The Known Universe
The American Museum of Natural History goes epic in a very, very, large way with The Known Universe: starting from the Himalayas, it zooms out a jaw-dropping 13.7 billion light years.
The American Museum of Natural History goes epic in a very, very, large way with The Known Universe: starting from the Himalayas, it zooms out a jaw-dropping 13.7 billion light years.
Don’t get your D-branes rolled up in a bunch, but this Calabi-Yau Manifold Crystal is a perfect gift for string theorists and extra-dimensional geeks: it’s a 3″ 3D cross-section of a 6D space.
We’re continuously hungry on the interval [now, infinity], but this pi*z*z*a t-shirt is a not-so-discrete solution for maximizing our stomach volume; we’ll have an isometric slice of pi, please.
It’s the meal that never ends: while not a true Mobius strip, George Hart’s Mobius Bagel is a topological godsend for maximizing spreadable surface area; in other words, mo’ cream cheese.
Frosty’s (really) little brother: this snowman measures 0.01 mm wide (1/5 the width of a strand of hair) and consists of two tiny tin beads, a platinum nose, and an ion beam-carved face.
Watch as researchers at UCSD slice the donated brain of an amnesic patient into glass slides, live at The Brain Observatory; it’s already partway into its 30 hour run. Thanks, Devand!
AstroTour is like an orrery on overdrive: it not only simulates the movement of planets in the solar system but does Copernicus proud with its explanation of retrograde motion.
A staggering 50 million pixels wide, the Solar System Scale Model gives us a sense of just how itty bity we are; scroll to the right to find planets or use anchors (e.g., add #earth or #mars).
Scan me up, Scotty: using a regular webcam, Cambridge University researchers can scan real objects into a 3D texture-mapped surface meshes just by rotating it in front of the camera.
Roy Prol envisions Earth with Saturn’s Rings, above; epic win for accuracy, as it shows the rings above major cities with respect to the Roche limit and the viewer’s location. Thanks, Scott!
17,500 mph has never looked so graceful: Space Shuttle Atlantis (STS-129) does a rendezvous pitch maneuver–a backflip–to allow ISS crew to examine its heat shield for damage.
Popular Science has released its 2009 list of the 100 Best Innovations; packed mostly with tech & gadgets, it includes a supercharged stethoscope, Microsoft’s Natal, and Google Wave.
We like the free airport Wi-Fi, but Google Maps gets put to more practical (and healthy) uses: the Flu Shot Finder helps you track down seasonal and H1N1 flu shots in your neighborhood.
Dr. Peter Lucas glimpses the future with Trillions: trillions of computers requires radical new thinking, but Lucas posits that nature itself may hold the key with its use of layered complexity.
Carl Jung’s The Red Book is one of psychology’s most important works yet seen by only a few; it’s finally available to the world as a 404 page tome with 212 color illustrations.
Created by unmanned vehicle researchers, Roomba Pac-Man eats ghosts instead of dustballs; it uses cameras, Wi-Fi, and localization sensors–all controlled by joystick, of course.
With the Ares I-X a success, boning up on your LEM skills may not be a bad idea; the Apollo 11 Owner’s Manual will teach you how to do burns, orbital rendezvous, and moon landings.
David and Goliath, meet University of Utah’s Cell Size and Scale: it’s a great visual tool for understanding just how small “small” is, with everything from a grain of salt to a carbon atom.
AIDA not only acts as a navigator but uses facial expressions to suggest how to drive more safely and efficiently; in other words, the ultimate backseat driver (albeit one that rides shotgun).
Kevin Van Aelst dispenses with charts and spreadsheets; he uses everyday objects to depict scientific principles, with everything from fingerprints as tape to DNA with Gummy Worms.
Spitzer Science Center’s When Galaxies Collide may be cheesy, but Felicia Day rocks as she dismantles the brainless Hollywood-ization of science; bonus points if you catch the Whedon quip.
We felt shivers up our flesh-and-blood spines watching this PETMAN prototype for the US Army; it walks at 3.2 mph (the same speed as a human) and stays upright even when shoved.
Letting robots drive is still a touchy matter, but Stanford has developed a robotic Audi TTS able to hit speeds of 80 mph and drift; they aim to tackle Pikes Peak next year, rally style.
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