Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Once More, With Feeling: Joss Whedon Revisits ‘Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog’
http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/04/18/once-more-with-feeling-joss-whedon-revisits-dr-horribles-sing-along-blog/
"I have been alerted to this fact by certain of my friends. When I saw us going up against “Empire Strikes Back,” all I could think was, “Oh, they’re gonna hate it. They’re gonna hate us. They’re gonna call our fans names.” But while “Empire Strikes Back” is for me the more seminal film, “Serenity” at least has an ending. I don’t know when “The Matrix” got voted down – that’s my favorite. It is starting to be a double-edged sword. There’s no greater sadness than not still being on board that ship with that crew, in my career. All I can think is, maybe someday, someone at Universal will say, “Hey, we made money. Let’s do that again.” So I’m glad that it lives. But I also know that every time it gets in one of those polls, against beloved movies, we just get flamed. I feel sad, too."
"I have been alerted to this fact by certain of my friends. When I saw us going up against “Empire Strikes Back,” all I could think was, “Oh, they’re gonna hate it. They’re gonna hate us. They’re gonna call our fans names.” But while “Empire Strikes Back” is for me the more seminal film, “Serenity” at least has an ending. I don’t know when “The Matrix” got voted down – that’s my favorite. It is starting to be a double-edged sword. There’s no greater sadness than not still being on board that ship with that crew, in my career. All I can think is, maybe someday, someone at Universal will say, “Hey, we made money. Let’s do that again.” So I’m glad that it lives. But I also know that every time it gets in one of those polls, against beloved movies, we just get flamed. I feel sad, too."
Debut of the first practical 'artificial leaf'
http://www.physorg.com/news/2011-03-debut-artificial-leaf.html
"The device bears no resemblance to Mother Nature's counterparts on oaks, maples and other green plants, which scientists have used as the model for their efforts to develop this new genre of solar cells. About the shape of a poker card but thinner, the device is fashioned from silicon, electronics and catalysts, substances that accelerate chemical reactions that otherwise would not occur, or would run slowly. Placed in a single gallon of water in a bright sunlight, the device could produce enough electricity to supply a house in a developing country with electricity for a day, Nocera said. It does so by splitting water into its two components, hydrogen and oxygen."
"The device bears no resemblance to Mother Nature's counterparts on oaks, maples and other green plants, which scientists have used as the model for their efforts to develop this new genre of solar cells. About the shape of a poker card but thinner, the device is fashioned from silicon, electronics and catalysts, substances that accelerate chemical reactions that otherwise would not occur, or would run slowly. Placed in a single gallon of water in a bright sunlight, the device could produce enough electricity to supply a house in a developing country with electricity for a day, Nocera said. It does so by splitting water into its two components, hydrogen and oxygen."
Templated growth technique produces graphene nanoribbons with metallic properties
http://www.physorg.com/news/2011-03-templated-growth-technique-graphene-nanoribbons.html
"A new "templated growth" technique for fabricating nanoribbons of epitaxial graphene has produced structures just 15 to 40 nanometers wide that conduct current with almost no resistance. These structures could address the challenge of connecting graphene devices made with conventional architectures – and set the stage for a new generation of devices that take advantage of the quantum properties of electrons."
"A new "templated growth" technique for fabricating nanoribbons of epitaxial graphene has produced structures just 15 to 40 nanometers wide that conduct current with almost no resistance. These structures could address the challenge of connecting graphene devices made with conventional architectures – and set the stage for a new generation of devices that take advantage of the quantum properties of electrons."
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Abandoned Skyscraper in Venezuela is the World’s Tallest Shanty Town
"In the middle of downtown Caracas in Venezuela is an abandoned 45 story tower that has been reclaimed by squatters who have turned it into a thriving vertical shanty town. Built during the booming nineties when the real estate market was putting up ever larger edifices to the banking industry, the project, which is one of the tallest in Latin America, became a financial white elephant. Named after developer David Brillembourg, an estimated 2500 people now call the Tower of David home. After his death the government took possession, but seems to not have the stomach to change the status quo. Two decades later, the tower has become a symbol of the decline of Venezuela for some, but can also be viewed as a triumph of the spirit its occupants."
Spidey Bites: Stan Lee’s Secret for Saving Spider-Man the Musical? More Stan Lee!
http://www.vanityfair.com/online/oscars/2011/03/spidey-bites.html
"It never occurred to us to save any of those things. We never thought they’d have any value later on. We worked in a very small office, and the printer would send back all the original pages of artwork, but we had no place to put them. So when we ordered food, we told the delivery guy, “Hey, would you mind taking these pages and dropping them in the trash on the way out?”"
"It never occurred to us to save any of those things. We never thought they’d have any value later on. We worked in a very small office, and the printer would send back all the original pages of artwork, but we had no place to put them. So when we ordered food, we told the delivery guy, “Hey, would you mind taking these pages and dropping them in the trash on the way out?”"
