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In a study ‘motivated largely by fundamental curiosity’, a team of scientists in South Korea and Switzerland set out to see if they could design shapes to roll along any desired path on a flat surface. This entertaining video from Nature chronicles the team’s research, documenting how, using a combination of simple and sophisticated techniques – as well as a bit of tweaking once the 3D-printed objects got rolling – they were able to create shapes to travel along nearly any possible path. The result is a fascinating glimpse into what happens when the conditions of computation enter the real world, as well as how a bit of curiosity can have potentially significant consequences – in this case, in the realm of quantum and classical optics.
Video by Nature
Producer: Shamini Bundell
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Ecology and environmental sciences
GPS tracking reveals stunning insights into the patterns of migratory birds
6 minutes
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Space exploration
The rarely told story of the fruit flies, primates and canines that preceded us in space
12 minutes
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Neuroscience
This intricate map of a fruit fly brain could signal a revolution in neuroscience
2 minutes
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Computing and artificial intelligence
The ‘cloud’ requires heaps of energy to stay aloft. Could synthetic DNA be the answer?
12 minutes
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Biology
Brilliant dots of colour form exquisite patterns in this close-up of butterfly wings
3 minutes
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Genetics
Why it took a century to work out that humans interbred with Neanderthals
22 minutes
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Evolution
How – and how not – to think about the role randomness plays in evolution
60 minutes
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Physics
The rhythms of a star system inspire a pianist’s transfixing performance
5 minutes
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Art
Watch as Japan’s surplus trees are transformed into forest-tinted crayons
4 minutes