Scribbles on the margins of science.
Scorecard
GOING UP: Energy-saving boat
A boat propelled solely by the up-and-down motion of waves is about to set sail on a three-month voyage from Hawaii to Japan.
GOING DOWN: Energy-sapping day
Britons used more power (0.1%) in a day than average during the nation's first Energy Saving Day, when people were encouraged to switch off unnecessary electric devices. UK officials blamed the disappointing outcome on the cold weather — this was perhaps unsurprising for 27 February…
Robot news
Unthinking slaughter?
Artificial-intelligence expert Noel Sharkey has declared himself “really scared” of potential developments in military robots over the coming decade. Worrying, given that the University of Sheffield professor was one of the brains behind popular BBC TV show Robot Wars.
Wordwatch
Planetary pedantry
Ten-year-old Montana schoolgirl Maryn Smith has won a National Geographic competition to come up with a mnemonic for the names of the 11 recognized planets in the Solar System, in order of orbital radius. Her effort, 'My Very Exciting Magic Carpet Just Sailed Under Nine Palace Elephants', will now be immortalized in song, although being a pedant, Sidelines would point out that the Solar System has only eight proper planets (the other three being the dwarf planets Ceres, Pluto and Eris).
Sources: Daily Telegraph, popsci.com, BBC, Associated Press
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Sidelines. Nature 452, 12 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1038/452012a
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/452012a