Latest Hot Stories

• I’ve Gotta Get One of These!

  May 18, 2009
  

  Eric Scott may well be insane, but I guess that makes me crazy too, because I’m thinking I’ve gotta make myself a hydrogen peroxide jetpack. Eric attempted to set a Guinness World Record at Scotland’s Knockhill Racing Circuit using just such a pack. He reached 68 miles per hour cruising along the raceway. Check out the video!

  Via Oh! Gizmo

• Big Dog Redux: The Small Dog?

  May 15, 2009
  

  A while back we posted a video showing off Boston Dynamics’ “Big Dog”. Well, the lab that works with them is back again with a new robot—that climbs poles. This robot, dubbed the RiSE V3, isn’t quite as visually impressive, but the technological feats required to pull it off certainly are impressive. Check out the video by clicking here.

• Microsoft’s Home Of the Future

  May 14, 2009
  

  Engadget just shared a video showcasing Microsoft’s vision of how computing will be integrated into our day to day lives in the homes we live in in the future. From cooking assistance to interactive wallpaper, the future will be wild! Take a look for yourself:

  Via Engadget

• Ever Wonder How a Curveball Works?

  May 13, 2009
  

  

  Each year the Neural Correlate Society sponsors The Best Visual Illusion of the Year contest. This year’s winner is an illusion that demonstrates how the break of a curveball causes the brain to think the ball is changing direction. I would try to explain it, but it is simply something you have to see for yourself. Hit the link or the photo to check it out!

  The runners up include an illusion which shows how the eyes interpret color and one showing how our brains determine the sex of someone we’re looking at. The latter is my favorite. Two variants of photo of an androgynous face are presented. One has reduced contrast and the other increased contrast, making them appear lighter and darker. This small difference causes our brains to identify one face as female and the other as male—even though they are the same face.

  And be sure to just have some fun looking around the site. Take advantage of the “Try a Random Illusion” links in the left column and you could end up sinking hours of your time looking at awesome illusions!

• Community Forum – Sunday, May 17th

  May 13, 2009
  

  This Sunday, May 17th, join Steve Wohlers as he interviews Sweet Home High School’s 2009 valedictorians and salutatorians. They’ll be discussing their hopes, dreams, opinions and plans for the future. Listen in and gain some insight as to how the next generation thinks about the future.

• The Roomba Romp

  May 11, 2009
  

  Just came across this over at boing boing. Someone took a long exposure, 30 minute, photograph of a Roomba doing its dirty work. Quite interesting, this shows how the Roomba wanders its way around the room, vacuuming as it goes. Click the photo to check out the original post on signaltheorist.com:

  

  Via Boing Boing

• Feeling Defeated? So Does This Cat

  May 6, 2009
  

  Just as this poor cat was getting into his huntin’ groove… Well, watch the video!

• One More “Tilt-Shift” Timelapse Video

  May 5, 2009
  

  Sorry if these are getting old, but I came across another jaw dropping time lapse video to share with you. This one uses the same “tilt-shift” effect that was used in the last one I posted. This effect makes it appear as though the subjects in the photograph are “miniature”, however this is not the case. These are indeed real photographs. The only “doctoring” is the blurring required to pull off the effect. Check it out!

  Be sure to watch it full screen to get the full effect and head on over to watch it on Vimeo in HD.

• The Amazing Beatbox Kid

  May 1, 2009
  

  Check this out. This kid is making every last sound you hear using only his mouth. There’s no synthesizer sitting in the background making the beats or melody. Just him, a cappella style.

  Via Dvorak Uncensored

• Another Amazing Time Lapse Video

  April 30, 2009
  

  I’ve been following Ross Ching’s work for quite some time now and he produces amazing time lapse landscape videos. To top it off, he releases HD versions, 720p and even 1080p, for everyone to view. If you haven’t had the chance to experience true HD video, look at this.

  For his latest video, Eclectic 3.0, Ross used a photography technique known as “tilt-shift” to produce images which appear as though the subjects are miniature models. The human eye can be “tricked” into seeing cars, houses and people as though they are tiny miniatures.

