You can get a pair for yourself from her Etsy store for around $40. But only if you like constantly being stared at while you go about your day, and freaking out everybody who walks by you. More here.
Jun 9, 2012
Are Double Ears a Genetic Disorder Or a Freaky Fashion Trend?
You can get a pair for yourself from her Etsy store for around $40. But only if you like constantly being stared at while you go about your day, and freaking out everybody who walks by you. More here.
What Color Were Tomatoes Before All the Dinosaurs Died?
Parsing Nature's tomato genome analysis, PhysOrg reports that about the same time as the meteorite crash and the solar eclipse, the distant ancestor of the tomato plant tripled in size—an drastic and important response, as it is indicative of stressful growth conditions for plant life at that time.
The ancestor tomato, explains Rene Klein Lankhorst, "reacted by expanding its genome considerably in order to increase its chances of survival." When conditions on Earth improved again, explains PhysOrg, this ancestor of the plant got rid of a lot of genetic ballast, "but the genetic base for fruit formation had already been developed," including the tomato's signature red hue. More here.
Jun 8, 2012
Guy Gets Double Arm Transplant, Does World’s Best Robot Dance Move to Celebrate
The double arm transplant was performed by Dr. Martin Iglesias at the National Institute of Medical Science and Nutrition in Mexico City. Granados, who is a government agent working for Mexico City's prosecutors' office, was very happy: "This is wonderful that after being without hands for some time, all of a sudden I see new hands." More here.
This Desk Only Needs Two Legs
If you can curb your paranoia of your desk coming off the wall and crashing down onto the floor, Margaux Keller's Le Scriban desk is a simple desk with a classic look to it, but features like the mural console along the back give it a look that will catch the eye of anyone passing by. More here.
Jun 7, 2012
Cronus Adapter lets you Play Xbox 360 with a PS3 Controller and Vice Versa
The Cronus is a black USB dongle with a small single digit display on the top and a USB input on the rear. Plug it into the console of your choice, sync it up and you should be good to go. More here.
Chrome Will Be on Windows 8 Metro Soon
The Desk You’re Acually Encouraged to Scribble All Over
Jun 6, 2012
World’s Smallest Fingerprint Reader Borders on Adorable
It works with both Mac and Windows PCs, and includes all of the necessary software and drivers you need for unlocking your OS, and accessing secure websites, with just a finger swipe. You're not going to find a smaller or cheaper solution that's not already built in to your laptop. More here.
Exposure to Awesome Things Makes You a Better Person
"Awesome" is a word which is thrown around liberally these days. But a new studysuggests that things that inspire awe—that is, a feeling of respect mixed with fear or wonder—actually help make you a better person.
The research, carried out at Stanford University by Melanie Rudd, shows that a sense of awe expands people's perceptions of time, enhances feelings of well-being, and even causes people to behave more altruistically and less materialistically.
In particular, she explains in her paper that's due to be published in Psychological Science later this year, the most significant effects are achieved when people are presented with new awe experiences. While reliving previous awe-inspiring events or reading about imaginary ones has some positive effect, being there, as something amazing happens, is best for you.
But how can your inject more awesome into your life? Rudd has some suggestions:
The research, carried out at Stanford University by Melanie Rudd, shows that a sense of awe expands people's perceptions of time, enhances feelings of well-being, and even causes people to behave more altruistically and less materialistically.
In particular, she explains in her paper that's due to be published in Psychological Science later this year, the most significant effects are achieved when people are presented with new awe experiences. While reliving previous awe-inspiring events or reading about imaginary ones has some positive effect, being there, as something amazing happens, is best for you.
