Hat tip to: \\komplexify.com

So... you think lasers are lame? After all, you've got one on your keychain, right?

Think again...

SkyLasers have single-handedly made lasers cool again!

How?

Check out this list of 'can-dos': [on the 125mW laser]


 - Extend its beam to nearly 100 miles
 - Visible beam in a lit room
 - Cut through a black plastic garbage bag
 - Sting the skin on contact
 - Burn dark fabrics
 - Pop dark colored balloons
 - Ignite wooden or paper matches
 - Cut black electrical tape
 - Etch dark plastics, leathers and rubber
 - Light fireworks
 - Melt rubber and plastics

Now, after you finish terrorizing the neighborhood, and reassure your mother that you won't put anyone's eyes out [although, if you are an Evil Overlord™, your mother will just have to deal with the fact that you'll put out some eyes... or worse!], there are actually some interesting uses for a laser like this...

 - Astronomy presentations

 - Hiking rescue signal
 - Can be used in construction alignment and long-distance pointing and targeting
 - Sending long-distance signals
 - Special effects photography

 - Cool lightsaber/phaser effect when unsheathed in your hand [you know I had to go there, LOL!!]
 - The beam refracts in cool ways when you shoot it at things like cut glass stemware [practice your pool shots, :g:!]

Before:

f

After:

Enjoy!!

Hat tip to: GearCrave

Photo credits: GadgetCrave

From the PR Newswire, released by Paramount:

 
 
HOUSTON, May 15 -- Moviegoers likely will sit in crowded theaters to watch the new "Star Trek" movie, which premiered on May 8, but not NASA astronaut Michael Barratt. He will have the opportunity to watch the film aboard the International Space Station, while he and two crewmates fly 220 miles above Earth. The only thing missing will be the popcorn.
Paramount Pictures transferred "Star Trek" to NASA's Mission Control in Houston, which then uplinked the film to the space station on Thursday, May 14. Barratt plans to watch the film on a laptop computer inside the Unity module.
"I remember watching the original 'Star Trek' series and, like many of my NASA coworkers, was inspired by the idea of people from all nations coming together to explore space," said Barratt. "'Star Trek' blended adventure, discovery, intelligence and story telling that assumes a positive future for humanity. The International Space Station is a real step in that direction, with many nations sharing in an adventure the world can be proud of."
There is a collection of DVDs and uplinked movies aboard the space station. The DVDs were delivered during previous shuttle and station missions and will remain aboard for the enjoyment of future crews.
Some crews have had movie nights as regular activities. Former station astronaut Greg Chamitoff and his crewmates viewed the entire "Star Trek" series as a regular weekly event.
Aside from watching movies and television shows, space station astronauts have a number of options for their leisure and personal time, such as reading books or magazines, listening to music, and playing musical instruments and board games. Chamitoff played chess in orbit with ground teams from station control centers around the world and the public. During one game, the public voted on the next move, choosing from four possibilities that students from Stevenson Elementary School in Bellevue, Wash., suggested.
Films, books and music are important aspects of psychological support for astronauts on long-duration missions.
Barratt launched to the space station aboard a Soyuz spacecraft in March. He is scheduled to return to Earth on space shuttle Endeavour's STS-127 mission in June. His station crewmates are Russian cosmonaut Gennady Padalka and Koichi Wakata of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. All three will become part of the station's first six-person crew, Expedition 20, when three new crew members arrive on May 29.
For more information about Barratt and the International Space Station, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/station
To learn more about the science of "Star Trek," visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/topics/technology/features/star_trek.html

For those Alpha Geeks among you that watch sci-fi and analyze the science behind it, Popular Mechanics weighs in on the new Star Trek movie, giving 4 Science Lessons from the New Star Trek Movie. 

Getting input from stuntmen, spacesuit makers, astrophysicists, and a real-life physicist that wrote a book about the physics of Star Trek (aptly titled, The Physics of Star Trek), PM goes to show the difference between good imagery and the actual science that it is based upon.

Watch it after you have seen the movie :-)

Hat tip to: The Daily Galaxy

Written: Thursday, March 19, 2009 - 19:48:55
Posted: Tuesday, April 28, 2009 - 21:02:23

Winter is over,
Spring has sprung,
the serial herbicide has begun...

The Buying of The Plants, LOL!! [You can hear the screams of the soon-to-be-dead plants.... "Nooooooo!! Leave me! LEAVE ME!!!"]

I have 50 chicks on order, to be delivered in late May, so hopefully, there will be eggs in my future this year... We finally figured out why there were no eggs... SAM [our dog] was eating them!! [No wonder the chickens were pecking him on the head while he slept, LOL!]

So, for now at least, I am building an enclosure for the chickens. It will have trees [to protect them from the hawks], and an area where there will be leafy, edible plants for them to enjoy [hopefully, this will keep them out of my garden :smile:]

I just finished spreading lime on the garden area in preparation for plowing, and it and the chickens' garden should be plowed up in the next week or so. So, until then, I'll be working on the raised herb beds, and defending them from the dogs [they are loving the onions], and the chickens [they like everything else].

In my hubris, I have even picked up some houseplants; selected for nothing more than their beauty and ability to withstand neglect and low light ;-)... so far, they are doing well... but I've only had them for a week. Time will tell ;-)!

The Peek, the email-only device. No high prices, no contracts... unlimited email and texting on the go... Sweet!!

Get it here.

Cute. Get 'em here. 

Hat tip to: Yanko Design 

And here's the device that will do it: 

Elgato Systems, a maker of TV software for Macs, has created the EyeTV Hybrid, which the company says “turns your Mac into the world’s most affordable flat-screen HDTV.”


It also allows you to sync your movies and TV shows with your iPod, iPhone or Apple TV. 


Suggested retail price is $149. Purchase it here for a little less. :-)

Hat tip to The NYT

In a lengthy post on March 20, 2009 from The Daily Galaxy, Rebecca Sato discusses the pros and cons of human genetic engineering.

To quote on the con side:

Much of the debate stems from the fact that the effects of genetically altering an embryo would be generational and permanent. In other words, if we create a mutant baby and it grows up to have children of it’s own—they’ll all be mutant gene carriers too. Genes injected into embryos and reproductive cells, such as sperm, affect every cells in the body and would be passed on to future generations. Critics say current humans don’t have the right to tamper with the gene pool of future generations.

And on the pro side,  John Harris, the Sir David Alliance Professor of Bioethics at Manchester University believes that:

as parents, citizens, and scientists, we are morally obliged to do whatever we can genetically to make life better and longer for our children and ourselves. Society currently devotes so much energy and resources towards saving lives, which, in reality, is simply postponing death, he notes. If it is right to save life, Harris reasons, then it should also be right to postpone death by stemming the flow of diseases that carry us to the grave.

Rebecca ends her post with:

Many say we shouldn’t change human genetics, UNLESS it’s the RIGHT thing to do. Who gets to decide where the line is between righteous endeavor and the corruption of nature?  

Great questions... what do YOU think about human genetic engineering?

It seems that a device has been designed by Leon Peng that kills germs on can tops while you wait.

Here it is:

Hat tip to Yanko Design