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San Francisco, 3:05 AM
Wed Feb 10
25 posts in the last 24 hours

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Image of kosai kosai 02/09/10, 08:59 PM

I don't know anything about the veracity of this video but it is rather disturbing and extremely interesting at the same time. Russian scientists kill then reanimate dogs.

#tips Reply

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Image of kosai kosai 02/09/10, 08:43 PM

Here is a great Mark Twain story that I thought was a real departure from his other stories.

#tips Reply

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Image of kosai kosai 02/09/10, 04:49 PM

Found this list of mysterious people thought it was fascinating. Would love to see a good Sci Fi story about Gil Perez.

[listverse.com]

#tips Reply

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Image of Tenshi21 Tenshi21 02/09/10, 03:06 PM

The Death Star appears from behind Yavin IV.
[antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov]

#spaceporn
#tips Reply
Roklimber promoted this comment

Image of Roklimber Roklimber 02/09/10, 03:17 PM

@Tenshi21:

You're a bit late... :)

I posted that on the day the picture appeared on APOD.

#tips Reply

Image of Tenshi21 Tenshi21 02/09/10, 03:31 PM

@Roklimber: Sorry. I don't look in the tips channel very often.

#tips Reply
Roklimber promoted this comment

Image of Roklimber Roklimber 02/09/10, 03:35 PM

@Tenshi21:

Nothing to apologize for. It's not like I have ownership of the stuff in apod.

I was just giving you a hard time. :)

#tips Reply

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Image of EdificeComplex EdificeComplex 02/09/10, 02:26 PM

The work of Zaha Hadid: Petroleum Research Center or alien capital ship coming to conquer earth?

[www.inhabitat.com]

#tips
#observationdeck
#architecture
#alieninvasion Reply

Image of Roklimber Roklimber 02/09/10, 02:32 PM


@EdificeComplex: Am I the only one who finds this picture particularly disturbing, for a research center? Also, it looks a lot like the TV show "V", no?

#tips Reply
Edited by Roklimber at 02/09/10 2:33 PM

Image of Ruthless, If yøu let me Ruthless, If yøu let me 02/09/10, 03:33 PM

@Roklimber: Depends on what type of research. I haven't seen V but it seems in line with the promos I've seen for it.

#observationdeck Reply

Image of Shini: R.O.A.C.H. Shini: R.O.A.C.H. 02/09/10, 03:40 PM

@Roklimber: It is for a country who's constitution is the Qur'an. The idea that they'd toss a worship area in there isn't too surprising, to me.

#observationdeck Reply

Image of LittleDragon LittleDragon 02/09/10, 03:46 PM

@EdificeComplex: Alien invasion ship. Oh wait. Damn. I wasn't supposed to say that was I?

#observationdeck Reply

Image of EdificeComplex EdificeComplex 02/09/10, 03:56 PM

@Roklimber: As a stand alone prayer room, I think it's quite beautiful. With, I'm assuming, the focus of the room on Mecca. But yes, I do agree it does raise concern seeing as it's part of a research center. It's interesting that Islamic belief is so ingrained into the daily lives of its followers, that it was seen necessary to build a specific prayer room into the design. Giving a potential heavy religious bias to whatever work the research center produces. Would this be the equivalent of building a church at CERN? It does give me pause as to the state of religion and science, and the idea that some may think they are interchangeable.

To go a bit off topic, I wanted to share some thoughts on the TED lecture you linked me to. Liability has had a negative impact on the profession of architecture. I don't mean to say that as architects we shouldn't be held responsible for our work, we most certainly should. But I think we've gotten to a point where we no longer take risks (in terms of design not structural aspects). With the exception of architects like Hadid and Calatrava, our profession has become stuck in a rut where we create rather than invent.

I'm intrigued by the way Prince-Ramus worked with client to create architecture as infrastructure. For the longest time architecture as been focused on form, space and order. With the idea that form and function are two separate things. With the form of a building coming from its function. The idea of form IS function is really quite interesting. Imagine if architecture as agency were applied to all of society's built forms. Right now, homes are designed with specific rooms that meet a specific function. We have rooms for eating, rooms for sleeping and rooms for working. How would human beings interact with their built environment, if that built environment adapted and changed to meet certain needs? It's quite possible that such adaptation in one's personal, living space could be a disaster, but it would be interesting to try.