But how can your inject more awesome into your life? Rudd has some suggestions:
If ever there was a good advert for getting out there and doing amazing things, this is it. What are you waiting for? More here."There are two things needed for a true awe experience: 1) Perceptual vastness (i.e., you need to perceive that you've encountered something vast in number, size, scope, complexity, or social bearing) and 2) A need for accommodation (i.e., you must feel that you need to revise or update your mental structures/the way you think/your understanding of the world in order to understand the perceptually vast thing/stimuli). So anything you experience in daily life that leads you to experience these two things can stimulate awe and its benefits. And the things that elicit these two things and, as a result, awe, can differ from person to person. However, there are some things that seem to more frequently elicit awe-experiencing nature, being exposed to art or music, and observing the accomplishments of others. Things like social interactions and personal accomplishments seem to be less likely to elicit awe. And I imagine that just putting yourself in new situations, in new places, and encountering new people would increase your chances of experiencing awe."
Jun 5, 2012
Windows Phone Has 100,000 Apps Now. Is That Impressive or Embarrassing?
Well, iOS has almost 600,000, while the Google Play store has 500,000. Windows Phone took 20 months to get to 100,000, while iOS took 16 months, and Android took 24. So just about even growth-wise, right? Well, maybe. There are significantly more users and developers at this point than when the iPhone and Android were cutting their teeth, so maybe a steeper buildup should be expected.
WP fares worse when you look at quality: just 12 percent of apps have more than five US ratings. That number isn't awful awful, but it underlines the fact that there are very few quality apps, and Microsoft's had to resort to bribing bigtime apps to have third parties develop WP versions. Which of course backfires, because the apps usually turn out to be unreliable and abandoned.
Jun 4, 2012
New X-Ray Vision-Style Video Can Show a Pulse Beating Through Skin
Researchers at MIT have developed a crazy process called Eulerian Video Magnification that seems like it was pulled straight from a science fiction movie. It reveals the "subtle changes in the world" that are otherwise imperceptible to the human eye, like an artery pumping in a wrist. Spoiler: kinda gross!
So how does it work? It picks up on the very slight nuances in a video that you can't detect, such as the way a face reddens as blood is pumped through the body. It grabs these visualizations from a video sequence, and applies spatial decomposition then temporal filtering to the frames. Then it amplifies the color so these nuances become amazingly dynamic and easy to see. More here.
iOS 6 Might Get a Do Not Disturb Feature That Stops Annoying Notifications from Taking Over Your Phone
All the features hail from Mountain Lion, Apple's next desktop OS and tie themselves neatly with iCloud. iCloud Tabs is a simple way to keep various versions of Safari (desktop, mobile) in sync, when you open iCloud Tabs on your iPhone, you'll see a list of tabs you have open in Safari elsewhere. Mail VIPs are just a simple star next to very important people who send you e-mails. Potentially useful in helping you quickly sift through your e-mails.
But perhaps the most useful new feature is a 'Do Not Disturb' toggle switch. When flipped on, Do Not Disturb will disable all your Notification Center alerts and banners. More here.
Corning Unveils Slim, Flexible Willow Glass
That is not plastic, it's glass. In particular it's Corning's new 100-micron-thick Willow Glass, a new ultra-thin and flexible substrate for LCDs and OLEDs. The extreme thinness of the glass should lead to lighter, svelter devices, but it also means that shape is no longer a barrier for design.
In fact, Corning expects Willow Glass will eventually lead substrates to be manufactured "roll-to-roll" instead of "sheet-to-sheet" -- similar to how newspapers are printed. Even though the glass as thin as paper (literally) it doesn't give up its patented Corning toughness.
Jun 3, 2012
ROCCAT's New Lua Three-button Mouse is Thirty Dollars Away From Your FPS
The Only Toolkit You’ll Need For the End of the World
And this Ka-Bar kit delivers just that with four distinct blade designs named after the four horsemen of the apocalypse: Famine, Pestilence, War, and Death. Made from sharpened steel with distinctive green handles, each knife includes its own sheath and a smaller backup blade if things don't go as planned. You can buy them each separately for $60 a pop, but it's smarter to just get the whole set for $210, because you can never really have too many knives. More here.
Jun 2, 2012
New Smaller SIM Format Gets Standardized, Shrinks 40 Percent
Nokia has since put out a statement saying it will honor ETSI's decision and license out the needed patents on fair terms after the standards group made sure the vote was fair. There will be more than a small number of sour grapes from Espoo over having its own design rejected, though: it still sees Apple's nano-SIM as "technically inferior" and thinks the existing micro-SIM will still be the "preferred option." More here.
