Scientists have good and bad news for hard-driving people who boast they need only six hours of sleep a night. The good news is a few may be right: Researchers at the University of California-San Francisco have identified a family with a genetic mutation that causes members to require only six hours sleep a night. The bad news? The gene is vanishingly rare in humans, found in less than 3% of people.
Researchers at Northwestern University have hatched a robotic replica of the ghost knifefish, an amazing sea creature with a ribbon-like fin, capable of acrobatic agility in the water. The fish is distinctive in its ability to move forward, backward and vertically, but scientists didn't understand its vertical movement until the creation of its robot replica, GhostBot (shown below). They now know its vertical propulsion is caused by two waves moving in opposite directions, crashing into each ...
A testament of man vs. machine will air on February 14th, 15th, and 16th when IBM's supercomputer "Watson" is pitted against the world's fiercest Jeopardy players, Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter, for a chance to win a cool $1 million. It took researchers four years to build Watson, a machine mastermind the size of ten refrigerators and equipped with complex algorithms capable of decoding the complexities of the human language (no small feat). Watch below as Watson kicks ass in a practice round ...
That Kinect you bought for your Xbox 360? More than just a game controller, it's a bonafide hologram generator! In the clip below, UC Davis researcher Dr. Oliver Kreylos demos the process. The fun stuff begins at the :44 mark. Kreylos explains, "By combining the color and the depth image captured by the Microsoft Kinect, one can project the color image back out into space and create a 'holographic' representation of the persons or objects that were captured."
Relax PETA, it's not as evil as it looks (although those neural electrode implants do look painful).
This panhandling robot isn't too proud to beg. In fact, it's custom-built for it. And who could refuse? Get a load of that puppy-dog eye.
A team of Japanese researchers have developed an airbag system for the exterior of the car, rather than the interior, with the purpose of protecting pedestrians.
Here's another latest in robotics: researchers at the Italian Institute of Technology (IIT) have developed a robot that flips pancakes. The most interesting aspect of the project is the use of kinesthetic teaching, in which the user "trains" the robot by example. The user grasps the robot's limb, and guides it through the motions the user would like it to adopt. This bot takes about 50 trials to get it, but in the end succeeds. Previously, I Want a Robo-Chef in My Kitchen.
With 32 countries, comes 32 different ways to verbally defile your mom. Watch out Rooney, FIFA is cracking down on your dirty mouth. Sure, a British official could catch his dirty mouth, but Saturday's England-US game was officiated by a Brazilian.
This is the first of two Video's introducing you to your fingers from a Hand Analysis perspective. The Fingers mainly govern the mind and thinking. Somewhere in the vast fabric of time somebody discovered that the length and inclination of each particular finger can bring out certain personality traits. I still find it amazing and satisfying to see somebody with a longer than average 'little finger'(Mercury-communication), that sticks out that can't stop talking and buzzing around all excited...
Japanese artist and programmer Daito Manabe uses the face as an instrument. He makes the human face involuntarily dance using electric stimulators (which, by the way, look like the same kind used for electroshock therapy). The stimulators are taped to the face, and each musical beat delivers a shock, resulting in disturbing face contortions in time to the music.
This is a tutorial on tying the knot for the crochet braid. Tying the knot is so second nature to me, that I am not very skilled when it comes to explaining how to do the procedure. That, I think, is very apparent in this video. I am kind of fumbling through this experiment and am not really quite sure I accomplished what I set out to do. I hope the one thing this video aids the viewers in is trusting yourself to trouble shoot the problem. Get creative with finding a solution, so that you can...
If you are interested in creating a jewelry box for your kid, wife, or even yourself, installing a half-mortise lock can be a tricky project. This is a piece of hardware that will help make any jewlery chest look professional and adds a bit of character to the piece. So in this tutorial, you'll discover just how difficult it can be to install a half-mortise lock. The video offers some helpful advice that will make the job much easier. But in order for it to work, make sure you follow the step...
Thai street vendor food can be quiet inexpensive, not to mention absolutely delicious! But what is their secret to these sidewalk dishes? Follow along with this cooking how to video as a Thai food vendor shows you how to cook wide noodles with vegetables and shrimp in a thick sauce. This street dish is more commonly knows as radna, so make sure to ask for it by name. Follow closely and you’ll be cooking like a professional street food vendor in no time. This street vendor version differs slig...
Looking for a front-yard upgrade that'll have visitors beating a well-lit path to your door? The answer is an easy to install pathway lighting set. Too often, we're forced to choose between form and function. But when it comes to the route that leads to your front door, you can have it both ways: a pathway lighting system that combines the safety and security of good exterior illumination along with decorative elements that enhance your landscaping. Even though you might not have any experien...
Children have an innate need to find out about the world around them, and how they relate to it. Curiosity is a quality you don’t have to teach. All you need to do is encourage what your kids naturally do: explore and ask questions. Discover how to encourage kids to be curious just don't forget some ground rules to keep them from exploring with hazardous materials! Stimulate a child's curiosity.
Remember Dan White's "Twinkie defense" in 1979? Well it turns out that the the ability to convert food into glucose is correlated with the ability to control oneself.
Observations of a distant dust-filled solar system have shed light on the process of planet formation.
Neuroscience (live!) resumes its 50 hour slicing session 8:00 am PST this morning. According to Gizmodo,
PopSci has compiled an amazing list of 30 college labs that would tempt anybody to re-enroll. If you know any high school juniors or prospective grad students, pass this along. They just might reconsider their initial choices.
