Impact Lab – Page 1411 – A Laboratory of the Future Human Experience

Breakthrough Thinking, Great New Product, New Inventions

Self-Strengthening Polymer Nanocomposite Works Best Under Pressure

March 27, 2011

Polymer Nanocomposite

No one keeps carbon nanotubes down — especially not these guys. The always popular allotropes have been enlisted by researchers at Rice University to create a composite material that gets stronger under pressure. When combined with polydimethylsiloxane, a rubbery polymer, the tubes form a nanocomposite that exhibits self-strengthening properties also exhibited in bones. During testing, the team found the material increased in stiffness by 12 percent after 3.5 million compressions…

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Big Problems, Culture, Current Events, Health & Fitness, Historical Perspectives, Hot Issues

Drug Resistant Superbugs Hit U.S. Hospitals and Nursing Homes

March 27, 2011

Overuse of antibiotics is starting to take its toll.

A deadly drug-resistant bacteria is spreading to elderly patients in nursing and long-term care facilities in Los Angeles County, according to CBS Local Los Angeles. Today 350 cases have been counted, most found in the elderly population. It’s called the CRKP bacteria and currently, it has no cure…

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Business, Entertainment, Latest News

No More Muzak

March 27, 2011

Your elevator ride will never be so flaccid again.

Elevator news: Muzak acquired by Canadian company.

The music on the elevator won’t change, but the company behind it will: Just over a year after emerging from bankruptcy, Fort Mill Township-based Muzak is being sold to a Canadian company.

Mood Media, a similar music provider based in Toronto, said Thursday that it is paying $345 million to buy Muzak, a privately held company…

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Art, Breakthrough Thinking, Great New Product, Historical Perspectives

Auto Ink Tattoo Machine

March 27, 2011

Artist Chris Eckert uses the tattoo medium as a personal reaction against people being born into a religion rather than choosing one after research and reflection. This machine picks a religion at random and brands the willing subject with its symbol.

Auto Ink is a three axis numerically controlled sculpture. Once the main switch is triggered, the operator is assigned a religion and its corresponding symbol is tattooed onto the persons arm…

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Animals, Art, Crazy Photos, Crazy Stuff, Culture, Humor, Photo Perspectives

Top 10 Photos of the Week

August 1, 2011

Revealing Your Inner Cat 062

As with all cats, the warm fuzzy exterior is merely window dressing for
the cold-hearted manipulating bastard that lies within

“Not all chemicals are bad. Without chemicals such as hydrogen and oxygen, for example, there would be no way to make water, a vital ingredient in beer.”

Dave Barry

“Not all chemicals are bad. Without chemicals such as hydrogen and oxygen, for example, there would be no way to make water, a vital ingredient in beer.” – – Dave Barry

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Analysis, Big Problems, Economy, Great Videos, Latest Trend

Detroit’s Population Shrank 25% in Last Decade

March 27, 2011

The Motor City’s engine is dying. Detroit’s population shrank by more than 25% in the last decade, according to Census statistics reported in the New York Times. The city’s population fell to 713,777 in 2010, a drop of almost 240,000 residents. That’s 100,000 more than Katrina-ravaged New Orleans lost.

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Analysis, Brain, Health & Fitness, Science & Technology News

Itching Really Can be Contagious

March 27, 2011

Researchers have shown that the sensation of an itch can be caught visually in the same way as yawning.

It is a phenomenon that can leave entire rooms full of people scratching at the merest mention of fleas or lice. Now scientists have proven for the first time that itching really can be contagious.

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Birth, Health & Fitness, Medical Breakthrough, Science & Technology News

Womb Transplants for Childless Women Could be Available Next Year

March 27, 2011

Women could have womb transplants as early as next year.

Womb transplants that would allow childless women to have babies could be available as early as next year, a leading researcher said last night.

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Globalism, Science & Technology News

Three Countries That Do Not Use the Metric System

March 27, 2011

These are the 3 countries that still do not use the metric system.

As a reminder, these are the three countries who don’t use the incredibly sensible metric system: Liberia, Myanmar and of course, the United States of America. U-S-A! U-S-A!

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Analysis, Global Warming, Globalism, Latest Trend, Science & Technology News, Weather

The World is Getting Windier and the Waves Higher

March 27, 2011

If winds continue to pick up at the same rate, hurricanes could become far more damaging by the middle of the century.

The world is getting breezier, according to a new study, which found a slow but steady increase in top wind speeds across the oceans over the last 23 years.

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Analysis, Big Problems, Globalism, Health & Fitness, Historical Perspectives, Latest News, New Discoveries

Google Map of the World’s Nuclear Power Plants

March 26, 2011

Where are all the nuclear power plants?

At Nature blogs, Declan Butler has put together a really info-dense mapping of the world’s nuclear power plants, using Google Earth. Nifty stuff for anybody whose interest in nuclear power has gone up significantly in recent weeks…

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Big Problems, Crazy Stuff, Culture, Current Events, Globalism, Historical Perspectives, Hot Issues, Internet, Latest News, Latest Trend

Microsoft Switches Off Privacy for Hotmail Users in War-Torn and Repressive States

March 26, 2011

Say goodbye to privacy on Hotmail if your country is in a state of chaos.

For reasons unknown, Microsoft has changed the settings on Hotmail to disable HTTPS for users in several countries including Bahrain, Morocco, Algeria, Syria, Sudan, Iran, Lebanon, Jordan, Congo, Myanmar, Nigeria, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan. Hotmail users in those countries can now be readily spied upon by ISPs and their governments. The Electronic Frontier Foundation has some good perspective…

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