Jul 15 2008
The Periodic Table of Videos:
Tables charting the chemical elements have been around since the 19th century - but this modern version will have a short video about each one.
Very cool. Here’s the one for Phosphorus:
They have a YouTube Channel that features all their videos.
Jun 03 2008
I have no idea how to build a robot, so I bought a book! Robot Building for Beginners is going to show me how to build a robot. It’s a thick book, so it won’t get built any time soon, but I AM going to try.
In Robot Building for Beginners, not [...]
Apr 02 2008
I read in a NY Times article about a lawsuit being launched in Hawaii to stop a large-scale physics experiment in Switzerland. The experiment will try to reproduce conditions that existed immediately after the Big Bang. Some people are worried it may also create a small black hole that will eat the Earth.
Here’s a photo [...]
Feb 20 2008
If you can’t watch the lunar eclipse tonight because of bad weather, which will likely be the case for anyone in Newfoundland, here’s what you’d see, only much, much slower:
(It’s one of the few time-lapse YouTube videos that doesn’t have annoying music.)
Jan 25 2008
I just read this article on the effects of marijuana smoke. Here’s a quote:
Patients who smoke marijuana inhale more and hold their breath four times longer than cigarette smokers. It is the breathing manoeuvres of marijuana smokers that serve to increase the concentration and pulmonary deposition of inhaled particulate matter — resulting in greater and [...]
Dec 10 2007
Right Brain v Left Brain
Do you see the dancer turning clockwise or anti-clockwise? If clockwise, then you use more of the right side of the brain and vice versa.
And the test only works with a silhouette of a naked woman.
It spins clockwise for me, which means I’m “fantasy based”, among other things.
(tip of the [...]
Dec 05 2007
Here’s an easy million bucks for you psychics and such: The One Million Dollar Paranormal Challenge:
…we offer a one-million-dollar prize to anyone who can show, under proper observing conditions, evidence of any paranormal, supernatural, or occult power or event.
To date, no one has ever passed the preliminary tests.
No religious quacks, though! Their application [...]
Aug 13 2007
NASA deciding whether Endeavour crew needs to repair gouge:
…a nine-centimetre-long gouge the shuttle suffered during its launch last week penetrates all the way through thermal tiles on its belly.
Engineers are trying to determine whether the area can withstand the searing heat of atmospheric re-entry at the end of the flight.
Scary. I can imagine the [...]
Aug 01 2007
Lybrel, a new birth control pill coming out stops menstruation:
Lybrel is designed to be taken without the placebo or pill-free time interval. Women who use Lybrel would not have a scheduled menstrual period, but will most likely have unplanned, breakthrough, unscheduled bleeding or spotting.
There’s some debate about it, of course, with some women thinking it [...]
Aug 01 2007
Maybe. Probably. We may find out soon: NASA Probe to Explore Martian Arctic:
A three-legged NASA spacecraft with a long arm for digging trenches is going to the Martian north pole to study if the environment is favorable for primitive life.
The machine can’t detect life; it’s checking to see if the ground has organics [...]
Jul 18 2007
Hormone spray could banish shyness:
…patients were given a dose of oxytocin by nasal spray.
Preliminary results suggest oxytocin improved their readiness to interact in role-playing and their confidence in tackling social challenges outside the sessions…
Oxytocin is a versatile hormone:
Increases trust and reduces fear.
Helps induce labor.
Causes spontaneous erections… in rats
I’m shy, but not that shy.
Jun 10 2007
I’ve posted about this before and will probably do so in the future: NASA TV.
They have cameras all over the space shuttle, interior and exterior. You can watch the astronauts work, you can see views of the earth — all kinds of cool stuff. The live view from the space shuttle as it was taking [...]
Nov 21 2006
I first saw the Mentos eruption on MythBusters, where they dissected its cause and also broke the world record with a 33 foot high geyser (or something around there).
Buy a package of Mentos. They’re a mint candy that come in a cylinder wrapper. Get the regular flavor.
Buy a big bottle of Diet Coke [...]
Oct 15 2006
Cold-fX is a drug developed in Canada that…
…can be used both for the prevention as well as relief of cold and flu infections… [It's a] highly purified natural product obtained from roots of North American ginseng. It is comprised of poly-furanosylpyranosyl-saccharides.
I get a lot of colds and they tend to stick with me for months. [...]
Oct 01 2006
This is incredible: soft tissue of a Tyrannosaurus rex was found:
…soft tissue that had seemingly resisted fossilization still existed inside the bone. This tissue, including blood vessels, bone cells, and perhaps even blood cells, was so well preserved that it was still stretchy and flexible.
I just read Tyrannosaur Canyon, a bad novel that revolved around [...]
