Kids try their hands at robotics, da Vinci style, thanks Kevin! The task at hand seemed simple: Take a small rubber band and wrap it around a penny. But the task here was more like minor surgery that was performed Sunday at Liberty Science Center by children and adults eager to try their hands at […]
This looks really cool! It’s some sort of promotion for the new Tron movie, done in Melbourne by interactive agency eness.
From the US Navy’s YouTube channel:
The Office of Naval Research Electromagnetic Railgun located at the Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division, fired a world-record setting 33 mega-joule shot, breaking the previous record established Jan. 31, 2008.
Target effects footage, almost certain to be classified, is conspicuously absent.
Video of the previous record-holding shot, which was reportedly “over 10” MJ is here. Per Popular Mechanics, the Navy is reportedly working towards a 64 MJ device for deployment. [via Neatorama]
I’m a little late to the party, on this one; wish I’d heard about the 2010 Zombie Safe House Competition before the deadline back in August. There were only four entries, overall, but I think the winning SS Huckleberry, shown above, would’ve been hard to beat regardless. Looks like they’re planning another contest for 2011. [Thanks, Mel!]
…and a pretty sweet Minority Report-esque dynamic infographic (“infomotion?”), to boot. The point? The world today has more than its share of problems, but we can all be thankful it isn’t the world of 200 years ago.
The charming Swede is Hans Rosling–physician, statistician, and host of BBC 4’s The Joy of Stats. Pretty much everything about this video makes me happy, not least of all that the Brits have a TV program celebrating statistics itself. [Thanks, Dad!]
P.S. If you’re feeling cynical, check out the equally-cool-but-way-less-uplifting Animated Map of Nuclear Explosions, 1945-1998 by Isao Hashimoto.
I get nostalgic when I move out of a home, especially if it’s one I’ve lived in awhile. Leaving a secret treasure or two, stashed here and there, seems to help me get closure. Unlike, say, dropping a note down inside the wall, a note on the back of a switch plate is likely to be found sooner or later, but not right away. I’ve included a PDF template with a tiny font that makes it easy to fit a 500-word message on the back of a standard light switch plate.
In truth, I regard the “robot uprising” meme with about the same level of seriousness as the “zombie apocalypse” meme. I suppose robots becoming sentient, independent, organized, and uncontrollably violent is at least plausible, but if I let all the plausible apocalypses keep me awake nights, I’d never sleep again. So, in the spirit of fun, here’s a collection of videos showing the mad, mad foolishness that roboticists have been up to equipping our future overlords with their tools of power. Or, in a more serious vein: Look at all the amazing stuff robots can do these days!
