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Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Five Men Agree To Stand Directly Under An Exploding Nuclear Bomb

How little did we know in 1957. Or maybe we did, and then this is just stupid. On July 19, 1957, five Air Force officers and one photographer stood together on a patch of ground about 65 miles northwest of Las Vegas. They'd marked the spot 'Ground Zero. Population 5' on a hand-lettered sign hammered into the soft ground right next to them.

Directly overhead two F-89 jets roar into view, and one of them shoots off a nuclear missile carrying an atomic warhead. They wait. There is a countdown; 18,500 feet above them, the missile is detonated and blows up. Which means, these men intentionally stood directly underneath an exploding 2-kiloton nuclear bomb.



YouTube link

More about this experiment.

(via b3ta)

The Internet Map


The Internet Map, created by Russian Internet expert Ruslan Enikeev, is a map of the 350,000 largest sites on the web. The data comes from the web-tracking firm Alexa. Each of the 350,000 sites are represented as bubbles (bigger or smaller based on traffic) and placed near other similar sites. Oh, and The Presurfer is on the map too.

Olwimpics, The Olympics Blocker


The Olympic Games are here, and with all large events, our favorite internet hangouts are filled with mentions of this event. I like the Olympics, but not everyone does. If you're tired of Olympic news, download the Olwimpics browser extension for Chrome, Firefox, or Safari, and boost your self-esteem during these next few weeks.

(thanks Cora)

The Incredible Mountain City Of La Paz, Bolivia

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La Paz, whose full name is Nuestra Señora de La Paz, is the administrative capital of Bolivia and the second largest city in the country after after Santa Cruz de la Sierra. Bolivia has two capitals - while the official capital of Bolivia is Sucre and it is the seat of Justice, La Paz has more government departments, hence the 'de facto' capital of the country.

Burp

A brusque farmer is driving the truck with his big fat pig in the back. Passing the dark and foggy road he's suddenly attacked by a huge UFO. The farmer and the pig have no sense why they are being attacked. What is the truth of this chase? How are the farmer and the pig going to get out of this danger?



Vimeo link

(thanks Cora)

Running Toward A Better You


It's no wonder why running is becoming increasingly popular. All you need is a pair of running shoes and some motivation to help you improve your overall health and mood.

(thanks Muhammad)

Downingstreet 10 Now In Google Street View


Following in the footsteps of The White House, Google announced that the iconic residence of the UK Prime Minister and Chancellor of the Exchequer, Downing Street, London, can now be seen in Street View. Google Maps users can take a virtual stroll along the street and stand in front of the famous front door to No.10, right at the heart of government.

And if you go there and you see a cat a little left to No.10, that's Larry, the Downing Street cat, relaxing in his favourite spot on the front porch. Since February 2011, Larry has held the official position of Chief Mouser to the Cabinet Office.

10 Of The Most Beloved Dogs In Literature

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You've all heard of Lassie. Or Toto from The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Buck from Call of the Wild may ring a bell. Here's a list of a few of the most beloved dogs in literature.

Monday, July 30, 2012

Je M'appelle Nathan

My name's Nathan is an animated short by Benoit Berthe. A little boy troubled by a paper bird.



Vimeo link

(thanks Benoit)

The 21 Countries With One Olympic Medal

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When did Afghanistan win an Olympic medal? What medal was that, in what year, who won it and in what discipline? The answer: Rohullah Nikpai won a bronze medal in Taekwondo in 2008 in China. Twenty-one countries have won just one Olympic medal. Here are the stories of the national heroes who brought those medals home.

Sliding With Sharks

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This is possibly not for the faint hearted. The swimming pool of the Golden Nugget hotel in Las Vegas has a water slide. So what, you might ask, before you realize that the slide runs directly through the hotel's giant tank aquarium, which is full of tuna not to mention sharks. It's one way to get up close without getting bitten.

