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Nov 27

Astronauts, unhappy drinking from bags, find a solution in their spare time. Proof that competition selects the most capable when everyone wants your job. Update: Apparently a coffee cup design grew out of this idea. (via gizmodo)
Not only did they predict the outcome but he was able to cite the physical formula. I posted another video of astronaut ingenuity earlier this year. Curiosity got us out of caves and onto the Internet: don’t stop here! (via NewTeeVee)

Nov 9

Barromean rings: no two rings are linked yet all three are.
The profile perspective illustrates the required complexity. (via Jason Kottke)

Nov 5

levelHead is a 3D Memory Game which detects which surface of a cube is facing the camera then orients and displays one of six rooms. Tilting the cube causes the character to move.
“Augmented reality” literally distorts perception for the user and brings every day surfaces to life, often without projecting. (via wizardishungry)

Jul 1

Scientific Attempt To Create Most Annoying Song Ever.
mp3 This hilarious mashup of annoying musical elements has some really great spots. My favorite is around the 9 minute mark. See also: Most wanted music

Jun 26

Powers of 10: a classic video made in 1977 gives a very humbling overview of our place in the world. It is over 30 years old so it stops short of modern understanding by several orders of magnitude.

(via thoughtware)

Jun 19

“When the bombers got back to their base, the steel cylinders were taken from the racks and shipped back to the United States of America, where factories were operating day and night, dismantling the cylinders, separating the dangerous contents into minerals. Touchingly, it was mainly women who did this work. The minerals were then shipped to specialists in remote areas. It was their business to put them into the ground, to hide them cleverly, so they would never hurt anybody again.”
This all too familiar quote describing WWII in reverse, from Slaughterhouse-Five, had left quite an impression on me. It is difficult to truly appreciate what lengths we go to in producing our infernal machines. (via Jason Kottke)

Jun 13

Think technology holds the cure to all of man’s problems? Yeah well, Techno Tuesday knows the score.
Techno Tuesday offers a realistic and sometimes depressing perspective on technology.

Jun 13

These diagrams illustrate why several dimensionless physical constants could only exist as we know them. All other values cannot support life or information of any kind.

I wish I knew more about where cosmopsis found this, but as Jason Kottke said, no one on Tumblr gives credit these days. (via cosmopsis)

Jun 12

Riddles riddle an upscale New York apartment—hidden by an architect for his clients to solve.
Parts of this story negate the absurdity of National Treasure. Go figure.

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phil harnish