Could a home adapt and change it's physical self to meet the changing needs of a family? The home could reconfigure itself to meet different stages of life. From a family with small children, to a family with teenagers, to an empty nest couple and finally a couple that needs assistance in their final years. The building in which these people live is no longer some detached piece of art that has been created. But rather a place that function with people rather than for people. A building that has been invented to meet its owners needs.

This is what I love about science fiction. It asks the question "What if?", and invents new worlds and possibilities. Rather than creating different versions of the same thing. Thank you for pointing me to this lecture. The ideas presented really are something our profession needs to address. Especially if we want to move beyond the marginalized sense of our buildings being detached from their users. Also, some of the general ideas could be applied to almost any profession, not just architecture.

#tips Reply
Edited by EdificeComplex at 02/09/10 3:57 PM

Image of mamadragon49 mamadragon49 02/09/10, 06:35 PM

@EdificeComplex: And they are aiming for LEED certification.
[www.nrdc.org]
[www.inhabitat.com]
Right. And so where is all the water coming from to keep the trees and grass green? No, no. Wait. That's astroturf.

#observationdeck Reply
EdificeComplex promoted this comment

Image of EdificeComplex EdificeComplex 02/09/10, 07:57 PM

@mamadragon49: Yeah, I saw that too. It will be interesting to see how they use water reclamation in the project. Perhaps solar will be used to offset some of the energy costs.

And then there's the irony of a research center devoted to petroleum products trying to go for a green design.

#tips Reply

Image of Roklimber Roklimber 02/09/10, 10:21 PM

@EdificeComplex: I'm glad you liked the TED talk. I knew you would.

#tips Reply

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#tuesdaytips

Your Tips: Lost in 1967, "Earthling," A Halo Around the Sun, and More!

Every week, we're going to round up the best tips that you post in io9's tips forum. This week, 1960s-style Lost opening credits, undercover aliens, Young Justice, Neill Blomkamp's extraterrestrial theories, and more. More »
02/09/10
3,4543,454 views on this post
21
By Hena Mohayya
Image of farfisasynth farfisasynth 02/09/10, 01:32 PM

Don't know if anyone else has heard about or seen this.

But.

This looks to be incredible, and I am dying for it to get made. Think Ocean's Eleven. In space. But there's more. There is war. Humanity is marooned.

Just watching this sizzle reel makes me so hot under the collar.

Page with more information:
[www.slashfilm.com]

Enjoy!

#observationdeck #tips Reply

Image of Roklimber Roklimber 02/09/10, 02:38 PM

@farfisasynth:

Yes, this looks awesome. And the best part of that clip is when the gun says "click!" (at 1 minute 24 seconds into the clip).

#tips Reply

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Image of Roklimber Roklimber 02/09/10, 08:05 AM

Soft Drink Consumption May Markedly Increase Risk of Pancreatic Cancer
[www.sciencedaily.com]

Oh, come on.... this is my only vice. I don't drink alcoholic beverages, I don't drink coffee, I don't smoke, I don't take drugs, I don't gamble, and now I'm supposed to give up drinking coke? No frakking way, pancreatic cancer or not.

===

Carcinogens Form from Third-Hand Smoke
[www.sciencedaily.com]

It's not enough that smoking has been directly linked to lung cancer. It's not enough that second-hand smoking has been linked with health problems too. Now, we learn that third-hand smoke is pretty bad too.

When are people and governments finally going to realize that smoking is BAD?

I should have been born in the 24th century... Transporters, replicators, holodecks, and no smoking. That's what I call paradise.

#tips [io9.com] #health Reply
Edited by Roklimber at 02/09/10 8:06 AM

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Image of Roklimber Roklimber 02/09/10, 08:00 AM

Lots of very interesting articles on biology today...

===

Did Bacteria Develop Into More Complex Cells Much Earlier in Evolution Than Thought?
[www.sciencedaily.com]

===

Scientists Identify First Genetic Variant Linked to Biological Aging in Humans
[www.sciencedaily.com]

I think it's very possible that this generation will be the first to be able to live forever.

