D'aaaawwwww !
In the midst of widespread flooding in Otago and Canterbury, a small colony of rabbits rode to safety on the back of a flock of sheep. The rabbits hopped their way out of disaster onto the back of sheep on a Taieri Plains farm, west of Mosgiel.
Ferg Horne went to check on the sheep next to his Riccarton Rd West farm on Saturday morning as his neighbour was on holiday in Russia. "They were standing in the middle of the paddock on a high spot in about three inches of water," he said.
As Horne got closer, he thought the sheep must have been under water at some stage because they had debris on their backs. "I got over there and it was rabbits." Horne, 64, said he had never seen anything like it in his close to 50 years in farming.
"They must've jumped up onto their backs to get out of the flood. There was two on one sheep and one on another. "They were as happy as can be those rabbits; they were warm and dry, snuggled up."
https://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/95087758/rabbits-in-otago-ride-out-of-flood-on-woolly-sheep
Wednesday, 26 July 2017
Russian cat adopts eight hedgehogs
Eight orphaned hedgehogs have survived against the odds at a zoo in the Russian city of Vladivostok, after a kindly cat became their surrogate mum. Muska the cat adopted the spiky brood after their mother died in a lawn-mowing accident.
The tiny hoglets, as they are known, had refused milk from a syringe, a bottle, and a saucer for two days, according to Sadgorod Zoo. At night, the babies had a heating pad to stimulate their digestion. Still, nothing helped.
As Muska had recently raised a litter of foster kittens, she had milk to offer - so the zoo decided to try the unusual pairing. The hungry orphans reacted to her bodily warmth and the smell of milk, and soon began to nurse. The good-natured cat proceeded to feed the hedgehogs for more than a week and comfort them at night, Russia's Vesti reports.
The fragile youngsters are now eating on their own, although their feline guardian is still keeping an eye on proceedings.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-40720327
The tiny hoglets, as they are known, had refused milk from a syringe, a bottle, and a saucer for two days, according to Sadgorod Zoo. At night, the babies had a heating pad to stimulate their digestion. Still, nothing helped.
As Muska had recently raised a litter of foster kittens, she had milk to offer - so the zoo decided to try the unusual pairing. The hungry orphans reacted to her bodily warmth and the smell of milk, and soon began to nurse. The good-natured cat proceeded to feed the hedgehogs for more than a week and comfort them at night, Russia's Vesti reports.
The fragile youngsters are now eating on their own, although their feline guardian is still keeping an eye on proceedings.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-40720327
Tuesday, 25 July 2017
Genuinely good art from MS Paint using only the mouse
Being able to draw using MS Paint is nothing special. Being able to draw in MS Paint while only using the mouse, however...
http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-40715545
http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-40715545
Robot Wars : Giant Edition
Watch the video watch the video watch the video.
... MegaBots (@MegaBotsInc), the East Bay startup that wants to launch a new form of high-octane entertainment centered on the spectacle of giant robot battles. The story stands out not just for the technical details of MegaBots’ builds — its long-anticipated Mk. III is a marvel of engineering that cost a cool $2.5 million to develop — but for its insight into how the maker pros behind the company have woven business acumen together with mechanical wizardry to position the venture as a commercially viable entertainment.
Now is a pivotal moment for MegaBots. Its Mk. III debuted at Maker Faire Bay Area earlier this year, where it flexed its power by beating up a Prius and staging an elaborate marriage proposal, but the battle with Kuratas — and the struggle to build an audience for giant robot shows — loom large on the horizon.
http://makezine.com/2017/07/25/maker-pro-news-business-plan-giant-fighting-robots-makers-workforce/
... MegaBots (@MegaBotsInc), the East Bay startup that wants to launch a new form of high-octane entertainment centered on the spectacle of giant robot battles. The story stands out not just for the technical details of MegaBots’ builds — its long-anticipated Mk. III is a marvel of engineering that cost a cool $2.5 million to develop — but for its insight into how the maker pros behind the company have woven business acumen together with mechanical wizardry to position the venture as a commercially viable entertainment.
