Mom inventors growing trend.
Tamara Monosoff came up with an invention, eight years ago that she was sure mothers like herself would appreciate: a device that prevents children from unspooling toilet paper from the roll. But she had no idea how to transform the concept into a marketable product.
Continue reading… “Mompreneurs – if they can’t find it, they invent it”
What would you send into space via a space post office?
Young children living the Western world will often spend December writing letters to be sent the North Pole in the hope of reaching Santa Claus. In China, however, people of all ages now have a new reason to get the pen and paper out again as China Post are now offering a service that sends letters into space…
Continue reading… “China Post beams letters into orbit via a Space Post Office”
Top Secret for years after the project was completed.
In the 1970s, during the heights of the Cold War, more than 1,000 engineers worked on a project so secret that they couldn’t tell their wives and children decades after it was over.
In September 2011, the project – a series of spy satellites so advanced that it could see objects about 2 feet wide from space (mind you, this was in the 1970s before the ubiquity of computers so the satellites were built with slide rules), was declassified and with it, the stories of the men who kept their secret for 45 years…
Bringing Air-Traffic Control in the 21st Century could really save CO2.
If you are going somewhere in a vehicle that burns a lot of fossil fuels, it’s never a good idea to take unnecessary detours. Sadly, most airplanes can’t take the most elegant and efficient route to their destinations because of the limitations of the air-traffic control system that guides them. It’s not the fault of the traffic controllers – they do a good job – but rather of the technology with which they have to work; the foundations of the system are 50-60 years old and produce flight paths that are far from optimal when it comes to saving fuel (and thus reducing CO2 emissions), saving money, and saving time for passengers. So what can we do about it?
Continue reading… “Computerized air-traffic control could save CO2 equivalent of Denmark’s economy”
Polaroid Instant Z340
There is nothing quite like a classic Polaroid instant camera. The photos may be murky and the film costs as much as some standalone cameras, but for decades, it was the most magical format in all of photography. Point and shoot, shake the photo for a few minutes, and you’ve got an instant memory preserved in silver and celluloid.
Continue reading… “Polaroid Instant Z340 – an instant camera for the digital age”
Genes determine our perfume preferences.
You may love the scent of a particular perfume but someone else may find the scent repulsive. Our genes determine our perfume preference, a new study suggests.
Continue reading… “Perfume preference determined by our genes”
“Mushroom House” in upstate N.Y. is different, but not the strangest home of 2011.
A quest to find the world’s strangest homes of 2011 began with a compellingly eccentric home located in an exotic place. (Pics)
Moral machines in the future?
Will robots in the future be capable of follow moral principles and understand them? A robot walks into a bar and says, “I’ll have a screwdriver.” That is definitely a bad joke. But what if the robot says “Give me what’s in your cash register?” That would be even less funny.
Continue reading… “Will future robots be capable of following moral principles?”
Abraham Karem began tinkering with drones in his garage in 1980.
Abraham Karem, is an engineer who had emigrated from Israel. In 1980 he retreated into his three-car garage in Hacienda Heights outside Los Angeles and, to the bemusement of his tolerant wife, began to build an aircraft.
Continue reading… “Drones: garage invention spawns multibillion-dollar defense industry”
BANG! Color.
If you’ve had about enough holiday cheer for one year, you can take comfort in the fact that you’re not alone. Photographer Alan Sailer likes to shoot Christmas ornaments with a high-powered pellet gun and photograph them with a high-speed camera as they explode into a million shiny pieces. Bah-humbug, indeed!
(more explosions after the jump…)
Cozy cold view.
Located in the wilderness near Finland’s Urho Kekkonen National Park, the Igloo Village of Hotel Kakslauttanen offers a crystal clear view of the Northern lights and stars, all while comfortably relaxing in your room.
Thermal glass walls not only insulate the interior to keep it warm, but also make sure that view stay clear even when the temperature drops to -22 degrees Fahrenheit (-30°C). That’s why it is an excellent place to see the Aurora Borealis, one of the world’s seven natural wonder, or in other words, the burst of colored light caused by the collision of energetic charged particles with atoms in the high altitude atmosphere. The lights are visible from August to April, however the peak viewing time is during the winter months…
Onchocerca volvulus
Large areas of northern Uganda are experiencing an outbreak of nodding syndrome, a mysterious disease that causes young children and adolescents to nod violently when they eat food. The disease, which may be an unusual form of epilepsy, could be linked to the parasitic worm responsible for river blindness, a condition that affects some 18 million people, most of them in Africa.
The current outbreaks are concentrated in the districts of Kitgum, Pader and Gulu. In Pader alone, 66 children and teenagers have died. More than 1000 cases were diagnosed between August and mid-December…
Continue reading… “Mysterious nodding syndrome spreading through Uganda”
By delving into the futuring techniques of Futurist Thomas Frey, you’ll embark on an enlightening journey.
Learn More about this exciting program.