2012-06-30

Shimi a Dancing Musical Robot and Smartphone Dock

Smartphone Powered Robot DJ "Shimi" Premieres at Google's I/O Conference - International Science Times


Researchers at Georgia Tech's Center for Music Technology have injected a little fun into robotics with their newest creation. Their one-foot-tall 'Shimi' robot is a smart-phone enabled DJ that gets into the music with you.

True to its name, Shimi dances to the beat. Docking your iPhone or Android into the robot allows it access to your music library, where it can pick the music to pump up your party. Shimi can read body language, so all you have to do to let it know you don't like a song is shake your head in front of it.

Georgia Tech Researchers Create Musical Robot Companion





Shimi creator Professor Gil Weinberg, director of Georgia Tech's Center for Music Technology, has founded a start-up company, named Tovbot. Plans are for the robot to be available to consumers by the 2013 holiday season.

Do the robot: Android wedding DJ picks songs, dances to the beat and reacts to the crowd to keep the mood | Mail Online

If a user taps of claps a beat,v Shimi analyzes it, scans the phone's musical library and immediately plays the song that best matches the suggestion. Once the music starts, Shimi dances to the rhythm.

The robot's 'eyes' can also follow people round a room and ensure that speakers are aimed at them.

Shimi, a musical companion developed by Georgia Tech's Center for Music Technology, recommends songs, dances to the beat and keeps the music pumping based on listener feedback.
[...]
Shimi is essentially a docking station with a ‘brain’ powered by an Android phone. Once docked, the robot gains the sensing and musical generation capabilities of the user's mobile device. In other words, if there's an ‘app for that,’ Shimi is ready.

For instance, by using the phone's camera and face-detecting software, the bot can follow a listener around the room and position its ‘ears,’ or speakers, for optimal sound.

Shimi: The incredible dancing DJ robot - The Week

[...] It's about time engineers built a robot "with the intention to party," says Lee Rannals at RedOrbit. "A dancing robot that follows you around is pretty cool," says Elise Moreau at Slashgear, "but it looks like Shimi still has a bit of growing up to do." Call me when they've built apps that let you shake your head or wave your hand to get the bot to skip lousy songs. Well, "I'm not a huge fan of desktop toys that flap around," says Technabob. But there's something endearing about watching a little robotic DJ "get its groove on to your music." See for yourself:




2012-06-26

Eyejusters Self-Adjusting Glasses

Adjustable Eyejusters Glasses Let You Alter Your Own Prescription! | Inhabitat

Eyejusters are just like a regular set of glasses except they are self-adjustable, allowing the wearer to alter the focus at the twist of a dial. It is hoped that the glasses will be able to help those in the developing world who don’t have access to the glasses they need.


Eyejusters - Self-adjustable glasses

Each SlideLens in a pair of Eyejusters is adjusted to suit a user’s eyes with the simple turn of a dial, so almost anyone can dispense them. They're durable, easy to clean, have attractive metal frames that fit most faces, and come in a range of colours.


Stunning SlideLens technology
The SlideLens adjustable lens technology is the product of intense engineering, manufacturing and optical design. We've designed, simulated and measured the lenses with nanometre-scale precision to ensure the best quality optical experience. Try out a demo →


Eyejusters - self-adjustable glasses designed for the developing world

There are two different types of SlideLens - positive power (for long-sightedness) and negative power (for short-sightedness). The range of the positive power lenses is from +4.5 to 0 diopters, while the range of the negative power lenses is from 0 to -5.0 diopters. This covers the majority of common cases. The glasses are priced at US$39.95 for the individual buyer, but the main aim is to distribute these to people in the developing world.

A pair of Eyejusters glasses being worn in Malawi



2012-06-25

Twisted Waves Carrying Terabits of Data

BBC News - 'Twisted light' carries 2.5 terabits of data per second


Researchers have clocked light beams made of "twisted" waves carrying 2.5 terabits of data - the capacity of more than 66 DVDs - per second.
The technique relies on manipulating what is known as the orbital angular momentum of the waves.

Recent work suggests that the trick could vastly boost the data-carrying capacity in wi-fi and optical fibres.

The striking demonstration of the approach, reported in Nature Photonics, is likely to lead to even higher rates.
[...]
Our planet has "spin angular momentum" [OAM] because it spins on its axis, and "orbital angular momentum" because it is also revolving around the Sun.