Now is a pivotal moment for MegaBots. Its Mk. III debuted at Maker Faire Bay Area earlier this year, where it flexed its power by beating up a Prius and staging an elaborate marriage proposal, but the battle with Kuratas — and the struggle to build an audience for giant robot shows — loom large on the horizon.
http://makezine.com/2017/07/25/maker-pro-news-business-plan-giant-fighting-robots-makers-workforce/
Monday, 24 July 2017
The end of Microsoft Paint ???
Not cool, Microsoft, not cool.
Microsoft's graphics program Paint has been included in a list of Windows 10 features that will be either removed or no longer developed. Paint has been part of the Windows operating system since its release in 1985 and is known for its simplicity and basic artistic results. Paint's successor, Paint 3D, will still be available.
Microsoft says that features on the list will be either removed from Windows 10 or "not in active development and might be removed in future releases".
http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-40705466
Microsoft's graphics program Paint has been included in a list of Windows 10 features that will be either removed or no longer developed. Paint has been part of the Windows operating system since its release in 1985 and is known for its simplicity and basic artistic results. Paint's successor, Paint 3D, will still be available.
Microsoft says that features on the list will be either removed from Windows 10 or "not in active development and might be removed in future releases".
http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-40705466
Count the snakes. It's harder than you think
D'awwwwww !
The separate heads were making decisions independently, and in movement they were not coordinated. If one of the heads decided to move to the right, then the animal would kind of wander off to the right, and then the other head might make a decision to move some other direction. They’re sending signals down to the muscles to do one thing or another thing simultaneously. This is why they usually don’t survive in the wild, because they’re uncoordinated, and they’re easy prey for predators like birds.
http://gizmodo.com/is-a-two-headed-snake-one-snake-or-two-snakes-1792623473
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G7RdB0qM3qk
The separate heads were making decisions independently, and in movement they were not coordinated. If one of the heads decided to move to the right, then the animal would kind of wander off to the right, and then the other head might make a decision to move some other direction. They’re sending signals down to the muscles to do one thing or another thing simultaneously. This is why they usually don’t survive in the wild, because they’re uncoordinated, and they’re easy prey for predators like birds.
http://gizmodo.com/is-a-two-headed-snake-one-snake-or-two-snakes-1792623473
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G7RdB0qM3qk
Astronomy simulations in VR
Immerse yourself in a simulation, because, why not ?
Paper here : https://arxiv.org/abs/1707.06954
In this paper, we first describe how to create 360◦ videos from astrophysical simulations, then present what we believe is the first such video shared online, which shows the distribution of material expelled by Wolf-Rayet stars in the Galactic centre, and finally discuss potential scientific applications of 360◦ videos.
Cuadra et al. (2008, 2015) constructed numerical simulations of the 30 Wolf-Rayet (WR) stars and their winds orbiting Sgr A∗ within the central parsec of our galaxy. Starting from the stellar locations 1100 yr ago, the WRs orbit Sgr A∗ while ejecting their stellar wind material. The central parsec quickly fills up with an ambient medium, into which the newly ejected wind material plows, causing wind-blown bubbles from the slow-moving stars and bow shocks around the fast-moving WRs. The intent was to study the time-dependent accretion history of material onto Sgr A∗ (the WR winds are the dominant mass-injection source in the region)...
We created a 360◦ video from an updated hydrodynamic simulation of these 30 WR stars and their winds by rendering column density from the position of the centre of the simulation, i.e. at the location of Sgr A.
I meant to try this in FRELLED, but I'm not sure if it will work. There's a hard limit in Blender of 1024 image textures, and also the the object visibility depends on viewing angle, which might screw things up. It would be trivial to do 360 particle videos, but I don't have any simulations that would benefit from this.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWiBIol7gzQ&feature=youtu.be
Paper here : https://arxiv.org/abs/1707.06954
In this paper, we first describe how to create 360◦ videos from astrophysical simulations, then present what we believe is the first such video shared online, which shows the distribution of material expelled by Wolf-Rayet stars in the Galactic centre, and finally discuss potential scientific applications of 360◦ videos.
