<omega> i like star trek because it’s actually pretty realistic. the technology is fiction, but it follows real physics
<Kuiper> In Star Trek, whenever there are torpedoes or phaser fire hitting a ship, you can hear the explosions even though they’re in space. How is that “real physics?”
<omega> in space, explosions are actually louder
<omega> because there is no air to get in the way
<omega> dumbass (Source)
Imagine a film trying to be realistic and offer absolutely no sound effect in space. Probably made a pretty boring film that could’ve belong to the silent film era.
Grad student accidentally discovers ultra-efficient white-light LED.
White Light, Less Heat
An accidental discovery at Vanderbilt University may well be the key to making light-emitting diodes the dominant lighting technology of the century. Up until very recently, the only way to make “white” light was to add yellow phosphors to bright blue LEDs. It wasn’t quite right, though, as even the best “white” LED retained a blue tint. This week, we got the news that a chemistry grad student at Vanderbilt has stumbled on a way to make broad-spectrum white LEDs using quantum dots — and in doing so, he may well have kicked off a revolution. (Source: WorldChanging)
Ontario high school junior Daniel Burd wanted to try to figure out if there was a way to get plastic bags to decompose faster. As it stands, it takes thousands of years for the wasteful objects to disintegrate. But by using bacteria, he figured out how to make it happen in a mere three months.
WCI student isolates microbe that lunches on plastic bags
Daniel Burd’s project won the top prize at the Canada-Wide Science Fair in Ottawa. He came back with a long list of awards, including a $10,000 prize, a $20,000 scholarship, and recognition that he has found a practical way to help the environment.
He knew plastic does eventually degrade, and figured microorganisms must be behind it. His goal was to isolate the microorganisms that can break down plastic — not an easy task because they don’t exist in high numbers in nature.
Vilayanur Ramachandran explains what actually happens in the brain and it’s actually easy enough to understand. And he’s quite humorous too. I wish my science lecturers are half as entertaining.
In a wide-ranging talk, Vilayanur Ramachandran explores how brain damage can reveal the connection between the internal structures of the brain and the corresponding functions of the mind. He talks about phantom limb pain, synesthesia (when people hear color or smell sounds), and the Capgras delusion, when brain-damaged people believe their closest friends and family have been replaced with imposters.
Vilayanur Ramachandran: A journey to the center of your mind
About Vilayanur Ramachandran
Neurologist V.S. Ramachandran looks deep into the brainâs most basic mechanisms. By working with those who have very specific mental disabilities caused by brain injury or stroke, he can map functions of the mind to physical structures of the brain.
Quite an interesting interview. Prof. Stephen Hawking is interviewed on Israeli TV show hosted by Yair Lapid. He answers (sort of) the question: does he believe in God?
Q: Why do most snooze buttons only give you nine more minutes of sleep?
A: By the time the snooze feature was added in the 1950s, the innards of alarm clocks had long been standardized. This meant that the teeth on the snooze gear had to mesh with the existing gear configuration, leaving engineers with a single choice: They could set the snooze for either a little more than nine minutes, or a little more than 10 minutes. But because reports indicated that 10 minutes was too long, allowing people to fall back into a ‘deep’ sleep, clock makers decided on the nine-minute gear, believing people would wake up easier and happier after a shorter snooze. We’d tend to disagree with that logic, but, then, we must be in the lazy minority. Although today’s digital clocks can be programmed to have a snooze of any length, most stick with nine minutes because that’s what consumers expect.
I didn’t know my snooze button lets me sleep only 9 minutes, that blowed me off totally. I reckon that to increase the snooze timing to at least 90 minutes alright.