10 Incredible Sea Forts

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Sea forts were strategic bases usually built on small islands or shallows that lies at a significant distance from the shore. A sea fort was exactly as the name indicates - a giant fort with stone walls and housing cannons to fend off intruders. Today, the sea forts are mostly deserted, but some of them have been renovated and converted into tourist attractions.

(thanks Bosko)

Martian Dune Buggy

NASA engineers take the Curiosity test rover to California's Mojave desert to learn how to drive on Martian sand dunes.



YouTube link

(thanks Cora)

Mars One Plans One-Way Trip To The Red Planet For 2023


There's an old joke about sending someone you hate on a one-way trip to Mars. Now, a Dutch entrepreneur has formed a company around this concept - and it's no joke. Bas Lansdorp, the 35-year-old founder of Mars One, says his company is serious about a one-way mission. The company will hold a worldwide lottery next year to select 40 people for a training team. They will then set up a mock colony in the desert, possibly somewhere in the U.S., for three months. This initial team will be reduced to ten crew members.

They will then be sent to Mars, never again to return. Lansdorp says: We will send humans to Mars in 2023. They will live there for the rest of their lives. There will be a habitat waiting for them, and we'll start sending four people every two years.

(via Bits & Pieces)

Official Mars One website.

4 Animals That Ran for Mayor (And Won!)


Has the presidential race soured you on politics as usual? Next time you're in the voting booth, consider casting your ballot for a nontraditional candidate. Like Stubbs, a cat who was elected mayor of the town of Talkeetna, Alaska in 1997, as a write-in candidate.

As of 2012, Stubbs is still honorary mayor. These towns are also enjoying the benefits of a super hands-off - or more precisely, paws-off - government.

(via Look At This...)

The Cascading Fountain Of Nampo's Lotte


The fact that some of Busan's best sightseeing can be done inside of shopping centers says something profound about Korean culture. Nampo's giant seaside Lotte Department Store offers enough to entertain a tourist for hours, including a wonderful rooftop garden with views over the neighborhood, and the world's largest indoor cascading fountain.

(thanks Juergen)

Sunday, July 29, 2012

Mother Nature's Olympians Crowned

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The Olympics is a time to celebrate the world's fastest and strongest humans, but you can rely on the International Union for the Conservation of Nature to put the best of human performance in perspective. They've just come out with their list of Olympians for the natural world - champions that range from the fleet cheetah to the humble fungus.

While celebrating the achievements of talented athletes across the world this summer, we should also take the time to appreciate these incredible species. Here are some of the conservation group's medalists for 2012.

The Kennecott Mines: Abandoned Alaskan Boomtown

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In 1900 two prospectors were traveling through Alaska. Their horses were hungry and so when they spied a distant green hillside they thought their luck was in. They were not wrong. They had stumbled upon a massive deposit of copper ore, exposed at the surface.

Industry on a massive scale quickly followed. Yet by 1939 the copper was exhausted, the place abandoned. This is what remains of the Kennecott Mine Camp.

Handwrite, A New Way To Search On Google

Handwrite is an easy new way to search Google from your smartphone or tablet. To enable Handwrite, visit Google on your smartphone or tablet, click 'Settings,' found at the bottom of the page, and then enable Handwrite. This feature is currently available in 27 languages.



YouTube link

(thanks Cora)

60 Insane Cloud Formations From Around The World

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Cloud varieties go way beyond the cumulus, stratus, and cirrus we learn about in elementary school. Check out these wild natural phenomena.

Where Do Airplane Safety Signs Come From?

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So many visual elements go into creating the sterile and unpleasant design of airplanes. But none is more important than those neutral-looking safety graphics that feature people who look like upside-down exclamation points.

These little guys get into all kinds of mischief. Sometimes they're trying to open the emergency exits. Sometimes they're strolling around the airplane bathroom, even when they're not supposed to be.