Light can have both these types, but the spin version is the far more familiar - as what is commonly called polarisation, or the direction along which light waves wiggle. Polarising sunglasses and many 3D glasses work by passing one polarisation and not another.
[...]
Most recently, Bo Thide of the Swedish Institute of Space Physics and a team of colleagues in Italy demonstrated the principle by sending beams made up of two different OAM states across a canal in Venice, an experiment they described in the New Journal of Physics.

BBC News - 'Twisted' waves could boost capacity of wi-fi and TV


In a highly publicised event in 2011, the team used a normal antenna and their modified antenna to send waves of 2.4 GHz - a band used by wi-fi - to send two audio signals within the bandwidth normally required by one. They repeated the experiment later with two television signals.


Encoding many channels on the same frequency through radio vorticity: first experimental test - IOPscience

Fabrizio Tamburini et al 2012 New J. Phys. 14 033001
doi:10.1088/1367-2630/14/3/033001

Abstract

We have shown experimentally, in a real-world setting, that it is possible to use two beams of incoherent radio waves, transmitted on the same frequency but encoded in two different orbital angular momentum states, to simultaneously transmit two independent radio channels. This novel radio technique allows the implementation of, in principle, an infinite number of channels in a given, fixed bandwidth, even without using polarization, multiport or dense coding techniques. This paves the way for innovative techniques in radio science and entirely new paradigms in radio communication protocols that might offer a solution to the problem of radio-band congestion.


2012-06-23

The AWARE2 Gigapixel Camera

The Gigapixel Race Begins? | Compound Eye, Scientific American Blog Network

So your showoff neighbor brings home a new 36 megapixel Nikon SLR, and your previously top-of-the-line 18 megapixel gadget starts to seem… inadequate. The insolence! The injustice! What can you buy to put that jerk in his place?
How about raising the stakes an order of magnitude with a 960 megapixel supercamera?

The AWARE-2. (credit: Duke University Imaging and Spectroscopy Program)
Researchers at Duke University and the University of Arizona report in this week’s Nature they’ve built a functional prototype gigapixel-scale camera. The Orwellian-sounding AWARE-2 uses a 98 sensor-array mounted behind a single aperture to capture an enormous image in one go.

Next Cameras Come Into View - WSJ.com


The new camera collects more than 30 times as much picture data as today's best consumer digital devices. While existing cameras can take photographs that have pixel counts in the tens of millions, the Duke device produces a still or video image with a billion pixels—five times as much detail as can be seen by a person with 20/20 vision.

A pixel is one of the many tiny areas of illumination on a display screen from which an image is composed. The more pixels, the more detailed the image.
The Duke device, called Aware-2, is a long way from being a product. The current version needs lots of space to house and cool its electronic boards; it weighs 100 pounds and is about the size of two stacked microwave ovens. It also takes about 18 seconds to shoot a frame and record the data on a disk.



AWARE2 Multiscale Gigapixel Camera


This program is focused on building wide-field, video-rate, gigapixel cameras in small, low-cost form factors.  Traditional monolithic lens designs, must increase f/# and lens complexity and reduce field of view as image scale increases. In addition, traditional electronic architectures are not designed for highly parallel streaming and analysis of large scale images. The AWARE Wide field of view project addresse these challenges using multiscale designs that combine a monocentric objective lens with arrays of secondary microcameras.

The optical design explored here utilizes a multiscale design in conjunction with a monocentric objective lens [2] to achieve near diffraction limited performance throughout the field. A monocentric objective enables the use of identical secondary systems (referred to as microcameras) greatly simplifying design and manufacturing. Following the multiscale lens design methodology, the field-of-view (FOV) is increased by arraying microcameras along the focal surface of the objective. In practice, the FOV is limited by the physical housing.  This yields a much more linear cost and volume versus FOV.  Additionally, each microcamera operates independently, offering much more flexibility in image capture, exposure, and focus parameters.  A basic architecture is shown below, producing a 1.0 gigapixel image based on 98 micro-optics covering a 120 by 40 degree FOV.


2012-06-19

The World’s First Sand Stadium

The United Arab Emirates plan to build the world’s first Sand Stadium


The Sand Stadium (or as it’s actually being called, “The Rock Stadium”) is set to be build in the Al Ain desert.

The ground will be build below ground level to make sure heat levels are more easily controlled.

As to the numbers, the stadium will facilitate 40,000 spectators, and will come at a cost of 3.5 billion UAE dirham (or $953 million).

