June 26, 2013 ? A team of researchers from the National University of Singapore's (NUS) Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering has developed a robot fish that mimics the movements of a carp. This robot which is essentially an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) is ready for applications, as it can be programmed to perform specific functions, for example, for underwater archaeology such as exploring nooks and corners of wreckage -- or sunken city which are difficult for divers or traditional AUVs to access. Other applications include military activities, pipeline leakage detection, and the laying of communication cable.
The team comprises Professor Xu Jianxin, Mr Fan Lupeng, graduating Electrical Engineering student and Research Fellow, Dr Ren Qinyuan. Mr Fan worked on the project for his final year which won the High Achievement Award at the Faculty's 27th Innovation and Research Award. It will also be featured at the IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, a top international conference on intelligent robots, in Tokyo on 3-7 November 2013.
Said Prof Xu, "Currently, robot fish capable of 2-D movements are common, meaning that these models are not able to dive into the water. Our model is capable of 3-D movements as it can dive and float, using its fins like a real fish. Compared to traditional AUVs, they are certainly more mobile, with greater manoeuvrability. If used for military purpose, fish robots would definitely be more difficult to detect by the enemy."
Fish robots are also quieter and consume less energy, compared to traditional AUVs. Said Mr Fan who studied the movements of real life carps for three months, in order to develop their robot, "We chose to study carps because most fish swim like them. There is no literature at all on designing a mathematical model on the locomotion of fish and so we had to start from scratch. We used a camera to capture all the possible movements of a carp and then converted the data mathematically so that we could transfer the locomotion of real carp to our robot using different actuators."
This has been most challenging as fish use a lot of different muscles to move, and many actuators are required to enable the robot to move in the same manner.
Added Dr Ren, "Some fish can achieve almost 180 degree turning in a small turning radius through bending their body while traditional underwater vehicles have a much larger turning radius. Hence it is quite a feat for us to achieve this movement in our robot fish."
Other challenges included waterproofing the fish body, the motor and the control box. The fins and tails also need to be flexible and the team decided to use very fine (1mm) acrylic board for these. Buoyancy and balance for the robot is maintained by using plastic foams attached to both sides. For the diving mechanism, their robot fish is equipped with an internal ballast system to change density. The system is sophisticated enough to enable the fish to dive suddenly, as well as to the precise depth intended.
The team has constructed two fish robots. The larger prototype is about one and half metres in length, weighing about 10kg and it can dive to a depth of 1.8 metres. The smaller robot is about 60 centimetres long and weighs a mere 1.5kg. It is developed for investigation on 2D motion control and motion planning in a small place, and it can only swim at water surface.
"To my knowledge, the world's smallest fish robot is one about 12.7 centimetres (5 inches) in length. It was designed by MIT for specific military purpose and could go to a depth of 1.5 metres," said Dr Ren.
Moving forward
Underwater vehicles have long gone past the days of the submarines, said Mr Fan. Fish robots, besides being a micro submarine, can also be fully autonomous and can be programmed to perform many difficult and dangerous tasks.
The team hopes to make their robot fish even smaller and more realistic. Said Mr Fan, "We intend to equip it with more sensors like GPS and video camera to improve autonomous 3-D movement. We also intend to test out our fish with more challenging tasks such as object detection."
The Fisher-Price View-Master has entertained generations of kids with stereoscopic views of famous landmarks and cartoon characters since its advent in 1939. Problem was, these iconic gadgets could only display images, never record them. But the Poppy can. It turns your iPhone into a 3D camera.
The Poppy generates a pair of stereographic images from the iPhone's camera and recombines them into a 3D image when seen through the viewfinder. You just flip open the front end, slip your iPhone 4/4s/5 or iPod Touch into the slot on the top of the device and you're ready to go. And in addition to recording 3D content through the phone's camera, it can also be used to play back 3D content as well (such as the growing number of 3D trailers and user-generated content on YouTube).
