This artificial pumpkin is approx 7.5″ tall, and a diameter of 9″. Has been painted to resemble the Death Star from the famous Star Wars films. The “windows” and the Superlaser Focus Lens have all been painted with a special paint that is UV (“Black Light”) reactive which also glows in the dark! design is 360 degrees, including “stem” & bottom.
[Source: Cricket Willis @ Etsy.com]
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It’s fifty years ago this week since the first practical experiment producing visible light from a light-emitting diode.
The idea that electricity could directly generate light goes back to the early 20th century. That led to exploration of the idea of tweaking the principle of a transistor to intentionally control the movement of electrons and cause them to release energy in the form of photons.
The first step was to carry out this process to produce infrared light: several people claimed the credit for this over the years, with the first patent awarded in 1961 to Robert Biard and Gary Pittman of Texas Instruments.
A year later Nick Holonyak of General Electric developed the technique further to produce a visible yellow light. He told the BBC that at the time a LED would cost $262 to make, which is just under $2,000 at today’s prices. His findings were first published in December 1962 in the Applied Physics Letters journal.
Holonyak noted that it took more time to figure out how to produce the higher wavelengths that produced different colors. Red came next which is why it most commonly appears on digital displays on older devices such as calculators.
The main benefits of LEDs are efficiency, instant reaction and durability. Holonyak notes that unlike many forms of electronic lighting, a LED directly converts electricity to light without needing an intermediate stage such as heat. He explains that LEDs work as close to 100 percent efficiency as possible.
Holonyak also tells the BBC that a car brake light using LEDs shows both of the other two advantages. To the human eye, the LEDs switch on instantaneously, giving the driver behind the quickest possible warning, while the light should outlast the car itself. One drawback is that performance decreases at higher temperatures.
By coincidence, Ikea announced just last week that it will switch to selling LED lights only from 2016. The retailer had already ditched incandescent bulbs from 2011. Ikea says this will “drive market acceptance in a good way”, the logic appearing to be that if people don’t see any other types of bulbs on the shelves, they might buy LED rather than make a trip to another store. And who among us can say they’ve walked out of Ikea with an appetite for further shopping that day…
(Image credit: Afrank99 via Creative Commons license)
This absolutely amazing Mogwai (Gizmo) carved pumpkin comes from pumpkin carver and sculptor extraordinaire Trevor Grove from VillaFane Studios. There’s only one problem with it… if you leave it outside and it starts raining, will it start spawning hundreds of little mogwai pumpkins?
[Source: Villafanestudios | Via OW]
Deviant art user BillWalko drew this awesome mash-up of the Mad Men (and Women) of Arkham Asylum.
The Riddler’s focus group questions are maddening. Two-Face is obsessed with 2-for-1 offers. Poison Ivy has founded a go-green movement. And the Joker keeps running out of pencils. But at the end of a rough day, Harley Quinn is ready with a drink that will knock you out (umm, literally)!
[Source: BillWalko @ Deviantart.com | Via]
In Crane, Indiana, the Naval Warfare Surface Centre has revealed an app that shows you just how dangerous malware can be in the world of such intelligent phones. The app called PlaceRaider can take photos randomly while running in the background – you would never know it was happening. These photos can then be rendered on a central server and stitched together to reconstruct where the phone has been.
The app makes good tactical sense – hack into the bad guy’s phone and you can pretty much figure out where their base of operations is and what it’s like on the inside. However, it’s terrifying for the general public, especially for someone with a “secret admirer” (aka stalker). The app could be hidden in the depths of a seemingly awesome free camera-based app that has access to your camera whenever it likes. Someone, anyone could be watching you. Not to make you paranoid about downloading Instagram or anything…
Of course, if your phone is in your pocket most of the time, or the camera is face down on a table, it’s not really gonna catch much is it?
The app currently works on any smartphone that runs Android 2.3, but the concept can still apply to iOS and Windows Phone systems. Beware what apps you (or your children) are downloading – take the time to do your research and read reviews.
Even if it doesn’t turn out to have creepy sensor malware attached to it, you may find that it’s not a good app anyway!
[Via Geeky Gadgets]
Too bad the real movie isn’t starring these cats, else I’d probably be running to the closest movie theater on October 12th.
[Via]
