Stories by Larry Greenemeier

Dana Vollmer's Butterfly Stroke Features Dolphinlike Moves [Video]

U.S. swimmer Dana Vollmer's record-setting performance in London in the 100-meter butterfly is sure to be a model for aspiring Olympians. Vollmer's edge in butterfly competition comes from her uncanny ability to closely mimic the underwater undulation and kick of nature's greatest swimmer—the dolphin.The 24-year-old Syracuse, N.Y., native worked with a team of motion-capture video specialists from New York University (N.Y.U.) prior to the 2012 Olympic Games to analyze her kick, grab and recovery as she cuts through the water and found the similarities striking...

Avatar Officer Installed at Arizona-Mexico Border Station

A new kiosk is expected to streamline applications for frequent traveler benefits, freeing up human officers to catch drug smugglers

Strength in Numbers: Citizen Scientists Lending More Helping Hands (and Handhelds) to Help the Pros

With a little instruction and education, hundreds if not thousands of volunteers armed with smart phones, computers and Internet access can act as the eyes, ears and hands of scientists worldwide.That idea is the hallmark of the growing citizen-science movement, which is already recruiting Facebook users to virtually "infect" their friends with a simulated virus, revealing patterns of how diseases mutate and spread...

Unnatural Selection: Muscles, Genes and Genetic Cheats

Can specific genes cause muscles to grow faster or stronger, and can genetic tampering give athletes an unnatural edge?

Smart Headlights Let Drivers See Through Rain and Snow

Drive through a pounding thunderstorm or heavy snowfall at night and you'll notice that your headlights illuminate the maelstrom of raindrops or flakes more than they shed light on the road ahead...

Bomb-Disarming Robot Was First to Enter Alleged Aurora Shooter's Apartment

The first boots on the ground in the explosives-rigged apartment of Aurora, Colo., shooting suspect James Holmes were actually robot tracks. Fortunately for police, military and emergency responders, bots are showing their mettle in this and other dangerous situations and helping keep their human handlers out of harm's way.Holmes, a former Ph.D...

Push Comes to Pull: What's the Best Freestyle Swimming Stroke? [Video]

This summer's Olympic games in London feature 14 different freestyle swimming competitions, by far the most races for any type of stroke. The world's elite swimmers can traverse a 50-meter pool in 22 to 26 seconds, yet they are divided over which of two variations of the stroke are more effective: the more powerful "deep catch" approach or the more streamlined "scull." And the physics behind the debate is fascinating.In the deep catch approach, a swimmer puts his or her arm straight forward, then down as deep as possible into the water, and pushes that arm back as hard as possible, keeping the palms perpendicular to the direction the swimmer wants to move...

Colorado "Batman" Shootings Eerily Similar to Others Involving a Lack of Cognitive Control

Shortly after moviegoers had settled in to watch a midnight premier of The Dark Night Rises on Friday morning, a heavily armed gunman entered the Aurora, Colo., theater through an emergency exit and opened fire...

Gilt-Trip: Scientists Add Gold to Boost Lithium Car Battery Range

Air-breathing lithium batteries that go far beyond the capacity of current power packs may be in the offing

Coning In: New Ways to Tap Old Data Boost Hurricane Forecast Accuracy

To more accurately predict storm tracks, landfalls and damage risks, researchers are focusing their attention on individual storms and past behavior to reduce the "cone of uncertainty"

Researchers Consider Graphene as a Cure for Desalination Woes

Computer simulations indicate graphene desalination membranes could vastly outperform existing reverse-osmosis systems

GE Develops Recyclable, Rechargeable Batteries for Cell Tower Backup

A person's arsenal of wireless communications devices—smartphones, tablets, laptops, et cetera—places a heavy burden on surrounding cell towers. But when storms or power surges interrupt electrical service, these towers are forced to rely on a costly and environmentally unfriendly combination of lead-acid batteries and diesel generators to keep wireless users connected.GE on Tuesday unveiled a new battery that, it claims, can provide more backup capacity for telecommunications providers and utilities at a fraction of the cost...

Running Robots: See Boston Dynamics's Speedy Cheetah in Action [Video]

Is This Robo Cat the Future of Battlefield Recon?

Nimble robots like this Cheetah will help the military navigate terrain too rocky for wheels

Little-Used Voice Assistants Are the Future of Smart Phones

With the imminent arrival of Google's latest Android operating system later this month, Apple's iOS upgrades this fall and Microsoft's relentless push to make Windows relevant to mobile devices, a lot of people are talking about smartphones and tablets...

Is Apple Planning a Mini iPad?

The sheer number of reports indicating Apple plans to launch a mini version of its iPad would lead one to believe that a 7-inch (18-centimeter) Apple tablet is a foregone conclusion.

Leggy Robot (Almost) Moves Like Jagger

In popular fiction, humanoid robots have no rhythm—look no further than the "robot dance" for evidence of this. Yet rhythm—or the neurophysiological processes that enable humans to produce patterns of recurring movement—is the key to creating bots that move more like people...

Mixed Signals: Smart Phone Sensors Recruited to Deliver Indoor GPS

Duke University researchers are developing a mobile app that uses wi-fi antennas, cellular radios and other detectors to guide smart phone users

What Is Acute Myelogenous Leukemia, the Cancer That Struck Nora Ephron?

The When Harry Met Sally screenwriter recently succumbed to this enigmatic form of cancer, but there are new treatments in the pipeline

A Crypto Expert's View on Scary Bird Flu Data

After months of contentious debate, the journal Science is publishing a controversial study on Friday about H5N1 avian influenza's ability to spread among mammals.