Okay. You’ve got a cell phone, a laptop, and all the various things plugged in to your wall in your house. What do they have in common? Well, not to be obvious, but they all require a power source — i.e., electricity. Electricity comes from a power source, like the electricity connected to your home courtesy of Duke Power or … Read More
I, For One, Welcome Our New Dolphin Overlords…
Light blogging today, but it’s okay, because as far as I am concerned, nothing can top this news story: Dolphins sing ‘Batman’ theme Scientists have taught dolphins to combine both rhythm and vocalisations to produce music, resulting in an extremely high-pitched, short version of the Batman theme song.
Will Voting Machines Work?
Good article in Time: A woman walked into a polling place in Peoria, Ill. last week and proceeded to use one of the new electronic voting machines set up for early voting. She logged on, went through each contest and seemed to be making her choices. After reviewing each race, the machine checked to see if she was satisfied with … Read More
Cloaking Device (Like, The Thing They Have In Star Trek) Invented
Good. Because now we can sneak up on those pesky Romulans: Scientists create cloak of invisibility WASHINGTON — Scientists are boldly going where only fiction has gone before – to develop a Cloak of Invisibility. It isn’t quite ready to hide a Romulan space ship from Capt. Kirk or to disguise Harry Potter, but it is a significant start and … Read More
Evolutionary Prospects Look Good In The Short Term; Weird In The Long Term
Most of us realize that evolution got us to where we are. But where will evolution take us? According to Evolutionary theorist Oliver Curry of the London School of Economics, mankind will split into two sub-species. Basically, there will be two forms of "man" — a genetic upper class and a dim-witted underclass …The descendants of the genetic upper class … Read More
Brave New World
A computer that can play (and win) at Tic-Tac-Toe? Hardly seems newsworthy. EVERY computer can do that, right? But this computer is different. It performs the calculations — not with computer chips — but through strands of DNA. It’s an important step on the way to artificial intelligence. Bio-computers is a new area of science which attempts to blend the … Read More
Cool Stuff
This is cool: A color-coded called ID system. Assign a color to a person’s (or group’s) phone number so you know (just by looking at the color) who is calling. This is just stupid: A DVD rewinder (works for CDs, too!)
The Coolest Thing Ever
If this is what it is cracked up to be, I’m signing up. Many people have 3 phone numbers: a work number, a home number, and a cell phone number. How can your friends and family know how (and when) to reach you? Wouldn’t it be great if you could give your contacts ONE phone number, and their calls would … Read More
For The Unbelievably Lazy
Oh, for crying out loud. You just have to press a couple of buttons to microwave. Is that too difficult for people? Daewoo’s Voice Recognition Microwave Oven: At first glance, this may seem like a regular microwave, but it’s anything but normal. This voice-activated microwave oven stores up to 40 voice commands and will respond to anyone who talks to … Read More
What Happens To Your Email After You Die
It turns out, it’s actually kind of a problem: Talcott, 69, a friend of beatnik Neil Cassidy, apparently took his password to the grave. It’s a vexing, and increasingly common problem for families mourning the loss of loved ones. As more and more people move their lives, address books, calendars, financial information, online, they are taking a risk that some … Read More
NASA Scientists Want To Turn Moon Into Earth’s Attic
Interesting idea: There’s one place you may not have thought to store your valuable computer information. Just look up. Hollow lava tubes on the Moon could be used as a giant digital library. That’s one commercial possibility for the Moon put forth in a white paper by a NASA scientist. In addition to being able to relay information to Earth … Read More
The Most Expensive Cell Phone In The World
"Le Million" is made by Goldvish. It’s designed by Emmanuel Gueit and is covered in 120 carats’ worth of VVS-1 grade diamonds. Along with the diamonds, you get a few good features, like Bluetooth, a camera with 8x digital zoom, MP3 playback, FM radio, included 2GB memory card and an EDGE connection. And yes, "Le Million" costs one million dollars. … Read More
An Ugly Gadget That I Hope Doesn’t Catch On
This "personal trailer" is called "the Hipster", and it comes in both one and two-wheel models. Should have been called the "Dorkster".
Necessity Is The Mother Of Silly Inventions
Take a gander at some of the stupid inventions that people have come with over at the Delphion Gallery Of Obscure Patents. Here’s some of my favorite patents actually filed with the U.S. Patent Office: US05356330Apparatus for simulating a ‘high five’ …providing the user with a convenient outlet for the release of excitement. US05971829Motorized ice cream cone …for imparting rotation … Read More
It’s Official – Pluto Not A Planet
There are literally millions of objects orbiting the sun, but some of them are as tiny as your hand. And some of them, while quite large (i.e., the surface area of the United States, say), are not spherical. Are those technically "planets"? You may have heard about the gathering of world’s astronomers in Prague. Their mission: to define what a … Read More