Therefore I Geek

Night vision goggles are pretty standard military equipment. While not everyone may have them, they are readily available if needed. The problem is that goggles can be bulky and limit the field of view. University of Michagan researchers are looking into ways to make night vision contacts. Using graphene and an insulating material, with an electrical current applied, infrared light can be converted to visible light. Eventually, this technology could be used in contact lenses, removing the need for goggles.

The goggles, they do nothing!

One issue still to be figured out is the need for greater light sensitivity.

With the presumed crash of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, the hunt is on to recover the infamous black box before the battery runs out. It turns out that the black box isn’t quite as good as one would assume. While they are remarkably durable, the sonar devices that are designed to allow searcher to find them have batteries that only last thirty days after a crash. This has resulted in the information from a handful of black boxes being lost because the boxes couldn’t be found before the batteries ran out. After one particularly bad crash in 2009, several improvements were recommended, however many American carriers have not yet updated their equipment. There is also the option that instead of using black boxes, airlines could wirelessly send all the data from the plane to a data center where the information can be stored. This of course would require significant improvements to the aircraft and would be costly for the airlines.

Also, it turns out Black Boxes aren’t actually black.

Pilots are also not too hot on this idea because they would essentially be bugged the entire time they are at work.

Twin studies are important in scientific research as they represent the two most identical persons that can exist. The closer two people are to one another, the better scientists can control the experiment. With this in mind, NASA will be conducting a twin experiment of their own. The space agency will be sending Scott Kelly to the International Space Station for a year while his brother Mark will remain here on Earth. Both men will be subjected to the same experiments to determine what, if any, differences there are in humans after prolonged time in space.

Mark Kelly is the husband of former Congresswoman Gabby Giffords and Scott is a graduate of my alma mater, SUNY Maritime College.