November 13th, 2009 at 8:31 am
SFFaudio has just announced their 4th Annual Make an Audiobook, Get an Audiobook Challenge. They have twenty Science Fiction and Fantasy titles of public domain and Creative Commons novels that they’d like to see freely available as audiobooks on the internet. They’re looking for participants to commit to recording and editing the sound files and then making them available online. At that point they will get to choose a free audiobook for a prize. But the real prize is the satisfaction of creating a creative work that can be shared with all. Previous SFFaudio Challenges have generated some great audiobooks of classic and obscure titles that would otherwise be unavailable in audio.
November 12th, 2009 at 10:21 am
Gene targets of FOXP2.
If humans are genetically related to chimps, why did our brains develop the innate ability for language and speech while theirs did not?
Continue Reading »
November 12th, 2009 at 10:19 am
Mobile phones and other cordless telephones have a biological effect on the brain, according to new research.
A study at Örebro University in Sweden indicates that mobile phones and other cordless telephones have a biological effect on the brain. It is still too early to say if any health risks are involved, but medical researcher Fredrik Söderqvist recommends caution in the use of these phones, above all among children and adolescents. Few children who regularly use mobile phones use a headset often or always, even though the Swedish Radiation Safety Authority recommends this.
Continue Reading »
November 12th, 2009 at 10:15 am
Pacific ocean. Did water come from ice-covered asteroids that may have reached the Earth around one hundred million years after the birth of the planets?
Contrary to preconceived notions, the atmosphere and the oceans were perhaps not formed from vapors emitted during intense volcanism at the dawning of our planet. Francis Albarède of the Laboratoire des Sciences de la Terre (CNRS / ENS Lyon / Université Claude Bernard) suggests that water was not part of the Earth’s initial inventory but stems from the turbulence caused in the outer Solar System by giant planets. Ice-covered asteroids thus reached the Earth around one hundred million years after the birth of the planets.
Continue Reading »
November 12th, 2009 at 10:11 am
Stefanie Milam, Michel Nuevo and Scott Sandford.
NASA scientists studying the origin of life have reproduced uracil, a key component of our hereditary material, in the laboratory. They discovered that an ice sample containing pyrimidine exposed to ultraviolet radiation under space-like conditions produces this essential ingredient of life.
Continue Reading »
November 12th, 2009 at 10:08 am
Electron beam freeform fabrication process.
A group of engineers working on a novel manufacturing technique at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va., have come up with a new twist on the popular old saying about dreaming and doing: “If you can slice it, we can build it.”
Continue Reading »
November 12th, 2009 at 9:13 am
9h Capsule Hotel
Japan’s getting yet another capsule hotel, but this one aims to provide something unprecedented: Luxury. (Pics)
Continue Reading »
November 12th, 2009 at 9:12 am
A clear silk film, about one centimeter squared, with six silicon transistors on its
surface about to be implanted into a mouse (Photo: Rogers/Omenetto)
Tattooing dates back to at least Neolithic times and has experienced a resurgence in popularity in many parts of the world in recent years. Advancements in tattoo pigments and the refinement of tattooing equipment has seen in improvement in the quality of tattoos being produced. Today it’s possible to get ink that glows under UV light, but a new technology could see tattoos that emit their own light. Researchers have been able to build thin, flexible silicon electronics on silk substrates that almost completely dissolve inside the body, paving the way for embedded LED tattoos that offer much more than just aesthetic appeal.The devices are made of a thin film of silk on which silicon transistors about one millimeter long and 250 nanometers thick are placed…
Continue Reading »
November 12th, 2009 at 9:02 am
What a nifty idea! Many folks insist that toothbrushes should be sterilized, after all, if you don’t, your toothbrush could become a breeding ground for all sorts of nasty bacteria. This concept toothbrush will harness the kinetic energy that we generate through the activity of us brushing out teeth. If you brush for 3 minutes, you should have made about 700 strokes, enough to power the UV LED in the tooth brush to zap the bacteria in the toothbrush.
Continue Reading »
November 12th, 2009 at 8:56 am
This Pinball Machine($6,000) looks like an old pinball machine. In reality, it is a digital pinball simulator and comes with 17 different games in authentic, three-dimensional detail. The machine’s 32″ color LCD monitor that supplants the traditional playing field and the backglass includes a second LCD for displaying scores, game graphics, and the occasional mini-game. And the game is controlled with all of the classic trappings, a mechanical plunger, mechanical flipper buttons. WAY FREAKIN’ COOL!
Continue Reading »
November 12th, 2009 at 8:41 am
Designer Marcus Tremonto created a lamp made out of carbon fiber. He selected this material for the Carbon 451 Lamp because it is strong enough to support its own weight but thin enough to present the aesthetic qualities Tremonto wanted:
When asked by art gallery owner Patrick Brillet to design a piece out of Carbon Fiber, we decided to celebrate and utilize the best of the materials true physical properties, its strength and lightness. The complexity of curves and required thinness could not be duplicated in any other material while still maintaining its ability to support itself completely[...]
Continue Reading »
November 12th, 2009 at 8:35 am
Lingerie makers Triumph have unveiled the ‘Nice Cup in Bra’, which can be removed, rolled out and used as a putting mat for the keen golfing lady.
The green corset-style garment can be removed and unrolled to create a 1.5m-long putting mat.
