Although the moon has remained largely unchanged during human history, our understanding of it and how it has evolved over time has evolved dramatically. Thanks to new measurements, we have new and unprecedented views of its surface, along with new insight into how it and other rocky planets in our solar system came to look the way they do. See some of the sights and learn more about the moon here!
Converse Sneakers to Feature Dark Knight and Bane [Pics]
Hi there! Me again, with some more shoes.
Just in time for the release date of “The Dark Knight Rises“, the shoe store Journeys is selling special edition Batman and Bane-themed Converse sneakers.
You can pre-order yours here for $59.99. The Converse designs that first featured Batman, The Joker, The Riddler, and even Superman and The Flash are still available at Journeys and at Converse, too.
The BAMF Girls Club [Video]
A club featuring all your favorite badass women… plus Bella? Well, that certainly sounds… interesting… especially if they start picking on her!
[Comediva]
‘Game of Thrones’ Football Leagues
Ukrainian artist Yvan Degtyariov created football (“soccer”) emblems for each house in Westeros!
The swordplay and battles on the HBO show are epic and all, but I wouldn’t mind seeing the Lannisters take on, say, the Targaryens in a game of foot-to-foot coordination…to the death, natch.
See the rest of the emblems and even buy prints here!
[Via Forever Geek]
Sonic Screwdriver offers universal control
How do you outgeek the creation of a motion-control TV remote that operates like a magic wand? Why, you turn it into a Sonic Screwdriver.
The BBC’s commercial arm has announced a deal with The Wand Company to produce a Sonic Screwdriver Universal Remote.
Ironically it was the BBC that helped the company come to fame back in 2010. Founders Chris Barnado and Richard Blakesley appeared on Dragons’ Den, a show where inventors pitch their products to a panel of wealthy potential investors.
Having showed off the Kymera wand, which allows users to operate up to 13 devices via a range of gestures rather than buttons, the pair took up a ยฃ200,000 (approx $320,000) offer from gym chain owner Duncan Bannatyne.
The wand uses a three-axis accelerometer and runs on two AAA batteries. There’s also a vibration motor that gives feedback so that the users knows the gesture has been recognized. During the pitch, the pair showed how it could be used to change channels or volume with a swipe or rotate gesture.
During the pitch the pair were careful not to infringe on any intellectual property rights, though it was clear that much of the hype for the gadget would stem from the popularity of Harry Potter. Now they’ve issued a second model which is based on a licensed tie-in.
The Sonic Screwdriver is a redesigned wand, based on the model used by the 11th and current Doctor. The creators note that “to avoid confusion and chaotic usage, this model has had its Psychic Control Interface disabled.” It allows for variations on flick, tap, rotate and push/pull gestures, as well as adding a button.
There’s also an FX mode where each gesture produces a different sound effect taken from the show. While this mode is activated, the blue tip flashes every two seconds and then delivers a Morse code message every 1,963 seconds (taken from the year the show first aired.)
The device goes on sale on 31 August, priced at ยฃ59.95 in the UK and $99.95 in the US.
San Diego Comic Con 2012 Preview Night
Nerdvana. Geek Mecca. The Place of Hopes and Dreams. San Diego Comic Con. The ultimate pilgrimage for geeks world-wide kicked off last night with a the annual Preview Night, attended by professionals and a few thousand lucky general pass holders. It’s the night where you can get the jump on all the wicked exclusives put out by the myriad of companies, get a chance to rub elbows with creators, movers and shakers of the comic and entertainment world. And if you’re not careful, you will spend all of your well-saved cash in one evening.
Comic Con is unlike any other comic book or anime convention in the US. It is a true trade show, with the big comic book, video game and entertainment companies creating lavish displays and featuring all the amazing things to come out in the next year. They do have their fair share of vendors, hawking vintage comics, toys, and the general miscellany you would find at most larger shows. The artist alley and small press features a great array of well known and independent creators.
Preview Night did not disappoint. When I walked in I was immediately confronted by Optimus Prime, towering over me and beckoning me gander at the upcoming line of Transformers figures. Around the corner was My Little Pony, with a case displaying their two exclusives – glow in the dark Zicora, and a mighty size “Derpy Hooves,” a fan favorite in the pony community. To our immediate right a full line of Avengers toys begged to be played with.
The sights were overwhelming.
