Automatic number plate recognition is a system designed to automatically recognize and store license plate number data on vehicles passing through a certain point. This is one of the mass surveillance systems that utilize optical character recognition programs and hardware capable of reading 1 plate/second off vehicles running at a maximum of 160 km/hr. Some …
In order to grow a bacterial culture in a lab, a growth medium has to be used to provide the right environment. Mannitol salt agar is a popular bacterial growth medium that biologists use to grow halphile bacteria (these grow fast in high salt concentrations) and can tell the difference between non-pathogenic and pathogenic Staphylococcus …
Waste oil is the term used to refer to any petroleum-based/synthetic oil that is no longer considered usable. This may be due to the presence of excessive impurities, loss of the oil’s original properties, or just from the oil being over-exposed to the elements. A classic problem for society has been how to dispose of …
A driverless car (also autonomous/autopilot/auto-drive car) refers to a car that does not need human intervention to function. The first driverless car achieved a maximum speed of 20 miles-per-hour and was built by Tsukuba Mechanical Engineering Laboratory in 1977. The Mercedes Benz robot van built during the 1980s achieved a full speed of 60 miles-per-hour …
Augmented reality is one of the newest innovations in the electronics industry. It superimposes graphics, audio and other sense enhancements from computer screens onto real time environments. Augmented reality goes far beyond the static graphics technology of television where the graphics imposed do not change with the perspective. Augmented reality systems superimpose graphics for every …
A flying car is a personal flying machine that does not require special equipment, runways, or traffic routes. Flying cars differ from commercial aircraft such as airliners, helicopters, and jets. Flying cars are designed to hold only a few people and are no larger than a regular automobile. While flying car designs have been in …
Hindsight bias is when people exaggerate their confidence in an event that occurred based on predictions that were made prior to the event’s occurrence. Hindsight bias is just one type of bias that the brain uses to store and recall information. This is because people tend to focus on an event that occurred rather than …
For the past two decades, lasers have been used to measure distance without having to physically touch the area or things being measured. Laser measurement is capable of very precise and quick distance measurements. Lasers have been used in military targeting, criminal investigations, and sports. As research has progressed, the size of laser measuring devices …
Photosynthesis is the process that plants, some bacteria, and some animals use to convert light energy and other sources into sugar and other essential proteins that they need to survive. This article will go over how photosynthesis works and the many different aspects of this process. We will talk about photosynthetic membranes, light reactions, solar …
The Boltzmann Constant (Boltzmann’s Constant) is a fundamental physics constant that plays a pivotal role in almost every single statistical formulation in both quantum and classical physics. It is named after Austrian physicist, Ludwig Boltzmann (1844 – 1906), who made significant contributions to the foundation and development of a particular branch of theoretical physics known …