pencilled in to enjoy a spell on the space station sometime after summer 2013. The aim is to carry out conversation experiments between humans and robots in space, speaking with Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata in his native tongue. In addition to its linguistic skills, Kirobi will also be taking pictures, updating twitter and generally endearing itself to everyone it meets. Think you're too cold-hearted to fall under the spell too? Watch Kirobi's zero gravity training below, come back, and <i>then</i> tell us you didn't at least crack a smile.</div></div><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/TZPnQpbb-KI?feature=player_embedded" width="640"></iframe>While high profile activities continue on the surface of Mars, other research is digging a little deeper. Figuratively, rather than literally, but new images provided by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter are giving us a glimpse of ancient underwater channels beneath the planet's surface. Located in the Elysium Planitia, a region near the Martian equator, the network of tunnels has long been obscured by volcanic activity on the plains above. The new images -- taken over several years -- reveal the channels which were carved out by flooding over an estimated 500 million year period -- a time when Mars was thought to be cold and arid. The 3D models not only suggest that the scale of subterranean erosion is far greater than previously thought, it may also indicate whether the floods might have contributed to climate change on the planet.<br /> <img alt="Altweek 3913" data-src-height="429" data-src-width="620" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2013/03/channelswatermarsjt.jpg" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;">When we hear the word Vortex, we're inclined to think of dodgy eighties nightclubs, or even dodgier science fiction from the same decade. A group of University of Chicago physicists, however, have been much more productive in their musings on the matter, to the point where they have successfully created a "vortex knot." Linked vortices have been a theoretical concept for a long time, but creating one for real has -- until now -- proved elusive. The Chicago team set about creating theirs with a series of different shaped 3D-printed hydrofoils, coated in bubbles, suspended in water. The study has thrown up some surprises, such as showing that a knotted vortex isn't stable as principles would suggest. In fact, the vortices were observed breaking themselves apart in a particular way, which will provide insights that could assist our understanding of turbulence, plasma physics, and even the general behaviour of fluids. If, on the other hand, you just want to know what a knotted vortex looks like, head down to the video below. <iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Ja886GtHlcE?feature=player_embedded" width="640"></iframe></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;">It might sound like something straight out of a Harry Potter movie, but a mysterious piece of rock salvaged from a 400-year-old wreck might turn out to be a legendary Viking "Sunstone" -- an ancient solar compass. The storied crystal is claimed to have been able to accurately map the location of the sun -- even in cloudy sky -- within 5 degrees. The stone in question is a piece of Icelandic calcite, and was recovered from a 16th century shipwreck in the English Channel. Until now, the existence of such a device -- which works by splitting light in a way that points to its source -- has only been hinted at in fleeting literary mentions. Guy Ropars, of the University in Rennes from the research team that recovered it believes this could be the first physical proof of an actual Sunstone. Despite now being opaque, Ropars suggests that it is both the right shape and density to be Icelandic spar -- a mineral the team has proven to be able to pinpoint the concealed sun accurately. To complete the tantalising story, the stone was discovered near to a pair of navigational dividers. The cause of the ship's demise, however, remains at the bottom of the ocean with the rest of the wreckage.</div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;"><img alt="Altweek 3913" data-src-height="350" data-src-width="620" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2013/03/sunstonejtaw.jpg" /> </div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;"> <em>Seen any other far-out articles that you'd like considered for Alt-week? Working on a project or research that's too cool to keep to yourself? Drop us a line</em></div></div>

Alt-week 3.9.13: Sunstones, knotted vortices and a zero-g robot

Alt-week peels back the covers on some of the more curious sci-tech stories from the last seven days. Technology is all relative. We imagine...

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Alt-week 2.2.13: SpaceLiners, building a brain and the man made multiverse

