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From Robots To Retinas: 9 Amazing Origami Applications

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BULL MOOSE, OPUS 413 Robert Lang folded this from one uncut square of Nepalese lokta paper. While origami art has gotten more sophisticated, so has the science and math applications inspired by origami. Robert Lang When I told people I was going to a recent conference "about origami," I got some perplexed responses. Origami? Like paper cranes? Well, not exactly. Origami principles are now used in a wide variety of applications--from the design of satellites, to heart stents, to self-assembling robots, and much more. But what does paper art have to do with these things, you may ask? Indeed, origami has been practiced for centuries and involves folding shapes like birds and boxes out of paper. Japanese origamist Akira Yoshizawa has been credited for helping to popularize it in the 20th century, developing a picture-based set of instructions that served as a universal language, fostering collaborations between artists and scientists. But since the 1960s, and especi...

Cleaning with bleach might increase your chance of getting COPD. How worried should you be?

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You shouldn’t breathe in bleach. If you could avoid ever coming in contact with it again, you’d be healthier. But the same is true of high fructose corn syrup and alcohol. We’d all probably be better off if we didn’t drink or eat candy, and yet we persist. Bleach doesn’t give us the pleasant buzz that sugar and ethanol do, but most of us will inhale its fumes at some point—and many have no choice but to do so daily as an occupational hazard. It’s one of the most common industrial disinfecting agents. So how much is too much? “Raises your risk by 32 percent” sounds like a lot. That’s the number most news outlets are citing, which is the maximum amount that researchers recently found disinfectants could increase a person’s chances of getting COPD. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder, as it’s less commonly known, is a lung disease caused by irritation to the airways that can block airflow. If it’s left untreated or is exacerbated by another problem, it can be fatal. That number—32 ...

These data scientists are disrupting Disney World's long wait times

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Out there, beyond the anthropomorphic mice and never-ending queues is a man who is quietly trying to disrupt your next vacation to Disney’s Magic Kingdom. His name is Len Testa and his annual subscription-based service, Touring Plans, will predict how long you’ll wait at any ride, any time of day, any day of the year for $14.95—less than the price of a giant turkey leg and a Dole Whip. With statisticians, programmers and data scientists among its eight full-time staff members and dozen part-time employees, Touring Plan upends trips to Disneyland, Walt Disney World and Universal Orlando resorts with customizable itineraries centered around how to smartly skip the lines at every single theme park. In addition to optimizing which time to board each attraction with its Touring Plans itinerary guides, their free-with-subscription app, Lines, says how long you’ll actually wait in every line, and the freakishly accurate Crowd Calendar recommends the best times to book a trip, even display...

What Are Hoverboards And Why Do They Explode?

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HOVERBOARD Beware of what you buy this Christmas—it could blow up in your face. Hoverboards, more accurately described as self-balancing scooters, are one of the most popular holiday gifts this year. Ebay reportedly sold more than 5,000 units on Black Friday and claims to have sold one hoverboard every 12 seconds on Cyber Monday. But there's an increasing concern about the safety of these vehicles. There are already thousands of hoverboard wipeout videos available on sites like YouTube, and in many cases, the personal vehicles have caused serious injury. In more extreme cases, cheaply made hoverboards have exploded and caught fire, forcing Amazon to stop selling specific models and Overstock to discontinue all sales. London and New York City have taken measures to curb the use of hoverboards on city streets and sidewalks. So we thought it was a great time to break down the hoverboard craze. Here's everything you need to know about shopping for hoverboards during the Wh...

The most incredible pictures of every planet in our solar system

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Mercury NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington 1 of 9 Captured with NASA's Messenger spacecraft, this is the most complete view of Mercury ever taken. It was compiled very recently, on February 22nd. Venus NASA/JPL 2 of 9 This one's a little bit more dated, dating from 1996 during the Magellan mission, also known as the Venus Radar Mapper. It's been in orbit since 1989, but this shot is one of our favorites of its long trip out to the second planet. The dark spots all over the planet are meteorite impacts, and that big light section right in the center is Ovda Regio, a massive mountain range. Read More at                                                                                       https://www....