How a Looong Steadicam Shot Was Constructed in Hugo
Long Steadicam shots have become a staple of Hollywood movies over the past decade or so. Pulling it off involves complexities way beyond the seemingly simple task of walking through a room.
In this behind-the-scenes clip from last year's Hugo, you can see the coordination and movie tricks that go into a great Steadicam shot such as moving walls, precise queues, and an agile boom operator. Most important is an extremely skilled camera-man. Steadicam operators carry a lot of weight and must be adept at maneuvering the equipment.
You can hear the guy winded after the shot is over, and he probably has to do it over and over again.
Jun 1, 2012
Windows Phone 8 Phones Might Get Beautiful HD Screens
WP Central piled onto the web analytics binge going around trying to dig up data about future Windows 8 devices right now, and in checking its own logs, found references to devices with 768x1280 resolution displays. Now, that's the rumored resolution for the 7-inch Google Nexus tablet. And we know Nokia is cranking out some kind of "hybrid mobile" device for Windows 8. But the LG Optimus TrueHD is 720x1280, and other phones are sitting around there as well, so the resolution itself isn't that much of a stretch.
A Windows Phone rep at CES wouldn't say whether WP would be bumping its specs all at once or gradually moving away from its unfragmented bubble, but he said "it was a total no brainer." Which, you know, seems like maybe we'll get a firehose full of upgraded standard specs for WP on the Windows 8 kernel. Or maybe not! Analytics extrapolations are notoriously random, so this could be one big false alarm. But hopefully not! More here.
Double-Sided, Transparent Touchscreens Might Be the Future of Gadgets After All
When transparent LCD technology started popping up as consumer tech prototypes a few years ago, it was quickly dismissed as gimmick, or something for a marketing kiosk. But looking at this touchscreen concept from Fujitsu—which is double-sided and transparent—makes you wonder if there isn't hope for this tech yet.
As the video shows, the implications for gaming are especially intriguing, since you could still control the action with your grubby little fingers, but not have to obscure your view in the process. It basically takes the idea of the PS Vita's rear touch panels one step further.
But of course, there's the issue of visibility and color depth, which, by the screen's very nature, makes it inferior to a standard LCD. Maybe someday, we can have the best of both worlds.
May 31, 2012
Can Exercise Actually Be Bad For You?
The researchers studied how 1,687 people reacted to rigorous exercise. They found that 10 percent of the participants got worse, based on one or more measures of heart disease, including blood pressure and levels of insulin and HDL cholesterol. In fact, 7 percent got worse on at least two measures. Those results are published in PLoS One.
The weird thing is, nobody knows why. Claude Bouchard, one of the researchers and professor of genetics and nutrition at the Pennington Biomedical Research Center, could only muster that the finding "is bizarre" when quizzed by the New York Times.
In fact, there's a bit of a problem with studies about the benefits of exercise on health. While many have shown in the past that exercise can have an affect on measures of health—usually in a way that we'd think of as positive—very few of them carry through the analysis to see if participants suffer fewer heart attacks or live longer lives.
It might shock you to hear that most of the guidelines that recommend how much exercise you should take are based largely on such studies. While they've shown that exercise causes somepositive change to some biomaker that in the short-term makes you medically "healthier"—they don't necessarily guarantee longer life.
Is that enough to stop exercising? No, absolutely not. This one study is interesting in so much as it may be the case that for a small number of people not exercising is better for them. But it's not a general rule.
In fact, even the authors of the study agree. As they explain, no medical intervention works for 100 percent of people. If you think of exercise as a medical intervention, then it's bound not work for a tiny percentage of the population—but for the rest of us, it can make a huge difference. More here.
