Attention STAR WARS FANS: Scientists Create A New Type Of 'Light-saber' Matter Scientists Have Created

Reality Check: Is Our Universe Real?   The idea that everything we know is merely a construction of our minds is investigated in the next episode of the Science Channel program "Through the Wormhole," hosted by Morgan Freeman. The episode premieres Wednesday (July 17) at 10 p.m. EDT.  http://bit.ly/15nFpH1

We are so sad to learn about the passing of Tony Dyson, who had the daunting task of building Artoo as a real life droid. #R2D2 #StarWars #Artoo #TonyDyson #droid

Still from Walt Disney's Mars and Beyond Einstein in a Box: "Lunar Launch" box. www.EinsteinInABox.com

That's only a small fraction of the population, right? 😉 #math #humor #playislearning https://www.instagram.com/p/B2wd7olhPWo/?igshid=1y2io39m1tast

Scientists in Switzerland use sound waves to levitate, manipulate matter. http://bit.ly/15z86Ro As anyone with a subwoofer and a teenager knows, sound waves exert pressure. When those waves are bounced between carefully aligned surfaces, they can create what is known as a standing wave, in which the total pressure from the original wave and its reflection cancel each other out. Objects placed at spots along the wave with the lowest amplitude, known as node points, tend to stay put. Being able to manipulated matter without touching it promises a wealth of applications, from material sciences to biology. For instance nucleic acids can be introduced into cells – a process known as DNA transfection – without fear of contamination."You can basically play with cells in a droplet," says Foresti While commuting via acoustically levitated skateboards may be far off in the future, Foresti says that he hopes that other researchers will soon find novel uses for his method. Meet our heros: http://bit.ly/15z9inT Video: Acoustophoretic Waltz Sodium and water dance a Waltz. http://bit.ly/15z86Ro Courtesy: Dr. Daniele Foresti http://bit.ly/15z96VB

#STEMists know to stay focused.

ATTENTION GAMERS! MIT Unleashes New Online Game for Math and Science. A group of researchers in MIT’s Education Arcade are trying to harness the power of MMO games to teach high school students to think like scientists and mathematicians. Their game, THE RADIX ENDEAVOR, is designed to be an educational game, and capitalizes on the interactions students can have as a way to build their knowledge and skills. - http://bit.ly/1fFN7mG

Celebrate #EngineersWeek2016: #TBT Hedy Lamarr is famous as a glamorous movie star from the black-and-white era of film. But what most people don't know about her is that, in 1942, she co-invented a device that helped make possible the development of GPS, Bluetooth, and Wi-Fi technology! Born in Austria in 1914, the mathematically talented Lamarr moved to the US in 1937 to start a #Hollywood career. Throughout the 1930s and 1940s, she was considered one of cinema's leading ladies and made numerous films; however, her passion for engineering is far less known today. Her interest in inventing was such that she set up an #engineering room in her house complete with a drafting table and wall of engineering reference books. With the outbreak of World War II, Lamarr wanted to apply her skills to helping the war effort and, motivated by reports of German U-boats sinking ships in the Atlantic, she began investigating ways to improve torpedo technology. After Lamar met composer George Antheil, who had been experimenting with automated control of #musical instruments, together they hit on the idea of "frequency hopping." At the time, radio-controlled torpedoes could easily be detected and jammed by broadcasting interference at the frequency of the control signal, thereby causing the #torpedo to go off course. Lamarr and Antheil were granted a patent for their invention on August 11, 1942, but the US #Navy wasn't interested in applying their groundbreaking technology until twenty years later when it was used on #military ships during a blockade of Cuba in 1962. Lamarr and Antheil's frequency-hopping concept serves as a basis for the spread-spectrum communication #technology used in #GPS, #WiFi and #Bluetooth devices. Unfortunately, Lamarr's part in its development has been largely overlooked and her efforts weren't recognized until 1997, when the Electronic Frontier Foundation gave her an award for her technological contributions. Hedy Lamarr passed away in 2000 at the age of 85 and, in 2014, she was at long last inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame for her invention of a "Secret Communication System" many years ago. Text credit: A Mighty Girl #HedyLamarr

GROOVY ALERT! #optics