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This Week in Science: Origami Robots and Spider-Man’s Web-Shooters

Digging through the web this week, I uncovered all this geeky goodness. You can find the thousands of links from previous weeks here.


I have marked my favorite links with a ∞. Enjoy.


Science to Read, Watch

We have to create our own peak for oil

What is “The Archer’s Paradox” and how do great bowmen get around it?

∞ This tiny origami robot digs, swims, carries, and then destroys itself

An electric dildo from 1894 whose battery ran on the acidity of the vagina

Land art at Amsterdam’s airport reduced decibel levels by half

MIT’s Cheetah can now jump over the obstacles you throw in its way while trying to escape

Cruise ships are traveling at lethal speeds around the whales people are coming to see

Is joey adoption bad for kangaroos?

∞ The Pseudoscience of Beauty Products

Save the wasp named after Harry Potter’s Dementors

Stanford robot can automatically perform brain surgery on fruit flies

The Dragon Autopsy

Ammonia and burning ammonium dichromate make for “fireflies” in a flask

∞ Butterfly sex is so intense females evolved a second stomach for their vaginas

Found: 9 brains on NY train tracks. Don’t worry, we lose brains all the time

Rain drops are mathematically impossible, but thankfully they have a helping hand

The humane way to kill invasive cane toads is to freeze them

“Propellentless space drives”? “Not worth a minute’s thought. Let’s get on with our lives.”

Energy isn’t some magic cloud, it’s a measurement. Here’s the essentials

∞ Just realized I’ve never seen a snake drink. It’s really delicate

Don’t get a “base tan”

Meet a mini-roach/bird robotic duo

The facehuggers of the animal kingdom

You’re probably drinking coffee at the wrong times

Jumping spiders see better than just about any other animal, in HD and color

A cassowary’s call sounds like a kaiju growl

∞ Why have I never seen a peacock fly before!? They are beyond majestic

 

Extreme Nerdery

Android is increasingly alluring….

The BDLPSWDKS Effect

∞ What’s inside Spider-Man’s web-shooters?

“If the shaking is bad enough to damage a dam you won’t be able to run.

No, of course I’m not spiders

∞ Bill Nye explains that the universe has one purpose: giving meaningless advice to white women

Can we actually do this bracket?

Could the ISS become a Death Star?

 

Sciencey GIFs and Images

A flying gurnard is aptly named

A piece of sodium dances around in indicator-filled solution

Texas free tailed bats vortex in time-lapse

∞ Conservation of (squirrel) momentum

Just a sec, watching automated hay balers

This church could have sent someone into the future

Another path to de-extinction

Helicopter skill level: 100

1950: A 5-million volt Argonne Van de Graaff generator which gave ions 9/10ths of light-speed

∞ A bridge detonation moves so fast that everything else stands still

The world’s 3rd largest reptile recently visiting Tybee Island

Ice Crystals Under a Microscope are Unicorn Tears

#waterbeardontcare

∞ Shoebill storks don’t like you asking about where the dinosaurs went

One day, the robots will remember our “testing” and return the favor

 

Pop Culture Happenings

The F-35B can land like a hovercraft

We Asked 6 Famous Video Game Designers About The Game They’ve Always Wanted To Make, But Never Could

16 Ways The Human Body Is Actually Unbelievable

∞ Don’t Understand Bitcoin? This Man Will Mumble An Explanation At You

We Asked 22 Meteorologists About The Worst Storm They’ve Ever Created To Punish An Ex-Lover

This bacteria-powered “living robot” is straight out of The Matrix

∞ Why Rick and Morty is the Best Sci-Fi Show on TV

What was written on Mad Max’s back in Fury Road

Of course reviews for silver food spray were hilariously taken over by War Boys

What else did Fury Road get right? The portrayal of those with artificial limbs

Mad Max: Fury Road shouldn’t exist. It’s a miracle

“WTF.” This “clickbait” tweet contains the words “jegging” and “photobomb,” and now so does Merriam Webster

∞ The story of the world’s largest photograph (which you can explore)

Finn SCIENCE

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