I’ll set the stage for you: San Diego morning show, dude with a water jetpack. Aaaand, go:
What is that?! What is that?! That, Miss Newscaster, is how not to open a segment. That said, it looks insanely fun after the guy actually gets it under control.
[DVICE]
Event cloaks are the sort of thing movies and far-future, ten-tome science fiction tales are made of. That is unless you’re Moti Fridman or part of his group of sharp-minded companions at Cornell, in which case you have designed and built a cloak that hides events in time.
The concept of event cloaking works like this:
[B]asically, you need two time-lenses–lenses that can compress and decompress light in time. This is actually possible to do using an electro-optic modulator (what, you don’t have one?). Basically, using two of these modulators you would slow down or compress the light traveling through the first lens, and then set up a second lens downrange from the first that would decompress, or accelerate, the incoming photons from the first lens.
I’m right beside anyone who can’t stand animated gifs, but this one is important so I included it here. Imagine space-time as a constant flow of traffic. Imagine events as chickens who need to cross the road but normally can’t because, you know, constant flow of traffic. But if you take some of those cars (time) and slow them down, you get a gap (hole) that can be crossed by a well-timed chicken (event). To an observer located downstream of the chicken (event) who crossed the road (space-time), no chicken ever existed.
Though Fridman and team are deservedly stoked about their design, they are reluctant at this point to discuss applications for it. As of right now, the gap in traffic only lasts 110 nanoseconds. The team claims their limit with this design will be 120 microseconds. That said, this is the first ever functioning cloak, so those numbers could change in the time it takes an event to cross space-time.
For a detailed and considerably more technical explanation of the Cornell team’s research, check out the article at Technology Review.
Robots! Cute ones! That dance! Oh, my!
Most of us do not (yet) have access to a 3D printer, but these little Spazzi dancing robots could probably be rigged out of some moldable material and patience. Unless, of course, you do have a Thing-O-Matic, in which case I will be right over, thanks for letting me use yours, you are so, so nice.
The good folks at Make have a full, comprehensive tutorial if you feel compelled to make your own solenoid-powered dancing spazzy thingies. If not, while away the next few seconds on fun little video and write “Thing-O-Matic” on your Christmas list.
If you’re curious about things like where your Internet service comes from or what a giant system of cables that spans the globe looks like, it’s your lucky day. Compiled by Greg Mahlknecht using resources he found on the internet, this map shows the major pipes flowing to and from all major countries by way of seabed.
The map isn’t complete, however; Mahlknecht is asking for the rest of us Internet Citizens to unite and improve the accuracy of this underwater map. Check it out and give the guy a hand.
[TechCentral via Gizmodo]
A newly published study has been interpreted by some as a sign that search engines are damaging people’s memory skills. In fact, it seems more of an indication that the brain makes a smart use of its resources.
The study carried out by researchers at Columbia, Wisconsin and Harvard Universities, and published in Science, involved a series of memory experiments.
In one, the participants were asked to type a list of trivia facts into a computer. Though none were told they would be tested on the facts later on, participants received one of two instructions: half were told the information would be saved on the computer, while half were told it would be erased.
The researchers then found that those who believed the facts would be kept on the computer were “significantly” less likely to be able to recall them from memory.
A second study involved learning a series of facts, along with which of five folders on a computer the fact was stored in. Later questioning showed the participants found it easier to remember the location than the fact itself.
Some of the press coverage has been excitable to say the least: witness “How Google is wreaking havoc on our memory skills” or “Google turning us into forgetful morons, warn boffins“.
To me, that doesn’t seem a fair interpretation of the findings. After all, human brains have always coped with the limitations of memory by storing “directions” to sources of information. Even before cellphones with contact storage, most people were much better at remembering where they kept a telephone directory or personal address book than the details of individual numbers. And in my pre-Web school days, I distinctly remember a teacher mentioning that it didn’t matter how “knowledgeable” you were: somebody who knew where the library was and what time it was open would usually know far more than you.
I may be biased though: as a journalist, one of my key skills is not so much what I know, but how efficiently I can find things out. But in my view, these experiments simply show that humans do a decent job of find the most efficient way to store knowledge, both in our brains and in other sources.
Every single day I am impressed by people who read Geeks Are Sexy. You ladies and gents are insanely creative/funny/smart/otherwise awesome. I can’t get over it.
These pics landed in my inbox recently from one Joshua Hart. At first blush, I thought, “Oooh, nice steampunk.” But then I read the explanation of said nice steampunk, and after I lifted my jaw from the floor I caught a pneumatic tube and shot over here to tell you all about it. I’ll let Joshua explain:
Meet Joshua Hart’s alter ego, the Baron, Baron bon Bar. This is the Alice line of products that I make, Alcoholic libation inebriation cavorting equipment. In my hands is the Shot gun, on my belt is a full bar, with 8 types of alcoholic beverage and mixers in the bandoleer and on my back is the ever popular triple A, the autonomous alcoholic apparatus, also affectionately know as the BarBac. This device carries 2 gallons of Liquor that pumps out to a glove on my hand. Its all fully functional and I can carry over 4 gallons of booze on a good night.
On top of being ridiculously awesome, the shots he sent are also top-notch. Well done, sir, and thank you.
The negative 1UP is a mushroom you’d be smart to avoid. DO NOT WANT.
[Get it @ Splitreason.com | Get 10% off with promo code “geeksaresexy”]
“I got this mega man tattoo as I am a self confessed game geek. Megaman, Mario Bros. and Nintendo was a big part of my life when i was younger. Game Over as basically I gotta grow up now :( NOT lol” — Kevin Travis, bearer of Mega Man ink.
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