Um, could you balance completely perfectly on a ball while carrying your own body weight? This robot can. And honestly, it’s kind of freaky. [YouTube via IEEE] More »
Monthly Archives: April 2010
Supernova's Beginning Blast Shown in 3-D — A First
From National Geographic News: The mysterious first moments of a supernova have now been modeled in 3-D—showing what happens in a dying star's heart from half a second to about two hours after the blast begins. The development could help … Continue reading
23andMe Launder AlioGenetics Doesn’t Even Bother to Remove 23andMe Logo
This is hilarious. AlioGenetics doesn’t even bother to photoshop out the 23andMe brand on their website: Hey Stanford University, do you know what is not hilarious? What happens when City Hall gets the call that genomics “can’t police its own borough?” An … Continue reading
Naming the Unspeakable | Cosmic Variance
Two hundred thousand gallons per day of Gulf crude are leaking from a hole 5000 feet under the water’s surface in the wake of the still mysterious destruction of British Petroleum’s Deepwater Horizon drilling platform last week . How and … Continue reading
How Data Can Improve Your Life [Data]
Every Ending = New Beginning
In the mid-90’s, I recall a conversation with German Space Agency liaison, Gerhart Brauer – both a colleague and good friend to me. I struggled with a painful chapter in my life, and Gerhart offered this one simple phrase that made all … Continue reading
Super slo mo Apollo, yo | Bad Astronomy
In the Very Cool Department… My friend Mark Gray from SpaceCraftFilms narrates this film, showing the Apollo 11 Saturn V liftoff using a high-speed camera. I’ve seen this clip about eight bazillion times over the years, but Mark gives the … Continue reading
With Prostate Cancer “Vaccine,” Immune System Wages War Against Tumors | 80beats
Yesterday the Food and Drug Administration gave its OK to Provenge, a new treatment for prostate cancer. It’s not a “vaccine” in the old-fashioned sense, but it could be a way to make the immune system wake up and take … Continue reading
Yin Yang Bunk Beds [Design]
Battery connection
hi all , i want to know how i connect four 12volt battery for 24volt dc.
Quality Panel to Review Toyota
From detnews.com – Autos Insider: An outside panel of high-level business and technology experts created to advise Toyota Motor Corp. will conduct a broad review of the Japanese automaker's operations, ranging from its electronic systems to the company's internal communications, … Continue reading
Transformer Protection – 'According to Impedance'
Hi All, Can someone give me knowledge about power transformer or auto transformer protection according to impedance? What are the advantages? Do you know where can I find documentation about this? Thanks.
Record for Longest Mars Mission Ever May be Broken
From SPACE.com: Today could be huge for NASA's Mars rover Spirit. If the wheeled robot survives its winter hibernation, today is the day when Spirit officially set a new record for longest-running mission on Mars in history. "When Spirit comes … Continue reading
Double Trouble; Twin Black Holes
Chandra NASA/ESA M82 Double Black Holes Chandra images the first case where there is good evidence for more than one intermediate mass black hole in a galaxy. Here’s the NASA press release: This image from the Chandra X-ray Observatory shows … Continue reading
Mobile Phone Dangers
I got the following in my email. Do you think it is possible? It may be likely as cell phone chargers are SMPS operating at high frequency. When a call comes in, again some high frequency is generated in the … Continue reading
2001 Cavalier Engine Problems
I have a 2001 cavalier with 210,000 miles.The other day it began to stumble on accelaration then died.When i tried to restart it, it would only crank but not start.After about 10 min. it started right up but now it … Continue reading
How to Save Gorillas: Turn People on to Snail Farming | Discoblog
Gorilla conservationists in Nigeria have a new ally–snails. The critically endangered Cross River gorilla is under constant threat from poachers in this poor nation, as poachers kill the animals for their bushmeat or sell them illegally to traffickers in the … Continue reading
India Bans Chinese Telecom Equipment
From CBC | Technology & Science News: India has banned telecom equipment from China citing national security reasons. In a recent order, the government has told mobile operators not to import any network equipment manufactured by Chinese vendors such as … Continue reading
Men & ideas on the move: settled lands & colonized minds | Gene Expression
I am currently reading Peter Heather’s Empires and Barbarians: The Fall of Rome and the Birth of Europe. This is a substantially more hefty volume in terms of density than The Fall of the Roman Empire: A New History of … Continue reading
PSI Calculation
I have a 60' verticle column of water (well) with a 3' pipe coming off the bottom of the column. Within 5' of the pipe exiting the well I have a 2" line coming out vertically (at 90 angle) from … Continue reading