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Posted

SYdDZ91.gif

This animation is awesome. A vesicle is transported on a microtubule. The vesicle's boundaries are phospholipids, just like any other cellular membrane, and it is expected to be a fluid matrix, so the wave-like, sinusoidal movement, stemming from the point of attachment of the membrane to the Kinesin is right on! That's how neurotransmitters, hormones, etc, get out to the intercellular milieu. Thanks for posting this.

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Posted

eagle-drone-620-1454344153300.gif

 

from

 

 

via:  http://spectrum.ieee.org/automaton/robotics/aerial-robots/dutch-police-training-eagles-to-take-down-drones

 

plenty of interesting robotic links there

e.g.

 

" Now, a new study by a team of Japanese researchers shows that, in certain situations, children are actually horrible little brats may not be as empathetic towards robots as we’d previously thought, with gangs of unsupervised tykes repeatedly punching, kicking, and shaking a robot in a Japanese mall. "

http://spectrum.ieee.org/automaton/robotics/artificial-intelligence/children-beating-up-robot

 

"Lessons Learned from Observing 90 Untrained Participants Abusing a Flying Robot "

http://spectrum.ieee.org/automaton/robotics/aerial-robots/untrained-participants-abusing-a-flying-robot

 

and ...

 

 

 

http://spectrum.ieee.org/automaton/robotics/humanoids/darpa-robotics-challenge-robots-falling

 

Posted (edited)

The pic of Concorde reminded me of a guy called Norman Harry.  Norman is the (now very elderly) father of an old workmate of mine, Alan Harry.  Alan had mentioned that his dad was a great mechanical engineer, and 20 years ago or so I had a problem that it seemed Norman might be able to help with.

This dapper little guy showed up, quietly spoken.  After a coffee we exchanged business cards, and his said "Norman Harry OBE" - OBE is Order of the British Empire, and is a top honour awarded by the government in the Queen's New Year honors list.  And it is bestowed in person by the Queen.  It is a big deal.

"Good heavens, Norman - I didn't realise you had an OBE.  What did you get that for?"  "Um, I designed the droop nose on Concorde"

Back about that time, Norman was one of a very few people qualified to pilot WW2 airplanes.  In particular the Lancaster bomber.  He was called on to restore the rear gun system for a French owned one, and to make sure he got it right he crawled into the gun blister of a complete one to take photographs and take measurements.  "When I got in there I recognised the gun gimbals and mechanical system, and realised that I had designed it in the first place.  The next thought was to see the imperfect design - that of a young guy - and immediately started to think how it ought to be done with the benefit of experience.  Then I had to stop - the French wanted the historically correct one, along with all my design mistakes!"

Quite a character.

Edited by Craig Sawyers
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