1.) Isabella, a golden retriever in Kansas who adopted 3 white Bengal tiger cubs and nursed them as her own. Zookeepers Tom and Allie Harvey brought the cubs home, and their dog Isabella stepped right up.
Continue reading… “Animals Adopting Animals – Top 10 Crazy Stories”
These rooms are painted so that, when looked at right, optical illusions will appear. Very cool…
Continue reading… “3D painted rooms”
It is always hard to keep up, but this might help.
Weekends offer time to explore and find input for this features roundup. You ready to rock this list?
Continue reading… “Digital Media resources you may have missed”
A new DARPA solicition seeks “swarming robot space vampires” (in JWZ’s evocative phrasing) to disassemble and harvest valuable components from decommissioned satellites before they’re decommissioned, to use as spare parts for the stuff that’s still functional…
A Few Companies Have Power Over Most of the Real Economy
The idea that the few dominate the many will not come as news to those gathered either to occupy wall street or to occupy everywhere. But up until now it has been just an intuition that a few corporations control the world.
Not any more. A team of Swiss mathematicians just proved that out of over 43,000 transnational corporations (TNCs), relatively few control almost 80% of the global economy. Find out who has the power below…
Continue reading… “Proof of global domination by a few corporations”
Matters of war are far too serious to entrust to people
who believe the American political system works
“Any intelligent fool can make things bigger and more complex… It takes a touch of genius – and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction.” – – Albert Einstein
Continue reading… “Top 10 Photos of the Week”
In-orbit gas station
NASA is considering a proposal to put fuel depots in space while looking to accelerate plans to send astronauts to distant destinations.
Continue reading… “NASA considers fuel depots in space”
TapSense is an experimental touchscreen system, that is able to tell the difference between different parts of the user’s finger.
Devices with small touchscreens, such as smartphones, certainly have their attractions, but they also have one drawback – there isn’t much room on their little screens for touch-sensitive features. Users will sometimes have to go into sub-menus, or make do with jabbing their fingers at tiny controls. Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University’s Human-Computer Interaction Institute, however, are working on an alternative. Their prototype TapSense system can differentiate between screen taps from different parts of the finger, and will perform different tasks accordingly. (Pics and video)
Continue reading… “TapSense: New touchscreen technology recognizes different parts of the finger”
Stressed? Maybe you’ve been spending too much time on holiday.
Between family commitments and the pressures of work, few of us feel we get enough ‘me’ time.
Continue reading… “Too much time off is stressful: study”
A solar charger with benefits.
Besides a reduced monthly power bill, there’s a certain smug satisfaction to recharging your gear with solar energy. It’s almost like you want everyone to know how eco conscious you’re being, and with the Changer solar charging system, you’ll actually be rewarded for bragging about it…
Continue reading… “A solar charger that rewards you for staying off the grid”
Synthetic Biology Could Change the World.
Daisy Ginsberg is an artist and designer currently exploring the frontiers of possibility in the emergent field of synthetic biology. She just gave what was by far one of my favorite talks at this year’s Poptech conference; she discussed the potential boons and pitfalls that products of synthetic biology may yield in coming years. To showcase the nascent field’s unpredictable future, she pointed to E. Chromi, a bacteria that she and a handful of Cambridge students genetically programmed to secrete colorful pigments when it comes into contact with designated toxins.
Think bacteria that could change color to expose contaminants in groundwater, air pollution in cloud cover — perhaps most strikingly, it can even change the color of your poop if it comes into contact with toxins in your digestive system. This great video details the genesis of the bacteria…
Continue reading… “New synthetic bacteria can detect air pollution & color-code your poop”
A continuous rhythm of 60 BPM causes the brainwaves and heart rate to synchronise with the rhythm.
Sound therapists and stress specialists worked with the band Marconi Union to develop “Weightless”, the most relaxing song ever…
Continue reading… “Scientists develop the most relaxing tune”