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Posts Tagged “

bees

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robots

Nissan BR23C Bot Programmed To Avoid Attractive Women (and Other Obstacles)

As you can see in the video above, Nissan's Biomimetric Car Robot Drive, or BR23C, was designed to avoid collisions by steering clear of oncoming objects, even if, as in this case, the object is a slender, particularly leggy Japanese woman. The science involved in this brand of collision avoidance was derived from bees, which steer away from anything that intersects an oval-like safety zone in front of them. Bees use 300ยบ field of vision; the BR23C uses laser range finders. Though Nissan hopes to implement this in cars sometime soon, the slow-moving tech still has a ways to go. [CNet; Motor Trend]

10:00 PM on Mon Sep 29 2008
By Wilson Rothman
1,855 views, 17 comments

Latest by Kaiser-Machead: @Mandatory_Field: Well we can always look back to Frasier and Niles' prep school song. "Oh some boys go to college, but more »

spider attack

Spider Attack Simulator: An Excuse For Scientists to Torture Bees

I don't know what's going on over the pond, but it appears that September is robot spider month in the UK. First we saw the 50 foot robot spider that terrorized Liverpool, and now researchers from Queen Mary, University of London have developed a spider attack simulator that helps determine how bees avoid camouflaged predators. Although, I think its real purpose is to satisfy a juvenile urge to screw with their tiny little minds. More »

7:00 PM on Mon Sep 8 2008
By Sean Fallon
14,546 views, 19 comments

Latest by cbdsteve: @KylejvT: Bumblebees do have stings, but they aren't barbed so it doesn't kill them to sting. Also they are less more »

medicine

No Health Insurance? Get Your Terminal Illness Diagnosed By Bees

If you were concerned that you had cancer, would you go to see a doctor or would you consult some bees? I bet you said doctor, didn't you? No fun! If you used one of Susana Soares "alternative diagnosis tools" you'd be relying on bees instead for some goddamned insane reason. More »

4:15 PM on Wed Mar 5 2008
By Adam Frucci
15,206 views, 60 comments

Latest by whynotbeeasy: I don't know about a bee bong. but, a normal bong for sure. I could see it working. more »

oddworld

Bomb Detector Powered by Bee Tongue

A company named Inscentinel Ltd. has developed Vapour Detection Instrumentation with the promise of detecting explosives, cancer, drugs and basically anything you'd like to smell. And for this advanced olfactory detection, Inscentinel is deploying the world's most advanced techniques—trained bee tongue. More »

11:15 AM on Thu Sep 13 2007
By Mark Wilson
4,579 views, 23 comments

Latest by drunken marmot: @WJOUSTS What a metaphor for cubicle life... more »

cellphones

Cellphones Aren't Killing the Bees (A Deadly Virus Is)

No need to jump off of your phone call the next time you see a bee buzzing by. Cellphone use, or more specifically, cell towers are not what is decimating the US bee population. According to a new study, the cause is a disease called Israeli acute paralysis virus. The bug bug didn't come from Israel though—and its cause is pretty damn ironic. More »

9:13 AM on Fri Sep 7 2007
By Wilson Rothman
11,912 views, 26 comments

Latest by TheBugMan: The yanks in the U. S. and A. called the mates down under with a cell phone back in 2004 more »

gadgets

Cellphones Wiping Out Bees?

In the US alone, the East Coast has recently lost 70% of its commercial bee population, with the West Coast not far behind those numbers. Apparently it's a result of Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD), when colonies essentially cease to be (no pun intended). From the Independent:
German research has long shown that bees' behaviour changes near power lines. Now a limited study at Landau University has found that bees refuse to return to their hives when mobile phones are placed nearby....Dr George Carlo, who headed a massive study by the US government and mobile phone industry of hazards from mobiles in the Nineties, said: "I am convinced the possibility is real."
What do you think, intelligent readers. Is it possible, or just a bunch of beeswax? – Mark Wilson
More »

2:05 PM on Sun Apr 15 2007
By Mark Wilson
1,392 views, 60 comments

Latest by Manos_Lijeros: If cell phones actually did affect the bees, why were the bees in the United States of America affected first? more »