Vehicle-2-Vehicle Communications

Although cars that can talk seems like a crazy idea at first, it actually might be a common concept that arises in the next few years in the United States. The idea is that each vehicle will be equipped with communications equipment that will allow your car to send data consisting of your speed and position as frequent as ten times per second. One situation that this might help with could be if you were about to pull through a green light intersection, and another vehicle blew the red light. Your vehicle would tell you to stop, and you would, preventing that accident. It is estimated that up to 81% of all automobile crashes could be prevented from using this system, which would hugely impact society in a positive manner. This technology could eventually lead to vehicles communicating with traffic lights, street lights, signs, and other things allowing warnings of hazards or congested routes ahead of time.

http://www.csmonitor.com/Business/In-Gear/2014/0205/Cars-that-talk-could-make-driving-safer

Glass That Will Bend, But Not Break

Researchers have discovered a new way to make glass that may change and benefit all of society today. This glass was inspired by seashells. The scientists studied the inside of mollusk shells, specifically the coating like nacre or mother of pearl. It is extremely tough, looking like a bunch of minuscule tablets fit together like Lego blocks. In order to make the glass, scientists use lasers to carve mini networks of cracks into the weaker interior of nacre. These cracks were prevented from getting larger by being filled with polyurethane, but the scientists reported that the substance was actually just a precaution and not a necessity. This substance is 200 times stronger than regular glass, and if dropped will only bend and not break. The group of researchers think that the glass is extremely practical, economical, and could be made on a large scale. It could potentially replace all of the glass we know today.

http://guardianlv.com/2014/01/new-kind-of-glass-will-bend-but-does-not-break/

Kitten Robots

A team of scientists from the University of California Berkeley have been working on producing what will be the near equivalent of feline whiskers, but for robots. Cats use their whiskers to detect objects around them, making them extremely stealthy and capable of navigating through tight spaces with ease. These electric whiskers contain silver nanoparticles and carbon nanotubules that are printed onto elastic fibers. They are ten times more sensitive than any other similar technology previously developed. The scientists say that there are endless possibilities that could come from this development, one of them being the production of artificial cats obviously.

http://natmonitor.com/2014/01/22/i-can-has-nanotube-scientists-create-cat-like-whiskers-for-robots/

Old Growth Trees

The next time you think about cutting down a giant old tree over 3 feet in diameter, think twice! Recent studies have shown that older trees actually recycle more and more carbon as they get older. They have not proven to actually gobble more greenhouse gases than younger trees or a mix of younger and older trees, but scientists just want to make sure they are never ruled out in this carbon dioxide-filling atmosphere. More studies will be continued to see just how well giant old trees do maintain and recycle carbon.
http://www.csmonitor.com/Science/2014/0116/Surprise!-Old-growth-trees-are-star-players-in-gobbling-greenhouse-gas

Dog's Preferred Bathroom Position

Scientists have discovered that dogs actually tend to relieve themselves in line with the Earth's magnetic poles. 70 different dogs of 37 different breeds were observed while defecating and urinating over a two year period. The study recorded them going number two 1,893 times and number one 5,582 times. The results from the scientists data show that the dogs have preferred to face the magnetic north and south. They also showed that the dogs did not prefer the magnetic east and west and avoided it if possible. There were also tests done in which the magnetic fields were disrupted and in these tests the dogs just went to the bathroom in random directions, without a directional preference.

http://www.foxnews.com/science/2014/01/02/scientists-discover-dogs-prefered-bathroom-position/

Hacking The Planet

Geo-engineering is a relatively new topics when it comes to the sciences. It is an attempt to rewire the Earth's atmosphere in order to reverse global climate change and help save our planet. Hacking the Earth's climate is a topic of major debate however, due to the fact that all of the techniques that have been developed so far might have either short term or long term consequences. The thought of the Anthropocene, which is the idea that we have entered a new geological era in which humans influence is a dominant feature, is both frightening and interesting to think about. The research on geo-engineering is growing rapidly, and hopefully much more will be discovered in the near future. It might save all of our lives one day.
http://www.laboratoryequipment.com/news/2013/12/hack-planet-geoengineering-research-ethics-explored

Valkyrie The Superhero Robot

The robot pictured is a humanoid robot named Valkyrie. It was made by NASA Johnson Space Center's robotics team. They were/are trying to create what their idea is of the best rescue robot for a disaster zone. So far it seems that they have created the most human friendly, lifelike robot of every team, and are well on their way to developing their hardware for the next challenge to all teams. The next challenge will be in two weeks, and it will involve all of the robots maneuvering through an obstacle course. The final challenge next December will be getting their robots to perform a group of tasks, just from downgraded communication systems that are already in them, because it is post-apocalyptic and the communication networks are down. The winning team will receive $2 million and get to begin developing the first robots to help build the first settlement on Mars.
http://www.csmonitor.com/Science/2013/1211/Meet-Valkyrie-the-superhero-robot