Image: University Corporation for Atmospheric Research

The image above is a computer-generated model of what a 3,700-mile wide sunspot looks like. It was created by scientists at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado for their ongoing efforts to understand the physics of sunspots:

"This is the first time we have a model of an entire sunspot," says lead author Matthias Rempel, a scientist at NCAR's High Altitude Observatory. "If you want to understand all the drivers of Earth's atmospheric system, you have to understand how sunspots emerge and evolve. Our simulations will advance research into the inner workings of the Sun as well as connections between solar output and Earth's atmosphere."[...]

The new computer models capture pairs of sunspots with opposite polarity. In striking detail, they reveal the dark central region, or umbra, with brighter umbral dots, as well as webs of elongated narrow filaments with flows of mass streaming away from the spots in the outer penumbral regions. They also capture the convective flow and movement of energy that underlie the sunspots, and that are not directly detectable by instruments.

The models suggest that the magnetic fields within sunspots need to be inclined in certain directions in order to create such complex structures. The authors conclude that there is a unified physical explanation for the structure of sunspots in umbra and penumbra that is the consequence of convection in a magnetic field with varying properties.

Link via Popular Science

(YouTube Link)

Monty Python's Flying Circus debuted 40 years ago today. Marc Lee writes in The Daily Telegraph about the origins and development of the troupe:

Four decades on, the image of John Cleese’s increasingly hysterical pet-shop customer — pacamac buttoned up, hair plastered down, vowels strangulated — remains one of the most memorable in television history. No other comedy series has seared itself into the national consciousness quite like Monty Python’s Flying Circus.

And, if the sketches were ever to be placed in order of popularity, Cleese’s confrontation with the chirpily evasive Michael Palin — the shopkeeper who simply will not admit that the inert “Norwegian blue” is dead — would undoubtedly come top. Indeed, when Channel 4 counted down the 50 greatest comedy moments, the “Dead Parrot” sketch perched at number two, just below the, frankly, far inferior “Lou and Andy at the swimming pool” sketch from Little Britain.

The video above is of the classic sketch "Argument Clinic" -- my favorite. What's your favorite Monty Python sketch?

Link via Megan McArdle | Official Site | History of Monty Python | YouTube Channel

Image: McGlinch

American Gothic Parodies is a compendium of images based on Grant Wood's iconic painting "American Gothic." It was assembled by an illustrator named McGlinch from his grandmother's collection. That's all of the information that I can find about him, other than that he is a contributor a blog called Bad Spock Drawings, which is also a hoot.

Link via J-Walk Blog | Collector's Blog | About American Gothic

Chinese artist He Wenjun created the largest paintbrush in the world out of the hair of 300 horse tails. It weighs 115 pounds when dry and is 12 feet long. His accomplishment has been added to the Guinness Book of World Records. The image to the left is of the artist painting with the brush at an exhibition in Nanchong, China.

Link via J-Walk Blog | More Pictures | Image: Europics

Driving is boring and it takes time out of your busy life. Why not multitask and use your driving time more productively? With the Laptop Steering Wheel Desk, you can eat, use a computer, read, do your nails -- whatever. What could possibly go wrong? On sale at Amazon.com for $23.23. | http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000IZGIA8?ie=UTF8&tag=neatorama-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B000IZGIA8 - via Foolish Gadgets | Image: Mobile Office

Andrew Dobrow of GearFuse worries that we could see more monstrosities like this if Disney buys Hasbro as well as Marvel Comics. The "Donald Duck Holiday Vehicle" is on sale (but backordered) from the Japanese company Takara Tomy for about $40. Most worrisome of all -- it bears neither the Autobot nor Decepticon icon.



Link via GearFuse | Images: Hobby Search

(YouTube Link)

The only known video images of Holocaust victim and diarist Anne Frank have been circulating YouTube. Lisa Gutierrez writes in the Kansas City Star:

The 21-second, black-and-white video, filmed on July 22, 1941 about a year before Anne and her family went into hiding, shows the front of an Amsterdam apartment building where Anne and her family lived.

Nine seconds into the film you can see a brief glimpse of Anne, age 13, leaning out of a second-floor window trying to catch a glimpse of her next-door-neighbor who just got married.

The authenticity of this film has been verified by the Anne Frank Museum.

http://www.kansascity.com/stargazing/story/1486550.html via Ace of Spades HQ

Cameron Aulner is not a man inclined to let his disability limit him. While working his first day at the Comcast table at a Westminster, Colorado Wal-Mart, he intercepted a suspected child molester, tackled him, and held him down until police arrvied:

The affidavit says one witness, Chris Bevin, saw the suspect, 34-year-old Kevin Salyers, run from the toy department. Bevin told investigating officers that he began to run after Salyers, and shouted "stop that man!" But no one was able to stop him.