Land Speed Record Vehicles

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A thrilling story of the land speed record and the fastest men on Earth. A look at just a few of the amazing vehicles that have broken or attempted to break land speed records, since the very first record was established over a century ago, featuring the pioneers who steadily pushed top speeds higher and higher as they broke one record after another.

Saturday, July 28, 2012

Max - Mini Labour

Max wonders how all his gadgets work.



YouTube link

The Bicycle Rearview Camera


This is the camera system that mounts to a bicycle for providing a clear view of the road behind. The camera mounts to a bicycle's seat post, provides a rear-facing 75º field of view ideal for seeing approaching vehicles or other cyclists.

A circular pattern of red LEDs flash when the camera's built-in sensor detects low-light conditions for visibility to traffic. The camera system's rechargeable battery provides up to 10 hours of operation from a two-hour charge using the included AC adapter.

(thanks Cora)

New Maya Temple Found


Some 1,600 years ago, the Temple of the Night Sun was a blood-red beacon visible for miles and adorned with giant masks of the Maya sun god as a shark, blood drinker, and jaguar. Long since lost to the Guatemalan jungle, the temple is finally showing its faces to archaeologists, and revealing new clues about the rivalrous kingdoms of the Maya.

The Hottest Thing At The Olympics?

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Yesterday the final relay runner delivered the flame of Olympia to the Olympic Stadium in London, inaugurating the 2012 Summer Games Opening Ceremony. The 8,000-plus golden metal torches used during the relay - each has 8,000 holes, representing the 8,000 torchbearers who carried the flame 8,000 miles over 70 days - have become instant collectibles.

In fact, Olympic relay torches are among the rarest and most desirable of all Olympics collectibles; some have brought six figures at auction. But the demand for the new 2012 torches is unprecedented.

(thanks Lisa)

A Day At A Bespoke Shoemakers

At John Lobb, one of Britain's last remaining bespoke shoemakers, little has changed since 1849. Perri Lewis unlocks the door to a lost world of craftsmanship.



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(thanks Cora)

Would You Clean These Windows?

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It does have to be said, on occasion, that some things really should be left to the professionals. One such thing is cleaning windows: not necessarily the everyday ground floor type, of course, but rather those that are at a dizzying height. And yet even so, some people will still insist on cleaning windows themselves.

Famous Great Travelers

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Tourism has been around since antiquity but travel is timeless. The earliest guidebook, The Description of Greece, was written by Greek geographer Pausanias around A.D. 160.

A handful of history's boldest travelers staged epic journeys that crossed new lands, broke cultural barriers, and revealed the radical diversity of the world around us. In doing so, these trailblazers confirmed that wanderlust is part of the human condition.

Friday, July 27, 2012

28 Freaky Ghost Towns You Can Visit

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Though the 'ghost town' is often associated with the American West, there are abandoned places all over the world. Some towns grow quickly from the ground up, surging in population. People arrive to work in the mines or factories and build their lives on the frontier. Some towns last, but not these.

28 Freaky Ghost Towns You Can Visit captures the way things look after people leave.

6 Incredible Safe Rooms

Safe rooms have been growing in popularity ever since the film Panic Room demonstrated how dramatic and exciting having one in your home could be. Or it could also be down to the fact that they're an effective home security measure, providing home owners with a fortified location to retreat to in the event of an imminent threat, such as a break-in or a tornado.

Of course, the problem with finding out about the most incredible incarnations of a security feature is that the people who have invested in said feature want them to remain secure. As such, they don't tend to indulge in a lot of online promotion. Nevertheless, here are some of the most incredible safe rooms.

The Hardy Tree: An Early Work Of A Great Novelist

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In the churchyard of St Pancras Old Church in London, hundreds of old gravestones circle an ash tree. Of course, these were not how they were originally laid out. So, how did they get to this, their final resting place, as it were? And who was responsible?

Bear Rescue Mission

Some baby bears got stuck in a dumpster over night. Mama bear sat by the dumpster all night listening to her cubs cry. Rescue came in the morning. This happened in Ruidoso, New Mexico, USA.



