Robots that Swim with Fish

Studying the undersea organisms has always been a logistical nightmare for any science project. However with these new underwater robots that can literally swim with the fish and follow them over long distances under water, oceanographers are suitably excited. The robots are set to be used by a group of Australian scientists who are looking to reach new depths in the ocean.

In a similar study in the state of California there are robots being designed that will open up a new dimension in the study of creatures that live underwater. In Monterrey Bay in California this robot has already spent one week underwater examining organisms and sending back useful data to its human handlers on the shore.

The robot sends back information about the physical and chemical composition of the water around the creature that it is following besides a host of other details which the scientists would be hard pressed to find. The robot is being designed to stay underwater for months on end to effectively spy on and report back about the underwater creatures that it follows.

Perhaps now the ocean will reveal even more bizarre secrets than one had thought possible. We will find out more when these robots are deployed in larger numbers than they are at present. Thinking of doing more liquid based science experiments look for them here.

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Doctor Robot

In a science fiction movie you would not be surprised to see a robot operating on a human in a hospital scene. However if you enter a present day operating theater and see the same thing, you would be a bit surprised. Not any more, as the first all robotic operation was recently recently conducted at Canada’s McGill University Health Centre.

The Surgery was conducted by the Da Vinci surgical robot with help from the McSleepy anaesthesia robot. They were controlled remotely by a surgeon and an anesthetist. The surgery was performed on Gilles Lefort a 68 year old man who is a patient of prostate cancer. His treating surgeon was Dr. Armen Apikian.

What is more the surgeon is ready with a study which proves that a robotic surgery is more effective in stemming the progress of cancer than a regular human surgery. Talk about machines doing a better job! Although these robots are remotely controlled by humans so we may not be quite redundant as yet.

There are a number of robots that can do jobs that are monotonous and boring to human beings with a consistency and efficiency that any human being would appreciate. The future is in robotics and if you want to learn more about this interesting field of science you can be assured you will not be disappointed. Look for more science fair projects here.

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Decorating a Science Fair Project Board

A science fair project is incomplete without its display board. It is often the presentation of the project which will catch the eye of the judges rather than the project itself. That is why it is important to pay attention to how you set up the display board. After all that is what the judges at the science fair will see before you present the project to them.

And as everyone knows first impressions are last impressions. So you need to make sure that your display board makes the best impression possible. And to do that you will have to structure it out well. First off you need to decide what your board will say and what you will cover in the presentation. Do not merely repeat what is already written on the display board.

Then you need to decorate the display board. Merely pasting printed pages on the board is not enough. There has to be some personal effort involved in the decoration. Get those creative cells thinking about how you may make the display board look nice and attractive. Think of colors and materials that you can use. You can get more details on how to enhance your display here. So read it through.

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Action and Reaction

A chemical reaction takes place when a new product is created out of two different products. In science projects there is always an action to be done to get a reaction. This may be most vividly brought out by chemistry based science experiments as the reaction is often fast and furious allowing you to see changes in an instant.

Here are a few chemical reactions which you can conduct safely at home. Add some digestive salts to a glass and pour some water into it. You will see the hissing and foaming as the salts react with the water to produce a new fluid which will help you digest your meal. You have to drink it fast of it will lose the effervescence which help the digestive process.

Or you can use an iron nail and some vinegar to produce hydrogen bubbles. Pour in about 2 inches worth of vinegar in a test tube or a plastic cup. Now use a sandpaper on an iron nail and rub it well. Place the nail in the glass in the vinegar and observe. You will see bubbles coming up in the vinegar these are actually hydrogen bubbles.

Try out this edible science experiment. Oh Yes it is possible to use science with food. In fact almost all recipes involve chemical reactions in which two or more ingredients react together to form a different end product which you eat. Chemical reactions are a daily part of your life. All you need to do is look for them.

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Liquid Lava Lamp

Using water and oil along with some food coloring you can make a fascinating science project. The liquid lava lamp is easy to make and is a wonderful play thing for children in the primary classes. they can actually spend hours just shaking the bottle and watching the pretty colors and blobs change.

To make a liquid lava lamp you will need a clear plastic bottle. Any 500 ml plastic Pepsi bottle will do. Just make sure that you wash and clean it out before you use it for the experiment. Now get one cup of water and one cup of oil. Add a few drops of liquid food color to the water and mix well.

Get ready to make the liquid lava lamp. You will find it easier to pour the fluids into the bottle with a funnel. In case you do not have a funnel handy, just use some thick paper to make a temporary funnel. Now add both the oil and the colored water to the bottle. Seal the bottle with its cap and give it a shake. Now watch as the different colored blobs move in and out of the non colored bits.

In this case the oil is of a lower density than the water, so it will not dissolve into the water. Thus when you stop shaking the bottle the two layers will come apart with the oil on top and colored water below. Try out some more science projects from this page.

