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The image above is supposedly the “sharpest manmade thing.”:
A field ion microscope (FIM) image of a very sharp tungsten needle. The small round features are individual atoms. The lighter colored elongated features are traces captured as atoms moved during the imaging process (approximately 1 second).
Click on the image to see a larger version…
I really like the Showtime TV show Penn and Teller: Bullshit, even if I disagree with a couple of their viewpoints. For those of you that don’t get Showtime or want to catch up on previous episodes, check out Links to 23 Penn and Teller: Bullshit episodes.
Just about everyone has heard about The Big Bang, the leading cosmological theory for how the universe began. However, chances are you haven’t heard of these ten unusual-sounding theories:
- Clashing branes
- Evolving universes
- Superfluid space-time
- Goldilocks universe
- Gravity reaches out
- Cosmic ghost
- It’s a small universe
- Fast light
- Sterile neutrinos
- In the Matrix
More details on each theory are available in the article…
Calvin and Hobbes is a classic on so many levels, and this was a fun reminder. Calvin’s dad’s explanations of scientific phenomena, collected here by RF Cafe, never failed to amuse me. I think this one is my favorite:
Calvin: Dad, how come old photographs are always black and white? Didn’t they have color film back then?
Dad: Sure they did. In fact, those old photographs ARE in color. It’s just the WORLD was black and white then.
C: Really?
D: Yep. The world didn’t turn color until sometime in the 1930s, and it was pretty grainy color for a while, too.
C: That’s really weird.
D: Well, truth is stranger than fiction.
C: But then why are old PAINTINGS in color?! If the world was black and white, wouldn’t artists have painted it that way?
D: Not necessarily. A lot of great artists were insane.
C: But… but how could they have painted in color anyway? Wouldn’t their paints have been shades of gray back then?
D: Of course, but they turned colors like everything else in the ‘30s.
C: So why didn’t old black and white photos turn color too?
D: Because they were color pictures of black and white, remember?
Edna (DailyMotion video) is a fun video in which Charlie Chaplin seeks his fiance in an alternate universe filled with references to Steven Spielberg movies.
Ananova reports that Hungarian officials are allowing people to vote on the name of a new bridge crossing the Danube River, to be completed in 2008. The official site is in Hungarian, so I can’t make anything out, but I imagine that officials are not too pleased with the current leader, the “Chuck Norris Bridge.” 🙂
Handhelden is a pretty cool site:
Browse through pics & details to more than 660 boxed handheld and tabletop games, from the 70s and 80s.
Check for the game you had as a child, or be amazed by the endless variety of portable, old-school electronic toys.
I remember thinking how technologically advanced these were at the time… 😉
By now, I’m sure you’ve heard the buzz (Interweb and otherwise) surrounding the upcoming movie Snakes On A Plane. The Interweb buzz has been building for over a year, starting as a campaign of derision against the horrible-sounding movie name and lame premise that somehow transformed into a wholehearted lovefest for a movie that wasn’t even due to premier until August 2006.
To its credit, the studio has taken full advantage of this publicity, embracing the response and nurturing all of the fan sites and creations. The official site highlights fan sites and offers multimedia goodies, enlisting the involvement of Samuel L. Jackson, the star of the film. Even better,
Among the reported additions [to the film] is a line that originated as an Internet parody of Samuel L. Jackson’s traditional movie persona: “That’s it! I have had it with these motherfucking snakes on this motherfucking plane!”.
Now that’s funny. 🙂
Which brings me to the whole point of this post (about time, huh?). A portion of the site lets you supply some basic information about a friend and then sends an e-mail or calls them on the phone with a “personal” message from Samuel L. Jackson. Some of you have fallen victim to this already, but I figured I’d post about it and let everyone who hasn’t heard about it have some fun too. Click here and have at it.
When all is said and done, I suspect that the movie will be a cheesy, tongue-in-cheek pseudo-thriller that’s more humorous than suspenseful. Done right, it could become a classic… 😉
