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The Earth Guide
The Japan Science and Technology Agency offers the “Earth Guide,” an infographic that answers science and geography questions such as, “Where does the sky become space?” No word on whether it describes the planet as “Mostly Harmless.”Link (via Neatorama)
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Scientists Develop Plastic Blood
Researchers at Sheffield University in the UK have devised artificial blood; plastic molecules with an iron atom at their core. Like hemoglobin, it can carry oxygen through the body. Unlike hemoglobin, it doesn’t go bad at warm temperatures and is easy to carry and store.Link (via SciFi Tech)
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LawnBott: The Roomba for Yardwork
The LawnBott electric mower can be programmed in advance, comes with a remote control for those who want to supervise, and cuts up to 33,000 square feet on a single charge. At nearly $2,000 it ain’t exactly cheap, but if this sucker works as advertised I’d be tempted to own one.Link
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Hey, Maybe We Can Make the Kessel Run in Less Than 12 Parsecs
Researchers may be ready for experimental tests of an honest-to-goodness hyperdrive engine. If the experiment gets the go-ahead and works, it could reveal new interactions between the fundamental forces of nature that would change the future of space travel. Forget spending six months or more holed up in a rocket on the way to Mars,…
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As I’ve Often Said…
…if you want to see real cutting-edge technology, you should visit a toy store.A company called NeuroSky is on the brink of marketing a toy that reads brainwaves. They’ve already got a prototype “Darth Vader” toy–when you concentrate, your light saber lights up–but they’re looking to revolutionize the way video games are played. Rather than…
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Tastes Like…Oh, Forget It
You may remember the exciting news last year that some T. rex bones had been so perfectly preserved that some soft tissue was still intact. Some proteins have been extracted and sequenced, and guess what the T. rex is related to? G’head, guess. These jokes just write themselves.Link
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Retrocausality Experiment in the Works
Okay, this one makes my head hurt a little. There’s nothing in the known laws of physics to preclude the idea that the present can influence the past (or the future the present), and now there may be a way to see if it’s possible. Researchers are on the verge of experiments that will finally…
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Got Wok?
When I think of all the money I’ve sent to DishTV in the past years … A software programmer substituted a $10 Chinese cooking wok for a $20,000 satellite dish on behalf of his New Zealand television station. Link
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Two-Minute String Theory Contest
Discover Magazine is running a contest for the best video explaining String Theory in two minutes or less. The winning video, chosen by physicist Brian Greene, will appear on the Discover home page and the creators will be featured in the magazine.Link
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Indexed: Hilarious and Geeky Diagram Blog
This marvy little blog features funny and thoughtful musings on life through the medium of graphs and diagrams written on index cards. I especially like these:NourishingLife Sure Does Come At You FastScary Stories:::giggle:::(via Wil Wheaton)