Blue Toys for Dogs... and Other Animal Misconceptions

Who knew??

10 Common Misconceptions Debunked in Under 4 Minutes!

10 of the most common misconceptions are blown in under 4 minutes in this entertaining bit of science. There's not a lot of explanation for some, though knowing they are false leads to easy searches about why.

Next time someone states one, show 'em!

Word Movie

Nothing really significant about this, just very cool. Imaginative!




Credit Ji Lee.

Your Birthday on the Same Day Every Year? Proposed NEW Calendar Would Make It So

Former NASA astrophysicist Richard Conn Henry has proposed a symetrical calendar that would apply each date on the same day year after year.

The Gregorian Calendar has been in use since 1582. Time for a change? There are certainly some upsides...

Wired has the story.

The OLPC Tablet Arrives

Remember the OLPC Project (One Laptop Per Child)? The next step has finally arrived with the reveal of the XO-3, the $100 tablet. It comes in over the $75 projection, but the durability and power options - sips power and has an available hand crank - make it worth the extra bucks.

Sold only to education systems, this isn't geared to the average consumer, but to the developing nations as per the OLPC vision.

Wired has more here.

Gizmodo has more here.

Top 10 Jumps will BLOW Your Mind

Absolutely astounding. Some of these have been around, but #1 is unfortunately not well known. It should be.

Prepare to be amazed.

Octopus Walks on Land

Let me be among the first welcoming our new 8-legged overlords.

This is amazing. I thought it was fraud when I heard about it, but it's been potentially confirmed as accurate. Go figure.

Great Sportsmanship

Stuff like this gives hope to the world.

Brinicle of DEATH!

Ever heard of a brinicle? Me either, but wait until you see this phenomenon. Captured on film for the first time, see this amazing footage via Gizmodo:

http://gizmodo.com/5862229/this-unreal-slow+motion-ice-tornado-kills-everything-it-touches

"Frozen Planet" is a documentary filmed for BBC One

Mind = Blown

This is not CGI. It's not fabricated. It's not 'enhanced'... or so they say at least.

The last space fly-by was fascinating, but this one is more... much more. The Northern Lights / Aurora Borealis is amazing from earth; from space, it's phenomenal. Watch, and be amazed.

Earth | Time Lapse View from Space, Fly Over | NASA, ISS from Michael König on Vimeo.

Google Takeout

Being a big proponent of Google's online services, a key component that has been missing is the ability to back up data off line. Enter Google Takeout.

Pretty simple stuff, but a quick explanation from Techzilla if preferred:

Uhhhhhh...... yeah, get me some of that

Again, no explanation necessary. I need one.




Get one here.

This is Why I Want(ed) to be an Astronaut

This gorgeous fly-by needs no introduction.



NASA posted a time lapse fly by from the International Space Station (ISS), and the wonders of the internet (and too much time on their hands) stitched it together. The lightning and storms are awesome.

Neptune Canada: The World's Largest Undersea Observatory

The Neptune—North-East Pacific Time-series Undersea Networked Experiments—Canada Ocean Network is the world's largest cabled undersea observatory, spanning 530 miles of diverse undersea terrain.



As seen on Gizmodo.http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif

3 Windows 7 Tricks

Oh Cnet, how I love thee.

Today, Cnet posted 3 great hidden windows tricks. I've already used the snipping tool half a dozen times. Awesome.

Worth a look:

"Half a Penny on the Dollar"

What does $0.005 of every US taxed dollar get you? NASA. Builder of dreams.

As a big fan of Neil deGrasse Tyson, this talk about NASA and how the funding is about to be essentially extinct is one of the many financial problems the US is facing now, and, in my opinion, in danger of falling from the world's super power to an also-ran. Watch and think about what NASA has meant, and what it could mean to the future of us as a species.

Audio for Movies is an Interesting Process

Likely coming in the DVD extras package, this featurette is all about how the sounds were created for the latest Transformers movie. Some interesting tricks and processes.

A couple of minor spoilers, but interesting stuff. It's obviously an astounding amount of work.

SoundWorks Collection: The Sound of Transformers: Dark of the Moon from Michael Coleman on Vimeo.

The Science of Aurora Borealis

This 5 minute production is a fascinating look at how the Aurora Borealis comes to our view.

The most interesting description of the Northern Lights (as I grew up knowing them) was "giant belches of plasma shooting outward toward our little rock."

The Aurora Borealis from Per Byhring on Vimeo.

Via Gizmodo.

Who Loves Coffee?

Well.... I do.

A quick, short film about coffee, why it's great, why it's wonderful, and why you should drink it.

Watch this while I go get a cup.

SpaceShipTwo's Impressive Test Flight

The soon-to-retire NASA Space Shuttle Program will not only mark the end of an era in space travel, but start another in commercialized space flight. Hot on the market is Virgin, who is well into testing of their SpaceShipTwo models.

Gizmodo has video of the most recent test of this remarkable vehicle, with the pertinent details of the new ship. It's impressive!

See the video here.