The project will be built by MZ Architects.

Sunken Al Ain Stadium Rises from the Desert in Sharp Planes | Green Prophet


Sinking the Al Ain stadium has multiple benefits. First it allows the project to blend in with the surrounding landscape, adding to its allure rather than destroying it. But it also allows the designer to utilize passive cooling strategies that will minimize the stadium’s energy loads once it is “up and running.”

Al Ain Stadium, Al Ain / UAE by MZ Architects

Working with the existing site and using the local materials, the architects find themselves playing with a carefully studied palette of rock and sand that not only lead to the main façade/visual panels system adhering to the site but also create a more sustainable approach to construction and design where no material is forgotten or displaced and where all is reused. Carful patterns are created with the recuperated stone, creating interestingly designed man-made strata patterns that emphasize the natural characteristic of the site.

This simple yet majestic design hides great achievements and brilliant experimentations with issues of scale, monumentality and locality. It allows the project to create a strong sense of place in an otherwise homogenous area of the vast expanding desert.
MZ Architects wins Retail and Leisure category Award in MIPIM Future Project Awards 2012
MZ Architects has received the Retail and Leisure Award for the design of “Al Ain stadium” at this year’s prestigious MIPIM Architectural Review Future Project Awards ceremony held in Cannes, France, on March 7th 2012.

The project by MZ Architects, a Lebanese design and consultancy firm, was one of 143 entries to the awards that uniquely focus on building designs for projects awaiting construction or still on the drawing board, spanning over ten categories – Big Urban Projects, Mixed Use, Offices, Regeneration and Masterplanning, Retail and Leisure, Retrofit, Tall Buildings, Sustainability and Residential.


2012-06-16

LEGO Haunted House 10228

Creepy! Lego unveils first-ever Haunted House set | Tech Culture - CNET News

The global toymaker says the new set, part of its Monster Fighters line, will be released in September. The set features a house and six ghoulish minifigures.

LEGO Haunted House Set | GeekAlerts


Available this September as part of the new LEGO Monster Fighters lineup, the highly detailed exterior will have classic haunted house features like, peeling paint/missing shingles, boarded up windows, and broken shutters and railings. Normally that would be more than enough, but LEGO has taken it even further. Once built, you can open the house via the hinged wall to reveal an interior that features a kitchen, bedroom and attic for your playing enjoyment.


LEGO News: Official Announcement: 10228 Haunted House | From Bricks To Bothans


• Add to your LEGO® Monster Fights Collection with the first officlal LEGO® Haunted House!
• Includes 6 minifigures: 2 glow-in-the-dark ghosts, Vampyre, Vampyre’s Bride, Zombie chef and butler
• Features unique ‘crooked’ design featuring boarded up windows and working front gate.
• Haunted House opens to reveal detailed interior with 3 floors.
• First floor features fireplace that swings open and displays a ship in a bottle on the mantle.
• Cook up a ghoulish meal with the Zombie chef in the kitchen complete with old-style stove, jars and table.
• Write letters from the Vampyre’s haunted office.
• Pull the lever hidden in the chimney to release the drop down staircase and access the top floor.
• Top floor features gramophone, records and newspaper LEGO® elements.
• Customize the Haunted House with new stickers for wall hangings, spider webs and curtains.
• Measures 15.4” (39cm) high, 9.4” (24cm) wide and 7.5” (19cm) deep



2012-06-14

Kinetic Creatures Cardboard Robots

Kinetic Creatures Cardboard Robots | TechNewsDaily.com


A designer-artist couple from Portland, Ore., figured out how to create walking robotic animals — an elephant, a rhino and a giraffe — using nothing but paper.


Lucas Ainsworth, an industrial designer working at Intel, and Alyssa Hamel, a public-school art teacher, took their inspiration from Dutch artist Theo Jansen. His Strandbeest (beach animal) creations are giant mechanical contraptions — in part made from waste, including plastic bottles — that harness wind power to walk on their own.



What are Kinetic Creatures? | Kinetic Creatures

The kits were prototyped, developed and are currently made using a laser cutter, but it takes over two hours and expensive laser-time to build each kit. Now that the designs are done, we are launching a Kickstarter project to cast the patterns onto die-cut-tools at a local cardboard manufacturing facility in Portland, OR.  Using a die-press, the time-per-kit comes way down. That means we will be able to share the Kinetic Creatures, using sustainable materials and 100% local manufacturing, with hundreds of Makers and art students.

