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?”"
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)