Nobody blows things up like Hollywood. Frequently, those jaw-dropping pyrotechnics are digitally created in post-production. Now, with the help of a tool called Wavelet Turbulence, filmmakers can generate realistic swirling smoke and fiery explosions that are more detailed, easier to control and faster to create. UCSB researcher Theodore Kim (along with three collaborators) developed the … Read more
The effects of sugar can take your body down a vicious cycle known as metabolic syndrome. UC Davis’ Kimber Stanhope altered the diets of a group of volunteers for her study. Instead of her subjects eating food like rice, pasta or bread, she had them consume a sugary beverage. The effects on the body started … Read more
Hugs. High fives. Fist bumps. Dacher Keltner, a UC Berkeley psychology professor, examined NBA games to see if there is a relationship between a team’s success and how often they touch. FEATURING: Dacher Keltner, Professor of Psychology, UC Berkeley and founding faculty director of the Greater Good Science Center at UC Berkeley The research highlighted in … Read more
To most of us dust is just something we clean off our furniture, but to scientists dust can cause big problems in the lab. Computer chips are put together and tested in what are called clean rooms. These environments use filters to limit the amount of particles of dust in the air. UC San Diego’s … Read more
“I think everybody in this country should learn how to program a computer because it teaches you how to think,” Steve Jobs said in a lost interview from 1995. But for a beginner, learning to code from scratch can be intimidating. Enter CodeSpells. UC San Diego computer scientists developed this video game to teach people … Read more
The Augmented Reality Sandbox (orginally developed by researchers at UC Davis) lets users sculpt mountains, canyons and rivers, then fill them with water or even create erupting volcanoes. This version of the device at UCLA was built by Gary Glesener using off-the-shelf parts and good ol’ playground sand. Any shape made in the sandbox is … Read more