When the user sinks a putt into one of the cups, a built-in speaker pumps out a congratulatory “Nice shot!”.
The bra also features pockets for extra golf balls and tees, and a detachable flag pin that serves as a score pencil.
(video after jump…)
November 12th, 2009 at 7:41 am
SimplicITy computers have a basic start screen with just six options
An easy-to-use computer that helps older computer users surf the internet has been unveiled. The PC, which has just six main buttons on the desktop, was unveiled by former Blue Peter Presenter Valerie Singleton yesterday.
Continue Reading »
November 12th, 2009 at 7:20 am
Honda Hybrid hits pedestrians
Hybrid vehicles, which creep along almost silently at low speeds on electric power, are more likely to hit pedestrians or bicycles than regular cars, a study by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration finds.
Continue Reading »
November 11th, 2009 at 11:02 am
Sleep Box
Russian architects Arch Group have designed a booth for taking a quick nap in busy urban environments. Called Sleepbox, the units could be rented for between fifteen minutes and several hours. The architects envisage them installed at train stations, airports and shopping centres. (Pics)
Continue Reading »
November 11th, 2009 at 10:25 am
in:
Analysis,
Brain,
Breakthrough Thinking,
Crazy Photos,
Crazy Stuff,
Current Events,
Health & Fitness,
Human Behavior,
Internet,
Latest News,
Latest Trend,
Medical Breakthrough,
New Discoveries,
People Making a Difference,
Science & Technology News
The Human eye
Autism affects an estimated 1 in 150 children today, making it more common than childhood cancer, juvenile diabetes and pediatric AIDS combined. Despite its widespread effect, autism is not well understood and there are no objective medical tests to diagnose it. Recently, University of Missouri researchers have developed a pupil response test that is 92.5 percent accurate in separating children with autism from those with typical development. In the study, MU scientists found that children with autism have slower pupil responses to light change.
Continue Reading »
November 11th, 2009 at 10:21 am
Schematic diagram to show how the mechanical advantage and active muscle volume in the dinosaur hind limb were reconstructed.
Were dinosaurs “warm-blooded” like present-day mammals and birds, or “cold-blooded” like present day lizards? The implications of this simple-sounding question go beyond deciding whether or not you’d snuggle up to a dinosaur on a cold winter’s evening.
Continue Reading »
November 11th, 2009 at 10:20 am
Swift X-ray observations of galaxy NGC 5408 indicate its ultraluminous X-ray source undergoes periodic changes every 115.5 days.
While astronomers have studied lightweight and heavyweight black holes for decades, the evidence for black holes with intermediate masses has been much harder to come by. Now, astronomers at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., find that an X-ray source in galaxy NGC 5408 represents one of the best cases for a middleweight black hole to date.
Continue Reading »
November 11th, 2009 at 10:17 am
Text messaging on a mobile phone.
The world record for fastest text message typing is held by a 21-year old college student from Utah, but his dexterous digits could mean serious injury later on. Most adults aged 18-21 prefer texting over e-mail or phone calls, and ergonomics researchers are starting to wonder whether it’s putting the younger generation at risk for some overuse injuries — once reserved for older adults who have spent years in front of a computer.
Continue Reading »
November 11th, 2009 at 10:14 am
When a fetus is smaller than expected for the number of weeks of pregnancy, due to associated problems like a poorly developed heart, health concerns as severe as brain damage can result.
When a fetus is smaller than expected for the number of weeks of pregnancy, due to associated problems like a poorly developed heart, health concerns as severe as brain damage can result.
Continue Reading »
November 11th, 2009 at 9:58 am
Xray
To mark its centenary, in June the Science Museum in London had its curators select the 10 objects in its collection that had made the biggest mark on history. These then went to a public vote to find the most important invention of past centuries. Visitors to the museum and online voters cast nearly 50,000 votes. Find out the winners below.
Continue Reading »
November 11th, 2009 at 9:36 am
Rubbish in the Pacific
Aboard the Alguita, 1,000 miles northeast of Hawaii — In this remote patch of the Pacific Ocean, hundreds of miles from any national boundary, the detritus of human life is collecting in a swirling current so large that it defies precise measurement.
Continue Reading »
November 11th, 2009 at 9:30 am
Jeff Brunner offers this scathing critique of the values that the Disney Princesses teach girls. After the jump, you can view a response about what Disney teaches boys (would be princes).
Continue Reading »
November 11th, 2009 at 8:30 am
Getting fingered on the job.
A special silica film that can help white-collar employees check in on time at office has been selling well in China recently.
One of its users is a woman surnamed Liu who works for an advertisement company in Fuzhou, capital of Fujian province. Often late for work, Ms. Liu has suffered heavy fines, paying as much as 200 yuan in October alone.
However, she said her “suffering” ended as soon as she spotted the silica film which help latecomers to fool their office’s finger print check-in system. Ms. Liu took her fingerprints with plasticine and mailed them to the designated address.
Continue Reading »
November 10th, 2009 at 12:32 pm
The first Solar Sail spacecraft met an untimely end, crashing into the ocean instead of making it into orbit. But now, in 2010, a new, improved version of that craft–an entire spaceship that’s propelled only by the sun’s rays–is set to launch. And scientists will be see if this unique spaceship will become the prototype for long term interstellar travel.
Loading ...