Boston Dynamics and DARPA introduced the quadruped robot known as BigDog a few years ago, and have worked to improve it ever since. The latest incarnation of the robotic pack mule is the LS3, which obeys spoken commands! The LS3 is also known as AlphaDog. The purpose of the robot is to relieve troops of the heavy gear they must carry.
Today’s dismounted warfighter can be saddled with more than 100 pounds of gear, resulting in physical strain, fatigue and degraded performance. Reducing the load on dismounted warfighters has become a major point of emphasis for defense research and development, because the increasing weight of individual equipment has a negative impact on warfighter readiness. The Army has identified physical overburden as one of its top five science and technology challenges. To help alleviate physical weight on troops, DARPA is developing a four-legged robot, the Legged Squad Support System (LS3), to integrate with a squad of Marines or Soldiers.
LS3 seeks to demonstrate that a highly mobile, semi-autonomous legged robot can carry 400 lbs of a squad’s load, follow squad members through rugged terrain and interact with troops in a natural way, similar to a trained animal and its handler.
Naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace, a contemporary of Charles Darwin, constructed a map of the world's animals. Now that map has been updated, with new information gleaned over the past century about where the Earth's animal species live. It includes data on 20,000 species of mammals, birds, and amphibians.
The global map data can be used to make regional maps on a smaller scale, not just the planetary scale shown above.The data can even be fed into Google Earth or a Geographic Information System program, the authors noted in the study published in Science Express.
The planetary map was divided into 11 realms, such as Neotropical and Sino-Japanese, and subdivided into 20 "zoogeograghic" regions. The unusual creatures of Madagascar got their own realm. Overall, the map data shows greater biological diversity in the Southern Hemisphere than in the Northern. Currently, only mammals, birds and amphibians are represented. Other classes of animals will be added as the data becomes available.
The new map made use of resources barely imaginable in Wallace’s time. Genetic analysis helped to define species in the modern map along with the classical anatomical descriptions Wallace used. It took 15 researchers and 20 years of data compilation to update Wallace’s original magnum opus of biological geography.
Read more at Discovery News, where the map is enlargeable. Link
Amazing what a little trim can do to make one appear respectable! This before-and-after was posted as a response to an earlier similar human transformation. The dog is a maltese/pomeranian mix named Ippo. Link
Space menus have come a long way since the early days the US space program, when astronauts squirted tubes of gel in their mouths. Meals must be adequately nutritious, in the smallest volume as possible, preserved for long periods, and edible in zero gravity. And if you're at the ISS for six months at a time, it must be palatable. Technological advances over the past 50 years have greatly expanded the variety of foods that can be eaten in space. And astronauts have a say on what is taken with them.
In fact, Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield put out a call to his countrymen for suggestions of Canadian food to take on board his next mission – six months on board the International Space Station from December to June 2013.
The astronauts are allowed to bring a selection of so-called "bonus foods" beyond the regular menu, provided it has a long shelf life and is appropriate for space travel.
Out of hundreds of suggestions, Hadfield and his fellow crew members, who taste-tested many products, choosing about a dozen foods, including jerky with cranberries from northern Saskatchewan, dried apple chunks and orange zest cookies from Quebec, chocolate from B.C., a bar with East Coast blueberries produced in Toronto, and, naturally, maple syrup, said Hadfield.
Read more about how modern astronauts eat at CBC News. Link -via the Presurfer
Neatorama presents a guest post from actor, comedian, and voiceover artist Eddie Deezen. Visit Eddie at his website.
We've all seen the classic countdown, you know, in every film about astronauts, every TV documentary about astronauts, every cartoon about astronauts, and even on I Dream of Jeannie. And live from Kennedy Space Center, too!
10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 …Blast off!
Well, interestingly enough, the creator of the classic countdown didn't work at NASA or Cape Kennedy. The creator of the countdown was actually a motion picture director, His name was Fritz Lang.
Lang's claim to fame hitherto was the film M (1931) starring Peter Lorre. He also directed another well-known silent film called Metropolis (1926). Both films are now considered classics by film scholars and movie fans the world over.
In the late 1920s, Lang directed one of the very first science fiction films. It was called Lady on the Moon (1929), sometimes known as The Woman in the Moon. A highlight of the film was the launch of a mammoth rocket which looked uncannily like the ones we later launched from Cape Canaveral.
It occurred to Lang that suspense could be created by switching from the conventional. So instead of the expected "one-two-three" count preceding the movie rocket launch, Lang used exactly the reverse. Thus, the first countdown occurred 80 years ago. In a sci-fi movie!
