Screenshot from Chime.in
What happens if you combine Twitter-like sharing, the depth of blogging and the voting mechanics of Reddit? You might get Chime.in, UberMedia’s take on social networking…
Continue reading… “New social network combines Twitter, Blogging and Reddit”
Look at the details!
Researchers say this specimen is about as close to perfect as fossils come. Unveiled last Thursday by scientists from the Bavarian paleontological and ecological collections in Munich, Germany, the unnamed dinosaur is believed to be 98% complete, and even includes bits of preserved skin.
Continue reading… “The most well-preserved dinosaur skeleton ever found in Europe”
Nanotubes contribute to another breakthrough.
Will the wonders of carbon nanotubes never cease? Engineers have now used everyone’s favorite cylindrical übermolecules to create artificial muscles that can contract and twist, in a manner not unlike like the muscles found in elephant trunks and squid tentacles. The upshot? Researchers say these tiny little motors could soon be used to propel microscopic nanobots throughout your bloodstream.
In nanoscale engineering, the term “artificial muscle” is used to refer to materials that can change their shape in response to stimuli. The mechanical movements created by these muscles have potential applications in everything from cancer therapies to portable electronics…
Using corn as fuel is Madness! And not the British band…
The corn ethanol supporters are probably not very familiar with the concept of opportunity cost. Either that, or the subsidies and high corn prices are just to juicy to give up. Only about 20% of all the corn grown in the U.S. now goes to feed humans directly, and more than half of what remains is now being turned into ethanol fuel while the other half goes to feed livestock. The problem is that life-cycle studies show that corn ethanol ranges from barely better than fossil-fuel gasoline to significantly worse, especially if you take into account land use issues and the impact of higher food prices on the poor. Many would agree that corn ethanol is a net loss for society, yet this industry keeps growing…
Continue reading… “The U.S. now uses more corn for fuel than feed!”
Taking off like a rocket.
Popular crowd funding platform Kickstarter has announced that more than 1 million people have backed at least one project, resulting in more than $100 million dollars in pledges.
Kickstarter allows users to post their projects and find funding for them from the Kickstarter community. Everything from the iPod nano watch to indie films have gotten their start on the crowd funding website.
It took Kickstarter just under two-and-a-half years to reach the 1 million backers milestone, according to a plethora of stats the company published on its blog…
Continue reading… “Kickstarter surpasses $100 million in pledges”
Graduate Student Jian Shi and Materials Science and Engineering Professor Xudong Wang
demonstrate a material that could be used to capture energy from respiration.
The same piezoelectric effect that ignites your gas grill with the push of a button could one day power sensors in your body via the respiration in your nose…
Continue reading… “Electricity from the nose: Engineers make power from human respiration”
Yes, I knew coffee would get me wired, but not like this
“Don’t worry about the world coming to an end today. It is already tomorrow in Australia.” – – Charles Schulz
Continue reading… “Top 10 Photos of the Week”
Little Rohan Ajit Kokane whizzed into the Guinness Book of World Records
after performing the furthest ever roller-skating limbo.
He managed to fly under an incredible 20 cars while performing the splits during the stunt in Mumbai, India. Rohan picked up speed before bending down and making his chest parallel to the ground…
Continue reading… “Boy, 11, sets longest limbo skating-world record”
Netherlands has a new outlook on alcohol.
Starting December 1st, the Netherlands will be giving their drunk drivers a holiday gift. Drivers who have been pulled over with high blood alcohol content will be given “alcolocks” to install into their cars. The device acts as a breathalyzer that can keep an engine turned off…
Continue reading… “Dutch mandates alcolocks”
This is a simulation of matter ejected from a star merger.
Einstein wrote about them, and we’re still looking for them — gravitational waves, which are small ripples in the fabric of space-time, that many consider to be the sounds of our universe. Just as sound complements vision in our daily life, gravitational waves will complement our view of the universe taken by standard telescopes.
Albert Einstein predicted gravitational waves in 1918. Today, almost 100 years later, advanced gravitational wave detectors are being constructed in the US, Europe, Japan and Australia to search for them…
Continue reading… “Gravitational waves that are ‘Sounds of the Universe’”
Lutz Eichholz has accomplished the impossible. He previously set the world record for riding a unicycle down a line of beer bottles (a highly competitive event) at 7.99 meters.
Continue reading… “The World Record for riding a unicycle down a line of beer bottles”
This simple looking membrane could change the industry.
If you want a rechargeable battery in a power-hungry device today, the only real choice is a lithium-ion battery. They are heavy, quite large depending on how much charge you need, and volatile. They also have a high cost and limited life span.
A replacement for lithium-ion has long been sought after, and recently there have been some breakthroughs such as the jelly-like polymer battery. However, researchers at the National University of Singapore may have come up with the best solution yet in the form of an new energy storage membrane…
Continue reading… “Energy storage membrane set to revolutionize rechargeable batteries”
By delving into the futuring techniques of Futurist Thomas Frey, you’ll embark on an enlightening journey.
Learn More about this exciting program.