Eclectic junk from the four corners of the ‘Net. And pictures too!
I think that as we increase our ability to see more detail in our solar system we will find that it’s much larger than we think. There might be a dozen or so planet like objects each with many moons and all having periods in the order of decades.
[via Unexplained Mysteries]
Moon discovered orbiting tenth planet
First off, what the heck is a ‘Catom’ you ask? Well, a catom is short for “claytronic atoms”. That would be atom sized robots that could assemble themselves into all sorts of handy devices with the aid of a computer. Think a bucket of smart micron sized LEGO bricks. You order up some way cool germ seeing micro glasses off the Internet and your computer commands your bucket of smart LEGOs to take the shape and functionality of it. Once finished you pull your micro glasses out of the bucket and start to freak out about how unclean your house is.
Right now researchers are trying to build centimeter sized robots that will do this so don’t look for your catom based replicator just yet, give them about 20 years for that.
Oh cool! LiftPort Group Inc., of Bremerton, Wa. tested a robot that climbed 1,000 feet of ribbon suspended by a balloon. This is the fist step towards building an actual space elevator. A full sized elevator would reduce the cost of spaceflight to the point that a trip into orbit would cost as much as a regular international air flight.
Space elevator robot passes 1,000-foot mark – Space.com – MSNBC.com
Few things beat seeing a rocket scream up into the heavens. Seeing them day and night is an even better thing! There was a recent event in Black Rock Desert (same area here Burning Man is held) where dozens of high powered rockets were flown during over the course of two days. I have to go visit one of these launchings some day, it must be simpley awesome to see one of these monters take flight in person.
If you have the space and an old BUD (Big Ugly Dish) satellite receiver and a few easy to find parts you too can construct your very own radio telescope. Use it to see the spectra of space or look for alien life.
[via MAKEzine]
Amateur SETI Station
One of these would be so cool to own…
Limited Edition Nixie tube desk clock
Functional art that mixes a little bit of history with modern electronics to create a clock design combining both the ultra modern 1960s with current retro trends. Deep stain wood box with glass door. Modern, custom electronics. Available for a limited time only. Each clock hand assembled.