Entries from January 2008 ↓

First you had the horse and buggy drifting, and now you’ve got horse pulled ski jumping. Who’s idea was it to try this? It just seems a little odd.

The Panopticons are a series of sculptures in Lancashire England that have been built as a showcase for the region. I’m not sure what they were trying to showcase, but the sculptures are weird and strange.

The one that really caught my eye was the singing tree. A huge tree shaped sculpture made from galvanized steel pipes. When the wind blows, the pipes produce a weird spooky sound. Hence the name.

Check out the whole article by following the link below.
Neatorama: The Panopticons

Lakai footwear made this really great skateboarding video as part of a new ad campaign. Just watch it, some of the stunts are really cool. And there are more at the official site. Lakai Movies

Treehugger has a very interesting article about a team that is trying to capture the kinetic energy of raindrops to generate power. Each raindrop has a potential to generate a small amount of energy.

The amount is small, but it could be enough power to control a small sensor. Possibly a rain detector that measures rainfall being powered by the very rain that it’s measuring.

The Power of Rain: Alternative Energy

Jose Geraldo Reis Pfau, an artist from Brazil, makes these incredible motorcycle sculptures from old watches. Each sculpture is hand crafted from watch parts that Jose has collected over the years. And they really are amazing looking. Too bad they aren’t for sale, or I would think about buying one for my office.

Check out his site for more examples of his work. ArtePfau

Io9 has an interesting article speculating on the possible uses for an induced autism. The reason for the speculation is some recent research where scientists were able to induce an autistic behavior in mice, and then cure them. The thought is that th same thing may be possible in humans.

It’s kind of an interesting idea. What if future drugs are used to deliberately enhance your focus on a single repetitive task? If it could be controlled and carefully targeted, I can see it being used in factories and assembly lines. I’m not sure if it would be a good thing, but I can definitely see something like that being used.

Io9: One Pill Makes You Autistic — And One Pill Changes You Back
Wikipedia: Autism

Gizmodo pointed me at a really cool story. A little kid and his Grandfather built an awesome snow machine in his back yard. The whole thing cost about $800, and the resulting machine can pump out up to three feet of snow a night. Giving the kid a great snow and sledding experience. I can’t wait for someone to post a how to describing the process.

Check out the Gizmodo article: Real-World Calvin Builds Snow Machine, Creates Backyard Mountain Overnight
Check out a CNN video of it: Kid builds snow machine

Darrell pointed me at this great video of an application for the iPhone. Using the touch screen capabilities and the built in speaker, someone was able to make a guitar-like instrument for his iPhone.

Really makes you wonder what else you could mod the phone to do.

The Economist has a great article about the recently completed Amundsen-Scott research station. The station is America’s main research station in Antarctica.
Permanent buildings in Antarctica have a tendency to become unusable after a short period of time. The reason is snow buildup. Any permanent structure is slowly buried under snow drifts as the years go by. The latest structure was built on steel pilings and was specifically designed to channel winds under the building to keep snow from accumulating as quickly. It can also raise itself off the ground on hydraulic lifts, once the snow begins to accumulate.

Economist: Snow place like home
Also, check out the Wikipedia page on the station and it’s history: Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station