Pet cat Smokey is believed to have the loudest purr in the world – with piercing purrs as loud as a lawnmower. Most cats purr at around 25 decibels but Smokey’s powerful purrs average an amazing 80 decibels.
When measured close-up her purrs reach an incredible 92 decibels, equivalent to the noise of a Boeing 737 coming into land…
Continue reading… “Cat Purrs as Loud as Boeing 737”
Telling the time one planet at a time.
Alexander Avtanski designed a clock that can be adjusted to keep time on many different planets based upon each one’s rotation period — at the same time. Here’s what sets this clock apart from other extraterrestrial clocks, according to its builder…
Continue reading… “Clock Built to Tell Time on Other Planets”
Light makes might?
Last time we checked in on Thomas Mallouk’s work applying biomimicry to generate hydrogen, he was reporting about 0.3 percent efficiency. According to his projections, the proof-of-concept device for producing hydrogen using the same trick applied in plants for photosynthesis could eventually reach efficiencies of 10-15%, beating nature’s average of 1 to 3 percent. Mallouk is back at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). So what’s the news on one promising option for generating large quantities of clean fuel for combustion engines or fuel cells?
Continue reading… “Advances in Producing Hydrogen by Mimicry of Photosynthesis”
He is head of the world’s biggest family – and says he is ‘blessed’ to have his 39 wives. Ziona Chana also has 94 children, 14-daughters-in-law and 33 grandchildren. They live in a 100-room, four storey house set amidst the hills of Baktwang village in the Indian state of Mizoram, where the wives sleep in giant communal dormitories…
Continue reading… “The Man With 39 Wives, 94 Children And 33 Grandchildren”
An Egyptian man who wanted to show his gratitude to Facebook for its role in the January 25 protests has named his baby Facebook. Here’s the article from the Egyptian paper Al-Ahram, as translated by TechCrunch:
Man Names His Newborn Girl Facebook
A young man in his twenties wanted to express his gratitude about the victories the youth of 25th of January have achieved and chose to express it in the form of naming his firstborn girl “Facebook” Jamal Ibrahim (his name.)
Continue reading… “Egyptian Names His Baby ‘Facebook’ after the Revolution”
Transcendent Man is a new documentary by Barry Ptolemy about futurist Ray Kurzweil. The film is based on Kurzweil’s book“The Singularity is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology.”
Continue reading… “Transcendent Man, a Documentary About Futurist Ray Kurzweil”
As much as we’d recommend tearing yourself away from your computer when the munchies hit, let’s be realistic: You’re not always going to do it. So when you are eating at your computer, you can at least opt for some more keyboard-friendly options.
We recently asked you what your favorite keyboard-friendly foods were, and you guys had a lot of great suggestions—both of good foods to eat and strategies to keeping your workspace clean. Here are some of our favorites…
Continue reading… “The Best Foods (and Strategies) for Eating at Your Computer”
Developed by the company AeroVironment Inc., the miniature spybot looks like a hummingbird complete with flapping wings… The ornithopter can fly into buildings under the control of an operator flying the spybot with the help of a feed from its tiny video camera. The prototype is capable of flying at speeds of up to 18 km/h (11 mph) and weighs 19 grams, which is about the same as an AA battery… The specifications given to the firm by the Pentagon included being able to hover in an 8 km/h wind gust and being able to fly in and out of buildings via a normal door…
This was the first YouTube video ever.
YouTube is huge. Humongous, even. More video content is uploaded to YouTube in a 60 day period than the three major U.S. television networks created in 60 years.
The average YouTube user spends between 15 and 25 minutes a day on the site, but how much do we know about the world’s largest video sharing website? Do you know what the most watched YouTube clip is? Can you name all three founders? Do you know how many times per minute a YouTube link is tweeted?
Continue reading… “10 Fascinating YouTube Facts That May Surprise You”
Analytics company Bain created a chart that illustrates the Global music industry turnover (1973- 2009) …
Continue reading… “Charting The Death of The Music Industry”
Both the BBC and the AFP are reporting that Muammar Gaddafi’s government in Libya has begun to block user access to Facebook in the country’s capital of Tripoli and is sporadically shutting down electricity access and access to Internet connections in the rest of the country as a response to anti-govermental protests…
Continue reading… “Libya Follows Egypt’s Lead, Starts Shutting Off Internet Services”
What was the purpose for Stonehenge? Was it a calendar, an observatory, or a sacrificial site? These suggestions by archaeologists assume that it was a completed design instead of a project left half-finished because the assembly instructions were provided by IKEA. Justin Pollard, John Lloyd and Stevyn Colgan composed a cartoon illustrating this explanation…
Continue reading… “IKEA Instructions for Stonehenge”
By delving into the futuring techniques of Futurist Thomas Frey, you’ll embark on an enlightening journey.
Learn More about this exciting program.