I had the opportunity to sit down with Poppy co-creators, Ethan Lowry and Joe Heitzeberg, last week for a quick hands on ahead of the $50 product's Kickstarter launch and played with the Poppy for about 20 minutes. The device seemed a bit bulky at first blush, especially given that 3D content goes hand in hand with action sports?it's not like you're going to strap this to your face and try to land a triple frontside rodeo 1440. It was, however, surprisingly light and intuitive to use. The image quality for both recording and playback was solid (though that of course depends on your Internet connection and camera settings). The 3D playback feature is especially slick since it doesn't rely on (but can play) red-blue anaglyph 3D, which throws off the video's color. On the downside, this is an iOS accessory as it's built around the iPhone's corner-mounted camera, so Android users are out of luck.
I would gladly take a guided video tour through famous locales or vicariously BASE jump from sky scrapers using the Poppy?at least until I finish growing that spare arm and leg the Oculus Rift is going to cost me.
BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) ? Actor Ethan Hawke says it's crucial that all children get an education from an early age, pointing to his own daughter's struggles with dyslexia.
Hawke spoke Wednesday in Romania, where he is promoting his recent film "Before Midnight."
His mother, Leslie Hawke, has worked with some of Romania's most impoverished young children. She has been raising awareness and educational funds for Romanian children since arriving here as a Peace Corps volunteer in 2000.
The Hollywood star told reporters that he is "affected by children whether it is in New York or Romania." He says his "eldest daughter is dyslexic ... if she were from a poor family everyone would assume she was stupid."
"Before Midnight" premiered in May and is the third in the series, following 1995's "Before Sunrise" and 2004's "Before Sunset." Hawke plays Jesse, who is married to Frenchwoman Celine.
Worldwide, one out of every five people lacks access to modern electricity. Affordability, quality of service, and social and environmental impacts pose great challenges in providing people with the power they need for lighting, cooking, and other activities. Good governance involving open and inclusive practices is essential to overcoming these pressing obstacles.
This is part three of a four-part blog series, ?Improving Electricity Governance,? which explores the key components involved in effective electricity governance. The series draws on the experiences of WRI?s Electricity Governance Initiative, documented in a new report, ?Shining a Light on Electricity Governance.? Read more posts in this series.
Until recently, the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT) held a monopoly on Thailand?s power generation and transmission since the 1970s. While EGAT provided a relatively stable supply of electricity to consumers, it was unregulated, leading to inefficiencies in the sector, such as wrongly estimated fuel supply. Consumers experienced high prices, while new power projects moved forward with little public consultation, sparking social conflict and concerns over environmental impacts.
The situation worsened in 2003, when Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra set forth a plan to restructure Thailand?s electricity sector and privatize EGAT. Rather than improving Thailand?s electricity sector in the public interest, the plan for privatization was designed to increase capital for powerful stakeholders and upper management employees. It called to maintain EGAT?s unregulated monopoly in order to maximize profits, even at the expense of public needs and environmental vulnerabilities.
Thailand?s electricity sector seemed poised to worsen?until civil society groups stepped in.
An Electricity Governance Assessment for Thailand
During the time of the government?s privatization proposal, a group of WRI?s Electricity Governance Initiative (EGI) partners were carrying out an assessment of the country?s electricity sector. The assessment found that there was no official forum for public participation within the sector, nor was there an independent regulator to balance the interests of EGAT against public needs.
In 2004, thousands of EGAT union members as well as a coalition of civil society organizations (CSOs) protested the impending privatization plan. They voiced their objection to EGAT becoming a profit-driven monopoly and demanded that the electricity sector be made accountable to public needs. EGI partners submitted their findings to the Supreme Administrative Court, which held a hearing to address the impending plan. As a result of union members? and civil society groups? efforts, the privatization was postponed by the court. In 2005, the decision was overturned.
