Science
is about ideas, innovation and application. Discoveries that are all three make
headlines. They also make researchers rich and famous.
And
then there’s other work that almost makes news, because it is unusual, quirky
and outlandish. Here’s our pick of oddest inventions and weirdest research of
2015.
1. GREEN ENERGY: WASTE
NOT
Wearable urine-powered
wireless transmitter
A
pair of socks embedded with miniaturised microbial fuel cells (MFCs), fuelled
by fresh urine pumped by the wearer’s footsteps, can power a wireless
transmitter to send a signal to a computer. This is the world’s first
self-sufficient system powered by a wearable energy generator running on MFC
technology, which uses bacteria to generate electricity from waste fluids by
tapping into the biochemical energy used for microbial growth. Soft MFCs embedded
within a pair of socks are supplied with fresh urine circulated by a person
walking, where the action of the feet pumps the urine over the MFCs to generate
energy. Soft tubes, placed under the heels, ensure frequent fluid push-pull by
walking.
The
wearable MFC system successfully ran a wireless transmission board, which sent
a message every two minutes to the PC-controlled receiver module, report
scientists from the Bristol BioEnergy Centre in Bioinspiration and Biomimetics
(bit.ly/1lOcoCX).
Application:
Using waste to power portable and wearable electronics
2. CRIME BUSTING:
DOGGED PURSUIT
Sniffer rats trained to
detect and rescue
Sniffer
rats may soon replace dogs as man’s best friends, with scientists in Russia
working at training rats to detect explosives or people trapped in buildings.
“Unlike
a dog, a rat can get through the smallest crack where it seems it couldn’t go.
This way it could find its way deep under rubble and by its brain activity one
could understand if there are, for example, people who are still alive, if it’s
worth clearing debris here or at another place to rescue people more quickly,”
said Dmitry Medvedev. He heads the Laboratory of Olfactory Perception at
Rostov-on-Don.
Russian
scientists attached electrodes to their brains to monitor brainwaves to study
how an unfamiliar or unusual substance will affect the waveforms.
Mozambique
uses Gambian giant pouch rats to sniff out mines in conflict zones, while the
Dutch police is training rats to identify different scents including drugs,
gunpowder and explosives to help stop smuggling and solve crime cases.
Medvedev
admits they still have a way to go: “We can’t say what substance it was by just
analysing an encephalogram by sight. We are now trying to work out what
substance it was with the help of mathematical analysis,” he said.
Application:
Forming Ninja rat units to sniff out smugglers and criminals
3. REVERSE SWING:
GIVING DIRECTION
Sperms lean right to
move ahead
Spermatozoa
need to crane their necks to turn right to counteract a left-turning drive
caused by the rotation of their tails. Research from the University of
Warwick’s Department of Physics showed that all sperm tails (flagella) rotate
in a counter-clockwise motion as they beat to enable them to move through and
against the motion of a fluid. The counter-clockwise motion means that sperm
should only be able to move in a leftwards direction, but the researchers
observed that approximately 50% of the sperm observed in the research moved to
the right. Composed of a head, mid connecting piece and the flagella, 3D motion
analysis of the sperm found that they were distorting their bodies at the
mid-piece to counteract the physical forces that would cause them to turn left.
The differences between the actions necessary for a sperm to turn left or right
means that all could be able to turn in both directions or only one; indicating
that there could be two physiologically distinct spermatozoa subpopulations,
report UK researchers in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
(bit.ly/1XSbHcn).
Application:
Better understanding of the human reproduction process; LOL video to fuel
drunken debates
4. FLEXI TESTING: GUM
SENSOR
Stretchable, wearable
sensor made with chewing gum
Ultra-sensitive
body sensors, made of chewing gum and carbon nanotubes that move with your most
bendable parts and track breathing and other vital stats, may replace
conventional metal sensors, scientists report in the journal ACS Applied
Materials & Interfaces. Unlike stretchy plastics and silicones, gum sensors
can be twisted, bent and pulled without sensitivity being lost to monitor the
full range of a body’s bending and stretching.
To
make this sensor, a research team chewed a piece of gum for 30 minutes, washed
it with ethanol and let it overnight. A solution of carbon nanotubes, the
sensing material, was then added and the gum was pulled and folded to align
properly. Human finger-bending and head-turning tests showed the material kept
working with high sensitivity even when strained 530%. It also detected
humidity changes.
Application:
Recycling chewed gum instead of discarding it on pavements and sticking it
under chairs
5. LAST STRAW:
UNDERCOVER INSIGHT
Studying
manscaping to understand modern masculinity
When
it comes to attention to detail, British researchers come up tops. Dr Mathew
Hall, research associate, division of health research, Lancaster University,
has done an academic dissertation on men’s online groin shaving talk. The
research paper, published in the journal Sexualities is titled “When there’s no
underbrush the tree looks taller: a discourse analysis of men’s online groin
shaving talk” (http://bit.ly/1OMK2iT), examines online responses to an advert
promoting groin grooming. “The analysis shows that changes of vanity are swept
under the carpet in favour of heterosexual pleasure, cleanliness, self-respect
and individuality,” writes Hall, in the paper that carries scientific
references and citations.
Application:
Insights into contemporary views on gender, hygiene, vanity and grooming; puke
inducer.
Video:
The paper cites a link to a Gillette video: Manscaping Shaving down there
bit.ly/1mhaMBg
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