===

Bees Recognize Human Faces Using Feature Configuration
[www.sciencedaily.com]

This reminds me of a Donald Duck cartoon I saw on TV when I was a child, where he battles (and looses) a swarm of bees.

===

Like Escape Artists, Rotifers Elude Enemies by Drying Up and -- Poof! -- They Are Gone With the Wind
[www.sciencedaily.com]

They haven't had sex in some 30 million years, but some very small invertebrates named bdelloid rotifers are still shocking biologists -- they should have gone extinct long ago.

No kidding... I'd go totally nuts before I went extinct, if I had not had sex for 30 million years.

===

Small Insect With a Big Heart: 'Giving' Aphids Endangered by Their Selflessness
[www.sciencedaily.com]

===

Evolution Impacts Environment: Fundamental Shift in How Biologists Perceive Relationship Between Evolution and Ecology
[www.sciencedaily.com]

#tips #sciencetips #biology Reply

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Image of Roklimber Roklimber 02/09/10, 07:51 AM

Physicists investigate structural properties of spider webs
[www.physorg.com]

Isn't Peter Parker a physics student?

#tips #sciencetips #biophysics Reply

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Image of Roklimber Roklimber 02/09/10, 07:41 AM

Amphibious bus makes a splash
[news.bbc.co.uk]

What if Nessie falls in love with it?

#tips Reply

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Image of CoffinDodger (If the typos crap. Blame my keyboard) CoffinDodger (If the typos crap. Blame my keyboard) 02/09/10, 05:43 AM

First results of the (LHC). Large Hadron Collider are being published. Oh and we didnt die!!

BBC News.

[news.bbc.co.uk]

#tips Reply

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Image of EdificeComplex EdificeComplex 02/08/10, 05:24 PM

An inverted underwater skyscraper! Supervillains of the world, I think we've found the ultimate secret lair.

[www.inhabitat.com]

#observationdeck
#tips
#architecture
#supervillainy Reply

Image of LittleDragon LittleDragon 02/08/10, 05:39 PM

@EdificeComplex: I have already ordered mine. I am having done up to match my secret fleet of submarines and with an attachment option for my secret underwater lair.

#observationdeck Reply

Image of EdificeComplex EdificeComplex 02/08/10, 05:54 PM

@LittleDragon: Don't forget the shark tank add-on for growing sharks with friggin' lasers on their heads. That supervillainy brochure never mentioned how expensive this whole proposition would be...

#observationdeck Reply

Image of Roklimber Roklimber 02/09/10, 07:25 AM

@EdificeComplex:

Ah, now I know who stole my secret plans. A supervillain can't trust anyone these days!

#tips Reply

Image of Roklimber Roklimber 02/09/10, 07:39 AM

@EdificeComplex:

Preparing transportation for tourists to go visit it...

Amphibious bus makes a splash
[news.bbc.co.uk]

#observationdeck Reply

Image of farfisasynth farfisasynth 02/09/10, 01:37 PM


@EdificeComplex: Reminds me of Stromberg's lair called Atlantis in the 007 film The Spy Who Loved Me.

There's actually a lot that can be said about the architecture and design of Bond films. Absolutely classic.

#observationdeck Reply

Image of Shini: R.O.A.C.H. Shini: R.O.A.C.H. 02/09/10, 03:51 PM

@EdificeComplex: It's great until stuff starts growing on the underwater windows, if you get them, and you have to start having the henchpeople start cleaning it off. This isn't that bad unless you have LaserSharks, which don't really seem to give a damn what their targets are as long as they're lasing and eating.

And those lasers? They will cut right through the standard windows. Need to get the upgrade.

#observationdeck Reply

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Image of CoffinDodger (If the typos crap. Blame my keyboard) CoffinDodger (If the typos crap. Blame my keyboard) 02/08/10, 03:46 PM

Giant 17m fish filmed for the first time in the Mexican Gulf. Its usually found dying at the surface so filming it at those depths are a very special.

BBC website again

[news.bbc.co.uk]

#tips Reply

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Image of CoffinDodger (If the typos crap. Blame my keyboard) CoffinDodger (If the typos crap. Blame my keyboard) 02/08/10, 03:43 PM

More proof that Saturns moon Enceladus really does have a large body of water under it. Pictures on the BBC website taken by the probe Cassini.