  Check out the 720p and 1080p HD videos at his website.

• The Navy’s “Zamboni” Flight-deck Sweeper

  April 29, 2009
  

  This morning we talked about the Navy’s new flight-deck cleaning machine. If you’d like to see a video of the Mobile Cleaning Reclaim and Recovery System (MCRRS—aka the “flight deck Zamboni”), head on over to PhysOrg and check it out.

• NPR Map of Confirmed “Swine Flu” Cases

  April 28, 2009
  

  As promised on The Morning Show, here’s a link to the map NPR put together showing confirmed cases of the “swine flu”. But, please, don’t obsess over reloading the map every five minutes to see if the flu has shown up near you. We don’t need any “swine flu lotteries” or games of “flu darts”!

• IBM Takes on Jeopardy!

  April 28, 2009
  

  Bad puns and references to Sherlock Holmes aside, here’s a great video discussing IBM’s “Watson” computer system. Watson is a project dedicated to creating a computer system which is intelligent enough to be competitive on the game show Jeopardy! Personally, I’m excited and would love to see a showdown between Watson and Ken Jennings similar to the Deep Blue versus Kasparov chess battle. (Hey Jeopardy! producers, are you listening? Please, make it so!)

• Goblin Sharks and Dragon Fish, Oh My!

  April 27, 2009
  

  Over the weekend I was introduced to the goblin shark. I can”t help but think this thing must have inspired H.R. Giger”s designs for the movie Alien. It as a “protrusible jaw” that shoots out to capture prey. Take a look:

  And Treasure came across the “Deep Sea Dragonfish“, which is equally as weird. It is bioluminescent, which means it can produce its own light, and looks like it fell straight out of the Jurassic period. For another group of photos that includes this and other creepy deep sea creatures, check these out.

• Behold the Breakdancin’ Baby

  April 24, 2009
  

  Here’s a video showcasing the amazing talents of one little tyke who I’ll put my bets on for having one heck of a dancing career ahead of him.

• What is This Twitter Thing Anyways?

  April 24, 2009
  

  On today’s Morning Show I talked about a few of the things Guy Kawasaki mentioned in his article showing what Twitter is being used for—besides telling everyone about the hamburger you just ate. (Sadly, I’m guilty of that.) For those who are interested in learning more, here are the links to the articles referenced.

  Tony Hsieh’s Beginner’s Quick Start Guide and Tutorial to Using Twitter
  Guy Kawasaki’s How to Demo Twitter

• Bendable, Self-healing Concrete

  April 24, 2009
  

  Check out the video embedded in this article about research from the University of Michigan that promises to bring self-healing, bendable concrete to a roadway near you.

• Timescapes – WOW!

  April 23, 2009
  

  While I was getting the last post together, I noticed that Phil, author of Bad Astronomy, had posted an amazing video that I just have to help spread. I’ve done some time lapse photography myself…and it didn’t turn out well. So I have to give kudos to Tom @ Timescapes for the amazing quality of work. I hope you enjoy this visual wonderland as much as I did. Take a peek!

• This Planet Takes it to The Extreme!

  April 23, 2009
  

  We talked about this planet on the Morning Show, which I first learned about by reading the Bad Astronomy blog. It orbits a star in the constellation best known as the Big Dipper and has some very extreme conditions. Such as the shape of the orbit around its star that brings it very close in, scorching the planet, and then swings far, far away leaving it out in the cold. This produces winds in excess of 11,000 miles per hour! Check out the story to find out even more fun facts about this extreme planet.

• Coming Soon to a Store Near You…

  April 22, 2009
  

  As promised on the Morning Show, for those who want to know more, here’s a link to that list of MIT projects over at TechRadar. Definitely look at the last one that talks about MIT’s “Sixth Sense” project that has been getting quite a few mentions by tech mavens. First we had Bluetooth headsets, just wait for Bluetooth eyeglasses!