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Turn digital faces into a smooth video
U. WASHINGTON-SEATTLE (US) — Computer engineers have created a way to take hundreds—or even thousands—of digital portraits and in seconds create an animation of a person’s face.The tool can make a face...
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Dryer vents pump out toxic air
U. WASHINGTON-SEATTLE (US) — The fresh, clean scent flowing from household dryer vents likely contains hazardous chemicals, including two classified as carcinogens.“This is an interesting source of...
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How to make transistors ‘body compatible’
U. WASHINGTON-SEATTLE (US) — Scientists have built a transistor that uses protons, not electrons, paving the way for devices that interface directly with living things.Unlike human devices, such as...
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Upgrades to coolers could save $100M
U. WASHINGTON (US) — Tweaking the design of open-front grocery coolers could reduce the energy they use for for refrigeration by as much as 15 percent.Designing grocery display cases is not rocket...
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Next invisibility cloak is ‘Schrödinger’s hat’
U. WASHINGTON / U. ROCHESTER (US) — Invisibility, once the subject of magic or legend, is slowly becoming reality, say researchers who have developed what they call “Schrödinger’s hat.” Over the past...
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Mini tags track crow ‘social networks’
U. WASHINGTON (US) — New electronic tags are the first to detect when birds meet in the wild, even when no humans are nearby, and are helping scientists study crows’ “social networks.” A new study led...
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To test lungs, just blow into your iPhone
U. WASHINGTON (US) — With a new tool, it’s possible to monitor lung function at home or on the go—just by blowing into a smartphone. People suffering from asthma or other chronic lung problems are...
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Web tool balances online political news
U. WASHINGTON (US) — A new tool gauges if you’re getting a balanced view of the political news—and if not, it suggests sites that offer opinions from the other side of the political spectrum. Balancer,...
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Trick turns plain old paper into medical test
U. WASHINGTON (US) — A chemical trick turns regular paper into a device similar to a home-based pregnancy test, and it might work for malaria, diabetes, or other diseases.“We wanted to go for the...
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Nano-fabric defends against HIV and sperm
U. WASHINGTON (US) — Scientists have developed an electrically spun cloth with nanometer-sized fibers that can simultaneously prevent HIV and offer contraception. As reported in PLOS ONE, the cloth can...
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Why beers warm up faster in humid weather
U. WASHINGTON (US) — Condensation on a can of beer or soda provides more heat than the surrounding air, which means humid weather warms up your drink more than twice as much as dry heat does. “Probably...
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Earthquake sensors on seafloor track whale songs
U. WASHINGTON (US) — Seafloor earthquake sensors are an inexpensive and noninvasive way to monitor the movements of fin whales that are vulnerable to collision with fast-moving ships.Fin whales are the...
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Icy ocean currents keep tropical north soggy
Most tropical rains fall in the Northern Hemisphere because of ocean currents originating at the poles thousands of miles away, new research suggests. Scientists long believed that a quirk of the...
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Tropical winds drive glacier melt
Melting of Antarctica’s Pine Island Glacier depends largely on local wind direction, which is linked to tropical changes associated with El Niño. The Pine Island Glacier is one of the biggest routes...
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Rock turns into soil at a ‘shockingly fast’ pace
Geologic time is shorthand for slow-paced. But new measurements from steep mountaintops in New Zealand show that rock can transform into soil more than twice as fast as previously believed possible....
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Greenland’s largest glacier breaks speed record
The largest glacier in Greenland is moving ice from land into the ocean at a speed that appears to be the fastest ever recorded. “We are now seeing summer speeds more than four times what they were in...
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If we start and stop geoengineering, Earth could heat up fast
A proposed method of geoengineering that sprays tiny sulfur-based particles into the upper atmosphere to reflect sunlight could exacerbate the effects of climate change if it is implemented and then...
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Whales and ships fight for space in noisy Arctic
The Arctic is home to a growing number of whales and ships, and to populations of sub-Arctic whales that are expanding their territory into newly ice-free Arctic waters. Three years of underwater...
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Ice cores show Clean Air Act eased acid rain
An analysis of core samples from the Greenland ice sheet finds clear evidence of the success of the US Clean Air Act and also shows a link between air acidity and how nitrogen is preserved in layers of...
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Puget Sound waters bubble up from turbulent canyon
Puget Sound’s headwaters lie far below the surface, in a submarine canyon that draws nutrient-rich water up from the deep ocean. The new findings may explain how the Pacific Northwest’s inland waters...
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