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scientists Tag

13 Oct

What if superconductors could work at room temperature?

by Saloni Sharma
in Science, Technology
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Superconductivity is the set of physical properties observed in certain materials, wherein electrical resistance vanishes and from which magnetic flux fields are expelled. Any material exhibiting these properties is a superconductor. Unlike an ordinary metallic conductor, whose resistance decreases gradually as its temperature is lowered even down to near absolute zero, a superconductor has a characteristic critical temperature below which the resistance drops abruptly to...

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Artificial intelligence and ethics
11 Oct

Keeping humanity alive in the artificial-intelligence era

by Anushka Singh
in Science, Social issues, Technology
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There is a race going on in the artificial-intelligence sector. Everyone wants to get their hands on the next best thing as soon as possible. Ethics sometimes take a back seat in such cases. New technologies should be focused on human ethics and a universal desire to make life better for people around the world. This is a pressing concern when it comes to military...

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goosebumps
25 Aug

The Goosebumps Controllers

by pranjali wakde
in Nature, Science
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There’s no one in this world that has the ability to control their goosebumps – until now. James Heathers is a postdoctoral researcher at Northeastern University. He apparently can summon goosebumps at his will. He is a science buff, reading old scientific articles as a hobby. That was when he first discovered a unique phenomenon in a 1938 case study. Instead of digging for more,...

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expressions
19 Aug

Are expressions westernised?

by pranjali wakde
in Nature, Science, Social issues
Comments

It is a known fact that there are six primary emotions everybody is capable of feeling. Those are happiness, fear, sadness, anger, surprise, and disgust. Subsequently, we express each of these emotions using more or less the same set of facial movements. It makes recognising these emotions very easy. The person’s background and credentials then hardly matter.   Lisa Feldman Barrett, however, begs to differ. She is...

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Scientists
16 Aug

Scientists: Writers of the language of science

by Akshara Palshetkar
in Education
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Every writer has a different style of writing. The content which a person creates, describes and elaborates snippets of his or her personality. In a lecture hosted by the college of Social Sciences and Humanities of the Northeastern University, Lisa Emerson spoke about a Mathematician Professor who described his house in a technical manner: he stated the number of windows, doors, and more quantitative facts....

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11 Aug

Did you know that you lip-read all the time?

by Subarna Basu
in Science
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In a world of science and research today, surprising and obscure facts pop up daily on our notifications. One such amazing fact you were probably oblivious about is that you lip-read while trying to converse with someone. A research conducted by David Lewkowicz, a psychologist who worked on infants, stands as evidence for the above statement.   The research that his collaborators and Lewkowicz himself conducted on...

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e-cigarettes
11 Aug

E-cigarettes – A boon, or a curse?

by pranjali wakde
in Economy, Science, Social issues
Comments

E-cigarettes is mankind's safer options to the addiction of cigarettes. Marketed as the new and easier way to smoke, it still doesn’t promise a safer experience. Scientists are not so sure about its long term health hazards. This consequently leads us to understand that we should regard it with wariness. E-cigarettes created in the early 2000s has the obvious aim of helping smokers without them...

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do-sound-waves-bring-smarter-medical-implants
31 Jul

Do sound waves bring smarter medical implants?

by Justin Aaron
in Education, Science, Technology
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Tommaso Melodia, a Northeastern Engineering professor is trying to develop miniature implantable devices that can sense and communicate via sound waves. Bionet Sonar, the director of Northeastern’s Institute for the wireless internet of things believes that the technology will be able to treat a broad range of ailments which includes diabetes, epilepsy, Parkinson’s disease and even heart conditions.   Whereas, the traditional pacemakers or any other wireless...

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24 Jul

Why facial expressions are bad judges of faces

by Ishwarya Varshitha
in Economy, Economy, Science, Social issues
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We judge people’s facial expressions in social interactions, but we also do it as jurors in the courtroom when deciding whether a defendant is guilty or remorseful. Assumptions about people’s feelings based on their facial movements influences treatment plans for people living with autism and other brain disorders. It has also shaped the direction of research in various scientific fields, including neuroscience and psychiatry. “Gauging a...

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shipworms-that-feed-on-rocks
22 Jul

A New Species of Shipworms That Feed on Rocks

by Ishwarya Varshitha
in Nature, Science, Uncategorized
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Shipworms are a group of wood-boring and wood-feeding bivalves of extraordinary economic, ecological and historical importance. They usually complete their life cycle in wood and most are thought to use wood as a primary source of nutrition. Recently, a new species of shipworms was discovered that bores into carbonate limestone rocks rather than into woody substrates.   Researchers from Northeastern University’s Ocean Genome Legacy Center discovered the...

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