Technology
Viewing NASA Launch the LADEE Mission to the Moon
If you live on the east coast of the United States there is a possibility on the night of September 6 you may see NASA’s Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) mission launch out of Wallops Flight Facility.
A Swimmer’s Guide on How To Make Swedish Goggles
Back in the early 1970’s Tony Malmsten, a successful swim coach in Sweden, invented goggles for one of his swimmers who suffered from allergies and eczema due to the foam found on goggles. The Monterbara, later named Swedish Goggles, quickly became a common product in Sweden and eventually became “the most copied goggles in the world”. One of the main reasons this style of goggles became so popular was that by building it yourself you were ensured a perfect fit.
The Robopocalypse won’t be a war between robots and humans. Robots, sentient or not, will be soldiers in a human war.
Why YouTube buffers: The secret deals that make—and break—online video
Ars Technica covers why shady ISP deals may be screwing up video on the internet.
Explore the World with the GeoGuessr Game
Google Maps have been used to create incredible systems that help us identify DC Taxi Cab Zones, the most dangerous roads on Earth, and the best times to take winery tours. GeoGuessr uses the Google Maps API to do something novel and fun by making a game of guessing where you might be in the world. The photo above is a typical view of how the game begins. By using clues like road signs, tree types, and weather you are encouraged to deduce where you are in the world according to Google Maps.
Dr. John C. Mather & Dr. George F. Smoot’s 2006 Nobel Prize for Physics
I realize I’m 7 years late but I want to share this interesting medal I saw today. This is the 2006 Nobel Prize for Physics currently located in the lobby of NASA Headquarters in Washington, DC.
The Space Shuttle is Silently Obliterated in the latest Gravity “Detached” Movie Clip
Anticipation is rising for director Alfonso Cuarón’s newest movie Gravity. We’ve written about the film before but I had to share this amazing sequence that was shown during the San Diego Comic-Con.
Manna: A Short Story of Robotic Takeover
Depending on how you want to think about it, it was funny or inevitable or symbolic that the robotic takeover did not start at MIT, NASA, Microsoft or Ford. It started at a Burger-G restaurant in Cary, NC on May 17.
And so begins Manna, Marshall Brain‘s tale of robotic takeover. I won’t spoil the fun and just say it reads like a Kafkaesque nightmare. Enjoy!
Martian Electric Spaceship Circa 1962
“This artist’s concept from 1962 show a three hundred-sixty ton spaceship, powered by a forty-megawatt nuclear-electric power plant, transporting a three-man crew to Mars. As envisioned by Marshall Space Flight Center engineers, a five-ship convoy would make the round trip journey in about five hundred days.”
The Tripped Out Music Video for Ilium by Alex Metric Stars the Space Shuttle and Astronauts
Yes, sometimes I get to design stuff for NASA. Yes, I’m a space geek. No, I didn’t realize that the video for Alex Metric‘s Ilium was going to be so awesome.