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Posted on 04.01.08 by John @ 4:26 pm
(from the PR page) "Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) and Virgin Group today announced the launch of Virgle Inc., a jointly owned and operated venture dedicated to the establishment of a human settlement on Mars. This is trurlly a banner day for the human race! Virgle: The Adventure of Many Lifetimes (I love days like these) 
Filed under: General and Mad Science and Space and Hacked and Historic Comments: Comments Off |
Looks like the mega corps of Virgin and Google have decided to reach higher than anyone has ever thought possible. They have she their goal on a journey to the red planet Mars 
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Posted on 03.11.08 by John @ 9:05 pm
Filed under: Photography and Mad Science and To be used for Evil and Cool and DIY and Historic Comments: None |
This is a bit old news but if you act soon you can snatch one of these up before they are gone. This is a cool little hack to repurpose the head mounted display from a remote controlled car for better purposes. The procedure is simple, get a power supply (some batteries) pop the back off the display and move a shunt from one pad to another (switch form PAL to NTSC video standards) and you are set.|
Posted on 01.17.08 by John @ 9:16 pm
Building the lenses was a challenge because materials that are safe for use in the body, such as the flexible organic materials used in contact lenses, are delicate. Manufacturing electrical circuits, however, involves inorganic materials, scorching temperatures and toxic chemicals. Researchers built the circuits from layers of metal only a few nanometers thick, about one thousandth the width of a human hair, and constructed light-emitting diodes one third of a millimeter across. They then sprinkled the grayish powder of electrical components onto a sheet of flexible plastic. The shape of each tiny component dictates which piece it can attach to, a microfabrication technique known as self-assembly. Capillary forces – the same type of forces that make water move up a plant’s roots, and that cause the edge of a glass of water to curve upward – pull the pieces into position. Contact lenses with circuits, lights a possible platform for superhuman vision
Filed under: Science and Technology and Mad Science and Cool Comments: 1 Comment |
My friend Greg sent this to me today. I’ll be first in line when these come out!|
Posted on 09.19.07 by John @ 8:27 pm
is a resource for all things about amateur Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs): How-to’s, links, videos, images and a discussion group. Among other things, this is where we’ll be listing all the parts, software and instructions to build each of our UAVs. I know that I’d like to have a plane with a camera built into it. An autopilot would make lining up a good photo a lot easier. How cool would that be? It’s simply amazing what you can do with off the shelf stuff and some brains. Oh yeah, and LEGOS. Yes, one of these planes has a servo actuated camera mount that is built from LEGO parts. That in mind your not going to be loitering over your target all day looking for the guy that has been stealing your newspaper every morning. These UAVs get about 20 minuets in the air and can only go about five miles. Still, it is very cool.
Filed under: General and Robots and Mad Science and To be used for Evil and Cool and DIY Comments: None |
I’m sure this is going to end up like the guy that |
Posted on 09.18.07 by John @ 7:10 pm
This is a thing of beauty, I blogged this before but these clips are a whole bunch better.
The Sultan’s Elephant is a giant marionette show put on by the French street theater company Royal de Luxe. It has been performed in several European cities. I find it simply amazing that a gargantuon marionette can be manipulated in such subtle ways. If it weren’t for the block and tackle surrounding her you might almost forget that it’s 30 feet tall.
Filed under: Mad Science and Cool and Artistic Comments: None |
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Posted on 09.07.07 by John @ 6:45 pm
[via navigadget]
Filed under: Mad Science and To be used for Evil and Dumb and Hacked and DIY Comments: None |
Hackers listen up. Everyone understands and enjoys the utilitarian benefits that |
Posted on 09.06.07 by John @ 10:20 pm
Filed under: Photography and Technology and Mad Science and Cool and DIY Comments: None |
I don’t usually toot my own horn but this time I’m going to. I was recently asked if MAKE magazine could use a few of my photos of a Halloween display that I had made a few years ago. I agreed to it of course, I mean who wouldn’t want to see their photos in a national magazine? So I signed some paperwork and waited for the issue to hit the stands. All my waiting paid off when I saw the issue on Saturday and saw my photos printed up in glorious color. My photos of glow sticks, black light, and electric arcs fit right in with the other amazing projects that are being showcased in the Halloween issue. If your looking for a way to add a little something to your garage turned haunted house or even if your just wanting to scare the crap out of a coworkers with some automated nasty in the cube farm this is the magazine to buy!
