FathomVerse mobile game inspires a new wave of ocean exploration
Business Announcement
Updates every hour. Last Updated: 2-May-2024 06:08 ET (2-May-2024 10:08 GMT/UTC)
A new mobile game launching today allows anyone with a smartphone or tablet to take part in ocean exploration and discovery. Welcome to FathomVerse. Now available for download on the App Store and Google Play, FathomVerse allows players to interact with real underwater images to improve the artificial intelligence that helps researchers study ocean life. The game combines immersive imagery, compelling gameplay, and cutting-edge science to inspire a new wave of ocean explorers.
Organic electrochemical transistors (OECTs) allow current to flow in devices like implantable biosensors. But scientists long knew about a quirk of OECTs that no one could explain: When an OECT is switched on, there is a lag before current reaches the desired operational level. When switched off, there is no lag. Current drops immediately. In a paper published April 17 in Nature Materials, researchers report that they have discovered the reason for this activation lag, and in the process are paving the way to custom-tailored OECTs for a growing list of applications in biosensing, brain-inspired computation and beyond.
Researchers have discovered a new mechanism of oil biosynthesis and found a way to genetically engineer a type of test plant to more efficiently produce different kinds of seed oil that it otherwise wouldn't make. While the engineering is proof-of-concept, this discovery could lead to improved production of valuable oils used in food and by a range of industries. The modified plant overcame metabolic bottlenecks and produced significant amounts of an oil similar to castor oil that it doesn’t naturally produce.
How did North America's saber-toothed cats hunt without breaking their unwieldy saber-like canines, which are vulnerable to sideways bending stresses? A UC Berkeley paleontologist provides mechanical evidence that during adolescence, when young cats were learning to hunt, their baby teeth remained in place for up to 30 months to laterally buttress the emerging permanent sabers. By the time the baby teeth fell out, presumably the adult cat knew how to protect its sabers during attacks.
A bright yellow pigment favored a century ago by Impressionists such as Matisse and Van Gogh is losing its luster. Researchers at Duke University have developed a laser imaging technique that can detect the first tiny signs of the pigment’s breakdown before they’re visible to the eye. The work could help art conservators take earlier steps to make the color last.