[news.bbc.co.uk]

#tips Reply

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Image of CoffinDodger (If the typos crap. Blame my keyboard) CoffinDodger (If the typos crap. Blame my keyboard) 02/08/10, 01:34 PM

Yes I know its more about fantasy. But I think we can all agree that Terry Pratchett rocks. After the sucsess of the first 2 Sky adaptions. 'Going Postal' (my fav) is being made for an Easter showing 2010. Yipee.

Wiki has some cast and other details.
[en.wikipedia.org]

And just because Wiki is sometimes full of crap. Hers a picture of Richard Coyle wearing Moist Von Lipwigs famous gold bow-tie standing infront of some cool Discworld posters.

[www.fantasy-fan.org]

#tips Reply

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Image of EdificeComplex EdificeComplex 02/08/10, 08:54 AM

Michael Chiklis is starring in a pilot for ABC called "No Ordinary Family." A drama about a family with superpowers, is this a live action version of "The Incredibles?"

[www.hollywoodreporter.com]

#tips Reply

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Image of Roklimber Roklimber 02/08/10, 08:06 AM

Growing Cartilage: Bioactive Nanomaterial Promotes Growth of New Cartilage
[www.sciencedaily.com]

===

Migrating Insects Fly in the Fast Lane
[www.sciencedaily.com]

#tips #sciencetips #biology Reply

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Image of Roklimber Roklimber 02/08/10, 08:00 AM


Spooky sun halo over Cambodia.

Details here: [antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov]

#tips #sciencetips #spaceporn Reply

Image of mamadragon49 mamadragon49 02/08/10, 12:06 PM

@Roklimber: Awesome photo and explanation. Their archive page is worth bookmarking and going back to.
Anyone who likes the sun and clouds should have polarized sunglasses. I have to where them due to my eyes' sensitivity to light and glare and I am always seeing the most beautiful effects. Living in New Mexico helps, I think.

#tips Reply
Roklimber promoted this comment
Edited by mamadragon49 at 02/08/10 12:07 PM

Image of Roklimber Roklimber 02/08/10, 12:34 PM

@mamadragon49:

Indeed, on all accounts.

Incidentally, here's something cool that not many people know about polarized filters (which is what polarized sun glasses are).

It turns out that if you look directly towards the sun or directly away from the sun, the light from the sun scattered by the atmosphere back to you is *not* polarized in any specific direction.

On the other hand, if you look towards the sky at a direction perpendicular to the line connecting you and the sun (in other words, the sun is to your left or to your right), then the sunlight scattered back to you is *highly* polarized along the vertical direction.

So, if you go out on a clear day, you can "map" the sky with your polarized sunglasses, by looking at various directions and rotating your glasses for each direction you choose. You'll see regions of brightness and other regions where the sky isn't so bright.

Now, this is actually a cool and easy experiment that anyone can do and it's great to do with children. (Just be careful when looking towards the sun.)

The more important aspect of it, though, is that in latitudes where the sun is just below the horizon during most of the time (the nordic regions, for instance), you can actually tell where the sun is without ever actually seeing it.

According to something I read long ago (I can't remember the source) this is something that the Vikings took advantage of and which helped them navigate the nordic seas. They didn't have polarized sunglasses, of course, but they knew about quartz, which is a naturally occurring dichroic substance.

(Dichroism is the technical name for the dependence of a material's absorptive power on the polarization state of the incident light wave)

Another cool simple experiment you can do at home with polarized sunglasses requires a light source, two pairs of polarized sunglasses, and a flexible plastic ruler.

Keep one set of sunglasses fixed. Have one person twist the plastic ruler while you look at it through the other pair of sunglasses. It's important that the ruler be located between the two pairs of sunglasses. Of course, you need the light source (say, a light bulb) behind the fixed pair of sunglasses.

As your friend twists the plastic ruler, you'll see lots of weird shapes (you may need to rotate your sunglasses to see them). This is an example of the so-called Faraday effect and has to do with the fact that applying stress to certain materials changes their optical properties.

The Faraday effect is extremely useful as a tool to find defects in industrial molds and in scaled models of aircrafts. They make transparent molds and models, then use the Faraday effect to find points of undue stress.