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Posted on 08.30.07 by John @ 8:12 pm
How cool is that? The page is for ’science fiction authors who wanted a little scientific accuracy’ but the heck with that, I’m going to read this from ‘cover to cover’. [via retro thing, boingboing] If you want to read a few book by my favorite masters of scifi, go on over to Amazon and flex the credit chip.
Filed under: Technology and Mad Science and Space and Cool and Artistic Comments: None |
If I’m asked what kind of book I like to read my answer is 
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Posted on 08.21.07 by John @ 5:46 pm
This is a wholly amazing example of what can be done with LEGOs and their line of microcontrollers. It’s a production line that creates little LEGO cars, you can even choose the colors of the bricks. But can someone make a LEGO machine that builds production lines and in turn builds more production lines? Constructigasm: Production Line Built From Legos Builds Lego Cars - Jalopnik
Filed under: Robots and Mad Science and Cool Comments: None |
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Posted on 08.08.07 by John @ 5:52 pm
Welcome to Custom Creature Taxidermy Arts
Filed under: Mad Science and Cool Comments: None |
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Posted on 08.03.07 by John @ 4:27 pm
A man in a Revolutionary War-era submarine was cited by the U.S. Coast Guard for drifting into a security zone, and for unsafe sailing in New York’s East River near the Queen Mary 2 luxury liner, the Coast Guard and New York City Police Department said Friday. I remember when I first saw a drawing of the famous ‘Turtle‘ I was fascinated by the entire concept. It’s a good thing that I didn’t live around any lakes or I might not have survived my childhood.
Filed under: Technology and Mad Science and To be used for Evil and Dumb and Cool and DIY and Artistic Comments: None |
You just have to love New York…|
Posted on 07.25.07 by John @ 8:08 am
The idea of transmitting energy wirelessly isn’t new. For almost two centuries, scientists have known that rapidly changing magnetic fields, such as those produced by an alternating current flowing through a wire, can induce an electric current in another wire. That’s how the coils inside power transformers transmit energy from one coil to another without touching. But this form of induction usually works efficiently only when the two coils are very close to each other. [via boingboing]
Filed under: Technology and Mad Science Comments: 1 Comment |
This demonstration never fails to be a crown pleaser. However, this one was quite a bit more practical.|
Posted on 07.13.07 by John @ 7:47 pm
Filed under: Mad Science and Cool and Mods and Design and DIY and Historic and Artistic Comments: None |
If your looking for decorating ideas that are a little out of the norm…|
Posted on 07.04.07 by John @ 6:01 pm
Not that I’d ever want to lose a finger myself but if I did I’d want something at least as good as one of these.
Mechanical Fingers Give Strength, Speed to Amputees-Wired Magazine
Filed under: Science and Technology and Mad Science and Cool and Mods Comments: None |
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Posted on 07.04.07 by John @ 5:50 pm
Hybrid animal-human embryos created for medical research should be viewed as human and permitted to develop into children, Roman Catholic bishops have urged the British parliament. Arrgh… My inner scientists cringes at this. Sure, we could use a race of lion men to defend our borders and what better to attend to the sick than bunny girls but I know that the Bishop has no concept of this utilitarian purpose and that any decent scientists with any sense of morals or ethics would never bring one of these monstrosities to term. Who is the mad man here, the man of faith or the man of science? Animal-human embryos need human rights, bishops say | Reuters
Filed under: Technology and Mad Science and To be used for Evil and Dumb Comments: None |
As my good friend Greg (who told me of this story) pointed out "Have these people not read The Island of Dr. Moreau?" Well said Greg!| previous posts » |