Windows 8 Release Preview
Windows 8 is Microsoft's next-generation operating system, due to ship this fall. It adds lots of touch-based gestures to the old familiar Windows, and introduces an entirely new notion of how apps should look and run with its Metro interface, where single apps take over the entire screen and run free of clutter from buttons and menu bars. It's a dramatic leap forward. But while the Developer Preview was a grand unveiling, and the Consumer Preview was its first big meet and greet, this version of Windows 8 is all about refinements. The new Release Preview is an iterative update, inching us closer to final release. It's more mature maturity, increasingly refined, and already possesses a subtle elegance. Get it here.
Recycled Vinyl Records Become Bases for Beautiful Lamps
Picking up the colors in the vinyl—the glowing columns of light look almost like cut glass. More here.
May 30, 2012
Death to the Dock Connector Is Imminent, Suggests Apple Job Opening
Apple has posted on their jobs pages a job opening at Cupertino for a Connector Design Engineer, which only strengthens thegrowing speculation that the 30-prong dock connector we've all grown accustomed to is on its way out the door.
Rumors of a new iPhone with a smaller dock connector have proliferated recently, with images of alleged prototypes leaking out across the internet. And The job description itself all but confirms the rumor:
A smaller connector doesn't seem like much of an upgrade, and actually it will be prettyannoying for those of us with a plethora of 30-prongs circulating amongst our devices. More here.The Connector Design Engineer will be responsible for managing multiple connector designs and developments in support of the iPod product lines. Cross-functional development and consulting will be a major part of your daily work. As a Lead Engineer you be responsible for identifying appropriate connection technology requirements for new products and follow through with selection and development of suitable interconnect products. This will often involve adaptation of existing connectors or completee new designs. Interfacing with connector suppliers to direct and implement the necessary design changes or creation of completely new designs will also be a major part of your daily work.
Is This Finally a Toughphone Worth Buying?
It packs a 3.5-inch 480 x 320 display, dual-core 1GHz processor, 5-megapixel camera and runs... well, it runs a Gingerbread version of Android. Android 4.0 will, apparently, find its way to the device soon though. One excellent little feature is something called "wet finger tracking" which means that the screen is still useable when it's raining or when your hands are covered in water. More here.
May 29, 2012
They’ve Finally Perfected the Ice Cream Scoop
First off, the leading edge is serrated like a knife, so it can slash its way through even the most solid of frozen treats. And that fancy faceted design on the scoop? That's not just for futuristic looks. No, that texture prevents a scoop of ice cream from sticking like a suction cup, so it's easier to deposit onto a cone. You'd expect such innovation to be priced at a premium and only available to professionals who make their livelihood scooping, but you can get one for your own kitchen for a mere $10 here.
Early iPad Prototype With Two Dock Connectors Sells For $10,200
This prototype 16 GB original iPad is plastered in prototype identification numbers and, while it's always difficult to say for certain if such items are real, the accompanying documentation and images certainly make it appear to be a genuine Apple prototype. Certainly, one person was convinced enough to spend $10,200 to secure the item.
It does raise the question as to whether two dock connectors might have been a good idea. It would, of course, have taken up more internal space, and looked ugly and asymmetric—but would the extra convenience have been worth it? More here.
Watching Injections Makes Them Hurt More
A team of researchers from St. Hedwig Hospital, Berlin, has been investigating how we react to the pain of shots based on what we're looking at, and the results are extremely interesting.
In a series of experiments, researchers simulated needle pricks by giving participants a small electric shock on their hand. At the same time, the volunteers were shown videos of a needle pricking a hand, a Q-tip touching a hand, or nothing happening to the hand at all.
Across the board, participants who saw a hand being pricked by a needle found the pain of the shock far more intense. Not just that, though: in extra experiments, if participants were told that the Q-tip would cause more pain than the hypodermic, the Q-tip video was associated with higher levels of reported pain. Essentially, seeing something that you're primed to think will be painful makes the experience hurt more. More here.
May 28, 2012
A Clever Pot Holder That Disappears Before Your Eyes
When not in use, Gasper looks like a cartoon ghost floating next to your stove. But since he's made from soft, heat-resistant silicone, when you place a pot on him he'll easily flatten into a safe place to put your hot cookware. So in addition to protecting your countertops, he takes up a minimal amount of counter space when not in use. More here.
