Inventor Joshua Silver modelling his spectacular invention.
A British atomic physicist is liaising with the World Bank on a revolutionary project to distribute spectacles to 200 million children in developing countries. Users will be able to adjust the glasses to their own personal prescription without help from an optician. “All users have to do is look at a reading chart and adjust the glasses until they can see letters clearly,” said Professor Joshua Silver…
Seed beetle. Aggressive male mating behavior might well be a successful reproductive
strategy for the individual but it can drive the species to extinction, researchers say.
Aggressive male mating behavior might well be a successful reproductive strategy for the individual but it can drive the species to extinction, an international research team headed by evolutionary biologist Daniel Rankin from the University of Zurich has demonstrated in a mathematical model…
QR Codes can become art if you are inventive like Scott Blake.
In the past, Scott Blake made composite portraits of people using barcodes. Now he’s getting with the times and using QR codes instead. Pictured above is a portrait of radio show host Amy Goodman…
Here’s a delightful HOWTO for making a urinal out of SNES cartridges (please only use broken ones and crappy sports games, as the authors of this suggest!):
I recommend calling a professional plumber to install your video game urinal. They can help you remove the excess hardibacker, adjust the height of the flush valve & P-trap so they align with your plumbing, and secure the urinal to the wall…
Anti-Piracy measures in New Zealand could change its libraries forever.
Governments around the world are trying to figure out ways of cutting down on piracy. Some governments have already implemented controversial monitoring and three-strike rules. Such rules may look like they solve the issue in theory, but its a very different outcome in practice.
France was one of the first places to attempt to implement the three-strike rule, which sees an Internet connection represented by an IP address monitored through an ISP. If an infringement is identified a strike is given, get three strikes and the connection is terminated and/or you face prosecution or fines. However, it never made it past the French National Assembly…
But that same system has made it into law for New Zealand, and will be turned on come September…
The SplinterBike is a bit of an engineering marvel. The bike is made completely from wood; no screws, bolts, metal, plastic or rubber. Just wood, and most of it reclaimed!
An angel investor used to be defined as someone with a high net worth. They typically have more than $1 million and privately invest money in startup businesses that are seeking capital. The SEC restricts investing in private deals to mostly accredited investors. I say mostly because there are some opportunities for non-accredited investors to participate on a limited basis. The definition of an accredited investor in the U.S. is a person who either has a net worth (excluding a primary residence) of $1 million, an income of $200,000 per year for the last two years, or $300,000 in household income per year for the last two years.
Angel investing has gained a lot of popularity despite anxieties over the bubble bursting. You need to understand what you are getting into before making that first investment. The general rule is that you shouldn’t invest more than 10% of your net worth, since startups can be risky. Investments typically range from $25K to $250K, but with startups needing less capital to launch these days, the amounts are shrinking…
A tiny patch made out of carbon nanotubes may help regenerate heart cells.
According to research from Brown University, a conductive patch of carbon nanotubes can regenerate heart tissue growing in a dish. The patch, made of tiny chains of carbon atoms that fold in on themselves, forming a tube, conducts electricity and mimics the rough surface of natural tissue. The more nanotubes the Brown researchers added to the patch, the more cells around it were able to regenerate.
During the Second World War, almost every motorised vehicle in continental Europe was converted to use firewood. Wood gas cars (also known as producer gas cars) are a not-so-elegant but surprisingly efficient and ecological alternative to their petrol cousins, whilst their range is comparable to that of electric cars…
Scottish scientists have come a step closer to creating a “mind-reading machine” that can show mental images.
A team from the University of Glasgow have successfully decoded brain signals related to vision.
Six volunteers were shown images of people’s faces displaying different emotions such as happiness, fear and surprise.
In a series of trials, parts of the images were randomly covered so that, for example, only the eyes or mouth were visible. Participants were then asked to identify the emotion being displayed while electrodes attached to the scalp measured the volunteers’ brainwaves.
The scientists were able to show that brainwaves varied greatly according to which part of the face was being looked at…
When robots talk to each other, they’re not generally using language as we think of it, with words to communicate both concrete and abstract concepts. Now Australian researchers are teaching a pair of robots to communicate linguistically like humans by inventing new spoken words, a lexicon that the roboticists can teach to other robots to generate an entirely new language…
Three-person chess, a game mentioned on by Sheldon on The Big Bang Theory, is now a reality. It requires a specialized board, but other than that, you can just follow the rules at the link. Here’s an overview from the creators…
