As you sit within the cradle, it rocks gently back and forth. Don’t get going too fast or you’ll roll all the way away. This library can hold its own weight in books (and I’d wager even more, by the looks of it), the cushioned seat a nod to the futuristic furniture found in Stanley Kubrick films, especially 2001. Reading lamps are placed for reading in the most obvious manner, while lights placed around the circumference act as a clock, timers changing the brightness of them to its highest at the equinox of the day, dimmed to nothing at midnight. Strange!
As an expert shell musician blew into the horn, researchers recorded the sound’s path via four tiny microphones placed inside the player’s mouth, the shell’s mouthpiece, the shell’s main body and at the shell’s large opening, or bell. Similar to a bugle, the instruments only sound one or two tones, but like a French horn, the pitch changes when the player plunges his hand into the bell.
The team used signal-processing software to characterize the acoustic properties of each trumpet. Following the sound’s path made it possible to reconstruct the ancient shell’s interior, a feat that normally involves sawing the shell apart or zapping it with X-rays.
The temptation to keep the money was almost overwhelming, he said. Then, his conscience kicked in.
"The reality set in that it wasn't my money and it needed to be turned over," he said.
"It's humbling, and it puts things into perspective," Belanger said of Talley's decision. "From his point of view, he could've taken care of himself by paying for rent or something with that money."
A near-infrared light source mounted behind the "screen" bathes it in invisible light, and an array of near-infrared cameras, also behind the wall, are focused on the front surface. A hand placed on the ice reflects the light towards the camera array and the signal each camera receives helps a nearby PC establish the hand's position, size and motion. The PC is also connected to a projector, which uses the data to project imagery - such as flames - beneath the user's hand.
One synapse, by itself, is more like a microprocessor--with both memory-storage and information-processing elements--than a mere on/off switch. In fact, one synapse may contain on the order of 1,000 molecular-scale switches. A single human brain has more switches than all the computers and routers and Internet connections on Earth.
Fuyuhito Moriya, 39, lives with his mother in a custom-built home set on a lot that's only 30 square meters. It used to be a parking space. Moriya spent $500,000 constructing a compact three-story house on the site:
South-facing, large windows create the illusion of space. Minimal furniture and clutter keep the small home tidy. Hideaway cabinets for kitchen appliances and half size sinks shrink expected space.
Even the spiral staircase shaves inches, drawn as a triangle instead of a circle, slashing the space's diameter. The corners of the staircase become small closets, to stash shoes.
"Every single corner is used," says Moriya.
