Bat Whiskers | Rat Brains | Fishy Flyer

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Eating With Whiskers

Did you know bats have whiskers? Researchers at Dartmouth College learned how Pallas’s long-tongued bats use them to feed on nectar.

• The bats shoot their long tongues into flowers

• They hover like a hummingbird, requiring quick and precise aim

• Specialized long whiskers act as sensory organs for targeting

Testing was done by trimming whiskers on some bats and comparing their feeding routines to those with unaltered “facial hair”. Short whiskers lead to clumsy feeding, suggesting bats coevolved with local flowers. Hmm, I wonder if Batman tried this…

Na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na... WHISKERS!

Rat Brains

Human brain tissue successfully integrated with rat brains. The cortical organoid responded to visual stimuli less than 3 months after transplant.

• Organoid = self-organized tissue cultures derived from stem cells

• Prior transplants only used individual human neurons (aka no tissue)

• ~25% of human neurons within the organoid responded to stimuli

Scientists suspect more mature brain tissue would result in a higher response percentage. Further research could help with brain injury recovery. Or lead to super smart rats.

Ratatouille was ahead of his time

Fishy Flyer

It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s a...flying fish drone? The TJ-FlyingFish is a quadcopter that seamlessly transforms into an aquatic explorer.

• Created by Tongji University & Chinese University of Hong Kong

• All 4 propeller arms rotate independently for submerged mobility

• Swims up to ~10 ft. per second

The prototype only hovers for 6 minutes, but can swim for up to 40 minutes per charge. Full scale models can assist in land/sea surveys and rescue operations. Or bring us a live-action Finding Nemo remake.

Mine mine MINE MiNe mineminemine

Clickables

• John Wick + pesticide = Keanumycin

• Multiplayer pinball simulates economic trade-offs

• Titanic science - did Rose kill Jack?

• Road trip from the North to South Pole, in an EV

• AI transforms buildings into cars

st3v on site

Batbot

We may not know Batman's identity, but we can sleep soundly knowing he's equipped with sensory whiskers.

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