News: Why Are Our Brains Fooled By Optical Illusions?
My mind is playing tricks on me! Discover Magazine systematically dissects five fantastic optical illusions. The scientific explanations are logical:
My mind is playing tricks on me! Discover Magazine systematically dissects five fantastic optical illusions. The scientific explanations are logical:
Sometimes the "nasty bits" are unexpectedly yummy. With a reputation for being both cheap and reliably good, Chichi Wang of Serious Eats describes chicken's feet:
When you live on an island, spending time on the beach beomes part of the fabric of life (otherwise why live on an island). Whidbey has so many beaches to explore. I've been here several years and barely scratched the surface. I guess once I discover places I really enjoy, I tend to go back to them by default (creature of habit syndrome). It also doesn't hurt that I have a beach yards from my back door here on Sandy Point.
Watch as world freediving champion Guillaume Nery takes an incredible dive into Dean's Blue Hole in the Bahamas (on ONE SINGLE BREATH!)
Wow, naked + batman + tattoo/body painting = some pretty "out-there" art... Korean artist Kim Joon has been fascinated with tattoo culture ever since his days in the military as a young man. Since, he has taken his obsession into the fine arts realm, treating the human body like a blank canvas. Interestingly, his images are not created as one might expect. No physical painting of the models is actually involved.
The folks over at Patently Apple have uncovered some very promising looking plans for a future iPhone app called iTravel. iTravel plans to cover ticket-buying, electronic check-in, car rentals, and possibly even Apple designed airport kiosks. Fingers crossed it comes out soon. Apple excels at making dummy-proof, intuitive, easy-as-pie user interfaces, and man, the airline travel process sure could use a little streamlining.
Chemical engineers at Cornell have created a small device that may one day turn troops into real life spider-men. The device would cradle in the palm of the hand, allowing troops to scale walls. It uses an adhesive inspired by the Floridian leaf beetle, an insect that "can adhere to leaves with power 100 times stronger than its own body weight".
This 3D software tutorial shows you how to use the face extrude modifier in 3ds Max. The Face Extrude modifier extrudes faces along their normals, creating new faces along the sides of the extrusion that connect the extruded faces to their object. As with most modifiers, this affects the current face selection passed up the stack. There are various differences between the Face Extrude modifier and the Face Extrude function in an editable mesh, especially the fact that all parameters in the Fa...
Here is a simple exercise. Heel touchers are primarily used to work the oblique muscles. The obliques are used to assist with rotation of the torso, as well as basic abdominal contractions. The obliques are commonly referred to as the "love handles." It is important to note that even though the heel toucher is an oblique exercise, the entire abdominal area is being worked. A workout mat or soft surface is recommended.
If traditional supine bridges become too easy, you can try to progress to the one leg version. This exercise is going to work your glutes like none other. Your hamstrings and lower back are also heavily engaged during this exercise. The single leg bridge requires an advanced level of fitness. This is generally true in cases where one leg is being used to support the majority of your bodyweight. Another factor that makes this exercise difficult is that it is perform using a Swiss ball (unstabl...
The dumbbell toe raise (aka dumbbell calf raise) mainly works the upper portion of the calves or the gastrocnemius. Three items are needed for this exercise: 1) a supportive apparatus for balance 2) an elevated surface (e.g. aerobic step, 2 x 4, etc.) to allow for full range of motion 3) a dumbbell.
As some of you Mad Science readers will remember, we recently covered the separation of water into hydrogen and oxygen using electrolysis. Passing a current through water can rend it apart, but we can also recombine that oxygen and hydrogen to make electricity! This is the principle behind those vehicles run by hydrogen fuel cell engines.
I'm sure most everyone has some kind of fluorescent light source in their home; those long white tubes that emit a bright white light when turned on, or maybe a few of the CFL power-saver bulbs. These bulbs actually require very little "power" (i.e. a high voltage:almost no current ratio) to emit light. In fact, static electricity is enough to make them flicker. Inside these tubes is a gas, and when electricity flows through that gas, it gets "excited" and produces light.
Welcome to Minecraft World! Check out our advanced tutorials and come play with us on our free server.
UTILIDOR n pl. -S an insulated system of pipes for use in arctic regions 59 points (9 points without the bingo)
This is the first of a multi-part series on steganography techniques. Steganography, the art of hiding things in plain sight, has existed for a long time, and in many forms. When you manipulate the alphabet to have your own cipher and decipher, this is considered steganography.
In the world of developers, a "sandbox game" is video game where players are free to "roam a virtual world and change any factor at will"; these types of games demand creativity on the player's part, with no linear/"correct" way to play.
No matter if you've used one or not, you've got to admit that 3D printers are pretty darn awesome, especially the self-replicating ones that extrude molten plastic and the shoebox-sized versions that use mesmerizing stereolithography to build tiny objects layer by layer. But what's even cooler? A solar-powered printer that uses the sun's energy to melt sand and make 3D objects out of glass.
