Today’s Kickstarter Creativity Spotlight focuses on balloon mapping. What the heck is balloon mapping you may ask?
Balloon mapping is sending a camera up on a balloon, snapping photos, and stitching them into a map. Over the past year and a half these fine folks have built a global mapper community and this is your chance to participate in all the excitement…
Continue reading… “Balloon mapping kits by Mathew Lippincott”
Will you become a member?
Pirates and file-sharers, rejoice! The Missionary Church of Kopimism (just say it out loud) has been recognized as a religion in Sweden:
Since 2010 a group of self-confessed pirates have tried to get their beliefs recognized as an official religion in Sweden. After their request was denied several times, the Church of Kopimism – which holds CTRL+C and CTRL+V as sacred symbols – is now approved by the authorities as an official religion. The Church hopes that its official status will remove the legal stigma that surrounds file-sharing.
All around the world file-sharers are being chased by anti-piracy outfits and the authorities, and the situation in Sweden is no different. While copyright holders are often quick to label file-sharers as pirates, there is a large group of people who actually consider copying to be a sacred act…
Cycling transportation gets a boost in Sweden.
If you want to find an unassuming place where bicycling is a way of life and nobody makes a big deal about it, head south. The south of Sweden, that is, where the small university town of Lund has a big bicycle habit. They just don’t advertise it.
In Lund, 60% of the populace bikes or takes public transport to go about their daily tasks. And then there’s Malmö, Sweden’s third largest city – only 20 miles southwest of Lund. Malmö also doesn’t have a reputation for fantastic biking. But some say it is the country’s best biking city – ahead of both Stockholm, the capital; Gothenburg, the second largest Swedish metropolitan area, and a host of smaller bike-friendly burgs…
Continue reading… “A new cycling superhighway. Not in the U.S.A.”
Space gas has its consequences.
Humans produce two flammable gases: hydrogen and methane. Flammable gases accumulate in an enclosed space and can ignite. Astronauts are humans who spend lots of time in enclosed space. The logic is irrefutable. So, what’s the risk to farting astronauts?
Between 1968 and 1971, researchers Edwin L. Murphy and Doris H. Calloway published three, count ‘em, three studies on flatulence. The 1969 paper was about astronauts and their farts, specifically a study to determine the level of flatulence produced by difference astronaut space diets. Picturing how the study went brings into focus the many indignities astronauts face for their shot at space travel…
Continue reading… “The danger of farting in space”
The death of a beloved pet can be a traumatizing experience, and most people love their pets as they would any other member of their family. But would you pay $50,000 to clone a new version of your beloved pet from the DNA of the deceased? The lady in this clip didn’t hesitate to head over to South Korea, shell out the cash and clone her deceased dog Trouble, and she seems to have no regrets about her decision…
Continue reading… “Woman pays $50k to clone her dog”
Some of the innovations at CES were basic and if you saw one of them you were going to see 20. Others jumped out and smacked you in the noggin because there were obvious landmark steps in a new direction. The Leonar3Do virtual reality design kit really captured our imagination and kept us thinking all day and night of the possibilities it was capable of…
Continue reading… “World’s first desktop virtual reality design kit – Leonar3Do”
Strain in graphene opens up a pseudomagnetic gap.
Can organic matter behave like a fridge magnet? Scientists from The University of Manchester have now shown that it can…
Continue reading… “Graphene reveals its magnetic personality”
Fertility on the decline, but at what cost?
You probably already know that China has a one child per couple policy, but you might not know how it is enforced or who is granted exceptions to the rule. The answers to these questions can be found over at Mental Floss and they are simply fascinating….
Continue reading… “How China’s One Baby Policy works?”
Concentrations of carbon dioxide emissions, blamed for global warming, will linger in the atmosphere for decades even if the world stopped pumping out emissions today.
The atmosphere contains high levels of carbon dioxide emissions which means the next ice age is unlikely to begin for at least 1,500 years, an article in the journal Nature Geoscience said on Monday.
Continue reading… “Next ice age unlikely to begin for at least 1,500 years”
Is bootstrapping over-rated?
Entrepreneurship requires balancing unbridled optimism with delusional foolishness. Most entrepreneurs are mocked and misunderstood until they are wildly successful, at which point the chorus changes from “good luck with that ‘business’, pal” to “I always believed in ya, buddy!”
Continue reading… “Bootstrapping is just as over-rated as raising venture capital?”
Can you see what I see? Can you hear what I hear?
If you have plans to take over the world, you’re going to need a secret lair from which you can run your evil plots. But why waste time and money hollowing out a volcano when there’s already the perfect place for sale in the real estate listings?
The Jamesburg Earth Station was built by NASA in 1968 for receiving transmissions from the Apollo moon landings, then it was used by AT&T for satellite telecommunications. It even played a key role relaying pictures of the Tiananmen Square protests in 1989. Now it can be yours for just under $3 million…
Continue reading… “For sale, one space tracking station worthy of an evil genius”
Online pinboard Pinterest is all the rage these days, and as Etsy is showing today with its latest product announcement, e-commerce sites are starting to realize the power of pinning. The e-commerce marketplace is making it easier for Pinterest users to pin and organize Etsy items, via a new Pin It button on Etsy listing pages, alongside the Tweet and Like buttons.
Etsy says that its members are big fans of Pinterest (and so is Etsy), so the integration makes sense. Etsy is also using Pinterest’s price display feature. So when you pin listings with the Pin It button, the required pin description field is prefilled with the item title and price. Users can also add a note about why they like the item, which will be added to their Pinterest posting…
Continue reading… “Etsy makes it easy for users to post items to Pinterest with new ‘Pin It’ button”
By delving into the futuring techniques of Futurist Thomas Frey, you’ll embark on an enlightening journey.
Learn More about this exciting program.