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Liquid Mixture Densities

In the last blog post we saw how honey, oil and water can be made into a mixture but will eventually separate out thanks to the difference in the density of the three fluids. Just as liquids have different densities solids too have different densities, and in this science experiment we are going to explore the different densities of a few small solids in the same mixture bottle which we made last time.

Set the bottle with the honey, oil and water mixture before you and wait till the three fluids settle into three distinct layers. Next get your hands on a wine bottle cork, a small coin and a grape. One by one you will add these three solids into the liquid bottle. You will find that the different densities of the solids will ensure that they sink through some fluids but float in others. In fact each of the three solids will find their way in to each of the three separate fluid layers.

Another way to display the different densities of liquids is by using vinegar and oil. Both the fluids are different densities and the oil will always settle down on top of the vinegar layer. You can add them and mix them but as soon as you leave the bottle and allow it to stand still they will come to rest in two layers. Try more science projects here.

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Mixing it up

There is nothing a I find as much fun as mixing up things together to see what new thing can be made out of the mixture. Sand with water, or oil with vinegar, its fun to see mixtures being made. Here are a couple of mixtures that you will enjoy making and they illustrate scientific principles as well.

You will need a clear bottle in which to pour the liquids. A regular plastic cold drink bottle will work out just fine. Now take one cup or about 200 ml of honey and pour it into the bottle. Next add one cup of oil to the bottle. Last of all you can add one cup of water. Now wait for a while and you will see that the three fluids settle down in different layers in the bottle.

This happens because each of the levels is at a different density than its neighboring layers. The layer which is most dense will sink to the bottom, while the lightest layer will float on top. Look at the bottle and see which layer has gone down to the bottom and which one is floating on top? For more exciting science fun check out Awesome Science Projects.

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Magnetic Transference

Magnets can be great fun to work with and can be the source of dozens of science experiments and science fair projects. You can exploit the properties of a magnet to do simple experiments in the home and even use them to make complex working models. Why it is even possible to produce repelling and attracting toys with the use of a simple pair of magnets.

Another interesting fact is that if a substance made out of iron stays in touch with a magnet for a fairly long period of time, it will gain some of the attracting properties of the magnet. This is also known as magnetic transference. The easiest way to see this in action is by sticking a metal paper clip to magnet and then tagging on more paper clips to it.

Thanks to the power of the magnetic field of the magnet that you are using the paper clips which are not in touch with the magnet directly, will also stick to the paper clips before them. They will be able to make a nice long chain. This chain will not break even when you remove the paper clip attached to the magnet from the line.

This happens because of the magnetic transference of the attraction of the magnet to the the paper clips. Simple science projects are always the best way to understand complex theories.

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Move Matchbox cars without touching them

I enjoy any science project which uses magnets. This one here is an interesting and simple to make project involving match box cars that move without you actually touching them. Naturally its the magnetic force in action and it a great way to understand the concept of the magnetic field.

All you need is a few empty matchboxes which you can redesign as cars. Paste some glazed paper on them and draw in the details with a felt pen. Add a four wheels to each car and make a magnet sit in the matchbox in the middle.  Once your match box cars are ready you can place them on a smooth surface like a dining table to begin the experiment.

As you bring a car with a like pole close to the car before it the car in front will also start moving on its own without you touching it. If the poles are opposite then you will see the car in front reversing into the car behind. You can make them go the full length of the table and see how the distance affects the magnetic force exerted as well.

This is a game which young boys will not tire of very fast. In fact it can be even more fun if you have two sets of cars and set up a race between the participants. Have fun with science projects like this and science will never seem boring again.

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Artificial Intelligence in Mythology

Did you think that Artificial Intelligence belonged to the future and science projects? Then you will be surprised to know that the concept of Artificial Intelligence is nothing new. In fact examples of beings with Artificial Intelligence were found even in ancient Greek Mythology. Let us consider these little known examples of Artificial Intelligence from the past.

Talos of Crete, Pygmalion’s Galatea and the golden Robots of Hephaestus are all associated with Artificial Intelligence. Why restrict the past to Greek Mythology even the Egyptians had animated statues. Not to mention the humanoids built by King Mu of Zhou. An intelligence like that poccessed by humans but in a vessel which is not human has fascinated philosophers and scientists for ages.

Poet Percy B. Shelley’s wife Mary Shelley is famous for writing the story of Frankenstein. A sub human artificial intelligence robot built up of salvaged human parts. The story is a gory representation of the way we tend to see artificial intelligence in any creature which is not born human.

Even Asimov was fascinated with robots and how it was possible to make them safe for humans. Remember the directives that any programmed Robot had to follow? So we can see that Artificial Intelligence is a subject which has fascinated human beings for ages. How close we are to developing such independent thinking robots is yet to be seen, but it is an ongoing science experiment open for participation.

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