This is the final piece for my AS art course, a flipbook made entirely out of biro pens. It's something like 2100 pages long, and about 50 jotter books. I'd say I worked on and off it for roughly 3 weeks.
That’s right, while some of the older set just can’t wrap their heads around Twitter (Twitter) (unless it’s connected to a fax machine), the Fishers will be all up on the microblogging site this V-Day, dispensing pearls of wisdom to the younger set (for whom the sanctity of marriage has already been destroyed by Facebook). The whole project was dreamed up by blinkbox, which is an on-demand movie and TV website in the UK.
In 2005, researchers in Switzerland gave 29 test subjects a sniff of the neuropeptide oxytocin, a.k.a. the “love drug,” known to play a role in developing trust and social attachment in mammals, before having them play a financial investment game. The result? Almost half of the trust-primed oxy sniffers handed all their francs to an anonymous partner. Now insiders say the military may be in the process of weaponizing oxytocin and similar compounds.
WHY, GOD, WHY? Lead researcher Michael Kosfeld, who conducted the study at the University of Zurich, says the true value of oxytocin may be in treating people with social-anxiety disorder or to help relieve some symptoms of autism and Asperger’s syndrome. But Jonathan Moreno, a bioethicist at the University of Pennsylvania and author of the book Mind Wars: Brain Research and National Defense, believes such a drug could find a place in facilitating interrogations and negotiations, or in ending armed conflicts.
Hamburger Earmuffs
If you think inventing the Hamburger Earmuffs was easy you’d be GLAYVENLY wrong. The dear professor had problems like “the pickle matrix” to contend with, something Homer didn’t think of when he tried to steal Frink’s invention.[...]
Debigulator
Uses this invention to shrink Lisa so she can mingle with the tiny people who worship her as their God. (Eedle-blay!)
But when Lisa needs to return to normal size…(Hoyvin Mayvin!)
“You have to understand the aerodynamic principles well and how to apply them,” Mr. Drummond said. “If you have the skills to design an airplane, you have the skills to design a yacht. Now we could have a good crack at a windmill.”
Load-shifting can be done with more traditional sails, too, by changing their shape, which is accomplished in part by having a flexible mast. But even with technology — one system uses image-recognition equipment to “read” lines on the sails to see if they match prescribed curvatures — shape-changing is difficult. It is easier with a solid wing.
Alinghi 5 uses traditional sails, but that is not to say it is any less innovative than BMW Oracle’s boat. It has a flexible mast, one that is nearly 200 feet tall, and some of the biggest sails anywhere. Like most advanced racing sails, they are a sandwich of polyester film sheets with a filling of carbon fibers providing strength. The fibers are laid out in radial lines calculated to match the loads, and where the fibers come together in areas of maximum stress the sail has a distinct look, as if it has been dusted with ashes.
The armor can be set up in a variety of arrangements (U-shaped, J-shaped, etc.), and in instances where troops are worried about armor piercing rounds a second layer of armor can supplement the structures. But the walls aren’t just a protective cocoon for far-flung outposts; ballistic windows offer protection while giving Marines a line of sight and the ability to fire downrange, meaning McCurdy’s Armor can be deployed as both a defensive stronghold as well as a tactical firing position.
When it’s time to pull up camp, Marines can quickly break down their ersatz stockade, stack it back in their vehicles and move on to fortify the next position without leaving a single thing behind. Just try pulling that off with sandbags.
The evolutionary explanation for the sweet tooth revolved around that idea that we have physiologically associated a sweet taste with high-energy foods which would have helped our earliest ancestors survive better in their environment (getting more “bang-for-the-buck”….if an individual has to spend time and effort foraging for food, it’s better to obtain energy-dense food items than energy-poor food items). When one considers our ability to taste, our ability to perceive “sweet” is relatively weak, while our ability to perceive “bitter” is generally considered much stronger (in fact, the strongest of our taste reception, on average). Perception of “bitter” is thought to be an evolutionary strategy of quickly identifying plants that contain potentially harmful toxins (produced as secondary plant compounds). Thus, evolving a low tolerance to “bitter” and a high tolerance to “sweet”‘ might have promoted our ancestors to actively seek out sweet tasting foods.
"You don't need to know any fancy techniques to make a dish with liquid nitrogen. This is the ultimate science-guy-who-wants-to-impress-someone-but-is-fudging-it recipe:
1. Buy your favorite ice cream at the store.
2. Let it melt (in its container) on the counter.
3. Pour the melted base into a stand mixer.
4. Let it whip, and while it's doing that, slowly add in the nitrogen.
5. When is it ready? When it's ready! Look for the same consistency as regular ice cream.
"You can even use liquid nitrogen to clean up after the meal. Sprinkle some on the floor and it collects all of the particles. It's easier than a vacuum.
"Will the goggles kill the mood? Not if your girl is into the sexy-nerd look. Hey, while you're at it, throw on a lab coat with nothing underneath.
Embiggen: To make bigger or grow in size; a perfectly cromulent word
This graceful word can be attributed to town founder Jebediah Springfield. As the town motto goes, “A noble spirit embiggens the smallest man.” The word is used repeatedly throughout the 7th season episode in which all of Springfield comes down with a major case of Jebeditis (another excellent candidate for this list) during the town’s bicentennial celebration. Adding credibility to the word is the fact that it has appeared in numerous scientific publications since the episode aired.
Simpsons fans can’t think of “embiggen” without thinking of the other fake word used to describe it: cromulent. Clearly, this word should be included on this list as well – if it weren’t for the fact that the Webster’s American dictionary added it to their “New Millenium” edition a few years ago. The official definition: fine, acceptable.
