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Remember the Einstein robot? The Hubo lab at KAIST (Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology) has developed another cool robot: Hubo FX-1 that basically looks like a walking chair!
Hit play or go to Link [YouTube] | Hubo Lab (click on FX-1) – via New Scientist Tech Blog
Psychologist Tanya Chartrand of Duke University conducted the study of why nagging doesn’t work. She started the study because she couldn’t get her own husband to do what she wanted him to do:
Be careful what you ask, because you may get just the opposite. New research shows that if a parent nags a son about cleaning up his room, the kid will probably dig in his heels and live in a pig pen even if he doesn’t realize mom is still on his case.
The same holds true for a spouse. Or some other significant other. And the more controlling that person seems to be, the more likely the individual will "automatically do the opposite of that which the significant other wishes," the scientists report in the current issue of the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology.
Link – via Blue’s News
David M Chasse has the step-by-step instruction on how to make your very own Star Trek Enterprise starship (complete with removable saucer section) out of office supplies: Link – via Boing Boing
Neatorama reader Jeff Stearns saw our post about Windsurfing on Ice and sent this 1925 photograph of people skating on a frozen lake holding sails! – Thanks Jeff!
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Gregory of LA Apartment Therapy sent in this link: a top 10 amusing bathroom accessories.
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Behold the Helica, a propeller-driven car invented and sold by Frenchman Marcel Leyat in the early 1900s. This one above, a 1922 saloon car version owned by Jean-François Bouzanquet, is probably only running model left in the world.
The steering wheel operates the rear wheels by wires, which can, according to the owner, be ‘interesting’. The Bouzanquet Helica is said to be in original condition except for a replacement propeller. In WW2 the German forces attempted to commandeer the vehicle. Confused by the steering system, the driver turned right instead of left, hitting a tree and breaking the propeller.
Links: Museum of Retro Technologies | Helica.info
Wired’s excellent new Danger Room blog has a “neat” piece on the quest to build stronger, faster and harder-to-kill soldiers using the metabolic secrets of – squirrels!
The squirrels are amazing creatures. During the winter months, their 300 beat-per-minute heart rate slows to a mere two to ten beats; their oxygen consumption drops to one-fiftieth of normal; their body temperatures fall essentially to zero. Yet, the creatures are able to emerge from that hibernating state in a hurry — and no worse for wear.Stanford University’s Craig Heller has been fascinated with the creatures, for decades. He used to spend months every year watching how the squirrels and chipmunks operating in their native Sierra mountains. Now in his 60s, the avuncular, bushy-eyebrowed physiologist still goes up to the mountains every year, to collect squirrels for his studies into hibernation.
One of the things that Heller has been trying to figure out for so long is how squirrels and other hibernators manage to regulate their core body temperatures, even as they konk out. Those trials lead to an examination of the human temperature-control system, which lead to a specialized glove-like device, built for the military, that… well, read the article to find out. Let’s just say the San Francisco 49ers use the things for a reason. So do soldiers in Iraq.
There’s more at Danger Room.
Simon Jansen put a MAME (multiple arcade machine emulator) console inside a homemade TARDIS! Link – via Look at This
Strobist blog has the DIY guide on how to make your own $10 light tent for a professional quality macro photography studio without spending the month’s rent on equipments! Link – via Make.
Comments Off A clever debate between Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie, played out in musical form! Hit play or go to Link [YouTube] – via Ursi’s Blog
Found at For Your Entertainment (heck, I even swiped the title from his cool blog!)
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Helvetica, a documentary film by Gary Hustwit, looks at the typography, graphic design, and global proliferation of the Helvetica typeface. Link – via smidigt.se
The world’s highest swing is located in the Oribi Gorge in South Africa, where you can jump off a 33-story waterfall. Didn’t You Hear has the videoclip: Link
Here’s a Flickr pool of airbrushed Mexican tailgate murals: Link [Flickr] – via growabrain
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Tom Lane proposed to his girlfriend Tina Kilford in a personal film he arranged to be shown at a local theater before the movie (she said yes). For more cool marriage proposals, see this article by Miss Cellania at mental_floss: Link
From Fogonazos:
Twice a year, between the months of February and March, the Atlantic Ocean waters roll up the Amazon river, in Brazil, generating the longest wave on the Earth. The phenomenon, known as the Pororoca, is caused by the tides of the Atlantic Ocean wich meet the mouth of the river. This tidal bore generates waves up to 12 feet high which can last for over half an hour.
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Today’s coolest vanity license plate was spotted in (where else) Los Angeles!