Establishing an Independent Regulator
Since then, EGI partners and other stakeholders helped draft a new law that establishes an independent regulatory commission to ensure accountability in Thailand?s electricity sector. The Energy Regulatory Commission has since helped create 13 Regional Consumer Committees in different parts of Thailand. Each committee represents energy consumers in a specific region of the country. They are expected to address energy complaints and petitions, suggest improvements in energy services, and advise energy consumers on consumer-protection issues.
The presence of the independent Energy Regulatory Commission of Thailand has worked to protect the public interest by ensuring fair prices and reliable service, promoting awareness and knowledge of the energy sector, providing impact assessments, supporting renewable energy, and securing fairness and transparency throughout the sector. In opening up the policy process and providing an independent forum for public participation, electricity sector decision-makers are now accountable to the varied expertise and interests of the public.
Improvements didn?t just stop with establishing an independent Regulatory Commission. EGI partner, Palang Thai, coordinated capacity-building workshops for the Regulatory Commissioners, connecting them to energy decision-makers in the United States. These visits led to the Thai Energy Regulatory Commission entering into a memorandum of understanding with the Washington State Regulatory Commission in order to share knowledge and experiences in regulatory decision-making. These kinds of peer-to-peer partnerships help spread best practices.
A Lesson in Electricity Governance
This example from Thailand highlights a lesson that applies to electricity sectors in countries and communities throughout the world: Bad decision-making processes lead to bad results. The actions that Thai civil society groups took to overturn EGAT privatization and set up an independent regulator provides a powerful example of why involving civil society in decision-making processes is a necessary step in improving decisions themselves.
LEARN MORE: For more information about how EGI helped improve transparency in the electricity sector, check out our outcomes report, Shining a Light on Electricity Governance.
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BOSTON -- Games in June aren't supposed to end with punts. But when you take a mess of players who are equal parts overjoyed and exhausted, weird things happen. So this game ended with a punt.
Jonny Gomes sent a high-arcing homer toward the light tower and off of the AAA sign above the Monster in the bottom of the ninth inning to beat the Rays 3-1, and his celebration started as soon as he laid the black barrel of his bat on Joel Peralta's high 89-mph fastball.
Gomes strutted proudly out of the batter's box, knowing his team's more than 10-hour day at the ballpark was over. Then he raised one arm in triumph as he made his way around first.
Then came the punt.
After he touched third base, he removed his helmet with his right hand, lowered it and drop-kicked it in the direction of Van Ness Street before he touched home and was mobbed by his teammates.
"That was my best [Adam] Vinatieri impersonation," Gomes said, smiling. "I don't know if the Patriots are calling for a tryout. That's my Fenway punt."
Manager John Farrell said Gomes bailed the Red Sox out. That was certainly the case when it came to closer Andrew Bailey, who allowed a homer to Kelly Johnson in the ninth inning, turning a blown save into a win thanks to Gomes.
"To be where we are at the top of the standings, we have to pick each other up," Gomes said. "[Bailey]'s picked us up, we're going to pick him up. And we've done a great job of guys shining in the lineup covering for guys that have been struggling and vice versa. That's definitely the character we have in this clubhouse, everyone's picking one another up."
Gomes has been on both sides. He was signed in the offseason to be a regular in left field. Instead, he's hitting just .209/.327/.372 with five homers, and he's lost playing time to Daniel Nava, who has had a stellar first half and hit his 10th home run in the second inning.
"There's two people that aren't going to struggle this year," Gomes said. "One is going to be the MVP, the other is going to be Cy Young. Everyone else is going through peaks and valleys. If you've got 24 other guys picking up the guy who's down, you're going to be successful."
Gomes said it's a challenge to get his timing down given the number of at-bats he's received, and the irregularity with which they've come. But he's trying to make the most of them. On Tuesday, he struck out twice and flew out to center before homering.