At one point my group stopped by to oogle the Monster High dolls. A gentleman told us we should attend their panel on Friday, I thanked him and remarked, “So you must have something to do with these toys, huh?” Thinking he may have been one of the designers, or at least a very knowledgeable booth worker. He smiled, extended his hand and introduced himself as Garret Sander, the creator of the dolls! Our group gushed, and my best friend exclaimed how his toys have had such a positive impact on her life – as a creative individual and fashion designer. Seeing Garret blush at that, and simply meeting him, made our night.
Then it was on to the big entertainment booths. Warner Bros. had on display the motorcycle Catwoman sports in the upcoming Batman: Dark Knight Rises film.ย Neill Blomkamp (District 9) had one of his space ships from his new flick Elysium out for show. The Hobbit display was one of my favorites, but I wasn’t allowed to look at it because one of my party refuses to see anything before the movie comes out. I will be visiting it today.
Even the TV networks had their A game, with life-size sets from AMC’s The Walking Dead, and teasers from the next season. Adult Swim invites fans to put on a “cone of shame” and win the ultimate Deathklok prize – a golden ticket to their Friday night concert and to meet with creator Brendon Small.
In the back corner, some big name video game companies were on hand demoing some very exciting titles. I played some of Transformers “Fall of Cybertron” and I can’t gush enough about the graphics and the multi-player’s side of the game . It’s like Halo, but with giant robots. Speaking of, Halo 4 was sporting some mighty fine merchandise and game play. Another title to be on the look out is DC and NetherRealms’ collab on a new Mortal Kombat-style fighting game – DC Injustice: Gods Among Us. The character designs are beyond epic, and if you loved Mortal Kombat vs. DC, this game is for you. I’m going to make a bee line for the Tomb Raider booth today, because Crystal Dynamics supposedly has some exciting new information to announce this weekend.
For a first timer, SDCC is overwhelming. There is so much to see and do and buy. Today, the big panels and all the announcements begin. If you want to get up-to-the-minute information, follow my twitter at http://twitter.com/mplacko. Phone willing, I’ll post everything I see and hear about as it happens. Otherwise, just wait for tomorrow.
Thanks to Pat Loika and Chris Maze for these amazing photos. You can see more shots from SDCC weekend on Pat’s flickr page right here.
Nexus 7 Smart Cover is on its way
Those who decided not to buy into the iPad “premium” product sell and instead went for the “cheap but good” marketing of Google’s Nexus 7 might have been lamenting the fact that there was no Smart Cover alternative for their nifty new tablet.
The Apple Smart Cover is a foldaway cover that is designed to automatically turn your device on and off as you remove and apply it to the surface. How? Magnetization that also handily gets the cover to sit quite securely on the surface of the iPad.
Apple has a patent in the design and Google is unlikely to want to get into any more legal lockdowns with their technological brother. However, it would seem that the functionality is there: the video below demonstrates how the Nexus 7 has a corner which responds to a magnet.
You can probably expect third party cover creators to be including this functionality in cases very soon (if they haven’t already).
[Via GeeksHaveLanded]
Ill-fitting Suit Puts Years on You
If you’ve had a rough day or your joints are creaking a little, you might describe yourself as feeling old. But now a special suit designed by German scientists allows you to literally have that experience.
The “Age Man Suit” (also known as the Age Explorer) is a specially designed combination of boiler suit and helmet. It weight 10kg to simulate the effects of bones and joints finding it harder to carry around the user’s bodyweight.
Other measures in the suit include a vest designed to make the chest and breathing feel less comfortable, extra padding on the knees and elbows to make it harder to move the joints, and gloves that mirror a loss of grip and control.
The helmet includes a variation on ear protectors, designed to simulate hearing impairment, and a yellow visor. This not only blurs vision, but makes it more difficult to distinguish between colors.
The suit is the work of the Evangelical Geriatrics Center, a complex that combines medical and care facilities for elderly people with an education and training academy for staff in the geriatrics field and a specialist research center.
Senior physician Rahel Eckardt told The Guardian that the idea of the suit was to help existing doctors have more empathy with elderly patients. The center also hopes that experiencing some of the physical effects of being elderly may help persuade medical students that specializing in geriatric medicine is worthwhile despite its lack of glamor.
The suit has also been made available to domestic appliance manufacturers so that they can test how easy it is to use their devices even when suffering physical deterioration.
(Image credit: Blum)