May 27, 2012
Specially Sculpted Pot Creates a Whirlpool When Cooking So You Never Have to Stir
The Kuru-Kuru Nabe (aka the 'Pot Round and Round') was invented by Hideki Watanabe, who came up with the design after experimenting with dental plaster at his practice. The pot relies on thermodynamics to create a whirlpool motion as liquids heat up. It not only saves you from having to stir, but it allows for a more efficient and even heating process, and has the added benefit of compacting foam so the pot is less likely to boil over.
It's certainly not going to work for particularly thick recipes, like say a pot of chili, but for soups and such it seems downright genius. More here.
May 26, 2012
Ice Cream Sandwich Maker
It might look like one of George Foreman's grills, but this machine is all about packing on the pounds with indents for making round or rectangular chocolate wafers. For $25 it also comes with moulds for your ice cream so it's perfectly shaped to sit between the cookies. More here.
Solar Impulse Takes off for Morocco on First Sun-powered Transcontinental Flight
The goal is to complete the 1,554-mile trip by next week, and the big challenge will be crossing cloudy regions like the Pyrenees mountains separating France and Spain. In a 2010 test flight, the Impulse's 12,000 solar cells soaked up enough rays to keep the plane going through the night, but in case something goes wrong this time, the pilots are prepared with parachutes. If all goes well on this trial run, Piccard and Borschberg will be just one step away from their goal of circumnavigating the world in 2014. More here.
May 25, 2012
iOS 5.1.1 Untethered Jailbreak Is Out Now
Untethered jailbreaks are much more convenient, but also take longer to code after a release. Further, the newer devices like the iPad 2 and 2012 model, and the iPhone 4S, do not have the same hardware defect that allows super fast tethered cracks for older devices. That means folks with newer phones and tablets have to wait longer for their jailbreaks.
As always, back up your phone and data before moving to a new jailbreak. Full instructions for the process can be found here.
Behold the Meatiest Sandwich in Human History
Genghis Khan. Alexander the Great. Dagwood. Men of insatiable appetites, all. But none of them came close to creating—much less consuming—a sandwich of this magnitude.
British chef/madman Tristan Welch created the flesh-pile in honor of the UK debut of Man Versus Food, a popularish US show that features a large, affable man who travels from town to town, engaging in food challenges while being cheered on by locals who are excited to be on television. It's a triumph of conspicuous consumption, and there really couldn't be a more fitting tribute than a sandwich the size of a three year-old human person. More here.
The full rundown of ingredients:
British chef/madman Tristan Welch created the flesh-pile in honor of the UK debut of Man Versus Food, a popularish US show that features a large, affable man who travels from town to town, engaging in food challenges while being cheered on by locals who are excited to be on television. It's a triumph of conspicuous consumption, and there really couldn't be a more fitting tribute than a sandwich the size of a three year-old human person. More here.
The full rundown of ingredients:
120g Ndjua
260g roast beef
120g boiled ham
160g Proscuitto
150g honey-roast ham
90g cooked turkey
155g cooked chicken
155g garlic chicken
180g smoked duck breast
120g cooked pork
120g roast ham
280g corned beef
150g German salami
150g Italian sausage
240g cured ham
80g French peppercorn salami
70g Saucisson Sec de Provence
70g herbed Saucisson Sec de Provence
360g chorizo
70g serrano ham
80g pastrami
140g pancetta
150g bacon
70g garlic salami
70g Italian salami
80g dry-cured Proscuitto
380g Bratwurst sausage
150g breaded ham
100g Mortadella
100g Speck
150 Parma ham
65g Jambon Iberico de Bellota
140g Finocchiona
70g wild boar pork salami
100g smoked venison
250g beetroot, sliced
110g assorted salad leaves
1 large red onion, sliced into rings
680g gherkins, sliced
1 large loaf of bread
May 24, 2012
A Single Strap Can Turn Your Bike’s Frame Into a Basket
If you've ever wished for some more storage space on your bike without resorting to adding a hipster basket on your handlebars, you'll appreciate this alternative solution from designer Yeongkeun Jeong. It's a simple strap system that turns the bike's own frame into extra storage.