YouTube link

(via Neatorama)

Riding Along With The Mars Rover Drivers

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There is a team of engineers and scientists who have spent nearly a decade working with NASA's intrepid Mars Exploration Rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, maneuvering them across windblown Martian terrain and into groundbreaking new discoveries. Many of them, along with a new cadre of researchers, will also command the new Mars rover Curiosity, set to land in two weeks.

That rover is far more complex and more powerful, and designed to last much longer than the twin rovers' initial three-month lifespan. But the MER mission, as it's known, set the stage in many ways - including how to live and work as a Mars rover driver.

Life Under The Microscope

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In its ninth year now, the Olympus BioScapes Digital Imaging Competition has once more brought together some of the most extraordinary microscope images of life science subjects from around the world. Seeing these tiny, nearly hidden objects magnified so greatly can bring home the reality of the invisible microscopic worlds all around us.

Friday Cartoon By Mark Anderson


Mark Anderson is a professional cartoonist from the Chicago area. His cartoons have been published in Reader's Digest, The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Woman's World and the Saturday Evening Post, to mention just a few. Among his clients are GM, General Electric, FedEx, Microsoft, and IBM.

The 12 Most Unique Playgrounds In The World

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All of us have enjoyed the freedom and wonder that make playgrounds magical. But it goes without saying that some playgrounds are far more spectacular and imaginative than others. Here are a few of the coolest playgrounds you're ever likely to enjoy.

Thursday, July 26, 2012

Cloudy

The idea of clouds singing and performing their duties in a joyful manner show us that everything in our world has a role and a purpose. Sing, dance and relax as you follow a sweet cast of clouds and raindrops through an entrancing adventure you'll wish to take over and over again.



Vimeo link

(via Everlasting Blort)

Dynapac Red Carpet


The Dynapac Red Carpet is an environmentally conscious solution for road maintenance in future megacities, where street traffic is predicted to become increasingly dense and unstoppable. This futuristic road-recycling paver allows inner city traffic to continue its flow without interruptions by letting vehicles drive over it while paving.

The Dynapac Red Carpet utilizes an existing process known as Hot-In-Place Recycling, in which the old road surface is re-heated using microwaves. The reclaimed asphalt is lifted into the machine, mixed with a small amount of fresh binder and paved back onto the road.

(thanks Cora)

Early Olympics

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The first time London hosted the Olympics, it was as a backup - the Games, originally scheduled to take place in Rome, were relocated to London after Mount Vesuvius erupted. The year was 1908, a bygone era of international competition when tug-of-war and the ten-mile walk were official sports, women competed in floor-length skirts, and it took men a glacial 10.8 seconds to complete the hundred-meter dash.

Only at these early stages of the Olympic Games could a runner win the marathon after falling repeatedly and running in the wrong direction (he was later disqualified due to the physical assistance he received from a megaphone-toting man in a boater hat, see picture above). In celebration of the 2012 London Games, here's a look back at the early days.

Tough Cookies: The Treats That Fueled A Century Of Girl Scouts

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Girl Scout cookies are cookies sold by Girl Scouts of the USA as one of its major fundraisers for local Scout units. Members of the GSUSA have been selling cookies since 1917 to raise funds. Girls who participate can earn prizes for their efforts. As of 2007, sales were estimated at about 200 million boxes per year.

Here's a brief history of these iconic American cookies, and for you die-hard cookie monsters who can't wait until winter, a recipe is included so you can make your own.

(thanks Lisa)

Research For Making Engine Sounds Pleasant

Sound Design Lab LLC and the Takeshi Toi Laboratory at Chuo University in Japan are advancing with a project to make engine sounds more comfortable. Until now, engine sound was perceived as noise, but this research team has discovered that engine sound actually resembles the tonal characteristics of stringed instruments.