#tips Reply

Image of mamadragon49 mamadragon49 02/08/10, 03:11 PM

@Roklimber: Can you help me out here? I've been aware for many years of the effects of polarizing lense because of photography. Having had to wear polarized sunglasses for the past twenty years or so has given me the opportunity to discover all kinds of effects they cause. My understanding was that they block scattered light waves caused by reflections but after reading several articles in wikpedia today, I'm a bit confused. Is polarized light scattered light waves and then polarized lens unpolarize it or vice versa?
BTW. It is overcast but we have oodles of puddles from melting snow. I could pinpoint where the sun is even tho it is well hidden by standing in such a way that puddles to my right and left were affected (i.e. didn't reflect the sky) but one in front of me was not. I could verify it by the time of day.

#tips Reply
Roklimber promoted this comment

Image of Roklimber Roklimber 02/08/10, 04:05 PM

@mamadragon49:

"My understanding was that they block scattered light waves caused by reflections but after reading several articles in wikpedia today, I'm a bit confused. Is polarized light scattered light waves and then polarized lens unpolarize it or vice versa?"

I'll first try to explain what polarization is by using an example that has nothing to do with light, then I'll address your question more directly.

Imagine that you and I are some distance apart, each holding one end of a long rope. Now imagine that you move your hand up and down (that is, vertically), producing a wave that travels along the rope, towards me. That wave oscillates only up and down so, at any time, the entire rope occupies a vertical plane. We say that the wave you just created is vertically polarized.

Now imagine we start again, but this time you move your hand from left to right and back. The wave now generated will oscillate in a horizontal plane, and we say that the wave is horizontally polarized.

(Incidentally, these two examples are referred to as linear polarizations, for reasons that will become clear in a moment)

Similarly, you could move your hand along a "diagonal" direction, not left-right and not up-down, but, say, northeast-southwest and back. This would also create a linearly polarized wave, just one that lies on a plane that is neither horizontal nor vertical.

Finally, imagine that you move your hand in a circle. I hope you can see that the generated wave will move in such a way that its crests rotate around the direction of motion, while they move towards me. It's much like a corkscrew. This is now an example of a circularly polarized wave.

Now, suppose that I build a wall separating the two of us and suppose that the wall has a vertical slit barely wider than the width of the rope. I then pass the rope through the slit and we start our game again.

As you produce a wave, regardless of what kind of polarization you give it, once it passes the slit, it will be oscillating only up and down. The wall works as a polarizer, that is, it forces a specific kind of polarization state.

Ok, how does all this apply to light and reflections and sunglasses?

Light propagates as an electromagnetic wave. Electric charges move around in some periodic fashion (just like your hand did in our rope game) and a wave of electric and magnetic fields is produced.

Exactly like in the case of the rope, this light wave can be polarized in many different ways, linearly, circularly, or even randomly polarized, which we refer to as unpolarized. This is just as if you were to produce a wave by moving your hand in some random fashion, sometimes up/down, sometimes left/right, sometimes in a circle, and so on, totally randomly.

Now, sunlight, as it leaves the sun, is generally unpolarized. When it passes through a single polarizer lens, that light wave is forced to oscillate along only one direction - it's now linearly polarized - exactly as with the rope and the slit on the wall.

If we then make that light pass through another polarizer oriented perpendicularly to the first, no light will pass through, just as if I had a horizontal slit on a second wall in our rope game.

I hope this helps you understand how a polarizer lens or filter works. Amazingly, the rope analogy is nearly perfect. It's only the physical mechanisms behind which are different in each case (one is a mechanical wave, the other is an electromagnetic one); all the polarization stuff is exactly the same in both cases.

Ok, now let's talk reflection. As it happens (and this is tricky to explain without getting much more technical), when light reflects off smooth materials (glass, metal surfaces, smooth walls, etc) the reflection can change the polarization state of the wave. Essentially, for example, left-right oscillations are absorbed while up/down oscillations are reflected back nearly unchanged.

So, reflection can also turn an unpolarized wave into a linearly polarized one, by absorbing the oscillations along all directions except one.

And now you see why polarized sunglasses are a cool invention. When you look at sunlight reflected off a window, for example, the light wave coming towards you has been converted into a linearly polarized wave. If your sunglasses have a polarization axis that is at an angle with respect to the direction of polarization of that reflected light wave, part of that light wave will be absorbed by the material of the sunglasses, thus decreasing the intensity of the light wave that does reach your eyes.

