Musicians and scientists have re-created a lost musical instrument known as the 'lituus':

In 1737-8, Johann Sebastian Bach composed and performed a cantata, “O Jesu Christ, meins lebens licht” (”O Jesus Christ, light of my life”). Among the instruments called for in the score are “two Litui.” However, the Lituus is a forgotten instrument. No one has played or heard the instrument in modern times; there aren’t even illustrations of one.

Musicians at a Swiss conservatory, the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis (SCB), had heard of a computer program developed by a University of Edinburgh Ph.D. student to help in the design of modern brass instruments. The SCB provided a group of Edinburgh scientists with design requirements, such as notes that would have been played with the Lituus, how it sounded and how it might have been played. (Though likely made of wood, the Lituus qualifies as a brass instrument.) The result: a two-and-a-half-meter-long horn made of pine with a flared bell at one end and a mouthpiece made of cow horn at the other. And they built two.

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Geek Dad has a list of one hundred skills that he thinks that every geek should know. A few examples:

26. Boot a computer off a thumb drive.
40. Transcode a DVD to play on a portable device.
71. Explain that the colours in a rainbow are roygbiv.
84. Know where your towel is and why it is important.
96. Have a documented plan on what to do during a zombie or robot uprising.
100. Get something on the front page of Digg.

What is your geek quotient? What would you add to the list?

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Ever cuss a blue streak after hitting your thumb with a hammer? You may be helping yourself cope with pain:

Holy @$#%! According to neuroscientists from Britain’s Keele University, dropping the f-bomb can actually relieve physical pain. In the upcoming August 5th issue of the journal NeuroReport, the researchers say swearing is a different phenomenon than most language. It activates emotional centers in the right side of the brain, rather than those &#*@ing cerebral areas reserved for regular #$#y communication in the left hemisphere.

The researchers had groups of undergraduate students submerge their hands in a tub of witch$@&#* cold water and repeat the swear word of their choice. And students could tolerate the icy abyss much longer than when they were only allowed to say more socially acceptable words. The researchers say the foul-mouthed students also had increased heart rates, which indicates that swearing activates a &#*@ing classic “fight or flight” response. You know, when you act all bad$(# to downplay the fact that you’re scared @$#%^ss.

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Image by flickr user Billie used under creative commons license

The Gibson electric guitar was patented in the United States seventy-two years ago today.  The first electric guitars were developed by the mid-30s in response to the needs of guitarists in jazz orchestras to produce more volume.  These were played flat on the lap and became popular with Hawaiian bands.  Guy Hart, general manager of the Gibson guitar company, worked on a better design in order to exploit this market:

In late 1935, Gibson rolled out the E-150, its first electric, Hawaiian-style lap steel guitar. It came with an amplifier (just like all electric guitars of the era), and the whole package sold for $150 (more than $2,300 in today’s leaf).

Unlike Rickenbacker’s “frying pan,” Gibson’s guitar actually looked like a guitar, complete with round feminine curves, shoulders and scooped waist. Early models were made of aluminum, but in early 1936, Gibson started building them out of the same wood as its acoustic instruments, making the E-150 look more like a traditional guitar.

Soon thereafter, Gibson duplicated the success of the Hawaiian model by adapting one of its more common “Spanish style” guitars into an electric.

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Image by flickr user crandlehall2008 used under creative commons license

The United States has few castles, so each one stands out as unusual.  Above is a picture of Martin Castle, built in the 1960-1970s by real estate developer Rex Martin.  He built it when his wife became enamored of castles after a trip to Europe.  Construction was never finished because Martin and his wife divorced.  He has since tried to find a buyer that might want to turn it into a museum.

Link via The Presurfer

Index of castles in the United States

Artist Ioli Kalliopi Sifakaki cast tablewear from her own body parts, and then invited friends to eat dinner from them:

Royal College of Art graduate Iola Kalliopi Sifakaki designed a dinner service cast from her own body and then invited a dozen of her male friends to feast from the tableware.

The dinner service, and the dining furniture Sifikaki designed, are based on the Greek myth of Tantalus, in which Tantalus boils his son Pelops and offers him up as food to the gods to appease them.

Says the artist:

By casting myself, I copy, dismantle and offer parts of me, in order to provoke new, unusual relationships between the maker and the user.

Hmm. I'm thinking of a new product that we can offer in the Neatorama Store....

Link via J-Walk Blog

Esther Schindler played D&D for years, and has discerned principles from those experiences that can be used in her working life:

5.  The best quests require a mixture of skills in the party. Find new friends and cultivate ancillary skills. That pesky little hobbit thief may eat you out of house and home, yet sometimes he comes in pretty handy. This is the point of all those tedious "diversity training" exercises from your HR department; perhaps the message would get across better if they talked about the apparently-weak wizard and the bard with those amazing negotiation skills.

