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Knifefish have a long doral fin that flutters back and forth to move the fish. Here's a video showing one in motion. Scientists at Northwestern University thought that it could serve as a useful basis for an underwater robot, and so studied its movement:
Planning for the robot -- called GhostBot -- began when graduate student Oscar Curet, a co-author of the paper, observed a knifefish suddenly moving vertically in a tank in MacIver's lab.
"We had only tracked it horizontally before," said MacIver, a recent recipient of the prestigious Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers. "We thought, 'How could it be doing this?'"
Further observations revealed that while the fish only uses one traveling wave along the fin during horizontal motion (forward or backward depending on the direction on the wave), while moving vertically it uses two waves. One of these moves from head to tail, and the other moves tail to head. The two waves collide and stop at the center of the fin.
The researchers then created a computer simulation of the fish and designed a robot to duplicate its movements:
The group took the robot to Harvard University to test it in a flow tunnel in the lab of George V. Lauder, professor of ichthyology and co-author of the paper. The team measured the flow around the robotic fish by placing reflective particles in the water, then shining a laser sheet into the water. That allowed them to track the flow of the water by watching the particles, and the test showed the water flowing around the biomimetic robot just as computer simulations predicted it would.
"It worked perfectly the first time," MacIver said. "We high-fived. We had the robot in the real world being pushed by real forces."
Link via Fast Company
Comments (3)
Thank you for your nice Move. I like it very much.
Thanks
http://www.hizook.com/blog/2010/01/14/bode-plots-fish-awesome-electric-field-sensing-fish
(RE: the above link, how cool is it that they've made Bode plots of the fish's motion? That's something any good engineer can appreciate!)
This same form of sensing has been used by other robots; for example, here is a robot using electric field sensing to plug itself into wall outlets for automatic recharging:
http://www.hizook.com/blog/2010/01/03/self-feeding-robots-robots-plug-themselves-wall-outlets
...Oh I'm sorry- She has to feed 120 persons and this is just a small part of the dish...!!!
:lol:
I watched her make the dressing I keep thinking "How much salad are you making?" That amount of dressing is for 4-6 pounds of cooked pasta not one.
That thing has so much calories it can be used as a bomb :D
Anyway, it looked disgusting. WAY too much dressing. It looked like macaroni soup in the end, bleh.
As for the woman.... Just makes me feel bad for her. She was just standing there and she had to struggle for breathe.
Alejo
Next time I feel like something "sweet, but with a tang" I'll go straight for the Sour Patch Kids, thx. There's less than 200 calories in a bag of 'em, and no fat.
Now, also speaking as a Respiratory Therapist who works in the ICU, I'll be seeing 'Simply Sara' very soon..:(
Moderator, were you thinking of macaroni and cheese? I have never had macaroni salad with cheese in it.
With regard to the "neatness" of the subject matter, what the video demonstrates - once you get beyond the initial "yuck" factor - is how inadequate knowledge (or poor choices) in the kitchen can lead to frankly dangerous food concoctions. The audience for this blog is on the whole sufficiently sophisticated that such "instructions" may be superfluous, but I would hope that there are some readers (who perhaps didn't comment) who may have some second thoughts about their culinary maneuvers as a result of seeing this video.
Yet, I am also glad to see that most of the comments have been thoughtful and relevant and as you pointed out, reflect that many of this find this saddening rather than humorous. I just imagined that had I been in the place of the creator of that video I don't think I'd want to be used as an example of what not to do, regardless of how unhealthy my cooking was. Sorry if I came across as too preachy, it's more the fact that I find the video a upsetting because it portrays the way some people cook and their lack of nutritional knowledge etc., which isn't an isolated thing by any means, but does so at the expense of this lady. Granted, she put the video up the first place, but that is also a bit saddening as she obviously didn't see the connections people would make...
Anyway, thanks for the thoughtful reply. :)
My Fauxato salad (for a cup ie 8oz serving) that I make runs you about 48 calories and tastes awesome. :)
Now... if only Shiritake would come out with macaroni shaped yam noodles, I could do some awesome mac salad.
Now, in the poor girls defense, I doubt one serving is the whole bowl. Eyeballing that, I'd say there could reasonably be 12-16 servings. So... 425 -567'ish calories. While very high still, its not that far off from commercial macaroni salad.
Resers (a store-bought brand) mac salad has 320 calories for a serving. And they claim a serving is 3/4'ths of a cup.
If anything this vid should make you aware of what goes into that crap (even commercial brands). Anything coated in mayo or dressing should really be avoided.