Showing posts tagged science

This has to be shared.  This monkey puts my response time and memory to shame.

Had to share this.  Old school educational animation rules.

If you’ve never heard of the research of Ed Wilson regarding pheromonal communication in ants, check out this video now.  I’d love to get a bunch of the pheromone and make ants walk in some crazy shapes.

Here’s a link to the documentary in its entirety if you have some time on your hands. 

On my flight to Kansas City last month there was a moment where the sun rising caused this crazy circular rainbow to appear around the shadow of the plane on the clouds. Check it:

Going to space in a balloon sounds more fun than going to space in a rocket.  I assume the ascent would be slower and you’d be able to look out the windows the whole time and see yourself pass through the different layers of atmosphere.  Not smushed to a chair under multiple g-forces…  cozydark: Near-Space Tourism Balloon Runs Test Launch | A new tourist experience could be provided within five years by a huge balloon that offers stunning views of the horizon and the blackness of space. The designer tested the launch procedure last month, using a smaller version of the helium balloon and its passenger pod. [test launch: video] The May 29 test was halted when a wind gust damaged the balloon’s envelope. The video description of the launch test said a repeat test of the balloon, designed by the Spanish company Zero 2 Infinity, is “scheduled soon.” The “bloon,” as the company calls it, would carry a pressurized pod for two pilots and four passengers as high as 22 miles (36 kilometers) up. That “near-space” experience would be well below the 62-mile (100-kilometer) altitude considered the edge of space but still high enough for passengers to see the Earth’s curved horizon, the thin blue atmosphere, and black space, even in daylight. continue reading View high resolution

Going to space in a balloon sounds more fun than going to space in a rocket.  I assume the ascent would be slower and you’d be able to look out the windows the whole time and see yourself pass through the different layers of atmosphere.  Not smushed to a chair under multiple g-forces… 

cozydark:

Near-Space Tourism Balloon Runs Test Launch |

A new tourist experience could be provided within five years by a huge balloon that offers stunning views of the horizon and the blackness of space. The designer tested the launch procedure last month, using a smaller version of the helium balloon and its passenger pod. [test launch: video]

The May 29 test was halted when a wind gust damaged the balloon’s envelope. The video description of the launch test said a repeat test of the balloon, designed by the Spanish company Zero 2 Infinity, is “scheduled soon.”

The “bloon,” as the company calls it, would carry a pressurized pod for two pilots and four passengers as high as 22 miles (36 kilometers) up. That “near-space” experience would be well below the 62-mile (100-kilometer) altitude considered the edge of space but still high enough for passengers to see the Earth’s curved horizon, the thin blue atmosphere, and black space, even in daylight. continue reading

(Reblogged from emergentfutures)

some things must be shared.  man can now flap its arms powering mechanical wings to fly.  this goal has plagued inventors for centuries, i’m so psyched that someone finally made it happen.  be sure to check out the development process.

Overclock Your Brain

unexpectedtech:

It turns out that one of the ways you can speed up a microprocessor — shoving more current into it — also works on the human brain. The technique is called Transcranial Direct Stimulation, and while bioethicists are debating whether or not it’s ethical to use it to enhance learning in children, hobbyists have figure out how to try it out at home. Think of it as the new Adderrall — without, apparently, the side effects.

Now, the first thing I have to say in this post about how to overclock your brain with a straightforward 20 minute application of electrical current is DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME. The long term effects of tCDS are unknown, and if you mess up and put orders of magnitude more current through your brain than is typically used in tCDS, obviously, you could kill yourself.

Now that we have that out of the way, here’s how to try it at home. 

GoFlow is a startup planning to offer tDCS kits for as little as $99.

Today if you want to buy a tDCS machine it’s nearly impossible to find one for less than $600, and you are typically required to have a prescription to order one. We wanted a simpler cheaper option. So we made one.

GoFlow claims that their product can help speed up learning — an effect that’s already been demonstrated by the Air Force and in the lab.

I’m planning on combining this technique with nootropics to get an edge in the stock market.  Limitless opportunity?

(Reblogged from unexpectedtech-deactivated20130)

Here’s a kind of a cool optical effect which results from light reflecting off the silver lettering on a can…

The Most Astounding Fact by Neil DeGrasse Tyson (via crookedindifference)

Here’s a great aggregation of info and imagery.

(Reblogged from kateoplis)

here’s a really interesting lecture by cory doctorow concerning digital rights management summing up a unique perspective on the singularity.  

i happen to believe that far before computers develop cognizance, human’s themselves will develop new systems for distributed sensing, thought, and action.  with the movement toward cloud information storage, distributed processing ( like SETI ), and wiki-based information tools like wikipedia, and the simplification of linking input and outputs to these systems with tools like pachube, we might already be there…