"I'm in a situation where I can't get on hot streaks given my playing time, so I just gotta be ready when my name's called," he said. "With light at bats, sometimes it takes 2-3 at-bats to get on time. I thought my last three at-bats were better than the first."
He admitted, though, he grew more and more weary as the night cap went on. After a three-hour rain delay in the afternoon game against the Rays, it had turned into an endurance test at Fenway.
The clubhouse coffee was flowing, of course. Gomes said he couldn't measure in cups just how much he had consumed over the course of the day. Just enough to make him want to boot a helmet down the third base line after his walk-off homer.
"You never let the cup go to the end. All refills," he said. "Long day at the yard . . . Go home, pack, hopefully get one more and go out on the road."
The contribution of particulate matter to forest declinePublic release date: 19-Jun-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Dr. J?rgen Burkhardt j.burkhardt@uni-bonn.de 49-228-732-186 University of Bonn
Bonn University scientists demonstrate that hygroscopic air pollutants decrease tree drought tolerance
Air pollution is related to forest decline and also appears to attack the protecting wax on tree leaves and needles. Bonn University scientists have now discovered a responsible mechanism: particulate matter salt compounds that become deliquescent because of humidity and form a wick-like structure that removes water from leaves and promotes dehydration. These results are published in "Environmental Pollution".
Nature conservationists call it "lingering illness", and the latest report on the North-Rhine Westphalian forest conditions confirms ongoing damage. Bonn University scientists have now shown that salt deposits on leaves may decrease the drought tolerance of trees, thereby contributing to forest decline. "Our study reveals that so-called wax degradation on pine needles may develop from deposited particulate matter", says Dr. Jrgen Burkhardt from the Institute of Crop Science and Resource Conservation. Wax helps to protect leaves and needles from water loss.
It has long been known that air pollutants accelerate wax ageing and that "wax degradation" is closely related to forest damage. "Wax degradation was addressed by many studies in the 1980s and 90s, but sound explanations for both the degradation mechanism and the high correlation with forest damage have yet been missing", Dr. Burkhardt reports. Previous approaches assumed chemical reactions for wax degradation, whereas the present study reveals physical reasons. "The deposition of hygroscopic salts is capable of decreasing the drought tolerance of trees", co-author Shyam Pariyar says.
Accelerated dehydration of needles treated with salt solutions
The scientists sprayed salt solutions on Scots pine needles and recorded their weight loss after abscission. The needles treated with salt solutions dried out significantly faster than the untreated control needles. Using an electron microscope, the scientists observed the salts becoming deliquescent and moving into the stomata of the needles. Stomata are tiny pores used by plants to take up carbon dioxide for photosynthesis and release water vapor and oxygen. The deliquescent salts form very thin liquid connections between the surface and interior of the needle, and water is removed from the needles by these wick-like structures. Because the plants are unable to counteract this removal of water, the plants dehydrate more rapidly. Therefore, polluted air containing large amounts of particulate matter may directly reduce the drought tolerance of trees. Simultaneously, the deliquescent salts make wax appear "degraded". "This newly described mechanism was not considered in earlier explanations of Central European forest decline", states Dr. Burkhardt.
Conceivable aggravation of forest decline by climate change
A new type of electron microscope enabled the observation of particle deliquescence and dynamics under changing air humidity. In addition, a long-lasting scientific paradigm had excluded any aqueous movement into the stomata, and only recently had Bonn University scientists confirmed its existence (http://www3.uni-bonn.de/Pressemitteilungen/227-2012).
Recently, regional forest damage has been reported in the western USA and other parts of the world. A relationship with increasing climate change-type drought has been proposed, but the newly discovered mechanism involving particulate matter might contribute to the regional forest damage. "Particularly because air concentrations of hygroscopic particles have largely increased within the last decades", says Dr. Burkhardt.
###
The study was funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft and the European Union (project CLAIRE).
