• DIY

    How To Make Ferrofluid

    By Mikey Sklar Posted on 9.22.2009 14 Comments

    Ferrofluids are made up of tiny magnetic fragments of iron suspended in oil (often kerosene) with a surfactant to prevent clumping (usually oleic acid). The fluid is relatively easy to make at home yet extremely expensive to buy on-line. How does $165 a liter sound? Pretty bad, right? Read on to learn how to make ferrofluids on the cheap.

    9.22.2009 at 10:24pm - Comment by Bioboy

    I spent the summer making milligram quantities of nanowires (5-25 micrometers long) for magnetorheological fluids (MRF)which is the more technical term. The lab I worked at invented MRFs with wires and spheres that stay suspended for much longer than homogenous MRFs and can be used for more sensitive applications than normal MRFs. MRFs can be used in shock absorbers to make them an active system that can adapt to their environment. The army has done tests with humvees equipped with MRF shocks and normal shocks and the MRF equipped ones could go 20 miles an hour faster over very rough terrain with much less jarring.

  • Science

    Kurtsystems "Equine Training System" Means Faster Steeds, Fewer Injuries

    By Posted on 10.7.2009 12 Comments

    A horse trots along a dirt road in Turkey, encased by the Kurtsystems Car equine training system. What may look like a complex horse-drawn carriage is actually a high-tech way to automate the delicate process of training racehorses.

    9.21.2009 at 10:43am - Comment by Bioboy

    It's not too hard to condition a horse to something like this. The fact that most of the machine is behind it is helpful. Horses have been pulling carts and carriages for centuries without being freaked out.

  • Announcements

    October Issue Now Available Online

    By John Mahoney Posted on 9.21.2009 3 Comments

    For the weekend: our October 2009 issue which just hit newstands is now available in its entirety online. And before you dive in, take a quick video look at some of the stuff you'll find inside.

    9.21.2009 at 10:35am - Comment by Bioboy

    Um...how is this relevant to the new issue of Popsci?

  • Science

    Laser Refrigeration is Fastest, Coolest Chilling Tech Yet

    By Clay Dillow Posted on 9.3.2009 12 Comments

    Physics nerds and sci-fi geeks just about everywhere agree: lasers are cool. But cool enough to drop the temperature of a gas by 119 degrees in a matter of seconds? German researchers say so, having made advances on ideas reaching back 30 years but never successfully executed. Bombarding high-pressure gas with a laser, the scientists were able to create a significant cooling effect, shaving the aforementioned 119 degrees from the gas almost instantly by pushing electrons into higher orbit.

    9.4.2009 at 01:13pm - Comment by Bioboy

    The heat energy is used to maintain the higher electron states. So, the heat energy is being transferred to the individual electrons.

  • Technology

    Perseid Meteor Shower 2009: Don’t Miss Tonight’s Show

    By Molika Ashford Posted on 8.11.2009 10 Comments

    As tonight bleeds into tomorrow morning, the earth will be hurtling through a long skein of dust and rocks. Lucky for us, the result of our bombardment will not be annihilation, but rather one of the richest natural light shows of the year—the Perseid meteor shower. Here's how to watch.

    8.12.2009 at 07:32am - Comment by Bioboy

    So what does a cow song have to do with a meteor shower??

  • Science

    Nine Overhyped and Misleading Health Headlines Debunked

    By Jason Daley Posted on 9.15.2009 10 Comments

    It takes researchers years, sometimes decades, to pin down subtle, important findings about your health, but it takes bumbling journalists (or their editors) just a few seconds to screw it all up. Here, a selection of the most misleading headlines, and a few tips to help you spot the hype early.

    8.11.2009 at 01:14pm - Comment by Bioboy

    Yeah, it's definitely a grub.

  • Science

    Delay (Anew) for the LHC Restart

    By Catherine Schwanke Posted on 2.10.2009 4 Comments

    All those planning for the end of the world in July, rest easy and enjoy the summer. The European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) is delaying the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) startup another two months. According to CERN, the LHC will go live in September and collisions will begin in October.

    2.10.2009 at 01:15pm - Comment by Bioboy

    Why weren't these safety systems in place before they started it up the first time?

  • The Environment

    Planet Fixers

    By Posted on 1.28.2009 7 Comments

    A Funnel For Sunlight

    Solar panels convert the most light into electricity when the sun shines directly on them, but as soon as it wanes, so does efficiency. A new antireflective film coating could help panels collect sunshine at 96 percent efficiency from nearly any angle. Developed by scientists at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, the film consists of seven layers of nanoscopic silicon and titanium-oxide rods arranged in increasing densities, with the topmost nearly as porous as air.

    1.28.2009 at 04:29pm - Comment by Bioboy

    Does anyone know how many of the new wave and tide driven power generators have actually been put into service?

  • Science

    What's in a Name? More Milk Apparently

    By Catherine Schwanke Posted on 1.28.2009 6 Comments

    Happy farmers name their cows. Why? Because new research out of Newcastle University shows cows with names produce more milk than those without. The scientists surveyed 516 UK dairy farmers, looking at human interaction with the dairy cattle along with milk productivity. The findings provide good news for dairy farmers. According to the researchers, farms with named cows have a higher milk production than those where cattle are herded as a large group. By simply naming their cows, dairy farmers can increase their milk yield by nearly 500 pints a year.

    1.28.2009 at 04:19pm - Comment by Bioboy

    I don't know. My cousins butchered a beef steer they raised that they named Sir Loin.

  • Technology

    A Silent Electric Plane

    By Amanda Schupak Posted on 12.4.2008 26 Comments

    In August, at the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) AirVenture show in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, Randall Fishman’s ElectraFlyer-C made a virtually silent pass over the audience at a mere 200 feet. What they were seeing (but not hearing) might be the world’s first fully electric-powered airplane—representing, said one EAA official, “a groundbreaking technology that would be aviation’s first true alternative to a fossil-fuel engine.”

    12.6.2008 at 10:16pm - Comment by Bioboy

    BraverThought, I would guess that this plane would be used at a small airport or glider strip where taxi times and waiting to land wouldn't be much of an issue.

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