Kinetic Creatures by Lucas Ainsworth & Alyssa Hamel — Kickstarter


Kinetic Creatures also...

encourage people to build with their hands, minds and imagination. Use sustainable and recyclable materials and support local manufacturing.

Kinetic Creatures takes a complex mechanical linkage, popularized in Theo Jansen’s Strandbeest, and makes it accessible through an easy assembly and friendly cardboard form.

A collaboration between Alyssa- a Visual Arts Teacher and Artist and Lucas- an Industrial Designer, the Kinetic Creatures are intended to encourage building and thinking creatively at home and in the classroom.


2012-06-10

Infinitec's Pocket TV Makes any TV a Smart TV

3.3″ HDMI-dongle Android Pocket TV funded within 1 week on Kickstarter | Ars Technica

Hardware startup Infinitec is building a tiny Android computer housed in an HDMI dongle that is only 3.3 inches long. The product, which is called Pocket TV, was fully funded on Kickstarter within the first week of landing on the popular crowd-funding website.

The Pocket TV: Makes any TV a Smart TV by Infinitec — Kickstarter

Convert your TV into a Smart TV

The Pocket TV is a small pocket-sized dongle that connects to the HDMI port of any regular TV (even your 5-year-old TV) and converts it into a Smart TV. It's basically a fully functioning micro-computer the size of your thumb which runs Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) much like today's latest smartphones. The processing power in the Pocket TV will allow you to display Android on your TV turning it into a mega-sized tablet (just imagine a 50 inch iPad). You can download apps from the Google Play Store to stream videos, play games, connect with your friends on Facebook, catch up on news, do some work or simply surf the web. You can even attach a video camera to do Skype video-calls… Yes, all that on your TV! 



Infinitec Unveils Pocket TV, an Android 4.0 Based HDMI Micro-Computer that Makes Any TV a Smart TV - The Paramus Post - Greater Paramus News and Lifestyle Webzine

The Pocket TV can be used for a number of multimedia capabilities including:
• Streaming Video: Watch YouTube, Netflix, Hulu or Amazon Videos on your TV in HD with up to 1080p resolution rather than on a small computer screen.
• Listen to music: The Pocket TV acts as a streaming device for music so you can play all of the content that’s on your computer or home network drive (NAS). That means you access not only your downloaded music but also your movies, TV shows and even your holiday pictures right on your home entertainment system.
• Gaming: You can now play thousands of games such as Angry Birds or racing and strategy games on a big screen instead of on your small screen smart phone or tablet.
• Social Media: Check your Facebook, Twitter and other social media apps on your big screen.
• News: Get CNN, BBC, Google Currents, Pulse, Flipboard and other similar news apps and access to on-demand news stories on your TV.
• Work: Edit documents, read PDFs, review PowerPoint, do video conferences and send and receive emails from a 50-inch monitor.
• Google Maps: Tired of squinting at your screen trying to find road directions? Yes we know you won’t be able to take your TV with you on the road, but the satellite imaging is insane on a 50-inch plasma!
• Web Browsing: Enjoy browsing the web with the Dolphin browser, Opera, or even Chrome and sync it with your laptop's browser.
• Thousands more apps: The Google Play store is full of apps for all types of users and most of them work on the Pocket TV.

Turn Any TV Into a Smart TV | News & Opinion | PCMag.com

Going beyond the offerings by Google and Apple, the Pocket TV will turn your standard HDTV set into a veritable jumbo tablet. On top of Smart TV standards like Web browsing, Netflix, and media playback, the device runs Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, bringing with it the vast selection of apps in the Google Play app market.

The Pocket TV, however, won't transform your set into a giant touch screen, instead offering two options for navigating through apps and content. The first is a standard IR remote that ships with every unit, providing fairly pedestrian control options like a direction pad and playback buttons. The second is the Air Remote, which includes a gyroscopic sensor and QWERTY keyboard for a more interactive experience. The Pocket TV will also be compatible with the Google Remote TV app, transforming your smartphone into a TV remot


2012-06-07

Lucid Dream Control Devices

BBC News - Lucid dreaming: Rise of a nocturnal hobby


Lucid dreaming technically refers to any occasion when the sleeper is aware they are dreaming. But it is also used to describe the idea of being able to control those dreams.