Soon science imitated art and the reverse countdown, as we know it, became standard operating procedure on all rocket launches.
When Hitler and the Nazis came to power in Germany, they used some of Lang's other rocket launch props in their experiments. Ironically, this occurred after Lang himself had been forced to flee Nazi Germany for his life. The generally accepted (but unconfirmed) story is that Lang was summoned to the office of HItler's Propaganda Minister, Joseph Goebbels, in 1934.
Goebbels had two messages for Lang. The first was that his film Dr. Mabuse (1933) was to be banned in Germany because of "incitement to public disorder." The second message was that Goebbels was so impressed by Lang's films, he wanted to make him the head of a German film studio.
Lang, having a Jewish background, must have been scared out of his wits during that meeting! He had actually already planned to leave Nazi Germany, but he now realized he had to get out as soon as possible. Since the meeting with Goebbels ran so late, the banks in Germany were all closed by the time it ended. So, having no choice, and fearing the "discovery" of his Jewish blood, Lang fled that very night -with no money.
Lang's wife, Thea Von Harbou, had sympathized with HItler's cause and joined the Nazi Party in 1932. The two divorced in 1933.
150 years ago today, 38 Dakota men were hanged in Minnesota for actions during the U.S.-Dakota War of 1862. It was the largest mass execution in U.S. history. Of the 392 prisoners of war who went to trial, 303 were sentenced to hanging. President Lincoln commuted all but 39 of the sentences, and one man got a last-minute reprieve.
At 10:00 am on December 26, 38 Dakota prisoners were led to a scaffold specially constructed for their execution. One had been given a reprieve at the last minute. An estimated 4,000 spectators crammed the streets of Mankato and surrounding land. Col. Stephen Miller, charged with keeping the peace in the days leading up to the hangings, had declared martial law and had banned the sale and consumption of alcohol within a ten-mile radius of the town.
As the men took their assigned places on the scaffold, they sang a Dakota song as white muslin coverings were pulled over their faces. Drumbeats signalled the start of the execution. The men grasped each others’ hands. With a single blow from an ax, the rope that held the platform was cut. Capt. William Duley, who had lost several members of his family in the attack on the Lake Shetek settlement, cut the rope.
After dangling from the scaffold for a half hour, the men’s bodies were cut down and hauled to a shallow mass grave on a sandbar between Mankato’s main street and the Minnesota River. Before morning, most of the bodies had been dug up and taken by physicians for use as medical cadavers.
The war between the Dakota Indians and white settlers is one rarely covered in U.S. history classes. Read the story of the executions at the Minnesota Historical Society. Link -via Metafilter, where you'll find more resources.
W00t! It's time for another collaboration with the always-excellent What Is It? blog. Can you guess what this strange object is used for?
Put your guess in the comment section below (click the +). One guess per comment, though you can enter as many guesses as you'd like. Please do not post any web link or URL - doing so will void your entry. You have until the answer is revealed on the What Is It? Blog tomorrow.
Two prizes: the first correct guess and the funniest yet wrong one will win a T-Shirt from the NeatoShop.
IMPORTANT: Please write your prize selection alongside your guess, so visit the NeatoShop and take a look around. If you don't write your prize selection, then you don't get the prize. I think you'll like the selection of funny t-shirts and science t-shirts -or even t-shirts of your favorite blogs and websites.
For an additional picture of this thing, go to What Is It? Blog. Good luck!
Update: the odd tool pictured is for cutting into grapefruit and removing the individual sections (patent number 2,637,899). Parrot Head was the first who knew the correct answer, and wins a t-shirt from the NeatoShop! Samantha Simons had the funniest answer: "It's the Queen of Heart's makeup trowel. She uses it to stamp on the hearts on her cheeks." That's clever enough for a t-shirt, too! Congratulations to the winners, and be sure to find out the answers to all the mystery items of the week at the What Is It? blog.
Simon Beck makes art by stepping in snow. Even with sturdy snowshoes, it's hard work, and takes a special talent to get it right. Beck (previously on Neatorama) has been busy the past few weeks tramping out new designs in the snow at Les Arcs ski resort in France. You can see some of the best at Colossal. Link
Suggested by fans, the LEGO company will be rolling out a Back to the Future LEGO Set in mid-2013. And better yet, the designers are donating their royalties to the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's research. Link
Last month, we posted a story about the Serbian village of Zarožje, when town officials issued a warning about a vampire that may have been disturbed. To get the lowdown on such superstitions, National Geographic News talked to Mark Collins Jenkins, author of the book Vampire Forensics, and forensic archeologist and anthropologist Matteo Borrini.
