You guys know about the pitch drop experiment?
So in 1927 this professor did a demonstration to his students that a material that seems solid (pitch) is actually just a super viscious liquid.
He put this chunk of what seems like rock into a funnel
and waited for it to drip out.
1 year
2 years
3 years
4 years
5 years
6 years
7 years…
finally 8 years later
it drips.
But nobody is around to see it, so they wait again.
Another 8-10 years they wait. It finally drips, but everyone misses it because it takes somewhere from 6-14 years to drip, so being at that exact moment is kind of hard to do.
So far it has dripped 8 times in the past 8 years. Nobody has seen it.
The last time they had cameras set up but they all failed. Now it’s getting close to the ninth drip again.
There are webcams up in the room, and dozens of nerds around the globe watching to see if they can catch it happen live.
http://smp.uq.edu.au/content/pitch-drop-experiment
Good luck catching it.
Albion College Harlem Shake (by AlbionCollege)
The Pitch Drop Experiment (no it’s not dubstep)
Stupidest Window Cleaning Robot Possible
I don’t think the inventors of this window-cleaning robot thought through the basic way that windows are built into actual buildings.
At 2:09 he pulls out a sticky hangar as a solution for the design flaw. I cannot believe someone thought this was a good idea.
A text list of all the Super Bowl ads from 2013 because every stupid blog is trying to get you to click through 59...
Bud Black Crown
M&Ms Love Ballad
Audi Prom
Hyundai Team
Go Daddy Perfect Match
Doritos Goat for Sale
Pepsi Next Party
Best Buy Amy Poehler
Oz the Great and Powerful
Coca-Cola Cameras
Oreo Whisper Fight
Fast & Furious 6
Toyota Wish Granted
Doritos Fashionist Daddy
…
This Robot Maid Can’t Clean Anything, But Can Dance Like Crazy
I mean, I guess it’d be cool to have a dancing robot. For a few minutes. But I really want one to empty the dishwasher, pet the cats, and clean the toilets.
Potential Effects of Dr. Robot
A few weeks ago the FDA approved the first medical robot for hospital use. I’m not convinced this is a good idea.
Note: That’s medical robot, not surgical robot.
Medical robots help with patient care. Stuff like basic patient monitoring. If you’ve ever been in the hospital, nurses come in…
Judge for yourselves…
Seems just like yesterday that Prof.Kevin Warwick of the University of Reading, UK took that bold step to implant a BrainGate device onto his median nerve in his forearm to be able to control electronic devices.
The road further down has revealed a fascinating bunch of technological features. Now, researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana have developed what is called an “Epidermal Electronic System” (EES) which is a bendable electronic device that uses the molecular force on skin cells for adhesion. It even boasts of a power source small enough to power it. Interestingly, these could quite soon replace identification tags or become alternatives for Biometric systems. Hmmm, come to think of it, party goers could now be given a fancy tatoo with a hidden electronic circuit in their arms. Healthcare monitoring is just the begining.Read more here : Breakthrough: Electronic circuits that are integrated with your skin. (via Branding yourself electronically with Electronic Epidermal Systems)
Stickytech
Print your own Android
via techcrunch:
Gael Langevin wants to give you a robot. The French artist is posting 3D printer files for a humanoid robot he’s building as he completes the various parts, allowing us all to create our very own plastic helper/lover with some ABS plastic, a few Arduino boards, and some motors.
The plans for the hands are available on Thingiverse and Langevin will release more parts over the next few months. […] The robot is completely open source and all the plans will be available for download. You should be able to print most of the pieces on a home 3D printer […].
First steps to something amazing.
Chainsaw-Wielding Robot. Nope Not Scary At All.
European designers recently used a chainsaw-wielding industrial robot to fashion stools from tree logs.
Two designers, Tom Pawlofsky and Tibor Weissmahr, who are alumni of Germany’s Karlsruhe University of Arts and Design, programmed a six-axis robot to make precise…
Robot update.
If you remember the BigDog Robot that was being developed my the military to follow soldiers on foot, it has been a fantastic success, and has evolved into the LS3.
I love wondering about the uncanny valley and military applications. Sci-fi nerd’s dream/nightmare.
http://www.militaryaerospace.com/blogs/aerospace-defense-blog/2013/01/more-on-our-favorite-quadruped-robot-the-ls3.html
![drandyboyan:
bradly-alicea:
Would you like to be paid to read books? Does this sound too good to be true? Actually, this is an idea from Kevin Kelly (of Wired fame) at his blog “The Technium”. A bit like the “economics of the free” [1] and some of the ideas advanced in my recent slideshow on science innovation [2].
[1] For more information, please see the book “Free” by Chris Anderson. Could you replace the work “books” with any other word in Kelly’s model? There may or may not be a free lunch today, depending on your reading of “Free”.
[2] A New Route to Science Innovation, doi:10.6084/m9.figshare.106823.
I love thinking about alternate models of media production and consuption.](http://25.media.tumblr.com/3f75e89c55de4719f78529dfe514300f/tumblr_mgxvgnRMsM1ru0x63o1_500.png)
Would you like to be paid to read books? Does this sound too good to be true? Actually, this is an idea from Kevin Kelly (of Wired fame) at his blog “The Technium”. A bit like the “economics of the free” [1] and some of the ideas advanced in my recent slideshow on science innovation [2].
[1] For more information, please see the book “Free” by Chris Anderson. Could you replace the work “books” with any other word in Kelly’s model? There may or may not be a free lunch today, depending on your reading of “Free”.
[2] A New Route to Science Innovation, doi:10.6084/m9.figshare.106823.
I love thinking about alternate models of media production and consuption.
Unspeakable Emotions
These emotions have no English equivalent. There are nuances of meaning that we experience, but never name.
What is this feeling I have knowing that these emotions exist?…
http://uniquelang.peiyinglin.net/01untranslatable.html
Wild