Once confined to a handful of niche groups, interest in lucid dreaming has grown in recent years, spurred on by a spate of innovations from smartphone apps to specialist eye masks, all promising the ability to influence our dreams.

[...]

... Dream:ON, the most popular of the many new smartphone apps now available.

Created by psychologist Richard Wiseman, the app has seen over half a million downloads in just six weeks.

"The new wave of interest is led by technology," says Wiseman, whose app claims to allow users to choose their dream before bed, and plays sound cues once they have entered the right phase of sleep.

Dream:ON - The App to Influence Your Dreams


Before going to bed you indicate the type of dream you would like to have and when you want to wake up. You then place your iPhone on your bed and go to sleep. Dream:ON then activates and begins monitoring your sleep pattern.

When Dream:ON senses that you are dreaming, it plays a 'soundscape' that has been carefully designed to help create your desired dream. Whilst your chosen soundscape is playing, Dream:ON continues to monitor your movement and adjusts the volume accordingly to ensure you're not woken up.


Dreams can come true: Can we really control our night reveries? | Metro.co.uk

‘The app monitors your movements throughout the night because when you dream you’re totally still,’ said Professor Wiseman.

‘If it detects stillness in the 20 minutes before you wake up it plays in the soundscape then wakes you up at the end of the dream.

‘It seems to work for about 30 per cent of people. The more you use it, the more it works. Some people love it – it makes their dreams very vivid and very colourful.’

At the moment, the app is about incorporating the soundscape into the dream rather than initiating it. But in the future, will it be possible to control our dreams?

‘We know that you can because external stimuli, like your alarm clock going off, people often incorporate into their dreams. So we know the mechanism is there, it’s not a wild claim.’

The Dream:ON soundscapes are based on what customers want from a dream, but Professor Wiseman admits there have been some more outlandish requests than birdsong.

Taking Control of Your Dreams | Innovations

New York inventors Duncan Frazier and Steve McGuigan have taken a different approach. Instead of incorporating sound to help people shape their dreams, they use light. They’ve created a sleep mask they call the Remee, which comes with six red LED lights and runs on a three-volt battery.

The device waits until a person is four to five hours into their night’s sleep–a time when periods of REM sleep tend to last longer–then begins flashing the lights in a pattern that lasts 15 to 20 seconds. It’s a visual cue meant to remind the person that they’re dreaming, which is key to having them take control of what happens.

Clearly, there’s lots of interest in driving dreams. When Frazier and McGuigan posted their idea on Kickstarter, they hoped to raise $35,000. More than 6,500 people have pledged almost $600,000 to help them out.

Remee - The REM enhancing Lucid Dreaming Mask by Bitbanger Labs — Kickstarter

So how does it work?

Sleep stages are divided into two main categories: non-REM sleep and REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep, where dreams typically occur.  Over the course of the night a sleeper will cycle through the five stages of sleep a number of times with the REM stages lasting longer and longer towards morning.
In default mode, Remee targets these long chunks of REM sleep towards the end of the sleep period. Before bed, turn Remee on, fine tune the brightness of the lights (if needed) and then go to sleep.  Remee will wait for an initial long delay, usually 4-5 hours, until you're in the heart of the heavy REM stages, before initializing light patterns.  After the initial long delay Remee will display light patterns for 15-20 seconds with a second shorter delay, default at 15 minutes, between each signal.  During non-REM sleep the lights are unlikely to effect you, but if you're in REM sleep the lights will bleed into your dreams, presenting a perfect chance to become lucid.

2012-06-06

SeatBuddy: AirBaltic's Social Airline Seating System

Passengers allowed to choose who they sit to via Air Baltic 'Seat Buddy' scheme | Mail Online


Make it stop: Passengers on Air Baltic who want peace and quiet will be able to select where they sit

The ‘Seat Buddy’ scheme – the brainchild of north European operator airBaltic – allows travellers to select the ‘type of person’ they sit next to.
Four ‘Flight Moods’ are available: ‘Business Talk,’ ‘Easy Chat,’ ‘Work’ and ‘Relax.’
Thus someone keen to concentrate on that important presentation can ask to be placed next to a kindred spirit in the ‘Work’ category – and with it, guarantee a flight free from enquiries about the weather.

World's first airline seating system that depends on your mood | CNNGo.com


Flight control: Surround yourself with the right people.