Publication: Particulate pollutants are capable to `degrade epicuticular waxes and to decrease the drought tolerance of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.), "Environmental Pollution", DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2013.04.041
Contact:
Dr. Jrgen Burkhardt
University of Bonn
Institute of Crop Science and Resource Conservation
Plant Nutrition Group
Phone. +49 228 732186
E-Mail: j.burkhardt@uni-bonn.de
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
The contribution of particulate matter to forest declinePublic release date: 19-Jun-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Dr. J?rgen Burkhardt j.burkhardt@uni-bonn.de 49-228-732-186 University of Bonn
Bonn University scientists demonstrate that hygroscopic air pollutants decrease tree drought tolerance
Air pollution is related to forest decline and also appears to attack the protecting wax on tree leaves and needles. Bonn University scientists have now discovered a responsible mechanism: particulate matter salt compounds that become deliquescent because of humidity and form a wick-like structure that removes water from leaves and promotes dehydration. These results are published in "Environmental Pollution".
Nature conservationists call it "lingering illness", and the latest report on the North-Rhine Westphalian forest conditions confirms ongoing damage. Bonn University scientists have now shown that salt deposits on leaves may decrease the drought tolerance of trees, thereby contributing to forest decline. "Our study reveals that so-called wax degradation on pine needles may develop from deposited particulate matter", says Dr. Jrgen Burkhardt from the Institute of Crop Science and Resource Conservation. Wax helps to protect leaves and needles from water loss.
It has long been known that air pollutants accelerate wax ageing and that "wax degradation" is closely related to forest damage. "Wax degradation was addressed by many studies in the 1980s and 90s, but sound explanations for both the degradation mechanism and the high correlation with forest damage have yet been missing", Dr. Burkhardt reports. Previous approaches assumed chemical reactions for wax degradation, whereas the present study reveals physical reasons. "The deposition of hygroscopic salts is capable of decreasing the drought tolerance of trees", co-author Shyam Pariyar says.
Accelerated dehydration of needles treated with salt solutions
The scientists sprayed salt solutions on Scots pine needles and recorded their weight loss after abscission. The needles treated with salt solutions dried out significantly faster than the untreated control needles. Using an electron microscope, the scientists observed the salts becoming deliquescent and moving into the stomata of the needles. Stomata are tiny pores used by plants to take up carbon dioxide for photosynthesis and release water vapor and oxygen. The deliquescent salts form very thin liquid connections between the surface and interior of the needle, and water is removed from the needles by these wick-like structures. Because the plants are unable to counteract this removal of water, the plants dehydrate more rapidly. Therefore, polluted air containing large amounts of particulate matter may directly reduce the drought tolerance of trees. Simultaneously, the deliquescent salts make wax appear "degraded". "This newly described mechanism was not considered in earlier explanations of Central European forest decline", states Dr. Burkhardt.
Conceivable aggravation of forest decline by climate change
A new type of electron microscope enabled the observation of particle deliquescence and dynamics under changing air humidity. In addition, a long-lasting scientific paradigm had excluded any aqueous movement into the stomata, and only recently had Bonn University scientists confirmed its existence (http://www3.uni-bonn.de/Pressemitteilungen/227-2012).
Recently, regional forest damage has been reported in the western USA and other parts of the world. A relationship with increasing climate change-type drought has been proposed, but the newly discovered mechanism involving particulate matter might contribute to the regional forest damage. "Particularly because air concentrations of hygroscopic particles have largely increased within the last decades", says Dr. Burkhardt.
###
The study was funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft and the European Union (project CLAIRE).
Publication: Particulate pollutants are capable to `degrade epicuticular waxes and to decrease the drought tolerance of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.), "Environmental Pollution", DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2013.04.041
Contact:
Dr. Jrgen Burkhardt
University of Bonn
Institute of Crop Science and Resource Conservation
Plant Nutrition Group
Phone. +49 228 732186
E-Mail: j.burkhardt@uni-bonn.de
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
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Public release date: 19-Jun-2013
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