Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Monday, April 26, 2010
Completely see-through car made [video]
Shell has a new oil that is formulated to clean the inside of your engine – so what better way to prove that then to build a functional glass car to prove it? Shell decided there was no better way, so they built exactly that – and filmed it for your enjoyment.
Shell has a new oil, known as Helix, which they tout for its “active cleansing technology,” and a tagline that claims “performance you can see.”
In order to back up their bold claims, Shell outsourced the building of a completely see-through car, made out of clear Perplex (plexiglass). The car of choice is a Nissan 370Z, recreated with immense detail and at least some functionality.
The engine itself was made double the size of the original – purely to allow for the video to capture the oil as it worked it way through the engine. The end result is an interesting perspective not often – if ever – enjoyed by the human eye.
Friday, April 23, 2010
$25 WOW horse makes $3.5 million in a few hours
Blizzard has had unprecedented success with virtual item sales on the release of the Celestial Steed - a special in-game mount for World of Warcraft that costs the princely sum of $25, €20 or £17.
According to WOW.com (via GamesIndustry.biz), a seven-hour queue of 140,000 people had formed within three hours of the mount's release last week.
That already represented revenue of $3.5 million - or more than a million dollars an hour - on sales of what is, essentially, just an art asset for the subscription game. The translucent flying horse leaves trails of stardust behind it as it gallops across the sky.
Delusions, the Legislature and an implanted microchip
In Gov. Roy Barnes’ stump speech, the bill has become a routine example of the Republican tendency to attack problems that don’t exist, and ignore the ones that do. Besides, Barnes argues, if someone holds him down to insert a microchip in his head, “it should be more than a damned misdemeanor.”
Three states have instituted bans, and others have considered the legislation. In Virginia, a bill supporter declared microchips to be the “666″ mark of the beast referred to in the Book of Revelation.
Pearson has said his motivation isn’t biblical or religious – that he is simply working in advance of technology’s next assault on personal privacy. Not unlike limiting the uses of DNA testing by health insurance companies, he argues."
At the House hearing, state Rep. Ed Setzler (R-Kennesaw), who is shouldering the legislation in the House, spoke earnestly for better than a half hour on microchips as a literal invasion of privacy.
He was followed by a hefty woman who described herself as a resident of DeKalb County. “I’m also one of the people in Georgia who has a microchip,” the woman said. Slowly, she began to lead the assembled lawmakers down a path they didn’t want to take.
She spoke of the “right to work without being tortured by co-workers who are activating these microchips by using their cell phones and other electronic devices.”
She continued. “Microchips are like little beepers. Just imagine, if you will, having a beeper in your rectum or genital area, the most sensitive area of your body. And your beeper numbers displayed on billboards throughout the city. All done without your permission,” she said.
“Ma’am, did you say you have a microchip?” asked state Rep. Tom Weldon (R-Ringgold).
“Yes, I do. This microchip was put in my vaginal-rectum area,” she replied. Setzler, the sponsoring lawmaker, sat next to the witness – his head bowed.
Monday, April 19, 2010
This Is Apple's Next iPhone - Iphone 4/ (iPhone HD?) [video, photos]
While Apple may tinker with the final packaging and design of the final phone, it's clear that the features in this lost-and-found next-generation iPhone are drastically new and drastically different from what came before. Here's the detailed list of our findings:
What's new
• Front-facing video chat camera
• Improved regular back-camera (the lens is quite noticeably larger than the iPhone 3GS)
• Camera flash
• Micro-SIM instead of standard SIM (like the iPad)
• Improved display. It's unclear if it's the 960x460 display thrown around before—it certainly looks like it, with the "Connect to iTunes" screen displaying much higher resolution than on a 3GS.