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What would Del.icio.us, Reddit, Slashdot, and Digg look like in cartoon form? Matthew Inman of Drivl has the sketches: Link – via digg
An attorney was bitten by a shark while surfing at the Tiger Shores Beach off Hutchinson Island, Florida. Apparently, professional courtesy is dead! Link
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Check-out this unusual plane-boat, made out of the historic and rare aircraft –
“Boeing 307 Stratoliner†(1937).
Check out the complete gallery here. Via: Bornrich
Cassidy Lynn is a second-grader who is trying to buy goats for families in Sudan. She designs and makes cat toys called Playful Pancakes, which you can buy through Soft Star Shoes. Each toy is handmade by Cassidy or one of the other kids who have gotten involved, and each is individually named. The money she makes goes to Kids for Kids, which provides goats and other aid to Darfur. Link -via Connor’s Blog
The Brain-Computer Interface (BCI)
— Via Medgadget
A Brain-Computer Interface
(BCI) provides a new communication channel between the human brain and the computer. Mental activity leads to changes of electrophysiological
signals like the Electroencephalogram (EEG) or Electrocorticogram (ECoG). The BCI system detects such changes and transforms it into a
control signal which can, for example, be used as spelling device or to control a cursor on the computer monitor. One of the main goals is to
enable completely paralyzed patients (locked-in syndrome) to communicate with their environment.
This photograph shows three simultaneous volcanic eruptions on the surface of Io, one of Jupiter’s moons. The largest volcanic plume, at the moon’s north pole, measures an astounding 180 miles high.
The photograph is part of a Jupiter collection taken over the past few weeks during NASA’s New Horizons mission to Pluto. Link via John Sadowski
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The Dilemma: Despite hearing news about the Middle East every day, you still don’t know Shia from shinola. People You Can Impress: Iranians, Iraqis, Syrians, Jordanians, and TV talking heads. The Quick Trick: The Shia believe that the early succession of power should have gone like the name of a very famous boxer: 1) Muhammad, 2) Ali. The Explanation: Like Christianity, Islam is home to a spectrum of sects espousing different beliefs and practices. And just as Christianity can be divided into two large groups – Catholic and Protestant – from which other subsects have emerged, so too with Islam: Shia and Sunni. Unlike Christianity, whose major split wouldn’t occur for nearly sixteen centuries, Islam split almost immediately after the death of its founder, the Prophet Muhammad (circa 570 – 632 CE). The rift stems from a disagreement among Muslims over who was the rightful successor to Muhammad. After the prophet’s death on June 8, 632, a gathering of his followers met at Medina and proclaimed Abu Bakr (kinsman, companion, and early convert of Muhammad) caliph, or political leader. The claim stemmed from his close relationship with Muhammad, and the fact that Muhammad had asked Abu Bakr to lead prayers when too ill to do so himself. Those who recognize Abu Bakr and his three immediate successors, called the Four Rightly Guided Caliphs, are referred to as Sunni Muslims, and today almost 90 percent of Muslims worldwide fall into this category. One group of followers, however, refused to accept Abu Bakr. These Rafidi ("Refusers") supported the claim of Ali ibn Abi Talib, Muhammad’s cousin (and son-in-law). The claim is based on a sermon the Prophet had given at Ghadir Khum, in which Muhammad referred to Ali as mawla, which some translate as "master." Ali’s supporter called themselves Shiat Ali (the Party of Ali), though today they are known as simply Shia. Ali did eventually ascend as the fourth caliph. To Sunni, he is the last of the Four Rightly Guided Caliphs. But to Shias, he is the first caliph and, more important, the first Imam – a word Shia Muslims use to refer to the person chosen leader of all the faithful. While they and the Sunnis both revere the Koran, they accept different hadiths (oral traditions), so their laws are different. Many Shias, for example, allow temporary marriage. Shias also recognize esteemed imams as supreme expert on Islamic law, called Ayatollahs or, for the really big guys, Grand Ayatollahs. As for the locations where Shias have a significant Muslim majority, there are really only two: Iraq and Iran. Much is made of the differences between Shias and Sunnis, but almost all the violence between them in the past 50 years has been caused, directly or indirectly, by Saddam Hussein – a nominal Sunni who by his own admission was never religious. |
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The article above was reprinted from the mental_floss book "What’s the Difference?" with permission. Monet? Manet? Who can even tell the difference? Well, with the help of the newest mental_floss tome, you can! … mental_floss gives you all the tips and tricks to have you sounding like a genius.
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