Category: Crazy Stuff

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Analysis, Art, Crazy Stuff, Culture, Current Events, Education, Historical Perspectives, Human Behavior

The Connected States of America

When you think of a map of the US, you probably break it down by state or quadrants or party affiliation. But MIT, IBM and AT&T’s research teams decided to look at who was talking to whom, and the resulting map is pretty captivating.

The researchers organized anonymous data from AT&T mobile phones into interactive maps illustrating which areas place the most calls and texts, and who they’re communicating with. The colors represent areas that areas that communicate heavily locally, while the lines are for areas of the country that are in heavy contact remotely, like San Francisco and New York…

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Art, Breakthrough Thinking, Corporate Manipulation, Crazy Stuff, Culture, Current Events, Entertainment, Human Behavior, New Viewpoints

Can’t decide on a tattoo? Get a QR Code inked on your chest!

As part of whisky brand Ballantine’s “Leave an Impression” campaign, Paris-based tattoo artist Karl Marc seared a QR code onto his friend Marco’s chest.

Marc says the whisky company approached him and asked if he would be interested in executing the tattoo — a QR code that unlocked an animation when scanned — via a live stream on the brand’s Facebook Page. The brand is doing similar events with other artists, from ice sculptors to graffiti artists…

Continue reading… “Can’t decide on a tattoo? Get a QR Code inked on your chest!”

Analysis, Breakthrough Thinking, Crazy Stuff, Education, Entertainment, Great New Product, Human Behavior

High Tech Specs may change the way we see the world

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Perspective changing glasses are coming soon.

Imagine glasses that can read body language and offer suggestions about how you should respond, or goggles which can scan faces and call up criminal databases to find a real time match. These snazzy high tech specs aren’t just science fiction props anymore, and researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology are sure that their “social x-ray specs” are going to find a multitude of uses in society, from communicating more effectively with Autistic people to becoming human lie detectors and much more.

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Analysis, Breakthrough Thinking, Crazy Stuff, Great New Product

Smartphone attachment diagnoses cataracts

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Catra can diagnose cataracts on your smartphone.

Researchers at MIT’s Media Lab have created a smartphone attachment called Catra that can diagnose cataracts in a matter of minutes. The screening tool is currently being tested on subjects.

Catra clips on to devices such as phones and iPods, and scans the lens of the eye to create a map of the position, size, shape and density of cataracts. “I like to think of this as a radar for the human eye,” says Ramesh Raskar, director of the MIT Media Lab’s Camera Culture group…

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Analysis, Animals, Breakthrough Thinking, Crazy Stuff, Famous Inventor, Historical Perspectives

The shocking true tale of the Mad Genius who invented Sea-Monkeys

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This was a classic comic book ad for many many years.

Did you ever order Sea Monkeys from an ad in the back of a comic book? The man behind the “Bowlfull of Happiness” was Harold von Braunhut, who’s life was so much more than sea monkeys…

Continue reading… “The shocking true tale of the Mad Genius who invented Sea-Monkeys”

Analysis, Animals, Crazy Stuff, Historical Perspectives, Insects

World’s Loudest Animal is a tiny insect, says study

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Loud things can come in small packages.

While normally a species measuring in at only around 2 millimeters in length might be easily overlooked, one tiny freshwater-dwelling critter has found a way to turn peoples’ heads. Researchers studying ‘water boatman’ (Micronecta scholtzi), an aquatic insect native to Europe, say that the minuscule species takes the mantle as the world’s loudest animal relative to its body size. The hard-to-see insect is capable of producing a song that reaches a whopping 99.2 decibles — roughly the equivalent to the sound of a motorcycle. What may be more surprising, however, is just how water boatman make their ‘song’.

Continue reading… “World’s Loudest Animal is a tiny insect, says study”

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