In another move toward making life more predictable, Latvian airline airBaltic has launched the world's first "SeatBuddy" scheme that pairs up like-minded passengers. 
The free and optional service powered by social seating system Satisfly can place you next to someone who is in the same "flight mood" as you.

[...]

AirBaltic says customer information is collected in a secure database and passenger identity isn't disclosed after matches are made. So there's a surprise factor after all.
The first test flights with the "SeatBuddy" option will take off at the end of June 2012. 
AirBaltic serves 60 destinations with direct flights from its home base in Riga, Latvia.

airBaltic introduces intelligent seating with SeatBuddy, powered by Satisfly – the cabin gets social | Leaders in airline & airport customer engagement :: SimpliFlying

Previously, KLM and Malaysia Airlines have introduced initiatives that allow a passenger to choose who to sit next too. But they’ve been limited because I can only do it when I fly that airline. But if I sign up for airBaltic’s SeatBuddy, it gives me the option to add other airline frequent flier programs I’m part of, so that my preferences can be saved the next time I fly any of my preferred airlines. Of course, the other airline also needs to be using the Satisfly-powered product.




2012-06-04

Mars One: Human Settlement on Mars

New 'Mars One' mission aims to establish first human colony on Red Planet by 2023 | Mail Online


An independent space launch company aims to put four people on Mars by April 2023 - and the team will not be coming back.

Mars One claims that a new crew of four will join every two years as the explorers build their settlement, and that by 2033 there will be 20 people living on Mars.

The company has been in talks with independent space suppliers such as Space X, which recently launched the first privately owned rocket to the Space Station.


Home - Mars One

Human settlement of Mars in 2023

Mars One will establish the first human settlement on Mars in 2023. A habitable settlement will be waiting for the settlers when they land. The settlement will support them while they live and work on Mars the rest of their lives. Every two years after 2023 an additional crew will arrive, such that there is a real living, growing community on Mars. Mars One has created a technical plan for this mission that is as simple as possible. For every component of the mission we have identified at least one potential supplier. Mars One invites you to join us in this next giant leap for mankind!


Mars One: Dutch Mission Wants To Establish First Human Settlement On The Red Planet

A new team of four explorers will join the settlement every two years, following the initial 2023 space landing.

"By 2033 there will be over twenty people living, working and flourishing on Mars, their new home," Mars One's mission objective states.

Living on Mars may sound like an astronomical joke as well as a scientific impossibility, but these Dutch space raiders are apparently serious.

Headed by scientist and entrepreneur Bas Lansdorp, a Nobel Prize-winning professor has also added credibility to the campaign.

As a mission ambassador, Dr Gerard 't Hooft insists that the project "seems [to me] to be the only way to fulfil dreams of mankind’s expansion into space."

And if plans like these sound exciting, Mars One is holding auditions for aspiring astronauts, beginning next year.


2012-06-01

Lap-Dance Science

Lap dancers provide evidence for human estrus | Dr Shock MD PhD

Eighteen professional lap dancers working in a gentlemen’s club recorded their menstrual cycle, work shifts and tip earnings for 60 days on a study website. A mixed model analysis of 296 work shifts showed an interaction between cycle phase and hormonal contraception use.



Ten Unusual Experiments in the Name of Science – The Ovulating Lap Dancer | UA Magazine


The results: Normally cycling strippers (not on birth control) earned about US$ 335 per 5-hour shift during estrus, US$260 per shift during the lower fertility phase, and US$185 per shift during menstruation. Why exactly? The psychologists are not sure. It could be related to smell, or sound maybe, but this should be investigated in further research.

Lap-Dance Science - New York Times

“Studies like this,” Miller says, “can tell us about the nature of human sexuality and attraction and answer important questions scientists have been debating for decades.” For example: Conventional scientific wisdom says that almost all mammals except humans go into estrus (a k a “heat”). Cats yowl and raise their hind ends in the air; female primates get visibly engorged in relevant areas. But humans, scientists have long believed, do no such things. Miller and Jordan’s research indicates otherwise. “It’s highly controversial because it’s science blurring the line between humans and other primates,” Miller says, “but our results give clear economic evidence that human estrus actually does exist.”

Next they hope to uncover how women signal that they’re in estrus: Do they smell different? Sound different? Their research could have practical applications as well. “The findings that estrus impacts earnings could have implications for women selling cars or giving big presentations as C.E.O.’s,’’ Miller says. ‘‘Should women schedule big job interviews during certain weeks of the month? We don’t know. But maybe.”