Is it crazy that the town council issued a public health warning?
MCJ: Historically speaking, it's not that crazy. In past centuries, outbreaks of vampire hysteria, especially in Central and Eastern Europe, often coincided with outbreaks of tuberculosis and deadly plagues. Peasants had no other way of explaining why everyone was dropping dead but by blaming it on witches and vampires or other supernatural creatures. In 19th-century New England, tuberculosis wasted entire families, one after another. Superstitious people believed that the first to die was somehow feeding on his surviving family members. (Related: "'Vampire of Venice' Unmasked: Plague Victim & Witch?")
Why did people begin believing in vampires?
MB: Especially between the 16th and 18th centuries, little was known about what happens to the body after death. During plagues and epidemics, mass graves were continually reopened to bury new dead. People sometimes exhumed the bodies of the diseased to look for possible causes. Reports about vampires describe exhumations weeks or months after death, during the body's decay.
MCJ: Bodies weren't embalmed back then. They rot, to be quite frank, in grossly different ways. If a bunch of people in the village started dying in mysterious ways, they'd dig up the first one to die, see that his corpse didn't look quite right, assume that was blood flowing down those cheeks (it's called purge fluid in modern forensics, a natural byproduct of decomposition, but it's not blood), and generally burn the body. End of vampire.
The day after Christmas is Boxing Day, a holiday observed by a large part of Europe and most of the former British Empire -except for America, who broke away fairly early. Mental-floss has a roundup of Boxing day facts for those who aren't familiar with the customs of this odd holiday.
Boxing Day is observed every year on December 26. Before it took on its feistier name, the holiday was known as St. Stephen’s Day. * Many historians think the holiday’s name is derived from the church practice of opening alms boxes the day after Christmas and distributing money to the poor. * Historically, British employers followed the church’s lead by sliding workers and servants gifts or cash on December 26. Merchants tossed servants a few coins, too, for bringing in a household’s business.
And there's more. Who knows? You may want to try out the traditions. Link
Calvin Graham was only 12 when he became a seaman in the United States Navy. He had already left home to escape an abusive stepfather, and the military was desperate for manpower right after the Pearl Harbor attack that drew the US into World War II. Graham was assigned to the USS South Dakota, which was full of new recruits when it set off for the Pacific theater. In November, Graham turned 13 and the ship was involved in the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal.
Later that evening the South Dakota encountered eight Japanese destroyers; with deadly accurate 16-inch guns, the South Dakota set fire to three of them. “They never knew what sank ‘em,” Gatch would recall. One Japanese ship set its searchlights on the South Dakota, and the ship took 42 enemy hits, temporarily losing power. Graham was manning his gun when shrapnel tore through his jaw and mouth; another hit knocked him down, and he fell through three stories of superstructure. Still, the 13 year-old made it to his feet, dazed and bleeding, and helped pull other crew members to safety while others were thrown by the force of the explosions, their bodies aflame, into the Pacific.
“I took belts off the dead and made tourniquets for the living and gave them cigarettes and encouraged them all night,” Graham later said. ”It was a long night. It aged me.” The shrapnel had knocked out his front teeth, and he had flash burns from the hot guns, but he was “fixed up with salve and a coupla stitches,” he recalled. “I didn’t do any complaining because half the ship was dead. It was a while before they worked on my mouth.” In fact, the ship had casualties of 38 men killed and 60 wounded.
Graham first received a Bronze Star and a Purple Heart. Then he was jailed for lying about his age. When he was released, his was stripped of his medals, his military benefits, and even any record of serving. When he turned 17, he joined the Marines to avoid being drafted by the Army, since he had no military record. It took many years, but Graham finally received an honorable discharge from the Navy in 1978, and the last of his medals were restored in 1994. Read Graham's story at Smithsonian's Past Imperfect blog. Link
The running joke on the TV series Doctor Who is that the time machine disguised as a police call box is bigger on the inside than on the outside. Greg Kumparak built a model TARDIS that really is bigger on the inside, by using augmented reality technology. Read about how he did it at his site. Link -via Metafilter
Cosmic Sans is a series of space-themed typography art, with each letter a contribution from a different artist. Designer Brad McNally came up with the idea based on the title pun, and he and his wife, printer Sarah McNally, recruited the artists within 48 hours. The framed art prints were all sold though an exhibit and raised over $1,000 for 826 Seattle, a nonprofit writing and tutoring center. Shown here is Q by Jess McCarty. See the rest of the works at the online gallery. Link -via Design Taxi
