The uncanny valley hypothesis, proposed already in the 1970s, suggests that almost but not fully humanlike artificial characters will trigger a profound sense of unease. This hypothesis has become widely acknowledged both in the popular media and scientific research. Surprisingly, empirical evidence for the hypothesis has remained inconsistent. In the present article, we reinterpret the origina...

The objective of the research was to determine the effect of habitat type of selected species of trees on the nature of co-occurrence of Fe, Mn, Zn, Cu, Pb, Cd, Ni, Cr and Co. The presence of speciation forms of these metals was investigated, with reference to the species composition of tree stands in selected areas of the Tatra Mountain National Park (Chochołowska Valley, Strążyska Valley, Koś...

An abandoned stream valley, here called Florence Valley, was found in eastern Erie County, Ohio. Florence Valley is about one mile long and connects the valleys of Chappel Creek and the Vermilion River. There is evidence that Florence Valley was formed as a result of the capture of a tributary of the Vermilion River by Chappel Creek. Chappel Creek, at the junction of Florence Valley and the val...

The valley of Cuatro Ciénegas, an aquatic oasis located in the Mexican Chihuahuan Desert, exhibits the highest level of endemism in North America and is a Mexican National Protected Area. However, little is known about the evolutionary distinctiveness of several vertebrate species present in the Cuatro Ciénegas valley. We conducted a phylogeographic study using mitochondrial haplotypes from the...

Flash floods are considered to be one the worst kind of hazard. They are characterized by their suddenness, rarity, small scale, heavy rain and peak discharge, unpredictable, fast and violent movement. It has severe effects on human society in the form life losses, damages to property, roads, communication and on natural settings. Advances in hydrology, meteorology, engineering, using of GIS an...

A presumptive case of Murray Valley Encephalitis (MVE) acquired in Alice Springs in March 1997 is reported. The patient subsequently died in Mackay. The diagnosis of Murray Valley Encephalitis was supported by the detection of flavivirus IgM in cerebrospinal fluid. Low titres of IgM specific to Murray Valley Encephalitis and Alfuy were detected in a single serum sample. The patient's travel mov...

The greatest change in particle roundness, sphericity, and size in most fluvial systems generally occurs in the initial first few kilometers of sediment transport. Observations in natural settings and laboratory experiments have shown that changes, such as increased gi'ain rounding and decreased size due to particle breakage, wear, and attrition, tend to be progz'essive along the dispersal path...

Precise distance measurement is crucial for the high-precision industry as the semiconductor manufacturing is one. Measurement devices based on the concept of a Michelson interferometer are widely used to implement a very accurate and non-contact distance measurement with nanometer resolution. Interferometers are often applied in environments where the optical path is uncovered and influenceabl...

The pigment Isorhodopsin, an analogue of the visual pigment Rhodopsin, is investigated via quantum-mechanics/molecular-mechanics computations based on an ab initio multiconfigurational quantum chemical treatment. The limited <5 kcal mol(-1) error found for the spectral parameters allows for a nearly quantitative analysis of the excited-state structure and reactivity of its 9-cis-retinal chromop...