A California facility which opens today hopes to create conditions similar to those found in a star, using the world’s most powerful laser beam. But despite the possible ecological benefits, there are claims the project has only received ongoing funding because of its military potential. The National Ignition Facility, housed at the Livermore National Laboratory, […]
Warning: This video contains strong language. Shame on the guy with the goggles when he lies to the teacher about having his full face shield on. It’s a good thing nobody got hurt though.
A US troop ship has been swiftly sunk in the Gulf of Mexico. But it’s not a military disaster – rather an ecological project. To put things into context the boat, the General Hoyt S Vandenberg, is a decommissioned veteran of the second world war. Originally named the General Harry Taylor, it was later used […]
[PHD Comics | Via DailyCupOfTech]
This tattoo is made from 3 lines of equations: the first represents the Born Oppenheimer Approximation, the second is the equation in the form of a 3-dimensional Schroedinger Equation, and finally, the third is the solution in the form of a Schroedinger Equation. [Via Discover]
What’s weirder than a naturally caffeine-free coffee plant? How about a two-foot long insect? Or perhaps a ghost slug. They are all featured in a list of the 10 strangest species discovered around the world in 2008. The list is the work of the International Institute for Species Exploration at Arizona State University, and is […]
In the following video, International Space Station Science Officer Don Pettit demonstrates gyroscopic spin stabilization via the help of several portable CD players which, in microgravity, are spinning and, at the same time, not spinning. [Via Neatorama]
In the following video presentation, behavioral economist Dan Ariely, the author of Predictably Irrational, uses classic visual illusions and his own counterintuitive (and sometimes shocking) research findings to show how we’re not as rational as we think when we make decisions.
In 2002, Technorama, a major science center in Switzerland, asked Ned Kahn to create an aluminum facade for its building, consisting of thousands of aluminum panels that move in the wind, teaching its visitors about air currents and the complex patterns of turbulence caused by them. [Via OhGizmo]
Ok, maybe it’s not exactly amazing, but it looks fun nonetheless!