Check out this mesmerizing video showing a series of pendulums slowly moving in and out of sync in an hypnotic pattern.
[Via Kottke]
Hypnotic Pendulum Waves
Robot Walks Ultramarathon on a Single Charge
Cornell’s Robot Ranger, built by the university’s BioRobotics and Locomotion Lab, recently walked 40.5 miles around a running track on a single battery charge. Check it out:
[Source]
I Feel Sorry… [Picture]
Thanks Richard!
Female Green Lantern [Picture]
In brightest day, in blackest night,
No evil shall escape my sight
Let those who worship evil’s might,
Beware my power… Green Lantern’s light!
[Via]
The Greatest Dungeon Master Who Ever Lived [Video]
The movie is called Zero Charisma, and it might one day become the dorkiest indie move to grace geekdom… if the team that wants to produce can raise enough money to start the project.
Scott Weidemeier spends his time in exactly three ways: working a menial job at a local donut shop, caring for his abusive grandmother, and running The Greatest Dungeons & Dragons Game of All Time. Though overbearing and short-tempered, Scott is a hero to his fellow players—that is, until neo-nerd hipster Miles Butler joins the game, fueling Scott’s rampant insecurity and alienating him from his own players. Can Scott overcome his contempt for the mainstreaming of nerdery, or will this clash of the subcultures come to a head? . . . Though the topics of gaming and nerd culture are close to our hearts, our real passion for this story lies in the main character. Over the last year, we have taken great care to write someone who is neither your typical leading man, nor the archetypal nerd who exists only for laughs.
[Via Io9]
Nevada bill would take hands-free to a new level
Google has hired a lobbyist to promote proposed laws that would allow cars without drivers to operate in Nevada.
The company has already developed vehicles using the technology and tested them extensively in California. The new laws would make Nevada the first state where such vehicles are formally allowed on public roads. (The company believes its California tests were legal as they allowed the human driver to override any errors.)
The Google system involves a combination of the cars using Google’s own maps and traffic data to figure out routes and drive within the prevailing speed limit, and a suite of sensors, cameras and radar devices to keep track of the position and movements of surrounding objects.
This isn’t the only such project in the works. A European research project tested in Sweden involves electronically controlled vehicles syncing with one another to form an automated convoy on major roads, with the front vehicle controlling movement and speed.
Google hasn’t said publicly why it has targeted Nevada for the first state to allow the cars. My guess is it’s a combination of the state being known for relatively relaxed attitudes to many issues, and there’s plenty of desert road where it may be easier to try scaling the number of driverless vehicles rather than in busy metropolitan areas.
As well as the bill to allow the vehicles, lobbyist David Goldwater is also working on a bill that would exempt the cars from rules banning texting by drivers. Both bills are expected to go to a vote next month.
(Picture via ted.com talk by Sebastian Thrun, who helped build the Google vehicle.)
Hand-Knit Companion Cube Sweater [Picture]
Check out this awesome Hand-Knit Companion Cube sweater by Tumblr user Monday.
Steamed length to sleeves. Ends all mostly weaved in. Underarm gaps sewn shut. Blocking done. Center heart duplicate stitched to add depth.
Total time to knit: 10 days.
Now let us never speak of this again.