Link via Geek Dad, who notes that July is Dungeon Master Appreciation Month

The desert rhubarb has a remarkable ability to move water in channels down its leaves in a way that lets water penetrate much deeper than other plants can:

Ecologists had been puzzling over the desert rhubarb for years: Instead of the tiny, spiky leaves found on most desert plants, this rare rhubarb boasts lush green leaves up to a meter wide. Now scientists from the University of Haifa-Oranim in Israel have discovered that ridges in the plant’s giant leaves actually collect water and channel it down to the plant’s root system, harvesting up to 16 times more water than any other plant in the region.

“It is the first example of a self-irrigating plant,” said plant biologist Gidi Ne’eman, a co-author on the paper published in March in Naturwissenschaften, a German journal of ecology. “This is the only case we know, but in other places in the world there might be additional plants that use the same adaptions.”

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Taser International has developed an extended-range taser. It is a 12-gauge shotgun that shoots a shocking cartridge over 100 feet:

The teases have revealed little actual info, but a Taser press release highlights that the X3 will be the "first multi-shot ECD (electronic control device) capable of simultaneously incapacitating multiple targets." That could put some real scatter in less-lethal shotgun action, but also raises potential safety and abuse questions.

For now, rest assured that the X3 probably won't go off accidentally. A YouTube video shows the device being subjected to electric shocks, and other tests have apparently involved the cartridge "doing 4 foot free-falls on concrete at 20 below," according to a tweet from X3.

http://www.popsci.com/gear-amp-gadgets/article/2009-07/taser-rolls-out-shocking-devices-shotty

In a busy life, it can be hard to find the time to peruse news sources for the latest things that journalists want us to be panicked about. That's why you can save time by using Doomwatch, which indexes terms used in the UK newspaper The Daily Mail and tells you what to freak out about. Content warning: strong language.

http://www.mydarkmaterials.co.uk/doom/ via The Presurfer

The Hot Dog Hideaway Kit: it's like Lincoln Logs, except that the pieces of made of meat, instead of wood:

What child doesn't imagine a house made of meat during the holidays? Our bestselling Hot Dog Hideaway kit comes with enough cured deli slices and kosher dogs (Over 10 pounds!) to make a veritable McMansion of meat! Just follow the included blueprints and use the pate spackle to join it together and smooth over the rough edges. Not only will you get the complete Hot Dog Hideaway, but also a set of meat landscaping materials to make pimento loaf trees and meatball bushes.

Link via The Presurfer

(YouTube Link)

This song performed by the Austin-based celtic band Brobdingnagian Bards describes the intoxicated adventures of Luke Skywalker. Here's a sample of the lyrics:

A long time ago, in a pub far away,
I sat on a barstool, just drinking away,
I couldn't hold it down, I guess I had too much
I felt a tremor in the force and then I lost my lunch
I woke up in a desert land, feeling hot and sick,
I saw a bearded man, he looked like some kind of hick,
He slowly waved his hand, and my pain was gone
He said let's go see Yoda, and I'll teach you this song.

So we got on a starship, and flew off into space
He said his name was Obi-Wan and there is no time to waste,
I have to get you trained before it is too late,
He said drink this bottle of whisky, and don't give in to hate.
My training went on, and I'd drank most of the bar
We stopped for supplies on the nearest Death Star
I learned to control my fear, and hold my alcohol
Soon I was able to stand even when Obi-Wan would fall.

video by YouTube user MJG74, via Topless Robot

The German-built Antares DLR-H2 is the world's first hydrogen fuel-cell aircraft.  It just made its first test flight.  It has a range of 750 km and can fly up to 170 kph.  Click the link for more pictures and a video (in German).

http://www.popsci.com/military-aviation-amp-space/article/2009-07/antares-dlr-h2-first-plane-run-exclusively-fuel-cell-power

Don't dispose of that liquid gold, there's money to be made from the hydrogen in it. Hydrogen can be an abundant source of energy, but it's hard to store inexpensively:

Gerardine Botte, an Ohio University professor, sees the liquid as a solution thanks to the particular composition of its major component, urea. Its make-up, a 2-to-1 ratio of hydrogen and nitrogen, is convenient because hydrogen can be extracted from nitrogen using much less electricity than that needed to, say, pull apart hydrogen and oxygen. (It’s a matter of 0.037 Volts versus 1.23 Volts, if you really need to know.)

Botte has recently come up with a nickel-based electrode that can do just that: dip the electrode into urine, apply electrical current, and voila, hydrogen is released. While the research is still in an initial phase, it’s possible that urine could power cars, homes, and various devices in as near of a future as six months from now.

http://www.popsci.com/scitech/article/2009-07/power-pee

Have you ever found yourself driving your car and saying "Hey, I'd like to have a freshly-baked pizza right now, but I don't want to stop driving"? Well, you're in luck! You can plug this 12-volt pizza oven directly into your car's cigarette lighter.

Link via Geekologie