Innovative or downright frightening? Popsci examines five of the world's scariest science experiments-in-progress.
California grad student on no-fly list gets home after stranding An American student who discovered he was included on the government’s no-fly list and was barred from a U.S.-bound flight from Costa Rica was reunited with family and friends after he flew to Mexico and then walked across the U.S.-Mexico border Thursday evening.
If vaccines play absolutely no role in the development of childhood autism, a claim made by many medical authorities today, then why are some of the most popular vaccines commonly administered to children demonstrably causing autism in animal primates? This is the question many people are now asking after a recent study conducted by scientists at the University of Pittsburgh (UP) in Pennsylvania revealed that many of the infant monkeys given standard doses of childhood vaccines as part of the...
Anyone who follows the TSA blog, run by “Bob”, will know that from time to time the agency attempts to offset the ballooning negative public opinion directed towards it, and the openly criminal behaviour of its employees, by bragging about “dangerous” items that it has discovered and confiscated from the luggage and persons of those traveling through the nation’s airports.
Need to pass along an important message on paper without having it accidentally discovered by your archenemy? Using very common household products, you can easily whip up an invisible ink recipe and write out your secret message with the solution. All the recipient needs to do is heat up the paper using a stovetop of light bulb, or brush the surface of the paper with a simple iodine mixture to read the message.
This video shows how to make a camera setup for filming what you're doing on a table. It's a great video even if you don't intend to make one, but if you're trying to teach someone how to do something, this is an awesome setup. Either way, it's entertaining to watch. The creator, Paco Warabi, says:
They're not the fastest in the world, but Vision Research's line of Phantom high-speed cameras produce some of the best slow motion effects on the web. They can turn violent punches into a chaotic scene of distorted skin and repulsive sweat, or make a night's stay in a hotel room more exciting. Now breakfast gets the Phantom treatment in Breakfast Interrupted, where America's favorite meal gets captured in midair at 1,000 frames per second.
The number of ways to work and travel are infinite but we only got as far as 101 travel jobs to inspire you… quit stalling and get out there.
We love the photo booth. Inevitably the best pictures from any wedding come from, not the professional photographer, but the photo booth stationed in the far corner where tipsy guests act very very silly. Brett Ratner, director of Rush Hour and X-men, has a photo booth installed in his house. After several years of parties...he decided to publish a book of all the candids. Jay-Z, Paris Hilton, Justin Timberlake and many others mug for the camera without the aid of fancy lighting or make up ar...
"The PBS special -- consisting of never before televised live musical performances from the Mario, Zelda, Sonic, Halo, Warcraft, Final Fantasy, Castlevania, God of War, Civilization, Chrono Cross, StarCraft and Guitar Hero franchises, and a musical journey through classic gaming -- premieres July 31, 2010 and airs throughout August on PBS stations (check your local listings at http://pbs.org/tvschedules). Support your local PBS station now -- you make it possible for your PBS station to offer...
If you haven't already discovered ETSY.com you really should check it out. It is basically an Ebay type website, but everything for sale has to be handmade.
After you have your PlayStation 3, you should set up your PlayStation Network account so you can fully benefit from PS3 games. In this video walkthrough, tour everything game related for download onto your PS3. Discover exclusive titles, demos, themes and add-ons to enhance your gaming experience. The PlayStation Store is a simple, user-friendly interface that's easy to use. Download games on your PS3 from the PlayStation Store.
Amazing what you can get out of camcorder these days. "Discovering a whole tiny world in my father's small garden. There is a small pond with small falls, some stones, some plants, and plenty of life! Shot on Panasonic 500- Fujinon 17x7.6 HD lens."
The Galaxy S9's new wallpapers look fantastic, but you don't need to buy one to know that. Whether you have an iPhone X or a Pixel 2, Samsung's updated wallpaper library is yours for the taking, thanks to an S9 system dump released today.
Need a quick and dirt-cheap way to make your running shoes smell less? Fill old nylon tights with baking soda, enough so that they would fit inside the shoes. Then, tie the open ends and stuff them into your offending shoes overnight. Or, if you have fabric softener dryer sheets, you can simply make a point of placing them inside your shoes every night.
Originally discovered in dry lake beds in Tibet, borax is a mineral and a salt of boric acid, and is usually sold in white powder form in drugstores. Like baking soda, borax has many household cleaning uses, and can also be used to get rid of insects and pests from your living space.
`Today I am going to tell you how to bind i.e. join two or more files and make single executable file.
Back in the '80s, NASA and the Associated Landscape Contractors of America did a study where they discovered which houseplants were the most effective in purifying the air in space facilities. Though you may not be living in a rocket ship, you can definitely benefit from having one or more of these plants in your home.
In 1859, 22-year-old chemist Robert A. Chesebrough accidentally discovered petroleum jelly when he visited a working oil well in Titusville, Pennsylvania. Oil workers complained of a gooey substance referred to as "rod wax" which kept getting into the machinery and slowing them down. Chesebrough noticed that oil workers also smeared this same substance on their burn marks or dry skin to help speed the healing process.
Check out this how to article that shows you how to turn that old TV sitting in your basement into an awesome custom fish tank! How to Convert an Old TV Into a Fish Tank: 13 steps.