Cuadra et al. (2008, 2015) constructed numerical simulations of the 30 Wolf-Rayet (WR) stars and their winds orbiting Sgr A∗ within the central parsec of our galaxy. Starting from the stellar locations 1100 yr ago, the WRs orbit Sgr A∗ while ejecting their stellar wind material. The central parsec quickly fills up with an ambient medium, into which the newly ejected wind material plows, causing wind-blown bubbles from the slow-moving stars and bow shocks around the fast-moving WRs. The intent was to study the time-dependent accretion history of material onto Sgr A∗ (the WR winds are the dominant mass-injection source in the region)...
We created a 360◦ video from an updated hydrodynamic simulation of these 30 WR stars and their winds by rendering column density from the position of the centre of the simulation, i.e. at the location of Sgr A.
I meant to try this in FRELLED, but I'm not sure if it will work. There's a hard limit in Blender of 1024 image textures, and also the the object visibility depends on viewing angle, which might screw things up. It would be trivial to do 360 particle videos, but I don't have any simulations that would benefit from this.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWiBIol7gzQ&feature=youtu.be
Saving rhinos with IVF
A UK zoo is taking part in a radical plan to save the world's last three northern white rhinos from extinction. At Longleat safari park, scientists have collected eggs from southern white rhinos - a closely related sub species - to use for IVF. The eggs will help researchers to develop the technology to help the remaining northern whites to reproduce.
A back-up plan is to mix eggs from the southern white rhinos with sperm from northern whites to create a hybrid. It means that if the bid to produce a pure northern white rhino fails, at least some of the critically endangered animal's genes will live on. Darren Beasley, head of animal operations at Longleat, added: "Effectively the female rhinos would act as IVF mothers, with embryos partly derived from northern white male sperm.
Experimental fertility technology may be the last hope for northern white rhinos. The animals were once found across central Africa, but illegal poaching, fuelled by the demand for rhino horn, wiped out the wild population. Today, there are just three of the animals left: a male, who is over 40, and two younger females. The former zoo animals, which are inter-related, are kept under tight security at Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Kenya. However, a combination of age and fertility problems means that none is able to breed.
The rhinos have not mated naturally with the zoo's male, which is why they were put forward to take part in the study. Extracting the eggs required millimetre precision. Prof Hildebrand said: "We have a two-tonne animal, and the ovaries are more than two metres inside. We operate on an ovary that is lying next to a blood vessel and if we poke that with our needle, there is a very high risk that the animal dies. We have developed a very sophisticated technique to make sure we don't do any harm to the animals."
The eggs have now been rushed back to the Avantea clinic in Italy, a lab that specialises in assisted reproduction in animals, where they will be prepared for fertilisation.
The fertility scientists admit the chances of success may be slim - but they are optimistic that the technology could help. Prof Hildebrandt said: "The classical conservationists would not even call this a conservation approach, because it is so technical, so far beyond what you normally do. But we hope future generations will understand that this is the way to go. It is a technology that allows us to bring a species back form the brink of extinction that would normally be impossible - and that is our goal. We are extremely optimistic that we will achieve that."
http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-40655273
A back-up plan is to mix eggs from the southern white rhinos with sperm from northern whites to create a hybrid. It means that if the bid to produce a pure northern white rhino fails, at least some of the critically endangered animal's genes will live on. Darren Beasley, head of animal operations at Longleat, added: "Effectively the female rhinos would act as IVF mothers, with embryos partly derived from northern white male sperm.
Experimental fertility technology may be the last hope for northern white rhinos. The animals were once found across central Africa, but illegal poaching, fuelled by the demand for rhino horn, wiped out the wild population. Today, there are just three of the animals left: a male, who is over 40, and two younger females. The former zoo animals, which are inter-related, are kept under tight security at Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Kenya. However, a combination of age and fertility problems means that none is able to breed.
The rhinos have not mated naturally with the zoo's male, which is why they were put forward to take part in the study. Extracting the eggs required millimetre precision. Prof Hildebrand said: "We have a two-tonne animal, and the ovaries are more than two metres inside. We operate on an ovary that is lying next to a blood vessel and if we poke that with our needle, there is a very high risk that the animal dies. We have developed a very sophisticated technique to make sure we don't do any harm to the animals."