What about scattering? Sunlight hits atoms in the atmosphere and that light wave interacts with the electrons in the atoms of the gasses in the atmosphere. The electrons absorb and then re-emit that light wave. In the process, it is also possible for the resulting light wave to have a particular polarization state, though that is typically not the case.

The reason why looking at the sky at 90 degree angles allows you to see (linearly) polarized waves is not because the scattering itself changed the polarization state of the incident sunlight, but it's the result of a geometrical property of light (technically, it's because light is a transverse wave - it always oscillates in a direction perpendicular to the direction it travels).

So, on to your question now.

"Is polarized light scattered light waves and then polarized lens unpolarize it or vice versa?"

Neither. Polarized light is light whose electric and magnetic fields oscillate in a specific pattern (up/down, or left/right, or diagonally, or circularly, etc). That, by itself, has nothing to do with scattering.

Scattering is the process by which the direction light travels is changed when it interacts with a large number of nearly free electrons, such as what you'd find in the atoms of the atmosphere.

A polarizer lens has a special "axis." Any oscillation along that axis passes unchanged. Any oscillation not along that axis gets absorbed, and the degree of absorption increases the more away from that axis the oscillation happens. Think of the slit in the wall again. That slit is the polarization axis of the wall.

So, a polarizer lens forces a specific polarization state to any light wave that goes through the lens. If that wave has the right polarization (agreeing with the polarization axis of the lens), it's allowed to pass through. Otherwise, the wave loses energy due to absorption.

I hope this explanation has helped you and I apologize for the novel-length post.

#tips Reply

Image of CoffinDodger (If the typos crap. Blame my keyboard) CoffinDodger (If the typos crap. Blame my keyboard) 02/08/10, 04:18 PM

@Roklimber: Gosh thats amazing!!!

#tips Reply

Image of Roklimber Roklimber 02/08/10, 04:20 PM

@CoffinDodger (If the typos crap. Blame my keyboard):

The picture certainly is.

Unless you're complimenting me for typing two very long posts, in which case I say thanks. :)

#tips Reply
Edited by Roklimber at 02/08/10 4:22 PM

Image of CoffinDodger (If the typos crap. Blame my keyboard) CoffinDodger (If the typos crap. Blame my keyboard) 02/08/10, 04:28 PM

@Roklimber: The posts are cool and informative. But if im honest........its the picture..

#tips Reply

Image of Roklimber Roklimber 02/08/10, 04:31 PM

@CoffinDodger (If the typos crap. Blame my keyboard):

That's ok by me. I don't post this long comments to fish for compliments. Besides, the picture *is* rather awesome. :)

#tips Reply

Image of mamadragon49 mamadragon49 02/08/10, 05:28 PM

@Roklimber: Well, the picture is what got me thinking about all this. As for your explanation, anything shorter would not have provided me with what I wanted to understand. I don't think I can take it all in with one reading but I will study it until I really get it. Your examples are very understandable. Seems someone should get those into wikipedia's entry about polarization. Thanks

#tips Reply
Roklimber promoted this comment

Image of Roklimber Roklimber 02/09/10, 03:22 AM

@mamadragon49:

Things would be easier to explain and understand with pictures, animations and such. Unfortunately, this isn't the best medium for all that. Feel free to ask more, if you'd like.

#tips Reply

See 10 replies Hide 10 replies
Image of Bill-Lee Bill-Lee 02/07/10, 09:33 PM

So according to this, the Thing is gearing up to start shooting.
[www.slashfilm.com]

#observationdeck
#tips Reply

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Image of mamadragon49 mamadragon49 02/07/10, 09:22 PM

Ah, for the days when whiskey and brandy were de rigueur for any reputable scientific expedition.
[www.physorg.com]
And you can see color photos of the find as well.
[www.heritage-antarctica.org]

#tips Reply
LittleDragon promoted this comment

Image of LittleDragon LittleDragon 02/08/10, 08:15 AM

@mamadragon49: Are you saying they aren't de rigueur now? Aw man. The white coats in the lab are going to be really sad.

#tips Reply

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