• What looks to be a secondary mic for noise cancellation, at the top, next to the headphone jack
• Split buttons for volume
• Power, mute, and volume buttons are all metallic
What's changed
• The back is entirely flat, made of either glass (more likely) or ceramic or shiny plastic in order for the cell signal to poke through. Tapping on the back makes a more hollow and higher pitched sound compared to tapping on the glass on the front/screen, but that could just be the orientation of components inside making for a different sound
• An aluminum border going completely around the outside
• Slightly smaller screen than the 3GS (but seemingly higher resolution)
• Everything is more squared off
• 3 grams heavier
• 16% Larger battery
• Internals components are shrunken, miniaturized and reduced to make room for the larger battery
Friday, April 16, 2010
Embryo Made from Three Persons May Prevent Inherited Disease
Embryos containing DNA from a man and two women have been created by scientists at Newcastle University.
They say their research, published in the journal Nature, has the potential to help mothers with rare genetic disorders have healthy children.
The aim is to prevent damaged DNA in mitochondria - the "batteries" which power the cell - from being passed on by the mother.
IVF clinics are not currently permitted to carry out the procedure.
(...)
The scientists have developed a technique which would potentially allow them to replace defective mitochondria during IVF.
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Obama Administration Wants Microsoft To Make A Video Game
The Obama administration has sounded out Microsoft's main man, CEO Steve Ballmer, on the possibility of the company producing a video game which would task players with balancing the US budget.
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Croatian teenager wakes from coma speaking fluent German
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Italian doctor may have found surprisingly simple cure for Multiple Sclerosis
An Italian doctor has been getting dramatic results with a new type of treatment for Multiple Sclerosis, or MS, which affects up to 2.5 million people worldwide. In an initial study, Dr. Paolo Zamboni took 65 patients with relapsing-remitting MS, performed a simple operation to unblock restricted bloodflow out of the brain - and two years after the surgery, 73% of the patients had no symptoms. Dr. Zamboni's thinking could turn the current understanding of MS on its head, and offer many sufferers a complete cure.
(...)
Dr. Zamboni's revelations came as part of a very personal mission - to cure his wife as she began a downward spiral after diagnosis. Reading everything he could on the subject, Dr. Zamboni found a number of century-old sources citing excess iron as a possible cause of MS. It happened to dovetail with some research he had been doing previously on how a buildup of iron can damage blood vessels in the legs - could it be that a buildup of iron was somehow damaging blood vessels in the brain?
He immediately took to the ultrasound machine to see if the idea had any merit - and made a staggering discovery. More than 90% of people with MS have some sort of malformation or blockage in the veins that drain blood from the brain. Including, as it turned out, his wife.
Zamboni immediately scheduled his wife for a simple operation to unblock the veins - a catheter was threaded up through blood vessels in the groin area, all the way up to the effected area, and then a small balloon was inflated to clear out the blockage. It's a standard and relatively risk-free operation - and the results were immediate. In the three years since the surgery, Dr. Zamboni's wife has not had an attack.
Widening out his study, Dr. Zamboni then tried the same operation on a group of 65 MS-sufferers, identifying blood drainage blockages in the brain and unblocking them - and more than 73% of the patients are completely free of the symptoms of MS, two years after the operation.
Wednesday, April 07, 2010
Steampunk Stormtrooper Helmet - Steamtroopers Are Coming
If you are a freaking fan of the Stormtroopers then you should own one of the helmets. But if you are a true super cool fanatic then you should take your wallet out of your pocket and get some of your precious money for this kind. The Steampunk Stormtrooper helmet, or should we call it the Steamtrooper helmet.
Toe Mouse For The Disabled by Liu Yi � Yanko Design
Flip Flop Mouse
The Toe Mouse is especially designed for those who have upper limbs disability and cannot use their hands to move the mouse. This ergonomically designed gadget uses our natural ability to grip between the toes, for manipulating the Mouse. You need to slip it on, between the big toe and second, just as you would wear your flipflops. The sensor below the big toe acts as the left click button and the one below the second toe is the right click. I find very little flaws in this design, and going by the determined grit we have seen in handicapped people; if they can conquer pen and paint brushes without using hands, then this mouse is no big deal!
Designer: Liu Yi
