News tagged with granular
Robots learn to pick up oddly shaped objects
(Phys.org) -- When Cornell engineers developed a new type of robot hand that could pick up oddly shaped objects it presented a challenge: It was easy for a human operator to choose the best place to take h ...
May 09, 2012 |
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Shifting sands: New model predicts how sand and other granular materials flow
Sand in an hourglass might seem simple and straightforward, but such granular materials are actually tricky to model. From far away, flowing sand resembles a liquid, streaming down the center of an hourglass ...
Apr 05, 2012 |
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Gravity's effect on landslides: A strike against Martian water
A pile of sand, gravel, or other granular material takes on a familiar conical shape, with the slope of the pile's walls coming to rest at the static angle of repose. If the material exceeds this angle, it will trigger an ...
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Dec 22, 2011 |
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How granular material becomes solid: Stress causes clogs in coffee and coal
It's easy to get in a jam. But it's much harder to explain exactly how or when it started.
Dec 14, 2011 |
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Rethinking equilibrium: In nature, large energy fluctuations may rile even 'relaxed' systems
An international research team led by the University at Buffalo has shown that large energy fluctuations can rile even a "relaxed" system, raising questions about how energy might travel through structures ranging from the ...
Oct 31, 2011 |
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Weighted ping-pong balls can fall endlessly through a granular medium (w/ video)
(PhysOrg.com) -- When a meteor impacts a planet or a moon, it always stops at a relatively shallow depth, even when impacting at high speeds. Until now, researchers have assumed that all objects impacting ...
Jun 27, 2011 |
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A tiltable head could improve the ability of undulating robots to navigate disaster debris (w/ video)
Search and rescue missions have followed each of the devastating earthquakes that hit Haiti, New Zealand and Japan during the past 18 months. Machines able to navigate through complex dirt and rubble environments ...
May 09, 2011 |
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A small subset of normal white blood cells gives rise to a rare leukemia, study shows
New research has identified a small subset of normal white blood cells in the body that gives rise to a rare incurable form of leukemia.
Mar 01, 2011 |
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Study investigates craters formed by raindrops (w/ Video)
(PhysOrg.com) -- Hiroaki Katsuragi and a team from Kyushu University in Fukuoka, Japan, have been investigating what happens when water drops of various sizes are allowed to fall from a height of 10 to 480 ...
Jun 01, 2010 |
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Pull-chain 'polymer' solves puzzle of complex molecular packing
(PhysOrg.com) -- Sometimes the simplest things hold the key to understanding complex effects. It turns out that a humble metal pull-chain -- just like those used on ceiling fans -- can be a pretty good model ...
Apr 08, 2010 |
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Study Reveals Small Lizard Tucks Legs and Swims Like a Snake Through Desert Sand (w/ Video)
(PhysOrg.com) -- A study published in the July 17 issue of the journal Science details how sandfish -- small lizards with smooth scales -- move rapidly underground through desert sand. In this first thorou ...
Jul 16, 2009 |
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Of traffic jams, beach sands and the zero-temperature jamming transition
Researchers in condensed matter physics at the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Chicago have created an experimental and computer model to study how jamming, the physical process in which collections of particles ...
May 13, 2009 |
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Researchers learn why robots get stuck in the sand -- and how to keep them going (Video)
(PhysOrg.com) -- Today's advanced mobile robots explore complex terrains across the globe and even on Mars, but have difficulty traversing sand and other granular media like dirt, rubble or slippery piles ...
Feb 09, 2009 |
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