A long elastic strap is strategically woven around the inner triangle formed by the bike's frame, which creates a basket that's flexible enough to let you insert and remove items, but strong enough to keep them secure while you're riding. And to ensure the straps don't shift over time, a set of soft silicone stickers are used wherever it makes contact with the frame so they aren't able to slide around. As long as you don't overstuff it so it interferes with your pedaling, it's a rather brilliant idea. More here.
A long elastic strap is strategically woven around the inner triangle formed by the bike's frame, which creates a basket that's flexible enough to let you insert and remove items, but strong enough to keep them secure while you're riding. And to ensure the straps don't shift over time, a set of soft silicone stickers are used wherever it makes contact with the frame so they aren't able to slide around. As long as you don't overstuff it so it interferes with your pedaling, it's a rather brilliant idea. More here.
Calcium Supplements Double Your Risk of Heart Attack
Calcium supplements—previously thought to help prevent heart disease and stroke—have now been shown to almost double the risk of heart attack. Doctors are now warning that such supplements should be taken with caution, and even then only for vital medical reasons.
The new finding is based on a large-scale study of 23,980 men and women in Heidelberg, Germany. The participants were part of a cancer and nutrition study, but the results also allowed researchers to assess how calcium supplements were linked to heart disease.
The team of researchers, from Zurich University's institute of social and preventative medicine, found that people who used calcium supplements regularly were 86 percent more likely to suffer a heart attack than those who did not. Those who obtained their calcium just from supplements were 2.7 times more likely than non-users to experience a heart attack. The results are published in the journal Heart.
While calcium is required for bone growth, it is also used by other organs such as the heart. While there is clear evidence that some calcium supplements should be taken to protect bones—in certain medical situations—this new research points to the fact that such action should be taken only under close consultation with a doctor. Dr Claire Bowring, of the UK's National Osteoporosis Society, explained to the Guardian:
The message is clear that patients should consult a physician before taking calcium supplements—especially if they are at risk of a heart disease or heart attack. More here."This study further highlights the need for care when considering taking calcium supplements. If you get all of the calcium that you need from your diet then a supplement will not be necessary. Boosting calcium beyond recommended levels has no extra benefit for bones."Supplementation may be warranted if you are unable to get enough calcium in your diet, but it needs to be done with consideration."
May 23, 2012
R2-D2 Hoodie
Available sometime near the end of August for $70, the hoodie features a full-zip design so you can even recreate R2-D2's cyclops dome when it's completely done up. But how you're actually supposed to walk around dressed like that without avoiding objects using the force is a mystery. More here.
The Curious Case of the Upside Down Apple Logo
Why was upside down from the user's perspective an issue? Because the design group noticed that users constantly tried to open the laptop from the wrong end. Steve Jobs always focuses on providing the best possible user experience and believed that it was more important to satisfy the user than the onlooker.
Obviously, after a few years, Steve reversed his decision.
Opening a laptop from the wrong end is a self-correcting problem that only lasts for a few seconds. However, viewing the upside logo is a problem that lasts indefinitely. More here.
Grow an Indoor Garden on Your Wall With a Sleek, Magnetic Planter System
On display at ICFF 2012, the Urbio system makes use of planter bins and wall tiles formed of polypropylene, and held together by neodymium magnets, the Urbio system combines a clean look with modern lines, resulting in a product that will fit in most homes. Fill em with your favorite succulents, or inanimate objects; either way, it'll look great. More here.
May 21, 2012
Google Chrome Just Beat Out Internet Explorer as the Most Used Browser
Why Real Men Eat Red Meat
According to the paper in the Journal of Consumer Research, both men and women view red meat as "macho and masculine". In one of their studies, "the top 5 most masculine foods were, in order of most to least masculine: medium-rare steak, hamburger, well-done steak, beef chili and chicken. And the most feminine foods, from most to least, were: chocolate, peach, chicken salad, sushi and chicken."