They've been at it for a few years now, but the crazy group of amateur rocket scientists who call themselves Copenhagen Suborbitals have triumphed over adversity, successfully launching their DIY rocket nearly 2 miles into the sky last Friday. The privately funded, non-profit aims to one day send human beings into suborbital space on the cheap, without the need of government budgets and administration.
Bake and Saltfish is a popular breakfast dish in Trinidad and the rest of the West Indies. My stepfather showed me how to make this delicious recipe. I could eat this all day!
Find out if there are local restrictions on color Before you fall in love with “Brilliant Blue”, “Gauche Green”, or any other paint color, check to see if any local authority restricts the colors you can use. This is especially important if you live in an historic area, newer subdivision, or townhouse community. It’s not uncommon to find a list of “approved” colors in these types of neighborhoods.
Life has always been complex and challenging. The challenges today are just different than what they were in the past. Nowadays instead of hunting and scavaging for food and living in the elements we’re bombarded with suggestions and demands from our highly sophisticated societies. How is it possible to find harmony amidst what are often contradictory messages?!
Want a sweet bread for a nice holiday treat? This Portuguese Sweet Bread will do the trick. Just watch the video recipe to learn how to make it, just like your grandmother used to make. A classic sweet bread treat. You can even use the dough to make Portuguese doughnuts.
DVice posts six of the world's most powerful telescopes and, man, they are HUGE. Check it out. The Keck I and Keck II
If you have some worn scuffed wood and want to give it a little bit of life. These steps might help you to ebonise, taking half the time!!
When it is too hot to use an oven but you want to have a dessert for a summer party, you can very easily make your own no-bake cake out of watermelon, whipped cream, chopped almonds, and fresh fruit.
Besides your car insurance information and a spare tire, what are some other essential items you should always keep inside your vehicle?
For pretty much any commercial cleaning product you can think of, you can probably make your own DIY, non-toxic version for a small fraction of the retail price. As an example, you can whip up your own all-purpose surface cleaning solution by simply mixing together one part water and one part white vinegar in a spray bottle.
If you need to relieve an itch in your throat, you can try getting rid of it by scratching your ear. Or if you accidentally give yourself brain freeze while eating ice cream, you can press your tongue against the roof of your mouth and cover as much as surface area as possible to make the pain go away.
Want to make your own doughnut? You just need a large skillet, some frying oil, and some basic cooking ingredients that can easily be obtained in your cupboard or the local supermarket.
If you miss the weirdly satisfying sensation of peeling dried Elmer's glue from the surface of your skin, you can relive this childhood tactile memory by using it to remove splinters from your skin. Simply apply a thin layer of glue to the affected area, wait for it to dry, then peel it off, which will also pull the splinter out.
Want to wrap your Christmas gifts in a memorable way? Give your gift recipient a DIY super-secret book safe, and while you are at it, hide a small gift inside the the secret safe. Or, if you plan on giving a gift card, create a snow globe out of a mason jar and water and glitter, and insert the gift card at the bottom of the jar so that it is held upright by superglue.
If you're tired of using the same old ornaments on your Christmas tree year after year, then it's time to experiment with borax snowflakes. It's not only a fun decoration to make, it's a great science project to try out with family and friends. All you need for to make DIY crystal snowflakes at home are pipe cleaners, borax, a wide-mouth jar, string, a pencil, and boiling water.
Are your paper clips, pushpins, and other metallic objects always in a disarray on your work desk or drawer? To organize them more efficiently and in a visually cool way, paint over medium-sized rocks with magnetic paint and then use its magnetic surface to keep clips and other metallic items in place.
In addition to unclogging your toilet using common household items, you can also clean and disinfect your toilet for cheap without ever having to use expensive and chemically-toxic toilet cleaners ever again.
Don't you hate it when the ice cream in your freezer loses its soft, smooth textures and has ice crystals all over its surface? Prevent this from happening by covering the ice cream in the carton with a sheet of plastic wrap before closing the lid tightly.
Are you feeling flu-like symptoms that involve fever, headache, muscle pains, vomiting, and a skin rash? Take a glass cup and press the glass surface against your skin. If the rash doesn't fade under pressure like a normal skin rash, then you are suffering from meningitis and you need to seek medical attention right away.
Do you use disposable wipes for cleaning dusty tables, dirty windows or removing make-up? Ditch the chemically-loaded store brands and make your own cheaper, non-toxic and super-easy DIY wipes at home.
Need to scrub stubborn mineral deposits from your toilet bowl or leftover food gunk from your oven rack? Use a pumice stone, which will remove hardened material from the surface without leaving behind a scratch.
While it's still a few months before iOS 8 and Yosemite are released to the general public, that doesn't mean you can't get a part of Apple's new operating systems on your devices right now.