YouTube link

(thanks Cora)

Animal Mowers


Lawn maintenance can quickly become a major drag. Allowing animals to maintain the lawn makes a lot of sense. Instead of spending money on gas that pollutes the air and pesticides that poison the ground, homeowners can keep the grass trimmed while also feeding their animals.

Of course, keeping any animal requires a commitment of time and money, so this is not a good option for those who are merely too lazy to mow their own lawns. With the right research, animal lawnmowers can add value to your life beyond keeping the grass short.
Which animal is best suited to your needs?

(thanks Nick)

10 Most Notorious Wikipedia Editing Scandals

Wikipedia is a fantastic resource, relied upon by students and researchers across the world for an endless stream of facts and information on everything from banana slugs to complex philosophical concepts.

Yet as much as we appreciate the existence of this free, online encyclopaedia, errors - and even outright falsehoods - can sometimes creep in, reminding us that good old Wiki is often worth taking with a pinch of salt. These scandalous editing examples show just how wary you should be.

(thanks Karl)

Angkor What? Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About Cambodia's Most Iconic Temple

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Angkor Wat is the largest Hindu temple complex in the world. The temple was built by King Suryavarman II in the early 12th century in Yasodharapura, the capital of the Khmer Empire, as his state temple and eventual mausoleum. As the best-preserved temple at the site, it is the only one to have remained a significant religious centre since its foundation - first Hindu, dedicated to the god Vishnu, then Buddhist.

Angkor Wat is at the top of the high classical style of Khmer architecture. It has become a symbol of Cambodia, appearing on its national flag, and it is the country's prime attraction for visitors.

Wednesday, July 25, 2012

E.T. The Walrus Practices His Vocalizations

A 30-year-old 3,500 pound walrus named E.T. growls and whistles during a feeding at the Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium in Tacoma, WA, USA.



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(thanks Cora)

The Hello Kitty Dolls Of Your Dreams

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One of the ways Hello Kitty stays relevant is to turn itself into a feline billboard to promote other things. Recently, that's meant the birth of an array of interesting Kitty-chan collaborations.

Artist Joseph Senior goes one step further. Senior, who is an illustrator at a New Zealand ad agency, creates dream Kitty-chan collaborations, such as putting the famed cartoon kitten carbonite or an Ultraman suit or a Daft Punk outfit.

Super-Resolution From A Single Image


Is it possible to reconstruct a high-resolution picture from a pixelated source image? Yes, it is with a technique called super-resolution. 'Super-Resolution From a Single Image' is a research paper by computer scientists from the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel.

Their approach is based on the observation that patches in a natural image tend to redundantly recur many times inside the image, both within the same scale, as well as across different scales. Recurrence of patches within the same image scale gives rise to the classical super-resolution, whereas recurrence of patches across different scales of the same image gives rise to example-based super-resolution.

The Quiet Place


Welcome to the quiet place. In the quiet place, there are no capsletters that are all BIG AND YELL AT YOU. Also, there are no Facebook notifications, or Twitter, Google+, Foursquare, email, Messenger, etc, etc. Have you ever noticed how many things require your attention? You're probably thinking about all the great notifications you are missing right now. Try to be patient just for a couple of minutes.

From time to time you just have to stop doing what you're doing and go to your Quiet Place.

(thanks Cora)

The Future Forms Of Life

Theo Jansen is a Dutch artist who builds walking kinetic sculptures that he calls a new form of life. This is a story based on Theo Jansen's kinetic sculptures. If we work really hard on our dreams sooner or later we will reach our goals. But what if one day our dreams go too far.



Vimeo link

Rare Pixar Computer Selling On eBay for $25,000


There are less than 2 days left to drop $25,000 on a rare Pixar Image Computer, which cropped up on eBay this weekend. The 'museum-quality historical artifact,' which was originally developed in the 1980s by Lucasfilm's computer division, carries a hefty price tag, but costs $105,000 less than its original sale price.

