I think I might need a tutu for halloween. I’m not quite sure what I want to be yet, but I think that about 10,000 yards of tulle will be incorporated. I found many tutu tutorials on the web, but this massive, ultra colorful, punk rock version is exactly what I was looking for. The […]
What do you do when you can’t make robotic systems sensitive enough to detect faint traces of an unknown explosive? Normally, one would train dogs, but apparently this takes many months, and many treats. Inscentinel has a different solution- why not use bees instead?
Josh Klein developed a machine that trains crows to trade coins for peanuts. Literally, for peanuts. So you fill this thing with peanuts and set it out, say, in a public park, and the crows will scour the ground for loose change, carry it to the machine, and drop it in a slot in exchange for food. The project, dubbed “CrowBox,” made a big splash when he unveiled it back in 2007. Now he’s made the complete plans for the CrowBox completely available online so you can roll your own. And there’s no reason you couldn’t train your fly-monkeys-fly to gather other crow-portable objects. Twenty-dollar bills? Keys? iPods? Human eyes? The possibilities are endless. Set one up at the beach! Train seagulls to trade whole wallets for pre-shucked oysters!
It may smell like rotten eggs, but it turns out H2S may may be able to slow down the chain of chemical degradation that causes death in cells that are deprived of oxygen. Biologist Mark Roth can supposedly take a lab rat, stop its heart with a dose of hydrogen sulfide, and bring it back to life an hour later just by turning off the gas. Quoting now from this article at CNN.com:
Scientists are starting to understand that death isn’t caused by oxygen deprivation itself, but by a chain of damaging chemical reactions that are triggered by sharply dropping oxygen levels. The thing is, those reactions require the presence of some oxygen. Hydrogen sulfide takes the place of oxygen, preventing those reactions from taking place. No chain reaction, no cell death.
Roth has won a MacArthur grant for this work, so there’s a better-than-average chance that it’s more than just hype.
Tomorrow, Friday the 16th, at noon Pacific time, we will be giving away another prize bundle consisting of one Microchip Technology PIC10F Cap Touch Demo Board and one MCP1650 Multiple White LED Demo Board.
This time, the winner will be selected from among our Facebook fans. To enter, become our “fan” (if you’re not already) and post a reply on our Facebook page in the contest thread (under the “Discussions” tab) containing the phrase “Microchip Technology giveaway gamma” sometime in the next 24 hours.
The winner will be announced Friday afternoon.
Day of the Dead Advent By Jessica Wilson Every year I plan to make a Day of the Dead altar in honor of my mom and every year, I lose track of time and never manage to pull it off. This year, I have created a countdown, an advent of sorts so that you take […]
This is terrifying … A 6-year-old boy is floating over northeastern Colorado in a homebuilt lighter-than-air craft and authorities are racing to try and rescue him. The homemade flying saucer , covered in foil and filled with helium, lifted the boy into the air near Fort Collins Thursday morning after the balloon became untethered at […]