Brian Wansink, the study researcher and director of the Cornell University Food and Brand Lab, said that the masculine association with red meat matters to red-eating masculine men:
Basically, if those who view themselves as masculine or feminine associate certain food with masculinity or femininity, it makes sense to eat said masculine or feminine food. So don't blame yourself for loving red meat, guys. Blame gender roles! Blame society!"To the strong, traditional, macho, bicep-flexing, all-American male, red meat is a strong, traditional, macho, bicep-flexing, all-American food."
May 20, 2012
A Sofa That Encourages You To Lose Things Between the Cushions
A set of stacked cushions provide a deep crevasse in the middle where you can store magazines, various remotes, and probably even a sandwich and a handful of Doritos for later. The possibilities are endless. The sofa—or lounge to be more exact—also does away with the need for a coffee table as a place to keep coffee table books. And even standing lamps are no longer necessary thanks to a custom lighting accessory that can slide between the cushions. More here.
The Pixar Avengers Looks Like the Best Pixar Movie Ever
May 19, 2012
This Couch Is the Only Place It’s Ever Ok To Fall Asleep At the Wheel
Created by design and fashion studio Bless, the No35 Automatica Carcanapé couch is stitched and stuffed to look like a run-of-the-mill hatchback—and that coupled with its soft gray fabric might actually make it seem not so outlandish if added to your living room suite. The attention to detail is remarkable, right down to side mirrors and wiper blades. More here.
Raspberry Pi Team Shows off pics of Prototype Camera add-on
May 18, 2012
Mark Zuckerberg’s Newest Facebook Status: I’m a Real Billionaire
The status update—Mark Zuckerberg listed a company on NASDAQ. — with Chris Cox and 4 others—demonstrates the dynamic flexibility of the Facebook Timeline™, which allows you to share the moments of your life that matter most, and include those Friends™ who were along for The Ride™ with you. It was also rigged by a team of Facebook engineers to trigger at the exact moment Zuck activated the NASDAQ opening button bell, further making him the least relatable 28-year-old in the history of people in their 20s. More here.
How Many Screws Does It Take to Get to the Center of an Exploded Fuji X100?
Photographer James Maher took the camera apart piece by piece—which involved removing 130 screws and 152 parts—and photographed every step of the process, which you can check out here.
Steve Jobs Was Closely Involved With Development of Larger iPhone 5
In some ways that's a little surprising because, back in 2010, Jobs famously criticized large phones. He didn't think anybody would ever want to carry a big phone, going as far as saying that "no one's going to buy" one. The market has since proved him wrong and, if we're to believe Bloomberg's reporting, clearly Jobs had changed his mind before his death in October last year.
With so many reports floating around about Apple's shift to a four-inch screen, it's beginning to seem inevitable. If you're a small-screen fan, now might be a good time to brace yourself. More here.
May 17, 2012
Scientists Invent Grow-in-the-Dark Plants
Sunlight actually does more than simply provide plants with metabolic energy—it also activates photoreceptor cells called Phytochromes that, in turn, switch on physical processes like germination and blossoming. The study, which was just published in The Plant Cell journal, has devised an alternative means of jump-starting these same processes—relying on chemicals rather than the sun. The team discovered that feeding the substance "15Ea-phycocyanobilin" to seedlings chemically activates the same photoreceptors that natural light would, inducing the same development as those in a control group that were grown normally.
This discovery of course is still far from commercially viable but, if it does pan out, Tilman Lamparter, the director of the study, believes that it could have vast applications throughout the agriculture and research sciences. "Blossoming of flowers or development of the photosynthesis system may be controlled much better in the future," Lamparter told R&D Mag. "These findings would be of high use for agricultural industry in the cultivation of flowers or biomass production, for instance." More here.
Coffee Drinkers Live Longer
Millions of us start the morning with a coffee and think nothing of it. But new medical research suggests that it could be helping you live longer—if you drink enough of it.
