It’s been quite some time since Sonic’s heydays in the 90’s when Sega unleashed him to rival Nintendo’s Mario. Since then, the Italian plumber has continued to prosper while the blue hedgehog’s star has petered out miserably. The two icons recently ran into each other in an exceedingly uncomfortable setting:
Thanks Ziad!
Last week we brought you the news that scientists have now found a way to deduce which colors dinosaurs may have been by analyzing the structure of melanosomes. Those are cell bodies which carry melanin, which determines color, and in the case of the Sinosauropteryx had survived in fossils.
Unfortunately there’s some bad news to add to that report. It turns out that the melanosomes had survived because they were inside the tough protein of feathers. The melanosomes which could thus theoretically have survived in other feathered dinosaurs would indicate black, brown, orange or gray colorings.
However, because the relevant pigments come from a different source, it appears unlikely we’ll ever be able to tell which feathered dinosaurs were red, green, yellow or, most disappointingly for multi-national entertainment corporation marketing, purple. It’s also unlikely it will be possible to be sure about the colors of scaly, non-feathered dinosaurs.
That doesn’t mark an end to the work by the researchers, however. They now plan to analyze the entire Sinosauropteryx to attempt to map the coloring across its entire body. That might lend a better insight into whether the colored feathering was designed as a form of camouflage or to make it distinctive enough to attract a mate.
By the way, for those who didn’t notice, a GeeksAreSexy reader kindly shared the lyrics of a song by musician Billy Crockett which deals with a school pupil who disagrees with his teacher about exactly what color a dinosaur should be. In hindsight, the teacher’s arguments no longer appear so convincing!
From the same guy who produced the Amazing Robocop Rap, here comes a new video paying tribute to yet another masterpiece of geek culture: Aliens!
[Via Gizmodo]
Traditional lab tests for disease diagnosis can be too expensive and cumbersome for the regions most in need. George Whitesides’ ingenious answer, at TEDxBoston, is a foolproof tool that can be manufactured at virtually zero cost. Check it out:
Fight off hordes of oncoming enemies in this 25 level game containing 20 enemies, 5 bosses, and over 30 weapons/items to choose from. Medieval Rampage 2 also features Survival Mode, Achievements, and a Level Editor to keep you playing for hours!
Instructions:
Up/Down/Left/Right arrows – Move
Space – Health Potion
Tab – Bomb
CTRL – Mana Potion
‘P’ – Pause
‘M’- Mute
We’ve read the books, we’ve seen the movies (lots of them), but what does a real physicist say about time travel? Sean Carroll of the blog Cosmic Variance is a Senior Research Associate in the Department of Physics at the California Institute of Technology. He wrote a book called From Eternity to Here: The Quest for the Ultimate Theory of Time. In an excerpt at Discover Magazine, Carroll says if time travel were possible (and it might be), there would be no paradox, because we cannot change what has already happened. Ever. Then it gets weird.
Imagine that we have been appointed Guardian of the Gate, and our job is to keep vigilant watch over who passes through. One day, as we are standing off to the side, we see a person walk out of the rear side of the gate, emerging from one day in the future. That’s no surprise; it just means that you will see that person enter the front side of the gate tomorrow. But as you keep watch, you notice that he simply loiters around for one day, and when precisely 24 hours have passed, the traveler walks calmly through the front of the gate. Nobody ever approached from elsewhere. That 24-hour period constitutes the entire life span of this time traveler. He experiences the same thing over and over again, although he doesn’t realize it himself, since he does not accumulate new memories along the way. Every trip through the gate is precisely the same to him. That may strike you as weird or unlikely, but there is nothing paradoxical or logically inconsistent about it.
OK, this is why I’m not a physicist. I know people have a beginning and end. Even Bill Murray got to break out of the loop once he learned how to treat a woman.
[via Digg]
Tags: time, time travel
If you’ve watched Western movies you’ll know that most of the time there’s a predictable pattern to shootouts: the villain draws his gun first, but the hero shoots quicker and wins (before blowing the smoke from the tip of the barrel.)
Ask most people why this is and they’ll guess it’s to tell a moral story: the hero is honor bound not to draw first and shoot a man before there is a proven threat, but prevails through his superior skills. That’s a worthy story but one that appears to stretch credibility.
Now science has shown that there is a more logical explanation why the good guy could win, albeit it rarely. A joint project by researchers in Britain, Germany, China and New Zealand, published in Proceedings B, the biological studies publication of the Royal Society, shows that in tests, the gunfighter who draws first is usually shot by their target before firing their own weapon.
To simulate the action of pulling and firing a gun, participants were put into pairs and asked to hold down the middle of three buttons with their right hand (button 1 in the picture below). The “firing process” involved letting go of button 1, hitting button 2, then button 3 and finally hitting button 1.
In each sequence there was a secret, variable minimum time before which button 1 could be released; if either participant started “firing” before this time an alarm sounded and the sequence was declared void. This delay was intended to make sure the participants were in a situation where one initiated and the other responded, rather than both simply aiming to fire immediately.
When comparing results, the researchers did not compare the two participants in each exchange as this would have been skewed by the simple fact that one might be inherently quicker than the other. (There could also have been a limitation on any left-handed participants.) Instead they compared how each participant performed in the initiator role compared with their performance as respondent. When there was less than 100ms between the two “shots”, it was assumed both had acted in the initiator role and the result was discarded.
The results showed that on average a participant took 20ms less time to complete the sequence when responding to their opponent rather than initiating the process. The bad news for honorable gunfighters is that on average it took 200ms for the respondent to react to their opponent and begin firing.
The main biological conclusion from the study is that planned and reactive movements are controlled by different parts of the brain and work at different speeds. This may help solve some of the mysteries of Parkinson’s disease where the disparity between the two types of action is much greater: in some cases a sufferer can catch a ball more easily then they can pick it up from a table.
The main geek conclusion, however, is that HAN SHOT FIRST.
Now this is something frivolous, fantastic, and futuristic that I can really get behind. According to CNN, London-based design company, Seymourpowell, has proposed a project for floating hotels, called AirCruise. Essentially, the idea is to travel in the form of a futuristic airship/luxury hotel, designed to float from destination to destination rather than zoom at top speeds.
Nick Talbot of Seymourpowell explains some of the thinking behind the concept: “A more serene transport experience will appeal to people looking for a more reflective journey, where the experience of travel itself is more important than getting from A to B quickly.”
These concept luxury pods are part hotel, part ship, and have the capacity to accommodate about 100 guests. Travel would be slow, but enjoyable—a leisurely 100 to 150 km/hr, making the trip from London to New York in about 40 hours.
While currently only part of a “feasibility study”—and by and large considered a luxury form of flight—it is, nonetheless, quite appealing. I was just talking to someone recently, during one of my steampunk infused rants, how actually seeing the landscape would add tremendously to my in-flight experience. I’m the person who has to have a window seat and gripes about being on the wrong side of the airplane when we cross over the Grand Canyon (which always seems to happen). It used to be that, through train travel, you had a real sense of traveling large distances and watching the landscape change. With much of my family in California, I fly across the country a few times a year and usually find the experience jarring. Not to mention disappointing to miss so much landscape.
Of course, even though this is totally in the “what if” stage, chances are curious adventure-seekers like myself aren’t the target market. Judging by the language of the article, the company wants to target people with both money and time, neither of which I have to spare.
… hmm, there’s always the airship pirate route, right?
From the obvious to the subtle to the vandalized, signs that can make a geek giggle aren’t all that uncommon. Here are just a few, but the next time you see one, consider snapping a picture to share!
The place to be? Geek Drive. – erwin-photography (CC)