The tombstone-modeled matching monitor and tower, engraved with the Pixar logo, was made commercially available in 1986, when Steve Jobs bought the company. But regular consumers weren't expected to plunk down $135,000 for the machine - it was intended for high-end visualization markets like medicine, geophysics, and meteorology.

Dawn Of The Flick: The Doctors, Physicists, And Mathematicians Who Made The Movies

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Early optical toys from the 19th century are expressions of our almost primal urge to animate the inanimate. Or so believes Richard Balzer, one of the foremost collectors of optical toys, magic lanterns, camera obscuras, and other objects that play tricks on the eye.

For Balzer, these early optical toys, as well as our continued fascination with flipbooks, are part of a continuum that has culminated in the movies.

(thanks Lisa)

Lobstermen Finding More Odd Colors In The Catch

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In recent years, accounts of bright blue, orange, yellow, calico, white and even split lobsters - one color on one side, another on the other - have jumped. It's now common to hear several stories a month of a lobsterman bringing one of the quirky crustaceans to shore.

It could be simply because advances in technology - cellphone cameras and social media - make it easier to spread the word about bizarre lobster sightings. It's also likely more weird lobsters are being caught because the overall harvest has soared.

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

10 Species Named After Famous People

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Within the space of a few days, a bloodsucking crustacean parasite has been named after reggae legend Bob Marley, and a genus of tropical fish has been given the name of British evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins. What is going on here?

The scientists who identify the new species get to choose a name. Often they pick one that alludes to distinguishing features of the animal, or the place it is found. Some choose the name of someone they respect, as with the Dawkinsia fish, and the parasite named after Marley.

Amelia Earhart's Birthday Celebrated In Google Doodle


Aviation pioneer Amelia Earhart would be 115 years old today, and to mark the occasion, Google has created a doodle that shows Amelia climbing onto an aircraft. Amelia Mary Earhart (1897 - disappeared 1937) was an American aviation pioneer and author. She was the first aviatrix to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean.

During an attempt to make a circumnavigational flight of the globe in 1937 in a Purdue-funded Lockheed Model 10 Electra, Earhart and her navigator Fred Noonan disappeared over the central Pacific Ocean near Howland Island.

London Double-Decker Bus Doing Push Ups

David Cerny, a Czech artist has re-modelled a traditional London double-decker bus into a mechanical sculpture of an athlete doing push-ups to celebrate the Olympic Games opening in the British capital on Friday. The bus is installed outside the Czech Olympic House in London's Islington neighbourhood.

Cerny bought the 1957 bus from an owner in the Netherlands, attached two huge arms, an electrical engine and a lot of wiring and suspension tools to make it into a piece of art named 'London Boosted.'



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21 Spectacular Lesser-Known Waterfalls

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Photos of 21 spectacular waterfalls, many of them in locations that are hard to get to and/or aren't well known.

A Design History Of The Olympic Gold Medal


In light of the impending 2012 London Olympics, it seemed highly appropriate to dig into the history of the games since the ancient times. A substantial part of this history has been the prizes, which weren't always gold, silver, and bronze medals. Distinctions between the Summer and Winter games considered, here's A Design History Of The Olympic Gold Medal.

Year Of The Robot


Year Of The Robot is a daily transmission of interesting robots found on the internet. Posts include sci-fi robots, toy robots, anime robots, and even lego robots.

(via swissmiss)

9 Intriguing Excerpts From Old FBI Files

Under J. Edgar Hoover, everybody who was anybody had an FBI file. When Einstein was asked to join the Manhattan project in 1939, the FBI concluded that, In view of his radical background, this office would not recommend the employment of Dr. Einstein on matters of a secret nature without a very careful investigation, as it seems unlikely that a man of his background could, in such a short time, become a loyal American citizen.

Here are some interesting things from the FBI archives.

Monday, July 23, 2012

Fire Time

A short film exploring the art of Fire Breathing. A journey at 2,000 frames per second that provides a rare glimpse into a world outside the human perception of time. Shot in Vancouver by local film maker Chris Bolton.