The large-scale study, which is published in the New England Journal of Medicine, showed that men who drank six cups of coffee or more every day were 10 per cent less likely to die during the 14 years of the study. Women who drank six cups or more were 15 per cent less likely to die over that same period. The result, fairly obviously, suggests that coffee drinkers live longer.
The researchers have also shown that the effect is seen across almost all causes of death, including heart disease, respiratory disease, stroke, diabetes, and infections. The effect, however, seems to decline with lower consumption—and a single cup of coffee a day was found to have negligible effect.
Dr Neal Freedman, one of the researchers from the National Cancer Institute, Department of Health and Human Services, in Rockville in Maryland, USA, explains:
The large-scale study, which is published in the New England Journal of Medicine, showed that men who drank six cups of coffee or more every day were 10 per cent less likely to die during the 14 years of the study. Women who drank six cups or more were 15 per cent less likely to die over that same period. The result, fairly obviously, suggests that coffee drinkers live longer.
The researchers have also shown that the effect is seen across almost all causes of death, including heart disease, respiratory disease, stroke, diabetes, and infections. The effect, however, seems to decline with lower consumption—and a single cup of coffee a day was found to have negligible effect.
Dr Neal Freedman, one of the researchers from the National Cancer Institute, Department of Health and Human Services, in Rockville in Maryland, USA, explains:
All of which means, of course, that next time someone says you're drinking too much coffee, you know exactly what to say. More here."Coffee contains more than 1000 compounds that might affect the risk of death. The most well-studied compound is caffeine, although similar associations for caffeinated and decaffeinated coffee in the current study and a previous study suggest that, if the relationship between coffee consumption and mortality were causal, other compounds in coffee—for example, antioxidants, including polyphenols—might be important."
May 16, 2012
Even Without Diamonds and Gold, Rolexes are Still Amazing
And though it may not scream luxury, we all know that the guts inside of a Rolex are what make it as vaulable as what's on the outside. 41 of these rarities were produced, each with their own certificate of authenticity. But aside from the black steel casing and the $17,500 pricetag, the design of the watch face is easy enough to understand, but just weird enough to make it stand out from a typical Rolex release. More here.
The Next iPhone Will Have at Least a 4-Inch Screen
The Journal identifies LG Display, Sharp, and Japan Display Inc. as the three major panel suppliers for the new larger screen. There's been much talk about a larger screen appearing on the iPhone—some of it nonsense—but this WSJ report adds weight to rumors that were circulated by iLounge earlier this month. It's beginning to look like a four-inch screen could, perhaps, maybe, possibly, at a push make an appearance. More here.
May 15, 2012
What’s the Mailing Address of the International Space Station?
One day, when the price is low enough, we would be able to send actual letters and packages to space. But what would a mail address look like? Example: what's the street and zip code of the Internation Space Station?
Expedition 31 Flight Engineer Don Pettit asked himself that very same question during his stay up there:
Expedition 31 Flight Engineer Don Pettit asked himself that very same question during his stay up there:
So, if you wanted to send a gift to Don, say a Soda Stream Soda Maker or a new JackBack for his iPhone 4, which address should you use?It occurred to me that Space Station is a place as deserving of an address as other frontier stations like McMurdo Base or the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Base in Antarctica. These places have formal addresses, complete with zip codes.
According to Don, that postal code would be good until they get one hundred stations in orbit.My sleep station is located in the fifth deck space of Node 2. From an Earth-based perspective, I pop out of my sleep station as if I were coming out of the floor. I am thus situated on the International Space Station (ISS) in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) with an orbital inclination of 51.6 degrees (the angle of our orbit plane to the equator) and an average altitude of 400 kilometers. It occurred to me that my address should be:Node 2, Deck 5
ISS
LEO 51.603The first three digits of your space zip code would be your orbital inclination and the last two a designator for your particular space station, with ISS being the third in this location (after the Salyut series and Mir).
OK, so we got the address. Now the final question is: would Amazon Prime cover shipping to the ISS? More here.
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