tagged w/ upstream_featured
-
The director of the forthcoming Hobbit film, Guillermo del Toro (y'know, the bloke who did Pan's Labyrinth) has confirmed what everyone knew anyway - Ian McKellan, Hugo Weaving and Andy Serkis are on board to reprise their roles from Lord of the Rings.
I imagine the conversation went something like this:
"Ian, would you like lots more money?"
"Yes please"
I wonder if the Hobbit will be a million hours long too?The director of the forthcoming Hobbit film, Guillermo del Toro (y'know, the... more
-
-
Teaser trailer for the forthcoming BSG movie "The Plan"
-
-
There's a common perception that fingerprints improve our grip because of the increased friction between our hands and the surface we're holding, well a bunch of scientists have debunked the theory.
A team of researchers from Manchester University did a series of tests to 'measure friction between a finger and a piece of acrylic glass,' finding that there was no increase in grip.
Manchester University - giving urban myths the finger...There's a common perception that fingerprints improve our grip because of the... more
-
-
That is one classy Master Chief.
-
-
You can almost feel the forces of future evolution at work as you watch this eerie video of bionic penguins created by the German futuristic engineering think tank, Festo. You get the eerie sense that you're watching a 21st Century Doctor Who sequel: their new Bionic Learning Network's autonomous creatures look like an early step down the road leading to decentralized, autonomous, self-controlling and self-organizing systems that just might take over Planet Earth in a few hundred years.
Those sleek Terminator penguins you see swimming around the tank are “autonomous underwater vehicles” — look, act, and move like real penguins, with dolphin-like sonar capabilities and the ability to swim backwards, which a flesh and blood penguin can't do, and can navigate and interact with other robopenguins.
Festo designers also created blimp robot, in true Festo fashion, shaped like a penguin, which we all at their current stage of evolution know can fly. There's also a spooky reactive wall that responds to movement and sound.
The “Bionic Learning Network” uses nature as a role model to design and create optimally adapted motion sequences – created by evolution over millennia and inspired by the latest technology along the road to decentralized, autonomous, self-controlling and self-organizing systems.You can almost feel the forces of future evolution at work as you watch this eerie... more
-
-
Bye-bye, Betelgeuse?
The nearby, well-known and very bright star may soon explode in a supernova, according to data released by U.C. Berkeley researchers Tuesday.
The red giant Betelgeuse, once so large it would reach out to Jupiter's orbit if placed in our own solar system, has shrunk by 15 percent over the past decade in a half, although it's just as bright as it's ever been.
"To see this change is very striking," said retired Berkeley physics professor Charles Townes, who won the 1964 Nobel Prize for inventing the laser. "We will be watching it carefully over the next few years to see if it will keep contracting or will go back up in size."
Betelgeuse, whose name derives from Arabic, is easily visible in the constellation Orion. It gave Michael Keaton's character his name in the movie "Beetlejuice" and was the home system of Galactic President Zaphod Beeblebrox in "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy."
Red giant stars are thought to have short, complicated and violent lifespans. Lasting at most a few million years, they quickly burn out their hydrogen fuel and then switch to helium, carbon and other elements in a series of partial collapses, refuelings and restarts.
Betelgeuse, which is thought to be reaching the end of its lifespan, may be experiencing one of those collapses as it switches from one element to another as nuclear-fusion fuel.
"We do not know why the star is shrinking," said Townes' Berkeley colleague Edward Wishnow. "Considering all that we know about galaxies and the distant universe, there are still lots of things we don't know about stars, including what happens as red giants near the ends of their lives."
Eventually, the huge star may become a nesting doll of elements, with a mixed iron-nickel core surrounded by onion-like layers of silicon, oxygen, neon, carbon, helium and hydrogen.
As the iron fuel runs out, it may explode into a supernova, blasting newly created elements out into the universe and leaving behind a small, incredibly dense neutron star.
All the heavier elements in the universe — including all the oxygen, carbon and iron in your own body — were created in such a way.
It's possible we're observing the beginning of Betelgeuse's final collapse now.
If so, the star, which is 600 light-years away, will already have exploded — and we'll soon be in for a spectacular, and perfectly safe, interstellar fireworks show.Bye-bye, Betelgeuse?
The nearby, well-known and very bright star may soon explode... more
-
-
We’ve heard rumblings for a while now that a fourth Mission: Impossible film is in development. Last we heard. Tom Cruise claimed on a Japanese television show that he was “working on the story right now” and has been “thinking about how to stage a big action sequence in downtown Tokyo.” I just assumed that Cruise was talking out of his behind. And there have even been rumors that the fourth film could be a complete reboot.
Well now JJ Abrams confirms to TV Guide that he will be reteaming with Tom Cruise to produce Mission: Impossible 4.We’ve heard rumblings for a while now that a fourth Mission: Impossible film is... more
-
-
Apple's recently announced and far-too-expensive new iPhone, the 3GS, will prove to be more powerful than the PSP, mobile developer Fishlabs has claimed.Apple's recently announced and far-too-expensive new iPhone, the 3GS, will prove... more
-
-
Now there's awesome, like transforming USB hubs etc... then there's full-scale gundam models...Now there's awesome, like transforming USB hubs etc... then there's... more
-
-
Ever wonder about those people who sign up for Twitter, tweet once and never return? The people over at Slate wondered about them too. After last week's reports that only 10% of Twitter's users make up 90% of tweets, they did some research of their own and found thousands of orphaned tweets. They've listed some on their post and have a call out for more.
My favourite:
DouglasAllen: I am writing an email to the makers of Spray N Wash to thank them for making a product that got the blood stains out of my new PJs and robe.
7:40 PM Aug 27th, 2007
It brings to our attention that Twitter does a far better job of signing people up than retaining them as active users. But why even sign up for the first one?Ever wonder about those people who sign up for Twitter, tweet once and never return?... more
-