The eggs have now been rushed back to the Avantea clinic in Italy, a lab that specialises in assisted reproduction in animals, where they will be prepared for fertilisation.
The fertility scientists admit the chances of success may be slim - but they are optimistic that the technology could help. Prof Hildebrandt said: "The classical conservationists would not even call this a conservation approach, because it is so technical, so far beyond what you normally do. But we hope future generations will understand that this is the way to go. It is a technology that allows us to bring a species back form the brink of extinction that would normally be impossible - and that is our goal. We are extremely optimistic that we will achieve that."
http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-40655273
Amazingly the UK government has just made a plausible case for the "internet of things"
Wait, the government did something intelligent ? Will wonders never cease...
Consumers in the UK could save billions of pounds thanks to major changes in the way electricity is made, used and stored, the government has said. New rules will make it easier for people to generate their own power with solar panels, store it in batteries and sell it to the National Grid. If they work, consumers will save £17bn to £40bn by 2050, according to the government and energy regulator Ofgem.
The rules are due to come into effect over the next year. They will reduce costs for someone who allows their washing machine to be turned on by the internet to maximise use of cheap solar power on a sunny afternoon. And they will even support people who agree to have their freezers switched off for a few minutes to smooth demand at peak times. They'll also benefit a business that allows its air-conditioning to be turned down briefly to help balance a spell of peak energy demand on the National Grid.
Among the first to gain from the rule changes will be people with solar panels and battery storage. At the moment they are charged tariffs when they import electricity into their home or export it back to the grid.
The tiny energy savings of millions of people and firms will be pulled together into packages by traders, who will offer substantial chunks of energy saving to the National Grid at the click of a computer. So instead of predicting peak demand then building power stations to meet it, energy managers will be able to trade in Negawatts - negative electricity.
So finally a good case being made for the hitherto pointless, "internet of things" concept. However :
Some will urge a degree of caution amongst the enthusiasm: the more the energy industry embraces the digital age, the more vulnerable it will be to hacking. Recent reports suggest that Russian hackers may already have tried to compromise the system. Ofgem says the new rules will put measures in place to combat interference.
More information needed on that last point. Someone should design an automatic, self-ejecting plug so that after a single operation it's impossible to run a device without physically plugging it back in again.
http://www.bbc.com/news/business-40699986
Consumers in the UK could save billions of pounds thanks to major changes in the way electricity is made, used and stored, the government has said. New rules will make it easier for people to generate their own power with solar panels, store it in batteries and sell it to the National Grid. If they work, consumers will save £17bn to £40bn by 2050, according to the government and energy regulator Ofgem.
The rules are due to come into effect over the next year. They will reduce costs for someone who allows their washing machine to be turned on by the internet to maximise use of cheap solar power on a sunny afternoon. And they will even support people who agree to have their freezers switched off for a few minutes to smooth demand at peak times. They'll also benefit a business that allows its air-conditioning to be turned down briefly to help balance a spell of peak energy demand on the National Grid.
Among the first to gain from the rule changes will be people with solar panels and battery storage. At the moment they are charged tariffs when they import electricity into their home or export it back to the grid.
The tiny energy savings of millions of people and firms will be pulled together into packages by traders, who will offer substantial chunks of energy saving to the National Grid at the click of a computer. So instead of predicting peak demand then building power stations to meet it, energy managers will be able to trade in Negawatts - negative electricity.
So finally a good case being made for the hitherto pointless, "internet of things" concept. However :
Some will urge a degree of caution amongst the enthusiasm: the more the energy industry embraces the digital age, the more vulnerable it will be to hacking. Recent reports suggest that Russian hackers may already have tried to compromise the system. Ofgem says the new rules will put measures in place to combat interference.
More information needed on that last point. Someone should design an automatic, self-ejecting plug so that after a single operation it's impossible to run a device without physically plugging it back in again.
http://www.bbc.com/news/business-40699986
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