A little like humans, the nuclei of atoms tend to shrink as they lose weight. But atomic nuclei are complex quantum systems formed from neutrons and protons that are themselves composite particles made of quarks. As such, their usually spherical or nearly spherical shapes do not always simply shrink as particles are removed from their interior. In fact, exotic, neutron-deficient mercury and bismuth nuclei have been seen to alternate dramatically from football (soccer) to rugby ball shapes as single neutrons are removed from the nucleus.
In the Conan series (videos) Thulsa Doom turned into a snake. He did it at will and escaped, later on he changes back into human form. This opens the idea that shape shifting can be introduced into Conan Exiles with many different ways.
1: Each animal could have its own little shrine you pray to. This gives you passage to turn into that animal with a level/point system introduced as well.
2. We could do side quest and pick the animal we want to change into. If you dont like your specie you could restart the quest chain.
3. Each god we pray to could have their own set animal already for you to change into.
Although this phase-shifting material is a big step in the field, questions remain about its biomedical applications, says biomedical engineer Amir Jafari of the University of North Texas in Denton, who was not involved in the work. One big challenge, he says, is precisely controlling magnetic forces inside the human body that are generated from an external device.
The Krynaks plan to continue surveying mutable rain frogs to document their behaviors, lifecycle, and texture shifting and to estimate their population. They hope their research will support efforts to conserve this paradigm-shifting species. The scientists are also curious about the evolution of this unique trait. Are more of their relatives able to adjust their texture? And if P. mutabilis and P. sobetes are the only species to have this capability, did it come from a common ancestor or did it evolve independently in each species?
The humanness of our field deserves better. As a community, we must learn to be more vulnerable, open and present for one another. We need to simply hold a space of acceptance and gentle acknowledgement that we are all doing our best to find our way through. This will allow us to lean into our tenderness with compassion and unity rather than judgement and isolation. Bonded by our sheer love of nature, our own strengths will evolve over time and therefore our paths must shift to meet us. Regardless of where that puts us on a perceived or pre-planned professional path, we will be forced to reevaluate and shape shift. Yet, I have learned that our greatest strength and optimism is found through the power of the plot twist.
How to encode and release complex curves in shape-shifting structures is at the center of research led by the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) and the Harvard Wyss Institute of Biologically Inspired Engineering.
Over the past decade, theorists and experimentalists have found inspiration in nature as they sought to unravel the physics, build mathematical frameworks, and develop materials and 3D- and 4D-printing techniques for structures that can change shape in response to external stimuli.
The researchers used four different materials and programmed each rib of the lattice to change shape in response to a change in temperature. Using this method, they printed a shape-shifting patch antenna, which can change resonant frequencies as it changes shape.
This inverse design approach and multimaterial 4D printing method could be extended to other stimuli-responsive materials and used to create scalable, reversible, shape-shifting structures with unprecedented complexity.
The MIT researchers wanted a fiber that could actuate silently and change its shape dramatically, while being compatible with common textile manufacturing procedures. To achieve this, they used a material known as liquid crystal elastomer (LCE).
The resulting fiber, called FibeRobo, can contract up to 40 percent without bending, actuate at skin-safe temperatures (the skin-safe version of the fiber contracts up to about 25 percent), and be produced with a low-cost setup for 20 cents per meter, which is about 60 times cheaper than commercially available shape-changing fibers.
Ori, short for "origami" because the apartments fold, offers more than just the bed. They offer entire apartments that can shape-shift and fit residents' needs. They're now in 30 cities across the country, including Manchester, Nova in Quincy and the Proto building in Kendall Square in Cambridge.
"We found that Zika's enzyme complex changes function based on how it's shaped," says Alexey Terskikh, Ph.D., associate professor at Sanford Burnham Prebys and senior author of the paper. "When in the closed conformation, it acts as a classic protease. But then it cycles between open and super-open conformations, which allows it to grab and then release a single strand of RNA -- and these functions are essential for viral replication."
Understanding Zika on the molecular level could have an enormous payoff: a therapeutic target. It would be difficult to create safe drugs that target the domains of the enzyme needed for protease or helicase functions, as human cells have many similar molecules. However, a drug that blocks Zika's conformational changes could be effective. If the complex can't shape-shift, it can't perform its critical functions, and no new Zika particles would be produced.
Graphic works by Margaret Burroughs, Théodore Chassériau, Zackary Drucker, Samuel Fosso, Hendrick Goltzius, Pablo Picasso, Man Ray, Gerda Wegener, and others depict ever-changing narratives in the physical and social world. Collectively, these works demonstrate shifting forms of personal and political subjectivity and explore how art subverts traditional structures based on assumed dichotomies of natural/unnatural and binary gender.
Researchers have created a miniature robot that can melt and reform back into its original shape, allowing it to complete tasks in tight spaces or even escape from behind bars. The team tested its mobility and shape-morphing abilities and published their results Wednesday in the journal Matter.
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