It’s time to dust off the good old Friday Smorgasbord and share a few of the interesting and even strange bits of news floating around out there. In this edition we have boards attacking from the seas, robots made from slug lips, crowdsourcing data from divers and more. Without further ado…
Holy Beach Boar Attack Batman!
A quite day at the beach turned into a terrifying attack from the seas! No, it wasn’t a shark attack but a wild boar that came crashing from the waves and ran amuck on the beach. As families scooped up their kids, the boar ran around looking for an escape only to run into a sunbather before others ran to the aid and chased the piggy away with sticks.
[via The Telegraph]
Sea Slug Lips Make for Good Robots
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-GwDKk_KIEI
A new biohybrid robot uses muscles taken from the mouth of a sea slug connected to 3D-printed components. The little minion developed by Case Western Reserve University can move around when an external electrical current is applied to force the muscles to contract. These speedy robots won’t be breaking the sound barrier but can move at a crisp pace of 0.43 centimeters a minute using locomotion that is akin to a turtle crawling up a beach.
[via The Verge]
Crowdsourcing Dive Data
A new program is looking to tap into the recreational dive community to help crowdsource water temperature data around the world. Right now, thousands of buoys capture and communicate water temps, but there are millions of dives that take place each year that could help bolster this data and provide valuable insights into the current state of the oceans. A study, published in Science Reports shows measurements taken from the decompression computers worn by divers can provide accurate data on ocean temperatures. The new data is particularly valuable in coastal environments, where many dives occur, as well as in areas that are rarely sampled by other methods.
[via The Guardian]
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