That's when a man working at the Comcast table at the front of the store went into action. Even more amazing, the Comcast employee, 22-year-old Cameron Aulner was in a wheel chair. Aulner pulled in front of the suspect, and grabbed his t-shirt. Aulner says he wound up out of his wheel chair, and on top of the suspect who was on the ground.

Link via Say Uncle | Image: Fox News

'Upcycling' is the act of directly reusing waste materials as marketable goods. At the link, you can view a Reuters News video (embed disabled) about how various upcycled products are now available to consumers, as featured at the recent London Design Festival. Among the festival's participants was the Elvis & Kresse Organization -- a UK-based company which upcycles worn-out firehoses as luggage and other products usually made with leather.

YouTube Link via Scientific American | Company Website | London Design Festival | Image: Elvis & Kresse

(YouTube Link)

This video by ABB Robotics demonstrates a sorting robot used in a pancake factory. The action starts at about 1:15, when the robot begins sorting 400 pancakes per minute, switching off so that specific sizes are in a specific order. Just imagine how we could benefit if this machine was applied to soylent green production.

Via Make | Company Website

Photo: Simon Måssebäck

Leif Garvin of Sweden spent about $1 million building his own Batmobile. It's built onto the chassis of a 1973 Lincoln Continental and has a 700 hp engine. Like the, uh, real Batmobile, it's loaded with all sorts of gadgetry:

There's sat-nav to help you find the scene of the crime (and other helpful POIs), a plasma TV for video calls to Albert (and for distraction during Stockholm traffic jams), voice recognition to keep your fighting hands free (and avoid nasty fines), height-adjustable suspension for navigating dramatic obstacles in your path (and speed bumps), a rear-view camera to watch your back (and help with tight parking squeezes), and machine guns for, er, shooting stuff. Worryingly, there is no word on whether said firearms are real...

UPDATE 10/4/09: Simon Måssebäck emailed to correct a mistake. He didn't make the Batmobile -- a man named Leif Garvin did. Thanks, Simon, especially for allowing us to use your photo!

Link via DVICE

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security developed a 'dazzler' -- a non-lethal weapon which uses flashing lights to distrupt a target's equilibrium. A person effected by lights for long enough, will temporarily lose visual acuity, balance, and become nauseous. The government spend about $1 million on the project. Limor Fried, a MIT-educated engineer, decided that she could build one for a lot less money. She's made her design schematics and source code available for free online. Below is a video of the results of her work.


(Video Link)

Link via io9 | Fried' s Bio | Image: AdaFruit Industries

(Video Link)

This spellbinding 1-minute animated video is a commercial for Central China Television. It shows drops of ink in water morphing into fish, dancers, airplanes, and other shapes. The video was created by the Paris-based graphics studio Troublemakers.tv and directed by Niko Tziopanos.

Via Gizmodo | Director's Website | Troublemakers.tv

The world's largest windfarm began operating today. The Roscoe Wind Complex is composed of 627 turbines over four counties in western Texas. According to E.On Climate and Renewables North America, the owner, it is already generating at full capacity -- that's 781.5 megawatts, or enough electricity to power 230,000 homes. John McFarland wrote for the Associated Press:

At the Roscoe wind farm, the turbines range in size from about 350 to 415 feet tall, and they're generally spaced about 900 feet apart, Woodson said. The land is leased, mostly from dryland cotton farmers who continue to work the fields around them, Woodson said. Texas is the nation's leading producer of cotton, most of it from West Texas.

"It's a use that appears to be quite complimentary," Woodson said. "This whole community was extremely welcoming to us."

E.ON has facilities around the state, but it could be awhile before the company builds more huge wind farms in West Texas because of the glut of wind companies and lack of transmission lines, Woodson said. The state is planning more lines from West Texas to more heavily populated areas, but they won't be completed for at least two more years.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5ioaMTqBpfb3mR-M1Vew-FC32oyqQD9B2FK880 via TigerHawk | Image: Biggunben, used under Creative Commons license

Today is the fiftieth anniversary of the debut of The Twilight Zone. The first episode of Rod Serling's classic horror/suspense television show aired on October 2, 1959. William Kates wrote for the AP about the origin of the series:

In a time on television when suburbia was idealized in popular shows such as "Ozzie and Harriet" and "Make Room for Daddy," Serling offered a mixture of fantasy, science fiction, suspense, horror — and the show's trademark macabre or unexpected twist.

Serling had already earned acclaim for his television writing ("Requiem for a Heavyweight," "Patterns,") but found himself fighting CBS to get "The Twilight Zone" on the air. Serling would have repeated conflicts with network censors throughout his career.

My favorite episode is "The Shelter." What is yours?

Link via Alphecca | Image: CBS

UPDATE 10/2/09: Via GeekDad, free episodes online from CBS.

2nd UPDATE 10/2/09: io9 presents 6 Important Life Lessons from The Twilight Zone