<div dir="rtl" style="text-align: right;" trbidi="on"><div dir="rtl" style="text-align: right;" trbidi="on"><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;"><i>Alt-week peels back the covers on some of the more curious sci-tech stories from the last seven days.</i></div><div class="image-container" dir="ltr" style="text-align: center;"><img alt="Altweek 2213 SpaceLiners, building a brain and the man made multiverse" data-src-height="375" data-src-width="620" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2013/02/aw222013jt.jpg" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;">What's black and white, and read all over? This week's dose of sci-tech news, silly. What is less black and white, however, IS where reality ends, and the stuff of science fiction begins. Europe to Australia in 90 minutes? Automatically-melting military technology? A material that hosts multiple universes? It's all here, it's all alt-week.</div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;">If the highlight of your long-haul is that leg-stretching trip to the bathroom, the bad news is that's a situation not likely to change any time soon. But, that doesn't mean they aren't working on it. If recently announced estimates are to be believed, the hypersonic SpaceLiner that would reduce the journey time from Europe to Australia down to just 90 minutes is about 50 years out. The ESA-supported project started in 2005, and would use a propellant based on liquid oxygen and hydrogen. The craft will likely launch vertically from a booster -- just like NASA rockets -- with up to 50 passengers onboard. Once an altitude of around 50 miles is reached, the SpaceLiner would "glide" down to its destination, reaching speeds of up to 15,000 mph while it did so. And here is the problem. Creating a design that is capable of tolerating the heat generated at such speeds, that is also consistent with the rest of its consumer requirements is quite a challenge. Still, we're content with the in-flight movie choice, and the occasional stroll down the aisle while they work on it.</div><div class="image-container" dir="ltr" style="text-align: center;"><img alt="Altweek 2213 " data-src-height="375" data-src-width="620" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2013/02/spaceliner50awjt.jpg" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;">If you thought the SpaceLiner sounded like a worthy project, what about "The Human Brain Project?" What might that be? Well, the lofty goal of "pulling together all our existing knowledge about the human brain and to reconstruct the brain, piece by piece, in supercomputer-based models and simulations" no less. The project is actually the latest to be chosen by the European Commission to receive funding as part of its FET Flagship Initiatives program. The cerebral challenge will be headed up out of Switzerland's Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, and cost an estimated 1.19 billion euros ($1.63 billion). It's hoped that the work could result in a better understanding of disease, as well as provide useful data for the advancement of robotics. Most impressive of all, with an estimated duration of 10 years, that's a fifth of the time required to develop a SpaceLiner...</div><div class="image-container" dir="ltr" style="text-align: center;"></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;">This next project (is it project week or something?) is almost the anti-idea. Instead of concerning itself with understanding or creating, its goal is to destroy. DARPA is keen that its hard work doesn't fall into the wrong hands. As such its (somewhat wordy) Vanishing Programmable Resources (VAPR) program has been set up to create rugged technology, that can degrade into its surroundings when triggered. You might disagree with it, but DARPA claims that today's consumer technology "lasts nearly forever," which is clearly not what you want if you are trying to keep items away from unfriendly eyes. The research could help develop new materials that are durable enough for everyday use, but also easy to dissolve from existence. Expect a swathe of disposable tech to follow.</div><div class="image-container" dir="ltr" style="text-align: center;"><img alt="Altweek 2213" data-src-height="431" data-src-width="620" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2013/02/darpameltytimejt.jpg" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;">If you thought melting gadgets were clever, how about a multiverse-containing metamaterial? That's exactly what physicists at the University of Maryland claim they have made. We should probably back-up a little. Metamaterials contain nanostructures that manipulate light. This might not sound like much, until we understand that it has been theorised that the way in which they do so is similar to how spacetime manipulates light in general relativity. This essentially means that metamaterials can be used to mimic our spacetime, as well as many others. The physicists state that the material contains multiple universes analogous to our own, but with three, rather than four dimensions. To make the metamaterial, the team worked with cobalt nanoparticles -- which have self assembling qualities -- suspended in kerosene. When light passes through, it behaves as a dimension of time, with the cobalt structure providing the foundation for two dimensions in space. This is what is referred to as a Minkowski universe. What the Maryland researchers have done is create a substance containing many Minkowski universes. The work not only gives evidence of the potential of self-organisation in metamaterial creation, but could also have implications for the study of new types of optical devices.</div><div class="image-container" dir="ltr" style="text-align: center;"><img alt="Altweek 2213 SpaceLiners, building a brain and the man made multiverse" data-src-height="413" data-src-width="620" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2013/02/multiverseawjt.jpg" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;"><i>Seen any other far-out articles that you'd like considered for Alt-week? Working on a project or research that's too cool to keep to yourself? Drop us a line at <b>alt </b></i></div></div><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="300" mozallowfullscreen="" src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/53109450?byline=0&portrait=0" webkitallowfullscreen="" width="400"></iframe></div>

Alt-week 2.2.13: SpaceLiners, building a brain and the man made multiverse

Alt-week peels back the covers on some of the more curious sci-tech stories from the last seven days. What's black and white, and read a...

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