lilbridge - Slashdot User

Submission + - Bill Nye "The Science Guy": Creationism Is Not Appropriate For Children (youtube.com)

Submitted by timeOday on Tuesday August 28, 2012 @11:31AM

timeOday writes: BigThink has released a video missive by Bill Nye "The Science Guy" in which he challenges the low level of acceptance of evolution, particularly in the United States. He does not mince words: 'I say to the grownups, if you want to deny evolution and live in your world, in your world that's completely inconsistent with everything we observe in the universe, that's fine, but don't make your kids do it because we need them. We need scientifically literate voters and taxpayers for the future. We need people that can — we need engineers that can build stuff, solve problems.'

Submission + - Mussels With Hydrogen Fuel Cells Found (inhabitat.com)

Submitted by

greenrainbow

on Monday August 15, 2011 @12:37PM

greenrainbow writes: "According to scientists, there are mussels at the bottom of the ocean that are efficiently converting hydrogen into energy in their very own, nature-made hydrogen fuel cells. The mussels were found near hydrothermal vents on the ocean floor and have onboard symbiotic bacteria that convert hydrogen into energy. With this discovery, researchers might be able to clone the hydrogen eating bacteria to create all-natural hydrogen fuel cells to power things other than sea life."

Submission + - NASA to Launch $96mill Cleanup of Shuttle Program (inhabitat.com)

Submitted by Elliot Chang on Monday August 01, 2011 @12:11PM

Elliot Chang writes: NASA reports that the pollution caused by Space Shuttle launches at Kennedy Space Center in Florida will cost the government $96 million and will take 30 years to properly clean up. NASA officially ended the Space Shuttle Program on July 21st as the Space Shuttle Atlantis touched down for the final time at the Kennedy Space Center. It seems that the plumes of smoke resulting from the 135 shuttle launches caused toxic chemicals to seep into the sandy soil around the space center.

Submission + - 3D Printing and The Replicator Economy (txchnologist.com) 1

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 01, 2011 @11:49AM

An anonymous reader writes: "Tea. Earl Grey. Hot," is the command synonymous for every fan of Star Trek: The Next Generation thanks to the replicator. Using 25th-century mastery replicators can create any object for which they're programmed. Within five years, the beginnings of that technology may make its way into your home and spark an industrial revolution.

Submission + - Real Life Wall-E Robot Made WIth LEGO Mindstorms (inhabitots.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 18, 2011 @01:30PM

An anonymous reader writes: Montreal-based maker Marc-André Bazergui has created a real-life Wall-E robot using a set of motors and a LEGO Mindstorms NXT kit. The 20cm tall Wall-E uses 5 RCX motors and 3 Levers to move and transform just like the animated character, and it took Bazergui over 250 hours to build. Even more impressive, is that Wall-E can be remotely controlled to move around, pick up objects and look up and down. Alternatively, he can be programmed to move on his own accord.

Submission + - Scientists Derive Gelatin from Human Tissue (inhabitat.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 15, 2011 @12:28PM

An anonymous reader writes: Conventional gelatin is made from collagen inside animals’ skin and bones, however a group of researchers has managed to replace that animal base with a human one. The process involves taking human gelatin genes and inserting them into a strain of yeast, which can be cultivated to grow gelatin with controllable features. Jinchun Chen, the leader of the study, and his colleagues believe they can scale this process up to produce large amounts of human-based gelatin for medical uses. The research appears in the American Chemical Society’s Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.

Submission + - German Nuclear Plant Turned into Amusement Park! (inhabitat.com) 2

Submitted by Elliot Chang on Tuesday June 14, 2011 @09:57AM

Elliot Chang writes: Last month Germany announced plans to completely phase out the use of nuclear power by 2022 in favor of renewable energy sources — however what is to become of the nation's nuclear plants after they have been shut down? Enter East Germany's Wunderland Kalkar — an incredible adaptive reuse project that transformed a never-used nuclear reactor into an amusement park! The remarkable renovation took a power station in Kalkar and turned it into a park that attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors every year.

Submission + - AC/DC music attracts great white sharks (australiangeographic.com.au) 1

Submitted by bazzalunatic on Thursday June 02, 2011 @06:23AM

bazzalunatic writes: That's right, great white sharks can be lured underwater to cages by playing hits from AC/DC — specifically "Shook me all night long".

