News

Main Menu

General sciences

Bio- Nanotechnology

Environment ecology

Zoology and botany

Login Form

News

Tennis players should train their visual perception

Print

E-mail

Written by Thomas Hesselberg
Monday, 23 June 2008
Playing a lot of tennis gives superior visual perception skills. Photo courtesy of photocase.com. A new study has shown that experienced tennis players have a superior ability to determine the speed, direction and time to impact of moving objects compared to non-athletes. This finding could result in computer-based training sessions that could give us even better tennis players in the future. We all know that doing sports is good exercise, because we reduce our fat stores and instead increase our muscle mass. However, for top athletes this is not the only physiological improvements that occur during training. Extensive training over many years improves also the mental and cognitive abilities of the athlete so that he or she is better able to perform the tasks necessary to excel in the discipline. This is why that if you want to become a professional in almost any sport you need to start training at a young age. In a study published in PLoS One, Swiss researchers from the Federal Polytechnic School of Lausanne have investigated the visual perception skills of tennis players. Tag it: ? Be first to comment this article \| Add as favourites (5) \| Quote this article on your site \| Views: 181 \| E-mail
Read more...

The crispness of crisps

Print

E-mail

Written by Thomas Hesselberg
Monday, 14 April 2008
Scientists have found a way to use mechanical tests and fracture properties to measure the crispness of crisps such that these quantitative tests agree with qualitative evaluations from taste panels. Photo courtesy of Photocase.com. Few of us realise how much science is involved in the everyday things that surrounds us. Food has not traditionally been much associated with science in the minds of the consumers or producers. However, this is slowly changing, especially with the recent popularity of molecular gastronomy, which attempts to enhance the taste experience by understanding the physical and chemical transformation of the ingredients that occur during cooking. The taste experience of food, however, is not only due to the chemical flavour and the cooking of the food, but often also depends on the texture. This is especially true of potato crisps, where the crispness often determines the success of the product. Traditionally crispness has been evaluated qualitatively by asking people to taste the crisps and state their opinion. However, there is a significant interest among crisp producers in finding a more objective quantitative evaluation. Scientists have now found a way of associating crispness with the fracture properties of the crisps. Tag it: ? Be first to comment this article \| Add as favourites (10) \| Quote this article on your site \| Views: 223 \| E-mail
Read more...

Computers are still far away from matching our ability to visually recognise objects

Print

E-mail

Written by Thomas Hesselberg
Sunday, 27 January 2008
Computers have problems identifying objects in varying situations, while the brain does it easily. Photo courtesy of Photocase.com. The progress in computer technology within the past decades has been absolutely astounding. The capabilities of our personal computers have been growing exponentially (see Moore�s law) and the computer can perform calculations much faster than the human brain. However, in many other areas the computer is no match for the human brain. Especially the function of the visual system in humans is impressive. Several computer programs have been made that can identify and recognise visual inputs and although they are useful, for instance, in recognising characters and numbers on invoices and documents, human verification is often needed, especially, when variations are introduced in for instance hand written documents. Scientists from MIT in the United States in America have looked at a related problem. That of visually recognising objects viewed from different angles with variations in background and lighting. Such a task has proved very difficult for the computer while the brain solves it effortless. Tag it: ? Be first to comment this article \| Add as favourites (24) \| Quote this article on your site \| Views: 270 \| E-mail
Read more...

Native americans came from Sibiria

Print

E-mail

Written by Dr. H. P. Bustami
Sunday, 25 November 2007
Native americans came from Sibiria with one migration wave. (Painting from the early 20th century, public domain from: Nordisk familjebok) All along it has been approved knowledge that the first americans came during the last Ice Age via Bering street to the new world some 10.000-15.000 years ago. But conflicting archaeological findings and ideological discussions had been questioning this established scientific view recently: Several migrations waves, european origin from ice age hunters, contact between ancient middle eastern cultures and other doctrines try to explain the origin of native americans next to the Bering street hypothesis containing political conflicts against the background of ongoing disputs between indian tribes and governments in Canada and especially in the USA about land property and claims. Now - 120 years after Geronimo and his Apache Guerilla ended their grim and longstanding armed struggle against white mans land conquest - numerous native americans try to get their rights in front of US-courts. Now an international group of genetical scientists seem to confirm the one migration-wave theory saying that all native americans stem from Sibiria. Tag it: ? Be first to comment this article \| Add as favourites (16) \| Quote this article on your site \| Views: 337 \| E-mail
Read more...

Oxygen storing stones allow life on earth

Print

E-mail

Written by Dr. H. P. Bustami
Friday, 28 September 2007
Oxygen factory in the earth crust: precondition for life on earth. Courtesy: photocase.com Deep inside the earth crust high pressures and temperatures press oxygen into a very rare mineral stone called majorit (Mg3(Fe,Al,Si)2(SiO4)).Under these conditons this mineral functions as oxygen store. When near the surface of earth it decays and oxygen is released. Here it binds with hydrogen (H2) to water (H2O). Geologists from the university of Bonn, Germany, now published in "nature" their new findings. Without the mineral majorit probably earth would be as dry and without life like our neighbour planet mars, how Prof. Christian Ballhaus and his team found out by investigating the rare mineral under lab conditions. Tag it: ? Be first to comment this article \| Add as favourites (19) \| Quote this article on your site \| Views: 304 \| E-mail
Read more...

Neolithic farmers from middle east brought domesticated pigs to Europe

Print

E-mail

Written by Dr. H. P. Bustami
Saturday, 08 September 2007
Pigs, in the west most consumed meat. First domesticated forms came from the middle east to europe (Courtesy of photocase.com) Researchers from the universities in Switzerland (Joerg Schibler), England (Greger Larson) and Ireland (Keith Dobney) revealed new insights into the origin of modern house pigs and the spread of early agricultural populations in neolithic europe. Scientist from Basel/Switzerland, Oxford/England and Durham/Ireland analysed genetically more then 200 probes of ancient teeth and bones of pigs found at different archaelogical sites of early settlements (7000 years old). Tag it: ? Be first to comment this article \| Add as favourites (18) \| Quote this article on your site \| Views: 501 \| E-mail
Read more...

Sleep is triggered by the cortex

Print

E-mail

Written by Dr. H. P. Bustami
Tuesday, 14 August 2007
The cortex (folded area at the outer regions) is responsible for sleep triggering (Courtesy of photocase.com Computer modelling reveals intensive interaction between two brain regions. The Thalamus is a part of the brainstem and a filter between incoming environmental stimuli and the cortex, the cognitive part of the human brain. Now researchers (physicists, medical doctors and biologists) from the universities in Kiel and Luebeck, Germany, developed a computer model which simulates the specific thalamic waves which occur during sleep and their direct connection to the cortex. Such brain activity is usually measured via EEGs (electro encephalographie). Tag it: ? Be first to comment this article \| Add as favourites (15) \| Quote this article on your site \| Views: 391 \| E-mail
Read more...

Related Items \|