Vimeo link

(thanks Cora)

Staying Dry In The Rain: Should You Run Or Walk?

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Which will keep you drier, running through the rain or walking? Alessandro De Angelis, a physicist at the University of Udine, Italy, calculated some years ago that 'a sprinter racing along at 22.4 miles an hour does get less wet, but only 10 percent less wet, than a hasty stroller.'

Now, physicist Franco Bocci, reporting in the European Journal of Physics, has put forth new ideas in the long-running question of how best to keep dry when moving in the rain. If you run, you are out in the rain for less time, yet you run into more drops. In most cases, the answer depends on the shape and orientation of the moving body and on wind direction and intensity.

Extreme Daguerrotype Hair Styles 1850s - 1870s

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From the George Eastman House Collection. Some examples from a collection of 3,500 daguerreotypes, a photographic process where the image is a direct positive made in the camera on a silvered copper plate.

8 Amazing Drowned Buildings

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Buildings of different purposes, rising out of lakes and rivers, submerged in gallons of water - the places where people once lived and worked, are homes to weeds and fishes now.

These buildings were flooded and drowned by men's own doing, in their hurry to change nature's path for dams and reservoirs. Churches, monasteries, palaces and fortresses occur as partly-submerged structures, which are popular among photographers and tourists.

(thanks Bosko)

Building The Golden Gate Bridge

The Golden Gate Bridge is a suspension bridge spanning the Golden Gate, the opening of the San Francisco Bay into the Pacific Ocean. This is some great footage from the 1930s of the construction of the Golden Gate Bridge in every phase of construction. Stock shots of the completed bridge, explanative illustrations illuminate bridges dimensions and other structural aspects of design.



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(thanks Cora)

What You Need To Know About Derechos

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A derecho is a widespread, straight-line windstorm that is associated with a fast-moving band of severe thunderstorms. Generally, derechos are convection-induced, forming in an area of wind divergence in the upper levels of the troposphere, within a region of low-level warm air advection and rich low-level moisture.

Derechos travel quickly in the direction of movement of their associated storms, similar to an outflow boundary, except that the wind is sustained and increases in strength behind the front, generally exceeding hurricane-force.

The Full Names Of 26 One-Name Celebrities

Did you know that Bono's real name is Paul Hewson? Or that Charo's real name is Maria Rosario Pilar Martinez Molina Baeza? That Enya's name is Eithne Ní Bhraonáin?

A rose by any other name probably wouldn't smell as sweet, at least not in the cases of some of these one-named celebrities. From A-Z, here are the full names of some of your favorite mononymous stars, and the reasons they dropped the rest of their names.

What Space Smells Like

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When astronauts return from space walks and remove their helmets, they are welcomed back with a peculiar smell. An odor that is distinct and weird: something astronauts have described as 'seared steak,' 'hot metal,' and 'welding fumes.'

Space, astronaut Tony Antonelli has said, definitely has a smell that's different than anything else. Three-time spacewalker Thomas Jones has put it, 'carries a distinct odor of ozone, a faint acrid smell.' And now, NASA is trying to reproduce that smell for training purposes - the better to help preemptively acclimate astronauts to the odors of the extra-atmospheric environment.

Sunday, July 22, 2012

View From The ISS At Night

Every frame in this video is a photograph taken from the International Space Station.



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The Mysterious Engravings Of Ireland's 5,000-Year-Old Megalithic Tomb

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Loughcrew, near Oldcastle, County Meath, is a site of considerable historical importance in Ireland. It is the site of megalithic burial grounds dating back to approximately 3,500 and 3,300 BC. For thousands of years they have stood, high on the windswept hills, with views of a gentle green landscape rolling away on all sides.

Before the first pyramids were even built in Egypt, this wild and rugged land was home to Neolithic people who carved strange patterns into the stones. And yet it is the mystery that enshrouds this tomb site that is the real secret to its appeal.