Posts Tagged “
science porn
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science porn
"Wheke," the giant calamari that invaded New Zealand in January 2000, went on display in Paris today. The massive tentacles almost make Wheke look like a space marauder or crazed mutant by themselves, but they're not what make him science-fictional. Rather, it's the process used to preserve Wheke so he can go on display for years to come: he's the first creature to be "plastinated," meaning that he was totally dehydrated and all fluids were replaced by a special plastic resin. The next step: to create a living plastic, so plastinated creatures can continue to move and even think. Click through for a gallery of Wheke pictures.
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Defeated Giant Monster Hung From The City's Rafters
science porn
World's Fastest Camera Catches An Electron In Motion
Here's the world's first video of an electron in motion, showing how an electron rides on a light wave after having just been pulled away from an atom. Electrons move so fast, it's almost impossible to generate a short enough burst of light to be able to see them move. But a new camera generates "attosecond pulses." (An attosecond is to a regular second as a second is to the age of the universe, says the MARS blog.) The next step: Film an electron colliding with an atom. [Attosecond Physics and High-Order Harmonic Generation]
science porn
NASA tests the next generation of space parachute inside the world's largest wind tunnel, built to hold a Boeing 737. The 165-foot-long parachute opens to a diameter of nearly 55 feet, holds more air than a 3,000 square foot house, and can survive loads of over 80,000 pounds. NASA hopes to launch its new Mars Science Lab in 2009, which will put the next generation of rover on the surface of Mars in 2010. Click through for a couple of images of the new rover in progress.
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The Next Mars Rover Needs A Mega-chute
science porn
A 3-D Look Inside A Virus
The latest electron microscopes can create three-dimensional images of the smallest structures, turning an agricultural pest into a work of art. This is the cowpea mosaic virus, scourge of legume farmers everywhere, vitrified and subjected to a single particle reconstruction procedure by FEI Corp. You can easily make out the blue outer protein shell and the yellow viral genomic material inside. Maybe soon we'll be able to hack viruses as easily as we can image them. Image by FEI Corp. [FEI]
science porn
Every science fiction lover starts out by taking the world around them apart: unscrewing the cover from the cable box, putting shit in the microwave to watch it explode, asking their teachers and parents WHY the dog can't talk, or WHY we have to work for money instead of donuts. That's why this image delights me. Aaron Messing took a foam peanut, sliced it thinly, and put it under the microscope. The result? Beautiful deconstructed foam. [Aaron Messing Microscopy Gallery]
A Foam Peanut, Sliced Thinly and Magnified
space robots
Nationalist Robots Swarm To Conquer Space
There are more robot space probes now than any other time in history, says MSNBC. Blame the new space race: Europe, Japan, China, India, Canada and South Korea have all launched probes, or will soon. A gallery of this international flotilla, after the jump. More »
robots
This looks like a rocket entering a wormhole, but it's actually a robot camera designed to function on the ocean floor under the Anatarctic ice. The Submersible Capable of under Ice Navigation and Imaging (SCINI) can fit through a hole in the ice as small as 15 cm. Similar cameras could one day probe a buried ocean on Saturn's moon for unknown life forms. Click through to see the sea life under the polar ice.
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A Robot's Vision of Antarctica's Undersea Kingdom
T Rex Loved Rough Sex
A new science porn magazine, Science Illustrated, hit the stands this week. Packed with ultra-glossy pictures, the magazine is a cross between Scientific American and the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue. Best factoid in the image-packed, editorially slim first issue: tooth marks on T Rex skeletons suggest the beasts had rough sex and the smaller males had to bite bigger females to convince them to mate.
science porn
You can vote for the sexiest image of Saturn and its moons from the Cassini space probe, until Dec. 30. You even get to rate every space photo from 1 to 10, bringing a whole new meaning to "science porn." This pic shows the "dragon storm" on Saturn, a disturbance so fierce it kicked up radio waves.
Saturn: Hot Or Not?
science porn
This creepy monster skull is actually a snapdragon seed pod, magnified by an electron microscope. Just as you'd always suspected, the microscopic world turns out to contain nothing but slimy textures and sinister craggy shapes, judging from Karin Jones' haunting microscopy photos.
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Tentacled Fungus Attacks The Microverse
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robots
Grampa's Robot Enforcer
Japanese researchers tested out a new robot designed to take care of elderly people, at a Waseda University lab today. Despite its 244-pound bulk and menacing pincer-arms, the battery-powered Twendy-One is supposed to handle old people gently. [Photo by Koji Sasahara for AP]
cars
The car of the future will have sleek plastic on the outside, but hand-woven seats on the inside. Harsha Ravi's designs for the car of 2017 won Wheels magazine's design prize. They're an awesome mixture of high-tech (cutting-edge carbon-neutral bioplastic) with zero-tech. It's all part of an urban car that's customizeable and cheap, but also green.
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Car Of 2017 Will Mix High-Tech With No-Tech
robots
Japanese truckers could soon be having some surreal encounters. Not only will this ladybug robot scrub the floor and dodge around people, it will also try to engage them in conversation. Are people ready for a chatty cleaning bot? The Lady Bird will understand simple speech and respond. You can ask about local traffic conditions, and it'll have the latest info. Between this and the kneeling office bot, Japan could be swarming with officious (but adorable) answer-bots by 2010.Image from Yomiuri.
Ladybug Robot Cleans Public Restrooms [Pink Tentacle]
Japanese Toilet Bug Makes Small Talk
Ladybug Robot Cleans Public Restrooms [Pink Tentacle]
science porn
This is the Nuna4, which won the World Solar Challenge in Australia — the fourth time in a row the University of Delft has won the race. The Nuna4 weighs less than 190 kg (without driver), and its lightweight construction means it can get up to an average speed of 90.87 km/hour. Image by Erik Van 'T Woud/AFP/Getty Images
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The Fastest Solar Car In The World
science porn
From "Can algae save the world?" an exhibit at the Science Museum in London running until April 2008. Scientists are hoping the entire planet will use algae as biofuels in the future. More menacing algae after the jump. Images by Kirsty Wigglesworth for AP.
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Green Ooze Controls Woman's Mind
From "Can algae save the world?" an exhibit at the Science Museum in London running until April 2008. Scientists are hoping the entire planet will use algae as biofuels in the future. More menacing algae after the jump. Images by Kirsty Wigglesworth for AP.
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