Some shark diving tour operators in Australia have found this curious fact. But it's not just music, as the sharks weren't attracted by other tunes.

One wonders if they'll be turned off by Celine Dion music — a new type of shark repellent perhaps?

Submission + - Students Invent Revolutionary Solar Sterilizer (inhabitat.com) 1

Submitted by

greenerd

on Saturday May 07, 2011 @12:46PM

greenerd writes: "Engineering students at Rice University have solved a huge health concern in developing countries by creating a device that uses the sun to sterilize medical instruments. This invention could help prevent the spread of infection and illness in clinics around the world without access to proper sterilization tools."

Submission + - Check out Google's secret employee hackerspace (hackaday.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Thursday April 28, 2011 @11:29AM

An anonymous reader writes: One of the more secret perks on Google's campus is their hackerspace that even most of the employees don't know about. Only the most skilled need apply, but once you're in, you have a treasure trove of equipment at your disposal. While there are no restrictions on what employees can build for personal use, some pretty important hardware has come out of the Google hackerspace over the years. Their Streetview trikes were designed and built there, as were some components for their self-driving cars. Yet another reason I want to work for Google

Comment genius (Score 1) 5

by lilbridge on Wednesday March 16, 2011 @11:19AM (#35504254) Attached to: Turn a Hoodie into a Laptop Bag

I love simple ideas like this.

Submission + - Researchers Develop Super Batteries From Aerogel (inhabitat.com) 1

Submitted by

greenerd

on Saturday March 05, 2011 @03:17PM

greenerd writes: "Researchers from the University of Central Florida may have found the most efficient (and most bizarre) battery material yet – ‘frozen smoke’, also known as Aerogel. One of the world’s lightest solids, aerogel contains multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) which each one several thousands thinner than human hair. The researchers, Associate Professor Lei Zhai and Postdoctoral Associate Jianhua Zou, believe that this material could soon become the best energy storage material for capacitors and batteries."

Submission + - Lego ‘CubeDudes’ by PIXAR Animator Ang (inhabitots.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday August 03, 2010 @12:35PM

An anonymous reader writes: PIXAR Animator Angus MacLane has created an incredible series of LEGO ‘CubeDudes’ modeled after beloved characters from sci-fi movies and comic books. From Star Wars heroes R2D2 and C-3PO to Toy Story’s Buzz Lightyear and Jessie, the pixellated creations bear a remarkable likeness to their forebears. MacLane says, “When I had a moment here and there I chip away at a few at a time. I’ll have the body of one ‘Dude and a head of another that I will be working on at the same time. It takes mebout 10-15 minutes to make one CubeDude and I average about two a day.” The hardest part is the color palette — LEGO doesn't make purple bricks, so villains like Lex Luthor, The Joker, and Grimace are a challenge.

Submission + - 13 Year Old Spider Boy Scales Walls Using Vacuums (inhabitat.com)

Submitted by Joe McIntosh on Thursday July 01, 2010 @02:40PM

Joe McIntosh writes: Hibiki Kono just might be a boy genius. The 13 year-old decided he wanted to climb vertical surfaces like his hero, Spiderman. So, he used two 1,400-watt recycled vacuum cleaners and a little bit of elbow grease to make a machine that allows him to scale walls — just like his spindly hero! Kono has been scaling the walls of his UK school and has told the media that he hopes his invention will help window washers eliminate clumsy ladders from their daily routine.

Submission + - World's First Solar Blimp to Cross English Channel (inhabitat.com) 1

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 24, 2010 @03:55PM

An anonymous reader writes: Can a blimp propelled entirely by solar power cross the English Channel? We’re about to find out! Nephelios, the world’s first solar blimp, was built by Projet Sol’r — a collaboration between students at engineering and technical schools in France. Now, almost a year after its debut (and a year after it was supposed to launch), the helium-filled airship is ready for action, with its inaugural flight set to take place next week. The blimp is covered in semi-flexible solar cells that can generate up to 2.4 kilowatts — enough to keep the blimp moving at 25 mph as it crosses la Manche.

Slashdot Top Deals