Monday, April 25, 2011
A plan from the 1920s to drain the Mediterranean Sea and create the nation of Atlantropa
http://io9.com/#!5794669/a-plan-from-the-1920s-to-drain-the-mediterranean-sea-and-create-the-nation-of-atlantropa
"His most spectacular contribution-incubated in the mid-1920's and still clinging by its fingertips as an idea among some current thinkers-was to put a dam across the straights of Gibraltar. The dam would generate electricity of course, but most importantly to Soergel, it would also empty an enormous amount of water (lowering the sea by 200 metres) from the Mediterranean leaving vast new expanses of land to be developed and colonized over generations into the future. The water of course would have to go somewhere, and that somewhere was the Sahara Desert, somehow in its wake creating farmable and productive lands. Soergel was creating a certain, very wide, fantastical future of uncertain monumental prospects . . ."
"His most spectacular contribution-incubated in the mid-1920's and still clinging by its fingertips as an idea among some current thinkers-was to put a dam across the straights of Gibraltar. The dam would generate electricity of course, but most importantly to Soergel, it would also empty an enormous amount of water (lowering the sea by 200 metres) from the Mediterranean leaving vast new expanses of land to be developed and colonized over generations into the future. The water of course would have to go somewhere, and that somewhere was the Sahara Desert, somehow in its wake creating farmable and productive lands. Soergel was creating a certain, very wide, fantastical future of uncertain monumental prospects . . ."
Solar power without solar cells: A hidden magnetic effect of light could make it possible
http://ns.umich.edu/htdocs/releases/story.php?id=8368
"Light has electric and magnetic components. Until now, scientists thought the effects of the magnetic field were so weak that they could be ignored. What Rand and his colleagues found is that at the right intensity, when light is traveling through a material that does not conduct electricity, the light field can generate magnetic effects that are 100 million times stronger than previously expected. Under these circumstances, the magnetic effects develop strength equivalent to a strong electric effect."
"Light has electric and magnetic components. Until now, scientists thought the effects of the magnetic field were so weak that they could be ignored. What Rand and his colleagues found is that at the right intensity, when light is traveling through a material that does not conduct electricity, the light field can generate magnetic effects that are 100 million times stronger than previously expected. Under these circumstances, the magnetic effects develop strength equivalent to a strong electric effect."
Monday, April 18, 2011
New Way to Control Magnetic Properties of Graphene Discovered
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/04/110414091110.htm
"University of Maryland researchers have discovered a way to control magnetic properties of graphene that could lead to powerful new applications in magnetic storage and magnetic random access memory."
"University of Maryland researchers have discovered a way to control magnetic properties of graphene that could lead to powerful new applications in magnetic storage and magnetic random access memory."
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Quote
Look, all I’m saying is that there is no such thing as disassociated mindforms existing on a plane of reality parallel and entwined with our own. And that these beings, which do not exist and you have no reason to worry about, are not driven by a hunger to split apart our universe until it becomes a disjointed mass of unconnected concepts and ideas, time is undone and meaningless, and they can scatter our psyches into the vacuum of non-forever and rebuild creation as if we had never been. Most of all I certainly am not involved in any form of hidden coordinated effort to fight back against their every plot.
Grant Morrison
Nanotech-fibre gas mask created at Cornell
http://grinding.be/2011/04/13/nanotech-fibre-gas-mask-created-at-cornell/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+grinding+%28grinding.be%29&utm_content=Google+Reader
"MOFs (metal organic framework molecules), which are clustered crystalline compounds, can be manipulated at the nanolevel to have cages that are the exact same size as the gas they are trying to capture", said Jennifer Keane ’11, a fiber science and apparel design (FSAD) major in the College of Human Ecology.
"MOFs (metal organic framework molecules), which are clustered crystalline compounds, can be manipulated at the nanolevel to have cages that are the exact same size as the gas they are trying to capture", said Jennifer Keane ’11, a fiber science and apparel design (FSAD) major in the College of Human Ecology.
Thursday, April 7, 2011
James Cameron’s Next Plan To Reinvent Cinema
http://gizmodo.com/#!5787970/james-camerons-next-plan-to-reinvent-cinema
"While the industry has been stuck at 24fps since the Roaring 20s, Cameron believes that by bumping that up to 48fps, or even 60fps, Hollywood can dramatically change our cinematic experience."
"While the industry has been stuck at 24fps since the Roaring 20s, Cameron believes that by bumping that up to 48fps, or even 60fps, Hollywood can dramatically change our cinematic experience."
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Original GTA Design Docs, dated March 22nd 1995.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikedailly/5548280212/in/photostream/
After following the link, hit the "Newer" button to scroll through the "Race'n'Chase" documents in order.
Super Batteries Made From ‘Frozen Smoke’ May be Here Soon
http://inhabitat.com/super-batteries-made-from-frozen-smoke-may-be-here-soon/
"Due to its carbon nanotube structure, the battery material would be able to detect even the slightest changes in pressure or temperature. As they also make up a large surface area, the nanotubes would be better able to store energy than conventional batteries."
"Due to its carbon nanotube structure, the battery material would be able to detect even the slightest changes in pressure or temperature. As they also make up a large surface area, the nanotubes would be better able to store energy than conventional batteries."
Making nanomaterials just got a lot easier
http://io9.com/#!5773631/making-nanomaterials-just-got-a-lot-easier
"This new method could lead to massively easier and cheaper production of nanomaterials."
"This new method could lead to massively easier and cheaper production of nanomaterials."
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