Onelargeprawn
A couple of space colony summer studies were conducted at the NASA Ames Research Center in the 1970s, and the above images is part of the artistic renderings that came out of it. The colonies would house about 10,000 people. It looked very Utopian – until the soccer hooligans invaded.
This is just what I need to deal with my uncooperative neighbours.
Photo credit: Justin Hartman.
The next partial solar eclipse visible in Cape Town will be on 25 November, 2011, and the next total solar eclipse for Cape Town will only happen on April 15th, 2238!
With capitalism firmly in mind, the New American Home in Las Vegas was built by Microsoft and a few other select tech companies. Despite being on the same block as Mr Las Vegas Plastic, Wayne Newton, the house comes with some excellent amenities including 10 Toshiba HDTVs, 5 xbox 360s, a 16-zone Nuvo distributed-audio system, and Anthem A/V processors. They are all controlled by HAL Lifeware software that you can access from anywhere in the house, and control the gadgets
The house is completely self-powered thanks to solar panelling, and is priced above USD 5 million.
More images after the jump.
Watch how continental drift created the world as we know it, and if you plan to be around 150 million years from now, see what the world map will look like.
via The J-Walk Blog.
The SSC Ultimate Aero made in into the 10 Most Expensive Cars in the World list, and hold’s the production speed record at 256.15mph. Shelby SuperCars are out to make another record, this time for the world’s fastest electric production car, the Ultimate Aero EV. Not only is Ultimate Aero EV claimed to be the world’s fastest electric production car, but one of the fastest charging electric cars in the world, with a 10-minute recharge time. The Ultimate Aero EV will be based on the company’s current Aero model, but the 1183 HP V8 engine will be replaced by an electric powertrain, dubbed the All-Electric Scalable Powertrain, which does all sorts of shit I have no clue about.
The prototypes will be rolling out February 2009. No pricing as of yet, but if you need to know how much it costs, chances are you can’t afford it ;)
– via Jalopnik.
Now this is a novel way of recharging your battery. The NoPoPo (non-pollution power) Aqua Battery runs on water. It’s also been tested with beer, apple juice, cola, saliva, and urine.
The liquid that is inserted into the base with a teat pipette reacts with a combination of magnesium and carbon to produce a charge, which can run a small handheld torch light for up to 20 hours. They can also retain their charge for 10 years, making them perfect for emergency situations, and better for the environment.
The NoPoPo battery is intended for home use, so pee-charging it in the middle of the street is not recommended.
I’ve always thought hallucinations came at a price – drugs like LSD and mescaline aren’t cheap and I’m not arsed to pay for them. The Boston Globe, however, seems to think you can fling open the doors of perception without having to visit your local dealer.
Here are two simple tricks that mad scientists have thought up to tricking your brain into perceiving what we know isn’t real.
This trick involves using a radio and ping-pong balls. Turn on the radio and find a station playing static. Then lie down on a couch or bed and secure a pair of halved ping-pong balls over your eyes. You should experience some bizarre distortions within a few minutes. Hallucinations may vary from seeing horses prancing about in the clouds to hearing the voice of a dead relative.
This trick uses the newest painkiller on the market – inverted binoculars. Oxford University scientists have found out that test subjects looking at a wounded hand through the wrong end of the felt less pain and swelling. By making the hand appear smaller, the brain is tricked into reducing the bodily sensations of pain.
See more tricks to hack your brain at The Boston Globe – via Blame it on the Voices.
The eyeballing game tests how good you are at lining things up, finding the centre of a circle, or bisecting an angle.
Play it at Woodgears.
I scored 5.20 – Post your results in the comments.
Experiencing post traumatic stress? Get yourself in front of a computer and indulge in the universally played and consistently mind numbing game Tetris.
Researchers in the UK are suggesting that playing Tetris may help in the treatment of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Dr Emily Holmes of Oxford University says that she “wanted to find a way to dampen down flashbacks – the raw sensory images of trauma that are over-represented in the memories of those with PTSD”. According to Dr Holmes, playing Tetris effectively prevents flashbacks and thus helps heal posttraumatic stress – other scientists are unconvinced. More on this from the BBC.